0:00:02 > 0:00:07Actress Alison Steadman has always wanted to trace her Welsh ancestry.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10She's best-known for playing Pamela in comedy Gavin & Stacey,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14where Welsh girl Stacey plans to marry Gavin from England in...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16..Barry Island?!
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Oh, where are you going to have the wedding reception,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22on the log flume?
0:00:22 > 0:00:25She may have played the Essex matriarch,
0:00:25 > 0:00:29but in real life, Alison has always known about her Welsh ancestry.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33So how does she feel at the start of this special journey?
0:00:33 > 0:00:37I feel excited this morning and a little bit nervous.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Erm, intrigued, I think, is the word.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41And I'm...so excited.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43I'm really looking forward to it.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45But, having grown up in Liverpool,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48how does Alison know she has Welsh ancestry?
0:00:48 > 0:00:51I only know that my grandfather was called Maurice Evans.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56My mother and my aunt Mary always called him Dada.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01As opposed to father, or daddy, or whatever.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03So Dada was Welsh.
0:01:03 > 0:01:09My mother would always say Dada was Welsh, but that's it.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16In fact, tracing her Welsh ancestors will prove much harder than
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Alison can possibly imagine.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21As Alison Steadman is coming home.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Later in the programme, Alison is lost for words...
0:01:28 > 0:01:32- Siarad Cymraeg what?- Siarad Cymraeg yn iawn? No? Dipyn bach?
0:01:32 > 0:01:34She doesn't speak it!
0:01:34 > 0:01:35THEY LAUGH
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Comes face to face with the past.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Oh, I'm so proud.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44That's fantastic!
0:01:46 > 0:01:50And learns of a moving story very close to her heart.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52That's very sad.
0:01:53 > 0:01:54That is sad.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Alison's journey begins, not in Wales, but here in the heart of
0:02:03 > 0:02:08the city of Liverpool, where she was born in 1946.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Her late mother was Marjorie Evans, and Alison really wants to prove
0:02:12 > 0:02:16her mother was right when she said the Evans family came from Wales.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Her grandfather Maurice Evans died when Alison was very young.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26But why does she know so little of this side of her family?
0:02:28 > 0:02:32My mother never talked about her grandparents or any aunts or uncles
0:02:32 > 0:02:35on that side of the family.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38She only ever talked about him.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41But she never said what part of Wales the family came from or anything.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Alison is determined to prove her mother was correct
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and that she does have Welsh ancestry.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The story begins in the heart of Liverpool.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56And a meeting with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00- Hi, Alison.- Hello.- We've been researching your family tree.- Yes.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06This is just amazing, seeing this.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09- We'll make it as simple as possible.- Sure.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11- If we come to your mother Marjorie. - Yes.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Lots of great names, but only one Marjorie.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17- Any idea why she is called Marjorie? - No idea at all.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20I guess it was a popular name at the time.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Alison will later come to learn the significance
0:03:24 > 0:03:27of her mother's name of Marjorie.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28But was her mother right?
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Did the Evanses come from Wales?
0:03:32 > 0:03:37I've been unravelling this Evans line and the good news for you is
0:03:37 > 0:03:40that I can take it right back to your six times great-grandparents.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46Who were from a small village called Trefarclawdd.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49- Tref...- ar...- clawdd.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Now, it's a small village.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Welsh-speaking village.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Not far from Llangollen.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Fantastic!
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Alison is clearly delighted.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05But, in fact, this is by no means the end of her quest.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Tracing her Welsh ancestry will prove much more complicated
0:04:09 > 0:04:10than first appears.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14But how did her family come from Trefarclawdd to Liverpool?
0:04:14 > 0:04:19Your great-great-grandfather Maurice Evans.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22- Now, he brought your Evans line to Liverpool.- Right.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24He came here in 1838.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Do you have any idea why he came here?
0:04:28 > 0:04:31No idea at all. No.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I would imagine because of work.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Because, perhaps, there wasn't much work in Wales. I don't know.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38He had a really Welsh occupation, really.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40He was a coal miner like all the generations
0:04:40 > 0:04:42before him in Trefarclawdd.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43They worked as miners.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46- Right, right.- Coal especially.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Hopefully we'll unravel the mystery of why he
0:04:48 > 0:04:51came to Liverpool later on for you.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Later, Alison will try to uncover what caused her family
0:04:56 > 0:04:59to abandon their home to travel to Liverpool.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Before that, the story starts with William Barrow,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06her three times great-grandfather on the Liverpool side of her tree.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08He was a master clockmaker,
0:05:08 > 0:05:13and researching his story has been BBC antiques expert David Harper.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16I'm very excited because, apparently,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21you've got something interesting to tell me about William Barrow,
0:05:21 > 0:05:27who was my great-great-great, three greats, grandfather.
0:05:27 > 0:05:28- Absolutely.- OK.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31If you look at this directory, this is a fantastic copy
0:05:31 > 0:05:37of the Gore's Liverpool directory, dated 1825.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41With over 10,000 clockmakers in the city, entry into this directory
0:05:41 > 0:05:45was reserved for only the very finest craftsmen.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48At this time, David knows that Alison's three times
0:05:48 > 0:05:50great-grandfather William Barrow was living in
0:05:50 > 0:05:54the city of Liverpool in Norbury Place.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59If we just turn the page, and we see there are several Barrow.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01If you just go down the list, Alison,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- and see if you can find me William, living at Norbury Place.- Right.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Oh, my goodness!
0:06:09 > 0:06:11William, watchmaker.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Your William Barrow was a watchmaker here in Liverpool.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Surviving clocks from William Barrow's time are extremely rare
0:06:20 > 0:06:23so David is thrilled that he's managed to track down
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and photograph a very special clock from this period.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32So this is a very lovely example of a Liverpool clock.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Look at the quality here. Look at the figuration.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38It's made out of mahogany. I'll show you the workings as well.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42We're going back to items being made by hand.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46- Every tooth is cut and ground by hand.- Mm.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Every item. Every little spindle.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55The man who made this clock made it with great pride and skill.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57He placed a number 15 on the works,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00denoting it was the 15th he had made in his career.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05There's no two clocks like this in the world.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06There's only one clock like this.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09David is very excited.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12He's about to reveal the maker of this special clock.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16None other than Alison's own three times great-grandfather,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18William Barrow of Liverpool.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22If we look at the face, it might tell us everything we need to know.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Oh, my goodness!
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Oh, my goodness!
0:07:29 > 0:07:31William Barrow, Liverpool. Gosh!
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Oh, I'm so proud.
0:07:36 > 0:07:37That's fantastic!
0:07:37 > 0:07:39I feel incredibly proud.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42That is beautiful.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44It really is beautiful.
0:07:44 > 0:07:45You don't know how beautiful it is.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48For someone like me, that handles items like this,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50to see it in close-up pictures,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53it is a beautiful piece.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Alison is now back on the trail of Maurice Evans
0:07:57 > 0:08:00and his wife Martha, her great-great-grandparents who came
0:08:00 > 0:08:05from the village of Trefarclawdd to Liverpool in the 1830s.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08She knows there is a mystery as to why they came.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11But first, Alison is about to learn of the importance of
0:08:11 > 0:08:12the Welsh community in Liverpool.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Arriving from North Wales, just across the Mersey,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19the influence of the Welsh is clear to see.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Such as this magnificent Welsh chapel on Chatham Street,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25in the heart of the city.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28But it's at nearby Sion chapel,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31where Alison meets with Welsh minister Ben Rees.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36A Liverpudlian of 40 years,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39he's been researching the history of the Welsh in Liverpool.
0:08:39 > 0:08:45So Liverpool has always been a very important place for the Welsh?
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Yes. Ever since it grew.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50I mean, Liverpool was a village,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53up till the middle of the 18th century.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55But once it grew into a town,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58then it really became a Welsh centre.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And young people flocked here for different reasons.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Economic reasons and so on.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07And, by 1810, about 10% of the population
0:09:07 > 0:09:09of Liverpool was Welsh-speaking.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14By 1880, there were at least 50 to 80,000 Welsh-speakers,
0:09:14 > 0:09:19so it was the largest Welsh community anywhere in the world.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21As a chapel minister,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Ben still conducts regular services in Welsh today.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28So, after 40 years, come on, are you a Liverpudlian?
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Are you Welsh?
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Well, it's a difficult question but, for me,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36I'm Welsh first and Liverpudlian second.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39I get the best of both worlds. I wouldn't change it.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Right. I guess I feel the same, too.
0:09:42 > 0:09:48But what brought Maurice and Martha, Alison's great-great-grandparents,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51from their village of Trefarclawdd to Liverpool?
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Alison is about to learn they were here to marry in St David's,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57the Welsh church in the city.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01She wants to visit St David's, but, sadly, it was demolished
0:10:01 > 0:10:04by the expansion of the railway over 100 years ago.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Standing on the site today is the Adelphi Hotel.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14So here we are at the Adelphi. Right.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17The Adelphi was built when Liverpool
0:10:17 > 0:10:20was the great second city of the British Empire.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Alison's great-great-grandparents Maurice and Martha Evans
0:10:24 > 0:10:27were married in a Welsh-language service in the church
0:10:27 > 0:10:30that once occupied this site.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Social historian Gillian Rice has been researching their story
0:10:33 > 0:10:37and has unearthed their marriage certificate.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- Want to have a look at their names on the certificate?- I do.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41Oh, wow! Maurice Evans.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45- And...- What's her name? - That's Martha Price.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49- Maurice Evans and Martha Price. - Martha Price.
0:10:49 > 0:10:55Yep. And they married on the 8th of October 1838.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56Right.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59However, Gillian has noticed something
0:10:59 > 0:11:02unusual in the marriage certificate.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04In the eyes of the law, as it was then, they were minors.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07They were underage and would've needed their parents' consent
0:11:07 > 0:11:10for the marriage to be legal.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13If you go down to the witnesses,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17there's actually no mention of parents as witnesses.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Oh, no.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21And they're minors.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26Which means that they're in Liverpool for a reason.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29They've actually run away from home.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32- Aw!- They've eloped, at 17 and 18,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35and they've married without parental consent.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Oh, gosh.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46Even after marrying, Maurice and Martha would not, or could not,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48return home to Trefarclawdd.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Instead, they lived in slum dwellings in Liverpool,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55sharing a cellar room with three other families.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Known as so-called cellar dwellers,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Martha and Maurice must have endured terrible hardships.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Most especially Martha, who had just given birth to their first child.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09It must have been a nightmare. Total nightmare.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Why had Maurice and Martha run away from home
0:12:14 > 0:12:17to live in such terrible poverty?
0:12:17 > 0:12:22For answers, Alison is now anxious to leave Liverpool for Wales.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27But just before that, there's one final story she must learn,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30concerning her mother, Marjorie Evans.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33At the start of her journey,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones asked Alison if she had any idea
0:12:38 > 0:12:42why her mother was given the Christian name of Marjorie.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48No idea at all. I guess it was a popular name at the time.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54In fact, Mike has had to dig deep into the archive to find
0:12:54 > 0:12:58what appears to be the answer to this question.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02The story concerns Alison's maternal grandmother Mary,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05seen here as a young woman.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Mary was the mother of Alison's mum, Marjorie Evans,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13and worked in domestic service in a private house in Liverpool.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18In 1901, she's actually a domestic servant, a housemaid,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22for a family called Miskelly.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25The couple have two children.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Records show Mary worked for over ten years
0:13:29 > 0:13:32as a live-in housemaid for the Miskelly family,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35bringing up their two young children,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37a girl and a little boy called John.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41That's what happened to him.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43John Alexander Miskelly.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Male, 14 months.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Oh, gosh.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Died at 14 months.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Acute cerebral meningitis convulsions. Aw.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04I think my grandmother, she was quite an emotional woman, as well.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08- She would have really...- It would have affected her, you think?
0:14:08 > 0:14:11It really would have affected her, I'm sure.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12I'm sure, yeah.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19As the only housemaid for the Miskelly family,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Alison's grandmother Mary must have been close to
0:14:23 > 0:14:24the two children in her care.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29But what of their second child, a little girl?
0:14:32 > 0:14:36And this second child, you can read about this child here.
0:14:39 > 0:14:40Ah.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Daughter of Alexander Mackie Miskelly.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46Oh, that's awful. Scarlet fever.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Oh, my goodness.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54The Miskellys' second child, their daughter,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56died within a few months of her brother.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02But how deeply did this affect Alison's grandmother, Mary?
0:15:04 > 0:15:06She would go on to have her own daughter, Marjorie,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08who grew up to be Alison's mum.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14But what was the name of the little girl who died?
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Marjorie... Dell.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26Do you know, that's funny, because she obviously called my mother
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Marjorie after this little girl.
0:15:30 > 0:15:3550 years later, Alison simply knew Mary as her grandmother.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39But, for the first time, she is learning something of her past.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Didn't even know that my grandmother was in service.
0:15:41 > 0:15:47The fact that she called my mother Marjorie is very significant.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52And very touching, really.
0:15:53 > 0:15:54That's very sad.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58Very sad.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06The following day,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10and Alison is excited to finally be heading to Wales.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12She's off to visit Trefarclawdd,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15the home village of her great-great-grandparents,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Martha and Maurice Evans.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22She hopes to unlock the mystery of why they eloped to Liverpool.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25The journey begins in Chirk, near Wrexham,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27just a few miles from Trefarclawdd.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31It's here that she will be staying during her visit.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Alison is determined to prove that her mother Marjorie Evans was right
0:16:35 > 0:16:39about the family having Welsh ancestry.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Alison's search for her Welsh ancestors takes her to
0:16:46 > 0:16:49the nearby livestock market.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52She's here to get a flavour of the area,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55where her Evans family came from.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01But what do the local people know of her ancestors
0:17:01 > 0:17:03and their village of...
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Now I've got to get the name right. Not far from here.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Tref, Tref, Tref, Tref...
0:17:09 > 0:17:10Treffynon? No, not Treffynon?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13- Trefonen.- Trefonen?- Trefonen?
0:17:13 > 0:17:14Trefarffclawdd.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19- Ti'n siarad Cymraeg yn iawn? No? Dipyn bach?- Siarad Cymraeg, what?
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Siarad Cymraeg yn iawn? No? Dipyn bach?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24She doesn't speak it!
0:17:24 > 0:17:26ALL LAUGH
0:17:26 > 0:17:27It's a difficult language!
0:17:27 > 0:17:32Alison is in need of some quick Welsh lessons
0:17:32 > 0:17:34and seeks out auctioneer Glandon Lewis.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37The Welsh language, I have to say, when you look at it written,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39I mean, it's so difficult.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Just all those kind of sounds,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43those "ch" and "ll"s and all that!
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Yes. So I'm going to give you a quick Welsh lesson now.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48- Croeso.- Croeso.- Welcome. - Yeah, welcome. I know that.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50- I know that one!- You know that one?
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- A diolch yn fawr.- A diolch yn fawr. - Thank you very much.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Hwyl, dyna ni.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Now Alison is finally arriving in Trefarclawdd.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07The small and ancient hamlet where generations of her
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Evans family lived and worked as coal miners.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15It's hard to believe but this field is where the colliery once stood.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18And would have been dominated by mine workings
0:18:18 > 0:18:20and black with coal dust.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25There's little here her ancestors would recognise.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Except, perhaps, for this area.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Bordering the site of the old mine works
0:18:29 > 0:18:33is this ancient copse of trees.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35And this unusual high, sloping bank,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39which is known to be thousands of years old.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44It provides a clue to the story Alison is about to discover.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47She doesn't know it yet, but the nearby house she is
0:18:47 > 0:18:51about to visit would have been very familiar to her
0:18:51 > 0:18:55great-great-grandparents, and many earlier generations of her family.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Now a farmhouse, it was originally built
0:18:57 > 0:18:59for the manager of the coal mine.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Waiting to greet Alison are the Robert-Jones family,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11who are Deborah and her husband Elliot, and Elliott's mum, Elmira.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17The reason I'm here in this area is because today
0:19:17 > 0:19:22I have learned that the Welsh side of my family, my grandfather
0:19:22 > 0:19:29Maurice Evans and his ancestors, going back to 1667, I think...
0:19:29 > 0:19:33- Gosh!- ..were from this area originally.- Right.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Now, I'm not very good at pronouncing the name of it
0:19:38 > 0:19:40but it's Tre...
0:19:40 > 0:19:42- Trefarclawdd.- Trefarclawdd.
0:19:42 > 0:19:43This farm, yes.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46So it's not really a village, is it?
0:19:46 > 0:19:50It's a little region, really.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52It's a little area.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58It mainly consists of the farm and then there's the cemetery.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Yeah, there's two or three houses, as well.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05My family has been traced back to a Richard Evans,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08who actually lived here.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13I am pretty sure that my family would have been Welsh-speaking.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Could you speak a little bit of Welsh for me? Would you mind?
0:20:16 > 0:20:20Mae'n dda gen gyfarfod a chi heddiw.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23I'm glad to have met you today.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- Ah, that's good.- Well, I wish I could reply in Welsh but I can't!
0:20:26 > 0:20:28THEY LAUGH
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Alison is clearly right at home
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and is thrilled to have proven her mother was right all along.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38That the Evanses were, indeed, from Wales.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41It's great to think that, having looked at the family tree,
0:20:41 > 0:20:46here I am, actually in Wales, and I've actually come to the place
0:20:46 > 0:20:50where my family were from all those hundreds of years ago.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57I'd just like to drop a little bit of a bombshell to you
0:20:57 > 0:21:02because, unfortunately, although you feel, or think,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05you are in Wales, we're actually still in England.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07- No!- Yes!- Why not?
0:21:07 > 0:21:08SHE LAUGHS
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Yeah, we are still in England.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13So where's the border?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Well, Offa's Dyke was historically the border which is...
0:21:16 > 0:21:19It's on the end of our field.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24But how can Alison possibly be in England?
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Trefarclawdd is a Welsh name.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31And Welsh is spoken here.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34But, in fact, it's been on the English side of the border
0:21:34 > 0:21:38for hundreds of years, in the county of Shropshire.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42The name of Trefarclawdd was a clue.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46In Welsh, it means town on the dyke.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48That dyke is Offa's Dyke.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54Traditionally seen as the border between England and Wales.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Alison wants to see for herself this ancient boundary
0:22:01 > 0:22:05and meets with Katherine Roberts from Cadw who will explain
0:22:05 > 0:22:08the importance of Offa's Dyke.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13What it is, is an ancient frontier, or border,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17between two kingdoms that existed before the time, really, when
0:22:17 > 0:22:20England and Wales, as we understand them today, had come into being.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28So what significance would Offa's Dyke have had for my ancestors?
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Well, it would be interesting to know what
0:22:30 > 0:22:32they knew about Offa's Dyke.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34They would have known its name.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36But it's fair to say that, until the 20th century,
0:22:36 > 0:22:40there'd never been a really detailed study of the dyke.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42So that would've been England.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46- Well, this is the Mercian side, not England as we know it now.- No.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49But that's the Mercian side and this is the Welsh side.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52I think I've got to accept that they were on the borders
0:22:52 > 0:22:56and probably more to the English than the Welsh.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Alison's late mother Marjorie had always believed
0:23:00 > 0:23:03the Evans family were from Wales.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06And Alison is clearly very disappointed
0:23:06 > 0:23:08with what she has discovered.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14She is now visiting for herself the place along
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Offa's Dyke in Trefarclawdd,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21where generations of her Evans ancestors worked as coal miners.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29This is the land where they dug coal. Often by hand.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Children as well as adults.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38And it's here that Alison's quest for her Welsh ancestry,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43through her Evans family, must sadly come to an end.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48She now knows that her much cherished family story
0:23:48 > 0:23:50is simply not true.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Erm, I was very disappointed.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Now, that seems silly.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59What's a few miles, you know. And whether it's England or Wales.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03But, having lived for years and years thinking,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06"Oh, I've got a Welsh background," to discover that that's
0:24:06 > 0:24:12probably not true, I was disappointed, I have to say.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Back at her hotel in the nearby village of Chirk,
0:24:17 > 0:24:22that evening Alison knows she can take the family story of
0:24:22 > 0:24:24her Welsh ancestry no further.
0:24:27 > 0:24:28Well, not quite.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36The following day brings much better news for Alison.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40She's at a special church in Ruabon, very definitely in Wales,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44and a place where many of her ancestors would have worshipped.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Whilst Maurice Evans, Alison's great-great-grandfather, lived on
0:24:51 > 0:24:55the English side of the border in Trefarclawdd, his wife Martha,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58whose maiden name was Price, came from the Welsh side,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00from the village of Ruabon.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Martha was Alison's great-great-grandmother
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and Michael Churchill-Jones has managed to trace
0:25:08 > 0:25:10her Welsh ancestors back a very long way.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17We can go back one, two, three,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21four, five generations in Ruabon.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23I am Welsh, after all!
0:25:23 > 0:25:26- You are Welsh.- I am Welsh!
0:25:26 > 0:25:29That's fantastic! I thought I must be, you know.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33I kept thinking, you know, my mother couldn't have been wrong.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35I feel incredibly proud.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Born in Ruabon.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Born in Ruabon. There we are.
0:25:42 > 0:25:43So she is definitely Welsh.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48But Alison still wants to know, why did her great-great-grandparents
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Maurice and Martha run away to Liverpool to get married?
0:25:52 > 0:25:55There was an inauspicious start to this marriage.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57They were 17 and 18.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00They were underaged. They never had consent.
0:26:00 > 0:26:01They went off to Liverpool.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04- Yes.- Then they got married.- Yeah.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07And we wondered why they didn't have consent.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12The answer lies in Ruabon's parish records,
0:26:12 > 0:26:18which clearly shows that Martha's mother married Maurice's father,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21after both had previously been widowed.
0:26:21 > 0:26:27Thus making Maurice and Martha step-brother and sister.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31And I suspect they would have viewed Maurice and Martha
0:26:31 > 0:26:33as brother and sister from that moment on.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And, obviously, it's the law.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38There was no reason that they couldn't be in love and get married.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42But, presumably, there was a bit of a hoo-ha?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45- They would have objected in some way.- So they run off to Liverpool.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47They run off to Liverpool.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55- And that's how the family ended up in Liverpool?- Indeed.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58Right. I see.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Despite the very difficult start Maurice and Martha had in life,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07they clearly reconciled with their parents,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11who later came to live with them in Liverpool.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13- So they were reconciled.- Yeah.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19And there they are, in 1851, all living in the same house.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21All living in the same house, yes.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25So they got out of that horrible cellar that they started off in?
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Gosh, that must have been so awful.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Maurice and Martha would be married for 64 years.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37And their grandson was also Alison's grandfather.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Oh, that's fantastic.
0:27:40 > 0:27:41That's lovely.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Alison is finally able to say that she's Welsh.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50And is now coming to the end of her extraordinary journey.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54A journey in which she's received a warm welcome on both the Welsh
0:27:54 > 0:27:57and English sides of the border.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59But, at the end of her quest,
0:27:59 > 0:28:01how does she feel about
0:28:01 > 0:28:05her ancestral story finally crossing the border into Wales?
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Well, I've been Welsh, not Welsh and then I'm back to Welsh!
0:28:10 > 0:28:13I feel incredibly proud.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19I think it's important that we can
0:28:19 > 0:28:23go back and appreciate our families.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Where they've come from.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Their hardships, their triumphs in life
0:28:29 > 0:28:33And, perhaps, to try to work out where I fit in.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37I feel much more akin with the Welsh part of my family now.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Absolutely.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46It just has opened a huge door for me in my life.
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0:28:53 > 0:28:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk