Who Do You Think You Are - William Roache 26th Sep

[kiterunner]

This evening at 9 p.m. on BBC1. Ken Barlow from Coronation Street. (And the father of Linus Roache.)

[kiterunner]

Episode Synopsis

William Roache, known as Bill, is 80 years old.

His maternal grandparents were Albert and Mary Zillah Waddicor. His mother was Hester Vera Waddicor, known as Essie.

Bill visited Peggy, the widow of his cousin Geoffrey, in Derbyshire, to look at some old photographs of the family. One of the photos showed Hester with her two older sisters, Flo and May. There was a family story that May was a half-sister to Flo and Hester.

Zillah ran the Alton Towers Cafe.



Bill used to visit his grandparents Albert and Zillah at Alton Towers, when they lived in rooms in the mansion. He returned to Alton Towers to meet a local historian who showed him documents which showed that the cafe was actually a big restaurant. A licensing document showed that Zillah became the licensee in 1925, and in 1933 she also took on the Old Mill Buffet in Alton.

Bill visited the William Salt Library in Stafford and was shown his parents' marriage certificate - William Vincent Roache married Hester Vera Waddicor in 1928. Hester's father Albert was described as a Gentleman on the marriage certificate.

The 1911 census shows Albert as the head of household, age 35, selling ices and temperance drinks, with wife Mary Zillah and daughters Florence Isabel, and Hester age 10. Their address is 4 Princess Street, Blackpool.
Albert Waddicor and family in 1911 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=alb*&gsln=wad*c*r&sx=&f2=&f3=&f8=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f17=&f18=&f23=&f20=&f21=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f15=&f9=&f22=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1911england&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=4&h=60104387&recoff=)
Alice and May Waddicor in 1911 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1911England&indiv=try&h=60123759)
Bill went to Blackpool to meet a local historian who showed him where the Waddicors' shop used to be, at 41 Central Parade. They then went to Blackpool Central Library to look at old street directories. The 1924 directory showed the Waddicors' shop at Central Parade. The 1898 directory listed Waddicor, herb beer maker, and the 1896 directory had Waddicor J, medical electrician.

A story from the local newspaper from 1894 stated that Albert Waddicor had been outside his father's shop and threw a marble at a sandwich man who assaulted Albert and broke the boy's leg.

Bill then looked at the 1881 census which showed James Waddicor age 32, quarry man and grocer, living in Darwen, Lancashire, with his wife Alice, 27, and son Albert, 5.
Waddicor family in 1881 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1881&indiv=try&h=11718730)


Bill went to Blackpool Tower to meet another historian and find out about medical electricity.

They then looked at the 1891 census which shows James Waddicor age 42, phrenologist and medical electrician.
Waddicor family in 1891 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=uki1891%2c&rank=0&gsfn=ja*s&gsln=wad*c*r&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21417&o_lid=21417&o_sch=Web+Property&offerid=0%3a21318%3a0&pcat=35&fh=5&h=21403694&recoff=)

In 1898 phrenologists and quack doctors were banned from the foreshore in Blackpool. A rate book from 1898 shows that James Waddicor owned property on Coop Street and York Street which he rented out.

James died in November 1904. He left an estate of £4,792. His will, which was written in 1901, left a trust with the income to go to Alice during her lifetime, then to Albert, but finally to his granddaughter Lavinia Alice May Waddicor (May). Alice and Zillah were named as the executors and trustees.

Bill then looked at the family on the 1901 census. James and Alice have 4 year old May with them, listed as their daughter. (She is also listed as Alice's daughter on the 1911 census entry, which is signed by Alice.) Florence is with her parents Albert and Mary Z, while Bill's mother Hester, at 3 months old, is with Zillah's sister Thomasina Stanier and her family in Leigh, Staffordshire.
James Waddicor in 1901 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=uki1901%2c&rank=0&gsfn=ja*s&gsln=wad*c*r&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21417&o_lid=21417&o_sch=Web+Property&offerid=0%3a21318%3a0&pcat=35&fh=3&h=25500575&recoff=)
Albert Waddicor in 1901 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1901&indiv=try&h=25477695)
Hester Waddicor in 1901 with the Staniers (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=hes*&gsln=wad*c*r&sx=&f1=Staffordshire&f2=&f4=&f18=&f12__n=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f27=&f14=&f15=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f7=&f8=&f9=&gskw=&prox=1&db=uki1901&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=0&h=34548864&recoff=)

[anne fraser]

Another one that had me shouting at the T.V. Just because a child is in a different house on census night does not mean that they were brought up by that relative. My mother who was born in 1918 was looked after by her aunt as a baby because my grandmother was seriosly ill with flu. Luckily my grandmother recovered and lived into her eighties. I also spent a lot of time wondering if William Roache was wearing a wig. I met him once many years ago when he came to open our local chemist. I did not have a clue who he was and was a bit disgruntled as I was in a hurry. I remember asking him what character he played which seemed to shock him.

[Olde Crone]

I enjoyed this on the whole but again, so many assumptions and so many unanswered questions!

Why didn't they get May's BC, for instance, to see who her parents were? And why did they ASSUME that just because two of the children were not at home in 1901, that they had been "taken away" from their parents?

The Darwen connection interested me too as I have some Waddicors on my Darwen tree.

OC

[kiterunner]

I agree - a lot of assumptions, although he did actually know his grandparents so I suppose he had some first-hand experience of what Albert was like.

[Lynn the Forest Fan]

I was wondering why they didn't look for James in the 1891, as they went straight back to the 1881 instead, but that was explained later. I did think there were a lot of assumptions, about why the children weren't with their parents & how long they had been away.

[Olde Crone]

Well, May was born respectably within the marriage, so unless there was some jiggery pokery at registration, she was the child of both her parents. I have also found Hester, and a son James born 1900 (died young I assume?) but I haven't found Flo......

OC

[Tom Tom]

I wonder if the daughters were still with different people in 1911? I don't think they showed that bit, although I only caught the last ten minutes.

[anne fraser]

This is Albert and Zillah's marriage, http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Blackpool/stjohn/banns_Windx.html

[Olde Crone]

Right, found Florence born 1896, on Freebmd, but she isn't listed on Lancsbmd like the other children, hmmmm, so cannot check mother's maiden name.

OC

[Olde Crone]

Anne

But they actually married in Uttoxeter! Jun Q 1895.

OC

[Lynn the Forest Fan]

It does say banns rather than the actual marriage, so presumably Alice came from Staffs

[kiterunner]

I wonder if the daughters were still with different people in 1911? I don't think they showed that bit, although I only caught the last ten minutes.


Florence and Hester were with their parents in 1911 but I don't think they said where May was.

[kiterunner]

May was with her grandmother Alice in 1911:

Alice and May Waddicor on 1911 census ancestry (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1911England&indiv=try&h=60123759)

[Olde Crone]

Another scenario is that Zillah was not particularly maternal but WAS a driven business woman and didn't have time for her children, if she could get someone else to look after them when they were small. I think it is a HUGE assumption to say they were whisked away from danger. She may have been ill, or suffering from PND - a hundred different reasons why two of the children weren't at home on census night in 1901.

OC

[kiterunner]

a son James born 1900 (died young I assume?)


The 1911 census says 4 children, 3 living, 1 dead. James Albert Waddicor's birth and death are both registered Jan-Mar 1900 Fylde district.

[Olde Crone]

Yes, just found that, so maybe Zillah was in a bit of a state by the time Hester was born in 1901 and her sister took Hester on for a while.

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

Yes a lot of assumptions re the census.

I could relate a lot of it to mine and OH's trees.

I enjoyed it, local for me really. Staffordshire. I noticed someone, was it his great grandfather? was from Leigh, Staffs. OH's Rushton's were from there.

Alton Towers: OH's first cousin twice removed was a RC priest at Alton. We've visited the place many times even before it was a theme park.

I was very interested in his grandmother becoming a business woman in those days. My grandmother became landlady of a pub after my grandad, the licensee, died in 1934. I was told she had to get someone high up in the brewery to speak for her to get the license.

I wondered about William Roache's hair, good head of hair for a man of 80.:D:D

[kiterunner]

I see Albert was a Cycle Dealer in 1901. They made a lot out of him being a "Gentleman" on Hester's marriage cert, and at one point said that he described himself as a gentleman on "the" marriage certificate, but of course it was probably Hester who gave that as his occupation and it may or may not have been true. I've got plenty of marriage certs in my collection where father is a "gentleman" although he has a trade on the censuses.

And I see that Thomasine has a 1 year old daughter on the 1901 census. Could Thomasine maybe have been wet-nursing Hester?

[kiterunner]

I presume that Albert Waddicor is the one in the 1945 National Probate Calendar, of Rutland House, Heanor Road, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, died 20 Feb 1945, administration to Florence Mabel Glover, wife of Charles Oscar Glover. Effects £6411 10s 9d. So it seems that money didn't always pass him by!

[kiterunner]

And there is an entry for Mary Zillah Waddicor in 1941. Same address. She died 17 Nov 1940. Probate to Florence Mary Glover, Hester Vera Roache, and Albert Waddicor retired caterer. Effects £6147 11s 10d.

[kiterunner]

Right, found Florence born 1896, on Freebmd, but she isn't listed on Lancsbmd like the other children, hmmmm, so cannot check mother's maiden name.

OC

She is listed as Woddicor on Lancs BMD, mother's maiden name Ratcliffe.

[kiterunner]

Oh, and I forgot to look Alice up on the National Probate Calendar last night - she died 3 November 1920. Administration granted to Albert Waddicor caterer. Effects £373 8s 3d.

[Olde Crone]

Zillah would hardly have made Albert one of her executors if he was silly with money, surely?

Also - my daughter and her husband took separate holidays for many years because he would not set foot outside England and hated travelling of any sort.

OC

[kiterunner]

I wasn't sure how they could tell from the photos that Albert didn't go on the holidays - couldn't he have been the one taking the pictures?

[Shona]

May was with her grandmother Alice in 1911:

Alice and May Waddicor on 1911 census ancestry (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1911England&indiv=try&h=60123759)

The 1911 census says that May is Alice's daughter. May is listed as James and Alice's daughter in the 1901 census

Am I missing something? May could actually be James and Alice's daughter. If so, the picture of the three sisters is two sisters - Hester and Florence - and their aunt - May.

EDIT - Searching Lavinia Alice May Waddicor on Ancestry - two Public Member Trees match. One - Roache Family Tree - has her parents as Albert and Zillah, but the other has her parents as James and Alice.

[Margaret in Burton]

I wasn't sure how they could tell from the photos that Albert didn't go on the holidays - couldn't he have been the one taking the pictures?

That's what I said to OH.

[Shona]

I wasn't sure how they could tell from the photos that Albert didn't go on the holidays - couldn't he have been the one taking the pictures? Exactly what I thought.

[Olde Crone]

Yes, that's a distinct possibility of course, but perhaps the family knew he didn't go?

Someone on GR has found a newspaper report from 1894 when Albert was charged with stealing a piece of ham, lol.

OC

[Olde Crone]

May's birth is registered 1897 on Lancsbmd, mmn Ratcliffe, which makes her a child of Zillah and Albert, not James and Alice.

OC

[Shona]

I wasn't sure how they could tell from the photos that Albert didn't go on the holidays - couldn't he have been the one taking the pictures?

One of the photos looked like the Alhambra in Granada.

[Shona]

May's birth is registered 1897 on Lancsbmd, mmn Ratcliffe, which makes her a child of Zillah and Albert, not James and Alice.

OC Thanks, OC. Still puzzled why she is referred to as 'daughter' not 'grand daughter'. One census can be an error, two made me suspicious.

[Olde Crone]

There was something of a custom almost, in Darwen in particular, where the first child was given to granny to bring up. Not sure why - maybe to give the young couple a chance to get on their feet. Not sure either whether it was inbtended from birth or whether it was just a temporary arrangement which became permanent.

Maybe they described her as daughter because that was how they felt about her and thought it was nothing to do with the nosey government as to what the exact relationship was.

OC

[kiterunner]

Looking at Lancs BMD, it seems that James and Alice had a son Ralph who was born in 1878 and died in 1880 age 1.

[kiterunner]

Someone on GR has found a newspaper report from 1894 when Albert was charged with stealing a piece of ham, lol.



It was a baker named Arthur Pinkerton who stole the ham, and he also did grievous bodily harm to Albert. Presumably the man who broke Albert's leg.

[Shona]

You're on to something, OC. Checking the Ratcliffes, I found:

1891 census - Leigh, Staffs

John Ratcliffe, 54, butcher, born Leigh
Mary Ratcliffe, 60, born Leigh
William Radcliffe, 31, son, butcher, born Leigh
Zillah Ratcliffe, 19, dau, dressmaker, born Leigh
Addie, 16, dau, born Leigh

Next door...
Mary Ratcliffe, head, widow, 77, pub innkeeper, born Leigh
Fanny Ratcliffe, grand dau, 32, born Leigh

In the 1881 census, the two families are living next door to each other and Mary has two grand daughters living with her - Fanny and Emily.

[Shona]

Looking at the 1881 census for James Waddicor, his occupation was quarry man AND grocer. They didn't mention grocer in the episode.

[kiterunner]

Yes, I noticed the "grocer" part when they showed the page, and I wondered why they ignored that bit.

[kiterunner]

By the way, there is no episode next week because Panorama is on instead. :(

[anne fraser]

I wondered with the holiday thing if Albert was actually at home running the cafe.

[Shona]

Looking at the photo of the Old Mill Cafe - looks as if it was also a petrol station. Bill implied it was over-looked by Alton Towers, but isn't the building on the hill above the mill, Alton Castle?

[Margaret in Burton]

Looking at the photo of the Old Mill Cafe - looks as if it was also a petrol station. Bill implied it was over-looked by Alton Towers, but isn't the building on the hill above the mill, Alton Castle?

Alton Towers / Alton Castle same thing surely.

Alton Towers overlooks the village of Alton.

EDIT:

No the castle is a different place. I never knew that.

The castle is a Catholic youth retreat centre. I SHOULD have know that as OH's rellie was a RC priest at Alton and is buried there.

[Olde Crone]

In 1861 (I think!) my 2 x GGF is shown on the census as being an Engine Driver and Grocer.

He was no such thing - his wife ran a little house shop but of course in those days a married woman would not have been expected to be employed on her own account - too demeaning for the poor hubby.

OC

[Shona]

In 1861 (I think!) my 2 x GGF is shown on the census as being an Engine Driver and Grocer.

He was no such thing - his wife ran a little house shop but of course in those days a married woman would not have been expected to be employed on her own account - too demeaning for the poor hubby.

OC Ah - Alice Waddicor ran the shop, perhaps?

[Janet in Yorkshire]

You're on to something, OC. Checking the Ratcliffes, I found:

1891 census - Leigh, Staffs

John Ratcliffe, 54, butcher, born Leigh
Mary Ratcliffe, 60, born Leigh
William Radcliffe, 31, son, butcher, born Leigh
Zillah Ratcliffe, 19, dau, dressmaker, born Leigh
Addie, 16, dau, born Leigh

Next door...
Mary Ratcliffe, head, widow, 77, pub innkeeper, born Leigh
Fanny Ratcliffe, grand dau, 32, born Leigh

In the 1881 census, the two families are living next door to each other and Mary has two grand daughters living with her - Fanny and Emily.

If the two households lived next door to each other or, very near, sometimes it was a case of sleeping next door because a) grandma was on her own and like company b) houses were small with cramped sleeping arrangements.
(My mother's brother, the only boy in seven children, used to go next door to the grandparents to sleep. Apparently he went for tea and came back after breakfast!) Census recorded who was sleeping at the address, NOT whose permanent home it was.

Jay

[Shona]

Some comments from William Roache:

“My great-grandfather James was very entrepreneurial and intimidating, as were my grandmother and mother,” says Bill.

“My mum was very loving and kind, but she had such strong determination.

“Her childhood was really tough. She was taken away from her home as a baby and brought up by another family – all because my grandfather was such a horrible man.

"Albert made her leave school at the age of 14 and work in a shop – even though she wanted to go to art school – because, while there was plenty of money around, Albert drank all of the profits."

Bill remembers his grandad well from his youth, but admits he “wasn’t very pleasant at all”.
“Albert was a waster,” explains Bill. “My mother hated him. Because of his drinking, his father – my great-grandfather James – gave all his inheritance to my mum. Can you imagine? He knew Albert would have blown the lot.”

Could Bill ever imagine cutting off one of his own children in such a way?

“If you’ve got a son who you know is a layabout, and he’s got a very strong wife who’s earning a steady income, then it is the sensible thing to do,” he says.

“James didn’t deny his son the money – in fact, Albert lived off the business’ profits – but he couldn’t touch the golden goose. That was wise.”

[kiterunner]

Are these things that he already knew before they made the programme, Shona? The bit about the inheritance contradicts what they said was in the will in the programme, doesn't it - that it all went to Aunt May.

[Shona]

Are these things that he already knew before they made the programme, Shona? The bit about the inheritance contradicts what they said was in the will in the programme, doesn't it - that it all went to Aunt May.
After the show.

[kiterunner]

So we don't know what he actually had evidence for and what was assumed.

[Ann from Sussex]

I presume that Albert Waddicor is the one in the 1945 National Probate Calendar, of Rutland House, Heanor Road, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, died 20 Feb 1945, administration to Florence Mabel Glover, wife of Charles Oscar Glover. Effects £6411 10s 9d. So it seems that money didn't always pass him by!

And there is an entry for Mary Zillah Waddicor in 1941. Same address. She died 17 Nov 1940. Probate to Florence Mary Glover, Hester Vera Roache, and Albert Waddicor retired caterer. Effects £6147 11s 10d.

That will be them as William Roache's father was a GP in Ilkeston in the 1930s and 40s. I used to work with someone who grew up in Ilkeston and his father was her family doctor. Albert and Zillah obviously went to live with their daughter and son-in-law in old age.

[Shona]

Wiki info on the Roache side of the family and a few comments from WR from a local Ilkeston newspaper:

Roache's Freemason grandfather was interested in such things as hypnotism, theosophy, spiritualism, homoeopathy and esotericism, and the teachings of philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner.[3] Roache for a time attended a Steiner school set up by his grandfather in the garden of the family home in Ilkeston Derbyshire.

One of Ilkeston’s most famous sons – and a national treasure – has told the Advertiser about a TV programme’s look into his family history.

William Roache – familiar to millions as Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow, who he has played for a record-breaking 52 years – is to appear in the current series of Who Do You Think You Are.

Mr Roache, 80, was born at Rutland House in Heanor Road, where the Weleda factory now stands, and spent his childhood in Ilkeston when home from boarding school.

But the producers of the BBC show, he said, decided to focus more on his mother’s side of the family, which took him out of Derbyshire.

“I was hoping they would go down the Ilkeston route,” he said. “It’s a bit sad that there’s so little mention of it. I have wonderful memories of cycling around the canals in the holidays. I would have liked to tell that story, but they need lots and lots of information to make it happen.”

Instead the programme focusses on his maternal grandmother Zillah Waddicor, an entrepreneur who ran Alton Towers as a stately home between the world wars.

But it does take a look at his mother Hester: “She was a very strong character,” he said. She was a JP in Ilkeston and set up an amateur dramatics society – she made something of her life after a very tough childhood from her father.”

Mr Roache’s father, also called William, was a GP whose surgery was based at the family home.

His grandfather set up a Rudolf Steiner school in the garden, which became Michael House and which has since moved to Shipley.

His parents retired to a bungalow in Trowell.

[Olde Crone]

If she was brought up by another family, how could her father insist she left school and worked in a shop? And in fact, 14 was a respectable school leaving age then, hardly an education cut short.

~AS others have said, I think WR is fitting suppositions to facts, to suit the story he was told.

Albert may well have been a hopeless bullying drunk...so why did Zillah put up with him, she could easily have afforded to leave him.

OC

[Shona]

OC - he's spent 50 years in a soap and prob sees life through that lens. And if they were so estranged, why did we have that lovely photo of the three sisters together as (what looked like to me) teenagers?

[maggie_4_7]

Haven't watched this one yet will do later!

mmmmmm

[Merry]

I haven't managed to watch iit yet either, but hope to do so before the next episode! :rolleyes:

[kiterunner]

You have an extra week then, Merry, because the Celia Imrie episode has been postponed until the 10th October.

[Ann from Sussex]

You have an extra week then, Merry, because the Celia Imrie episode has been postponed until the 10th October.

I noticed they said at the end that the next WDYTYA would be in two weeks time? Anyone know why? WHAT is more important than WDYTYA?!

[kiterunner]

I noticed they said at the end that the next WDYTYA would be in two weeks time? Anyone know why? WHAT is more important than WDYTYA?!

Panorama.

[Merry]

Panorama.

*faints*

Thanks for the info though!

[Shona]

I noticed they said at the end that the next WDYTYA would be in two weeks time? Anyone know why? WHAT is more important than WDYTYA?! It's a Panorama special on health tourism.

[Ann from Sussex]

It's a Panorama special on health tourism.

Hmmmm........ not sure why they feel the need to break into a series that is well under way to show that. Why can't they drop an episode of Eastenders instead? :d

[Margaret in Burton]

Hmmmm........ not sure why they feel the need to break into a series that is well under way to show that. Why can't they drop an episode of Eastenders instead? :d

*shock horror at the thought of it*
:eek::eek::eek::p:p:p:p:p

DON'T watch it by the way

[Merry]

I enjoyed this and had to alter my opinion of WR as he did't come across half as stuffy as I expected. There did seems to be a lot of assumptions made though (as already discussed) and I felt some of the 'experts' sounded too nervous to make any alternative suggestions.

I think Langley Vale Sue's sig quote covers WR's reactions to what he was told: "What you see depends on what you're looking for." lol

I think his hair is all his own and natural!

[Rachel]

I think his hair is all his own and natural!

Might have a blond rinse ? :)

My Mum used to use a water rinse called 'Sophisticated Beige' lol
When she'd overdone it her hair looked pink

[Merry]

Yes, sorry, I meant all his own, not a transplant and also not a wig/toupe that belongs to him! lol

Sophisticated beige!?? Love that!

[Olde Crone]

Hm, not sure about his hair now, after saying it never gets any longer or shorter...it was noticeably shorter this week on Corrie BUT they did a shot from behind him and there was a very brief "candy floss" moment over what appeared to be a baldish patch.

So...I reckon a toupee, a very good and expensive one, but his side hair is his own!

OC

[maggie_4_7]

I watched this episode on Sunday it was okay but I must admit I wasn't impressed with it at all.

I read a review the other day on this series of WDYTYA (can't remember which paper) and it said exactly what I think the basic gist of it was they were running out of interesting people who had interesting Family Histories and seem to be settling for anyone who agreed to do it or just settling for a format that was easier to manage. I think I have to agree.

Out of this series I liked Samantha Womack, Annie Lennox, Alex Kingston and best of all Greg Wallace - That's 4 out of 7 but I would expect to enjoy them all the others were good but not what I would consider WDYTYA if they had had another title I probably wouldn't have been disappointed.

And most of all I am disappointed that they are shelving Celia Imrie's one until next week for a Panorama program 'Health Tourists' important yes but much more important to do something about 'Health Tourists' than showing me programs on it that wind me up like a top.

I can only assume that the viewing figures were down so slotted Panorama in!

[ElizabethHerts]

:mad:
I read a review the other day on this series of WDYTYA (can't remember which paper) and it said exactly what I think the basic gist of it was they were running out of interesting people who had interesting Family Histories and seem to be settling for anyone who agreed to do it or just settling for a format that was easier to manage. I think I have to agree.

Perhaps we could suggest they recruit some of us for their programmes!:D

[maggie_4_7]

Perhaps we could suggest they recruit some of us for their programmes!:D

To be honest the research questions and family history TOGGs on here are more interesting. :)

I expect there are some members on here with more interesting stories/FH than I've seen lately on this series.

[Merry]

The series has definitely drifted from the meaning of it's title, imho. I feel they must be doing it on a much tighter budget than in the past.

[Rachel]

I think his hair is all his own and natural!

Yes, sorry, I meant all his own, not a transplant and also not a wig/toupe that belongs to him! lol



Hm, not sure about his hair now, after saying it never gets any longer or shorter...it was noticeably shorter this week on Corrie BUT they did a shot from behind him and there was a very brief "candy floss" moment over what appeared to be a baldish patch.

So...I reckon a toupee, a very good and expensive one, but his side hair is his own!

OC

Oh poo, darn and fiddlesticks
I shall have to start watching the horrible thing now and see for myself ;(:d:confused:

[Olde Crone]

My ex boss (who wasn't 80, but 70) did have a full head of very thick, pure white hair that was definitely all his own, so SOME men do keep their hair. I just don't think WR has kept quite all of his own, lol.

OC

[Rachel]

Yes my late FIL (aged 78 when he died) had great hair

[Olde Crone]

OOOH!

I belong to a small site dedicated to Darwen research and two members on there were commissioned by WDYTYA to investigate the Waddicor family - they were not told who the "subject" of the programme was going to be, but as they are skilled researchers, they soon worked that out, lol.

What was NOT mentioned on the programme, for obvious reasons I suppose, is that a Medical Electrician was actually an abortionist. There were a number of "mishaps" but James managed to escape prosecution by saying that the women were hysterical and deluded.

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

OOOH!

I belong to a small site dedicated to Darwen research and two members on there were commissioned by WDYTYA to investigate the Waddicor family - they were not told who the "subject" of the programme was going to be, but as they are skilled researchers, they soon worked that out, lol.

What was NOT mentioned on the programme, for obvious reasons I suppose, is that a Medical Electrician was actually an abortionist. There were a number of "mishaps" but James managed to escape prosecution by saying that the women were hysterical and deluded.

OC

ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:eek::eek::eek::e ek::eek::D:D:D:D

[Olde Crone]

I'm just trying to find out who actually operated the Medical electrical equipment, James or Zillah.......

OC

[Lynn the Forest Fan]

Crikey!!!

[Shona]

Wow - what an intruiging dark history.

[Margaret in Burton]

OC are you, or anyone, going to tell Bill Roache the latest developments? :D:D:D:D

[Merry]

lol Marg! Sounds the stuff of soap operas!

[Olde Crone]

I expect they did tell him and that's why it didn't appear on the prog!

LOL Merry!

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

I expect they did tell him and that's why it didn't appear on the prog!

LOL Merry!

OC

Pity, I'd have liked to see his reaction. pmsl

[Shona]

I watched John Bishop on the Jonathan Ross show a few weeks back and he said he thoroughly enjoyed doing WDYTYA. He explained that they give you a huge box full of all the information they discovered in the research. He hadn't been given his box of goodies yet. Perhaps WR does know about all about this darker side of his family after all. I would have thought that his publicist/agent would trawl the internet to keep on top of what is being said about their client.

[Shona]

OOOH!

I belong to a small site dedicated to Darwen research and two members on there were commissioned by WDYTYA to investigate the Waddicor family - they were not told who the "subject" of the programme was going to be, but as they are skilled researchers, they soon worked that out, lol.

What was NOT mentioned on the programme, for obvious reasons I suppose, is that a Medical Electrician was actually an abortionist. There were a number of "mishaps" but James managed to escape prosecution by saying that the women were hysterical and deluded.

OC

Tell us more about the 'mishaps', please.

[Olde Crone]

Hmm, the researcher who made these remarks has gone all quiet now and I wonder if she is regretting being a bit indiscreet!

As far as I have been able to find, there was one complaint against him reported in the local press (Darwen) and it was repudiated as being the imagination of a hysterical woman. So, unproven really and that's probably why they chose not to mention it on the prog.

It does appear though, elsewhere on the internet, that medical electrician was a euphemism for an abortionist, or that medical electricians also performed abortions as well as whatever it was they genuinely did with the medical electricity. I'm not clear whether there was any relationship between the electrical equipment and the abortions.

OC

[Merry]

I wouldn't have thought he would have been dealing out illegal abortions in a six foot deep booth on the seafront in front of thousands of people, would he?! Perhaps the lady who accused him had lost a baby after having electrical treatment? I'm sure there were people offering this treatment to cause abortion though.

[Ann from Sussex]

I wouldn't have thought he would have been dealing out illegal abortions in a six foot deep booth on the seafront in front of thousands of people, would he?! Perhaps the lady who accused him had lost a baby after having electrical treatment? I'm sure there were people offering this treatment to cause abortion though.

Lol Merry; the mind boggles!

[Merry]

Lol Merry; the mind boggles!

Deep front to back, not a grave!

[Olde Crone]

Lol, probably not on the seafront, but maybe they had other premises? But I agree, perhaps the woman lost a baby after having "medical electricity".

I do wish the researcher would come back to the other site, I'm bursting to know what she knows!

OC

[maggie_4_7]

I wouldn't have thought he would have been dealing out illegal abortions in a six foot deep booth on the seafront in front of thousands of people, would he?! Perhaps the lady who accused him had lost a baby after having electrical treatment? I'm sure there were people offering this treatment to cause abortion though.

No really, can you imagine it - roll up roll up...