0:00:02 > 0:00:04Making the journey from his home in London to Wales
0:00:04 > 0:00:08is presenter and journalist John Humphrys.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Here in search of his Welsh ancestry.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15The host of the BBC's toughest quiz...
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Hello and welcome to Mastermind with me, John Humphrys.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23..his career has been driven by usually serious minded
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and sober journalism on Radio 4's Today programme.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Good morning, this is Today with John Humphrys.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30These words alone
0:00:30 > 0:00:33have struck fear into the hearts of many a live guest.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37His no-nonsense interviews mean he's never far from the headlines.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39John's journalism began in Cardiff,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42becoming a reporter on the Western Mail newspaper,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and now he's back on the same beat to trace his family ancestry.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50There is a degree of curiosity now on my part
0:00:50 > 0:00:54to find out quite where or what I come from.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00And that curiosity will lead John to learn how on seas far away,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02the sinking of a sailing ship
0:01:02 > 0:01:06would change the course of his family ancestry forever.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10As John Humphrys is coming home.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17John Humphrys was just two years old when the war ended in 1945.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22He grew up in Splott.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25His parents were mum, Winifred Matthews, a hairdresser,
0:01:25 > 0:01:30and dad, Edward Humphrys, a self-employed French polisher.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33With his pale complexion and blue eyes,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36John always felt there was something different about his dad.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40There's nothing Welsh about...
0:01:40 > 0:01:44there WAS nothing Welsh about my father's appearance at all.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48And this is a story he would love to resolve.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51John's journey begins here in Cardiff Bay.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54He grew up in this area in the 1950s.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58There's little left of the busy docks he remembers as a boy.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01But there is one place that is familiar.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05The iconic Pierhead Building, opened in 1897.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It stood at the entrance to the old docks
0:02:08 > 0:02:12and was the grand offices of the harbourmaster.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Today, this building is open to the public.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17And it's where John has arranged
0:02:17 > 0:02:20to meet with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22- Hi, John.- Mike.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Welcome to the Pierhead Building in the heart of Cardiff docks.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I feel I should be welcoming you here. I've been coming here a lot longer than you!
0:02:28 > 0:02:30I know it's familiar to you.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33We've been doing a lot of research into your family tree.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36And this is what we've come up with.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39My word, that's impressive.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43On John's paternal line, the story in Cardiff starts with
0:02:43 > 0:02:47his great-great-grandparents, John and Elizabeth Willey.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51In 1849, they arrived in Cardiff docks from the West Country.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56They had five children, including Sarah Willey,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00who would grow up to become John's great-grandmother.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Ah! Now, Sarah. I'd heard of a Sarah.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06- She was born 1849 in Cardiff.- Right.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11John may have a vague recollection of Sarah Willey's name,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14but he knows nothing of her real story,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18a story that will come to dominate his journey into his family's past.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24As well as his father's side of the tree,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28John will be following his mother Winifred Matthews' family line.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32On this side, both John's grandfather Thomas Matthews
0:03:32 > 0:03:36and great-grandfather William Matthews worked in Cardiff docks.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41All kind of labouring...
0:03:41 > 0:03:43A lot of working-class occupants.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48A lot of working-class. Not a lot of academics, or...
0:03:48 > 0:03:51or figures?
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Why did I know it was going to be humble? But there we are.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57We can be proud of that, can't we? They were survivors.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03But there is much that this tree has not yet revealed to John.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04And, by unlocking its mysteries,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08he will discover an ancestry he knows nothing about.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14First, John is off to learn more
0:04:14 > 0:04:18of his mother Winifred Matthews' side of the family tree.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20His great-grandfather William Matthews
0:04:20 > 0:04:23worked in the heart of Cardiff docks, loading ships.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29His job involved only one precious cargo.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Coal.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36He was a so-called coal trimmer, as historian Nigel Bevan can explain.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40William would have worked in the hold of a ship
0:04:40 > 0:04:43as it was being filled with coal.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46And the coal trimmers manually shifted the coal,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49using large, leaf-shaped shovels
0:04:49 > 0:04:54to distribute the coal evenly in the hold of the ship.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56In order to prevent ship listing and most importantly
0:04:56 > 0:04:58to prevent the cargo shifting when the ship was at sail.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01- If that had happened, it would have been disastrous.- Indeed.
0:05:01 > 0:05:02It's dangerous work.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04In many cases, you could say
0:05:04 > 0:05:07they were brothers in arms with coal miners.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Coal trimmers, like coal miners,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13were exposed to dangerous levels of coal dust.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15As trucks were emptied into the hold,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19they released clouds of coal dust. Lung conditions were common.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23And this appears to have been the cause of William's demise.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Bronchitis. Oh, there we are.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- He had a chest condition. - That's it. A chest condition.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31They would have been ignorant of the serious dangers caused by coal dust.
0:05:31 > 0:05:32Of course.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Despite the terrible working conditions, there was
0:05:36 > 0:05:40no shortage of men prepared to take on this hazardous work.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44By the early 20th century, a coal trimmer could earn 10 times as much
0:05:44 > 0:05:46- as a casual labourer on the docks. - Really?
0:05:46 > 0:05:51The union also provided death benefits and accident benefit.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55It was not a militant union. They didn't have a strike front.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59And for the Great Dock Strike of 1911, the coal trimmers were
0:05:59 > 0:06:03actually six weeks late in joining the strike, compared to the others.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09So they concentrated very much on pay, and terms and conditions.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12They didn't worry too much about health and safety.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16I bet they didn't. Things were rather different then.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21John's maternal family story now moves forward one generation
0:06:21 > 0:06:24to his grandfather, Thomas Matthews.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27He appears to have escaped his father William's fate
0:06:27 > 0:06:29by becoming a railway guard in the 1890s.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33At Bute Street's Cardiff Bay station,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36expert John Buxton explains more.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41He obviously escaped from the lifestyle that his father had,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44which was no mean feat in the time because obviously
0:06:44 > 0:06:48- he must have been numerate... - And literate.- And literate.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50And, as a result of that,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53he got quite a responsible position in the railway.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57John's grandfather Thomas Matthews and his family
0:06:57 > 0:07:01appeared to be finally moving up in the world.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04His job as a guard on the railway was a far cry from the coal dust
0:07:04 > 0:07:07that had killed his father William.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11So he had a pretty cushy life, right?
0:07:11 > 0:07:13He stayed with the railways
0:07:13 > 0:07:15presumably for the rest of his working life?
0:07:15 > 0:07:20No, actually, he didn't. And I can reveal from this census...
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- Another one of these forms! - This is from 1911.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29The census of 1911 reveals Thomas was in the docks
0:07:29 > 0:07:33- working as a coal trimmer. - As his father was.- Absolutely.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35So he left the railway.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40- In his late 30s?- In his late 30s. Probably about 39, we think.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42And he became a coal trimmer.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46So, the very job that had killed his father William,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Thomas was now prepared to do himself.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50So he left behind all his smart clothes,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54presumably his pension and the situation...
0:07:54 > 0:07:58A fairly cushy job in a way. Well, "cushy" isn't fair.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02He had a lot of responsibility, but he was in a very respected position.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04So why? Seems a very odd thing to do.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09It does seem at first thought a rather odd thing to do.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Because of the almost exponential rise in the export of coal
0:08:13 > 0:08:17through Cardiff docks and the other docks in the area,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19there was a tremendous demand for coal trimmers.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23And as a result of that, their wages increased quite dramatically.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27So I think he traded in the position he had, the responsibility,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31the respect probably that he had from his family and colleagues and friends
0:08:31 > 0:08:37for a rather more arduous and less healthy existence as a coal trimmer,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41primarily, I would think, because he was able to earn more money.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46John is heading to St Mary the Virgin's Church in the heart of Butetown.
0:08:46 > 0:08:47He's now on the trail of
0:08:47 > 0:08:51his father Edward Humphrys' side of the family tree.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53His paternal great-great-grandparents
0:08:53 > 0:08:56were Elizabeth and John Willey.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59They left the West Country for Cardiff docks in 1849,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03along with their family, in search of a better life.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08But sadly, their arrival coincided with a family tragedy.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11The records show they lost their youngest daughter, Emma,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15as Mike Churchill-Jones is about to reveal.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18- Ah. A death certificate.- Mm-hmm.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23And this is Emma Willey, died of cholera.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28- How very sad.- It is very sad.- Yes.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Hard to...
0:09:34 > 0:09:38Hard to comprehend it, but that was the reality of life then.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41- And presumably, cholera wasn't that rare...- Wasn't that rare, no.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44- ..in the middle of the 19th century? - No. No.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Across the next three years,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50there would be more tragedy for the family.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Elizabeth's husband John Willey also died.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58And then a second child, John, aged two.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00It's a lot to happen to someone in that space of time.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Don't you agree?
0:10:04 > 0:10:07It's quite hard to comprehend, isn't it?
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Yeah.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12She must have been a very tough woman.
0:10:13 > 0:10:19But, in June 1856, Elizabeth did at last have something to celebrate.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21She was here in this very church
0:10:21 > 0:10:24for the marriage of her eldest daughter, Louisa.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Also here, Elizabeth's younger daughter, Sarah Willey.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Sarah Willey would grow up to be John's great-grandmother.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33- Well, that was something to celebrate.- It was.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37- She needed a bit of that, didn't she, poor woman.- She did.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41After this brief moment of happiness,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44sadly, John's great-great-grandmother Elizabeth,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48less than three weeks after this family wedding, was dead.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52She had died from lung disease aged just 40 years old.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56This meant John's great-grandmother Sarah Willey,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00at this time just six, was left an orphan.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03But what happened to her next?
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Your great-grandmother was six years of age.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08Right.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12And what? I'm about to find out what happened to her?
0:11:12 > 0:11:17- The next stage of her life, yeah. - To my great-grandmother?- Indeed.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I'm not sure I want to know.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Now John is off on the quest to try to resolve
0:11:27 > 0:11:31the mystery concerning his father Edward Humphrys' ancestry.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Cardiff docks drew in people and goods from around the world.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Timber from Scandinavia was imported for pit props for the coal industry,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42and some were used to build
0:11:42 > 0:11:45the original Norwegian Church here in Cardiff Bay.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Now John is heading for something of a surprise
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and the truth about his father Edward Humphreys' ancestry.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58He's visiting the lightship Helwick in Cardiff Bay.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Here to meet expert Dr Nicholas Evans,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03who's been burning the midnight oil
0:12:03 > 0:12:06to find the answer to a long-held family mystery,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08which John can now explain.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10When you look at my father,
0:12:10 > 0:12:16his blue eyes and his whole appearance...
0:12:16 > 0:12:18There's nothing Welsh about...
0:12:18 > 0:12:22there WAS nothing Welsh about my father's appearance at all.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26- Did you know your great-grandfather was born in Finland?- I had no idea.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31- OK.- Finland?! No, I've never heard of Finland...
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I mean, I've heard of Finland, but I've never heard of any family connection with Finland at all.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39He was originally called Johannes Vilhelmsen.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41But he rapidly changed his name, like many immigrants,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43to John Williamson.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47So that answers a question that's puzzled me for many, many years.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- So when did he come here? - He came, we believe, after 1862.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54And the reason we can date it from then,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58he was born in a place near Tampere.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02So what we find is that he is provided with an opportunity
0:13:02 > 0:13:06not to live in Finland, but to actually go abroad as a mariner,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10and he entered a life at sea from this inland waterway area.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14And we're assuming the railway opened up the opportunity
0:13:14 > 0:13:16to go not just to Helsinki, but to the world.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20And, from 1862, there were regular shipping connections
0:13:20 > 0:13:24between Helsinki and Cardiff for coal.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- Oh, I see.- Because of this railway. - We used to sell them coal.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31- We used to sell them coal. - Right.- They would export timber
0:13:31 > 0:13:35and they would return with coal for the expanding railway of Finland.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40In the 1870s, sailing the trade routes
0:13:40 > 0:13:45was a cargo ship very much like this one, called the Patriotess.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50On board was one Herman Haverin and his good friend Johan Vilhelmsen,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52John's great-grandfather,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56who later Anglicised his name to John Williamson.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59You may be able to find your ancestor's name on there.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Yeah, there he is. John Williamson.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06And you can see here, Finnish and able seaman, 21.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11By 1876, the Patriotess was no more.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15She had sunk, but her crew were saved.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18After losing their ship, it appears that John Williamson
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and his good friend Herman did not return to Finland.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25In fact, in the 1870s, when not at sea,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28they were living at the sailors' home in Cardiff docks.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31We've been able to find a photograph of that sailors' home
0:14:31 > 0:14:34where he lived in the 1870s.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37And this was just round the corner from the dock,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41in a place where lots of the mariners would have met.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44So this was probably the temporary home of John and Herman
0:14:44 > 0:14:47when they were onshore.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53Whilst in Wales, John Williamson met and married Mary Williams.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58And if you see here, when your ancestor married in 1874...
0:14:58 > 0:14:59As you can see here,
0:14:59 > 0:15:05John Williamson was at the sailors' home, here in Cardiff.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07But look at who was the witness.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Herman Haverin, the same man who was on the...
0:15:11 > 0:15:13So, they must have maintained...
0:15:13 > 0:15:17- They've stayed together, mustn't they?- Exactly.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Presumably they wouldn't have spoken English or Welsh, obviously, so...
0:15:20 > 0:15:22This was a very important point.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25They were Finnish-speaking, not Swedish-speaking,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27because there were Swedish-speaking Finns,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31- so it's almost like having an English-speaking Welshman.- Right.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34And then there were Finnish-speaking Finns,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37who were like Welsh-speaking Welshmen, very proud, patriotic,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39great interconnection with their song,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42with their culture and preserving that heritage.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44So they'd have felt at home, in one sense, in Wales.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47- They would, but there were very few Finns.- Exactly.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52And, in the 1871 census, so the year that this Patriotess sailed,
0:15:52 > 0:15:58there were only 11 Finns living here in Cardiff, of which,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02two included Herman and his friend, John Williamson, your ancestor.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Well, well done, you've solved the mystery for me.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06Something that's puzzled me for many, many years.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10It falls into place. Fascinating.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Clearly, John's father never shared with his son
0:16:14 > 0:16:17the story of their Finnish ancestry.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20He passed away at St David's Hospital in Cardiff.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23John knows this place well,
0:16:23 > 0:16:28but is about to learn it had a much earlier connection to his family.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Originally, it was the Cardiff Union Workhouse,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35and it was here that Sarah Willey, John's great-grandmother,
0:16:35 > 0:16:40was sent after being orphaned at the age of six in 1856.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43She had not been able to live with her sister Louisa,
0:16:43 > 0:16:45who had recently married.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49So, it was to the workhouse six-year-old Sarah was sent,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52as expert Peter Higginbotham reveals.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57- It was the Cardiff Union Workhouse. - Ah!
0:16:57 > 0:17:01And I had no idea that it was connected with my great-grandmother.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04- Yeah.- And she was taken there when it was a workhouse.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Who would have actually put her in the workhouse?
0:17:07 > 0:17:12- Who would have taken that decision? - That's a very interesting question.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Louisa, the eldest, had just got married, and it may be that
0:17:16 > 0:17:22her husband wasn't prepared to take on this young child.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25She wasn't old enough to contribute to the family income,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29but still at an age where she needed care and attention.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33- Absolutely, she did.- So, it would have placed a drain on the family.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- We don't have a responsibility for her.- Exactly. Yeah.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40As a result of this decision, Sarah would live
0:17:40 > 0:17:45in the Cardiff Union Workhouse for the next eight years.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48And what were conditions like in the workhouse?
0:17:48 > 0:17:51The workhouse was intended to be a deterrent place,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54to put off people who didn't...
0:17:54 > 0:17:55Ah, I see.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Well, you can sort of see that, brutally cruel, but you can
0:17:58 > 0:18:02see that for adults, but for children?
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Peter has unearthed a record of the daily routine for children
0:18:06 > 0:18:08in a workhouse such as Cardiff's.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Up at six in the morning, making beds, cleaning shoes, washing.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14They were essentially producing fodder
0:18:14 > 0:18:16for the domestic service market.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19So it would have been assumed that she would leave the workhouse
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- eventually, and go into service. - Yeah.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25And, as time went on, the girls would contribute more
0:18:25 > 0:18:28- and more to the actual running of the workhouse.- Ah.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30They would make uniforms, for example.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I'm puzzled as to why Sarah didn't go into an orphanage.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35Why a workhouse?
0:18:35 > 0:18:38The workhouse often ends up picking up the pieces of what
0:18:38 > 0:18:42- we might call problem families.- They were the sort of last resort?- Yes.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46But, I mean, unto here, I'm trying to defend my ancestors!
0:18:46 > 0:18:50But, they hadn't been, as it were, problem families.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53They had been hard-working people, so far as one can tell, and
0:18:53 > 0:18:58they had had absolutely vile luck and terrible things had happened to them.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03John wants to travel to see the workhouse for himself.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07On the way, he reflects on Sarah's story.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13There was a woman who had nothing, absolutely nothing.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Her mother had died, her father had died, and at the age of six,
0:19:16 > 0:19:22even her oldest sister didn't want her.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25And you imagine a six-year-old and you think,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29what does a six-year-old want most of all? And they want...
0:19:29 > 0:19:31love. They want affection, at the very least.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38It's hard to imagine that Sarah spent
0:19:38 > 0:19:40so much of her childhood in this place.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46But there is still more for John to learn of her life.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54John's off to discover a little more of the history of an area that
0:19:54 > 0:19:56was very important to his family.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Cardiff's old docks and Tiger Bay.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04In the 19th century, what began as a salt marsh
0:20:04 > 0:20:08went on to become the biggest coal-exporting docks in the world.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13John meets up again with historian Nigel Bevan.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16When did Tiger Bay become Tiger Bay, as it were?
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Late 19th century.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Essentially, people were following the Imperial trade routes
0:20:23 > 0:20:28back to Cardiff, so Tiger Bay develops as this unique,
0:20:28 > 0:20:33multicultural community, just adjacent to the docks.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37The story of Tiger Bay is the story of people who came here
0:20:37 > 0:20:40from around the world in search of a better life.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Including John's own ancestors.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48Very much a melting pot, and a unique culture described,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52perhaps jokingly, as Afro-Welsh, or Indo-Cymraeg!
0:20:52 > 0:20:53JOHN LAUGHS
0:20:53 > 0:20:58Migrant men arriving in Cardiff for a better life
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- and marrying local Cardiff girls. - Right, right.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Tiger Bay, with its mix of dock workers, sailors and incomers
0:21:04 > 0:21:09from all over the world, also became known for its nightlife.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12A draw to the teenage John Humphrys.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16It was a pretty risky place when I was a boy.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20We used to come down here when I was a teenager and,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24it's rumoured that occasionally, we would have a few beers as well...
0:21:24 > 0:21:27- Good grief!- I know, I know!
0:21:27 > 0:21:32And I do remember fairly often, reeling my way home from Tiger Bay.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36It was a pretty rough area. But great character.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42John is now back on the trail of his great-grandmother, Sarah Willey.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45After leaving the workhouse, what became of her?
0:21:45 > 0:21:50At the age of 15, Sarah had finally left to become a domestic servant.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56At St Mary the Virgin's Church in Butetown, Mike Churchill-Jones
0:21:56 > 0:21:59has a record of Sarah's marriage in 1872
0:21:59 > 0:22:03to John's great-grandfather, one Josiah Humphrys.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08- Right, ah, this is where Humphrys comes from.- Indeed.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13So she met Josiah and he was 21, she was 22, when they got married.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18- Josiah was a blacksmith, by trade, yes.- Good job.- Indeed.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21It appears that Sarah had been condemned to
0:22:21 > 0:22:24a life in the workhouse when her older sister Louisa
0:22:24 > 0:22:29and her husband Edward Sparks had refused to take her in.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30But what became of them?
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Edward Sparks died in the Cardiff Royal Infirmary aged just 39.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41Now, that is probably the moment where Louisa has tried to find
0:22:41 > 0:22:46her sister, wherever she may be, and this brought them together.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50When Louisa Sparks marries for the second time,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54- and the witness is Josiah Humphrys. - My great-grandfather.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00Oh, so that sort of brings the family back together. That's nice.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05- Good. Nice to have a bit of good news.- Absolutely. Absolutely right.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Now, your great-grandmother's married Josiah.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12They've had 12 children in total, so they had a busy time.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14They had a busy time.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17So, it appears that, despite everything that Sarah had
0:23:17 > 0:23:20suffered, she'd been prepared to forgive her sister, Louisa.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25But what toll might those early years have taken on her life?
0:23:25 > 0:23:28What she'd have lost at the beginning,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32what she'd not have had at the beginning of it, was love.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36To be dumped in a workhouse at the age of six.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40Maybe she did have regular food, and she was taught to do a job,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44and taught how to become a domestic servant and all that,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48but you imagine, not just no love, but no affection.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50She was just a number,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54she was just one of the inhabitants of that workhouse.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58And I can't imagine how a child of six copes with that.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01But the fact is, she did cope with it, didn't she?
0:24:01 > 0:24:04She went on to lead a decent and fulfilled life.
0:24:04 > 0:24:11So, I'm actually rather proud of the old girl. She was a survivor.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13I bet she was tough.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15I'd love to have met her.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21John has learned so much about his family ancestry.
0:24:22 > 0:24:28His brother, Bob, a well-known face on BBC Wales, passed away in 2008.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35John's childhood home in Pearl Street may still be standing,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39but the docks of the 1950s that he remembers as a boy
0:24:39 > 0:24:41have all but disappeared.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44The houses demolished, the people gone.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48There is little evidence left of his childhood.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54But there is at least one person for whom all those memories are still very strong.
0:24:54 > 0:24:55His older brother, Graham.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Today, Graham lives in Dorset,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02but is making a special journey to Cardiff
0:25:02 > 0:25:04to meet up at their childhood home.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08First to arrive is Graham,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11who hasn't been through this front door since he was a boy.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14And it instantly brings back memories.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20So this is the living room, where we had a bath every Saturday night.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23And Dad would go and get the hose and the zinc bath...
0:25:23 > 0:25:26off the wall out there, fill it down here
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and, as John was the youngest, he always had the first bath,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32then Anne had the second bath and I was the one who tipped it out
0:25:32 > 0:25:35cos I had the third one in all the dirty water!
0:25:35 > 0:25:38But that was life in those days, wasn't it?
0:25:38 > 0:25:41But it was a happy life, so...I'm not complaining.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Graham returns to the bedroom he shared
0:25:44 > 0:25:46with his younger brother, John.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Cor, blimey!
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So this is where John and I slept all those years ago.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53How times have altered it.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Do you know, John and I slept in that bed...
0:25:56 > 0:26:00and, um, I used to suffer with heat bumps
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and the bugger used to scratch them for me and would charge me a penny!
0:26:04 > 0:26:06And, um, that's why he's rich today.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12This is where I was born and spent the first, er...whatever it was,
0:26:12 > 0:26:1512, 13 years of my life. Pearl Street.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Which, er...was sort of...
0:26:18 > 0:26:22I suppose, "respectable poor" in those days.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Yeah, that's not a bad description of it. We liked to think that this...
0:26:27 > 0:26:29this was the smart end
0:26:29 > 0:26:34and, the further down you get towards Splott Road, it got a bit dodgier.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Whether that's actually true or not, I'm not sure, but that was how...
0:26:37 > 0:26:38We felt we were slightly grand
0:26:38 > 0:26:40because we lived at this end of Pearl Street.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Notwithstanding the fact we didn't have an indoor loo
0:26:43 > 0:26:45or anything like that. You know, none of those luxuries.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Cos that was our toilet,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51and can you imagine coming out here in the middle of winter?
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Or with snow and ice on the ground?
0:26:53 > 0:26:56And you had to go and sit in there, in the freezing cold,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58and then, on a Saturday morning,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02John and I would have to cut the newspapers up into little squares
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and put them on a nail at the back of that door.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Graham has quite a story to catch up on with his brother.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13Starting with their great-grandmother, Sarah.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16The really interesting thing about Sarah
0:27:16 > 0:27:19is that she had an incredibly tragic early life,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22because her mother died, her father died, her brother died and so on
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and, at the age of six, she went into a workhouse.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28- Oh, blimey! - Yeah.- Blimey.- Yeah, I know.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31And guess where the workhouse was? It was St... Well, it's now -
0:27:31 > 0:27:35or was until recently - St David's Hospital. And that was a workhouse.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37- And that was where Dad died. - Exactly, and where...
0:27:37 > 0:27:42This journey into his past has been very important to John.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44I've learned more about my ancestry
0:27:44 > 0:27:46in the last however many hours that is
0:27:46 > 0:27:51than in the previous 60-some-odd years of my life. And, um...
0:27:51 > 0:27:53I'm slightly overwhelmed.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Did you meet him? You must have met him, of course you must.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58- Josiah George?- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03Once you start to become familiar with a little bit of it,
0:28:03 > 0:28:04you want to know more then.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08I really, really wanted to know what happened to Sarah
0:28:08 > 0:28:13after she left that awful workhouse.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16I really wanted to know what happened to her.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19The connection goes way back to that workhouse,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22where our great-grandmother was taken.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26It gives you a... It gives you another perspective.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28I think that's the point of it.
0:28:28 > 0:28:35You feel differently, not just about the lives of your ancestors,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39but you feel a bit differently about your own life, I think.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44That's the impression that this experience has made on me. And, er...
0:28:45 > 0:28:48..I'm awfully glad I did it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd