Ben Miller

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0:00:02 > 0:00:04Ben Miller is best loved for his comedy sketch shows with

0:00:04 > 0:00:06partner Alexander Armstrong,

0:00:06 > 0:00:09and performances in detective series Death in Paradise

0:00:09 > 0:00:13and the hit movie Johnny English have made him a household name.

0:00:16 > 0:00:20Now, Ben is here in Wales to research his Welsh ancestry.

0:00:21 > 0:00:25Although Ben grew up in London, his mother is Welsh

0:00:25 > 0:00:28and it's her family he's keen to discover more about.

0:00:28 > 0:00:31We always came on holiday to Wales

0:00:31 > 0:00:36and, of course, my mother talks about it a lot.

0:00:36 > 0:00:41So, I of course learnt a lot about Wales from my mother.

0:00:41 > 0:00:45It's time for Ben to play detective once more in greener surroundings.

0:00:47 > 0:00:50If you don't find out now, when are you going to find out?

0:00:50 > 0:00:52Ben Miller is coming home.

0:00:55 > 0:00:57On this journey, Ben discovers

0:00:57 > 0:00:59he's not the only famous face in the family.

0:00:59 > 0:01:03- LAUGHING:- That's ridiculous!

0:01:05 > 0:01:08- We'll have to...- What do I think? - Yeah.- What do you think of it?

0:01:08 > 0:01:11That's just extraordinary.

0:01:11 > 0:01:13He's overcome with emotion

0:01:13 > 0:01:16after learning of a decorated World War I hero.

0:01:16 > 0:01:20I always find that war very, very moving,

0:01:20 > 0:01:27but to feel a closer connection is very profound.

0:01:28 > 0:01:32And is Ben's ancestor quite the artist he's claimed to be?

0:01:33 > 0:01:36This is brilliant. "It's not really like a modern lion.

0:01:36 > 0:01:39"It has a bear's head, a poodle's neck and the legs of a lion."

0:01:39 > 0:01:41HE LAUGHS

0:01:43 > 0:01:45Ben has travelled to Neath in South Wales,

0:01:45 > 0:01:50a place where generations of his family lived and worked.

0:01:50 > 0:01:53And it's here at St Thomas's Church, in the heart of Neath,

0:01:53 > 0:01:56that Ben has arranged to meet with genealogist

0:01:56 > 0:01:59Mike Churchill-Jones for the reading of his family tree.

0:01:59 > 0:02:04Hi, Ben. We've been researching your Welsh ancestry and this,

0:02:04 > 0:02:08- this is what we've come up with. - Wow.

0:02:08 > 0:02:11It's enormous. Wow.

0:02:13 > 0:02:14That's incredible.

0:02:15 > 0:02:19Ben can see he has ancestry in Glamorganshire

0:02:19 > 0:02:21dating back to the early 1700s.

0:02:24 > 0:02:28And even further back in Montgomeryshire and Breconshire.

0:02:29 > 0:02:32On your mother's maternal side, the Thomas line,

0:02:32 > 0:02:37you come from deep farming stock in Breconshire, which you expected?

0:02:37 > 0:02:40I kind of hoped, yes. I was sort of hoping.

0:02:40 > 0:02:43I feel that farming is in my blood, so, yes, I'm pleased about that.

0:02:43 > 0:02:47They were from the village of Llangammarch

0:02:47 > 0:02:50and a guy called Thomas Thomas, your second great-grandfather,

0:02:50 > 0:02:53he was a farmer and a sheep dealer there.

0:02:53 > 0:02:55That's exciting.

0:02:55 > 0:02:59- I can go hill walking in Breconshire now.- You can.- Great.

0:02:59 > 0:03:03Generations of Ben's family worked in the timber industry.

0:03:03 > 0:03:06But things changed with his great-great-grandfather,

0:03:06 > 0:03:08Joseph Hopkins.

0:03:08 > 0:03:12He went to work for the railways as a railway porter.

0:03:12 > 0:03:14And, as I say, his family trade was as a sawyer.

0:03:14 > 0:03:16What do you know about being a sawyer?

0:03:16 > 0:03:20I'm thinking they wouldn't have had huge mechanical saws then,

0:03:20 > 0:03:22so quite hard work, I would imagine.

0:03:23 > 0:03:27Finally Ben's journey of discovery will be monopolised by

0:03:27 > 0:03:31a family name handed down generation after generation.

0:03:32 > 0:03:34Samuel Peploe Mellin.

0:03:34 > 0:03:38- That's a great name.- Isn't it? - Samuel Peploe Mellin.

0:03:38 > 0:03:42You couldn't have a better 19th-century name.

0:03:42 > 0:03:45What a fantastic name. But he worked as a painter.

0:03:45 > 0:03:51- He'd have to be a painter with a name like Samuel Peploe Mellin, wouldn't you?- Yeah.- Yeah.

0:03:51 > 0:03:54If there... Was ever anyone born to his trade?

0:03:54 > 0:03:59Maybe we'll be finding his watercolours. I don't know.

0:03:59 > 0:04:00BEN LAUGHS

0:04:00 > 0:04:02Wow.

0:04:04 > 0:04:07Ben has no idea how true this statement will become.

0:04:08 > 0:04:12In the church cemetery where generations of Peploe Mellins

0:04:12 > 0:04:17are buried, Mike can reveal the obituary of Samuel, who died in 1928.

0:04:17 > 0:04:21A document which reveals a man of many talents,

0:04:21 > 0:04:23or a man of very tall tales.

0:04:23 > 0:04:27"Mr Mellin at one time owned one of the largest painting

0:04:27 > 0:04:30"and decorating businesses in the town.

0:04:30 > 0:04:34"He had painted a large number of local scenes that showed

0:04:34 > 0:04:38"outstanding facility with the brush." This is brilliant.

0:04:38 > 0:04:42- We've just started. - "Outstanding facility."

0:04:42 > 0:04:46So I would say more than a painter and decorator, thank you very much.

0:04:46 > 0:04:49"About 45 years ago, he was commissioned to paint a portrait

0:04:49 > 0:04:53"of Albert, the Prince Consort, from a copy." A Royal commission.

0:04:53 > 0:04:59Here we go. Wait. This is brilliant.

0:04:59 > 0:05:02"He was a clever musician

0:05:02 > 0:05:04"and would play almost any instrument."

0:05:04 > 0:05:07- I was waiting for somebody to be a musician.- You've found him.

0:05:07 > 0:05:12"He was an all-round athlete, being a good cricketer

0:05:12 > 0:05:14"and a champion of the ice.

0:05:14 > 0:05:18"He played cricket for the old Cadoxton Club

0:05:18 > 0:05:21"and remembered the late WG Grace playing cricket

0:05:21 > 0:05:24"on the ground which is now the Victoria Gardens."

0:05:24 > 0:05:26He's just a sort of...

0:05:26 > 0:05:31It's just like a character from a Boy's Own manual, isn't it?

0:05:31 > 0:05:34- He's, er...- Indeed.- He's fantastic.

0:05:34 > 0:05:39"Mr Mellin was one of the finest figure skaters in Wales

0:05:39 > 0:05:41"and won the Neath Championship.

0:05:41 > 0:05:43"He was also a first-class shot."

0:05:45 > 0:05:48He'd been up in a balloon and had the exciting experience

0:05:48 > 0:05:52of being shipwrecked while painting the cabin of a ship.

0:05:52 > 0:05:56What do you think of all these claims about this man?

0:05:56 > 0:05:57Well, I think they're true.

0:05:57 > 0:05:59I don't think any of this is exaggeration.

0:05:59 > 0:06:01I think this is probably

0:06:01 > 0:06:05a pale imitation of this extraordinary character.

0:06:05 > 0:06:08Would you like to try and delve into this man's life a bit more?

0:06:08 > 0:06:13I would. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to find out more...

0:06:13 > 0:06:18- Let's see if we can help.- ..about local artist Mr SP Mellin.- Mm.- Wow.

0:06:20 > 0:06:22I think he's a tremendous character.

0:06:22 > 0:06:28I have to say it has a slight air, to me, of...

0:06:28 > 0:06:35another unmentioned talent which is storytelling. But let's see.

0:06:35 > 0:06:40I would love to know if any of that is true.

0:06:40 > 0:06:44But first, Ben is going to learn more about something

0:06:44 > 0:06:45he feels is in his blood.

0:06:46 > 0:06:50Ben was thrilled to hear of his deep farming heritage.

0:06:50 > 0:06:53But what Ben doesn't know is that his great-great-grandfather,

0:06:53 > 0:06:56Thomas Thomas, made a life-changing decision

0:06:56 > 0:07:00during a difficult period in Welsh farming history.

0:07:00 > 0:07:04He's visiting St Fagan's National History Museum to learn more

0:07:04 > 0:07:07and is met by a farming historian.

0:07:07 > 0:07:121882, that was the year your great-great grandfather

0:07:12 > 0:07:16took an important decision, important for him, for the family,

0:07:16 > 0:07:19- and indeed for you ultimately.- Yes.

0:07:19 > 0:07:23He decided actually he was going to move his family.

0:07:23 > 0:07:28- He was 63 years old. He had a much younger wife.- Really?

0:07:28 > 0:07:33- He had seven children all under the age of 12.- What?!

0:07:33 > 0:07:37- All under the age of 12. So he's been a busy boy.- Yeah.

0:07:37 > 0:07:42But he decided to take a momentous decision and move his family from,

0:07:42 > 0:07:47what to us would be this idyllic rural landscape, and move them,

0:07:47 > 0:07:51again to what we have characterised, I guess, as the industrial hell

0:07:51 > 0:07:53of Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil.

0:07:53 > 0:07:59- And it begs the obvious question, why did he do it?- Yes, exactly.

0:07:59 > 0:08:03Actually, the Welsh countryside in the mid-19th century was

0:08:03 > 0:08:04falling apart, essentially.

0:08:04 > 0:08:09Landlords weren't investing as they should have been.

0:08:09 > 0:08:13Thomas was a tenant farmer. He had no security of tenure.

0:08:13 > 0:08:17And equally, this was the period when food imports start

0:08:17 > 0:08:21- coming to Britain for the first time in large quantities.- Really?

0:08:21 > 0:08:25So, not only was wheat coming from the Canadian prairies, for example,

0:08:25 > 0:08:29- but things like frozen lamb... - Right.- ..was starting to come in as well...

0:08:29 > 0:08:32- Yeah.- ..and the consequence was inevitable.

0:08:32 > 0:08:37He had gambled everything on moving his family and the rest is history.

0:08:39 > 0:08:42Thomas worked as a platelayer on the railways at the heart

0:08:42 > 0:08:45of the Industrial Revolution, until his death in 1895.

0:08:46 > 0:08:50His family never returned to their farming roots and stayed

0:08:50 > 0:08:54in Merthyr Tydfil, working in the coal mines for generations to come.

0:08:56 > 0:09:00Whilst conducting his research, genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones

0:09:00 > 0:09:04decided to have a look at Ben's father's side of the family.

0:09:04 > 0:09:09He spotted the unusual last name of Ben's great-grandmother

0:09:09 > 0:09:11and found something quite extraordinary.

0:09:11 > 0:09:17- Well, her full name was Rose Elizabeth Lincoln.- Lincoln?- Mm.

0:09:17 > 0:09:21- Do you know anybody else called Lincoln?- Andy Lincoln the actor.

0:09:21 > 0:09:27- Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States.- Mm-hm.

0:09:36 > 0:09:40- You are related. - That's him there. We're not?- Mm-hm.

0:09:40 > 0:09:41You can't be serious.

0:09:43 > 0:09:45HE LAUGHS

0:09:45 > 0:09:48You cannot be serious. Oh, my goodness!

0:09:50 > 0:09:52How brilliant!

0:09:52 > 0:09:55- There she is.- Look at that. - Rose Elizabeth Lincoln.

0:09:55 > 0:09:56Rose Elizabeth Lincoln.

0:09:58 > 0:10:01And we go back through the Lincolns, we go...

0:10:01 > 0:10:03The whole line.

0:10:03 > 0:10:06- The whole line back to...- It goes all the way back to early 1500s.

0:10:06 > 0:10:08That's ridiculous!

0:10:08 > 0:10:10What do you think?

0:10:10 > 0:10:13- Will that do?- What do I think?- Yeah.

0:10:13 > 0:10:17What do you think I think? That's just extraordinary!

0:10:17 > 0:10:19That is...

0:10:20 > 0:10:23HE LAUGHS

0:10:23 > 0:10:25That's absolutely incredible.

0:10:25 > 0:10:27A picture of your cousin.

0:10:27 > 0:10:29It's my cousin Abraham Lincoln.

0:10:29 > 0:10:34Well, I mean, I knew we were... Obviously, I knew we were

0:10:34 > 0:10:36a distinguished family of, er...

0:10:36 > 0:10:39- of many generations.- There's a bit of you there, isn't there?

0:10:39 > 0:10:42- The nose?- There is literally a bit of me there.- Shape of the nose.

0:10:42 > 0:10:45Shape of the nose. There is literally a bit of me there.

0:10:45 > 0:10:46Yeah, there literally is.

0:10:48 > 0:10:51- Do I get to keep to keep the 5?- I think so, yeah.

0:10:51 > 0:10:53THEY LAUGH

0:10:54 > 0:10:59Earlier, Ben read the colourful obituary of Samuel Peploe Mellin,

0:10:59 > 0:11:02a document which made many claims, including that

0:11:02 > 0:11:06of a talented musician, sportsman and figure skater.

0:11:07 > 0:11:11Ben is visiting Neath's Historical Society to meet with Hedd Ladd-Lewis,

0:11:11 > 0:11:13who has been looking into the claim

0:11:13 > 0:11:16that Samuel played for the local Cadoxton cricket team.

0:11:16 > 0:11:19And he's discovered the club's original records.

0:11:19 > 0:11:25It is possible that, even though he didn't play for the First XI,

0:11:25 > 0:11:28- that he played for the Second XI. - Right.

0:11:28 > 0:11:31And whilst we were going through the file,

0:11:31 > 0:11:33we did come across a photograph...

0:11:35 > 0:11:38- ..of the Second XI.- Really?

0:11:38 > 0:11:41I don't know if you can have a closer look and see

0:11:41 > 0:11:45whether you can recognise him maybe. We're not sure which one he is.

0:11:45 > 0:11:48I'll tell you straightaway which one I think he is.

0:11:48 > 0:11:51He'd be the one that looks exactly like me.

0:11:51 > 0:11:54HE LAUGHS

0:11:54 > 0:11:57I mean, that's like me with a moustache, isn't it?

0:11:57 > 0:12:01- And a stripy cricket cap on. - Yes, very similar.

0:12:01 > 0:12:05- And, of course, he would've been 41 years of age at the time.- I don't...

0:12:07 > 0:12:10This...I honestly think, if you...

0:12:11 > 0:12:13If we got some costumes and mocked up,

0:12:13 > 0:12:16and you put a moustache on me and got me in that outfit,

0:12:16 > 0:12:18I don't think you'd be able to tell us apart.

0:12:18 > 0:12:21Very similar. There is a similarity, isn't there?

0:12:25 > 0:12:29The obituary also claims that Samuel witnessed the world-famous cricketer

0:12:29 > 0:12:32WG Grace play right here in Neath.

0:12:32 > 0:12:37Hedd's discovered some vital evidence in the form of a painting from 1868.

0:12:37 > 0:12:41This is wonderful, because the actual club didn't know

0:12:41 > 0:12:45about the existence of this particular painting

0:12:45 > 0:12:47- in its original form.- Really?

0:12:47 > 0:12:50And, of course, there's evidence here

0:12:50 > 0:12:53that Grace was actually playing in the game.

0:12:53 > 0:12:57Is that Grace there behind the wicket? With his long beard?

0:12:57 > 0:13:03- With his long beard. - And his rather...portly frame.

0:13:03 > 0:13:04Very portly, isn't it?

0:13:07 > 0:13:09So, based on the research we've done,

0:13:09 > 0:13:16we can now legitimise the fact that WG Grace did play here in Neath.

0:13:16 > 0:13:21- That's satisfying, isn't it?- We've been able to prove it without doubt.

0:13:21 > 0:13:25And, you know, this was a piece of the history of the club

0:13:25 > 0:13:27that they weren't aware of.

0:13:27 > 0:13:29- Isn't that great?- Yeah.

0:13:29 > 0:13:31So, Samuel's obituary claim

0:13:31 > 0:13:36to have seen WG Grace play cricket in Neath is in fact true.

0:13:36 > 0:13:38Well, I'm just thrilled.

0:13:38 > 0:13:41That's as much confirmation as we could hope for.

0:13:41 > 0:13:43If I'm learning anything,

0:13:43 > 0:13:47it's that these stories that get passed down through families,

0:13:47 > 0:13:49and in that case told to a newspaper,

0:13:49 > 0:13:52but it was obviously a sort of family story,

0:13:52 > 0:13:55so often they turn out to have more than a grain of truth,

0:13:55 > 0:14:01they turn out to be, you know, absolutely copper-bottomed truth.

0:14:01 > 0:14:03You know, it's wonderful.

0:14:04 > 0:14:07Next, Ben is going to learn about Samuel's grandson.

0:14:07 > 0:14:09Another Samuel Peploe Mellin.

0:14:09 > 0:14:12Born in Neath in 1893.

0:14:12 > 0:14:15Samuel was a soldier in the First World War

0:14:15 > 0:14:18and fought in the Battle of the Somme.

0:14:18 > 0:14:20But this was just the beginning,

0:14:20 > 0:14:23as historian Dr Jonathan Hicks can explain.

0:14:23 > 0:14:29His biggest test came in November 1917,

0:14:29 > 0:14:31when the Battle of Cambrai began.

0:14:31 > 0:14:33I don't know about that battle. What was that?

0:14:33 > 0:14:36That was the battle that followed the Battle of Passchendaele.

0:14:36 > 0:14:37OK, yeah.

0:14:37 > 0:14:41And the ground over which he fought was absolutely appalling,

0:14:41 > 0:14:44as you can imagine. And this photograph gives you an example.

0:14:44 > 0:14:46- It was just mud, wasn't it?- Mud.

0:14:46 > 0:14:49And you can see the men here living like rats in the ground.

0:14:49 > 0:14:51It's horrendous, isn't it?

0:14:51 > 0:14:54They call it no-man's land, don't they?

0:14:54 > 0:14:58- That's exactly what that looks like out there, isn't it?- Yes.

0:14:58 > 0:15:03And Samuel's officer, Captain Smith, left an account of what it was like.

0:15:03 > 0:15:06- Yeah.- I'd like you to read that for us, please.

0:15:07 > 0:15:11"The sunken roads leading from the trenches are littered with

0:15:11 > 0:15:13"dead men and dead mules,

0:15:13 > 0:15:18"wrecked General Service Wagons and limbers.

0:15:18 > 0:15:22"The night's worse than the day as the hellish shelling continues.

0:15:22 > 0:15:24"By the flashes of the bursting shells,

0:15:24 > 0:15:28"one gets strange momentary pictures.

0:15:28 > 0:15:31"The tired, strained faces of nerve-wracked men

0:15:31 > 0:15:35"and the wet shining of steel helmets

0:15:35 > 0:15:37"and the waterproof ground sheets

0:15:37 > 0:15:39"which most of the men have round their shoulders."

0:15:40 > 0:15:44The First World War, for some reason, and I think it's the...

0:15:45 > 0:15:51It's the...lions led by donkeys sort of idea.

0:15:51 > 0:15:55I just always find it so moving, the whole idea of it.

0:15:55 > 0:15:57I get...

0:15:57 > 0:15:59HE LAUGHS

0:15:59 > 0:16:03I find it such a... It's a...you know,

0:16:03 > 0:16:05I think the Second World War was such a necessary war,

0:16:05 > 0:16:08but the First World War always seems like such a...

0:16:08 > 0:16:10absolutely futile...

0:16:11 > 0:16:13..absolutely futile exercise.

0:16:14 > 0:16:17I said I wasn't going to get upset on this programme.

0:16:17 > 0:16:20I'm not getting upset on behalf of my ancestors,

0:16:20 > 0:16:24it's the general thing. I always find that war very moving.

0:16:25 > 0:16:28But to have someone from, you know...

0:16:29 > 0:16:31..to feel a closer connection, it's very...

0:16:37 > 0:16:41It's, er...it's very profound.

0:16:43 > 0:16:46- Would you like to see a picture of him then?- I would.

0:16:46 > 0:16:50- That's your relation, Samuel Peploe Mellin.- Wow.

0:16:51 > 0:16:53God, he's so young, isn't he?

0:16:56 > 0:17:01- Those can't be easy weapons to use, these rifles...- No.

0:17:02 > 0:17:07- You can see the horrific bayonet on the end of it as well.- Yeah.

0:17:07 > 0:17:11There were 47,000 British casualties during the Battle of Cambrai.

0:17:12 > 0:17:14It's just horrendous, isn't it?

0:17:14 > 0:17:17But...Samuel survived.

0:17:17 > 0:17:19- He didn't?- He survived.

0:17:22 > 0:17:25And more than that, Ben, he was awarded

0:17:25 > 0:17:28a commendation for his work during the Battle of Cambrai.

0:17:30 > 0:17:33And what he did for that long period of time

0:17:33 > 0:17:36was to keep the communication lines open between...

0:17:38 > 0:17:41..the divisional and brigade headquarters.

0:17:42 > 0:17:44And that meant going out

0:17:44 > 0:17:47every time there was a break in the telephone wire,

0:17:47 > 0:17:52it was his job to go out there, under German shelling.

0:17:52 > 0:17:55Major-General commanding 20th Light Division has received

0:17:55 > 0:17:59a report of the gallant conduct of Acting Corporal SR Mellin.

0:18:01 > 0:18:05And he wishes to congratulate him on his fine behaviour.

0:18:05 > 0:18:08- Isn't that great? "Fine behaviour." - Fine behaviour.

0:18:08 > 0:18:11- That is fine behaviour, isn't it? - Absolutely.

0:18:11 > 0:18:13Because there was no way that he could fight back,

0:18:13 > 0:18:17because, obviously, shells were coming in from some distance away.

0:18:17 > 0:18:21All he could do was hope that the next one didn't have his name on it.

0:18:22 > 0:18:27- You know...- And what we have here is some artefacts...

0:18:29 > 0:18:33..from Samuel's family, which show the medals he was awarded.

0:18:35 > 0:18:38- The dog tags he was wearing during the First World War.- Wow!

0:18:38 > 0:18:41- Signals badge.- Wow! - And his cap badge.

0:18:44 > 0:18:48It's more trauma than any other generation has probably faced.

0:18:50 > 0:18:54And to know that someone in my family was at the centre of it,

0:18:54 > 0:18:55yes, it's very...

0:19:00 > 0:19:03I feel like I'm in one of my sketches.

0:19:03 > 0:19:05I just...

0:19:06 > 0:19:10It's exactly what I didn't want to happen, but I'm glad it's happened.

0:19:10 > 0:19:13- But he survived.- Yeah, he survived.

0:19:13 > 0:19:17And he did... Obviously he did, you know, really played his part.

0:19:17 > 0:19:19And that's...

0:19:20 > 0:19:22That's a tremendously...

0:19:22 > 0:19:25it's a tremendously honourable thing.

0:19:25 > 0:19:26Yes, I know.

0:19:28 > 0:19:32Earlier, Ben read the obituary of his ancestor Samuel Peploe Mellin.

0:19:33 > 0:19:36It claimed he was an artist of some note,

0:19:36 > 0:19:40with many commissions for landscapes and even portraits of royalty.

0:19:40 > 0:19:41This is brilliant!

0:19:41 > 0:19:46Ben is meeting Mike Churchill Jones at Neath's old town hall

0:19:46 > 0:19:49to read an account from a court case from 1901.

0:19:50 > 0:19:54Samuel had a commission from local pub owner Charles Cheek,

0:19:54 > 0:19:59and Samuel had taken Charles to court for failing to pay him for the work.

0:19:59 > 0:20:02"The plaintiff painted a sign for the defendant.

0:20:04 > 0:20:07"The representation being a white lion.

0:20:07 > 0:20:11"Mr Cheek said it wasn't a lion, and he wouldn't pay up.

0:20:11 > 0:20:15"The solicitor for the defence said the case would be shortened

0:20:15 > 0:20:17"if he could produce the lion."

0:20:19 > 0:20:21You couldn't make this up, could you?

0:20:21 > 0:20:25"His honour. 'Well, bring in the lion.' Laughter.

0:20:25 > 0:20:31"The lion was then brought in and Mr Jeffries said,

0:20:31 > 0:20:35" 'Look at it, your honour, what animal is it?' Laughter.

0:20:36 > 0:20:41"His honour. 'The lower part is like a lion and the head is like a bear.

0:20:41 > 0:20:45" 'But it is very like a heraldic lion.' To Mellin.

0:20:45 > 0:20:48" 'I think you ought to have made it look more like a lion.

0:20:48 > 0:20:51" 'There's no such thing in nature as a white lion,

0:20:51 > 0:20:55" 'but you can hardly say that this is a satisfactory lion.

0:20:55 > 0:20:58" 'It's not really like a modern lion, it has a bear's head,

0:20:58 > 0:21:02" 'a poodle's neck the legs of a lion.'

0:21:02 > 0:21:05"Laughter is recorded in the courtroom.

0:21:05 > 0:21:09" 'I think it should be altered and I advise you to alter it.' "

0:21:09 > 0:21:12HE LAUGHS

0:21:12 > 0:21:17" 'Mr Cheek, you won't object to its body being made a little bigger,

0:21:17 > 0:21:22" 'its neck a little smaller and its head a little more like a lion's?'

0:21:22 > 0:21:24"Cheek. 'No, sir.' Laughter."

0:21:24 > 0:21:27- There's hysterics in court.- Indeed.

0:21:27 > 0:21:31So maybe not such a great artist, SP Mellin.

0:21:31 > 0:21:36Or perhaps just interpreted it as a heraldic lion.

0:21:36 > 0:21:41- Mm-hm.- Not a, you know... not an African, not a modern lion.

0:21:41 > 0:21:45It's almost like each click brings you into a clearer focus.

0:21:45 > 0:21:49You know, so you start with someone who has this wonderfully

0:21:49 > 0:21:52sort of florid obituary.

0:21:52 > 0:21:55As we dig a little deeper, we discover,

0:21:55 > 0:21:59maybe by the time it was 1901,

0:21:59 > 0:22:03his painting skills were on the wane.

0:22:05 > 0:22:08This is not the end of Samuel's story.

0:22:08 > 0:22:10But for now, Ben is heading to the sawmill

0:22:10 > 0:22:13at St Fagan's Natural History Museum

0:22:13 > 0:22:16to learn more about the generation of ancestors who worked as sawyers.

0:22:16 > 0:22:20But more importantly, what would have led one of them

0:22:20 > 0:22:24to leave his job as a sawyer to work on the railway?

0:22:24 > 0:22:26Historian Nathan Goss can explain.

0:22:27 > 0:22:30It could be a couple of reasons, really.

0:22:30 > 0:22:32- The railway had just come to Neath.- Yes.

0:22:32 > 0:22:35So it could have been a better-paid job.

0:22:35 > 0:22:38The other reason, really, it could have been the invention

0:22:38 > 0:22:42and progress of the steam-driven saw.

0:22:42 > 0:22:49- Really?- In sort of the 1830s in London, around 1837,

0:22:49 > 0:22:54if my memory serves me right, the first steam-driven pit saw

0:22:54 > 0:22:59turned up on the banks of the Thames right by Tower Bridge.

0:22:59 > 0:23:01And instantly, when they started that saw up,

0:23:01 > 0:23:06- it put 70 pairs of sawyers out of work.- Wow. Straight away.

0:23:06 > 0:23:10Ben's great-great-grandfather may have given up the saw,

0:23:10 > 0:23:13but that doesn't mean Ben can't have a go himself.

0:23:14 > 0:23:17- I'll start off...- Right. - ..with a sawyer's handshake,

0:23:17 > 0:23:21because you wouldn't have had a thumb in those days.

0:23:21 > 0:23:24You think lots of my ancestors probably gave that handshake?

0:23:24 > 0:23:29- No, ideally, this saw should be at 90 degrees.- Oh, OK.

0:23:29 > 0:23:32So, if you imagine you are standing on top of a platform now,

0:23:32 > 0:23:36- because you're the ancestor, you're the top dog.- Oh.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39So you are standing on top of the pit train

0:23:39 > 0:23:43and I was at the bottom, because I was the apprentice.

0:23:43 > 0:23:45And I'm the underdog and you're the top dog.

0:23:45 > 0:23:48- So am I going to stand on here? - No, we won't do it like that.

0:23:48 > 0:23:51- But it'll give you some sort of idea.- It'll give us an idea.

0:23:51 > 0:23:54If you imagine now, I've got one cut with this now.

0:23:54 > 0:23:58- It's down to me and back to you, it's only one cut.- That's one cut.

0:23:58 > 0:24:02- OK. So, you pull.- I pull like that, now you pull it back.- OK.

0:24:02 > 0:24:05You see, I'm a natural. It's in the blood, Nathan.

0:24:05 > 0:24:08Look, I'm missing the log entirely.

0:24:08 > 0:24:10Try it again, now I've got you started.

0:24:10 > 0:24:13You didn't make a good enough groove, that's what happens there.

0:24:13 > 0:24:14That's probably what it is.

0:24:17 > 0:24:19Why is this not working?

0:24:20 > 0:24:22It's hard, that's why!

0:24:22 > 0:24:24- You've got to really pull. - Yeah, yeah.

0:24:26 > 0:24:30- Now you've got it.- There we go, there we go. So let's get sawing.

0:24:32 > 0:24:37I think this would make a really good coffee table, possibly.

0:24:37 > 0:24:40- I think it might be a matchstick. - Get a matchstick.

0:24:44 > 0:24:45There we go.

0:24:48 > 0:24:51Ben's time in Wales is nearly at an end.

0:24:53 > 0:24:55But before he leaves,

0:24:55 > 0:24:58the team looking into the obituary claims of Samuel Peploe Mellin

0:24:58 > 0:25:02have given him an address to visit in Bridgend.

0:25:03 > 0:25:05An address of someone who may have

0:25:05 > 0:25:08more information for him about the Peploe Mellins.

0:25:08 > 0:25:09Hello. Nice to meet you.

0:25:09 > 0:25:12- Lovely to meet you. - Come in.- Thank you.

0:25:12 > 0:25:16And this lady has more than a few surprises for Ben.

0:25:18 > 0:25:22- I'm Janet and I'm your fourth cousin.- Right.

0:25:22 > 0:25:25And my maiden name was Mellin.

0:25:25 > 0:25:29Oh, are you a Peploe Mellin?

0:25:29 > 0:25:34Mm-hm. Samuel Peploe from the First World War was my grandfather.

0:25:34 > 0:25:37- Really?- Yes.- Oh, my word!

0:25:37 > 0:25:42I saw his medals and I found it incredibly moving, actually, Janet.

0:25:42 > 0:25:47I just couldn't... It was very hard to understand that kind of bravery.

0:25:47 > 0:25:48You must be very proud.

0:25:48 > 0:25:50I've got a little photo here.

0:25:50 > 0:25:52There, of him.

0:25:53 > 0:25:58- But he was never called Samuel. He was always called Pep.- Pep?

0:25:58 > 0:26:02Yes, from Peploe. He was always known as Pep Mellin.

0:26:02 > 0:26:06You can ask anybody in the town and he was always called Pep Mellin.

0:26:07 > 0:26:11And Samuel's grandfather was the man with the controversial obituary

0:26:11 > 0:26:14claiming to be an artist of some note.

0:26:14 > 0:26:16- Samuel Peploe.- Yeah?

0:26:16 > 0:26:18Great-great-grandfather.

0:26:20 > 0:26:23I have something here that you might like to see.

0:26:23 > 0:26:26- Really?- Yes. - Am I allowed to open this?- Yes.

0:26:26 > 0:26:28OK.

0:26:29 > 0:26:31Wow!

0:26:31 > 0:26:34- Is this one of his... - Yes, it is.- ..paintings?

0:26:34 > 0:26:37- Look at that.- It's got 1891.

0:26:37 > 0:26:401891, that's an oil, is it?

0:26:40 > 0:26:42- It's got a bit of damage on it. - Yeah.

0:26:42 > 0:26:46And it's basically got coal dust, I would have thought.

0:26:48 > 0:26:49This is really very good.

0:26:49 > 0:26:54- I'm sad to say it's been up in the attic for about...- Really?

0:26:54 > 0:26:59..as long as I've known, cos my father's never had it on the wall.

0:26:59 > 0:27:00- No?- No.

0:27:00 > 0:27:04And I don't know if my grandfather ever had it on the wall,

0:27:04 > 0:27:07cos his father gave it to him and it's just been passed down.

0:27:09 > 0:27:15They do say that to be able to paint horses is one of the...

0:27:15 > 0:27:18- It's very difficult, apparently. - ..really difficult skills, yeah.

0:27:20 > 0:27:22Look at that.

0:27:22 > 0:27:26Do you know what, I'm really pleased to discover that he was actually...

0:27:26 > 0:27:30because quite often he gets... he doesn't get full credit.

0:27:30 > 0:27:34He gets described as a decorator or a painter and decorator.

0:27:34 > 0:27:37And no, he was an artist.

0:27:38 > 0:27:42Ben's journey into his Welsh ancestry is now at an end

0:27:42 > 0:27:46and he can leave knowing his ancestor Samuel Peploe Mellin

0:27:46 > 0:27:48was a true artist

0:27:48 > 0:27:50and lived an extraordinary life.

0:27:50 > 0:27:55The painting totally legitimises the obituary.

0:27:55 > 0:27:57It proves everything that's in there.

0:27:57 > 0:27:59This is not a painter and decorator, this is an artist.

0:27:59 > 0:28:01This is a man with something to express.

0:28:01 > 0:28:05And how does he feel about his whole journey coming home?

0:28:05 > 0:28:09It's almost like a kaleidoscope coming into focus

0:28:09 > 0:28:12and suddenly you see everything in a very new way

0:28:12 > 0:28:15and it has a huge emotional impact.

0:28:15 > 0:28:18You know, and I'm getting emotional about it now.

0:28:18 > 0:28:20But, you know, I'm proud to come from a culture

0:28:20 > 0:28:22that's not afraid to show their emotions.