WDYTYA David Mitchell episode

[GallowayLass]

I watched this the other night and was sorely disappointed with yet another "celebrity" spending a whole hour of TV time and finding out very little. :(

We now know he had forebears who ran a sheep farm in the Highlands, the last 2 who ran it being brothers. He also has a kirk minister in another line. But how he confirmed all this remains a mystery.

And the rest??? There were 13 children in the last generation to run the farm, some of whom went to USA. What happened to them all? Does Mr Mitchell have family in America/rest of the world? A great opportunity to show "how to" with Scottish research went a'begging. Never mind where to look for emigration material etc. etc.

What a stroke of luck for him that there were some records in the Duke of Sutherland's papers pertaining to the farm.

And as for his ancestor the minister from Sleat, Skye - good job that's what he did for living and left a trace of himself and his works. I wonder if the BBC's researchers ever found out that the majority of OPRs in Skye are non-existent (particularly in the north). It would be handy to have pointed that out to future researchers who turn up plain ordinary Skye ancestors and get completely stuck.

These programmes are getting less and less helpful to researchers.

[Olde Crone Holden]

What made me SORT OF laugh, was the casual way that woman brought out the Kirk Sessions Book which she had "found in a cardboard box in the cellar". (There were more). Those really should have been handed over to an archive - they weren't hers, she found them in her house.

Wonderful, if prurient detail in there - but will anyone other than David Mitchell ever get to see it? What about all the other, non-celebrity, family researchers who would love to see that book.

I agree, there was nothing of help to a researcher. The theme this time round seems to be "hear all about my interesting ancestors" but I'm not going to tell you how I found out!

There was also the idea that they were wealthy farmers and wanted for nothing - well, yes, that would be true, but what about the sheer hardship of the life they led day to day, never mind all the money. And, as you say, what about all the others, who went off all over the world - how interesting it would be to find out what they had made of their new lives.

OC

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

I've just this minute finished watching it, i felt a bit let down as soon as the diary turned up.

About the only thing anyone can really take from it is that a superfast wireless internet connection is a no go in the highlands and knocking on any door will bring about someone who can produce an old book from a long gone ancestor........and no white gloves needed.

I have to say the will was an absolute belter, shame that the majority of residents of the area would have had nothing to bequeth in a will let alone be able to create such a masterpiece.

As an afterthought, someone "in the know" should have been able to tell him the minister is usually be buried in a plot close to the church and not in a distant corner under a pile of brambles that have scratched the inscription away.

[Lindsay]

It seems to me that the whole premise of the program has changed since the first series - it's no longer about research, but about celebrity ancestors.

No doubt a focus group said this is what people want, but they're losing me...

[Jill on the A272]

I don't think the programme is aimed at seasoned researchers, its just a bit of entertainment.

[Kate P]

I'm agreeing with everyone here, it's less than helpful to researchers in its current guise. That said, in having briefly known someone who's worked in television behind the scenes, we should never, ever forget that these programmes are absolutely not about public service they are about ratings. Shame, but true - but if it leads novices like me to begin exploring, and then finding sites like these, then so much the better!

And on another note, following Michael Parkinson's revelation that he was dropped because his ancestors were too boring, is anyone else proud of their 'relentlessly ordinary' forebears? I am. Not everyone can have have the head of the entire french police, or a rich victorian property developer, or west indian slaves and owners in their lines. But we can all honour the memories of the families we do have - real people, with real lives - they loved, they laughed, they lost; just like we do now.

Kate x

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

Very true Kate.

The likes of Brunel, genious though me may have been would have little to show had it not been for thousands of people working to build his creations.
He may be remembered and noted in history ut those who worked for him are less well recorded.

I wish i had a film crew with me at the archives, empty seats, archivists falling over themselves to help and all the documents to hand with bookmarks in all the right places, register offices that hand copy certs over instantly, hundreds of folks who have in depth knowledge of the family history just an e-mail away (and always active users of the website the celeb happens to be using at the time!!).

[GallowayLass]

Our archivist had to drop everything for about 3 weeks and delve into the past of one recipient of the BBC's largesse and then they declined to use anything as another more "interesting" of his ancestors had popped up eleswhere. And they weren't all that apologetic either!

Yes OC, I was a bit gobsmacked when the Kirk Session minute book appeared. Not that well preserved by the looks of the cover and most certainly should be handed in. I daren't think what other gems are in that box of old papers and stuff that she casually referred to...

I'd love to have a team of bods go chapping on the door of every house in Kilmuir parish to see if they could turn up such delights to help me with the OH's tree but I doubt I'd be so lucky. The chap in the burials dept. office in Portree told me a while ago that poverty in Kilmuir parish was particularly bad, even by Skye standards and even those with a bit of cash to spare would have only a wooden cross on their grave, maybe with a bit of carving on it, maybe not. In any case, not destined to last very long. Most folks simply were marked by a small lump of stone, so's they knew where they'd dug before. I was also told that until the 1970s, Kilmuir graveyard wasn't enclosed at all; simply an open field tramped across by a motley assortment of cattle, pigs and horses.

After the call by the kirk to send old records up to Edinburgh, there was a lot of "not on your Nelly, we're keeping them" and the items suddenly couldn't be found! Loads of stuff is allegedly still secretly squirrelled away - what do they think they can do with it - sell it??

[maggie_4_7]

I think this programme has completely gone down the pan.

I used to look forward to them now I forget they're on. I forgot about it Wednesday and I was out anyway. Normally I would record it.

Also it doesn't show people how to research and how labour intensive it is. It doesn't give any useful information at all.

Its just about scandalous or famous ancestors of celebrities it seems to me. Just another program to entertain the masses and give more air time to celebrities.

[kylejustin]

i wish i had a film crew with me at the archives, empty seats, archivists falling over themselves to help and all the documents to hand with bookmarks in all the right places, register offices that hand copy certs over instantly, hundreds of folks who have in depth knowledge of the family history just an e-mail away (and always active users of the website the celeb happens to be using at the time!!).

i think youll find it was all done in advance to look nice and fancy and quick.
and i doubt theyre doing it for people to learn it is just ratings, and ordinary people probably watch the show and say "that celeb has interesting ancestors, i wonder if i have/ am i related to someone famous" i think if people get interested to do their family history, its just a bonus.

[Richard]

"I think this programme has completely gone down the pan."

I wouldn't go that far, the Kate Humble episode was very interesting, and I enjoyed bits of the other three. I do still think it's better than at least 90% of the other stuff shown on mainstream T.V.

[Olde Crone Holden]

I agree with Maggie - I actually forgot to watch the first two of this series and wasn't really bothered that I did.

I do wonder if the GRO had something to do with the change of format. The first series almost brought the GRO to its knees and they had to hurriedly take on extra staff and train them to cope with the huge increase in demand for certs.

When that demand died off, the extra staff sat around twiddling their thumbs I presume!

However, the Mitchell programme made absolutely no mention of the wondeful Scotlands People site where you can instantly download certs at no inconvenience or expense to anyone other than yourself. There must be many new Scottish researchers who don't know that and wouldn't know where to even start.

OC

[Peter Stenning]

I have to agree with Kate , for instance i dont have any wealthy even distinguished relative yet , i do have some interesting people in my tree.

We must all have a member who was in WW1 or doing something important during the war years.

One of my Reli's was a soldier in WW1 his wife had to look after thier twins back home in Ireland , And look after the farm after he had been wounded.
He was taken back to Ireland and having recovered was sent out to Palestine where he died in November 1917.
So links to Ireland and the Royal Sussex regiment would make part of the programme .

The wife ended up in Waterford home of the Glass manufacturer.

If you remember the programme 'this is you life' started out with ordinary folk before it went to celebrities for the sake or ratings.


Peter

[Lindsay]

'Tracing your roots' (available on radio4 iplayer now) is a better program, IMHO.

[GallowayLass]

The OH is descended on one side from a fairly wealthy farmer but as there were 11 kids, only number 1 son got the farm and the rest had to make shift for themselves. Most ended up in shale miners, carters, ag labs etc and some even ended up in the poorhouse. The other lot were very poor labourers who left Skye for the slums of Glasgow. On my side, one lot were all ag. labs and miners the other lot descended from a hawker who made good and ended up with his own shop. Nothing spectacular there but oh my! were a few of them interesting characters or what ;)

My sympathies go out to Parky - boring indeed!

[Uncle John]

Re the Kirk Session records, I'm quite disgusted at the Church of Scotland's apparently cavalier attitude to important historical records.

I've just had a reply to an enquiry I made of a dissenting church at which my ancestors might have been baptised. The current minister and Session Clerk were most apologetic that they have no idea where their historic baptism registers are. They do still have their Kirk Session records though.

[maggie_4_7]

I don't have any famous ancestors at all. If anything most of them were the most ordinary and poorest of the lot. But I love them all everyone of them for what they went through, most of them had very very hard lives like most of the population of those times. All of them interesting.

My grandfather and my grandparents brothers were all in WWI my grandfather fought at the Battle of Mons one of the bloodiest in history.

I had 6 uncles in WWII.

The program doesn't go anyway to explain the social history and circumstances of this or any other country now. It also doesn't explain how you can start or where to go to research one's family history.

The only one I thought was any good so far in this series was Chris Moyles.

I didn't like Kate Humble's at all actually I felt that most of the stuff they turned up was already known and they just carried on as if it was a revelation. I don't believe that it was.

I didn't see David Mitchells and I expect I won't bother now.

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

i think youll find it was all done in advance to look nice and fancy and quick.
and i doubt theyre doing it for people to learn it is just ratings, and ordinary people probably watch the show and say "that celeb has interesting ancestors, i wonder if i have/ am i related to someone famous" i think if people get interested to do their family history, its just a bonus.

I know it's al done in advance, it's just the way it's portrayed makes it look like you just wander in, ask for info on John Smith, don't give names, dates or places and it's all there in 20 seconds flat, and as for the Jeremy Irons epidode, well let's just say that the ever present dogs wandering around sans leads probably wouldn't be quite so warmly welcomed at a hotel, church/graveyard or archives for the average man in the street.

I can't recall seeing a single cert or PR refered to in the last show.




Heir Hunters probably gives a bit more of the "how to" than WDYTYA but again the editing and voiceover often makes huge assumptions such as folks die near where they were born and most relatives live within a few miles of the deceased, if that were the case why are heir hunters needed? If you lived near to where a rellie died chances are you would know they died and you were related to them.

Another genealogy type show often pops up on one of the channels, Nick Barrett has a big involvement with it and again the assumptions made are mind boggling. Someone dies in the workhouse in 1878, instantly they are labelled destitute and abandoned by the family. Forget the fact that only the wealthy could afford a doctor and the hospital system as we know it wasn't properly set up, not that they could do a huge amount for someone with TB anyway.

It's like anything on tv, we have had the home makeover shows come and go, the same with garden makeovers, now it's all car boot sales and antique auctions, genealogy has largely had it's fifteen minutes of tv fame and it's lost the appeal it had in the early days.

[maggie_4_7]

I agree with Glen at least they should explain how time consuming and labour intensive it is rather than have the masses believe its that easy.

[Uncle John]

On the other hand, I'm not sure that "the great unwashed" yet understand how easy it is for anyone to get information about them such as marriages and details of siblings.