"Who Do You Think You Are", Series 15: #2 Olivia Colman

[Finley 1]

Oh dear ---

did they have to 'lie' to us then  -- because they surely must have known about the Mother. 

Was it because of limited time to produce the information.

But whatever the reason, that is a big failing not to have added the 'truth' ..

I am --- disappointed.    Serafina - seems to have cared greatly for her daughter and has been totally wiped out -- ignored.. Why could they not just say that India Harriet was an Orphan ---

 

xin

[Millmoor]

You can read the will of Seraphina Donclere in the British India Office  Collection on FindMyPast. The documents are dated 8 Oct 1809.

Interesting points to note are that she had another daughter called Charlotte Hunter and was pregnant at the time of writing her will.

Her executor was William Slessor but it goes on to say "that the said William Slessor died shortly after the said Seraphina Donclerc without having proved the said will". There are also inventories and an entry in the death duty registers for 1884 ... with the executor  named as Harriet Bazett.

William

[BushInn1746]

A really interesting start to the new series, and I loved her enthusiasm and obvious interest.

But how amazing to be able to read all of those old letters, and to actually see a photo of 'India Harriot'... I bet this doesn't happen with most people's family history research! Perhaps it was just because they'd obviously always had a lot of dosh?

Romilly

Hi Romilly

I don't feel having photographs is always down to having loads of dosh. It is down to family members, to override others and save them!

My Mother has her family photographs going back to about 1860 and the more recent Albums have been divided to three of us.

However I'm afraid the wall mounted photos and numerous loose 19th Century photos in drawers were only saved because I went through and secretly spirited them all away in my car last visit, before the house clearance men arrived. My intervention to save pictures & documents was not liked, by the firm who were clearing the house for free.

Although managing an Estate 1830, they had no great wealth, but some great photos 1860 to 1900.

Some family paintings and photographs get shared out down the generations and disappear to siblings and descendants of their lines.

What we can't understand, but I'm afraid it happens, is that family photographs end up with someone who considers them family junk and throws them out.

Of far greater value to me, are the documents, pictures and photos. These have low monetery value, but are irreplaceable and therefore absolutely priceless.

Mark

[Finley 1]

That is heartbreaking to read....  It seems she was pregnant when writing her will .. and died very soon after.

There is more to this -- somewhere.

It is going to be a great story when it does appear.

I read the Inventory for William Slessor too.. -- Felt .. wrong reading someone elses personal stuff.

Wasn't it mentioned that he was killed by a Knife wound...??

I have to watch and discover more..

As I say a 'film in the making'

xin

Bowani Junction comes to mind ---- oooo exciting..

[ThrelfallYorky]

i Really enjoyed this one. I've no connections with India /Dutch East India co., or similar, but the feel of the history was right.
Probably the researchers were not looking for the mother's will in England.... they may have felt that they'd gone far enough / done enough there. What a delightful pile of information to have on one's family, though, especially the Scottish chap, with whole stairwells full of family portraits...
As someone else said, even my hardly interested OH watched this with interest, even making comments as it went along.
Of course the families are usually interesting and well-documented. There wouldn't be much of a programme in it if it was simply "All your ancestors were poor undocumented farm labourers who worked and lived in Mugglesworth on the Mire, never went anywhere or did anything.... and we couldn't find any documents other than a few census returns, and a few B M Ds..."
There must have been many more people than programmes are completed on, where some research has been started, but simply found to have too little interest in it, and that person abandoned.
TY

[Finley 1]

I love it.. All --- it does make me want to dig really deep 

But then I have found some wonderful people along the way - good  - bad and adventerous...

Its great.

xin

[StanleysChesterton]

The "trouble" with archives is - they don't know what they've got.

I'd imagine the programme makers might've contacted the archives with an outline of what they were there for ... so you do wonder if they did/not ... Harriet/husband's surname in the 1871 Census was the surname of the local solicitor whose papers the archives held.  An unusual name, so must have been easy to do a lookup of "Do you have anything in this odd name here?"

It does make you wonder how hard they really work on any case as I'd have thought, upon being contacted, the archives would've said "Well, we've 3 boxes of stuff from that family name ... might be something there if you want to dig about a bit". 

And/or maybe they've accepted offers of "dig about a bit" in the past, only to discover boxes of old tat ... and nothing relevant. 

I guess the budget gets blown on travel/hotels and not researchers at the archives... after all, that's all a bit "dusty and dull" ... when we could all be flying around the world and filming

[BushInn1746]

...

Of course the families are usually interesting and well-documented. There wouldn't be much of a programme in it if it was simply "All your ancestors were poor undocumented farm labourers who worked and lived in Mugglesworth on the Mire, never went anywhere or did anything.... and we couldn't find any documents other than a few census returns, and a few B M Ds..."

Hello

I think my family are pretty standard working class. Then I got stuck about 20 years ago, which we've had another go at, in the last three years.

But while searching for the next ancestor backward from circa 1785, I've found a stack of stuff during the last three years and Rootschatters have found some more bits and added information, which have really put some flesh on the pretty standard family history bones (bringing my family almost to life) instead of just the usual pre Census Registers, odd Wills and early Census with BMD Certificates.

If I hadn't of been stuck, I'd never have found all this supplementary stuff and the smaller documented details about my direct family ancestors, whilst attempting to break the brickwall.

Mark

[Maiden Stone]

Of course the families are usually interesting and well-documented. There wouldn't be much of a programme in it if it was simply "All your ancestors were poor undocumented farm labourers who worked and lived in Mugglesworth on the Mire, never went anywhere or did anything.... and we couldn't find any documents other than a few census returns, and a few B M Ds..."
There must have been many more people than programmes are completed on, where some research has been started, but simply found to have too little interest in it, and that person abandoned.
TY

I think Michael Parkinson was one of those whose ancestors were considered too dull.