Family History on TV

[Alan Stewart]

Now that the second (quite short) series of Who Do You Think You Are has finished, does anybody have any ideas for what sort of other family history programmes they'd like to see on TV? Do these programmes have to feature celebrities, do you think? Would anyone watch them if they didn't?

Alan

[kerryb]

Did you see the History Mysteries programmes a month ago or so on BBC 2 in the afternoon, they were all about a bit of local history that needed investigating.  People could call the team in to search for them.

That's what I would like to see done for Family History - we call in the team of experts to break down our brickwalls and they show the process for people learning how to do it.  It doesn't have to be celebrities, there must be some rootschatters out there with interesting family histories!

Kerry

[CarolBurns]

Good idea about the Brick walls Kerry

I also think something to do with ancestors born abroad would be helpful. I have noticed quite a few rootschatters have people born in India and it would be helpful to know something about where to go and how to get info about them. I know you can use the military sites but some of the ancestors weren't involved with the military and had business' out there - both of hubby's Great Grandads on his Mum's side were merchants (Cotton and Spice) Help with that would be very useful I am sure

Carol

[Dave Francis]

I can't say too much about it - mainly because I don't have all the details - but I know that a very well-known female broadcaster is making a programme, or series of programmes hopefully, which is to do with abandoned and adopted children tracing their families and roots.  I know this because one episode will feature a distant cousin of mine who falls in this category.  Keep an eye on the TV schedules over the coming weeks/months.   

[kerryb]

Can I live in hope then that the new form of reality TV will be about family history and will actually be interesting for once!!!!

There seems to be a run on FH programmes at the moment and long may it continue.

Kerry

[CarolBurns]

The great thing is that it is opening everyone's eyes to what was once classed as a "boring" hobby

I cannot put  a number to how many guests we have had that are now emailing me or phoning for info on where to go and how to start

Carol

[Alan Stewart]

A good site for British ancestors in India is Family History in India http://members.ozemail.com.au/~clday/, which has various indexes of Europeans in India, such as marriages in Bengal from 1855 to 1896. Another site with some useful information is The Indiaman Magazine www.indiaman.com.

Alan

[CarolBurns]

Thanks Alan.

I will try the Indiaman as the others didn't help much. Most of the family were in Bombay and I don't know the area for that city. Then one set moved down to Shulapoor which is near the south.

Carol