Iwan Thomas Coming Home

Champion athlete Iwan Thomas

has always pushed himself to the very limit.

And it's Thomas now in the lead! Thomas for Wales.

And Richardson, his great rival, coming through on the inside!

Thomas is holding on through sheer strength! Thomas wins!

The winner of 11 major medals,

Iwan's British 400 metre record has stood since 1997.

'..Welshman has ever reached the final of the 400 metres before

'and this one, Thomas, has broken the Games' record.'

But Iwan's shoes are definitely made more for running than dancing,

shown by his short stint in this year's Strictly.

Iwan was born in Kent in 1974

and was interested in sport from a very young age.

His father Cliff is from Middlesex

and his mother Ann, a native Welsh speaker, from Denbighshire.

Choosing to represent Wales in the Commonwealth Games,

Iwan is passionate to learn about his Welsh past.

I can't wait to go on this journey.

I feel I need to know more about my family history.

My mother told me about my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Thomas.

The rumours are he owned a mine.

Quite an entrepreneur, and he did really well for himself.

Whether this is true, I don't know, so I can't wait to go on this

journey and find out the truth about his past.

So ready on the starting blocks, Iwan Thomas is Coming Home.

The village of Llandderfel in Gwynedd

is where Iwan's story will begin.

Just five miles from the busy town of Bala,

this village was home to generations of Iwan's ancestors.

And genealogist, Mike Churchill-Jones

has been busy researching Iwan's family history.

And this is what we've come up with.

Wow! It goes back a long way, doesn't it?

Iwan can see his ancestry in North Wales can be traced back

almost 300 years,

to the early 18th century in Merionethshire.

1718? I just can't even imagine life back then.

-It's just numbers to me.

-Absolutely, yeah.

It feels a bit overwhelming, um...seeing all these names.

The first name Mike draws attention to is on Iwan's mother's line.

Griffith Thomas, Iwan's great-great-great-grandfather.

Griffith was born 1829 in this very village

and he was baptised in this very church.

Wow! I'm getting goose bumps. That's weird.

-And he was a groom, a labourer and a gamekeeper.

-Yeah.

-So he liked animals.

-It appears to be the case, yeah.

Great occupations, groom and gamekeeper.

-He was christened in here?

-Yeah.

His baptism took place here.

That's so weird to think I have a relative

who was in here in the early 1800s.

And I'm here in 2015.

I wonder if, in 100 years' time, someone will be here saying,

"That bloke, that runner bloke, that Iwan Gwyn Thomas,

"he came here once to do a programme."

You never know, do you? You never know.

Griffith and Elizabeth's son was Thomas Thomas.

The man Iwan believes was a great entrepreneur and slate mine owner.

Whenever my mum talks to me about my Welsh side of the family,

it's always Thomas Thomas,

who I originally thought was my great-grandfather,

but he's not, he's my great-great-grandfather.

And he was quite a successful man, from what I was told.

Well, I can tell you at the moment that he was a grocer and a merchant.

Now, yes, there's a lot more to tell you about him,

and you'll find out all that we can muster on your journey.

I'm looking forward to hearing about him because

I didn't know he was a grocer and a merchant. I-I thought...

I was led to believe that he owned a mine.

So I don't know if that was true, but...

So that's really interesting because I didn't know about that.

Thomas is pictured here with his wife Ann

and their granddaughter Sydney, Iwan's grandmother.

Iwan has been told many stories about Thomas

and he hopes this journey will provide all the answers he seeks.

Iwan will begin by learning about the early part of Thomas' life.

And to do that, he's crossed the Welsh border into Shropshire

to visit Blists Hill Victorian town,

one of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums.

Here, he can learn how Thomas started his career

as an apprentice grocer at the tender age of just 10.

Iwan. Nice to meet you.

Historian Georgina Grant can reveal more about Thomas' life from 1868.

He was quite a young apprentice at this time.

And he would've been in this trade for about five years.

Before school, or there was no school?

He might've had some schooling, but this was your main education.

If you wanted to be a grocer or work in a trade,

you'd start as an apprentice and you'd learn that way.

In terms of, do you know roughly what his daily chores would

have been? What would he have done?

He would have started right at the bottom.

So things like washing the fruit, unwrapping packages,

grinding coffee, blending tea,

weighing out fruit and rice.

And then he might've worked his way up the ranks eventually,

making his way behind the counter and serving customers.

So as a 10 year old, this wasn't deemed as a punishment,

-this was actually giving him a little boost up in life?

-Yes.

This would've been quite a good job to have.

Once you learn the trade, you could go on to become your own grocer.

So it was a really good thing to do.

And would he have come here on his own,

-with brothers and sisters, with his mum and dad?

-No.

His parents, Elizabeth and Griffith, would've sent him away to the grocers.

So, yeah, away from home and living with a different family.

As a 10 year old, for me,

I was out playing football, on my BMX bike with my mates.

-It was a very different life.

-I think my mum and dad, when I got a bit older,

I had to cut the grass on a Saturday and I moaned about that.

-This would've been really tough.

-Yes, but worthwhile.

So, how long did he stay in Ruthin for?

We think about four years.

And then he moved to Liverpool to continue his...

-He's a Scouser?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Yes.

-No, he...?

-In Rhuthin, he only spoke in Welsh.

So it's quite interesting because when he moved to Liverpool,

he must've taught himself English.

-So the first English he learnt was Scouse English?

-Yes, probably.

-Wow!

He might've had a bit of an accent.

This is Thomas Thomas as a teenager.

Likely photographed after completing his apprenticeship in Liverpool.

By 1877, when he was 18, he moved back to Wales, North Wales,

and he opened his very own grocery store.

Wow! That must be quite a thing.

He must have learnt a lot in his apprenticeship and done really well

and taken everything he learnt to open his own place.

He opened a further three during his life.

He owned four greengrocers. I feel bad now.

I don't eat much fruit and veg. I should eat a bit more healthily.

This photograph shows Thomas' first grocer shop in North Wales.

Thomas is pictured leaning by the doorway.

So far, the stories Iwan's mother told him

about Thomas' success appear to be true.

Already this morning, I've learnt so much more than what I knew before.

I knew little bits about his life.

So I'm genuinely smiling and I'm excited to find out

how his life turned out and how he got there.

Thomas' parents, Griffith and Elizabeth Thomas,

certainly pointed him in the direction of success.

And they were no stranger to hard work either.

Griffith worked on the Pale Estate from the mid 1800s,

where he was employed as a gamekeeper.

Iwan is heading to this grand home at Crogen in Llandderfel,

but he has no idea why he's here.

It's a nice place.

And he's going to be meeting the lady of the manor, Sarah Robertson,

whose husband's great-great-grandfather

actually employed Griffith over 100 years ago.

DOORBELL

-Hello, I'm Iwan.

-Hello!

-Nice to meet you.

-Sarah.

-Sarah, I've got no clue why I'm at your wonderful house.

-Seriously not?

-No, honestly.

-Well...

-It's mine, isn't it? Do I own this house?

-No, I'm joking.

-No, you don't.

-I'm joking.

Um...but we've got a surprise for you

because your great-great-great-great-grandfather

was a gamekeeper on this estate back at the turn of the last century.

-So, he worked here?

-He worked here.

-Excellent.

-Come along in.

-Thank you.

Come in, come in, come in.

So these were all the workers on the Pale Estate

at the turn of the last century.

That was Pale Hall, which was built by

my husband's great-great-grandfather.

So those are the keepers, and, lo and behold,

right at the top is your great-great-great-grandfather.

Why number one? Was he the first one here, or...?

I would imagine he was the head keeper.

And being a gamekeeper was quite a prestigious job.

Queen Victoria visited this very estate in 1889

and left this signed book as a gift to her hosts.

And it says, "with the expression of her sincere thanks for his

"kindness in allowing her and her children to spend a few

"days in his charming house in this beautiful country.

"From Victoria R.I."

-Wow!

-"Pale, Llandderfel, 1889."

So, do you think Griffith might have met her when she stayed here?

Who knows? It would be lovely to think he did. But actually,

I'm just thinking, her visit was August 23-27th,

so the grouse would have just come into season

on the glorious 12th and it could have been that

some may have been shot and that would've been part of her dinner.

-So, he may have been the man who pulled that trigger.

-He could.

-Who knows?

-And he lived right here...

-And he was right here, yeah.

-Can we see that house? Can I...?

-You can, you can.

-Come outside, I'll show you.

-Brilliant!

Hopefully, you can go and have a look.

-Excellent. Thank you.

-Not at all.

-So, Iwan, that white house there...

-OK.

-That is...

-That's where he lived.

-Yep.

-Brilliant.

-I'm going to have a look.

-I think you should.

-Thank you so much for your time.

-It's been great.

And I love your house. It's gorgeous.

-Come back and visit us.

-Will do. Thank you.

-Run here!

-Great to have met you.

-See you.

-Bye-bye. Take care.

Griffith may not have lived in the grand home with the Robertsons,

but he did live in this picturesque cottage with his family.

With beautiful views of the very valley he worked on.

Griffith worked as a gamekeeper for many years in the 19th century.

And Iwan can learn more about what his job entailed

by meeting with gamekeeper, Alan Lentell.

Alan was employed on the Pale Estate from the late 1960s

and still works as a gamekeeper today.

-So, what would life have been like for Griffith?

-Oh, very hard.

-Hard life?

-Very hard.

He'd start very early in the morning and carry on until dark.

He'd be going around his rabbit traps in daylight

and coming home when it got dark.

How much land, roughly, would he have been in charge of?

-Around 4,000 acres.

-That's a lot.

-A lot of ground.

-But he would have some assistants.

-But no 4x4...

-No 4x4.

-..to drive around in?

-No.

His feet or a pushbike, or perhaps sometimes a pony and trap.

And would he have been regarded with a lot of respect?

-Would people have looked up to him?

-Oh, yes.

As a gamekeeper, you had some status in the countryside.

-Really?

-Without a doubt. The same as a policeman.

And what sort of jobs would he have to do?

-What would be the tougher of the jobs?

-Well, catching poachers.

-Really?

-Poaching was rife in those days.

He'd have to be out at night with his truncheon.

-And how much force could he use?

-Oh, as much as possible.

-Really?

-Yes.

You always had a local magistrate on your side, you know.

So when you got him into court,

there was always a shooting man on the bench.

-So there was no mercy.

-OK.

They'd get a big fine or a tough prison sentence

for poaching a pheasant in those days.

So, as head keeper,

would he have mixed with the higher class in society down at the house?

Oh, yes. And he wouldn't have been tongue-tied.

-Really?

-He'd been working with them for so long, he'd become part of it.

-Oh, OK.

-Oh, yes, indeed.

-Any royalty that would visit...?

-Oh, yes.

-He'd maybe meet them?

-Oh, yes.

He knew how to greet the dignitaries, for sure.

So, living here with his family, would his son Thomas,

-would Thomas have been involved in helping out?

-Yes, without a doubt.

As soon as he was big enough to get out with his father, he'd be there.

He went away at the age of 10. Would he have been helping before that?

-He would still be there.

-Really?

-Eight, nine would be quite...

-Out there grafting with his dad?

-Oh, yes, without a doubt.

-It's tough!

-Very tough, very tough.

Griffith may have had a tough job,

but he did have this beautiful cottage to come home to each day.

He shared this home with his wife Elizabeth and their many children.

Including son Thomas, Iwan's great-great-grandfather,

who became a grocer.

Genealogist Mike Churchill-ones

has uncovered a book detailing the life of Thomas.

The first bit I'd like you to read is basically the author's view

on the fact that he wasn't educated,

-only under an apprenticeship.

-Yeah.

But what it meant, if he'd had a better education...

"If Thomas Thomas had had an education

"such as the one we received today,

"I'm almost certain that the parish

"would not have enjoyed the precious services of this cultured peasant."

Yeah, it's unbelievable.

I'm proud because... with that lack of education,

-how well he did for himself.

-Absolutely right.

I'd love to have met him in the modern days

and seen what he could have achieved...

-Absolutely.

-..in today's society.

-Because he was obviously a very driven man.

-Yeah.

He became a magistrate, but before that, he sat on the local council.

And fundamentally, he believed in looking after his constituents.

-He did everything he could for them.

-Yeah.

So, basically, there's a little write-up here about,

er...Thomas and the way he was in the council.

"It's true Thomas was never afraid to give his point of view

"and he was not afraid of a fight when his principles were at stake.

"No reed was shaken by its wind.

"He proved his strength in fighting for what was fair

"and just for the welfare of the masses.

"This is the sort of person that's required today."

What do you think of him, then?

You're getting bit more of an idea of what he is.

We knew he was a hard worker, but he was a people's person, as well.

And that's nice to read that.

He's the type of person that we need to see more of...

-Indeed.

-..in today's society, so...

Do you know, the strange thing,

there's nothing mentioned in this write-up about the slate mine.

Nothing whatsoever.

It talks in glowing terms of everything else in his life,

but there's not any mention of this.

Because everything I see about him so far, I think he's great,

but in my head, I'm thinking, "What about the mine?"

I just want to know what happened.

It's so nice visiting this house, to think Griffith lived here,

worked from here, at such a beautiful location.

And more to the point,

to discover that Thomas was born in this house, as well.

It's just got so much family heritage to me.

It feels...it feels really nice being able to visit somewhere

that was so important to my history.

Everything I've heard about Thomas from my parents

is about the slate mine.

But everything we've read about him, there's no mention of it.

So the grey area's becoming even greyer to me because did it exist?

Did he own it? Was it a bad venture for him?

Is that why it's not reported?

So I still need to find out the truth about this slate mine.

What happened? Why was it a part of his life, if it was at all?

Iwan will soon discover the truth about Thomas' mine.

But first, he's going to learn about

someone on his mother's paternal side.

Iwan's great-great-grandfather Evan Davies

worked as a toll collector in Lampeter in the 1880s.

Evan lived in a toll house similar to this

with his wife Mary and their young daughter.

This one was designed by famous Scottish architect, Thomas Telford.

Tolls and toll houses were very unpopular in the 19th century,

with the famous Rebecca Riots leading to the destruction

of many toll houses in Wales in the 1840s.

Iwan is visiting this toll house to speak with historian Jan Stevenson

to discover more about Evan and Mary's lives.

So a toll collector back in the day wasn't popular.

That hasn't changed for me, I'll be honest.

I now live in Southampton, a little village outside.

And every time I want to go into town, I go over a toll bridge

which was meant to pay for itself after one year.

The council still take money 20 years on.

So in my eyes, every day, I curse the toll collector.

£1.20 it costs me, there and back.

That's exactly how the Welsh people felt.

Particularly with the Rebecca Riots,

where, in the early years, they actually attacked toll houses.

So, Evan would've come up against some resistance in his line of work?

It wasn't a popular job.

Think of a traffic warden today.

We need them, but nobody's very fond of them when they get a ticket.

It's a similar feeling when you're charged at a toll.

Was it well-paid, or...?

They looked after you because if they didn't,

there was a chance you might abscond with the money.

If you're taking money off everyone every day,

you've got to keep a note of that.

-You could easily be a little backhanded with that.

-Yep.

So, is this a job he would've kept for the rest of his life?

-By the 1890s, it's finished.

-Toll roads were gone?

It's really gone from general roads.

So, Evan and his family would have then had to be evicted

-and found somewhere to live?

-They would've found another job.

I mean, if he'd kept his reputation as being honest,

then I'm sure he wouldn't have any difficulty finding another job.

Everything I'm finding out so far about my family is honesty

and hardworking.

-Good.

-Must have come right down to me!

SHE LAUGHS

Iwan is now returning to the Thomas line of his family tree.

Thomas Thomas' grandparents were Griffith and Ann Thomas.

And they endured multiple tragedies

in the early part of the 19th century.

Genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones has searched the parish archives

and discovered that Griffith and Ann

were longing to have another son to pass on the name Griffith.

And they succeeded in the year 1823.

But then we move along to the burial register here in Llandderfel

and it's 1826 and we come down to Griffith Thomas, April 8th,

three years old. He's buried.

He died when he was three years old?

Yeah. Very tragic for them.

-Do we know how he died? Does it say?

-We don't, unfortunately.

I tried, but I couldn't find out anything.

But still, a very tragic experience for them.

That's so sad. Look on here.

-You've got 92-year-old, 63-year-old, 90-year-old, three.

-Yeah.

So...Ann at the time when she lost her three-year-old son,

Griffith, she was pregnant.

-They then named their next son, their fourth son, Griffith.

-After...

After the little child that's just died.

So, he was born, what, within nine months of his brother dying?

-Less than that.

-Less?

-Yeah.

-Oh.

-That's sad.

-It is very sad.

-So he was baptised in this church.

-Right here?

-Right here.

-The font is there.

-Right there?

-I can touch it.

-You can do.

On September 23rd, 1826.

But if we go back to that other burial register

and we go down to the bottom here, we find that he's buried here.

On September 28th.

Hold on a minute. Go back.

So they've lost another son called Griffith.

-Oh, so that... The second boy...then died.

-The child she was carrying,

she gave birth to him and he died. He was approximately ten days old.

No way?!

-So both Griffiths died...within a year of each other?

-Indeed.

-Oh, that's so sad. Ten days?

-It's very sad, isn't it?

To lose two children...one named after the last one.

-A tragic, tragic...

-Horrendous.

-Horrendous for her.

That's horrible.

But...on a brighter note these are the baptisms for 1829.

Because they tried again,

and for the third time they named their son Griffith.

And this time...he survived.

-So, eventually, we do have a Griffith coming out of it.

-Wow!

-And it starts your line all the way down to here.

-That's weird, That's three...

Oh, poor...poor family,

to lose two kids within five months of each other.

Griffith and Ann's surviving child became Iwan's

three-times great-grandfather, the father of Thomas Thomas.

So there is joy to come out of it in some way.

Iwan is now continuing his search for the truth

behind his great-great-grandfather Thomas Thomas.

He already knows Thomas owned a number of grocery shops,

but did he really make a fortune from slate?

Iwan is visiting the village of Dinmael near Bala,

where entrepreneur Thomas owned several houses, including this one,

which Iwan visited many times as a child to see his great-uncle.

He's now returning for the first time in many years.

The house is now owned by Malcolm Clements

and he's heard a number of local legends concerning Thomas,

one of those stories about a slate mine.

He was shown some samples of slate, good quality slate, which could be found in the mine,

but they believe it was a bit of a con

-and that the slate didn't come from there, it came from somewhere else.

-No!

So they bought the mine, they started working it,

and they then found out that the quality was very poor.

-So he was ripped off?

-Yes.

-It's a bit like when you get one of those dodgy TVs and you get home and the box is full of bricks.

-Yeah.

-One of them ones?

-Yeah.

-Oh, no! So what, the mine...

he could operate there, but then when he got the slate out

it was nowhere near the quality of what he was shown?

-Yeah, that's it.

-That's terrible!

-Yeah.

-So he lost his fortune?

Ploughed his money into the mine and it was dodgy?

I should imagine Thomas Thomas never actually lost his fortune,

-but he maybe took a hit on that one.

-Wow!

So in terms of wealth back in the... Who would he be today?

Would he be like one of the Dragons or something?

How successful was he? Put it in...today's terms.

He'd be one of the premier people in the area,

one of the top businessmen, because he did own so much.

-Yeah.

-He's a merchant of many kinds, five shops,

five, six, at one time seven houses.

I think that's why he is in some ways, next to yourself perhaps,

-he's the character of the family.

-No, he's a bigger character than me.

-All my life growing up all I heard about was him.

-Yeah.

-As in I knew he must have done something and I knew he must be an important man.

-Hmm.

But speaking to you now and the stuff I'm finding out on this journey,

yeah, I'm really impressed with what he's done.

And before Iwan heads off,

he just has to look around the home he visited as a child.

My memories are really weird as a kid, I remember some stuff clearly and other stuff I don't.

But, for some reason, I remember being in this room.

It wasn't, obviously, decorated like this,

but it was a bit of a family gathering and we were all sitting around chatting.

I can't remember what we were talking about,

but I remember for definite coming into this room.

What's weird is I remember this corridor, this hallway.

I know it's different because you're small, but I remember this being massive.

I do remember feeling that it's just big.

And I remember the stairs, the floor.

I mean, these are big stairs anyway, but I do remember as a kid thinking they were massive,

like, it would take me all day to get up there.

So my one memory of coming upstairs wasn't the best of memories

cos it was to do with the attic.

I remember where it is. It's here.

Do you know what, I didn't go up there as a kid...

and I'm not going up there now. Too spooky.

So is the story Iwan just heard simply a work of family legend?

The answer will soon be revealed, but before Iwan leaves Dinmeal,

he wants to visit the grave of Thomas Thomas,

who died in 1937 at the age of 78.

I'm really intrigued to find out more about Thomas and the slate mine,

because to hear that he may been ripped off business-wise is quite sad.

It seems to me that he's done so well for himself and worked hard to get where he has,

and then to go into this business venture and for it to go sour is quite sad.

So I want to find out the truth about that. I want to, hopefully, see the slate quarry, the mine,

and where he worked and where he bought, and whether it was a bad business move for him.

I'm quite intrigued by it all.

And before Iwan leaves north Wales,

he can now have the answer to that question.

Did Thomas Thomas, entrepreneur, grocer and politician,

actually own a slate mine?

Several miles outside of Bala is the mountainous region of Ffestiniog

and the answer lies here.

Historian and slate expert, David Gwyn,

has been looking into this claim

and has asked Iwan to meet him at this location.

Although this part of north Wales has dramatic views,

there's only one question on Iwan's mind.

So my whole childhood and throughout the whole of this documentary,

the myth, the mystery, is it true? Isn't it true? Did Thomas Thomas own a quarry?

-And if he did, tell me this is it.

-This is the quarry, yes.

It's a mine, really, but they're always called quarries

even when they're worked underground.

This original document is a contract between Thomas and a John Williams.

Thomas is signing up to become the major leaseholder

of Foel Gron quarry in January 1906.

This second page shows he was agreeing

to lease the land for 31 years at a cost of £100 per year,

almost £11,000 in today's money.

Well, there's rumours it lost him money, it cost him money.

There's rumours that he did purchase it, or however it worked,

and his money went downhill. I don't know if that's true or not?

Well, you've just got to look at the rock

and you can see that it's not actually very good quality,

you couldn't get much decent slate out of that.

And by 1907, there simply wasn't the demand for slate.

Slate last for hundreds of years, every roof in England had been built by then, so there wasn't the demand.

I'm not that concerned. In terms of everything he's done, he seems to have done really well for himself.

I'm just delighted that the rumours are true,

that there is a connection to maybe not such great slate

but the slate right over there. Which is brilliant for me.

This is where he was at work, yes, there's no doubt about that.

-Thank you for your information.

-You're welcome.

-It's made my day, it really has.

-Great.

Iwan's time in Wales is almost at an end,

so how has this journey into his past affected him?

I already feel properly Welsh,

but by doing this I somehow feel even more Welsh,

really in tune with my mother's side of the family.

And the questions about Iwan's great-great-grandfather Thomas

have finally been answered.

I was desperate to find out about Thomas Thomas.

Everything I'd heard about him has literally turned out to be true.

It's been a great experience. I've loved every minute of it.