0:00:04 > 0:00:07TV presenter Gregg Wallace lives in Whitstable, Kent
0:00:07 > 0:00:10with his two children.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15Born in London in 1964, Gregg is a greengrocer by trade,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18but best known as a judge on MasterChef.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25The peach with the sugar nuts and the raspberry underneath,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28I mean, that's many dimensions of cosy sweetness.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34I'm looking forward to feeling a connection with people
0:00:34 > 0:00:37that lived 100, maybe 200 years ago.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40The thought that all those people that went before
0:00:40 > 0:00:43are a bit of you is fascinating and a bit scary,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45cos of course you've got no idea who they are
0:00:45 > 0:00:47and where you've come from.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19I'm a grafter. I've always worked really hard,
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I've always really pushed myself
0:01:21 > 0:01:25and that's cos I'm really scared of losing everything.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27There was a period in my life
0:01:27 > 0:01:30where everything seemed to be going really well
0:01:30 > 0:01:34and I lost a business, my house, my wife and family,
0:01:34 > 0:01:35all within a 12-month period.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Walking away from... from your family home
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and leaving your children behind is always really, really difficult.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47We ended up going to court three times,
0:01:47 > 0:01:48battling over the children.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52But I won and they're with me and they're very good kids.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01I live just up the road from my mum.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03In fact, I'm really good mates with my mum,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07and she was absolutely invaluable when I first got custody of the kids.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10And I'm going to go and see her, gonna pop in, have a cup of tea,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12cos I want to know what she knows about our family,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14cos I know very little.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15HE KNOCKS ON DOOR
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- Hello, love. - You all right, Mum?
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Yes, thank you. Oh, you're freezing.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28So, I clearly remember Nan and Grandad cos we used to go there
0:02:28 > 0:02:31every single Sunday, we used to have a Sunday lunch there.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33For lunch, mm. That's Grandad and you on the gate.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Yeah, I remember this. That's Wilfred Springett.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I don't remember him wearing a tie. Did he always wear a tie?
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Yes. Yes. Very...quite formal.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45I understand from my mother that Dad's father, in her words,
0:02:45 > 0:02:46"cleared off."
0:02:46 > 0:02:49- Grandad's dad...- Dad.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51- ..left him.- Left.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52- And his mum?- Yes.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57So Grandad didn't have a dad. He was brought up with just his mum?
0:02:57 > 0:02:59- Yeah.- A single parent family.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02- Yeah.- Did you ever meet Grandad's mum?
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Yes. Granny Springett. That was her name.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07And actually, there's a photograph of her.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12That's my dad, he was two, and that's his mum, Emily Springett.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- And is that the dad who deserted? - Yeah.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17- She's an attractive lady. - She's beautiful.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Did she have any other kids?
0:03:19 > 0:03:20Yes, Vera.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25- By the sailor that ran away? - Yeah. Yeah.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27So what happens to him? What's his name?
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Henry Roland Springett.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31So where is Henry Springett?
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Well, the story goes that he actually deserted the Navy,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39last seen at Liverpool boarding a ship for Australia.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42You reckon he got on a ship and possibly went to Australia?
0:03:42 > 0:03:43That's the rumour?
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Well, that was the rumour. Maybe he went off and started a new life.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49We've both been married a couple of times.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I understand what it is to remarry and find someone else,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53but we never lost contact with the kids.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54No. No.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57I mean, that's harsh. That's a hard...
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Maybe he had no choice.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Let's get this right. I'm going to make some notes.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04When was Grandad born?
0:04:06 > 0:04:09"Wilfred Henry, 6th October, 1907."
0:04:09 > 0:04:13October, 1907. And the occupation of the father?
0:04:13 > 0:04:16"Stoker. Royal Navy."
0:04:16 > 0:04:19And Grandad's sister is called Vera?
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Yes.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23When was she born? 1911?
0:04:23 > 0:04:28Yes. "26th August." And so also was her brother.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- She had a twin? - She had a twin.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32And what happened to him?
0:04:32 > 0:04:34He passed away, two years old, tuberculosis.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36- Poor Emily.- Yes.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41- So Emily's... grandad...and twins, one's died of TB...- Yes.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43..and her husband's gone.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48That's right. But here's a Census from 1911.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Henry Springett, now his name's crossed out here.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52The twins aren't on here.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55Oh!
0:04:55 > 0:04:58So presumably they weren't born yet.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01"April 2nd, 1911."
0:05:01 > 0:05:03So he may have gone leaving a pregnant wife.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Oh, he sounds lovely, don't he? Where is the Census taken?
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- Where are they?- Plymouth.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Well, the obvious next step for me is Plymouth.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Yes. There's one last thing I've got to show you.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Who is that?
0:05:19 > 0:05:22That is Emily's mother.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Is that a photograph?
0:05:27 > 0:05:28Yes.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Well, it must be one of the earliest ever photographs!
0:05:33 > 0:05:36- I would think so, wouldn't you? - Where did this come from?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- Cousin David. - What's this lady's name?
0:05:39 > 0:05:42I don't know. She's your great-great-grandmother.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So this must be 1860?
0:05:45 > 0:05:481870?
0:05:48 > 0:05:50I think she looks like me.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55If we take the hair off. Look. She's got my nose and mouth.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Well, I can see somebody there.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02By her clothes and the fact that she was sitting for a port...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04and she was sitting for a portrait on her own.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07You know, people sat family portraits.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09I mean, look at this watch-chain thing.
0:06:09 > 0:06:10The fact that she's wearing decent clothes
0:06:10 > 0:06:15and she sat for a portrait makes me think she's probably not struggling.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19- Who is she? What did she do? - Don't know.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20And was she still alive
0:06:20 > 0:06:23when all these bad things were happening to her daughter Emily?
0:06:23 > 0:06:26- Who knows?- Can I borrow this, Mum? I wouldn't mind taking this with me.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Of course you can. No, it's fine.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Gregg now knows that his grandfather Wilfred had a sister called Vera
0:06:35 > 0:06:38and a brother Harold who died when he was two.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Their parents were Henry Roland Springett and Emily Laythorn.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46But what was the name of Emily's mother? And what became of Henry?
0:06:49 > 0:06:54I'm heading down to Plymouth and I'm really heading into the unknown,
0:06:54 > 0:06:56but I'm hoping to solve a riddle.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00Where is Henry Springett? Is he just a cad? Is he a scoundrel?
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Has he just deserted the family?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I know that he was in the Royal Navy
0:07:05 > 0:07:07so I'm going to see what I can find out online,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10see if I can find his naval records.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Royal Navy records. Here we go. Let's have a look.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Henry Roland Springett.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23I shouldn't imagine there'll be many of those! They've got him. Whoa!
0:07:23 > 0:07:24Not what I expected.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28It's handwritten. Looks delicate, even online!
0:07:28 > 0:07:32"Date of birth: 31st October, 1880, Bromley, Kent."
0:07:32 > 0:07:34He's a greengrocer!
0:07:36 > 0:07:39He's a greengrocer. That's fantastic!
0:07:39 > 0:07:43When he joined the Navy he was a greengrocer like me!
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Lovely aubergines, tell your mum!
0:07:45 > 0:07:46Don't touch it, madam,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48it's not like the old man's, it won't get any bigger!
0:07:49 > 0:07:55We've got the ships that he served in... His rating in the Navy.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00So there he is as a stoker. There was talk of desertion.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02There's a rumour of desertion, but there's no way Henry deserted
0:08:02 > 0:08:05because he's got a great record here, naval record,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07he's going from ship to ship, he's serving many years,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09there's no black mark against his record,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11and in fact he is pensioned off at the end,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15which is a sure sign that he's actually had a good career in the Royal Navy.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18So our Henry definitely did not desert.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21I like Henry a bit more now,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24now I've found out that he's a greengrocer like me,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28and, er, also he's got a very good naval record.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31But I still don't know why he's deserted his wife and children.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34There's a... There's still a cloud over Henry's head.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37It's not as big as it was before, but there's a cloud there still.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42'Ladies and gentlemen, our next station will be Plymouth.'
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Gregg has come to the Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth
0:08:49 > 0:08:53to meet Dr Laura Rowe and find out more about Henry's career.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59I've got here the naval record of my great-grandfather
0:08:59 > 0:09:01and there was a rumour going round,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03it actually came from my grandmother to my mum,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07that Henry had actually deserted the Navy and just ran off to Australia.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10There's nothing on this record, is there, that suggests Australia?
0:09:10 > 0:09:12No, he didn't desert,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15and he certainly didn't end up anywhere near the Antipodes.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Stoker doesn't sound like a great job.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Why would he a greengrocer want to become a stoker?
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Money. And the fact that it was a very secure job.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26It was one of the few jobs you could go into
0:09:26 > 0:09:28where you had a pension guaranteed,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31you didn't have to worry about the continuity of work.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34There is also an element of
0:09:34 > 0:09:37the Navy is a very, very respectable professional institution.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41There's a couple of pictures and the sort of work that sailors,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43these stokers do.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45These are the furnaces.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48The temperature of those rooms is in excess of 40 degrees.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50They have one ventilation shaft
0:09:50 > 0:09:53that they can go to in turn to try and get a breath of air.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56And they're expected to shovel, per man,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01about 2.4 tons of coal into those furnaces in every four-hour period.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03HE GASPS Every four hours?
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Yeah. He had a very, very tough job.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- And fought for his country in the Great War.- Yeah.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12He is patrolling in two places, so he does some work in the Irish sea,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15which is pretty treacherous water.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19And some work also in the North Sea, and he is in a Q Ship,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21so basically she describes herself as a merchant vessel,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23to act as a decoy for submarines.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24Crying out loud!
0:10:24 > 0:10:26I really don't know how you deal with
0:10:26 > 0:10:29the constant fear of attack and sinking.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Yes, he may not have been part of the Headline Act,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33which we all think of as the First World War,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36but without men like Henry, it wouldn't have been fought and won.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41World War One was the first time submarines were ever used as
0:10:41 > 0:10:46military weapons, and German U-boats were proving to be a deadly menace.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Britain needed a countermeasure,
0:10:49 > 0:10:54and in 1915 introduced its top secret weapon, the Q Ship.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Stokers like Henry worked below deck fuelling their engines.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Disguised to look like unthreatening merchant vessels,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Q Ships were in fact heavily armed with concealed guns.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09These decoy vessels lured U-Boats up to the surface,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13giving the Q Ships the chance to open fire and sink them.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19I can see here that he actually goes and joins the Canadian Navy.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24Yes, he joins up in 1910, he enlists initially for two years
0:11:24 > 0:11:27and then in 1912 for a further two years.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32His wife has twins in 1911.
0:11:32 > 0:11:33OK.
0:11:33 > 0:11:381910, he's signing on for two years in the Canadian Navy,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and then stays for another two years,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44and has made no attempt to come back to England whatsoever.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Can I just get some dates from you?
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Yes. He set sail in the Niobe for Canada on the 10th October, 1910.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55Hang on.
0:11:55 > 0:12:01He goes to Canada on the 10th October, 1910, and his daughter, Vera,
0:12:01 > 0:12:06supposed daughter, is born on the 26th August, 1911.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09August is the eighth month,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12so she would have had to have been conceived in November.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19Vera's not his daughter. Emily's actually had twins with her lover.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21I feel really sorry for Henry.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29I got completely the wrong end of the stick with Henry.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Rumour was that he was just a bad 'un who had deserted the Navy
0:12:33 > 0:12:37and deserted his family, and it's just not true.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39It's just not true. It's sad.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54Well, the plot thickens.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56I mean, now I really want to see what's happened
0:12:56 > 0:12:58to Henry and Emily's marriage.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Um, I wanna see if it lasted.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04I don't believe it did, and so I'm going to check the divorce records.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08# D-I-V-O-R-C-E... #
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Surname, Springett.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15There is one result within the catalogue.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Covering the dates 1918, National Archive.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25"Henry Roland Springett, Emily Springett, co-respondent Jack Burke."
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Who's Jack Burke?
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Is Jack Burke Emily's new...?
0:13:33 > 0:13:39So he filed for divorce in 1918.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40When the war was over.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46I've done a complete 180 degree U-turn on Henry.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I started off thinking he was a bit of a bounder,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50and now I've got nothing but sympathy for him.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56The one who looks the naughty one now, is my mum's nan, Emily.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Gregg is meeting Doctor Claire Langhamer,
0:14:04 > 0:14:09a senior lecturer in History, to find out more about Henry's divorce.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Last night I found out that Henry Springett,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14my great-grandfather, divorced his wife Emily in 1918.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18I was wondering whether you could throw any more light on it?
0:14:18 > 0:14:20He didn't divorce her in 1918.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23In fact, actually, he doesn't divorce her at all.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Um, he starts divorce proceedings, but they're not completed.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32The petition is filed in 1918 but he actually starts the process in 1917.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36The reason for this is here, he's defined as a poor person.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38He's not destitute, is he?
0:14:38 > 0:14:39No, he's not destitute,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42but he's got insufficient income to go through this procedure
0:14:42 > 0:14:45and the courts made it very, very difficult to get a divorce.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48You could only actually get a divorce on the grounds of adultery,
0:14:48 > 0:14:49that was it.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52- But he never completed it? - He didn't complete it.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54Do you want to have a look and see the actual document?
0:14:54 > 0:14:57- This is the most important bit.- Mm.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01"The said Emily Springett has frequently committed adultery
0:15:01 > 0:15:05"with Jack Burke at 40 Francis Street."
0:15:05 > 0:15:08- Which is here, isn't it? - It is.- It's where we are.- Yeah.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12We think it was a naval boarding house across the road from here.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14That's not very discreet, is it?
0:15:14 > 0:15:17It's not, and that might explain why the evidence was provided
0:15:17 > 0:15:21of these instances of adulteress behaviour.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22Naughty Emily.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Oh! Henry wants... Henry wants Grandad.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32- Yeah.- Henry wants custody of Wilfred. He didn't get it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Well, because he doesn't turn up in 1922
0:15:34 > 0:15:37when the case actually goes to court.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Why do you want custody of your child but don't push,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43don't fight that little bit harder?
0:15:43 > 0:15:46It could be financial, it could be that he just can't afford
0:15:46 > 0:15:49to come down to London, because until the 1920s,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52if you're having a divorce case that goes through the courts,
0:15:52 > 0:15:53you have to come to London.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56My grandad probably never realised that actually
0:15:56 > 0:15:58his father wanted custody of him.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Absolutely. It wouldn't have been clear to him
0:16:01 > 0:16:03that his father was interested in him at all.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Also, there's another child.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06There's Vera,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09and Henry is not trying to get custody of both children.
0:16:09 > 0:16:10No, he's not.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14This confirms that Vera, my grandad's sister,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16is not Henry's child.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17I think it probably does,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20or at least it confirms that he believed that to be the case.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22Would Emily have felt any shame?
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- Would there have been any social stigma with this?- Yes.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Um, women certainly didn't want to be in the position
0:16:28 > 0:16:31of being labelled an adulteress.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36But, um, lives were quite messy in that period,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40and people would sort of, you know, people tried to get by, didn't they?
0:16:40 > 0:16:46And I think for Emily, her husband's away for quite a period of time,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50she might have been looking for economic support,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52she might have been looking for emotional support,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55she might actually have been looking for sex,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58and people understood that having a husband who was away
0:16:58 > 0:17:01for long periods of time was difficult for all of those reasons.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04I find it really hard to have any sympathy for Emily,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06I really...I really do.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10I know that there are some parts of Emily's life which might explain
0:17:10 > 0:17:14some of her behaviour, or at least give you a different sense of her.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18She did have some difficult things that happened to her.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20If you want to look through this...
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Now this is a child that I don't think you know about,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26of the marriage.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31June 1908, this is Valerie Springett,
0:17:31 > 0:17:37- daughter of Emily Springett and Henry Springett?- Yeah.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41"Stoker, the Royal Navy." Oh, this is a death certificate.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Yeah.
0:17:43 > 0:17:4522 months old. Oh, crikey!
0:17:45 > 0:17:47This is the first child.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49OK. What happened?
0:17:49 > 0:17:52"She died of shock due to burns, accident,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56"received through the upsetting of a paraffin lamp at the house."
0:17:56 > 0:17:59- Oh, my word!- Mm. 22 months.
0:17:59 > 0:18:00Oh, no!
0:18:00 > 0:18:02So this is the child that was born a year,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05exactly a year, after they were married, the first child.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10This was actually, at the time, wildly reported on, in the locality.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Um, so here we have some further information here...
0:18:14 > 0:18:17"Fatal burns, child's sad death at Devonport.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20"Emily Springett, wife of a leading stoker,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23"now serving on the Queen, went to bed at 10.00,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27"she had two children, both of whom slept with her in the same bed.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30"She left a..." Who were...who were the two children?
0:18:30 > 0:18:34- Well, the baby Wilfred, who was... - My grandad?- Hm-mm.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35"She had two children,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38"both of whom slept with her in the same bed.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42"She left a small penny lamp burning on the table in order to enable her to feed her baby.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45"It was her practice to let the light burn all night.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48"The table on which it stood was a good way from the bed.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51"Between 7.00 and 7.30 on Friday morning she was awoke
0:18:51 > 0:18:56"by the cries of the deceased, whom she found burning.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59"Deceased was wearing a flan..." Oh, dear.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01HE CHOKES BACK TEARS
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Excuse me.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08It's really sad.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15All right?
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Crikey, how can this affect you? Didn't even know them.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Just the thought of waking up and find your baby burning.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31I know. It's an awful, awful, awful story.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36"The deceased was wearing a flannelette nightdress,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40"the mother tried to extinguish the flames, um,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44"the bed then caught fire and she couldn't put out the flames.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48"Dr Edgar Arthur Shervell, house surgeon,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51"said the deceased was admitted suffering from extensive burns,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54"practically covering the whole of the body.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57"Deceased died within two hours of admission from shock.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59"The case was a hopeless one from the first.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02"It had been stated that it was the usual practice
0:20:02 > 0:20:05"of a good many women who had young children to have a lamp burning
0:20:05 > 0:20:08"in order to see and nurse the baby.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10"If that were the practice,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12"which you must say was a highly dangerous one,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15"then they could not impute any blame to Mrs Springett.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18"Mrs Springett did all she could and burnt her left hand.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21"The jury returned a verdict of accidental death."
0:20:21 > 0:20:24She watched her baby go up in flames.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27That's really sad.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30- It is, isn't it? - Really, really sad.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38Valerie was one of an estimated 1,400 children under five
0:20:38 > 0:20:41who died from burns and scalds in 1908.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Only 2% of homes had electricity,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and open fires and paraffin lamps were a constant hazard.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Valerie was wearing flannelette,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57a fabric introduced in 1885 and widely used by the poor.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Considerably cheaper than flannel, which was made of wool,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03flannelette was designed to be just as warm,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07but had one major drawback - it was made of a type of cotton
0:21:07 > 0:21:12that was highly combustible, and in Valerie's case, fatal.
0:21:14 > 0:21:21I mean, the trauma of... of your child dying in such...
0:21:21 > 0:21:26such a horrible way, um, Emily would have had no counselling at all,
0:21:26 > 0:21:27she'd have felt terrible.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Henry must have blamed her,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34and this sort of thing would tear any family apart.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39Um, and it's tragic. And I don't really know how you get over it.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- And I suppose they didn't really, did they?- No.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46They didn't get over it. That's terrible.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52I'm...I'm reeling from this.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55I mean, I'm sad about this tragic accident,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and my emotions are going up and down like a roller coaster.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00I mean, I came in search of Henry Springett,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03thinking that he was a baddie, to actually find that he'd left
0:22:03 > 0:22:06because he'd found out his wife was having an affair, Emily.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10So then I began to really dislike and suspect Emily of all sorts,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and how dare she upset this hard-working Henry
0:22:13 > 0:22:17to find that Emily is living a life of absolute tragedy.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18She's lost two children.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21One to a tragic accident in a fire in front of her eyes,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and another two-year-old to TB.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29This is where Emily lived, this is where Henry came back to,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33and I can't walk up and down these streets without seeing them.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35What happened to them?
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I don't think either of them are bad people, you know,
0:22:38 > 0:22:39it's just tragic, isn't it? Tragic.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49Gregg still doesn't know what happened to Henry
0:22:49 > 0:22:51or where he ended up.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55He's asked Claire to try to find a death certificate for him.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Well, while I'm waiting for Henry's death certificate to arrive,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02on to other things.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05And Emily's mother, sitting beside me.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Now, I know from the Census that my mum had
0:23:08 > 0:23:11that Emily was born in High Bickington in Northern Devon.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14So that's where I'm off to now and to find out more
0:23:14 > 0:23:18about the beautiful great-great-grandmother I'm travelling with!
0:23:22 > 0:23:26I want to know more about you because you are very smartly dressed,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28and mysterious looking.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30I've enjoyed, though, travelling with you.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32You are a very, very good listener!
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Gregg is meeting genealogist Janet Few.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- I know that Emily was born here in High Bickington.- Yes.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48- And that's why we're here.- Right.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Well, I can help you a little bit with that
0:23:50 > 0:23:51because this is her baptism record here.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54That's Emily.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56"Parents name... Eli?"
0:23:56 > 0:23:57Yes.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01- Eli and Selina are Emily's mum and dad?- Yeah.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03So now you can introduce yourself to Selina.
0:24:03 > 0:24:04- That's Selina.- Yes.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- "Father's occupation, labourer?" - Yes.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Would that be farm labourer?
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Yeah, almost certainly here, yes.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14It's so funny, I thought Selina might be posh. She's not, is she?
0:24:14 > 0:24:17- Eli's a farm labourer. - I'm afraid so, yes.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19So Selina would have... would have visited here?
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- She'd have been in here a lot? - Yes. This is her local chapel.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27Now this, as you'll see from the front, is a record of baptisms
0:24:27 > 0:24:31that took place in the Bible Christian Chapels
0:24:31 > 0:24:33in the Barnstable Circuit.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36And the Bible Christians were an offshoot of the Methodist Church
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and they were very, very strong in this part of the world,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42in North Devon and in Cornwall and other rural areas
0:24:42 > 0:24:43such as the Isle of Wight.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47The Bible Christian Chapels were for the working classes.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50It was very much a religion of the people.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Selina and Eli would be coming here, too,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56perhaps three times every Sunday and maybe a couple of times in the week
0:24:56 > 0:24:59and they would be here primarily for the sermon.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02That's the key to your service, is the sermon,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04and that could quite easily go on for an hour.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07And it was very much hellfire and damnation.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10We have a hymn that might have been sung here by Selina.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13This is actually taken from a book of hymns
0:25:13 > 0:25:17especially chosen for the Bible Christian congregations.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20"Though now Satan tries to please thee
0:25:20 > 0:25:23"Lest thou timely warning take
0:25:23 > 0:25:25"In that fearful day he'll seize thee
0:25:25 > 0:25:28"Plunge thee in the burning lake
0:25:28 > 0:25:30"Think, poor sinner
0:25:30 > 0:25:33"Thine eternal all's at stake."
0:25:33 > 0:25:37And it was. Because if you've transgressed, you're going to hell.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40So Selina is living her life thinking,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43honestly believing that if she doesn't do God's will
0:25:43 > 0:25:47- and do what's right, she faces eternal damnation...- Yes.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50- ..and the tortures of the damned? - Yes.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54One of the unusual things about the Bible Christian chapels
0:25:54 > 0:25:56was that they used women preachers.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Now, this is the Victorian age,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00this is an age when women are not educated,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02when everything that you own
0:26:02 > 0:26:05actually is the property of your husband if you're a married woman,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07and women were encouraged to preach.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Aye-aye.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11She's the wife of a farm labourer,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14yet she's got an early photographic portrait.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16It is quite unusual.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19I have to say, a lot of the Bible Christian photographs
0:26:19 > 0:26:21that I've seen have been of preachers.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26We've got no evidence that she was a preacher, but who knows?
0:26:26 > 0:26:27I reckon Selina preached.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29I reckon that's why we've got a photograph of her.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I think she was important in her community.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Now I suspect I know what she did,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38I'm actually trembling a little bit myself.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40I kind of... I kind of want to confess!
0:26:40 > 0:26:41SHE LAUGHS
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Would you like to take Selina's story back a little bit further?
0:26:45 > 0:26:49- Yeah.- Right. - Yeah, I really would.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Well, here we have a Census return taken in 1871, and you'll find...
0:26:53 > 0:26:56- 1871!- ..Selina.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58Here she is, down the bottom of a page, not yet married.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- Selina's 20 at this point.- Yes.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05- What does that say? - That's gloveress.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06- She made gloves?- She did.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Who are these people? Brothers and sisters?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Brothers and sisters, yes.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Rebecca makes gloves as well. Richard, no occupation listed.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15Er, no.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17- He's an imbecile?- Yes.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Not a very politically correct age, the Victorian Age,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25and these are terms that have no precise medical definition.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It's some kind of learning difficulty.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Three girls and a boy. The boy's an imbecile, or listed as an imbecile.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- The dad's living on a pension. - Yes.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38And the girls are all making gloves. Doesn't sound too bad.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39But it's not glorious, is it?
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Emily's mum, Selina, I now know her name,
0:27:44 > 0:27:45was really, really into the church,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47but not in a way we'd recognise today.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50I mean, it was her whole life.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55I think that the only reason there can be a photograph like this
0:27:55 > 0:28:01is if Selina was a female preacher for the Bible Christians.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Gregg wants to find out more about Selina's job as a glove maker.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12He's on his way to nearby Torrington to meet Val Morris,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16who's been studying the North Devon glove industry.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Val! Why have you brought me here?
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Well, I've brought you here to show you one of the finest examples
0:28:24 > 0:28:28of a glove factory which is still standing,
0:28:28 > 0:28:33and where Selina could have brought her gloves when she finished them
0:28:33 > 0:28:36and also collected the next lot for the following week.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38How did that work?
0:28:38 > 0:28:40So she wouldn't work here, she'd work at home?
0:28:40 > 0:28:44She'd work at home, and that was hard work because she would be
0:28:44 > 0:28:48starting sewing early in the morning, by the window,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50because there was no electric light,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53and then at night, she would work in the evenings
0:28:53 > 0:28:57after she'd done her housework and everything, by candlelight.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00She would do a long walk into town every week?
0:29:00 > 0:29:02- Yes, she would, yes. - With her gloves.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07And back again. But then bearing in mind, of course, that the roads weren't tarmacked,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10it would be a muddy pathway, probably, in the winter,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and then very dusty and dirty in the summer.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16How big was this gloving industry in North Devon?
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Oh, it was huge. Absolutely huge.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22And a lot of the gloves made here could be by Selina,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25would have been exported round the world.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29In fact, Torrington was known as "gloving the world",
0:29:29 > 0:29:32because they would be sent from here up to London,
0:29:32 > 0:29:37and then on to Paris and Italy and places,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39because the fashion in those days,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43if you didn't have sleeves, you had to wear gloves.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47The 19th century was the heyday of glove making,
0:29:47 > 0:29:51with Torrington competing against the great glove centres of Europe.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Their gloves were in demand among every social class,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58but particularly in fashionable society,
0:29:58 > 0:30:04with etiquette dictating that a lady had to have at least 12 pairs for different social occasions.
0:30:06 > 0:30:1160% of Torrington's female workforce was employed in gloving in the 1860s.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15As a home-based glove maker, Selina's hours were long,
0:30:15 > 0:30:20but flexible, and helped to supplement her husband's farm labourer's income.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Can you tell me anything else about Selina?
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Er, yes, Gregg, I have some of the Census returns here.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32- And this is 18...- 61.- 1861.
0:30:32 > 0:30:33- Here...- That's it.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36- Yeah.- You've got her aged eight.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38- And she's a gloveress already. - Yeah.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42- George Gill, the dad...- Yes.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44- Pauper, invalid.- Invalid.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47- Selina is eight years old.- Yes.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50And she's the only one listed as an occupation.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54- So it's possible that she's the only one in the house working? - Yes, absolutely possible.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58And she would probably be, even at eight, possibly,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01having to walk into Torrington to hand the gloves in.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05So hard life from a very early age.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08- And a real sense of responsibility. - Yes. Yes, terrific.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12So 1861, 1871. I've seen this one in the church.
0:31:12 > 0:31:19- 1881, she... Where is she? She's married. There's Eli.- Hm-mm.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21Selina...
0:31:21 > 0:31:24She's no longer a glover, she's a glove maker and it says here "silk".
0:31:24 > 0:31:27That's definitely a step up, and one of the best glove makers,
0:31:27 > 0:31:29because of her fine stitching.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31- She's doing all right. - Doing very well, yeah.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34And I'm sure that brought in more money.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36- But then she's been at it for 30 years.- Yeah, 30 years.
0:31:36 > 0:31:42You imagine sitting, you know, with a candle, sewing away on gloves.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44- 30 years!- All of 30 years.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47But she is...she is being recognised for her skill.
0:31:47 > 0:31:48That's right, yes. So it's paid off.
0:31:48 > 0:31:53And now ten years later, 1891, she's still making gloves,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55- she's 39, 40.- 40.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57She's still married to Eli. Good.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00- And they've got two little girls. - Two little girls.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03- Emily, who's my mum's grandmother. - Grandmother. Right, yes.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05And a sister, Ethel.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08- Happy little family. - Very happy little family.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11I was at the church yesterday that Selina regularly attended.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15- Oh, right.- And I thought that perhaps she may have been a preacher.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18- But there's nothing on any of these to suggest that she was.- No.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24So in 1891, Selina's a mum with two children.
0:32:24 > 0:32:31- Anything after that?- Yes, we found another Census form in 1901.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37- Selina.- Selina.- Leythorne. Married. - That's right, yes.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39- She's now a housewife.- Yeah.
0:32:41 > 0:32:42Er...
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Where's her husband?
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Looks like she's on her own.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Lunatic?
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Hang on, this is a big line of lunatics.
0:32:58 > 0:32:59Yes.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01Where is she? In an asylum?
0:33:01 > 0:33:03- Where is this?- Exminster.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Devon County Lunatic Asylum.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Whoa! Selina!
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Tracking down my mum's side of the family,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17- I'm just bouncing from one tragedy to another.- Oh, no!
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Oh, Gregg! Oh!
0:33:20 > 0:33:22GREGG SIGHS
0:33:23 > 0:33:25It's tough. I'm not used to sad stories.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28I mean, Emily's story was tough, and I thought after that tragedy
0:33:28 > 0:33:32we might have a happier story, but her mum, Selina, this is awful.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36I'm not used to sad things in my day. You know, I have happy days.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39The saddest thing that happens to me is somebody might over-season a souffle.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41Although it's sad, I don't want to stop.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45I really want to know what Selina is doing in an asylum.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52Gregg is on his way to the Devon Record Office in Exeter
0:33:52 > 0:33:56to meet Professor Bill Forsythe, who is an expert on the County Asylum.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Bill, I found out Selina Leythorne, who's my great-great-grandmother,
0:34:02 > 0:34:07was actually in a lunatic asylum, and I want to know more.
0:34:07 > 0:34:08Yes, that's right.
0:34:08 > 0:34:15I managed to find the order for her reception made in 1896.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21"The said Selina Leythorne, person of an unsound mind,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23"detained under care and treatment."
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Just her name, sex and age.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30"Married. Wife of a farm labourer."
0:34:30 > 0:34:31She...
0:34:31 > 0:34:35"She says she has sold herself to Hell."
0:34:35 > 0:34:37"Sold herself to Hell," that's right.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40"She has sold herself to Hell and cannot go to Heaven.
0:34:41 > 0:34:49"Mary Leythorne, her sister-in-law, tells me she is always talking about being lost."
0:34:49 > 0:34:55- Oh... "And by her constant talking, she disturbs everybody."- Yeah.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Um...
0:34:57 > 0:35:03- So she's constantly talking about losing her soul.- Yeah.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05- Being damned.- Yeah.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09- Um...- Which of course, for a Baptist Bible Christian
0:35:09 > 0:35:11is almost the worst thing you can imagine.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15But her whole life, from a very young age, has been all about
0:35:15 > 0:35:17- the need to do right by God.- Yes.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19- Otherwise you will suffer this damnation.- Yeah.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23- And she strongly believes that's her fate.- Yeah.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24Oh, wow!
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- Age on the first attack, 25 years.- Yes.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33- She's been in an asylum before, 18 years ago.- Yes.
0:35:33 > 0:35:34- In her...in her 20s.- Yes.
0:35:34 > 0:35:40- But then it all flared back up again much later in life.- Yeah. Yeah.
0:35:40 > 0:35:41Yeah.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43GREGG SIGHS
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Here we have the asylum record from her first admission.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57"External appearances, tall, thin, pale and in poor condition altogether.
0:35:57 > 0:36:03"Symptoms when admitted, very noisy, shouting out text and scripture
0:36:03 > 0:36:08"and declaring that her soul is lost, twitches her face,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11- "bites her lips and grins."- Yeah.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15It doesn't say what she thought she had done...
0:36:16 > 0:36:21..that was so wrong that she'd sold herself to Satan.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25There was an event which had occurred in her life, um,
0:36:25 > 0:36:30which was the death of her brother, um...
0:36:30 > 0:36:32- The imbecile, Richard?- Yes.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35And he had died about two to three months before she was admitted.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39He died of convulsions at home.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42And if it's at home, Selina would have seen it.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44- I mean, she worked at home.- Yes.
0:36:44 > 0:36:51The death of Richard may have appeared to her to be a sign of God's wrath towards her.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54- This progress report has got different date entries.- Yes.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00The record goes through to 1879, August, when she's discharged. Recovered.
0:37:00 > 0:37:06If she's been discharged after three years, it would suggest that actually the treatment worked
0:37:06 > 0:37:10- and these Bible Christians have accepted her back into the community again.- Yes.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13- Cos she's married, they've married her.- Yeah.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17- And her husband's a Bible Christian. So...- Yes.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21- It looked like it was going OK for her.- Yes.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26The first time Selina was admitted to the Devon Asylum,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30it was part of a new and radical approach to mental health care.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34The Victorians believed that asylums should be therapeutic rural retreats,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37away from the stresses of city life.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Appalled by the conditions the mentally ill had previously been kept in,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44they built an asylum in every county in the 1840s.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Emphasis was placed on a structured work routine.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55Good nutrition, gentle exercise, monthly balls and outings.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01This treatment worked for Selina, who was discharged after three years.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03But by the time Selina was recommitted 17 years later,
0:38:03 > 0:38:08conditions at the asylum had sharply deteriorated.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13Patient numbers had nearly doubled from 600 to more than 1,000
0:38:13 > 0:38:16and they were little more than prisoners in overcrowded dormitories
0:38:16 > 0:38:20with reports of staff brutality and suicides.
0:38:20 > 0:38:26The original humane approach had shifted and the mentally ill were now viewed as a threat to society
0:38:26 > 0:38:28rather than patients who could be treated.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Selina died in the asylum in 1901, aged 51.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Gregg and Bill are driving to the Devon Asylum,
0:38:42 > 0:38:44now in use as residential housing.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49What you're about to see now, Gregg, is exactly what Selina would have seen
0:38:49 > 0:38:52when she was brought up this avenue to the asylum.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Straight ahead of you is the reception area,
0:38:58 > 0:39:02and that's pretty well exactly what she would have seen.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07- It's a much bigger building than I imagined.- It is huge.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10It's not in any way welcoming. Maybe that's cos I know what it was.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Look at it, look. It's almost like barracks.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19I was imagining a large house, I don't know why.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25She would have lived in one of the women's wings in one of these radiating galleries.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Would you mind getting out and having a quick look around?
0:39:28 > 0:39:30Yeah, sure.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36It's a very impressive building, but it's just tinged with so much sadness,
0:39:36 > 0:39:41and to know that she...she died here, and she definitely didn't die here happy.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45It just looks like such a terrible imposing, awful place.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48It was a place of immense human tragedy,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52- with 14,000 inmates passing through it.- Yeah.
0:39:52 > 0:39:58- Well, she came out of here the first time, she got married, she had children and...- That's right.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02But it wasn't at all nice when she...when she came back.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06Um, I didn't want to come in.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09I feel...I'm feeling a bit better, but it just feels so oppressive.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15She was frightened.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Most of the time, she was just frightened.
0:40:22 > 0:40:28There's one last thing I wanted to show you, Gregg, which is this.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33It's a photograph of a woman from another asylum
0:40:33 > 0:40:36when she was in the asylum undergoing treatment,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40and when she was released from the asylum.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45I wondered if this particularly reminded you of anyone?
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Yeah, it's the same pose as Selina.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51- Yes.- Holding the book.- Yes.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56Now, it may well be the picture that you have of Selina
0:40:56 > 0:41:02was a picture taken by the asylum in 1879 when she left here,
0:41:02 > 0:41:07because there are such striking similarities,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10holding the Bible,
0:41:10 > 0:41:12um, her pose, her dress.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14That's quite a...
0:41:14 > 0:41:15Erm...
0:41:20 > 0:41:23- It's actually quite a happy picture.- Yes.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25- Because, um...- Yes.
0:41:25 > 0:41:30- She's leaving and she's well and she's going off to meet Eli and have her children.- Yes.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32It's quite a happy picture.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34- Sorry, it's such a sad place.- Yes.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38OK?
0:41:38 > 0:41:39Yeah, thank you.
0:41:39 > 0:41:40GREGG SNIFFS
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Crikey! I didn't understand why we had a photograph
0:41:43 > 0:41:46of a farm labourer's wife.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49- I thought she must have been somebody important.- Yes.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Just this poor, sad lady. This is where she ended her days.
0:41:52 > 0:41:53GREGG SNIFFS
0:42:00 > 0:42:03I really want to go home and cuddle the dog!
0:42:10 > 0:42:14When I came down here with the picture of her, I never expected that.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17It's a fine sort of tragedy creeping up on people
0:42:17 > 0:42:20and to have so many unexpected things in their life, I feel it.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23I feel it. It's all out of control.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27It's all... nothing you can do anything about.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30Tragedy happens and it's scary, it's really frightening.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36And I'm thinking of Emily, um, Selina's daughter.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39No wonder Emily was so needy, she had tragedy right from the start.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44She was a teenager, 14/15 when her mum went into the asylum
0:42:44 > 0:42:46for the second time. That's the age of...
0:42:47 > 0:42:49..of my daughter.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56Wow, what's happening? It's so sad.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58So sad.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Gregg is in London at his restaurant in Putney.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Leaving the sad ladies behind,
0:43:16 > 0:43:19now I want to get back on the trail of Henry Springett,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21who is my great-grandfather.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Now, I know he filed for divorce.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27I also know that he finished his term in the Royal Navy
0:43:27 > 0:43:30and then disappeared. I've got no idea where he is.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35But when I met up with the historian, Claire, she promised me she'd try and find his death certificate,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37which is what I've got here.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40I just so need a little bit of good news with this family.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43I'm really hoping that Henry's got a little slice of happiness.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47- I don't think- I- can bear more... more sadness.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50I'm so scared. I'm so nervous, I don't...
0:43:58 > 0:44:00Death certificate in Slough.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03"Henry Roland Springett, 66 years,
0:44:03 > 0:44:08"caretaker and watchman at the Sand End Gravel Works.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11"6th February, 1946.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14"S R Springett, his daughter."
0:44:14 > 0:44:17How's he got another daughter called Springett, he's not divorced?
0:44:19 > 0:44:20Henry!
0:44:20 > 0:44:26Well, all right, it's not Australia, it's not Canada, it's Slough!
0:44:27 > 0:44:29He emigrated to Slough!
0:44:29 > 0:44:32There's another piece of paper in here.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38"Dear Gregg, I'm delighted to say that I have found Henry.
0:44:38 > 0:44:39"Here is his death certificate.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43"I have also traced Henry's daughter and found she got married
0:44:43 > 0:44:46"and her name was Rosemary Higginson.
0:44:46 > 0:44:52"I last found her living in Slough with a son called Geoffrey, five years ago.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58"I would try to trace him as he must know about his grandfather."
0:44:58 > 0:45:05It's a mystery, but right now it doesn't seem like an unhappy mystery.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07Just a bit of a strange one.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10What's Henry been up to?
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Well, I'm going to look for, er, Geoffrey Higginson in Slough.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15I'm just going type that in and see what comes up.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17G-E-O...
0:45:20 > 0:45:22There's one in Devon.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24One in Slough?
0:45:24 > 0:45:26He's still in Slough.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Lawn Tennis Club, men's doubles.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Geoff Higginson joins as new club coach.
0:45:37 > 0:45:38See the photo...
0:45:38 > 0:45:43That's Geoff Higginson. That's Henry's grandson.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45Hello, mate!
0:45:45 > 0:45:48So what does he do? He's a tennis coach. Brilliant.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51There's a phone number down here, so I can call... I'm a bit scared.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54What do I say? Hello, I'm...
0:45:54 > 0:45:55I think we might be related
0:45:55 > 0:45:57and, by the way, my backhand's rubbish!
0:46:04 > 0:46:07(I'm nervous.)
0:46:07 > 0:46:08I'm really nervous.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14- 'Hello?'- Good morning, am I speaking to Geoff Higginson?
0:46:14 > 0:46:16'Yes, that's correct, yes.'
0:46:16 > 0:46:20Hello, Geoff. Look, I know it's an unusual call cos I don't actually want tennis lessons.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22Er, bear with me.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25My name's Gregg Wallace
0:46:25 > 0:46:29and did you have a grandfather called Henry Springett?
0:46:29 > 0:46:31'Yes, I did actually.'
0:46:31 > 0:46:33I think we may be related.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35Look, I'm in London, you're in Slough, aren't you?
0:46:35 > 0:46:38'Um, yes, just outside Slough, yeah.'
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Would it be all right if I came to see you?
0:46:40 > 0:46:43- 'Yeah. I mean. I've got some photos I can show you.'- Brilliant, mate!
0:46:43 > 0:46:47- I'm coming down. I'm coming down. - 'OK, fine.'
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Geoff, I'm very excited. I'm very excited.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53'Yeah, me too. Look forward to seeing you.'
0:46:53 > 0:46:56- All right, put a clean shirt on! All right, mate.- 'Take care.'
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Look forward to speaking to you. Bye-bye.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01All right, Geoff, I'm coming!
0:47:14 > 0:47:15You're Geoff, are you?
0:47:15 > 0:47:17- How are you doing, good? - I'm good. I'm good.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21- You all right, brother? - Yeah, yeah. Good to see you.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23- Have you got time for a chat? - Yeah, do you want to come inside?
0:47:23 > 0:47:26- Yeah, yeah, sure. You got a kettle in there?- Yeah.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30Geoff, um, I reckon it's pretty clear
0:47:30 > 0:47:34- that your grandad is my great-grandad.- Yeah, it's amazing.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37- Can I show you a photograph? - Yeah, please do.
0:47:41 > 0:47:42That is Henry.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47- Yeah.- This is the picture I've got of, of my grandad.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49That's him? That's him.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52- Same, same hairstyle, everything. - Same outfit.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55- Same outfit, isn't that amazing? - Yeah.- They look really happy, don't they?
0:47:55 > 0:47:58- Funny you should say that! I'm not sure they were.- Oh, right.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Now, do you know the rest, cos I can go up to 1920
0:48:02 > 0:48:03and that's as far as I can go?
0:48:03 > 0:48:06I can fill you in with some information, yeah.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09This is a picture of my grandmother.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11She's lovely!
0:48:11 > 0:48:14She was a ballet teacher and a piano teacher.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17How did he pull her? A stoker from Bromley!
0:48:17 > 0:48:20How did he pull a classy ballet teacher/pianist?
0:48:20 > 0:48:24- The funny thing about it is that her name was Emily.- Oh, OK.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27- They never actually got married. - Well, that makes sense.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29If he had had married her, he would have been a bigamist.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32- Was he happy? - Well, he had two daughters.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36The lady on the left was Sheila Rosemary, my mother,
0:48:36 > 0:48:38and the sister was Patricia.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41- Was she older than your mum? - Yes, she's two years older.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42She was born in 1919.
0:48:42 > 0:48:48So if your Auntie Pat was born in 1919,
0:48:48 > 0:48:54that means Henry must have met Emily 2,
0:48:54 > 0:48:58- 1917, 1918? I mean that's during the war.- Yeah.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00Did they have a happy life together?
0:49:00 > 0:49:05I've got something to show you actually, Gregg, because this will explain what happened.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08- What's this? A Registration of... - This is actually...
0:49:09 > 0:49:11This is a Death Certificate.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Emily Springett, 35 years old.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20- Is this your grandmother? - This is my grandmother. - She died at 35 years old?- Yes.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27The cause of death is shock following being accidentally knocked down
0:49:27 > 0:49:31by a motor car. Where is this?
0:49:31 > 0:49:33District of Antrim. What are they doing in Ireland?
0:49:33 > 0:49:36My grandmother was Irish.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39- During the war he was patrolling the Irish Sea.- Right.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43- So that does make a lot of sense. He must have been docking in Ireland regularly.- Yeah.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48Maybe the reason he can't turn up at divorce court in 1922
0:49:48 > 0:49:51is he's with a wife and family in Ireland.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54She died in 1923, so they didn't have long together,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56they must have had five or six years together.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59There's another twist to it. It's quite tragic.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07It's all right. I've been through this myself.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15When, when the accident happened, the passenger...
0:50:18 > 0:50:19..was Henry.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23So the vehicle that killed...
0:50:23 > 0:50:25Oh, my word!
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Oh, my word!
0:50:29 > 0:50:32But we, we don't have any sort of written proof of that.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36It was just what my mother had told us about what had happened.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40It would be amazing to know the truth about that.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Yeah, I'll see what I can find.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45- He's had the toughest life I could possibly imagine.- Mm.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47But he brought the two girls up.
0:50:47 > 0:50:53Well, after the accident, um, Henry came to England with the girls
0:50:53 > 0:50:55looking for work
0:50:55 > 0:50:59and found a job in London...
0:51:00 > 0:51:02..but couldn't keep the girls,
0:51:02 > 0:51:04found foster parents for the both of them.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10Henry has lost his first daughter, tragically.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14- His first wife was cheating on him. - Hm-mm.
0:51:14 > 0:51:19He's had to leave his son. He's fallen in love again.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22Watched her die.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25And then had to give up his two little girls.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29- About 1908 and 1923 all this has happened.- Right.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34- He must have felt like he was tumbling downhill forever.- Mm.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45Gregg is in Northern Ireland and on his way to Larne where the tragedy occurred.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49I was really hoping that once Henry left his family in Plymouth
0:51:49 > 0:51:53he'd have found someone and settled down and had a peaceful, happy life,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56but there's more tragedy for Henry.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59His, his second love, Emily 2, as I've called her,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02she's killed in a car accident.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07And now, horribly, the rumour is that Henry was a passenger in the car that killed her.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09And I want to find out the truth.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17Owning a car was initially the preserve of an elite few,
0:52:17 > 0:52:21but during the First World War soldiers and nurses learned to drive,
0:52:21 > 0:52:26and, as a result, the early 1920s saw a boom in car manufacture.
0:52:27 > 0:52:34In 1923, the year Emily died, there were only 390,000 cars on the road,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36compared to over 31 million today.
0:52:36 > 0:52:42But the chance of being run over and killed then was over a 100 times greater.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Gregg has arrived at Larne Library.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51- Hello.- Hello, can I help you? - I hope so.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56- Um, I'm looking for local newspaper reports, 1923.- Yes.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58- Early September.- Yes.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01I think we should have that for you. Just a moment, please, and I'll fetch them.
0:53:04 > 0:53:09- This is the volume here. Here we are. - Cor! Thanks. Mary, thank you.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13So let's have a... It's massive!
0:53:13 > 0:53:15Oh, I see.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19Right, February, August 4th.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21We're getting there.
0:53:21 > 0:53:22September 8th.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29"Husband's terrible ordeal.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32"Sees wife killed by motor.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35"Distressing Glynn tragedy."
0:53:35 > 0:53:36Here we go.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42"Dashing in front of a motor car to rescue her child from danger,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46"Mrs Springett, a resident in Glynn Village near Larne,
0:53:46 > 0:53:48"was fatally injured a short distance from her own house
0:53:48 > 0:53:51"on Thursday evening last, 30th.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54"The chief witness being the bereaved husband,
0:53:54 > 0:54:00"who from a distance of 25 yards, was a horror-stricken eye-witness of the tragedy.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03"To him and the motherless children,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05"the sympathy of the entire community goes out.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09"Mr Springett is an ex-Navy man with an honourable record.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13"Twelve months ago he himself was involved in a most distressing accident
0:54:13 > 0:54:17"being the survivor in a drowning accident when he and two companions
0:54:17 > 0:54:21"were in a boat that capsized by the side of a dredger
0:54:21 > 0:54:25"and he alone managed to swim ashore."
0:54:25 > 0:54:28He's not a passenger in the car that kills Emily,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31but the horror of it is he's 25 yards away. He's witnessed it all.
0:54:31 > 0:54:37And then he was in another accident where friends of his drowned.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43One person should not have to suffer this much sorrow.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48He's settling down to a nice life. He's in love.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52He's got young children. He's respected and liked in the community.
0:54:52 > 0:54:57Fate is just dealing him a bad hand over and over again.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06Gregg, I've made you a copy of the report of the inquest
0:55:06 > 0:55:11and this is also a photograph of a car similar to the car which was mentioned.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Thanks, Mary. Um, how far away is Glynn?
0:55:15 > 0:55:19It's just two miles out the road, out the coast road.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- Right, a couple of miles? - Just a couple of miles away.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23I think I'm going to pop down and have a look.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30Having read the details of the inquest,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Gregg is now in the village of Glynn where the tragic accident happened.
0:55:38 > 0:55:39This is it.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42This is the very stretch where he lost her.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44This is where she went.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47So it's a warm summer's night, end of August,
0:55:47 > 0:55:51between five and six o'clock. Henry's finished work, he's walking home,
0:55:51 > 0:55:53to see his wife and children.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56This is the strip that he's walking down.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01His wife and children are coming in the opposite direction to meet him
0:56:01 > 0:56:06from the village, all smiling, all happy, she may have even prepared dinner.
0:56:06 > 0:56:12Henry walks down here, he's 25 yards away, so he's spotted the wife, he could be waving.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15He's obviously got a big grin on his face, his little girls are there,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18his wife there may have said to the kids. "Can you see Daddy?"
0:56:18 > 0:56:21They could have been waving and jumping up and down.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25He's walking along here, Henry, a bread van goes by this way.
0:56:26 > 0:56:31As it gets there, past there, a motor car comes round the corner,
0:56:31 > 0:56:35he can still see he's getting closer now to Emily and the children and that's it.
0:56:35 > 0:56:41From about here, the little girl runs out into the middle of the road there, the car swerves,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45the sea side of the road, it goes up on to the embankment,
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Emily has dived in front of the car to pick up the girl,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52as he's swerving to miss the girl, hits Emily. That's it.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54She's about there.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58And Henry must have just been screaming, running down the road.
0:56:58 > 0:57:03We know from the inquest that when the driver got out and ran back,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07Henry's got Emily in his arms. She never woke up again.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15Completely tragic. I mean, we're literally just minutes from their house.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19I mean what are they doing? They're going to meet their dad from work, that's what they're doing.
0:57:23 > 0:57:28I'm absolutely convinced that all Henry wanted to do was graft,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30settle down and provide for his wife and family,
0:57:30 > 0:57:32that's all he ever wanted to do.
0:57:32 > 0:57:37And he faced catastrophe and sadness over and over again.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41I like Henry Springett. I really do.
0:57:42 > 0:57:47I admire him. I admired my grandfather, his son.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50It's a shame that the two of them didn't know each other.
0:57:55 > 0:58:02There's no escaping the fact, Henry, Emily and Selina absolutely had the rug pulled from under their feet.
0:58:02 > 0:58:07I mean, they actually faced tragedy. They faced disaster.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10It's actually remarkable that I'm here!
0:58:10 > 0:58:15I would find it hard to say that I've really enjoyed this voyage of discovery,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18but I have found it fascinating.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22It's had far many more tears than it's had smiles
0:58:22 > 0:58:27but I understand a lot more and I admire them. I like them.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31And more than anything, I think my heart goes out to them.
0:58:56 > 0:58:59Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd