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Old 21-07-19, 22:37
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Default Who Do You Think You Are - Daniel Radcliffe 22nd Jul

On BBC1 at 9 p.m. And repeated on Thursday night at 11:55 p.m.
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Old 22-07-19, 22:30
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Well, it was kind of sort of like you know, wow.

GRRRR!!!! I couldn't concentrate for counting his "wows".

OC
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Old 22-07-19, 23:23
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Episode synopsis:

Daniel Radcliffe grew up in West London. His father was an actor and then a literary agent while his mother was an actress and then a casting director. Daniel knew that on his father's side a group of four brothers all fought in the First World War, and that his mother's grandfather, of Eastern European extraction, ran a jewellery shop and killed himself after a robbery.

Daniel's mother sent him "Granny Pat's" photo albums and a family tree which she had drawn up 30 years ago. There were several photos of Pat's mother Rae, and the family tree was titled "The Gershon Dynasty". Daniel's grandmother's maiden name was Patricia Gresham, with Gresham being an anglicised version of Gershon. The family tree showed that Pat's parents were Sam Gershon and Rachel aka Rae Dinah Jacobs, and that Sam, who was one of nine children, and the first of them to be born in England, killed himself. His parents were Louis Gershon and Jessie Greenwell, who married in South Africa.

Daniel went to North London to meet a distant cousin - Louis Gershon, another descendant of Louis and Jessie. His father was Bobby Gershon, the youngest of their nine children, and his mother's name was Hannah. Louis had a photo of the original Louis Gershon, who he thought looked very like Daniel.

The 1901 census showed the Gershon family living in Hackney, with Louis' birthplace as Germany, Jessie's as Russia, and the eldest three children's as Cape Town (John), Kimberley (Ann), and Orange Free State (Julie). Samuel, age 7, was born in Hackney. Louis's occupation was "dealer in jewellery", and Daniel was told that he had been involved in the diamond trade in South Africa in the late 1800's, and that his London business was based in Hatton Garden, so Daniel went there and met a local historian and author, who showed him the listing for Gershon & Shier, diamond cutters, setters and workers, at 35 Hatton Garden, in the 1905 street directory. He was also shown the 1917 register of directors and managers of the African Wholesaler Jewellers, which showed that the company was worth £10,000 at that date. The 1911 census showed 17-year-old Samuel as a jeweller's apprentice, and the 1921 marriage certificate of Samuel and Rachel said he was a diamond merchant. They married in Southend on Sea, so Daniel went there and met an historian.

Daniel was shown studio photos of Sam and Rae taken in Southend in the late 1920's. Rae's family were already living there before the marriage. Patricia was born in 1922 and her younger sister Luella seven years later. The Gershon Brothers were listed at 22 Hatton Garden in the 1930 Kelly's Directory.

Daniel went back to Hatton Garden, and found newspaper reports about a night raid on the Gershon Brothers' company in 1936, where the safe was cut open and mounted jewels such as rings, bracelets etc were stolen. Daniel met a criminologist at 22 Hatton Garden, who showed him the police file which said there was no evidence of a break-in and that the police believed there was no break-in and that it was an insurance swindle on the part of the Gershons, who had previously reported two other burglaries for which they had made successful insurance claims. A letter from an informant in the file suggested that the Gershons did it themselves because Jews were well-known for it. Daniel was shown a press photo of Samuel Gershon who fainted on the day of the robbery, and a press report which said he was still too ill to talk to the police 3 days afterwards. Apparently the Gershons were in debt for about the same amount as the value of the jewellery which was stolen.

Daniel went to Aldbury Common, in Hertfordshire, where Sam died. He was shown the coroner's report dated 8 Jul 1936, which said that Sam died in a motor car on Aldbury Common, and had suffered from shock for about 14 days in February of that year (immediately after the robbery). A witness statement from Sam's brother Edward Gershon said that there was a bankruptcy petition awaiting the insurance claim decision, and that a meeting of creditors had been imminent. Daniel was given Sam's suicide note to read, which said that he couldn't face bankruptcy. Daniel went back to Southend and was shown details of Rae's change of name from Gershon to Gresham three weeks after Sam's death. A year later, the insurance claim had been settled.

Daniel then went to Northern Ireland to find out about his father's side of the family. His father, Alan Radcliffe, grew up in County Down. Daniel went to Banbridge to visit his aunt Linda, who showed him some old family photos including some of his great-grandmother Florence McDowell, known as Flo. Flo's parents were Tommy and Elizabeth, and she had four brothers who all fought in the First World War: Jimmy, Joe, Ernest, and Edmund. There were 10 children altogether. Daniel had previously been given a photo of "Ernie". Linda gave him a folder of letters written to and from Ernie during the war, including some from his sweetheart Jeanie, which showed that he had been in the Army Reserves before the war, and so was sent overseas very early on, sent to hospital in Newcastle, England, suffering from frostbite, then sent overseas again, then wounded in the leg and sent back to hospital again. The letters stopped in 1916. Daniel looked at the roll of honour in Banbridge Church, which listed Ernest McDowell as one of those who died during the First World War. He met a genealogist who showed him a letter written to Elizabeth by a James O'Brien who was present when Ernie died, saying that they had just arrived in the trenches when a shell landed which killed Ernie and two other men. Daniel was also shown the marriage certificate of Ernest McDowell and Jeanie Barlow, dated 14th Feb 1915, and was told that Jimmy settled in Belfast while Joe and Edmund stayed in Banbridge.
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Old 22-07-19, 23:24
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Not the most riveting of episodes, and it seemed that Daniel knew quite a bit of it already.
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Old 23-07-19, 07:45
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They nearly ALL say "wow" about every new fact they discover: it's something that has irritated me for years on WDYTYA. His habit of ending practically everything he said with a rising inflection got on my nerves too! Both are a generational thing I think.

I did find the content of the programme interesting though. As I've said over on FTF, I was uncomfortable about the contents of the suicide note being read out. It was too personal in my opinion. I have been puzzling as to why the name Louis Gershon seemed vaguely familiar to me and still haven't come up with an answer. I was struck straight away by how like the first Louis Gershon Daniel is.
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Old 23-07-19, 09:28
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I found this interesting - it's always good for anyone younger to be interested in their ancestry and who wouldn't be thrilled to find a cache of letters written over 100 years ago by their relatives?

As for the suicide note, this was written a long time ago. Anything which helps us understand the frame of mind of someone doing this is useful and I think it was comforting to know that he was full of love for his family. But that's just my take.
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Old 25-07-19, 14:18
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Sue from Southend Sue from Southend is offline
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An acquaintance of mine is a key member of the Southend Jewish Family History Society and was consulted by the BBC as to why they thought Sam had moved to Southend. Her contribution was that "Because his wife was there"!


What wasn't mentioned in the programme was the fact that Rae came back to Southend and Daniel's mother was born and went to school here. So I'm wondering how much of this programme was news to Daniel?
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Old 25-07-19, 14:47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Olde Crone View Post
Well, it was kind of sort of like you know, wow.

GRRRR!!!! I couldn't concentrate for counting his "wows".

OC
Same here, OC. Found myself waiting for the next one. Don't programme

maker view the finished product?
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Old 27-07-19, 13:18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vita View Post
Same here, OC. Found myself waiting for the next one. Don't programme

maker view the finished product?
They are probably of the generation that does it all the time and wouldn't see anything wrong with it.
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