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

[East London]

was this like Mandingo?

[BuddysMummy]

Wasn't this a fascinating episode. So much better than last week's. No histrionics, no fake emotion.

What a lot of surprises though: slave; policeman, prostitute and slave owner.

I was very disappointed though, that we weren't able to find out what made the GGGgrandfather turn from the slave owner background to presumably marrying Priscilla (who seemed to have no surname).

Any ideas, or do you think he was using his "slave-owner's rights"?

[Willow 4873]

A very interesting program

Had to laugh though that the IGI entry was a submitted one and the mothers name was different when they checked the parish register 

Willow x

[kooky]

The 'surprises' were interesting, and his reactions.
Kooky
Excuse my ignorance - what is/was Mandingo?

[East London]

slave story fiction from fact.

[Rewcastle]

Linky.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/new-stories/ainsley-harriott/how-we-did-it_1.shtml

[kizmiaz]

As it says on the BBC WDYTYA site, history is not black and white for Ainsley Harriott.

Even more intriguing, and something which the programme makers missed a trick on, is the fact that, according to a book called Archibald Monteith, Ainsley's ggg-grandfather George David Harriott (the one who sold slaves to the 4 year old James) was NOT white, but was listed as "Mestize", or mixed race, and married a white woman named Mary Goodfellow in 1800. Their marriage was recorded in the "White" section of the parish record, and their children were therefore classed as white.

Now, that is something I find highly interesting!

(For more info, do a Google search on "George David Harriott" and its the second link. Can't post a direct link here to Google books)

Glen

[Nick29]

I was a little surprised that Mr Harriott was ignorant of the fact that the genes of so many of the slave families were mixed with the genes of the white slave owners.  It was only a matter of time before he found a white person in there somewhere, and quite likely that the person would be on the owning side.

[Aulus]

An excellent programme I thought.

No tears, but not lacking in emotion - he was certainly taken on a rollercoaster journey.

No deus ex machina telephone calls.

And they were wearing white gloves handling the original records too, for once!

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

I got the impression that Ainsley was genuinely interested and was genuinely discovering things he didn't know (unlike some previous episodes in this series).

What spectacular scenery in Jamaica too!

You have to wonder about that Briggs character - fathering children knowing they would be slaves.  <shudder>