Who Do You Think You Are - Rose Ayling-Ellis 5th Sep

[kiterunner]

On BBC1 at 9 p.m. and repeated at 10:40 p.m. next Tuesday.

[Olde Crone]

I thoroughly enjoyed this but if Pasquel Lyons wasn't Jewish I will eat my hat! And - did anyone else notice his entry in the 1881 census was immediately followed by that of a chimney sweep?

OC

[ElizabethHerts]

Very enjoyable. Rose Ayling-Ellis is a delight.

I was particularly interested to see locations in Exeter and Devon, many extremely familiar to me.

In the 1861 Pasquel Lyons is a widower and living with his son Joseph, 20, and his wife and grandson at Sidwell Street, Exeter. It says he was born in Savoy, Italy.

Edit: Savoy or Savoie has been part of France since 1860.

[kiterunner]

Episode summary

Rose Ayling-Ellis's parents Ben Ellis and Donna Ayling split up when she was very young, and Donna brought up Rose and her brother Jacob as a single parent, in Hythe, Kent. Rose went to Hythe to visit her mother who still lives in the same house. They looked at old family photos, including some of Donna's parents, who lived in Bermingham, and some of Donna's great-grandmother Gertrude Chilton, who lived to the age of 99 and died when Donna was 11 or 12. There were also some photos of Gertrude's mother, who ran a pub in Birmingham, including a big group photo which appeared to be of a bowls team.

Rose went to Birmingham and met a local historian who showed her Gertrude's birth certificate which named her parents as Alfred Chilton, a jeweller, and Agnes nee King. Their residence was shown as William Street, Aston. On the 1881 census the family lived at the Sandy Hill Tavern. Alfred aged 26 was a publican and Agnes was 25. The historian told Rose that the couple went on to have 6 children. A later edition of Kelly's Directory showed Alfred Chilton as the landlord of the Queen's Arms, also in Aston. A newspaper clipping said that Alfred was charged with assault on a customer, and that he didn't appear in court but was represented by his wife who admitted that she had also assaulted the customer, who had caused them a lot of trouble. A newspaper death notice said that Alfred died aged 48. In the 1904 Kelly's Directory, Agnes was listed as landlady of the Aston Tavern. Rose went there and met an historian who showed her the certificate of Agnes's marriage to Thomas George Harris, 2 years after Alfred's death. Thomas was a widower aged 43, Agnes a widow aged 50. Thomas also had children of his own. The historian showed Rose a photo of the wedding celebration, taken in the pub garden, and told her that the pub did have a bowling team as shown in Donna's photo. Thomas's death certificate showed that he died aged 46 in 1908, and his will left all his money, £1500, to Agnes. Three years after his death, Agnes applied for planning permission to extend the pub, which was granted. In the late 20th century, the pub closed for a while, but in 2014 it was reopened as a hotel and pub, and the new owner named the bedrooms after various former landlords and landladies, including the A. Chilton room.

Rose then went to Somerset to see Ben and his mother, Pam. Ben's father Gerry Ellis died a couple of years previously. Pam said that her father, Harold Henry Welland, was one of 17 children of James Welland and Ada nee Masters, with two of the 17 having died in infancy. James only had one hand, and usually had a hook in place of the other one, although in a family photo he had a glove. Pam wasn't sure how he lost his hand but said it could have been in an accident when he was working on the railway. She had been told that at one time, the family were very poor and squatted in a house in Gladstone Road in Exeter and had to keep the lights off so that nobody would know they were there. She also said that one of the female ancestors of Ben's paternal grandfather, Harry Ellis, was Italian, with their family name having been anglicised from Leone to Lyons.

Rose went to STEAM in Swindon, the museum of the Great Western Railway, and met an historian, who showed her a newspaper article from 1899 about the accident on the line at Tiverton Junction where James, aged only 19, had lost his hand. He had only been working on the railway for a few days when it happened. The historian told Rose that accidents were so common on the railways that staff at Swindon made artificial limbs for GWR employees who were injured. James was put on half-pay for 6 months. A newspaper article said that he took the GWR to court claiming £250 under the Workmen's Compensation Act, but they wouldn't pay it. Rose then went to Exeter and met an historian at the Guildhall who showed her that on the 1921 census the family were living in Paul Street, which was a slum: James age 41, a porter, Ada, and a lot of children including 8-year-old Harold. The minutes of a 1923 Board of Guardians meeting said that there was no suitable accommodation for such a large family and that they were to be temporarily housed in the former (empty) Children's Quarter of the workhouse in Gladstone Road, and would have to pay rent. A newspaper article said that the workhouse officials had made various complaints about problems caused by the family but that the newspaper could find no evidence for these complaints. The Board of Guardians discussed the case again and voted 16 to 4 to evict the family. While a court case was pending, the Local Government Act abolished Boards of Guardians. Slums were cleared and poor families were rehoused. The 1931 electoral roll showed that the Wellands lived at 68 Widgery Road (a newly built council house), and when James died in the late 1940's, aged 66, the family still lived there.

Rose then met a genealogist at the Devon & Exeter Institute, who showed her the birth certificate of Harry Ellis's mother Louisa Ellen Lyons, born in 1869 at Albert Street, Exeter. Her parents were Joseph Pasquel Lyons and Mary nee Jessett, with Joseph's occupation being jeweller. The genealogist showed Rose a photo of Joseph. Joseph's birth certificate showed that he was born in the 1840's in South Molton, Devon, with his father being Pasquel Lyons, a hawker. Rose went to South Molton and met an historian who showed her that the 1851 census said that Pasquel was born in Italy. They had been unable to find out where exactly he was born or when he came to England, perhaps after the Napoleonic wars. On the census Pasquel was a dealer in jewellery. His wife's name was Thomazin and they lived in Broad Street, South Molton, where there was and still is a market. A newspaper article described him as a travelling jeweller, and his name was on the 1871 Register of Pedlars' Certificates. On the 1881 census he was a lodger, widower, aged 79, occupation travelling jeweller. His death certificate from 1882 gave his age as 82 and his occupation as watch maker. He died in Exton, Somerset, and the burial record described him as a "sojourner".

[ElizabethHerts]

Here is the marriage on FMP of Pasquel and Thomazen Holloway:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...MAR%2F9645%2F2

First name(s) Joseph Pasquel
Last name Lyon
Birth registration year 1841
Registration quarter 2
Mother's maiden name Hollway
District South Molton
County Devon
Country England
Volume 10
Page 184
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Civil Births
Collections from Great Britain, England

[kiterunner]

Thanks for that, Elizabeth. So Pasquel's father was Josephus Lyon, a yeoman.

[kiterunner]

I did like them assuming that the word "beloved" in a death notice meant anything! Surely it was just standard wording!

[Ann from Sussex]

That was the best of the series so far I thought, despite me nodding off for a while towards the end which means I must rewatch on the iPlayer. I came back in just as Rose had found her link to Italy. I do like it when they go further back than either WW1 or 2, neither of which got a mention for once. What a sweet person Rose is. I thought the same when she was on Strictly Come Dancing.

[kiterunner]

I wonder whether the programme's researchers found Agnes on the 1901 census? This is Alfred and some of the children but she is not with them although her sister is:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...e&pId=35114205

118 Trinity Rd, Handsworth, Staffordshire
Alfred Chilton Head M 47 Brewers Traveller Warwickshire Birmingham
Alfred do Son S 19 Electrical Engineer apprentice do do
Gertrude do Daur S 18 do do
Edwin do Son 10 do do
Agnes do Daur 9 do do
Mary King s-in-law S 56 Living on own means do do

This is her, proprietress of the Queen's Arms:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...e&pId=16692353

353 Victoria Rd, Aston Manor (Queens Arms)
Agnes Chilton Head M 45 Proprietree Queens Arms Birmhm Warwickshire
Amy Farrell Serv S 27 Barmaid Wednesbury Staffordsh
Lily G Richey Serv S 22 London Essex
Tom Green Serv S 20 Barman Bham Warwickshire
Janett Evans Serv M 59 Domestic Serv Greenock Scotland
Albert Benlow Serv S 22 Potman Bham Warwickshire

Alfred Chilton was listed as publican of the Queens Arms in the 1900 Kellys Directory.

[kiterunner]

Also there is quite a lot in the papers about Alfred's death.