Following*Monday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? which featured Bruce Forsyth, we’ve found his ancestors in*the census records*at findmypast.co.uk. We’re sure you found the programme as fascinating as we did - read on to*see Bruce’s controversial great-grandfather in our census records.
In the 1851 census you can see Bruce’s great-grandfather, Joseph Forsyth Johnson, with his mother and grandfather (a florist/nurseryman – not a gardener as Bruce’s cousin*said in the programme). They were living in West Ella, Yorkshire:
Click to enlarge
On the 1861 census you can see Joseph Forsyth Johnson (employed as a gardener) again living with his wife Elizabeth and her parents in Gilling, Yorkshire:
Click to enlarge
The 1881 census shows Elizabeth (working as a housekeeper) with children, living in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Joseph Forsyth Johnson was not with the family:
Click to enlarge
Elizabeth appears again on the 1891 census in Tottenham with her children* John (Bruce’s grandfather) and Christina, who wrote the diary Bruce received in the programme. John was working as a warehouse porter and Christina as a kitchen maid. Joseph Forsyth Johnson was not with the family again*- as Bruce discovered, he had hot-footed it over to the USA with a younger woman and was enjoying considerable success and prosperity as a landscape gardener.
Click to enlarge
We’re looking forward to the rest of the series!
More...
In the 1851 census you can see Bruce’s great-grandfather, Joseph Forsyth Johnson, with his mother and grandfather (a florist/nurseryman – not a gardener as Bruce’s cousin*said in the programme). They were living in West Ella, Yorkshire:
Click to enlarge
On the 1861 census you can see Joseph Forsyth Johnson (employed as a gardener) again living with his wife Elizabeth and her parents in Gilling, Yorkshire:
Click to enlarge
The 1881 census shows Elizabeth (working as a housekeeper) with children, living in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Joseph Forsyth Johnson was not with the family:
Click to enlarge
Elizabeth appears again on the 1891 census in Tottenham with her children* John (Bruce’s grandfather) and Christina, who wrote the diary Bruce received in the programme. John was working as a warehouse porter and Christina as a kitchen maid. Joseph Forsyth Johnson was not with the family again*- as Bruce discovered, he had hot-footed it over to the USA with a younger woman and was enjoying considerable success and prosperity as a landscape gardener.
Click to enlarge
We’re looking forward to the rest of the series!
More...