BBC 1 WDYTYA: Series 11, Episode 5, Sheridan Smith

[Plummiegirl]

I too enjoyed this episode.

I liked the fact that they showed just how much you can find when concentrating on one person.

I too have music hall/actors in my family, and it was interesting to see just how much was found out.

[loobylooayr]

Mmmmm - Can't say it held my interest unfortunately . As nice as Sheridan was and she certainly became wrapped up and emotional by her GG-Grandfather's story - I felt it was a 20 minute story spun out to an hour. All the banjo playing and "Home Sweet Home" singsong was too much....I nearly switched off at around 9.25 . But I stuck with it.   
Maybe I'll be alone with my opinion, maybe everyone else will have loved this episode. But Brian Blessed's is my favourite so far.

Just adding to my original post-
Early in the programme it was mentioned that Sheridan's Great-great Grandfather had been born in a workhouse. I would have wanted to know why? This info was just skimmed over and there was no attempt (that we know of) to research his parents/ where they were on Censuses etc.

[Blue70]

Mmmmm - Can't say it held my interest unfortunately . As nice as Sheridan was and she certainly became wrapped up and emotional by her GG-Grandfather's story - I felt it was a 20 minute story spun out to an hour. All the banjo playing and "Home Sweet Home" singsong was too much....I nearly switched off at around 9.25 . But I stuck with it.   
Maybe I'll be alone with my opinion, maybe everyone else will have loved this episode. But Brian Blessed's is my favourite so far.

Just adding to my original post-
Early in the programme it was mentioned that Sheridan's Great-great Grandfather had been born in a workhouse. I would have wanted to know why? This info was just skimmed over and there was no attempt (that we know of) to research his parents/ where they were on Censuses etc.

I think it said the parents were with him in the Workhouse.


Blue

[suey]

I noticed on the 1891 that Benjamin and his two daughters were described as visitors was there any real evidence for his wife having left him?

Could he and the girls not simply have been away from home performing?

Could have done without Brendon O'Carroll's episode, bit too political for me.  Otherwise an interesting series.

[loobylooayr]

I realise his parents were with him Blue.
He was born in the workhouse so I suppose his mother would have to be there  .
What I meant but possibly didn't explain properly was - that I would have preferred the show had concentrated on fleshing out the family's history. i.e. who his parents were, how they came to be in a workhouse, where they went from the workhouse etc. Instead we got a lot of banjo lessons, singing and looking at the same photo on numerous occasions.
Maybe I'm being picky but would agree with an earlier poster - that episode was more like I've got an Interesting Ancestor and I'm going to learn his trade. (Same as Tamsin's episode) 

[halhawk]

I enjoyed this programme, partly because of Sheridan's personality - her enthusiasm for what she was discovering seemed unforced, and she didn't keep jumping to conclusions out loud.  I also liked the return to her parents with all the information (for all that it was padding to bring the programme to full length.)

The one point that annoyed me was when the researcher said that Benjamin's family were 'in the workhouse' at the time of his birth - where was the proof? Workhouse records?  Am I wrong in thinking that it was possible for women to be delivered in the workhouse hospital without the whole family being there?  They do seem to have moved around rather a lot from the censuses/children's births, mostly in the Notts/Lincs/Yorks area, although with one child born London.

[LizzieW]

When her 2nd cousin showed her the 1901 census with Benjamin and his 2 daughters on one census and his wife on another with the other 2 children, I thought it looked as though his wife had re-married and was now Mrs Brown.  Did anyone else notice that?

Modified - Just looked on BBC iplayer and sure enough in 1901 Mrs Sarah Jane Doubleday is now Mrs Jane Brown living in Smethwick, Birmingham with her husband John J Brown.  William the g.grandfather of the two women was working as a machine minder.

Interestingly, looking on marriages, it turns out John Brown and Sarah Jane didn't actually marry until 1908.