Episode Synopsis
Alex Kingston lives in Los Angeles with her daughter. Her parents
Tony and Margarethe, who is German, and
Nicola, one of Alex's two younger sisters, live in Surrey.
Tony's mother
Mitty (real name
Helen) died in 2008. Her father was
William Henry Keevil, a photographer, who died in WW1. His widow didn't remarry after his death but lived with Tony's parents.
William and his wife had a son
Bernard, and Alex's uncle, Tony's brother, is also called
Bernard. He lives in Kent and showed Alex a copy of William's medal index card, which shows that he was a sapper in the Royal Engineers. He also showed her William's death certificate showing that he died of wounds in Belgium on the 7th Aug 1917.
William's children were aged 16, 10 and 4 when he died, and the family lived in Wandsworth. A researcher showed a copy of William's birth certificate to Alex. He was born on the 7th Nov 1875, parents
Walter Keevil, a lawyer's clerk, and
Ellen nee Law.
Alex looked at the 1891 census entry showing William as a lantern slide maker age 15, a and the 1911 census showing him as a magic lantern slide manufacturer on his own account. The 1912 birth certificate for Mitty shows William's occupation as photographer.
1891 census entry for the Keevil family on Findmypast
1881 census entry for the Keevil family on Findmypast
1901 census entry for William H Keevil and family on Findmypast
1911 census entry for William H Keevil and family on Findmypast
Alex visited the National Media Museum in Bradford to meet a photographic historian and learn about magic lantern slides and studio photographers.
She then visited the Royal Engineers' HQ in Kent to meet a military historian. William's service papers were among those destroyed in WW2, but the medal index card shows that he joined the army in Feb 1915 and was in the 3rd London Field Company and his death certificate shows that he was in the 5th Field Survey Company when he died. This unit used "sound ranging" photographic equipment. A book about the Sound Rangers, and the unit's War Diary, both mentioned the death of Sapper Keevil.
Alex then visited the Jewish Museum in London to meet a researcher who had traced the family tree back from Mitty's mother
Helen Sophia Morey. Her mother was
Sophie Braham. Sophie's parents were
Michael Braham who died in 1827, and his wife
Elizabeth. She had two sisters,
Frances and Eve, and a brother
Lewis. Elizabeth was widowed in 1827 with four children under 10. The marriage certificate from Eve's wedding to
Lawrence Emmanuel, a rag merchant, the son of
Uzziel Emmanuel, also a rag merchant, shows that they had a Jewish wedding, so it appears that the Braham family were Jewish.
The researcher found a newspaper report about Lewis Braham which said that he had borrowed £40 and not paid it back.
The 1851 census shows Elizabeth at 9 Shepherd Street, Hanover Square, Westminster. She is the head of household, occupation lodging house keeper,with her daughter Sophia and two grandchildren.
link to 1851 census entry on Findmypast
Most of the houses on that street (now renamed Dering Street) were lodging houses with female heads of household, and it seems that they were "houses of ill repute". The researcher found newspaper reports about a suspicious death in 1852 at 9 Shepherd Street, which is described as aa "house of ill fame". The man who died was
James Fain age 19.
Alex visited Westminster Abbey to look at the records of the inquest, which was held on the 15th Nov 1852. One of the witnesses was a
Mary Ann Dalton, known as "Polka Poll". The inquest verdict was that James Fain killed himself by poison while insane.
Elizabeth had been charged with keeping a house of ill fame in 1827, the Sidney Hotel, Leicester Street, Leicester Fields. Alex read a copy of the indictment which showed that Elizabeth pled not guilty but was found guilty. There was no record of her sentence or fine.
Alex then met another historian who showed her the 1861 census entry where Elizabeth was living in Northumberland Street in Marylebone, occupation freeholder, with her granddaughter
Rosa Matilda, Lewis's daughter.
1861 census entry on findmypast
The 1871 census showed Elizabeth at 8 Titchfield Terrace, St Johns Wood, with Lewis, a financial agent, and Rosa age 20.
1871 census entry on findmypast
Elizabeth died at the age of 84 and Alex looked at her will. She left her household furnishings etc to Lewis, her jewellery to Rosa, and also her freehold houses nos 1 and 4 Wade Street, Poplar, to Rosa. She also owned numbers 52, 54, 56 and 58 Cochrane St, St Johns Wood, and 8 Titchfield Terrace, but they didn't read out the part of the will stating what happened to those houses.