BBC TV "WDYTYA?" Series 5 Episode #5: Ainsley Harriott

[Hackstaple]

I think the assumption that the 9 properties in Barbados were the proceeds of prostitution to be a little light on fact.  It would have been possible to find the dates of land registration for all of them - perhaps the policemen did buy some of them. I would have thought that a prostitute would have had difficulty to save so much money especially since their lives were usually short.

I would think that the ancestry of most Jamaicans would be somewhat similar. I did some research recently on faraway St. Helena and found the same sort of story with several races and free/slave liaisons and even marriages.

The legend of an ancestor from India was a bit perplexing. Apparently a ship bearing indentured Indian labourers, the Loch Lomond, arrived from Calcutta in 1874. There was famine in much of India at that time.

[millymcb]

I've loved all the shows this series....but was a bit disappointed with some of the methodolgy of this one...

I'm a little confused by how they know for sure tht IGI entry is correct.   They found a submitted one but I don't remember them ever saying they were going to try to find the original entry to get a source for it.   (Did I miss something?).

And then they just use the parents names to get thier marriage certificate and carry on up the line.... (Not great technique to be teaching the  viewers at home)

I looked at the WDYTYA website and it said that they couldn't find a baptism entry for Ebenezer - but they knew it was the correct IGI entry because the birth date matched his death certificate.   However..... they didn't know where the IGI submission info came from.   It could have come from the death certificate - so they just cross checked the entry with itself!

Isn't that a classic submitted entry beginner's error?


And then......having found Priscilla - they decide with no evidence that she was probably a prostitute and then broadcast it to the world....   Now, maybe she was - but if she wasn't she isn't going to be too pleased


Milly

[Lydart]

Perhaps the lady who bought the nine houses was a 'Madame' ... and had masses of prostitutes working for her, and took a cut of their earnings ?   She may have bought the houses one by one and used them to house her 'ladies' ...

I enjoyed this programme; dont know the cooking programme but Ainsley seemed a nice enough man, and all the reactions seemed quite genuine, if anything in a TV programme can be called genuine.  I expected a slave background ... remember the very English Moira Stewart programme a few years back ?  She found slavery/slave owning in her ancestry a hard thing to discover too ...

Next week its David Suchet ... and another Jewish search I think; interesting, no doubt, but too many in one series perhaps ??   Time we had a different slant ... maybe colonials ?  Early settlers in the US ??

[Rewcastle]

"Interesting to see the IGI used and even more so that it was a submitted record and still more that it was accurate."

Ebenezer Harriott son of  James Gordon Harriott and Priscilla born on  22nd AUG 1865  of Prospect, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, Caribbean

(Thought i spotted this bit on the television). 
Source Information:
No source information is available.


Rewcastle.

[Cog]

I have watched all episodes since it started and have to say that I have enjoyed all series.  Missed tonights because the footie was on and my hubby would not have it any other way (I have always refused to have a second tv in the house).

I have found this series to have a slightly different feel to it. Starting with the first one, whats her face (totally forgot her name) researching the east end of london, does anyone else think that the whole thing with the sobbing and short breathing was a little bit over acted ? Whole feeling of "whats next" is sort of lost in this series like you almost know whats coming.  Starting to think that WDYTYA is becoming a victim of its own success.  It wont stop me watching it though (unless it becomes riduculously over acted) its amazing how many tips you can come across.

[jmp]

Re Hackstables comment above. None of the land in Barbados was registered at the time. I know this because a friend of mine has lost some deeds to a property there and you have to go to court to get the court to confirm the ownership still. They are only now registering new sales.

this one really confused me, one minute he was shocked he came from a slave background and then he was shocked he came from a slavers background. Cant have it both ways Ainsley. One way or another it shows a shocking lack of knowledge of basic historical facts on his part.

As far as the prostitutes houses and the policeman is concerned one must wonder whether back handers were being given to the policeman to turn a blind eye to the situation on the street. Or am I being too cynical about how the family acquired its "fortune"

[Rewcastle]

Gog. it's on again thursday night 7pm on bbc2.



Rewcastle.
 

[Rewcastle]

Anyone wanting to read a bit more about John Davy and Wear Pen. This website has more info.



Rewcastle.

[Nick29]

........... And then......having found Priscilla - they decide with no evidence that she was probably a prostitute and then broadcast it to the world....   Now, maybe she was - but if she wasn't she isn't going to be too pleased

Oh, I don't think that's quite fair.   They did say which trades on the island made the most money from the visiting sailors - prostitution, and bars selling rum.  Since most of the bars had a "side trade" of prostitution, it's reasonable to assume that if the lady wasn't a prostitute herself, some of the money would have been the proceeds of prostitution.