Who Do You Think You Are - Fearne Cotton 24th Aug

[kiterunner]

On BBC1 at 8 pm and repeated next Wednesday at 11:45 pm.

[James18]

She's utterly vacuous, I can't stand the woman.

[kiterunner]

I'll be typing up the episode summary tomorrow. I was disappointed that she didn't look into her East Anglian ancestors! Also found it odd that her family thought that if a surname ending in "by" was derived from a Norse word for "Viking settlement", it would mean that they had Viking ancestors, since surely it would just mean that they had ancestors who came from an English town or village which had a Norse name? Still, I'm sure a lot of British people do have some Viking ancestors anyway.

[Guinevere]

I forgot it was on. :(

[kiterunner]

Fearne Cotton]/B] lives in South West London and has two children. First, she went to visit her parents, [B]Mick and Linda, who live in Buckinghamshire. Linda's parents were Phil and Sylvia. Sylvia's parents came from Suffolk and / or Norfolk. There was a family story that the surname Wilby, which appeared somewhere in Linda's family tree, meant that they had Viking ancestry as the ending "...by" supposedly derives from the Norse for "Viking settlement".

The birth certificate of Mick's mother Ruby showed that she was born on the 28th Apr 1922 in Abertillery, her parents being Evan Meredith and Elsie Meredith, formerly Matthews. Evan's occupation was shown as Coal Hewer, but Mick said that he went on to have his own pharmacist's shop. Mick showed Fearne a photo of Evan in a St John's Ambulance uniform, taken around 1913 when he would have been about 18.

Fearne went to Abertillery to meet a mining historian, who took her to see the Miners' Institute, built in 1906. He told her that mining was a reserved occupation in WW1 but that some miners did get called up towards the end of the war. A newspaper cutting dated 6 Jul 1918 showed that Evan was a conscientious objector and was charged as an absentee from the army and removed to Brecon Barracks. Fearne went to Brecon Barracks to meet a Welsh historian, who showed her records which said that Evan was sent to Wormwood Scrubs prison for 6 months. He was listed as "category B", i.e. he was opposed to serving in the war on political grounds rather than religious ones. He was released in December 1918 and rearrested by the Welsh Regiment and court-martialled on the 9th May 1919 and sent to Carmarthen prison.

Fearne went to Carmarthen and met another historian, who showed her records which said that Evan was court-martialled for "disobeying a lawful command" and sentenced to 1 year with hard labour. He would have been given 2 months remission for good behaviour, but the "Remarks" column of the records showed that he was given a temporary discharge earlier than this would have been. Chapter 3 of a history of the Meredith family, written by Evan, said that this was because he had organised and taken part in a hunger strike in prison and was released under the "Cat and Mouse Act". The records didn't show whether he was rearrested after that. Fearne read the rest of the chapter and then went to see her great-uncle Hayden Meredith, Evan's son, now in his 90's. Hayden said that Evan never talked about his time in prison or about Wales. He showed Fearne a photo of Evan receiving the Fellowship of the Pharmaceutical Society, late in his career as a pharmacist in Kingsbury.

Fearne then met a genealogist who had been researching Linda's family tree. Linda's father was Ronald Gates and her mother was a Wilby. One ancestor in Linda's tree was Irish - Fearne's 4xg-grandfather William Gilmour, born in Garvagh about 1821. Fearne went to Garvagh in Northern Ireland to find out more about him. An issue of the Londonderry Standard from 1844 stated that Mr Wm Gilmour of Garvagh had been appointed apothecary to the Liverpool South Dispensary. The 1851 census showed William in Liverpool with wife Elizabeth, born at Halcott, Buckinghamshire, daughters Bessie and Kate, an assistant and a servant. The Coleraine Chronicle dated 20th May 1854 said that Mr William Gilmour, surgeon, a member of various societies including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, was living in Coleraine. Another issue of the Coleraine Chronicle, from 1855, said that he had been appointed Medical Superintendant of the screw steamship "Great Britain", which was being used as a troopship for the Crimean War.

Fearne went to Bristol to see the SS Great Britain and met a naval historian who showed her around the ship, including the surgeon's cabin. He was listed in the ship's logbook as "William Gilmour MD", but the historian said that there was no record of him studying for this degree. An issue of the London Standard from Nov 1855 reported that the Great Britain came into harbour, and mentioned Dr Gilmour in glowing terms. The Coleraine Chronicle reported that Queen Victoria visited the Great Britain and that Dr Gilmour had lunch with her on the Royal Yacht. Fearne met an historian who showed her a poster for the Liverpool & Australian Navigation Company which said that Dr Gilmour was serving on the SS Royal Charter. A letter from William dated 25 Apr 1859 gave his resignation as surgeon of the Royal Charter and said that he was setting up his own practice in Aylesbury.

Fearne went to Aylesbury to see William's house, "The Mount". An historian showed her an advertisement in the Bucks Herald announcing the bankruptcy sale of Mr W Gilmour surgeon's equipment etc. An 1865 report on his bankruptcy said that his debt totalled about £500 and this was due to insufficiency of his income to meet his expenditure, pressure from creditors, and a family of 7 children to support. "The Lancet" dated 1 Jul 1865 showed that William Gilmour LRCP was appointed Medical Officer to the Ongar Union in Essex.

Fearne went to the old Ongar Union Workhouse and met an historian, who showed her an item in the 1871 Guardians' Meeting Minutes which said that William had to answer a charge of neglect - he had failed to attend a child and she died the next day. William had explained that he was ill that evening and hadn't found a substitute to stand in for him. He moved on from Ongar soon after that. In 1880 he was working as the Workhouse Dispenser at Bethnal Green Workhouse. The Bethnal Green minutes showed that he had asked for his salary to be paid weekly. The 1881 minutes said that the Medical Officer had reported no improvement in Mr Gilmour's health, and then the entry for 22 Mar 1881 said that Mr Gilmour had died on Monday. His death certificate showed the cause of death to be bronchitis, which he had suffered from for 3 months. The informant was E Gilmour, widow of deceased.

[ElizabethHerts]

The marriage of William Gilmour is transcribed in FMP
by Licence:
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbprs%2fbuckinghamshire%2fmar%2f00026742 2%2f1

A transcription of the parish register:
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbprs%2fbuckinghamshire%2fmar%2f00010345 0%2f1

The Gilmour family in 1861 at Aylesbury:

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/browse?id=gbc%2f1861%2f0865%2f00457a

They had 5-day-old unnamed twin girls.
The girls were named Ada and Sarah Jenette according to the GRO.

Harry was born in Quarter 4 1858 in the Aylesbury district.

[ElizabethHerts]

1871 Census at Ongar:

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbc%2f1871%2f1642%2f0164&parentid=gbc%2f1871%2f0010157945&highlights=%22%22

William and Elizabeth have Edwin, Clara, Harry and Sarah with them.

[ElizabethHerts]

Elizabeth Eustace (wife of William Gilmour) was baptised in 1819, so she might have been slightly older than William.

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbprs%2fbuckinghamshire%2fbap%2f00169515 4

[ElizabethHerts]

Little Ada Gilmour, one of the twins, died in Qr 2 of 1861, so she didn't live long.

[Olde Crone]

I am always amused, if that is the right word, how living descendants so often put a good spin on their ancestor's dubious behaviour! He may have been well meaning but he was a liar, he had no recognised qualifications and he was therefore a fraud who couldn't manage his money and sank further down the ladder, no doubt taking his family down with him.

Evan Meredith was a more interesting character. The phone rang and I missed how he came out of prison and became n apothecary. Did they say how he managed to achieve this?

OC

[kiterunner]

He was released from prison under the "Cat and Mouse Act", OC, and there was nothing to say he went back to prison after that. Presumably it would have said in that book chapter which he wrote if he had gone back to prison. They said he worked hard to get out of Wales and to become a pharmacist but I don't think they went into great detail about it.

[Olde Crone]

Thanks Kate. I would have liked to know how he found the education to become a pharmacist. It's a long (and interesting) jump from coal miner to pharmacist.

OC

[James18]

Looked up the Cat & Mouse Act. You learn all sorts on here.

[kiterunner]

I remember learning about it at school, James.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

I remember learning about it at school, James.

So did I, in connection with a history segment on the suffragettes.

Jay

[Tom Tom]

So did I, in connection with a history segment on the suffragettes.

Jay

And me too.

Thought it was quite an interesting episode, but I assume her Great Uncle had a copy of the book and knew the details about his Dad... couldn't he have just told her? Although they would probably be hard pressed to have made that fill half the show.