Who Do You Think You Are - Claire Foy 8th Jun

[kiterunner]

On BBC1 at 9 p.m. and repeated next Wednesday at 11:25 p.m.

[Ann from Sussex]

Looking forward to this simply because she is such a good actress....which I know isn't a reason for her to have an interesting family tree but we can hope!

[kiterunner]

Episode summary:

Claire Foy's parents David Foy and Caroline nee Stimpson divorced when she was 7 or 8. Her maternal grandparents were both Irish. Her father was born in Manchester and was adopted by the Foys. Claire went to see her grandfather Jimmy Stimpson, who is 93, and her mother. They showed her photos of her great-grandfather Charles Stimpson, who worked as a chauffeur for a JP in Ireland, and died in a motorcycle accident when Jimmy was about 4. Jimmy had 7 or 8 siblings.

Charles's birth certificate showed that he was born on the 25th Jun 1886 at Carlisle Castle, which was an army barracks. His parents were Henry Stimpson and Maria nee Segrave. Henry was in the army, and the family story was that he drowned. Claire went to Carlisle Castle and met an historian who showed her Border Regiment records concerning Henry. He joined at the age of 18, a labourer, and was posted to India. He was already married by then and his wife went to India with him. They had three children born there and two more after returning to England, where Henry was based at Carlisle. An article from a local paper reported that on 1 Oct 1886, an army paper chase event was held, and three soldiers died trying to cross the river which was in flood at the time, including Private Stimpson. Claire went to Grinsdale to see where it happened. A Carlisle Express report said that Henry's body was found a little way downstream, and another report from four days later said that he was buried with military honours, with thousands of people attending the funeral. A report on the 11th Oct 1886 said that £300 had been raised for the widows of the men who died.

Claire then went to see her father in the Midlands, to find out about his birth mother Joyce Manwaring. David was born in 1952 at the Beechwood Home for Unmarried Mothers, and in his 30's he managed to trace his birth mother by looking for local people named Manwaring. He found his uncle Ronald Manwaring's name and address on the electoral register and went to his house, and Ronald told him that Joyce was in California. David went to Monterey to meet her in 1986. He showed Claire photos of him and Joyce together, and some old photos of Joyce when she was young. Her birth certificate showed that she was born in 1929 in Hulme, her parents being Harry Manwaring and Emily May nee Martin. Claire went to Bristol Street, Hulme, to see where Joyce was born, and then met a genealogist who showed her Joyce's family tree. Emily's parents were John William Martin and Emma nee Rayner. John's parents were John Henry Martin and Eliza nee Kirkby. Their marriage certificate showed that they got married in 1867, aged 33 and 29 respectively, bachelor and spinster, with his occupation being cooper.

Claire was shown an entry in the Examination of Invalid Soldiers which said that John Henry Martin was discharged with a hernia on his left side after serving in the army for 12 years and 2 months. His trade was shown as cooper and his birthplace as Dublin. She was then shown a newspaper report from 1867 about the "Fenian Outrage" which said that John Martin, age 34, a cooper and former soldier, had been arrested for taking part. Claire went to the Greater Manchester Police Museum and met an historian who showed her a drawing of the incident in question, in which a police transport taking two leaders of the Fenian movement to court was attacked by Fenians trying to rescue the prisoners. One of the policemen accompanying the prisoners, Charles Brett, was shot and killed, and many men were arrested under the joint enterprise law and charged with murder for taking part in the attack. John Martin was one of those arrested, as was his brother William Martin. Records showed that William was arrested on the day of the murder and John five days later. They were both among the 28 men who were tried for murder. Claire went to Hyde Road to see where the incident took place, and also to nearby Phillips Park, where William was arrested.

Claire then went to meet an historian at Manchester Crown Court and learned about the trial. Some witnesses said they had seen William with a gun or two guns, or throwing stones at the police, but under cross-examination one of these witnesses corrected himself, saying it was John who he had seen. Defence witnesses testified that John was at work until after 6 p.m. and had not left at any time during the afternoon. John's wife Eliza was also called as a defence witness, and she said that William lived with them in her mother's house, and that he went out to the library at about 11 a.m. and returned after 2 p.m., then went out again at 4:20 p.m. to deliver a message to John asking him to come home early to go to the theatre with her. This meant that William could not have been at Hyde Road when the crime took place. The Felony Register showed that both John and William were discharged, but three of their co-accused were convicted and hanged, later known as the "Manchester Martyrs". Claire's biological 2xg-grandfather John William Martin was born after the court case.

[Olde Crone]

I can't say I engaged with this, it went on a bit, I thought. I was more interested in how the widows managed to survive with all those children, but we were left to guess.

(I did sit up at the mention of Varley Rd (Street?) in Hulme, as that is the site of a Holden family mystery and just round the corner from another!)

OC

[Ann from Sussex]

How many "OMG"s did she utter? I agree with OC, it did seem to go on and on and on about the arrest and trial of the two brothers. I was a bit exasperated at how much fuss was made about the sketches the artist did of them. How can you produce a likeness that will show exactly what a person looked like when all you have to go on is eye and hair colour plus distinguishing marks like scars? She gave one a narrow face and one a broad face based on absolutely nothing as far as I could see. All in all a bit boring I thought.

[Guinevere]

Not one of the best.

[crawfie]

There seems to be very little research shown in the programs these days - it is all go meet someone, look at this, go to next place. At one time they had the celebrities do a little bit themselves, like put a name into Ancestry and look at the results that came up. Not a lot but something.

I also don't like the bit at the beginning where the celebrity says what they hope to find as you know that is exactly what they have found. For example Claire said she wouldn't want a murderer, and would like to hear her ancestors voices. Surprise, surprise we end up with a possible murderer and transcript of her ancestors testimony.

[Olde Crone]

I agree Crawfie. It's purely entertainment these days, such a shame. Not sure who it's aimed at either because if you aren't interested in family history then it has no appeal at all.

OC