RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Petros on Monday 19 August 13 12:13 BST (UK)
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Busy being promoted on the chat shows before Wednesday. Gary was saying, unusually, his ancestry is all English, no Irish, Scots or Welsh
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Wow - Gary Linekar is a star! :)
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Have to say I enjoyed it, he was laughing at his ancestor one minute and then BANG! infant mortality....... welcome to family research Gary.
Frank.
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I enjoyed it, his reactions seemed genuine. Interesting to see the old prison cells. I was cringing when he was looking at the documents near the beginning though! Crunching one a bit and licking his finger!
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Another winner. I am certainly enjoying the formats of these latest episodes. Found Gary Lineker most likeable. Yes I too cringed when he licked his finger.
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Another good programme, and thankfully this time rather less leaping to conclusions! It was an interesting approach, with the tree researched 'off-camera' and Gary's choice of who to research further. I wonder if he found all the other times James Pratt was charged with poaching etc - there are a lot of times he was tried at Petty Sessions and just fined! Also found an article from 1842 where the framework knitters sent a deputation to their employers about wages, and one of the deputation was James Pratt of Hinckley.
I also flinched with his treatment of the documents!!
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James Pratt is in the Leicester workhouse in 1891, a widower,
I did wonder for a second or 2 when I heard the surname Pratt, as my paternal Great grandmother maiden name was Pratt, but all her family were based in Lancashire, so I'm pretty sure there's no sharing of ancestors with Gary !
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Another vote for the finger lickin'. I did like this episode. As has been mentioned we did not have the leap of faith style researcher. I found the information on the legal writing fascinating . It does seem like in this new series each episode is being put together by a different team as they have been quite different. I did not like the visit to Gary's day job. It just seemed like a waste of air time.
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Yes, It was a good programme. But agree there was a fair bit of waffle at MOTD Studio and playing football with school kids that felt like filling in air time.
Obviously the Lineker branch wasn't interesting enough for TV.
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Yes quite intereresting. A different flow to the program with a tree unveiled by Anthony Adolph at the start and then immediately focussing on two particular ancestors
Nonetheless itr was interesting
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Yes quite intereresting. A different flow to the program with a tree unveiled by Anthony Adolph at the start and then immediately focussing on two particular ancestors
Nonetheless itr was interesting
Yes I agree. On reflection, although the programme was interesting I think I prefer the celebrity subject peeling away the layers , waiting on certificates and being shocked/surprised etc rather than being presented at the beginning with a professional tree stretching back several generations. It took away a little of the suspense :)
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But agree there was a fair bit of waffle at MOTD Studio and playing football with school kids that felt like filling in air time.
....which could have been used following other lines. I wonder how many other people are privileged enough to view the original cells at Leicester prison? The writing section was so interesting especially at the printers.
I felt far too much time was spent looking at Christ's Hospital students walking around - the school & its ethos is nothing like it was in 17th, 18th centuries & 19th century when Tom Billingham was in there at its site in London. Although, yes, it is for children of 'poor' parents' it selects the cream & educates less pupils since 1985 [when the girls school moved from Hertford to Horsham with the boys].
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I felt far too much time was spent looking at Christ's Hospital students walking around - the school & its ethos is nothing like it was in 17th, 18th centuries & 19th century when Tom Billingham was in there at its site in London. Although, yes, it is for children of 'poor' parents' it selects the cream & educates less pupils since 1985 [when the girls school moved from Hertford to Horsham with the boys].
Have to agree with you - there was no point in going to Horsham, apart from perhaps seeing the uniform in current use - the CH museum produced nothing else specific to Tom Billingham himself. It would have been nice to see something of what life would have been like for Tom in Newgate Street from contemporary prints and writings rather than filming the school as it is today. Two interesting stories though and Gary was fun.
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I found this episode really enjoyable
Skimming over the time wasting bits it was very interesting and Gary was fun.
Pat
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I liked bits of this episode but I found the stories weak. I think the better episodes tell great stories. The poacher story had potential but I thought it didn't focus enough on the census records to show what happened to the family over time. I thought it left out information. The law writer story was interesting but I thought it was not deserving the amount of coverage it was given. Other parts of the tree could have been covered.
Blue
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Reading between the lines, the football bit wasn't so much time wasting, more a marketing opportunity for 'Match of the Day' right at the start of the football season. He also managed to throw in a mention of 'his crisps' on prime time BBC television. Proving he wasn't only a very good footballer, he's also a shrewd businessman as if we didn't already know. Apart from that letting it down, I enjoyed it.
Also made a change to hear another voice reminding me it was about to start.
That's never happened before ! :-\ ;D ;D
Pels.
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These days I spend quite a bit of time guessing which bits are going to be cut for the commercial channels/US TV etc. I'd guess either or both of MOTD and some Christ's Hospital scenes.
The Pratt family continued to give their occupations as Hosiers right through the censuses. I don't know enough of the industry to know how well it recovered after the 1840's, so whether James needed to keep poaching, or if he just enjoyed it!
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The Pratt family continued to give their occupations as Hosiers right through the censuses.
Thank you for that additional information. Just what Rootschatters are good at. The sort of stuff the BBC probably thinks is boring!
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Reading between the lines, the football bit wasn't so much time wasting, more a marketing opportunity for 'Match of the Day' right at the start of the football season. He also managed to throw in a mention of 'his crisps' on prime time BBC television. Pels.
I couldn't agree more. if the BBC carry on like this, they will have to display the 'P' for product promotion - and get better at it! I never notice the product placements on Corrie but these were blatant. I might like crisps, but I loathe football, so all that fannying aound in the studio was waffle as far as I was concerned. What next? Will Nick Hewer be giving us a conundrum to solve half way through his episode? How about Marianne Faithful giving us a song? [No, please!!!]
I usually enjoy WDYTYA whoever the subject is, but this one summed up the man - tedious and lacking any real merit!
Jill
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After Alan Shearer's remark - they'll no doubt be getting a few extra's 'next door' :
Room service - Lasagne and a glass of wine. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9262179/BBC-spends-more-than-600000-at-the-Holiday-Inn.html)
And no wonder he expressed surprise when Gary was there :
Travels by train on expenses. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2116217/Match-Day-BBCs-15-000-travel-Gary-Linekers-chauffeur-ride-Salford-London.html)
It was all mentioned on the programme. Must think we're daft and it was so blatant.
Pels.
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I found it all a bit bland, though there were some interesting bits.
But why was the Lineker line ignored? Were they that boring? Does anyone know anything about that line? ???
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I wondered about his parentage too....I don't recall any mention of them? I did find him funny though.
Carol
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What I have noticed in this new series, is that there is more information to be gleaned from the programmes for the amatuer family historian. As for only looking into 1 side of his family, I think that for a 1 hour show, in this instance they got it right.
Just by watching Gary's programme last night, in the main ordinary folk, just like the majority of us.
There was local historical archives used and the part about the Law Writer was fascinating.
He was just so interested without being too sentimental.
More shows of this calibre. No wailing or gnashing of teeth about how badly our ancestors were treated etc., just straight forward research.
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I found the juxtaposition of 2 poor boys who grew up to be involved in very different sides of the law very interesting. And neither of those boys' parents could have envisaged a member of their family becoming a renowned sportsman and TV star! Very neat episode.
South Leicestershire did experience a lot of hardship at the time, often due to the area's involvement with framework-knitting at home. First came the 'bag-men', or agents, who started to collect the knitting in bulk and sell it on; then came the factories, and Hinckley had a lot, so did Wigston. If people weren't prepared to give up their independance and work in the hosiery factories, then they had no outlets and went to the wall. Much later, cheap, shoddy knitwear and hosiery started to be imported. The result: those factories couldn't compete, they closed, and once more there's big unemployment in the area. Michael Wood highlighted the plight of the FWKs in his Story of England, based in Kibworth.
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Quite right, susieroe.
I found the programme most interesting, and Gary's sense of humour was a real change.
My Mother worked in the knitwear factories in Hinckley around 1920, cycling the 10 miles from Atherstone daily.
Michael Wood's "The History of England." is an excellent read, basing the past of our country on just three conjoined villages. It was itself the subject of a TV series.
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I found it all a bit bland, though there were some interesting bits.
But why was the Lineker line ignored? Were they that boring? Does anyone know anything about that line? ???
I seem to remember that, on a previous series, the producers reckoned they had upwards of 10 hours of film for evert show.
And this has to be condensed into 55 minutes!
Obviously, they only look at "interesting" stories. ;D
And, remember is an entertainment show - intended for the general public.
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South Leicestershire did experience a lot of hardship at the time, often due to the area's involvement with framework-knitting at home. First came the 'bag-men', or agents, who started to collect the knitting in bulk and sell it on; then came the factories, and Hinckley had a lot, so did Wigston. If people weren't prepared to give up their independance and work in the hosiery factories, then they had no outlets and went to the wall.
Thanks for that info. In 1891 James is a Factory Hand Hos; before that he, his first wife and most children while living at home are recorded as stockingmakers, stockingers or seamers. (I assume the latter is something to do with hosiery) One of the seamers in 1861 is 7 year old Alice, Gary's direct ancestor. When were the factories set up in Hinckley?
The article I previously found from 1842 about the deputation of stocking makers may be a different James - there were 4 in Hinckley in 1841, 3 of them stocking makers. (I think the James found by Jan57 in the workhouse in 1891 is one of these others - there is one about 10 years older than Gary's ancestor in the other censuses)
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Really enjoyed this one and Gary came across really well I thought (him and Nigel havers are my favs so far this series)!
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And, remember is an entertainment show - intended for the general public.
Exactly! It's easy to be critical of these programmes and dismiss them as lightweight but they're not specifically aimed at family historians and if they were they'd probably alienate a big chunk of Joe Public who just want to hear a couple of entertaining stories about well known figures. If they ignite a bit of interest in people to go out and start researching their own family history then surely that's a good thing? If it looks a bit too easy then do we really want to disillusion people right from the start? They'll soon find out about the frustrations!
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Gary lived in Braunstone in Leicester and the Lineker line comes from a line of 'greengrocers', they stood market for as far back as I remember on Leicester market. No idea if they are still there, they had a complete stall, which was normally split into 4 stalls and the sign was made up of large sequin like letters showing the name I remember the Linekers going down to the old wholesale market and the new one on Freemans Common.
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I wonder if the law writer was an illegitimate son of the solicitor ...? Sorry, my conspiracy theories at work ... Interesting about the law writer though and the mention of Charles Dickens twice in the programme ... One of the latest biographies posits that Charles Dickens' s father was actually the illegitimate son of Richard Brinsley Sheridan or William Pitt the younger or maybe it was Charles James Fox or of the owner of the house where his grandmother worked who regularly had them as guests ... Dickens pere was supposedly a posthumous baby, born after the death of his father who was much older than his wife. And Dickens himself is rumoured to have had at least one "love" child.
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.......... Charles Dickens' s father was actually the illegitimate son of Richard Brinsley Sheridan or William Pitt the younger or maybe it was Charles James Fox or of the owner of the house where his grandmother worked who regularly had them as guests ... Dickens pere was supposedly a posthumous baby, born after the death of his father who was much older than his wife. And Dickens himself is rumoured to have had at least one "love" child.
You could write a book about that! ;D....................................... Sorry, just my twisted humour :)
Frank.
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Careful Frank this gentleman http://bit.ly/16DJFnz may well turn you into a character for one of his novels, a football for literary sport and entertainment ;) I haven't gone into how his first illustrator claimed to have brought him characters and stories and then was found dead by his own hand or the fate of poor Mrs Dickens ... :o Hey ho, thank goodness nobody or animal is ill treated or killed in the making of Who Do You Think You Ares including Gary Lineker's! ;)
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Hinckley is a town not a village as stated by voice over woman. Its the second biggest town (after Loughborough) in Leicestershire.
Other than that, I really enjoyed it. It was nice to see him talking to the general public and also have a sense of humour about the whole thing!
I still prefer voice over man to voice over woman though.
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Hinckley is a town not a village as stated by voice over woman. Its the second biggest town (after Loughborough) in Leicestershire.
You are correct it was a village and always a large one, but became a town around 1200
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I really enjoyed this episode... but wished that he had put gloves on before handling the aged documents!!
Romilly.
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They didn't make me when I was at the Records Office yesterday which I was surprised at. They did suggest I use a cushion for the large casebook.
I enjoyed watching it. Dad said he and Garys father were fishing together the other day.
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I really enjoyed this episode... but wished that he had put gloves on before handling the aged documents!!
Romilly.
It appears that the jury is out in the case for and against the wearing of cotton gloves!
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/03/the-myth-of-wearing-white-gloves.html
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It appears that the jury is out in the case for and against the wearing of cotton gloves!
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/03/the-myth-of-wearing-white-gloves.html
Gosh... interesting!
I must admit that it was the (potentially) sweatiness and humidity of the hands that I would have thought might have damaged the documents. He was also handling them rather roughly and casually I thought! (Perhaps it's the years of searching for them by ourselves that engenders reverence though?)
Romilly ;)
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I must admit I have been brought up 'within a FH context' believing that you handle records with care been to lots of archives, some use gloves some don't however regardless of the gloves it is the 'handle with care' that was drummed into me which is why I like to see copies of those records looked at on TV rather than the real record, as the programme is for entertainment purposes and now many who 'research' only do it online they have little to no knowledge of handling records.
Even 20 years ago in a local records office film/fiche etc was the 'norm' and you had to order ALL records along with that request slip you had to give a reason why you wanted to look at the real record when it was already available on film/fiche which at the time annoyed me although I do understand it now especially observing those 'famous' in the TV shows and how they do not 'handle with care' and handled like some of them do those records would not last very long
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Haven't seen it yet. Will be watching with interest tho as I have an Annie Pratt from Hinckley who married into my Cuer family in 1910. Also my Cuer n Dale families were FWKs.
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I enjoyed it - being of Leicester heritage.
My father was born in Welford Road, across the road from the Prison and always talked about being welcomed by the lady who lived in the gatehouse at the time and allowed to play in the gardens :o
Not happy about the finger licking ! or the blatant promoting. But enjoyed the story lines.
xin
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I quite enjoyed this one and liked seeing what Christs`Hospital is really like as I grew up in Horsham and often saw the pupils in town in full uniform. (The school was founded during the reign of Edward VI and has not changed). It is a boarding school and a lot of the pupils are there on a scholarship.
I did think that Gary has a huge ego and did not miss a chance to promote himself.
However it was interesting to learn about the prison as I had an ancestor spend 6 months in prison in 1848 and it was interesting to learn what it would have been like for him.
It was also interesting to hear about Tom Billingham and what being an apprentice involved.
Sarah