RootsChat.Com

I have to agree with the majority here - definitely the best of this series.  I vaguely knew where he first came to TV notice, and so wasn't expecting too much, but ... WOW!!  He showed interest, empathy and a sense of fun (the sword fighting, anyone?).  Unlike so many he had obviously taken in the family stories from childhood and made them part of his personal history.  So often others have said ' oh yes, we were..... ' but don't seem to have really thought what that meant.

The Talk with his grandfather showed their closeness, and the final scene was genuinely moving.

And I was knocked speechless when he went to the synagogue and made the clear connection to the time the furniture was produced  - he clearly knew who Oliver Cromwell was!

I keep a paper file of notes about unidentified connections, and try to check them out every so often - eg currently one reads '1861 George Edward, grandson - whose son???' and is listed under the grandfather's name - should be fairly easy, only 5 possible dads!  Much easier than the ones headed 'which website did I find .....'?

With possible events I now put a note with the event saying things like 'possible', 'most likely', 'see also...' - sadly some errors I made in the beginning on Ancestry were just copied straight to other trees - these I at least try to notify when I find them.  If anything on my tree now has my note suggesting the event is not definite I figure if it's copied as 100% fact subsequently it's not my problem. After all, if someone copies the event, they can surely read what it actually says in the description box!

I expected to enjoy this from the Radio Times write up, and eventually I did, but found it slow to get going.  Once he arrived in Africa it became much more enjoyable and interesting.  I would have liked another minute or two looking at the reasons for the movement of the Kenyan Asians to Britain.  It was a different approach looking at it from the point of view of someone who had a fairly solid knowledge of the family history, and was confirming and expanding that knowledge rather than just having 'a story' which has often been the case.  And even getting the 'story' (about royal connections) confirmed!

As others have said, it proves the importance of talking to older relatives, and I thought it also showed how cultures with a tradition of oral history can be very valuable to social historians. I just wonder how much that tradition is still surviving into younger generations in Africa. Growing up I had little knowledge about either side of my family, and I query how much my cousins, nephews and nieces would know even about my grandparents' generation without the bits I keep passing on ... no real tradition of oral history!

Many thanks to all of you.  The information about the Immigration Act is exactly what I was looking for, so she presumably went as a domestic servant.  She must have settled in quickly and within 3 years she had married and settled in Brisbane. I'm glad to have found out what happened and been able to cross off one of my 'lost cousins'.

Cheers
halhawk

Thanks for posting the offer, bugbear.  I had been planning to get a month's sub (primarily for the Newspaper Archive) at some point in the future, and had been making a list of events to look for.  This offer means I haven't had to wait ... and almost the first thing I found was something I never knew existed ... a photo of my grandfather!  I had never seen a picture of him ... and he has my father's smile (or I suppose the other way round)  ... many thanks