0:00:02 > 0:00:04Travelling from Chester into North Wales
0:00:04 > 0:00:06in search of his Welsh ancestry
0:00:06 > 0:00:09is the hard man of Coronation Street,
0:00:09 > 0:00:11actor Ian Puleston-Davies.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14As his Corrie character Owen Armstrong
0:00:14 > 0:00:16he certainly plays the tough guy.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19If you were proud, you would crawl on your knees
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and you would lick that man's boots before you let that happen.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25But in real life is Ian just as tough?
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Yes, I'm a little concerned about whether I'll be a bit weepy.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33I hate it. I hope I'm not, not just for my daughter's sake,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36but I hope I'm going to man up for the next couple of days.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Growing up in Wales what does Ian know of his Puleston ancestry?
0:00:41 > 0:00:46I know a little bit about it, but I want the truth now. The whole truth.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51So, ready to learn the whole truth of his family ancestry,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Ian Puleston-Davies is coming home.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00On this journey, Ian will learn of his family's connection to
0:01:00 > 0:01:01a lost community...
0:01:03 > 0:01:10- It's tragic. That sounds... - It is.- They drowned a village...
0:01:10 > 0:01:15..how the American Civil War brought tragedy to his family in Wales.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19I promised my daughter that I wouldn't get glassy-eyed,
0:01:19 > 0:01:24but immediately you see her age, 16 months, bless her.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29And can he really trace his Puleston ancestry to the 14th century
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Welsh prince, Owain Glyndwr?
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Let's find out who the Pulestons really are.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Ian grew up in Flintshire with big sister Delyth,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43but his journey begins in the village of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46here in Denbighshire, near Ruthin,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51where this grand country house, Plas Newydd Hall, stands.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53He will soon learn that he is by no means the first
0:01:53 > 0:01:57generation in his Puleston family to walk up this drive
0:01:57 > 0:01:59at the centre of an ancient farm estate.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Waiting inside to reveal the full Puleston family tree is
0:02:04 > 0:02:06genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09And just entering the house,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12it's clear the Pulestons were a family of some importance.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- Hi, Ian.- Hi, Mike.- Welcome to Plas Newydd Hall...- Lovely to be here.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19- ..in Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd - Easy for you to say.- Yes.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22- I'll explain why we are here as we go on.- OK.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25- But we've been researching your family tree.- Yeah.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27And this is what we've come up with.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34They may not go back quite as far as the 14th century and Owain Glyndwr,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38but straightaway Ian can see that he has extensive Welsh roots
0:02:38 > 0:02:42across North Wales in Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire and Flintshire.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45I think it's just wonderful.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Every Welshman and Welshwoman should have this done.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50I really truly believe that.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54- Ian, you've got all these deep Welsh roots in Wales.- Yeah.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59- 99% of them are farmers. - Right.- What's your thoughts on that?
0:02:59 > 0:03:00I should have been a farmer.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05There was a time when I was going to be a farmer. And then I...
0:03:05 > 0:03:07There was a drama teacher at my local school and that was it.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10- Changed your mind. - He changed my mind.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Two of his great-great-grandparents, Mary Ann Puleston
0:03:15 > 0:03:20and Edward Puleston, were born here on the Plas Newydd estate.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28I've never been here. I've never even... I didn't know it existed.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And I can't believe it's just over the hill from the valley where
0:03:31 > 0:03:35I used to spend many a happy hour up on that mountain.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39- Very important place. - All the time it was down below.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42But this is a man you are going to learn an awful lot
0:03:42 > 0:03:44- more about on your journey. - Right. OK.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48- He is one of the key ingredients on your journey.- All right.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Not quite all of Ian's ancestors were farmers.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56His great-grandparents were Robert and Fanny Lloyd Jones.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57Robert was from Bala,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and was an architect of some repute in the town.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- Your great-grandfather Robert Lloyd Jones...- Right.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08..and his father Evan, they were heavily involved in the Bala
0:04:08 > 0:04:11- area in the building of chapels. - Goodness me. That's lovely.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15- How many chapels have you been in? - Not enough by the sound of it.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19- I've got a lot of chapel catching up to do, haven't I?- I think so, yes
0:04:21 > 0:04:26In a village near Bala in North Wales,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Robert Lloyd Jones designed this chapel - a building with
0:04:28 > 0:04:32a secret to share which Ian will learn later on his journey.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40But first Ian is off to learn more of his farming ancestors,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43who farmed here on the Plas Newydd estate,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46starting with his three times great-grandparents
0:04:46 > 0:04:48John and Mary Puleston,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52tenant famers who worked the very land on which Ian is now walking.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57And in one of the original cattle barns Ian meets with eminent
0:04:57 > 0:05:03Welsh historian Dr Eurwyn Wiliam who begins his story in 1841.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09In 1841, your ancestor John and his family were farming here.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12He, his wife Mary, and three children and their household.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14But he had succeeded his father
0:05:14 > 0:05:18and his father's father as tenant farmers in this area.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22So you've got a long tradition of prosperous, well-respected
0:05:22 > 0:05:25- tenant farmers in your background. - Right.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28There was a lot of competition, particularly in the Vale of Clwyd
0:05:28 > 0:05:32because this was agriculturally amongst the richest land in Wales.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Not a lot of good quality land in Wales,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37but this was a prime location.
0:05:37 > 0:05:43So a tenancy of a big farm here, and this farm was about 200 acres,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45was something that was prized.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50So he would have worked his way up to getting this tenancy, and equally
0:05:50 > 0:05:54his landlord would have wanted a good tenant of this quality.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56So that speaks a lot for the man.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59And the farm buildings where we are now, everything around you
0:05:59 > 0:06:02would have been known to John at the time.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04He would have used all these farm buildings.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Ian himself grew up on a farm,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11and can now see just how much this way of life is in the blood.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Isn't that wonderful? My father's a dairy farmer,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and here we are now talking of all those years ago,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19and very similar stone buildings,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and my dad was a dairy farmer like him.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27That means a lot to me. It's a shame I gave it up really. Or is it?
0:06:27 > 0:06:29I don't know. That's debatable.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Under the roof of this barn, his Puleston ancestors,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39men and women, have prospered with the tenancy of this enviable farm.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42But now the story moves forward
0:06:42 > 0:06:46to Ian's great-great-grandfather Edward Puleston.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Not having inherited the tenancy
0:06:50 > 0:06:53this led him to make a crucial decision.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59- The youngest of the three children was Edward Puleston.- Yeah.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03He married soon afterwards, in 1858.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07- Right.- And then he and his wife took a crucial decision.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09- And in my hand I have a piece of paper...- OK.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14..which is an extract from the 1860 US Census,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and there at the bottom it says,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21"Edward Puleston, born in Wales, in Wisconsin."
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Gosh. Wow.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29So Ian's great-great-grandparents Edward and Jane Puleston
0:07:29 > 0:07:32had left for a new life in Wisconsin in America.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37- So a Puleston, Edward, went to the States...- With his wife.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42..with his wife and they went to Wisconsin. Wow, that's fascinating.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46So why had Edward and Jane chosen to go
0:07:46 > 0:07:50so far from the life that they knew here in Wales?
0:07:50 > 0:07:53What had drawn them to make such an arduous journey to America?
0:07:56 > 0:07:58I'm... I'm really baffled.
0:07:58 > 0:08:05Here we are in, as was told to me, in very rich pastures,
0:08:05 > 0:08:10and yet he sought pastures new and I'm desperate to find out...
0:08:10 > 0:08:12I think it's great that he had this,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15that we have a Puleston who had a pioneering spirit.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I think it's terribly exciting to think that he had the courage
0:08:18 > 0:08:24and the demeanour to want to up sticks.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Obviously I need to know why.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Appropriately, the 64,000 question,
0:08:28 > 0:08:33why on earth he would leave this beautiful part of the world.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35What appears to have drawn Edward and Jane
0:08:35 > 0:08:40to Wisconsin in 1859 was the promise of a farm of their own,
0:08:40 > 0:08:44of free land given by the US government to European settlers.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48With the railroad still in its infancy,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52much of their 800 mile inland journey would have been by wagon.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57And with their new life, also came the birth of a daughter,
0:08:57 > 0:09:03Sarah Frances. But their American dream would not last.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Just two years after their arrival,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12the US would be plunged into one of the darkest episodes in its history.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16The civil war between North and South,
0:09:16 > 0:09:22a war that raged for more than four years, costing over 600,000 lives,
0:09:22 > 0:09:27and impacting on the lives of all, including Edward and Jane,
0:09:27 > 0:09:32who by 1863 had returned to the safety of North Wales,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37surviving this arduous journey home with 16-month-old Sarah.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40But this was not the end of Edward and Jane's ordeal,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44as historian Dr Hugh Griffiths has discovered.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49They had a daughter that was born out in the United States
0:09:49 > 0:09:53and they brought her back with them in 1863.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Unfortunately the records show that
0:09:55 > 0:09:58she didn't survive that long in Wales then.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00This is the record.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Sarah Frances Puleston,
0:10:04 > 0:10:0716 months then, was buried in...
0:10:07 > 0:10:10- OK.- ..in this area then.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I promised my daughter that I wouldn't get glassy-eyed,
0:10:13 > 0:10:19but immediately, you know, you see her age, 16 months. Bless her.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22So she would have travelled home, and she would have arrived back home
0:10:22 > 0:10:26in Liverpool, would have arrived back in this very house, probably.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Unfortunately erm...
0:10:29 > 0:10:33she didn't make it past 16 months.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Ah, bless her.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Poor thing. OK.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45So Edward and Jane's hopes of a permanent emigration to America
0:10:45 > 0:10:47were at an end.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48Or were they?
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Ian has travelled to Liverpool Docks, where it appears in 1869
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Edward and Jane stood on the quayside,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58waiting once again to leave these shores for America.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Ian is visiting the Merseyside Maritime Museum
0:11:03 > 0:11:06to meet up with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones,
0:11:06 > 0:11:07who believes this time
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Edward and Jane were determined not to return.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12He's found a notice
0:11:12 > 0:11:15advertising the sale of all their possessions in this country.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18"Store pigs, farm implements,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20"the whole of the household furniture, and dairy utensils.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23"Hay and corn, swedes and potatoes.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27"3 months' credit for £5 and upwards, or discount for cash.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30"Lunch at 10:00, and sale at 11:00, punctually."
0:11:32 > 0:11:36- What, he's selling up and going back? - That's the way it appears, yeah.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37So he's going to try again.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42This time they had a very special destination in mind.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47To a place that was thriving at the time for the Welsh,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50it was called Arvonia.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52It was in Kansas...
0:11:52 > 0:11:53Oh, wow.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It was named after Caernarfon,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58because some of the first people there were from Caernarfon.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59Oh, my goodness.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04This grainy photograph
0:12:04 > 0:12:07was one of the earliest taken of a newly established Welsh settlement
0:12:07 > 0:12:11named Arvonia, founded in northeast Kansas.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16By this time the Pulestons had a new daughter, Fanny,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19together with the support of other Welsh families.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22But farming this land would not be easy,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24due to the harsh climate.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Later they were joined by Edward's nephew, Robert Lloyd Jones,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30who would marry into their immediate family.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34In 1889, Robert Lloyd Jones marries Fanny.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42Robert and Fanny married here in Arvonia, in 1889.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45This, Arvonia's schoolhouse,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48would have been a very familiar sight to them -
0:12:48 > 0:12:52but this photograph was not taken over 100 years ago,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55it was in fact just this year.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Because amazingly, the settlement of Arvonia still stands today,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and the person who took these photographs especially for Ian
0:13:03 > 0:13:06was Susan Evans Atchinson,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10an Arvonia resident and historian who Ian can now speak to.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11Here we go...
0:13:13 > 0:13:15DIALLING TONE
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Right... BEEP
0:13:21 > 0:13:22Ah. Susan?
0:13:22 > 0:13:26- 'Yes, hello.'- Oh, hello. This is Ian.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28'Well, it's nice to meet you.'
0:13:28 > 0:13:32And lovely to meet you. Well, thank you so much for talking to me.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- 'Well, this is so exciting.' - Isn't it?
0:13:35 > 0:13:37'I bet never in your wildest dreams
0:13:37 > 0:13:39'did you think that you had ancestors in Kansas.'
0:13:39 > 0:13:44Nope. And I am more than excited, I can't tell you.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47'Well, great.'
0:13:47 > 0:13:53I only learned very recently of Edward Puleston and his strong,
0:13:53 > 0:13:59I believe strong connection with your town.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02'Right. And the property that they had
0:14:02 > 0:14:04'and where they lived
0:14:04 > 0:14:07'was about three miles west of the schoolhouse.'
0:14:07 > 0:14:09OK.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11'And actually
0:14:11 > 0:14:14'my great-great-grandparents
0:14:14 > 0:14:16'were neighbours to Edward Puleston
0:14:16 > 0:14:19'and my great-great-aunts, two of them,
0:14:19 > 0:14:24'were at a wedding, they stood up with one of his daughters.'
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Stood up as in...? I don't know that expression.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33- 'Like bridesmaids.'- Oh, my word. - 'They were bridesmaids, or...'
0:14:33 > 0:14:38One of your ancestors was a bridesmaid to one of my ancestors?
0:14:38 > 0:14:40- 'Yes.'- Fantastic!
0:14:42 > 0:14:47But just why has Arvonia remained unchanged to the present day -
0:14:47 > 0:14:51the old buildings still standing, the houses all but abandoned?
0:14:52 > 0:14:54'Well, when they planned the town,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57'the railroad was supposed to go through there.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59'So they built it on the river,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03'and the railroad went through Reading,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06'which is to the north and west, and then to Lebo, so...
0:15:06 > 0:15:11'people moved out and moved in those two directions.'
0:15:11 > 0:15:12So, do we blame the railroad?
0:15:12 > 0:15:15- 'Yes.'- OK.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18'The demise of Arvonia is for that very reason.'
0:15:19 > 0:15:22It's more than 100 years since Edward and Jane Puleston
0:15:22 > 0:15:24lived here in this Welsh settlement,
0:15:24 > 0:15:29but there is still some evidence of their life here, at this old creek.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33It's called Puleston Creek?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35- 'Yes.'- Why?
0:15:35 > 0:15:39'I know that part of it runs through the property that they owned.'
0:15:42 > 0:15:46The Welsh language that was once spoken here in Arvonia
0:15:46 > 0:15:48has now disappeared -
0:15:48 > 0:15:50well, not entirely.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Is it evening there, or morning?
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- 'It is morning.'- All right... - 'About ten o'clock in the morning.'
0:15:56 > 0:15:58I only know "Nos da", which is "good night",
0:15:58 > 0:16:00so I'll have to pretend it's evening.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03'"Noswaith dda" would be "evening" there.'
0:16:03 > 0:16:06There you go, that's my first Welsh lesson from an American.
0:16:06 > 0:16:07SHE LAUGHS Right - Susan,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10all the very, very best. Best wishes to you.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12- 'Best wishes to you too.' - Bye-bye now.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13'Bye.'
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Puleston Creek! What's that all about?
0:16:15 > 0:16:18I've got to go and paddle in Puleston Creek now.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Now the story moves back to North Wales.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Ian's great-grandparents, Robert Lloyd Jones and Fanny Puleston,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31returned from Arvonia to Robert's family home, here in Bala,
0:16:31 > 0:16:32where, as an architect,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Robert, in 1892, designed this chapel -
0:16:36 > 0:16:39a building Ian is keen to visit,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41with help from Cadw historian Adele Thackray.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46Well, I admit I'm not an expert at chapel-spotting but, erm...
0:16:46 > 0:16:49you've brought me here. Is this the right postcode?
0:16:49 > 0:16:52- It's definitely the right address. - Well, I don't see any chapels,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56unless this is a trick you're playing on me, but, erm...
0:16:56 > 0:16:59OK. Where's the chapel?
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Well, there's a very tragic story here.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06- The chapel's located about 200yds in that direction...- OK.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09..underneath this reservoir.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14- Really?- Yes, really.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19In the 1950s, Liverpool Corporation put
0:17:19 > 0:17:23a bill into Parliament to create this whole reservoir
0:17:23 > 0:17:25to supply water for the people of Liverpool,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30and there's actually a whole village underneath this reservoir now.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35This was the valley of Tryweryn in 1955 -
0:17:35 > 0:17:38at its centre the village of Capel Celyn.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Through an Act of Parliament,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42the valley was to be flooded for a reservoir
0:17:42 > 0:17:44to serve the city of Liverpool.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Well, it's tragic. That sounds...
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- There obviously was protests. - There was.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Obviously not far enough, but what happened?
0:17:52 > 0:17:55The water was destined for the city of Liverpool.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Opposition to the reservoir became a defining national event in Wales.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03But despite the protests, the reservoir went ahead,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06and Robert Lloyd Jones' chapel was demolished.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Many of the valley's original residents have now passed on...
0:18:11 > 0:18:13but not all.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14What of the children?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19At a nearby local pub, Ian meets with Aeron Prysor Jones,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22who was just 13 at the time,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26and with Elwyn Edwards, who lived next door to the chapel.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31Well, I was a schoolchild at the time, when the valley was flooded,
0:18:31 > 0:18:36and I used to live next door to the chapel, in a little smallholding.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Right. Oh, OK.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42So what does Elwyn remember of the chapel,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45designed by Ian's great-grandfather?
0:18:45 > 0:18:48My mother used to play the organ in the chapel
0:18:48 > 0:18:53and used to heat the chapel up and everything, really, for services.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55It was a very unique chapel, really,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59in the fact that it was designed in a peculiar way.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02The doors came in from the back obviously,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05but the vestry was also part of the chapel,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08which you could...
0:19:08 > 0:19:11We had Sunday school in the vestry,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14but if it was full, you could always drop the windows down,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18and it became part of the chapel, to enlarge the chapel.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- Goodness me.- So it was a very unique chapel, really.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Aeron was just 13 when these events took place,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29but it didn't stop him from wanting to protest.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Were you there at the opening of the dam out of curiosity,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- or still on the protests, with your banners waving?- I was there.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43- Gosh.- And, erm...the police were there in strength as well.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47- Yes.- Yes, well, not only a village was drowned but a way of life.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48- Yeah.- Everything that happened
0:19:48 > 0:19:51in Capel Celyn was in the Welsh language.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56You had choirs there, harp, singing, poets...
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Did it traumatise you at your age? Was the whole village traumatised?
0:20:00 > 0:20:05- How did it...- Well, it certainly traumatised the older generation.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08- Yeah.- It's like everything else, really -
0:20:08 > 0:20:14the younger you are, the sooner you adapt to different situations.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19But somebody who'd been all their lives in the valley,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21probably, getting on in their 80s,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24it's no doubt that it traumatised them.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Because it certainly changed their whole way of life -
0:20:27 > 0:20:31you're just looking at one thing today, and tomorrow it was gone.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37From a story of sadness
0:20:37 > 0:20:39to one of inspiration now for Ian,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42concerning another Puleston ancestor.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46This is John Puleston Jones, Ian's great-great-uncle,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49who also lived here in the town of Bala from the 1860s.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Ian grew up in Flintshire with his sister Delyth,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57who's also joining him to learn of THIS story.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59They're at Capel Tegid in Bala,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02to meet with local historian Buddug Medi.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11I'm here to talk about John Puleston Jones, your great-great-uncle,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13of the famous Puleston family.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16And he was brought up in Bala,
0:21:16 > 0:21:21but when he was 18 months old, he tripped.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25And he damaged his eyes,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28and was left completely blind
0:21:28 > 0:21:30for the rest of his life.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32- Gosh.- Yes.- Wow.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36His mother, Mary Ann Puleston, was very wise.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41She was determined that he would have to do everything for himself.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Not depend on anyone, as far as possible.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48He went to the Bala schools -
0:21:48 > 0:21:50the British School,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and Bala Boys' Grammar School.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57He learned Braille,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00and later on in life
0:22:00 > 0:22:06he devised the format of Welsh Braille.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12When most people in Wales were monoglot Welsh,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14that was a big breakthrough.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19When you say devised, I mean, he...
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Invented.- He invented Welsh Braille,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26- and before him there hadn't been any form of Welsh...- No.- Wow.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29And it's still used today.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31- What an amazing legacy. - That's just...
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Yes. Of course it is.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37He made a big change in Wales.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40That's sent a little bit of a shiver down my spine, that has.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- Absolutely, yes.- There you go.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Good for him. That's extraordinary.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I feel... I can speak for both of us, we are suddenly very proud ancestors.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52- Oh, well, of course. Wonderful. - That's great, isn't it?
0:22:52 > 0:22:55- Yes, indeed.- Absolutely, yes.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01John Puleston Jones was an Oxford scholar
0:23:01 > 0:23:03whose extraordinarily sharp mind
0:23:03 > 0:23:07meant he was able to devise a new language for Braille,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09incorporating the Welsh alphabet,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13a system of Braille that is still used today,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16as local student Rob Williams can demonstrate.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21I wrote this this morning
0:23:21 > 0:23:25on a device called a Perkins Brailler, which creates Braille.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26Oh, wow.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Now, you can also see here
0:23:29 > 0:23:31- how much room Braille takes up. - Right.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33So it says...
0:23:33 > 0:23:35"Heb eich perthynas, John Puleston Jones,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38"buaswn i ddim yn darllen y Braille yma."
0:23:38 > 0:23:41I'm sure you can recognise one word in there.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43- Yes, yes. John Puleston Jones.- Yes.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45And the rest, please?
0:23:45 > 0:23:47It says, "Without your ancestor John Puleston Jones
0:23:47 > 0:23:50"I would not be reading this Braille."
0:23:50 > 0:23:52Fantastic!
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- There you go.- That's amazing. That's amazing.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57That's a wonderful,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01wonderful story to hear, isn't it? A wonderful legacy.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Oh, it absolutely is. It's, as you say...
0:24:03 > 0:24:06It's changed... His accident changed his life,
0:24:06 > 0:24:11but it changed many people's lives for hundreds of years to come,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14so it's remarkable. It really is.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18He'd be so incredibly proud, wouldn't he, now?
0:24:18 > 0:24:20- That's fantastic.- Great.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Really.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Clearly, Delyth and Ian have loved learning of this story.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32That's really the first time that it hit home,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34of what an amazing thing he did.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36It's not just the past, it's now,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38it's making a difference to people's lives now.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41There's always that little distance or gap or whatever between then
0:24:41 > 0:24:45and now, but what Rob did has brought it right up to date with a bang.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49And reading that bit of Braille, for me, that's...
0:24:49 > 0:24:54- That did it for me, hey, Delyth? - Absolutely. Really, really proud.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57There's one last story that Ian would love to know more about,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01and this one will take him back into the mists of time.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04He was always told by his father that the Puleston family
0:25:04 > 0:25:08can trace their ancestry back to the 14th century and Owain Glyndwr,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Prince of Wales, but this surely was no more than a fairy tale.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Nevertheless, he's back at Plas Newydd Hall
0:25:15 > 0:25:18to meet with Welsh author and historian Gerald Morgan,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22who's had a lot of late nights searching for a link for Ian.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Do you know how far back your family goes?
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I have an inkling that they go quite far back.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31The Pulestons, of course, are an interesting bunch.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Why do you think so?
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Because originally they're English and they're serving the king
0:25:37 > 0:25:39but they settle in Wales.
0:25:39 > 0:25:46By 1400, they had established themselves as the kind of
0:25:46 > 0:25:51Anglo-Welsh gentry who were really running North Wales as squires.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54You've been introduced to part of your family tree, I think,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56- back to the 18th century?- Mm.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00So let's have a look at this sheet of paper, shall we?
0:26:00 > 0:26:01At the start of his journey,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Ian learnt of his Puleston ancestry stretching back to his five-times
0:26:04 > 0:26:09great-grandfather, John Puleston, born in 1719.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12But Gerald can take this research back a lot further.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17We can follow the Pulestons, thanks to that unique name,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21- all the way back to... - This is killing me, Gerald.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Gerald has linked Ian's Puleston line into a very well-documented
0:26:24 > 0:26:27family tree which reaches all the way back
0:26:27 > 0:26:30to the 14th century to a Richard Puleston.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33But what connection does he have to Owain Glyndwr?
0:26:33 > 0:26:39If you look here, you'll find the name of Owain Glyndwr,
0:26:39 > 0:26:44the Welsh national hero, leader of the great revolt of 1400.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50And if we pass along here, you'll find his sister, Lowri.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55And who does Lowri marry but Robert, son of Richard Puleston.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- So it's a strong line? - It's a very strong line.- Wow.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06- It's yours.- That's great. I'm shaking.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Right, OK, so it's all kosher. It's for real.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15- That was the word I used before, yes.- Happy Welsh word.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19I'd rather think of a fitting Welsh word, other than I'm...
0:27:19 > 0:27:22What's the Welsh word for flabbergasted and hugely relieved?
0:27:22 > 0:27:27A great weight off my shoulders, myself and many other Pulestons.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32- So, it's... Someone was telling the truth?- Oh, yes.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36- And we are descendants of Owain Glyndwr and the like?- Oh, yes.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41I'm feeling a bit giddy, and I can't wait to tell my seven-year-old,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Maggie, my three-year-old son, Charlie,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45that Daddy was telling the truth, after all.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47And, in fact, my father,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51who has always been known as a bit of a fibber, so we didn't know
0:27:51 > 0:27:55whether this was a huge Puleston fib or otherwise. But it looks pretty...
0:27:56 > 0:27:59- pretty concrete to me and I am... - It's a very good line.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02Wow.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05- Can I have this to frame and put in my bathroom?- It's yours.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Thank you very much. Gerald, you are a giver of great news today.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12- Thank you very much.- My pleasure. My pleasure, Ian.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14I've won the Puleston lottery.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19So Ian's journey ends where it began,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22and few could be prouder of their Welsh heritage.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I have been knocked for six by...
0:28:28 > 0:28:32..you know, the lives of the Pulestons
0:28:32 > 0:28:34that we've talked about and I've discovered.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38I've come away...
0:28:40 > 0:28:43..not just being proud of being a Puleston,
0:28:43 > 0:28:49or being reminded of the value of being a Puleston, but moreover...
0:28:49 > 0:28:52it sounds very cheesy, but being a Welshman.
0:28:54 > 0:29:00I'm just thrilled that I can walk away with that feeling.