Ian Puleston Davies Coming Home

Travelling from Chester into North Wales

in search of his Welsh ancestry

is the hard man of Coronation Street,

actor Ian Puleston-Davies.

As his Corrie character Owen Armstrong

he certainly plays the tough guy.

If you were proud, you would crawl on your knees

and you would lick that man's boots before you let that happen.

But in real life is Ian just as tough?

Yes, I'm a little concerned about whether I'll be a bit weepy.

I hate it. I hope I'm not, not just for my daughter's sake,

but I hope I'm going to man up for the next couple of days.

Growing up in Wales what does Ian know of his Puleston ancestry?

I know a little bit about it, but I want the truth now. The whole truth.

So, ready to learn the whole truth of his family ancestry,

Ian Puleston-Davies is coming home.

On this journey, Ian will learn of his family's connection to

a lost community...

-It's tragic. That sounds...

-It is.

-They drowned a village...

..how the American Civil War brought tragedy to his family in Wales.

I promised my daughter that I wouldn't get glassy-eyed,

but immediately you see her age, 16 months, bless her.

And can he really trace his Puleston ancestry to the 14th century

Welsh prince, Owain Glyndwr?

Let's find out who the Pulestons really are.

Ian grew up in Flintshire with big sister Delyth,

but his journey begins in the village of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd,

here in Denbighshire, near Ruthin,

where this grand country house, Plas Newydd Hall, stands.

He will soon learn that he is by no means the first

generation in his Puleston family to walk up this drive

at the centre of an ancient farm estate.

Waiting inside to reveal the full Puleston family tree is

genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones.

And just entering the house,

it's clear the Pulestons were a family of some importance.

-Hi, Ian.

-Hi, Mike.

-Welcome to Plas Newydd Hall...

-Lovely to be here.

-..in Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd

-Easy for you to say.

-Yes.

-I'll explain why we are here as we go on.

-OK.

-But we've been researching your family tree.

-Yeah.

And this is what we've come up with.

They may not go back quite as far as the 14th century and Owain Glyndwr,

but straightaway Ian can see that he has extensive Welsh roots

across North Wales in Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire and Flintshire.

I think it's just wonderful.

Every Welshman and Welshwoman should have this done.

I really truly believe that.

-Ian, you've got all these deep Welsh roots in Wales.

-Yeah.

-99% of them are farmers.

-Right.

-What's your thoughts on that?

I should have been a farmer.

There was a time when I was going to be a farmer. And then I...

There was a drama teacher at my local school and that was it.

-Changed your mind.

-He changed my mind.

Two of his great-great-grandparents, Mary Ann Puleston

and Edward Puleston, were born here on the Plas Newydd estate.

I've never been here. I've never even... I didn't know it existed.

And I can't believe it's just over the hill from the valley where

I used to spend many a happy hour up on that mountain.

-Very important place.

-All the time it was down below.

But this is a man you are going to learn an awful lot

-more about on your journey.

-Right. OK.

-He is one of the key ingredients on your journey.

-All right.

Not quite all of Ian's ancestors were farmers.

His great-grandparents were Robert and Fanny Lloyd Jones.

Robert was from Bala,

and was an architect of some repute in the town.

-Your great-grandfather Robert Lloyd Jones...

-Right.

..and his father Evan, they were heavily involved in the Bala

-area in the building of chapels.

-Goodness me. That's lovely.

-How many chapels have you been in?

-Not enough by the sound of it.

-I've got a lot of chapel catching up to do, haven't I?

-I think so, yes

In a village near Bala in North Wales,

Robert Lloyd Jones designed this chapel - a building with

a secret to share which Ian will learn later on his journey.

But first Ian is off to learn more of his farming ancestors,

who farmed here on the Plas Newydd estate,

starting with his three times great-grandparents

John and Mary Puleston,

tenant famers who worked the very land on which Ian is now walking.

And in one of the original cattle barns Ian meets with eminent

Welsh historian Dr Eurwyn Wiliam who begins his story in 1841.

In 1841, your ancestor John and his family were farming here.

He, his wife Mary, and three children and their household.

But he had succeeded his father

and his father's father as tenant farmers in this area.

So you've got a long tradition of prosperous, well-respected

-tenant farmers in your background.

-Right.

There was a lot of competition, particularly in the Vale of Clwyd

because this was agriculturally amongst the richest land in Wales.

Not a lot of good quality land in Wales,

but this was a prime location.

So a tenancy of a big farm here, and this farm was about 200 acres,

was something that was prized.

So he would have worked his way up to getting this tenancy, and equally

his landlord would have wanted a good tenant of this quality.

So that speaks a lot for the man.

And the farm buildings where we are now, everything around you

would have been known to John at the time.

He would have used all these farm buildings.

Ian himself grew up on a farm,

and can now see just how much this way of life is in the blood.

Isn't that wonderful? My father's a dairy farmer,

and here we are now talking of all those years ago,

and very similar stone buildings,

and my dad was a dairy farmer like him.

That means a lot to me. It's a shame I gave it up really. Or is it?

I don't know. That's debatable.

Under the roof of this barn, his Puleston ancestors,

men and women, have prospered with the tenancy of this enviable farm.

But now the story moves forward

to Ian's great-great-grandfather Edward Puleston.

Not having inherited the tenancy

this led him to make a crucial decision.

-The youngest of the three children was Edward Puleston.

-Yeah.

He married soon afterwards, in 1858.

-Right.

-And then he and his wife took a crucial decision.

-And in my hand I have a piece of paper...

-OK.

..which is an extract from the 1860 US Census,

and there at the bottom it says,

"Edward Puleston, born in Wales, in Wisconsin."

Gosh. Wow.

So Ian's great-great-grandparents Edward and Jane Puleston

had left for a new life in Wisconsin in America.

-So a Puleston, Edward, went to the States...

-With his wife.

..with his wife and they went to Wisconsin. Wow, that's fascinating.

So why had Edward and Jane chosen to go

so far from the life that they knew here in Wales?

What had drawn them to make such an arduous journey to America?

I'm... I'm really baffled.

Here we are in, as was told to me, in very rich pastures,

and yet he sought pastures new and I'm desperate to find out...

I think it's great that he had this,

that we have a Puleston who had a pioneering spirit.

I think it's terribly exciting to think that he had the courage

and the demeanour to want to up sticks.

Obviously I need to know why.

Appropriately, the 64,000 question,

why on earth he would leave this beautiful part of the world.

What appears to have drawn Edward and Jane

to Wisconsin in 1859 was the promise of a farm of their own,

of free land given by the US government to European settlers.

With the railroad still in its infancy,

much of their 800 mile inland journey would have been by wagon.

And with their new life, also came the birth of a daughter,

Sarah Frances. But their American dream would not last.

Just two years after their arrival,

the US would be plunged into one of the darkest episodes in its history.

The civil war between North and South,

a war that raged for more than four years, costing over 600,000 lives,

and impacting on the lives of all, including Edward and Jane,

who by 1863 had returned to the safety of North Wales,

surviving this arduous journey home with 16-month-old Sarah.

But this was not the end of Edward and Jane's ordeal,

as historian Dr Hugh Griffiths has discovered.

They had a daughter that was born out in the United States

and they brought her back with them in 1863.

Unfortunately the records show that

she didn't survive that long in Wales then.

This is the record.

Sarah Frances Puleston,

16 months then, was buried in...

-OK.

-..in this area then.

I promised my daughter that I wouldn't get glassy-eyed,

but immediately, you know, you see her age, 16 months. Bless her.

So she would have travelled home, and she would have arrived back home

in Liverpool, would have arrived back in this very house, probably.

Unfortunately erm...

she didn't make it past 16 months.

Ah, bless her.

Poor thing. OK.

So Edward and Jane's hopes of a permanent emigration to America

were at an end.

Or were they?

Ian has travelled to Liverpool Docks, where it appears in 1869

Edward and Jane stood on the quayside,

waiting once again to leave these shores for America.

Ian is visiting the Merseyside Maritime Museum

to meet up with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones,

who believes this time

Edward and Jane were determined not to return.

He's found a notice

advertising the sale of all their possessions in this country.

"Store pigs, farm implements,

"the whole of the household furniture, and dairy utensils.

"Hay and corn, swedes and potatoes.

"3 months' credit for £5 and upwards, or discount for cash.

"Lunch at 10:00, and sale at 11:00, punctually."

-What, he's selling up and going back?

-That's the way it appears, yeah.

So he's going to try again.

This time they had a very special destination in mind.

To a place that was thriving at the time for the Welsh,

it was called Arvonia.

It was in Kansas...

Oh, wow.

It was named after Caernarfon,

because some of the first people there were from Caernarfon.

Oh, my goodness.

This grainy photograph

was one of the earliest taken of a newly established Welsh settlement

named Arvonia, founded in northeast Kansas.

By this time the Pulestons had a new daughter, Fanny,

together with the support of other Welsh families.

But farming this land would not be easy,

due to the harsh climate.

Later they were joined by Edward's nephew, Robert Lloyd Jones,

who would marry into their immediate family.

In 1889, Robert Lloyd Jones marries Fanny.

Robert and Fanny married here in Arvonia, in 1889.

This, Arvonia's schoolhouse,

would have been a very familiar sight to them -

but this photograph was not taken over 100 years ago,

it was in fact just this year.

Because amazingly, the settlement of Arvonia still stands today,

and the person who took these photographs especially for Ian

was Susan Evans Atchinson,

an Arvonia resident and historian who Ian can now speak to.

Here we go...

DIALLING TONE

Right... BEEP

Ah. Susan?

-'Yes, hello.'

-Oh, hello. This is Ian.

'Well, it's nice to meet you.'

And lovely to meet you. Well, thank you so much for talking to me.

-'Well, this is so exciting.'

-Isn't it?

'I bet never in your wildest dreams

'did you think that you had ancestors in Kansas.'

Nope. And I am more than excited, I can't tell you.

'Well, great.'

I only learned very recently of Edward Puleston and his strong,

I believe strong connection with your town.

'Right. And the property that they had

'and where they lived

'was about three miles west of the schoolhouse.'

OK.

'And actually

'my great-great-grandparents

'were neighbours to Edward Puleston

'and my great-great-aunts, two of them,

'were at a wedding, they stood up with one of his daughters.'

Stood up as in...? I don't know that expression.

-'Like bridesmaids.'

-Oh, my word.

-'They were bridesmaids, or...'

One of your ancestors was a bridesmaid to one of my ancestors?

-'Yes.'

-Fantastic!

But just why has Arvonia remained unchanged to the present day -

the old buildings still standing, the houses all but abandoned?

'Well, when they planned the town,

'the railroad was supposed to go through there.

'So they built it on the river,

'and the railroad went through Reading,

'which is to the north and west, and then to Lebo, so...

'people moved out and moved in those two directions.'

So, do we blame the railroad?

-'Yes.'

-OK.

'The demise of Arvonia is for that very reason.'

It's more than 100 years since Edward and Jane Puleston

lived here in this Welsh settlement,

but there is still some evidence of their life here, at this old creek.

It's called Puleston Creek?

-'Yes.'

-Why?

'I know that part of it runs through the property that they owned.'

The Welsh language that was once spoken here in Arvonia

has now disappeared -

well, not entirely.

Is it evening there, or morning?

-'It is morning.'

-All right...

-'About ten o'clock in the morning.'

I only know "Nos da", which is "good night",

so I'll have to pretend it's evening.

'"Noswaith dda" would be "evening" there.'

There you go, that's my first Welsh lesson from an American.

SHE LAUGHS Right - Susan,

all the very, very best. Best wishes to you.

-'Best wishes to you too.'

-Bye-bye now.

'Bye.'

Puleston Creek! What's that all about?

I've got to go and paddle in Puleston Creek now.

Now the story moves back to North Wales.

Ian's great-grandparents, Robert Lloyd Jones and Fanny Puleston,

returned from Arvonia to Robert's family home, here in Bala,

where, as an architect,

Robert, in 1892, designed this chapel -

a building Ian is keen to visit,

with help from Cadw historian Adele Thackray.

Well, I admit I'm not an expert at chapel-spotting but, erm...

you've brought me here. Is this the right postcode?

-It's definitely the right address.

-Well, I don't see any chapels,

unless this is a trick you're playing on me, but, erm...

OK. Where's the chapel?

Well, there's a very tragic story here.

-The chapel's located about 200yds in that direction...

-OK.

..underneath this reservoir.

-Really?

-Yes, really.

In the 1950s, Liverpool Corporation put

a bill into Parliament to create this whole reservoir

to supply water for the people of Liverpool,

and there's actually a whole village underneath this reservoir now.

This was the valley of Tryweryn in 1955 -

at its centre the village of Capel Celyn.

Through an Act of Parliament,

the valley was to be flooded for a reservoir

to serve the city of Liverpool.

Well, it's tragic. That sounds...

-There obviously was protests.

-There was.

Obviously not far enough, but what happened?

The water was destined for the city of Liverpool.

Opposition to the reservoir became a defining national event in Wales.

But despite the protests, the reservoir went ahead,

and Robert Lloyd Jones' chapel was demolished.

Many of the valley's original residents have now passed on...

but not all.

What of the children?

At a nearby local pub, Ian meets with Aeron Prysor Jones,

who was just 13 at the time,

and with Elwyn Edwards, who lived next door to the chapel.

Well, I was a schoolchild at the time, when the valley was flooded,

and I used to live next door to the chapel, in a little smallholding.

Right. Oh, OK.

So what does Elwyn remember of the chapel,

designed by Ian's great-grandfather?

My mother used to play the organ in the chapel

and used to heat the chapel up and everything, really, for services.

It was a very unique chapel, really,

in the fact that it was designed in a peculiar way.

The doors came in from the back obviously,

but the vestry was also part of the chapel,

which you could...

We had Sunday school in the vestry,

but if it was full, you could always drop the windows down,

and it became part of the chapel, to enlarge the chapel.

-Goodness me.

-So it was a very unique chapel, really.

Aeron was just 13 when these events took place,

but it didn't stop him from wanting to protest.

Were you there at the opening of the dam out of curiosity,

-or still on the protests, with your banners waving?

-I was there.

-Gosh.

-And, erm...the police were there in strength as well.

-Yes.

-Yes, well, not only a village was drowned but a way of life.

-Yeah.

-Everything that happened

in Capel Celyn was in the Welsh language.

You had choirs there, harp, singing, poets...

Did it traumatise you at your age? Was the whole village traumatised?

-How did it...

-Well, it certainly traumatised the older generation.

-Yeah.

-It's like everything else, really -

the younger you are, the sooner you adapt to different situations.

But somebody who'd been all their lives in the valley,

probably, getting on in their 80s,

it's no doubt that it traumatised them.

Because it certainly changed their whole way of life -

you're just looking at one thing today, and tomorrow it was gone.

From a story of sadness

to one of inspiration now for Ian,

concerning another Puleston ancestor.

This is John Puleston Jones, Ian's great-great-uncle,

who also lived here in the town of Bala from the 1860s.

Ian grew up in Flintshire with his sister Delyth,

who's also joining him to learn of THIS story.

They're at Capel Tegid in Bala,

to meet with local historian Buddug Medi.

I'm here to talk about John Puleston Jones, your great-great-uncle,

of the famous Puleston family.

And he was brought up in Bala,

but when he was 18 months old, he tripped.

And he damaged his eyes,

and was left completely blind

for the rest of his life.

-Gosh.

-Yes.

-Wow.

His mother, Mary Ann Puleston, was very wise.

She was determined that he would have to do everything for himself.

Not depend on anyone, as far as possible.

He went to the Bala schools -

the British School,

and Bala Boys' Grammar School.

He learned Braille,

and later on in life

he devised the format of Welsh Braille.

When most people in Wales were monoglot Welsh,

that was a big breakthrough.

When you say devised, I mean, he...

-Invented.

-He invented Welsh Braille,

-and before him there hadn't been any form of Welsh...

-No.

-Wow.

And it's still used today.

-What an amazing legacy.

-That's just...

Yes. Of course it is.

He made a big change in Wales.

That's sent a little bit of a shiver down my spine, that has.

-Absolutely, yes.

-There you go.

Good for him. That's extraordinary.

I feel... I can speak for both of us, we are suddenly very proud ancestors.

-Oh, well, of course. Wonderful.

-That's great, isn't it?

-Yes, indeed.

-Absolutely, yes.

John Puleston Jones was an Oxford scholar

whose extraordinarily sharp mind

meant he was able to devise a new language for Braille,

incorporating the Welsh alphabet,

a system of Braille that is still used today,

as local student Rob Williams can demonstrate.

I wrote this this morning

on a device called a Perkins Brailler, which creates Braille.

Oh, wow.

Now, you can also see here

-how much room Braille takes up.

-Right.

So it says...

"Heb eich perthynas, John Puleston Jones,

"buaswn i ddim yn darllen y Braille yma."

I'm sure you can recognise one word in there.

-Yes, yes. John Puleston Jones.

-Yes.

And the rest, please?

It says, "Without your ancestor John Puleston Jones

"I would not be reading this Braille."

Fantastic!

-There you go.

-That's amazing. That's amazing.

That's a wonderful,

wonderful story to hear, isn't it? A wonderful legacy.

Oh, it absolutely is. It's, as you say...

It's changed... His accident changed his life,

but it changed many people's lives for hundreds of years to come,

so it's remarkable. It really is.

He'd be so incredibly proud, wouldn't he, now?

-That's fantastic.

-Great.

Really.

Clearly, Delyth and Ian have loved learning of this story.

That's really the first time that it hit home,

of what an amazing thing he did.

It's not just the past, it's now,

it's making a difference to people's lives now.

There's always that little distance or gap or whatever between then

and now, but what Rob did has brought it right up to date with a bang.

And reading that bit of Braille, for me, that's...

-That did it for me, hey, Delyth?

-Absolutely. Really, really proud.

There's one last story that Ian would love to know more about,

and this one will take him back into the mists of time.

He was always told by his father that the Puleston family

can trace their ancestry back to the 14th century and Owain Glyndwr,

Prince of Wales, but this surely was no more than a fairy tale.

Nevertheless, he's back at Plas Newydd Hall

to meet with Welsh author and historian Gerald Morgan,

who's had a lot of late nights searching for a link for Ian.

Do you know how far back your family goes?

I have an inkling that they go quite far back.

The Pulestons, of course, are an interesting bunch.

Why do you think so?

Because originally they're English and they're serving the king

but they settle in Wales.

By 1400, they had established themselves as the kind of

Anglo-Welsh gentry who were really running North Wales as squires.

You've been introduced to part of your family tree, I think,

-back to the 18th century?

-Mm.

So let's have a look at this sheet of paper, shall we?

At the start of his journey,

Ian learnt of his Puleston ancestry stretching back to his five-times

great-grandfather, John Puleston, born in 1719.

But Gerald can take this research back a lot further.

We can follow the Pulestons, thanks to that unique name,

-all the way back to...

-This is killing me, Gerald.

Gerald has linked Ian's Puleston line into a very well-documented

family tree which reaches all the way back

to the 14th century to a Richard Puleston.

But what connection does he have to Owain Glyndwr?

If you look here, you'll find the name of Owain Glyndwr,

the Welsh national hero, leader of the great revolt of 1400.

And if we pass along here, you'll find his sister, Lowri.

And who does Lowri marry but Robert, son of Richard Puleston.

-So it's a strong line?

-It's a very strong line.

-Wow.

-It's yours.

-That's great. I'm shaking.

Right, OK, so it's all kosher. It's for real.

-That was the word I used before, yes.

-Happy Welsh word.

I'd rather think of a fitting Welsh word, other than I'm...

What's the Welsh word for flabbergasted and hugely relieved?

A great weight off my shoulders, myself and many other Pulestons.

-So, it's... Someone was telling the truth?

-Oh, yes.

-And we are descendants of Owain Glyndwr and the like?

-Oh, yes.

I'm feeling a bit giddy, and I can't wait to tell my seven-year-old,

Maggie, my three-year-old son, Charlie,

that Daddy was telling the truth, after all.

And, in fact, my father,

who has always been known as a bit of a fibber, so we didn't know

whether this was a huge Puleston fib or otherwise. But it looks pretty...

-pretty concrete to me and I am...

-It's a very good line.

Wow.

-Can I have this to frame and put in my bathroom?

-It's yours.

Thank you very much. Gerald, you are a giver of great news today.

-Thank you very much.

-My pleasure. My pleasure, Ian.

I've won the Puleston lottery.

So Ian's journey ends where it began,

and few could be prouder of their Welsh heritage.

I have been knocked for six by...

..you know, the lives of the Pulestons

that we've talked about and I've discovered.

I've come away...

..not just being proud of being a Puleston,

or being reminded of the value of being a Puleston, but moreover...

it sounds very cheesy, but being a Welshman.

I'm just thrilled that I can walk away with that feeling.