0:00:03 > 0:00:08Emilia Fox is one of Britain's most popular television actresses.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13Best known for role as Dr Nikki Alexander in BBC One's Silent Witness.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Knife comes from a height, she flings her arm up,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21knife travels through the hand, down into her chest, defence wound.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24- Is that the fatal wound? - Hard to say without opening her up.
0:00:26 > 0:00:32Emilia is eight months pregnant and is about to move into a new house with her partner Jeremy.
0:00:33 > 0:00:39Well, there's quite a lot going on in life at the moment, which is just how I like it.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44That looks great, doesn't it? Emilia's going to love it.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Jeremy and I are having a baby and we've decided to,
0:00:48 > 0:00:54in true typical pregnant form, erm, try and make a nest together.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03- Hello. Oh, my God. Have you just taken that out just now? - I've just taken the fireplace off.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08I feel really, really ready for it, but I'm sort of in total denial about it as well
0:01:08 > 0:01:10that it's about to happen so soon!
0:01:10 > 0:01:12- This is the baby's room, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16The baby's going to be born into a bucket(!)
0:01:16 > 0:01:19People are saying, "Have you got this? Have you got that?"
0:01:19 > 0:01:22And I'm like, what? No! I haven't got anything!
0:01:22 > 0:01:25'I really am ashamed I know so little about my family history,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29'and the pregnancy has really made me want to go on this journey.'
0:01:29 > 0:01:36It couldn't be a better present that I could wish to give to our baby, to find out who they are.
0:02:08 > 0:02:15Emilia Fox is 36, and a member of one of Britain's most famous acting families.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18My dad is an actor, my mum is an actress,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Uncle James is an actor, Lydia is an actress, Laurence is an actor,
0:02:22 > 0:02:28married to an actress, Billie, and my brother Fred was an actor.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33'I don't know where this passion for acting has come from,'
0:02:33 > 0:02:37but if our child wanted to do it, I would...
0:02:37 > 0:02:39SHE LAUGHS
0:02:39 > 0:02:42I would take a deep breath, but I would be as supportive as I possibly could be
0:02:42 > 0:02:45because I would understand how exciting it is.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51To uncover her family's theatrical roots,
0:02:51 > 0:02:57Emilia has come to her parent's house in northwest London, where she grew up.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01She wants to know more about her paternal grandfather, Robin Fox,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05a West End theatre agent who died of cancer in 1971,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08three years before Emilia was born.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11My dad's dad died at quite an early age,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16and I suppose out of sensitivity to him, I haven't wanted to explore that too much
0:03:16 > 0:03:19because I know it's still a tender area.
0:03:19 > 0:03:25But perhaps we have Robin to thank that we've all chosen to go into this profession.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Brilliant... See you.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- Darling!- Hello, Mama.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Hello. It's lovely to see you.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Hello, look at you with your beard!
0:03:45 > 0:03:49- Very handsome. Very different, Dad. - Very different.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51How's the bump?
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Good bump. About to come out bump, it feels like right now.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56- Do you want a cup of tea? - Yes, please.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Come in. Lovely to see you.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05Emilia's father, Edward Fox, is the oldest of Robin Fox's three sons.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07He was 33 when his father died.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12So what I really wanted to ask you about was your dad.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- Yes. Papa.- Yes. What was your relationship with him?
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Was he sort of a hands-on dad or...?
0:04:17 > 0:04:24No. No, he... He was a father who didn't really have time to be hands-on.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27He would never dream of doing the washing up, for instance.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31- Do you dream of doing the washing up? - I dream of NOT doing the washing up,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33- SHE LAUGHS - ..but, but I do it.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Now, in order of youthfulness,
0:04:38 > 0:04:43that is my mother and father before the war.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Sweet, isn't it?
0:04:46 > 0:04:49- He's very well dressed, isn't he? - Yes, very.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54He was always like that he wouldn't of dreamed of, er, playing the hand any other way.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59That's after the war and that's Robert in his arms.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02SHE LAUGHS Is that you, there?
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Yep. By that time he was a successful agent.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Who were his clients that I'd know?
0:05:09 > 0:05:16Robert Morley, Paul Schofield, Dirk Bogarde, Vanessa Redgrave.
0:05:16 > 0:05:24He was very good at it. I mean he... People wanted to be represented by him.
0:05:24 > 0:05:25So, was he your agent?
0:05:25 > 0:05:31Never. I don't think he really, really liked being an agent.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34He had an amazing smile as well.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39Yes, I mean, you can see really from those pictures why he could have been an actor.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41What, he wanted to be an actor?
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I'm sure he would liked really to have been an actor.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47His mother was an actress.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51- I didn't know HIS mother was an actress.- Yes, Hilda was an actress.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Not a very good one, I think. Very beautiful.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Do you think he would have thought that it was insane
0:05:58 > 0:06:02how many members of our family have gone into acting?
0:06:02 > 0:06:07- No, he would have loved it. - Would he?- He would have loved it, yah. He'd have been very proud, yes.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11He wouldn't have thought it at all insane.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16Ah, she really takes a well aimed kick. There she goes.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17Yes, there.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22You will take it easy these next few days, won't you?
0:06:26 > 0:06:30I had no idea really that Robin ever wanted to be an actor.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I mean, he had sort of film-star looks, I can see that.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39And Dad said that Robin's mother was an actress.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45Now, I don't know anything about her, and I feel like I need to know more.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52Emilia has discovered that her theatrical roots go back beyond her grandfather Robin Fox,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55to her great-grandmother, Hilda Hanbury.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59To find out more about Hilda's career,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03she's come to the archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum's theatre collection,
0:07:03 > 0:07:09to meet archivist Kathy Hale, an expert on 19th century English theatre.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14Have you been able to find out anything about Hilda Hanbury, my great-grandmother?
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Well, we've got the, er, UK census up,
0:07:17 > 0:07:23so if we fill in Hilda Hanbury, and search...
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Right, there's only one Hilda Hanbury.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31There we are, birth 1875, Holborn.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36So this is the 1891 census.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- There she is.- So there she is.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44There's Hilda, and there is her sister, Lily,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48and you see Lily is 17 and Hilda is 16.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53It says there that Lily, Hilda's sister, is already an actress.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Mm, yes, she was, and she was... she was only 17.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00That wasn't uncommon, actually.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05A lot of girls left school and started on the stage quite early.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Is there any way of finding out how Hilda became an actress?
0:08:08 > 0:08:13Well, yes, we certainly can look at the records of the London stage.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The V&A's archive holds a record of every performance
0:08:18 > 0:08:23by an actor on the London stage between 1660 and 1959.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Hanbury, Hanbury...
0:08:29 > 0:08:32- Hilda Hanbury.- Yes.- So the first reference to her is...
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- Yes. - In 1891, what was that?
0:08:35 > 0:08:381891, so we have a look at this.
0:08:39 > 0:08:40Here we go.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44- This one here?- Mm.
0:08:44 > 0:08:45- Miss Tomboy.- Mm.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47At the Vaudeville theatre.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Yeah, in the West End, and there is Hilda Hanbury.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Playing Nancy Ditch.
0:08:52 > 0:08:59And actually this is a review from a wonderful newspaper called The Era.
0:08:59 > 0:09:05"Miss Hilda Hanbury made an agreeable representative of Nancy Ditch."
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I've had worse! THEY LAUGH
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- It's not rave, but... - No, no, no, it's not rave!
0:09:13 > 0:09:17And here we've got some photographs of her.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23These would have been sold in photographers' shops.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28- She really was beautiful, wasn't she? - Yes. Got lovely, lovely eyes.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34This shows you Lily and Hilda in the illustrated magazine, The Sketch.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36So that's Lily, that's Hilda.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- Yes. Hilda isn't 20 yet.- Mm-hm.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44They look very close, I don't know whether that's reading too much into it,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46but they look like they were close sisters.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50No, I think... I think they were very close.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Hilda Hanbury followed her older sister Lily onto the stage
0:09:54 > 0:09:57at a time of significant change for women in theatre.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03For much of the 19th century, being an actress was considered
0:10:03 > 0:10:06an indecent profession by polite society.
0:10:06 > 0:10:13But a late Victorian boom in the popularity of theatre was changing attitudes.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Rising prosperity and a shortening of working hours
0:10:16 > 0:10:19saw a vast increase in demand for evening entertainment.
0:10:19 > 0:10:25And between 1850 and 1890, the number of theatres in London more than doubled.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Actresses like Ellen Terry
0:10:27 > 0:10:32became huge stars with middle-class audiences, making the stage
0:10:32 > 0:10:36a respectable career choice for young women like the Hanbury sisters.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41- We've also found out something which is even more exciting.- More?!
0:10:41 > 0:10:43In your... In your lineage.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Hilda and Lily were not on their own on the stage,
0:10:47 > 0:10:53they were part of another acting dynasty, the Neilson-Hanbury family.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Look at what all the cousins were doing.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Actress, actress, actress.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01All the cousins.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03They're all actresses.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05We've all been infected by the same bug.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Strong family gene.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- That we've got.- Yes. And there are some extraordinary names.
0:11:13 > 0:11:20- Olive Terry, Fred Terry, who was Ellen Terry's...- No way!
0:11:20 > 0:11:23- Ellen Terry's brother.- No!
0:11:23 > 0:11:24- Yes!- Unbelievable.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Emilia has discovered that she is descended from another famous
0:11:31 > 0:11:34acting dynasty, related to Ellen Terry,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37the greatest English actress of the Victorian era.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42For the young Hanbury sisters, these connections proved invaluable,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47and helped Lily Hanbury, in particular, to become one of London's rising stars.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Here we have Lily Hanbury, now she's actually a cover girl on The Sketch.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56So, if you've made it to the cover of The Sketch does that mean you're...?
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Oh, Hello and OK rolled into one.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03She's doing very, very well.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04So, what's happened to Hilda?
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Well, if you look up 1894.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11- Hamlet.- Hamlet.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12- At the Haymarket. - Yes.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17We've probably got a programme, would you like to come and have a look?
0:12:17 > 0:12:18You bet, definitely.
0:12:18 > 0:12:24These boxes are runs of London's theatre programmes going back to the 17th century.
0:12:24 > 0:12:30Haymarket... Here we are, 1893 to 1894.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Let's have a look.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- Here it is.- Here it is.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Hamlet.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41There's Hilda.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46And there as Hamlet is Herbert Beerbohm-Tree.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48One of the finest actors of the day,
0:12:48 > 0:12:53and well known for always having a very good company around him.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Herbert Beerbohm-Tree had already turned several young
0:12:58 > 0:13:02actors into stars, and for Hilda Hanbury, joining his company
0:13:02 > 0:13:05represented a step up to the top rung of English theatre.
0:13:06 > 0:13:12Is this Hilda sort of blossoming, erm, out from underneath Lily's wing as an actress?
0:13:12 > 0:13:18- Yes.- The fact that she's working with Beerbohm-Tree?- Yes, she's got a blossoming career here.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23And once she is in that company, does that mean that she went on working with him?
0:13:23 > 0:13:28Well, Tree's archives went to the Bristol theatre collection,
0:13:28 > 0:13:30so I think you'll need to go to Bristol.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37To discover that we're part of this even larger family of actors
0:13:37 > 0:13:41than I could possibly of dreamt of, just totally blows my mind,
0:13:41 > 0:13:49and Hilda seems to be coming out from under the shadow of Lily's success and I just wonder
0:13:49 > 0:13:51whether she went on any further.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05To find out more about her great-grandmother's career as an actress, Emilia has come to Bristol
0:14:05 > 0:14:12where the Beerbohm-Tree archive is held as part of Bristol University's prestigious theatre collection.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- Hello.- Hi, Emilia, I'm Katherine. Welcome to the collection.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18- Lovely to meet you. - Nice to meet you, would you come on through?- Thank you.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23Dr Katherine Hinton is one of the leading experts on Tree's life and work.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26- After you.- Thank you very much.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29So here's Herbert Beerbohm-Tree in Hamlet.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35You get a real sense of the power of him as a performer from this image.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Do you know whether it was Hilda's sort of big break working with Beerbohm-Tree?
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- We know that she went on his first tour to the United States.- Ah!
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Erm, in 1895.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49So that's a big thing to have been chosen by Beerbohm-Tree to go with him.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Yes, it must been a huge experience.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Doing a month's season in New York at the Abbey Theatre.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00At only 20 years of age, Hilda Hanbury had been chosen to go
0:15:00 > 0:15:05on one of the most celebrated theatrical tours of the 19th century.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09In the 1890s, English theatre companies were fashionable
0:15:09 > 0:15:13with middle-class New York audiences, who admired the sophistication
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and culture of the West End.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Beerbohm-Tree's reputation as one of Britain's greatest actors
0:15:20 > 0:15:23ensured packed houses and huge press coverage across the US.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Hilda and her fellow actors were treated like superstars,
0:15:27 > 0:15:32and even received an invitation from the White House to meet President Cleveland.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Do we know what plays they did?
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- In America.- We do. Shall we sit down for a moment?
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- Yeah, good idea. - Have a look at these.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Don't want to get too over excited at this stage.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48The one production that we know Hilda was in that they took to America, was The Red Lamp.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52This is the set of prompt books, erm, from The Red Lamp.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57And we can have a look in here and see the lines that Hilda would have spoken.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02We can see that she appears on stage right at the beginning of the production.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03Mm-hm, good sign.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Just here.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09"Every evening an announcement that the report is unfounded."
0:16:09 > 0:16:12So there's her first line.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15And here is her second and final line.
0:16:15 > 0:16:16- Final line?- Yes.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21We're only on page three! Page two of the...
0:16:21 > 0:16:26I'm afraid that's it for Hilda in this, er, in this particular play.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29In this particular play, what about other plays?
0:16:29 > 0:16:33We don't have much evidence of parts that she played in others, she's not being listed
0:16:33 > 0:16:35really within, erm, press listings or press reviews.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Which suggests that she's very much working as a bit-part actress,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41for Herbert Beerbohm-Tree at this time.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46So this was by no means a big break for Hilda? As an actress.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49No, not in terms of the size of role or scale of role.
0:16:49 > 0:16:50Oh, I feel really sorry for her -
0:16:50 > 0:16:53she's suddenly gone back into the shadow of Lily.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59By the turn of the century, Hilda's older sister Lily was firmly established as one of the most
0:16:59 > 0:17:02popular actresses on the London stage.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05But the two sisters remained close.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Records show that they lived and worked together,
0:17:08 > 0:17:13with Hilda taking minor roles in productions in which Lily starred.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18In 1905, at the height of her fame, Lily Hanbury married
0:17:18 > 0:17:19and retired from the stage.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24Less then six months later, Hilda announced her own marriage.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27And here's Hilda's marriage certificate.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31So Hilda, in 1905, marries...
0:17:31 > 0:17:33One Arthur William Fox.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Ah, so Mr Fox appears, this is the first time
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- that you come across the Fox name. - Yes.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43And he was of independent means.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44- Lucky him.- Mm.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48But Hilda isn't listed as being an actress.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52No, very much as the match would suggest, she retired professionally,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56but we know that she stayed in contact with the theatre industry.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Erm, Herbert Beerbohm-Tree died very suddenly
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and this is the letter that Hilda sent to Tree's wife.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08"My dear Lady Tree, I can find no words to express my grief
0:18:08 > 0:18:12"and deep, deep sympathy with you, in your terrible loss.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16"I know only too well all you are suffering."
0:18:16 > 0:18:17What does that refer to?
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Well, Hilda had been through an extremely painful loss herself,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26- and that was the death of her sister Lily.- Ah!
0:18:28 > 0:18:31And this is from The Stage.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36"The untimely death of Miss Lily Hanbury, following two days after that of her infant son,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39"has saddened all those who knew her in the profession."
0:18:41 > 0:18:45- So she died as the consequence of having a child?- Yes.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Yeah, she died two days after her, after a stillbirth.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48Oh, that's tragic.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54I don't even like to think of that now.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56At this moment.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Lily Hanbury died on the 5th March, 1908, at the age of 34.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11She and her baby were buried together, in the presence
0:19:11 > 0:19:15of friends from the theatrical world and her devastated family.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Do you know what happened to Hilda after Lily died?
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Well, we don't hold many more archival records about Hilda having retired,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27but what we do have is a 1911 census.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34So this is the household of Arthur William Fox and Hilda Louise Fox.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36- Mm-hm.- Who's now 35.- Mm-hm.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40And we can see a rather sad parallel between Lily and Hilda's lives,
0:19:40 > 0:19:45in that Hilda had had three children, two of whom were still living
0:19:45 > 0:19:47- and one who had died.- Oh, no.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53These are the two surviving children.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57- This is Kenneth Fox.- Son.- Yep.
0:19:57 > 0:19:58- Mary Fox.- Daughter.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02And Mary I know, Mary's alive now!
0:20:04 > 0:20:07So this is the beginning of living relatives.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10- Yes, yes, and quite unusual to have one at that...- Amazing.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14- ..exists from the 1911 census, so you're very lucky.- I am.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23'Following Hilda's journey has taken a bit of an about turn.'
0:20:23 > 0:20:27I thought that we were about to come across the blossoming
0:20:27 > 0:20:33of Hilda's career as she went on tour with Beerbohm-Tree and that obviously didn't happen.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38She didn't, erm... She didn't have great success as an actress.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Also to find out that Lily had died
0:20:42 > 0:20:47and Hilda lost her child, I really felt that.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55'I felt that, erm, that loss of a child,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57'albeit mine was a miscarriage.'
0:21:00 > 0:21:06'Of course, you know, you're, erm, you're emotionally affected by it.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09'So that hit home hard.'
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Now Emilia wants to find out what happened to Hilda later in her life
0:21:23 > 0:21:28and she's come to Cornwall, where Mary Fox lives with her sister, Pam.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Emilia's great aunts, Mary and Pam,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34are the sisters of her grandfather, Robin Fox,
0:21:34 > 0:21:39and the only surviving children of Hilda Hanbury and Arthur William Fox.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44DOORBELL RINGS
0:21:44 > 0:21:49Emilia has not seen her great aunts since she was a teenager.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- Pam!- Darling, how marvellous to see you.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57- I can't believe it.- It's ages.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00- Nearly 20 years, Pam.- My God.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- I can't believe it. - You look no older.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07- Neither do you.- Come on in. - Thank you.- Bless you.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12Pam is 90 years old, but her older sister Mary is now 104
0:22:12 > 0:22:16and has been blind and partially deaf for some years.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17Here's Melly Mare.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19- Mary.- Hello.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23- Hello, hello.- Hello.- How are you?
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- I'm OK, you? - I'm so happy to see you.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Mary, I'm about to have a baby in three weeks.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32- Mare!- Yeah.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36- She's having a baby in about three weeks.- Good Lord.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41- This might amuse you, old photograph, that's Robin.- No!
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Yes, it's Robin. Rather a fat little boy.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48And Hilda and Willy.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Do you remember how, er, Willy and Hilda met?
0:22:51 > 0:22:55He was mad on the theatre and Hilda was on the stage,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58it could be that he lurked round the stage door,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00I don't know how they met.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04- But Willy had pots of money. - POTS of money?
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Pots of... Well, they had this huge house in Stratton Street
0:23:08 > 0:23:12and the theatre, and Paris, and the South of France -
0:23:12 > 0:23:17you can guess the sort of lifestyle of a rich Edwardian.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Willy Fox was part of a new and wealthy upper middle class
0:23:22 > 0:23:26that emerged in England at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Having inherited a multi-million-pound fortune,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31he was a gentleman of leisure,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35and he and his young family lived a life of considerable luxury.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40That's one of Mary as a little girl with her pony
0:23:40 > 0:23:44- and Hilda holding the bridle. - Hilda. Ah!
0:23:44 > 0:23:49I've got a wonderful photograph of you here, Mare, with your pony.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52- Oh, yes.- With Polly.- Yeah.- Yes.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54You loved riding, didn't you, Mare?
0:23:54 > 0:23:57- Oh, rather! - And was that your childhood?
0:23:57 > 0:24:00No, because I was born, I think I was only two
0:24:00 > 0:24:03when Willy went off to re-marry.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Why did they split?
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Well, because he fell in love with another woman.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11He ran off with an American tart.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14- Did he?- Yes!- The silly fool!
0:24:14 > 0:24:17He was a very selfish, self-indulgent man.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Hilda and her children's wealthy lifestyle disappeared overnight,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29when she and Willy were divorced in 1923.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35What was the emotional impact on Hilda of Willy leaving?
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Oh, I think a bad one, I think she was...
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- I mean, as one would be, furiously jealous.- Of course.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Terribly unhappy, erm,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48daunted a little by the thought of bringing up four children.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51- She was still fond of Pop at that time.- Yes, exactly.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54I never forget it anyway.
0:24:54 > 0:25:00No, you remember it, I don't, but you remember how dreadfully unhappy Mum was.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Despite her anguish over the broken marriage,
0:25:05 > 0:25:11Hilda spent the next 20 years raising her four children as a single parent.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12During the Second World War,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Pam and Mary moved to Cornwall to work as land girls,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20young women who volunteered to take the place of farm workers away at war.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25After the war, Hilda, now in her 70s, came to live with them
0:25:25 > 0:25:27and never returned to London.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34This now is a picture of Hilda in the garden.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37- She looks happy again there, doesn't she?- Yes, she is happy.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43Oh, yes, when she was old, it was all part of the past.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45And still those amazing eyes.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I think they're like your eyes, too.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52How old was Hilda when she died?
0:25:52 > 0:25:55I think, Mare, she was 89.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57- 89?- Yes.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- And what happened to Willy? - He was about...
0:26:00 > 0:26:03nearly 90 when he died.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07And there, that is a copy of his will.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14He seems to have only left £889.17.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18I know, after being a millionaire, really, from his father.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23- So he'd spent the lot? - He'd spent the lot.- Silly bugger!
0:26:23 > 0:26:25I must show you this picture.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Now, er, that's Willy and that is Samson.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33- Now Samson is Willy's father? - That's right.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37- Samson is an incredible character. - Isn't he marvellous?
0:26:37 > 0:26:40And he always had this massive beard.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42He was a self-made man,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46but he must have been quite cultured in a funny way,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49because he had an awful lot to do with the Royal College of Music.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53- Samson, this is?- Yes. And there's a bust somewhere of him.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56- At the Royal College of Music? - At the Royal College of Music.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10'Obviously it was another sadness, really, for Hilda, the break-up of her marriage.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13'On top of the trauma of losing Lily,'
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I feel rather cross with Willy Fox.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16SHE LAUGHS
0:27:16 > 0:27:17As cross as Mary.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Erm, but I'm just relieved that she ended her life
0:27:22 > 0:27:26happy in Cornwall, with the love of her children.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29I feel very proud of her.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Having uncovered the theatrical roots of the Fox dynasty,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Emilia has decided to trace her ancestry back further,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52to her great-great-grandfather, Samson Fox.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55'It was intriguing to see that photograph of Samson Fox,
0:27:55 > 0:28:01'a millionaire, whose fortune had been squandered,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04'and now I want to know more about Samson.'
0:28:04 > 0:28:06She's come to Kensington in London,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09as she knows from her great aunts that Samson was connected
0:28:09 > 0:28:14to the Royal College of Music, which has been based here since 1894.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18- Hi.- Hi.- Welcome to the Royal College of Music.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22- Thank you, are you Paul?- I'm Paul and you must be Emilia.- I am.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27- Good, well if you'd like to... - Professor Paul Banks is an expert on the history of the college.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30- What an incredible room. - Extraordinary, isn't it?
0:28:30 > 0:28:33As you can see, we've got a lot of old musical instruments here
0:28:33 > 0:28:38- and I've got some documents that I think might interest you.- Fantastic.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41This building was opened in 1894,
0:28:41 > 0:28:45and we can get a sense of how big an event it was from this photograph.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49- Mm!- You can see the street is decorated with bunting.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Bedecked. It's so beautiful.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55- It's almost like a theatrical set, actually, isn't it?- It is.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59The Royal College of Music was one of several institutions
0:28:59 > 0:29:02established in Kensington, by the Royal Family,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06to ensure the cultural pre-eminence of the British Empire.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11These included the Natural History Museum and the Royal Albert Hall.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Edward the Prince of Wales, personally oversaw the fund raising drive
0:29:15 > 0:29:18for the new Royal College of Music building.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23What we've got here is a printed schedule of what happened
0:29:23 > 0:29:28when this building was officially opened by the Prince of Wales,
0:29:28 > 0:29:33and, as you can see, Samson Fox played quite an important role.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38"Address to be read by Mr Samson Fox to HRH The Prince of Wales.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43"The cost of this handsome and commodious edifice has been defrayed
0:29:43 > 0:29:47"by our colleague, Mr Samson Fox,
0:29:47 > 0:29:50"whom we have deputed to read this address."
0:29:50 > 0:29:55So this implies that there was only ONE donor?
0:29:55 > 0:30:00That's absolutely right. The whole of the cost of the new building
0:30:00 > 0:30:02was met by Samson Fox.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06- My goodness! Do you know how much it was?- We do.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Er, because of these two objects.
0:30:12 > 0:30:18These are the cheques written by Samson Fox for £45,000,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22which is in today's terms, close to 2.5 million.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25But what's interesting is that it also gives a clue
0:30:25 > 0:30:27to his background, that he came from Leeds.
0:30:27 > 0:30:33- Would Samson have personally given these cheques to the Prince of Wales? - Yes, yes, we know that he did.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36Isn't that amazing, to think that he was holding this?
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Is there a thank you letter?
0:30:38 > 0:30:41- SHE LAUGHS - Well...- A reply.
0:30:41 > 0:30:46- We do also have the erm, er, speech that the Prince...- Oh, do you?
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Oh, it's on the next page.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52"It is with great pleasure that on behalf of Her Majesty,
0:30:52 > 0:30:57"I am to thank you, Mr Fox, for the discerning munificence
0:30:57 > 0:31:00"to which we owe this noble and fitting home,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04"for the honour and advancement of the study of music."
0:31:04 > 0:31:09Why does this make me so happy? It makes me very, very....
0:31:09 > 0:31:11It's so wonderful.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Here we have a couple of photographs from the time
0:31:15 > 0:31:21and here is the Prince standing, and there in the middle
0:31:21 > 0:31:24is somebody who I think could be Samson reading the address.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26Well, from the picture I saw the other day,
0:31:26 > 0:31:30he was bearded and you can just, just see.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33- Just.- That's so exciting.
0:31:33 > 0:31:39My, er, great aunts said that there was a bust of Samson somewhere.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41I might be able to help you with that.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45If you'd like to follow me, we'll go back to the entrance hall.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Don't want to leave those cheques behind.
0:31:48 > 0:31:49Well, exactly.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Here he is!
0:31:59 > 0:32:01That's amazing, seeing him like this.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05And his spectacular beard.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07It is pretty impressive, I think.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11I think he never trimmed it because he didn't want to lose his strength.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16- He's certainly an impressive figure, I must say.- Really is.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20But I think there is something slightly odd here,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24because looking at what Samson had done - he'd given all this money,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27he worked closely with the Prince of Wales -
0:32:27 > 0:32:29and yet he never got a knighthood.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32Why is that?
0:32:32 > 0:32:34That is something of a mystery.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39One certainly would have expected Samson Fox to have been knighted.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46'Well, it is astounding that my great-great-grandfather
0:32:46 > 0:32:50'is the sole donor of the Royal College of Music.'
0:32:50 > 0:32:54Imagine what the value of that building now is.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Erm, I mean I'm totally, er... I am gobsmacked
0:32:58 > 0:33:02that anyone in our family had made that sort of money.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06'And I'd love to know more about Samson's background.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10'So that's the next step of the journey.'
0:33:18 > 0:33:23- TANNOY:- 'This is the East Coast service to Leeds. Ten minutes, 17:55.'
0:33:23 > 0:33:27To find out how her great-great-grandfather made his fortune,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Emilia is heading north to the Yorkshire city of Leeds.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36She's ordered a copy of Samson's birth certificate to discover more about his background.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38So...
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Samson Fox was born on the 11th July, 1838
0:33:42 > 0:33:45at New Road, Bowling.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48His father was Jonas Fox,
0:33:48 > 0:33:53married to Sarah Fox, formally Pierson.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Occupation of father, overlooker.
0:33:57 > 0:33:58I don't know what that is.
0:34:00 > 0:34:05Signature of informant, "the mark of Sarah Fox, mother."
0:34:05 > 0:34:06The mark?
0:34:06 > 0:34:09That must mean that she was illiterate.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19So this is the 1851 census,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22and it looks like the family have moved to Leeds.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25"Jonas Fox, Head.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30"Power Loom Overlooker."
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Samson Fox, his son, was Power Loom Weaver.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40So that means he worked in a textile mill at the age of 13.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43So they weren't a wealthy family at all.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54In the 1850s, Leeds lay at the heart of Yorkshire's road and canal networks,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57and was one of the centres of Britain's Industrial Revolution.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04Its traditional textile mills competed with newer engineering works and foundries,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07which had sprung up to supply goods to the growing British Empire.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13For child workers like Samson Fox, conditions were often brutal,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16but Leeds was also a city of opportunity,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20where new steam-based technologies were thriving.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25To learn more about her great-great-grandfather's life in the city,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Emilia has come to the Armley Mills Industrial Museum
0:35:29 > 0:35:30to meet curator Neil Dowlan.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33- Hi, Emilia.- Hi.- Lovely to meet you.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36- Lovely to meet you. Neil? - Welcome to Armley Mills.- Thank you.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38- Do be very careful on the rails... - Yes, no tripping.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Do you want to come this way?
0:35:40 > 0:35:45Gosh, I go to the most extraordinary places every day now.
0:35:45 > 0:35:51- I found out that my great-great-grandfather Samson... - Uh-huh.- ..was a power loom weaver.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57- Samson Fox worked in a mill very much like this one, from the age of eight.- Eight?!- Eight.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01- That was quite normal to start work at the age of eight, as well? - Yes, very normal.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04He doesn't actually stay here long.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07By 15 he's an apprentice in an engineering works.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11They're producing locomotives, tools, agricultural vehicles, everything you can think of.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Despite his humble origins and lack of formal education,
0:36:17 > 0:36:22Samson rose quickly through the ranks, from apprentice engineer to skilled worker.
0:36:22 > 0:36:28Here, we have his marriage certificate. Erm, so this is 1861.
0:36:28 > 0:36:35- So Samson is 22 years old.- Mm-hm. - Listed as a mechanic.- Yeah.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38So he's a sort of shop-floor mechanic at this point.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40- Yeah, he's working with machines. - Right.- Yeah.
0:36:40 > 0:36:46But if we look at the next census, ten years later, we can see how much has changed.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48There they are.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52- So Samson Fox is now 32.- Mm-hm.
0:36:52 > 0:36:59He's got three children now, and Arthur W Fox, Willy Fox, is one.
0:36:59 > 0:37:05- Willy Fox is my great-grandfather. - It's all coming together, isn't it? - Isn't it?
0:37:05 > 0:37:07- What does that say? - Master employing.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12- Master employer of 11 men and six boys.- Yeah.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16- So this has all happened in the last ten years.- Mm-hm.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19But within the next three years, things are going to change again.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23He's not going to change business this time, but he's going to expand,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27because by 1874, he founds the Leeds Forge Company.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30- It sounds very impressive.- It is.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32This is where his career and his life really takes off.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34I will show you what he achieved.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Emilia's great-great-grandfather, Samson Fox,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42found himself at the forefront of the world's fastest-growing industry.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47Advances in British engineering were radically changing the way the world worked,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50and creating vast fortunes.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54At his new metal works, The Leeds Forge Company,
0:37:54 > 0:37:59Samson decided to produce parts for the rail and shipping industries on a huge scale.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05- If you'd just like to come this way. - Thank you.
0:38:08 > 0:38:09This is our open-air store.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15And it's where we tend to keep a lot of the larger industrial objects that we've got here.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18- Looks like we're going into the wilderness.- It does, doesn't it?
0:38:18 > 0:38:22It looks a bit of an elephants' graveyard, doesn't it?
0:38:23 > 0:38:30The important thing about Samson Fox is, he's an innovator, so he adapts technology.
0:38:30 > 0:38:37It's all about making machines faster, cheaper, more efficient and that's where the money is.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41So I've come to show you something very important.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45And I would like to present to you the corrugated boiler flue.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50- The corrugated boiler flue? - I know.- What does it do?
0:38:50 > 0:38:53It doesn't sound much on it's own, does it?
0:38:53 > 0:38:56Probably one of the most important inventions of the late 19th century.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00I've got a small model here, which will show you how the idea works.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04If you take that piece of brass there and squeeze it.
0:39:06 > 0:39:12- See, you can squeeze it with your hand, can't you?- Yeah. - It's malleable.- Yep.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Now take that and try and squeeze that.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22- I can't.- Much more resistant to pressure, isn't it?- Yeah. - Much stronger.
0:39:22 > 0:39:30The flues in a traditional steam engine were the furnaces in which coal was burned to heat the boiler.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33As the flues were subjected to intense heat and pressure,
0:39:33 > 0:39:37they would eventually crack, causing the boiler to fail.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40Samson Fox's corrugation of the boiler flue, strengthened it
0:39:40 > 0:39:46and enabled steam engines to work at a higher pressure and produce more power.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49The impact of this simple innovation was enormous.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56The first Fox corrugated boiler flue was sold to a Barrow shipyard in June 1877.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Two years later, a steam ship fitted with the new flue
0:40:00 > 0:40:04sailed from Britain to South Africa in record time.
0:40:05 > 0:40:12By the 1880s, Samson's flue had been installed in factories, locomotives and shipping across the world
0:40:12 > 0:40:16and, at only 40 years of age, had made him a multi-millionaire.
0:40:18 > 0:40:24It seems like such a simple idea, but it was a revolutionary idea.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28Simple ideas are often the best and, boy, is this a good idea.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31It made him a very, very rich man.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- That's amazing. - So that's your ancestor.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39I can't believe it.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41He's got an innate mechanical brain.
0:40:41 > 0:40:47I wish I'd inherited that. I've got an inert mechanical brain.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51I've brought you to different part of the museum.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55Erm, a bit more affluent-looking, to show you one final object.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02And, what I would like you to look at, this portrait here,
0:41:02 > 0:41:07this is a portrait of Samson Fox, commissioned after the corrugated flue was developed.
0:41:07 > 0:41:12"Presented to Samson Fox Esquire, by the employees and friends
0:41:12 > 0:41:15"of The Leeds Forge Company Limited."
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Is that inscription on the flue?
0:41:18 > 0:41:23I've never noticed that before, but I think it is, that is a corrugated boiler flue, isn't it?
0:41:23 > 0:41:26We know Samson Fox is a popular employer.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29The reason he was so popular is he's very hands-on.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34He'll be down on the shop floor, he'll have his sleeves rolled up, he'll be working with them.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36That's because of where he started.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41Yeah, but, within a few years, he moves to Harrogate and leaves Leeds.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46- For business or for personal reasons? - For personal reasons, I suppose.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49- When you make a lot of money in Leeds you do go to Harrogate.- Ah!
0:41:49 > 0:41:51- You take the waters.- Ah.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58By 1882, at the age of only 44,
0:41:58 > 0:42:03Samson Fox had transformed himself from a child worker in a mill,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05to one of the wealthiest men in Britain.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10His son, Willy, was now at public school and Samson's family were about to take their place
0:42:10 > 0:42:14in the upper echelons of Victorian society.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Well, this is a whole new element to my family background that I didn't know about.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22To know that there is that sort of brain in the family
0:42:22 > 0:42:27who could deal with mechanics and engineering and understand them.
0:42:27 > 0:42:34I'm really hoping the baby took this in today, please, please note, engineering, mechanics, good move.
0:42:40 > 0:42:47Emilia has decided to follow her great-great-grandfather's trail to Harrogate in North Yorkshire.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51But with less than three weeks till her baby is due,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54she is finding it increasingly hard going.
0:42:57 > 0:43:03There's a lot to take in and the baby's obviously feeling it too.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08Yesterday I was a little bit worried we might be making a hasty trip to hospital.
0:43:08 > 0:43:13I'm not quite sure who's going to get to the finishing post first.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20When Samson and his family arrived in Harrogate,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23it was already a well-known and affluent spa town.
0:43:23 > 0:43:29The area's natural sulphur springs were thought to have significant healing properties,
0:43:29 > 0:43:34and people came from all over Britain to take the waters and recuperate from illness.
0:43:34 > 0:43:40Only 15 miles from Leeds, it was a far more refined and sophisticated world,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43which attracted the cream of Yorkshire society.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48- Hello.- Emilia.- Malcolm.- Hello.
0:43:48 > 0:43:53Emilia has come to Grove House, a large mansion on the outskirts of the town,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57at the invitation of the local historian Malcolm Neesam.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00- What an amazing house. - It is rather grand, isn't it?- It is.
0:44:00 > 0:44:06Samson came to Harrogate in 1882 and he settled here at Grove House.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09- In this house? - Yes, this was his home.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11I didn't realise.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15There are signs of this, if you care to look around.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19- See here, for example, this magnificent fireplace...- Yes.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23- ..which he had built. And you can see his initials up here, SF.- Yes.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28There's a splendid photograph which I have here.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30This is the outside of Grove House.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Now there's Samson and members of the family.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35This is Willy, his eldest son.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Willy's turning out to be a bit of a dandy.
0:44:37 > 0:44:42You can tell that from the posture, yes, and the costume.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46While still the Managing Director of The Leeds Forge Company,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Samson spent more and more of his time in Harrogate,
0:44:49 > 0:44:54using his wealth to transform Grove House into a stately home,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57fit for a member of the landed gentry.
0:44:57 > 0:45:02Here's the main salon, here's the fireplace, where we're seated now.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Gosh, it's hardly changed at all, has it?
0:45:05 > 0:45:09- This is the art gallery of Grove House.- How extraordinary!
0:45:09 > 0:45:14Samson described it as the music room and if you look at the end of the photograph
0:45:14 > 0:45:16- you can see the piano.- Yes.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20And Willy was noted to be an accomplished violinist.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24Here are the stables, with a fox, of course, on the weathervane.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29They're magnificent. I'd be quite happy living in the stables.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Oh, these are the carriages.
0:45:32 > 0:45:39Today you've got to imagine a garage full of Ferraris, Porsches and Rolls-Royces.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42Here, this is an interesting feature, the Turkish baths.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47- This is for horses.- How... What?! It's for horses?
0:45:47 > 0:45:52- A Turkish bath?- Yes, the only one in the country that we know of.- No!
0:45:52 > 0:45:57I'd definitely apply for the job of Samson's horse in a next life, I think.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03At the heart of Samson's renovation of Grove House lay an underground workshop
0:46:03 > 0:46:07where he was developing his next big industrial innovation.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11This is the photograph of the laboratory.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15He never rested, he was constantly improving things,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19but this time he was working on his water gas experiments.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22- You know about water gas?- No.
0:46:22 > 0:46:27Well, it is a really powerful new form of energy that Fox developed.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32Samson had come across water gas during a business trip to the US.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34A mixture of hydrogen and carbon,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38it was made by passing super-heated steam across red hot coke.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44Water gas burnt brighter and hotter than conventional coal gas,
0:46:44 > 0:46:49which in the 1880s was used to light homes and streets across Britain.
0:46:50 > 0:46:55Samson realised that water gas could potentially replace coal gas,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58and 20 years before the spread of electric lighting,
0:46:58 > 0:47:03he built water gas plants at The Leeds Forge Company, and at his new home in Harrogate.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07Grove House was lit by water gas.
0:47:07 > 0:47:15There were about 250 outlets here in Grove House - mostly chandeliers, but also in the kitchens.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19So the whole house was powered by water gas.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23- So he found a new energy source? - He thought he had, yes.
0:47:23 > 0:47:28But this was in 1890 - by then, Samson was Mayor of Harrogate.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31- Mayor! - He had become Mayor in 1888, yes.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35The first thing he did as Mayor was to offer to light the centre of Harrogate
0:47:35 > 0:47:37with this new invention of water gas.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42- I have some newspaper cuttings - would you like to see them? - Yes, please!
0:47:43 > 0:47:48"This week will see the water gas plant up and then, I am told, the public,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51"dazzled by the bright beams of the new illuminant,
0:47:51 > 0:47:56"will hold up their hands in amazement and cry, 'What a gas!'"
0:47:56 > 0:48:00- That's brilliant. - There's another extract here.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03From The Advertiser of the 9th August, 1890.
0:48:03 > 0:48:09"Wednesday night last, furnished a sight hither to we venture to assert,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12"unseen in England or the continent.
0:48:12 > 0:48:19"The utilisation of water gas as an illuminant for public street lighting."
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Apparently it gave off an absolutely magnificent light.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29They used to say, "Come and see what the Mayor of Harrogate has done, he's bottled the sun."
0:48:29 > 0:48:30Oh, my goodness.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35They put trains on from all over the north of England to bring in tourists to see it.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37If you look at this column there...
0:48:37 > 0:48:42"We shall be greatly mistaken if the report of this successful experiment does not attract
0:48:42 > 0:48:48"to the town many hundred gentlemen interested in public lighting from neighbouring boroughs.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51"If such a report could reach the foreign press,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54"no doubt we might see the foreigner in our streets.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58"This success cannot but affect favourably the interests of those
0:48:58 > 0:49:03"who have had the courage to hold onto their water gas shares, undismayed by panic."
0:49:05 > 0:49:08And what's this last bit about?
0:49:08 > 0:49:12With those holding onto their water gas shares, undismayed by panic?
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Samson believed in this product thoroughly.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17He really believed that it was the way of the future,
0:49:17 > 0:49:21and so a syndicate was set up to sell shares to the public.
0:49:21 > 0:49:28Unfortunately, there was a problem with that when the shareholders began to show signs of panicking,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31because they weren't certain how this was going to turn out,
0:49:31 > 0:49:37- and you really ought to consult with a financial expert on this, but it was a very big matter.- Right.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42Well, thank you so much for enlightening me about Samson's life in Harrogate.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44Oh, it's been a real pleasure.
0:49:52 > 0:49:58To find out more about the water gas project, Emilia has come to Harrogate Gentlemen's Club,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00where Samson Fox himself was a member.
0:50:00 > 0:50:06She's arranged to meet Professor Sarah Wilson, an expert on 19th-century financial history.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11So what happened, then, with the water gas shares?
0:50:11 > 0:50:15Samson was convinced that it was the future of energy,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18but there were some problems with water gas,
0:50:18 > 0:50:22and I wanted to show you this report from the Manchester Weekly Times.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26"Action for the loss of a husband.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31"At The Leeds Assizes on Saturday, an action was brought for damages
0:50:31 > 0:50:38"for alleged negligence from The Leeds Forge Company, of which Mr Samson Fox is the Managing Director.
0:50:38 > 0:50:44"The deceased and another workman had died from suffocation, owing to the use of water gas
0:50:44 > 0:50:48"which is a frightfully dangerous thing if not properly used."
0:50:48 > 0:50:49Oh, my goodness.
0:50:49 > 0:50:56There's a real sense of concern that if this can happen in the setting of a factory,
0:50:56 > 0:51:03- what issues there might be putting water gas into people's homes.- Mm.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07Even if it could be made safe, and suitable for domestic consumption,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11- there's a big distribution problem. - Right.
0:51:11 > 0:51:16All the pipes and infrastructure, for distributing to domestic homes,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19belongs to the coal gas companies.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23- So he was really up against the big boys of industry?- Absolutely.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Despite concerns over the safety of water gas,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and the opposition of the powerful coal gas cartel,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Samson heavily promoted water gas shares to the public.
0:51:35 > 0:51:42Millions of pounds was raised, much of it from smaller investors attracted by Samson's past success.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45But this time, he had made a huge misjudgement.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50If water gas was successful,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55the coal gas companies would lose control of a profitable business.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00Through their political allies, they managed to deny Samson access to their distribution pipes
0:52:00 > 0:52:04and the water gas share price collapsed over night.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10In 1890, he's got investors wanting to know where their money is.
0:52:10 > 0:52:17By 1894 there are a lot of accusations from investors that, basically, he's robbed them.
0:52:17 > 0:52:24- Oh, no!- This is from The Today Magazine on the 12th May, 1894.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27"In the course of a few months in the spring of 1889,
0:52:27 > 0:52:32"Samson Fox and his associates brought out the following companies -
0:52:32 > 0:52:35"British Water Gas Syndicate, Yorkshire Water Gas Syndicate,
0:52:35 > 0:52:37"Northern British Gas Syndicate.
0:52:37 > 0:52:45"The public were induced to subscribe the huge capital by gross and deliberate misrepresentation,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48"as to the value of the patents and the processes sold."
0:52:51 > 0:52:55The Today article accused Samson Fox of deliberately exaggerating
0:52:55 > 0:52:59the potential of water gas to defraud his investors.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02It was published under the editorship of Jerome K Jerome,
0:53:02 > 0:53:08the well-known author of Three Men In A Boat, and a formidable critic.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13His campaigns against financial corruption were respected and widely read.
0:53:14 > 0:53:20Jerome actually chooses a very significant date to publish it
0:53:20 > 0:53:28- and that is the day that Samson hands over a cheque to the Royal College of Music.- Oh, no!
0:53:28 > 0:53:31There he is presenting it to the Prince of Wales.
0:53:31 > 0:53:37There's a very, very clear implication that Samson was using
0:53:37 > 0:53:43the money that he'd collected through investors to bankroll his philanthropic activities.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49- The Royal College of Music will have been very embarrassed by it.- Oh, no!
0:53:49 > 0:53:56Also the Royal Family will have been reading these accusations along with everyone else.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00That does explain why he hadn't received a knighthood.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05- Yes, this will have caused him a great deal of harm.- Yeah.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12Samson Fox always denied that he had defrauded his investors,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16but it took him several years to prove his innocence through the courts.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23By then, the water gas affair had irreparably damaged his standing in London society.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30To his friends and supporters in Harrogate, however, he remained a hugely respected figure
0:54:30 > 0:54:34who had been unfairly tarnished by the press.
0:54:34 > 0:54:39This is written by Samson's solicitor in the wake of the water gas scandal.
0:54:39 > 0:54:45"For a man of such genius, he was most simple-minded in business affairs.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50"His delight and confidence in the great service of which water gas was capable
0:54:50 > 0:54:56"blinded him to the insuperable difficulties which prevented its general utilisation.
0:54:56 > 0:55:01"During the years in which I acted as Samson Fox's legal advisor,
0:55:01 > 0:55:06"I cannot recall a single instance in which his views and actions in his business affairs
0:55:06 > 0:55:13"were not entirely straightforward, honourable and fair to those with whom he had dealings."
0:55:15 > 0:55:18How does that make you feel?
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Relieved, really.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26I don't know why I'm crying now,
0:55:26 > 0:55:31I do cry at the most extraordinary moments, but I genuinely am relieved.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36He just doesn't seem like a negligent man.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40He was really trying to do everything for the best and he just got it wrong,
0:55:40 > 0:55:45he sailed a bit too close to the sun.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58After the water gas scandal, Samson Fox retired from business life.
0:55:58 > 0:56:03Still a rich man, he devoted himself to charitable causes.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08In 1899 he undertook a final project for the people of Harrogate.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14A campaign to build a world-class concert hall, to rival any venue in London.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24It's breath-taking.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29How absolutely astonishing.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40The Royal Hall was officially opened on the 28th May, 1903,
0:56:40 > 0:56:45but the Royal Family declined an invitation to attend.
0:56:46 > 0:56:52Look up there! Foxes with the corrugated boiler flue.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57Wow...
0:56:59 > 0:57:03Really, really beautiful.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Samson Fox died at the age of 65,
0:57:10 > 0:57:14five months after the opening of Harrogate's Royal Hall.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19Edward VII, the former Prince of Wales, sent a telegram with his condolences.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Looking back through the generations of my family,
0:57:25 > 0:57:29they've all had success, but it hasn't been without its problems.
0:57:29 > 0:57:35What I've really discovered is that there are qualities in my family
0:57:35 > 0:57:39that I really hope will be passed down to the baby.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44With Hilda, you saw that incredible love between her and Lily
0:57:44 > 0:57:48and the family love that she inspired.
0:57:48 > 0:57:55With Samson, his enthusiasm for life, his inventiveness
0:57:55 > 0:57:58and that little touch of genius.
0:57:58 > 0:58:05Those are the qualities that I would hope and wish would be passed onto our baby.
0:58:07 > 0:58:12In the 1920s, Samson's belief in water gas was vindicated
0:58:12 > 0:58:16when it became a common supplement to domestic coal gas across Britain.
0:58:16 > 0:58:21It remained in widespread industrial use until the 1960s.
0:58:21 > 0:58:27Samson's great-great-great-granddaughter, Rose, was born safely in London.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31She and her parents are doing well.