BBC TV "WDYTYA?" Series 6 Episode #1: Rory Bremner

[cheshiremog]

WDYTA has been so successful - they really need to have more alternative programmes about family history -  feature some ordinary people - you don't need to be a celeb to have an interesting tree

Yes I have to agree with some of the comments above - most of it was all there locked in the old family antique desk anyway.

The green eyed mog of Katmandu

[cheshiremog]

OK I have calmed down now!

There was an important message about children growing up not really knowing a parent particularly a father so committed to his work - which I hope made us all stop and think. 

[TracyL]

I love the programme as I am always on the look out for tips and avenues I may have missed - however, if it was all there anyway, what was the point.

I want to see a real search - finding the clues for the next stage etc. It is disappointing, even if interesting, if the story is already there.  No searching or researching needed.  No clues to follow and nothing to learn from the search.

[cheshiremog]

Yes it would help to follow some obvious clues

Clue 1

Open the old family desk and look inside

Clue 2

Take note of portraits of high ranking prominent ancestors wearing military regalia and medals in your hallway

[DudleyWinchurch]

I found the programme very interesting precisely because it looked at ways of focussing on individuals and finding out about the details of their lives rather than just mapping out a tree. 

For the purposes of entertainment, there is a limit to how often you can show people reading census pages and standard certificates and I felt that this show introduced some new resources that might not be so easy for people to just stumble across.

The one thing that I missed was the name/address of the military surgeons archive as I have an ancestor who was badly injured in the Crimea.  I was hoping that it would turn out to be the same regiment but unfortunately not.

[Gaille]

I kind of agree & disagree with the previous comments.

Yes, for those of us that have been doing this a while it was a little "Ready made" if you like - but then again I also thought it was a lesson for those starting out to ASK what family have collected and actually look at what you yourself have................. maybe its something that will help new researchers?

I am so lucky I was interested in doing the family history before i lost all my grandparents - and I personaly inherited all the family papers, bibles photos etc............... like Rorys brother I know what I have - but I seriously doubt my brother and sister have a CLUE what I have here........and I have papers belonging to my mums cousins that non of them ae interested in - in fact one of my mums cousins binned all the 'old junk' (aka to us precious papers!) when their parents died - so all they have is left now is what my nana had for safe keeping, and I am hanging on to it for now!

I actually found his discoveries about his father moving, and the parralels between the generations obviously got to him.

This one actually managed to hook my mum and dad - and get them talking about their grandparents to me, BECAUSE it wasnt too in depth, and they could relate to it.

I thought his family story was fascinating, I wish I had so much variety in mine, and I actually learnt something, i didnt realise Cremation had been illegal.

LOL and it made mum & I laugh, my Nana died last year and she is registered on the Database as being both buried and cremated - I can just hear future generations trying to figure THAT out!
(she was cremated then her ashes scattered on my Grandads grave - but the database has both a cremation date & a burial date - a week apart!)

Gaille

[lizdb]

Just looked at that 1891 census for the Ogilvy's (mistranscribed, so took a while for me to find it...!) RG12 904 55 25

When Rory looked at it he made some comment about how the Dad must have returned to the three childen and said "here is your step mum and several new brothers and sisters" but if you look at the census, the younger half siblings sre all born in Bournemouth or nearby, so it looks as if the Dad came back (possibly with new wife who was born British Guyana) and reunited the family before the new babies arrived! Didnt check out his facts there before making a bit of drama.

[lizdb]

Blasted digibox broke halfway through the recording so I've missed it.

Repeated tonight on BBC2 !

[pusskin]

Hi
as someone who has thought vaguely about doing a tree but never really started (I found you guys when my one of my kids was asked to make a stab at a tree for class) I found the Rory Bremner episode really interesting.

I knew that someone on my mothers side had done a tree when she was young but have no idea what happened to it and the information/documents that went with it.  My dad's cousin has worked on their tree but I didn't know that until DS asked for help with his project and dad said 'Oh I haven't seen the tree since I gave R our ammendments'.  I think he meant me and my sisters broods as it seems they're expanding the tree forwards now.

Anyway back to Rory, I can see  that it was probably a bit thin for a genealigist but for us ordinary punters out there it was good.
Also it should (hopefully) mean less stupid questions of the archivers as it showed just how much might be squirreled away in the family coffers.

Puss