BBC "Who Do You Think You Are?" Gareth Malone (WDYTYA Series 12 Episode 5)

[Blue70]

So far I've found the following for the Lowrys in Leeds it still looks like the parents probably came over from Ireland some time before 1823:-

- 1823 RC baptism of Dan to Patrick and Mary
- 1825 RC baptism of Thomas to Patrick and Mary
- 1836 CE burial of James 1 year old son of Patrick and Mary of Wheeler Street
- 1839 CE burial of Patrick (married man) of Wheeler Street aged 46
- 1840 CE marriage of Dan of Wheeler Street son of Patrick (weaver)
- 1841 Census shows Dan's family at Zion Street 


Blue

[Barnes612]

On the family tree that Gareth's mum shows him, you can see that Dorothy Harris remarries and her second husband is called William White. I thought at first that there was a White coming down from the Lowrey side, but it's not, it's a second marriage for Dorothy.

So perhaps Harry Payne died when Gareth's grandfather was young and that's why he took on the name of Dorothy's second husband.

[avm228]

What the prog. didn't address (and I don't think I'm going mad here!) is that Gareth's grandfather was Edmund WHITE (the son of a male PAYNE) [Gareth's mother was born Sian WHITE].

So what happened?

A FreeBMD check based on the info in the family tree extract shown in the programme (6 min 40 secs in) suggests he was born Payne but married as White - so perhaps acquired a stepfather or had other reason to change name.  Possibly a little sensitive as he is still living.

[ThrelfallYorky]

I found it rather interesting as an example of how "Family legend" so often has a little truth, but rather distorted.
As others have said, the plethora of old family photos all over the Hallway, and the evident "Am-Dram" interests of the parents, did suggest a lot was already known.
So often too the less attractive bits of the tale get mislaid along the way, and it would seem that the working class origins were neatly packed away there ... a Theatre Proprietor sounds so much more impressive in one's background than ... yet another weaver or dyer, doesn't it?

[Blue70]

According to this source the traditional story was Dan Lowry was born in Roscrea, County Tipperary and his family moved to England so Dan may have wanted his English birth to be played down and perhaps have his ancestral origins replace his English birth and upbringing to win over his Irish customers:-

http://www.findlaters.com/chapter7.html


Blue

[Finley 1]

I watched and enjoyed, didn't mind the singing,  loved the way Pappa was involved and how he was overjoyed to see his Grandfather.

I felt Gareth enjoyed his discoveries, and didn't think he in anyway meant to appear - snobbish - regarding the dyer,   I felt it was just that he had got himself so hopeful that there was a full line of musicians of one kind or another, that he was ... uhm ... deflated.

What a great prog to have caused so many DIVERSE comments on here.. that shows it was well worth watching.... OR maybe I mean producing.  Wouldn't be any good if we all felt exactly the same.................   

xin   
ps
I don't feel the show has run its course, it just needs a bit of a bend in the road  to REFRESH it.. 

[Blue70]

According to 'Annals of the Liverpool Stage' by RJ Broadbent (1908):-

“The Malakoff Music Hall was brought into existence during the fifties, by the late Dan Lowrey. It was situated in Cleveland Square and was a popular resort for youthful and ancient mariners. In addition to variety performances, plays and pantomimes were also submitted. In one of Mr Lowrey’s advertisements (1864), he amusingly stated ‘there is a private box for captains and gentlemen’. Outside the Malakoff there is a statue of Mr Lowrey in one of his favourite Irish characters... 

The Casino, 23 Bevington Hill, was originally intended for a market. In the early sixties it was called the Princess’s Theatre. Afterwards it was opened by Dan Lowrey, who christened it the Nightingale Palace of Amusement and Recreation. Prices of admission (which included refreshments), were threepence, fourpence, and sixpence. The Nightingale was run on similar lines to the Malakoff.” 


Blue

[shawsboy]

I found this episode completely boring and thought Gareth was a bit snobbish. As for the sing song in the pub - no wonder it was almost empty !

[Blue70]

Dan's father Patrick was probably a Roscrea weaver and the decline in the local industry likely made him decide to move to Leeds:-

"The population of Roscrea appears to have reached its height in the 1830s. In 1885 a wool merchant from the neighbouring town of Birr reported to the House of Commons Select Committee on Industries (Ireland) that in the early decades of the 19th century 1,000 men were employed in Roscrea as weavers and wool combers, but that by the early 1880s this number had dropped to just 2."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscrea


Blue