0:00:02 > 0:00:07Travelling deep into Wales is former GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09here in search of her family's past.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13The face of breakfast television for more than a decade,
0:00:13 > 0:00:18she went on to become Strictly Come Dancing's worst-ever contestant.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25Coming up later, Fiona learns of her agricultural roots...
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Gosh, that's amazing.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30..receives a surprise welcome from old friends...
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Oh, it's you! They said Mr Jeremy and I thought... Oh, Mr Jeremy!
0:00:36 > 0:00:41..and wishes her parents could have come on this very special journey.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46I wish that at the end of all this, that my mum and dad were...
0:00:47 > 0:00:51..um...there, so I could show them the family tree. Sorry...
0:00:51 > 0:00:52Um...
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Fiona Phillips is coming home.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02So how does Fiona feel at the start of her journey?
0:01:02 > 0:01:07I'm feeling slightly trepidatious, I actually feel quite emotional,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11because um...my dad died earlier this year,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15and, you know, Mum's gone, and...yeah, so...
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Yeah, I'm feeling slightly emotional already.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Fiona may have grown up in Kent, but her mother, Amy,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25left her in no doubt about her Welsh roots.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27My mum was Welsh through and through,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30and she tried to teach everyone to speak Welsh.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Fiona's father, Neville, came from the north of England
0:01:33 > 0:01:35and her mother, Amy, from West Wales.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40So that's why Fiona has come to the beautiful coastal town
0:01:40 > 0:01:43of Newport in Pembrokeshire.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46And the Ebenezer Chapel is where she's arranged to meet
0:01:46 > 0:01:50with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52Oh, my goodness.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54- Hi, Fiona.- Oh, hi, Michael.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58- Welcome to Newport and welcome to Ebenezer Chapel.- Thank you.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00There are reasons in your ancestry why you're here.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I'll reveal that as I introduce you to your ancestors.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Oh, my goodness.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09So what does Fiona know of her mother's Welsh roots?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I've never ever known anything about my mum.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14- We start on the bottom with yourself.- Yeah...
0:02:14 > 0:02:16- You were born in Canterbury.- Yeah.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21To Neville Phillips and Eleanor Amy Monica Morris.
0:02:21 > 0:02:22Yeah.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25She was born in 1932 in Newport.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27In Newport!
0:02:27 > 0:02:30In a farm, Holm House Isaf.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35I thought Mum was born somewhere around Fishguard.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I didn't know it was Newport, so...
0:02:38 > 0:02:39I don't know when they moved there,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42- but it was fairly soon after your mother was born, I think.- Yeah.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45That's where we always used to go to. Gosh!
0:02:45 > 0:02:47She was born to Rachel Ann Evans...
0:02:49 > 0:02:51..and Benjamin Morris.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- Yeah, Daddy Noddfa.- Daddy Noddfa.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58This is Fiona's grandfather, Benjamin Morris,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02a farmer from Pembrokeshire.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06- If I bring you back to your grandmother.- Yeah.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07Rachel Ann Evans, she was born...
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Didn't know she was an Evans, either.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11- Did you know she was born in Glamorgan?- No.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14She was born in Cymmer, in Porth, in Glamorgan.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Oh, that's interesting.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- Er...she is in Pembrokeshire in 1911.- Mmm.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22She's working on a farm in Fishguard,
0:03:22 > 0:03:23she's a domestic farm servant.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Mm-hm.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26And I'd certainly...
0:03:26 > 0:03:31- I thought that my grandma was Pembrokeshire born and bred.- Mmm.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35The story now moves on to her great-great-grandmother, Phebe,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38who rejoiced in the surname of Barzey.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Oh, gosh, that's unusual, where's that name from, then?
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Again, I can only surmise. Barzey, it's...
0:03:44 > 0:03:46- I think it has French connotations, to be honest.- Yeah.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47But it's a lovely name.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49- Lovely.- Phebe Barzey.- Mmm.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Going back through the centuries,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58the Barzeys were both farmers and mariners in Pembrokeshire.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02But Fiona is going to start her search following her Morris line -
0:04:02 > 0:04:05the family from which her grandfather, Benjamin Morris,
0:04:05 > 0:04:06is descended.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09Gosh, that's amazing.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13I've never, ever known....gosh, that it goes all over here as well.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Fiona's heading to the neighbouring county of Carmarthenshire.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Her Morris family can be traced back to the early 1700s.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27They were tenant sheep farmers who made their living from wool.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32At Dre-fach Felindre, near Newcastle Emlyn,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Fiona visits the National Wool Museum,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39where they have been researching her Morris story.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Keith, I've found out that I have a lot of wool farmers in my ancestry.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46What would life have been like for them?
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Sheep farming was more of a cash crop,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52where you could turn things around very quickly,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56and the wool was selling very well at this time,
0:04:56 > 0:04:57although it was very coarse wool,
0:04:57 > 0:05:04but certainly, sheep farming was done by the small farmers,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08certainly 50 acres of land, most probably,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12and I know of a Morris family in Trelech, Carmarthenshire,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and one in Llangoedmor.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17- Oh...- They would be sheep farmers,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and selling the wool then for going abroad,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24and they'd ship it out from places like Carmarthen and Cardigan.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28The Morrises were tenant farmers, and so didn't own their land.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32You had the gentry, and they were landowners,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36and the rents on these farms were very high.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40And we are talking about £60 a year,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43but by the time all the costs were taken out of that,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47- these farmers had a profit of about £1 per week.- Oh...
0:05:47 > 0:05:49The Morrises produced their own wool
0:05:49 > 0:05:53on sheep farms owned by some of Wales's biggest landowners.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Well, we are talking people with 50,000 acres of land.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Um...the Baron of Cawdor
0:06:03 > 0:06:09and the Phillipses and the Lloyds of that time.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14The hardships endured by Fiona's earlier farming family
0:06:14 > 0:06:16would later see one of her ancestors
0:06:16 > 0:06:18resorting to revolution and violence,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21as Fiona will later discover.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Next, Fiona is heading back to Newport in Pembrokeshire,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30the town where her mother was born.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Fiona comes from two ancient West Wales families -
0:06:33 > 0:06:36the Morrises and the Barzeys.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The Barzeys lived on the Pembrokeshire coast,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42including her three times great-grandfather, William Barzey,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45who lived here over 200 years ago.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48There's still much he would recognise,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51and to tell Fiona more about her Barzey family
0:06:51 > 0:06:54is local historian Reg Davies.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Croeso i Gastell Tydrath, Fiona.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Newport Castle, I didn't even know it existed, Reg.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Yes, a castle built in the 12th century by William Fitzmartin,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11an Anglo-Norman lord.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14- And he built this castle, the church nearby...- Yeah.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15..and the town below us.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16Yeah.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22Now, in the 19th century, Newport became a great seafaring town.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Hence my mariner ancestry.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27- Yes, they contributed to this process.- Yeah.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29And these mariners became wealthy.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31- And so...- They didn't buy the castle, did they?
0:07:31 > 0:07:33- SHE LAUGHS - No, I'm afraid not, no!
0:07:33 > 0:07:36They decided to rebuild the town
0:07:36 > 0:07:39by raising the single-storey cottages that were here
0:07:39 > 0:07:41into two-storey and three-storey dwellings.
0:07:41 > 0:07:42Ah, that's - do you know? -
0:07:42 > 0:07:45because what's struck me most about the town,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47apart from the beautiful views out to the sea,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51- is the houses, how pretty they are, what a pretty town it is.- Yeah.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53And the children of your ancestors
0:07:53 > 0:07:55probably played in these very ruins here.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58- And...- Do you think so? - No, I'm sure of it.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00What a beautiful place to play in.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03- A very romantic place to play in as a child.- Yeah.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08As Fiona has learned, William Barzey,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10her three times great-grandfather,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13was a mariner on this very coastline.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16And Reg has been scouring the Pembrokeshire Records Office
0:08:16 > 0:08:19for evidence of his story.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22At the boat club, Reg can now reveal what he's discovered.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25They knew a long time ago that the soils in North Pembrokeshire
0:08:25 > 0:08:27- were very acidic.- Mm-hm.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30And they knew that if they neutralised the soils with lime,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32they would improve the crop yields.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37And your ancestors, in particular William Barzey, the mariner,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41he brought those materials from the south of the county
0:08:41 > 0:08:42up to the Parrog here.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Oh, that's what he was doing.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47He would sail around the coast of Pembrokeshire mostly.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50- Mmm.- He also would export slate from here,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- we have slate quarries to the west.- Mm-hm.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57So generally moving cargoes around the whole coast of Wales.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And we think that his father, Thomas Barzey,
0:09:00 > 0:09:05was master of a little vessel called The Rose In June.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- Oh, wow!- And he too was taking materials round the coast.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12But then they began to sail further away from this area,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15they're moving goods around the coasts of Britain
0:09:15 > 0:09:16- and the near continent.- Oh..
0:09:16 > 0:09:21And ultimately, these coastal vessels declined,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24because we've got canals coming, better railways coming,
0:09:24 > 0:09:25- better roads coming...- Yeah.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28And that trade is going to decline.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Now Fiona is heading off to the Pembrokeshire countryside
0:09:31 > 0:09:34to follow the story of William Barzey's grandson,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36also called William Barzey,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40who in the 1840s was a farm labourer in this area.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43First, she visits a recently restored cottage
0:09:43 > 0:09:47which survives from the time of her ancestor.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Here to tell her more is Pembrokeshire historian Hedd Lewis.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Wow, what's this, where are you taking me?
0:09:53 > 0:09:57- Well, croeso i Fwthyn Penrhos. - Uh-huh.- Welcome to Penrhos Cottage.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00It's known locally as a Ty Unnos,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02which the literal translation is a one-night house.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04And why was it called a one-night house?
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Well, these houses, these little cottages, then,
0:10:07 > 0:10:12were built on common land, and they would have been built overnight,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16and provided there was smoke coming out of the chimney by the morning,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19the builders would have squatters' rights then,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21to that particular cottage.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24- Gosh, so they literally put this up in one night?- Yeah.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27It wouldn't have been built like this originally.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29It probably would have been built very quickly
0:10:29 > 0:10:32out of all the materials that were available locally,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34and then over the years then,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36they would have rebuilt it with stone, et cetera.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39I've never seen a thatch in Pembrokeshire before, ever.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Very rare, probably one of the last
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- of the old original cottages in this particular area.- Yeah.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47- And this is new thatch on here now, isn't it?- Yes.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- But...it's gorgeous.- Yes. - Really lovely.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54There is more to this dwelling than Hedd has so far revealed.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58In fact, this cottage, along with Fiona's ancestor, William Barzey,
0:10:58 > 0:11:03would find themselves at the centre of one of the most famous events
0:11:03 > 0:11:05in Welsh social history -
0:11:05 > 0:11:07the Rebecca Riots.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11In 1839, rioters took direct action
0:11:11 > 0:11:15following the introduction of road tolls and new toll gates.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20Angered by widespread hardship, failed harvests and heavy taxation,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23the road tolls proved the final spark.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Cottages similar to Penrhos Cottage
0:11:26 > 0:11:29were used as a place for the rioters to shelter.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31And in the meadow behind the cottage,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36Hedd can reveal William Barzey's role in this infamous event.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Right, now then. Here we've got, er...
0:11:38 > 0:11:40the document, which is a register
0:11:40 > 0:11:43of all persons charged with indictable offences,
0:11:43 > 0:11:48the assizes and sessions held within the county during the year of 1843,
0:11:48 > 0:11:49the county of Pembrokeshire.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52And top of the list is William Barzey.
0:11:52 > 0:11:53So...
0:11:53 > 0:11:57What, was he... "rioting and felony"...?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Well, we believe that he was one of the Rebecca Rioters.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03And the Rebecca Riots, of course, began in this particular area.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- Well, I don't know anything about the Rebecca Riots!- Ah, right!
0:12:06 > 0:12:07Now then!
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Well, this is one of the most important chapters in Welsh history,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13at the beginning of the 19th century.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16The riots began in 1839, here in Efailwen. Yeah...
0:12:16 > 0:12:20And the rioters, they went around destroying the toll gates.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Oh! Why?- Why? Ah, now then... - SHE CHUCKLES
0:12:23 > 0:12:25The reason they wanted to destroy the toll gates
0:12:25 > 0:12:28was, really, they'd started building more and more toll gates,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32and the farmers and the tenant farmers and the local labourers
0:12:32 > 0:12:34were having to pay to travel round the area.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36And really, it was the straw that broke the camel's back,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- because they were suffering so much at that particular time.- Mmm.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44- And they went around, between 1839 and 1843...- Yeah.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46..destroying toll gates all over West Wales.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51Good grief. And William was there at the centre of it all.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53So at the time, was it quite notorious,
0:12:53 > 0:12:54did everyone know about it?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Oh, it was very...it was reported very widely.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01- There were reports in the press in Paris...- Ah...
0:13:01 > 0:13:04The Times sent down a correspondent to report on the riots,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07and it really worried the authorities up in London.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08- I bet it did!- Yeah.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11And at one time, they actually sent down soldiers,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13the Dragoons were sent over from Brecon,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15trying to catch the rioters,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18and of course, they caught very few of them.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19They were dubbed Rebecca Rioters
0:13:19 > 0:13:23because, as a disguise, the men would wear women's clothes,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and were often heard chanting the name Rebecca.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Good for them!
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I'm actually quite proud that I have someone in my ancestry
0:13:31 > 0:13:35who stood up for the proper working people, you know,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38people who were experiencing hard times.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40What happened to the toll gates?
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Well, the Efailwen toll gate was destroyed three times.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Three times?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47And at the end of it, the Whitland Trust,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49which owned that particular stretch of road...
0:13:49 > 0:13:52- Mm-hm.- ..or had the lease on that particular stretch of road,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54they decided not to rebuild it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Oh, so that was a real victory.
0:13:56 > 0:13:57It was a victory, yes.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00But three years later,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04they decided then to start rebuilding the toll gates.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06- Mmm.- And the riots kicked off again. - Gosh!
0:14:06 > 0:14:10And by that point, they'd spread all over West Wales.
0:14:10 > 0:14:11Wow.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13William Barzey, I salute you, actually.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15- I just...- There you are.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17I'm very proud that he took action
0:14:17 > 0:14:20instead of bowing down and being trampled upon.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22But as you say, he needed to.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25When you're that poor and you... it's desperation as well, isn't it?
0:14:25 > 0:14:28- It is, yeah.- And it's justice. - It is.- It's a real sense of justice.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30It's nice to have a rebel in the family, isn't it?
0:14:30 > 0:14:33It really is! Yes, I think the genes have carried on somehow! HE LAUGHS
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Now back at Penrhos Cottage,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Fiona has clearly made a very strong personal connection to William,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46and admired his fight for justice.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48But it seems his actions did little
0:14:48 > 0:14:51to improve the hardships of his life.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54Right, now then.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57We're coming now to the final chapter of William Barzey's life.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58OK.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01And the first document I'd like to show you
0:15:01 > 0:15:05is this document here from 1891.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08- See, it says, "Haverfordwest.." - "..Workhouse."
0:15:08 > 0:15:09Oh, gosh!
0:15:09 > 0:15:11- Right...- Is that where he ended up, then?
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Well, by 1891,
0:15:13 > 0:15:19obviously William Barzey was a resident in Haverfordwest Workhouse.
0:15:19 > 0:15:20Oh, gosh!
0:15:20 > 0:15:22And, er...the next document...
0:15:23 > 0:15:26..will reveal a little bit more to us...
0:15:26 > 0:15:27OK.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33What we've got here is the 1891 census.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36And you can see here...
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- "William John Barzey..."- Mm-hm...
0:15:39 > 0:15:42What's interesting, he was single.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44- Oh...- He didn't have a family.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48- And in the workhouse. - And he was in the workhouse.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50The ones who went into the workhouses,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53- they must have been at the bottom of the rung socially.- Yeah.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55They had nothing left.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- No...- They obviously had no family to go to.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Um...there was no future.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04And you know, you really had to be very, very poor
0:16:04 > 0:16:05to end up in the workhouse.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Hedd has dug deep into the archive
0:16:09 > 0:16:12to try and uncover what became of William,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and has discovered a newspaper report
0:16:14 > 0:16:16that he wants to share with Fiona.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23"Mr Herbert JE Price, coroner,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27"held an inquest at the Haverfordwest Workhouse on Monday,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29"on the body of William Barzey...
0:16:31 > 0:16:35"..which was found in the river near the railway bridge
0:16:35 > 0:16:37"on Christmas morning.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41"PC Morris deposed that he'd known the deceased for 12 years.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42"He could not tell his age,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45"but apparently he was about 77 years old.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48"The deceased was a farm labourer living at Fishguard,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51"and was in the habit of sleeping out at nights."
0:16:51 > 0:16:52- Oh, gosh!- Mmm.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55- He'd reached rock bottom, by the sound of it.- Yeah, yes.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01"Sergeant Thomas Parry said he searched the clothes
0:17:01 > 0:17:03"of the deceased, and discovered...
0:17:03 > 0:17:06"two shillings and eightpence..." I think,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09"..in cash, a razor and a comb..."
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Oh...so he still tried to make himself look decent,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15despite having nothing.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20"..as well as a ticket to the master of the workhouse for admittance.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24"The jury returned a verdict of found drowned."
0:17:24 > 0:17:26- Oh, gosh, bless him.- Mmm.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30- A rebel with a cause and a real sense of justice, to...- Mmm.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32..to end up destitute, basically.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34How sad.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35Mmm.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- There we are.- I find that very moving, actually.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50William Barzey, gosh! What a man and what a sad end, but...
0:17:50 > 0:17:52I just...I really love the fact...
0:17:52 > 0:17:53I've got a real sense
0:17:53 > 0:17:58that he was a man of dignity and a real sense of justice,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and a real fight for the working man, and I...
0:18:01 > 0:18:05That really moves me, actually. I feel very, very proud of him.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09And it's just so sad, really.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12You know, working men's always been trampled on
0:18:12 > 0:18:16and I'm really glad that he put up that fight against authority.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21There is still more for Fiona to learn of her family.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Later, she will visit Haverfordwest in West Wales,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28her mum's home town, where a very special group of people
0:18:28 > 0:18:31are busy preparing a wonderful surprise for her.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36But things are becoming much more personal.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38She's about to learn a story
0:18:38 > 0:18:41from her father Neville Phillips' side of the tree.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Fiona is pictured here as a baby, with her grandmother, Edith,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48and grandfather, Reginald Phillips,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50and the story she's about to learn
0:18:50 > 0:18:54concerns his father, Harry James Phillips.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00To learn of his story, she's visiting Pembroke Dock.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03At the famous naval gun tower, she's about to learn
0:19:03 > 0:19:05of the distinguished naval career
0:19:05 > 0:19:08of her great grandfather, Harry James Phillips.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13The gun tower can be found in the middle of the dock
0:19:13 > 0:19:15and was built in 1851
0:19:15 > 0:19:19to protect the strategically important Royal Dockyard.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Today, this historic building is a fitting place
0:19:21 > 0:19:25for Fiona to take up her great grandfather's story,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31What I'd like to start by showing to you
0:19:31 > 0:19:35is the beginning of his military service.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Harry served as a Royal Marine.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44Pictured here, Harry Phillips was in the navy for almost 20 years
0:19:44 > 0:19:45serving first on sailing ships
0:19:45 > 0:19:49and later on board the newer steam-powered battleships.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51He had a distinguished career.
0:19:51 > 0:19:58- He's gone from private in 1896 through to sergeant in 1909.- Wow.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- What do you think of that? Royal Marines.- Yeah.
0:20:00 > 0:20:07In 1911, a ship was commissioned called HMS Indefatigable.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Harry was serving on the Indefatigable
0:20:12 > 0:20:15during the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
0:20:15 > 0:20:21Indefatigable would see little action and by the spring of 1916
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Harry was finally heading for shore leave.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32This is a surviving postcard, sent by Harry to his young son Reggie.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Reggie would grow up to become Fiona's grandfather.
0:20:37 > 0:20:38But back in 1916,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Harry was, in fact, heading towards what would become the site
0:20:42 > 0:20:46of one of the greatest naval battles of World War I.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Indefatigable was in the greatest
0:20:50 > 0:20:55and probably only real sea battle of the First World War.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58It was called the Battle of Jutland.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03May 31st, 1916, at Jutland, off the coast of Denmark -
0:21:03 > 0:21:08over 200 vessels met here in the North Sea to do battle.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Following just 24 hours, 14 British
0:21:13 > 0:21:16and 11 German vessels had been destroyed.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20But what of Harry's ship, HMS Indefatigable?
0:21:23 > 0:21:25She had been sunk.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Indefatigable sinking was later described
0:21:29 > 0:21:32by one of the few survivors.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37What I've got here is an eyewitness report.
0:21:41 > 0:21:47Oh... "There was a terrific explosion aboard the ship. The magazines went.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50"I saw the guns go up in the air just like matchsticks.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53"12-inch guns, they were. Bodies and everything.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56"She was beginning to settle down and within half a minute
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"the ship turned right over and she was gone."
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Oh, my gosh. So quickly.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04"I was 180 foot up and I was thrown well clear of the ship
0:22:04 > 0:22:07"otherwise I would have been sucked under.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10"I was practically unconscious, turning over, really.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12"At last I came on top of the water.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16"When I came up there was another fellow named Jimmy Green
0:22:16 > 0:22:18"and we got a piece of wood.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21"He was on one end and I was on the other end.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24"Couple of minutes afterwards, some shells came over
0:22:24 > 0:22:26"and Jim was minus his head.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31"So I was left on my lonesome." It's so moving.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36- Gosh. It's brutal, isn't it? - Absolutely.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41But could Fiona's great-grandfather, Harry Phillips,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43have possibly survived?
0:22:46 > 0:22:50If you read that, that'll tell you. From the top.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57"Died as a direct result of enemy action.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01"Body not recovered for burial." Sorry.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It just seems... Well...
0:23:17 > 0:23:20- It's very sad, isn't it? - Yeah, it's very sad, but...
0:23:20 > 0:23:25Now, obviously his body went down with the ship.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Lost at sea, Harry has no grave for Fiona to visit.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36But after researching this story
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Mike has uncovered a memorial to Harry J Phillips
0:23:39 > 0:23:42at the home of the Navy in Portsmouth.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47There's his name, if you look under the sergeants.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Oh, there he is. HJ Phillips.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56All those men.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59Yeah, and he never came home,
0:23:59 > 0:24:04so that postcard to my grandad is so poignant.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Fiona has learned so much about her family story,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15but sadly she can't share this experience with her parents.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Her mother, Amy, died in 2006
0:24:21 > 0:24:23and her father, Neville, died just a few months
0:24:23 > 0:24:27before Fiona decided to make this journey into her past.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Whilst Fiona was still a teenager in Canterbury,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38her family, including her mother, Amy, returned to West Wales,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41making Haverfordwest their new home town.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46For Fiona, no trip to Wales is complete
0:24:46 > 0:24:49without coming home to Haverfordwest.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56For many years, Fiona's mum worked in the town
0:24:56 > 0:24:59at Ocky White's department store.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02Sadly, it was back in Wales
0:25:02 > 0:25:06that her mum was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13I never thought that Alzheimer's would be a huge part of my life.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Mind you, like most people,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17when I first heard that Mum might have it -
0:25:17 > 0:25:20she was very young, anyway - I just, like most people then,
0:25:20 > 0:25:21was ignorant and thought
0:25:21 > 0:25:25it was senile dementia, you know, older people saying silly things
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and forgetting, but it's actually a pretty catastrophic condition.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Having lost both her parents, it feels for Fiona
0:25:34 > 0:25:37that there is no-one to share this experience with.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Well, not quite.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49The Ocky White department store in Haverfordwest,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53where her mother worked, is still a thriving concern today.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Many of the staff who remember her mother very fondly
0:25:57 > 0:26:00have specially gathered at the Mariners Hotel in the town
0:26:00 > 0:26:02to surprise Fiona...
0:26:07 > 0:26:10..including her mum's old friend and boss,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Jeremy White, and his wife, Jill.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Hello, Fiona.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17Hi there.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Oh, it's you! They said Mr Jeremy and I thought... Oh, Mr Jeremy!
0:26:24 > 0:26:28I haven't seen you. Oh, gosh.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31And I'm so confused about everything.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Oh, and Jill, Oh... Lovely to see you.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37I'm trying to put everything in context.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41You were so special in Mum's life, both of you, so...
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Everyone has brought photographs
0:26:43 > 0:26:46of their days working with Fiona's mum
0:26:46 > 0:26:48and have many special memories to share.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52She loved all of you and all we used to hear about
0:26:52 > 0:26:57was all of you and...Mr Jeremy.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01We thought Mr Jeremy was the Prime Minister... THEY LAUGH
0:27:01 > 0:27:04..Prince Philip, everyone rolled into one. Prince Charles, rather.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07He's older than you, too, but...
0:27:07 > 0:27:10- And you had many car journeys with her as well, didn't you?- I did, yes.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13She used to try and teach me Welsh from the road signs
0:27:13 > 0:27:16because we would always come back through mid Wales.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19And I was never a very good learner,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21but she'd test me on the following trip.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23- THEY LAUGH - Oh, she was so proud of you.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26She was proud of all her children, but she was so proud of you.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29When you were in America she would always have, you know...
0:27:29 > 0:27:30She'd call you over and say,
0:27:30 > 0:27:34"Oh, you'd never guess who Fiona has interviewed now!"
0:27:34 > 0:27:37We'd all be excited about it because we all felt part of, you know,
0:27:37 > 0:27:38your success as well, really.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Well, I've got notes that she wrote to me in her lunch hour saying,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45"I'm having a baked potato," or peas, and I'd get the whole thing.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Fiona has now reached the end of the journey into her past.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55So how does she feel about her experience
0:27:55 > 0:27:59travelling through West Wales, and her homecoming to Haverfordwest?
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Oh, whenever I come back to Haverfordwest,
0:28:05 > 0:28:11I see them as family now as well because they were so good to my mum.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15You know, I wish at the end of all this that my mum and dad were...
0:28:17 > 0:28:21..um...there so I could show them the family tree. Sorry.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Um...
0:28:25 > 0:28:30Having been back and realised how Welsh I am,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I'll never, ever lose touch with Wales.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Yeah, I want to come back more now.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd