BBC "Who Do You Think You Are?" Frank Gardner (WDYTYA Series 12 Episode 7)

[StevieSteve]

Right, let's get this started...

Well those who wanted lines to be traced further back certainly got what they wanted though it did seem a bit easy - everybody should have access to a handy headmaster just waiting to get you back to Tudor times.

I felt a little for cousin Theresa - her efforts looked a bit puny compared to what was achieved. If only she'd just put a little bit of extra work into it... 

[sleepybarb]

Just watching it now and I think it has to be the best of this years so far.
   Barb

[annaS]

I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was the one I had been waiting for and I wasn't disappointed.  Frank came across as very genuine and personable.  Anna

[california dreamin]

Hi Steve

Yes, agreed.  I did really enjoy the programme but it seemed far to easy by half.  My OH watched with me (for a change) and asked if I could do that.  I told him without the info from the Headmaster Frank would have been stymied.  I loved Frank's enthusiasm, the way he got stuck in, and the pure pleasure as he watched the Master at Arms unfurl his ancestry back to William "C".

On a different note we were really interested in the many wheelchairs that Frank had

A good one.

[nanny jan]

Good to see him so enthusiastic and doing some research himself.

Once I saw that scroll on the table I had a feeling where we would end up!

[Romilly]

I think this was the best one of the current series so far. It certainly kept my attention. Amazing that those letters by his GreatGrandparents had survived; presumably conserved by Oxford University?

I couldn't help thinking though... that there must be an awful lot of people in the UK who are decendants of William the Conqueror. It's just that most of us can't prove it!

See:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01g76/

Romilly

[LizzieW]

I can trace one of my lines to a Lord who accompanied Duke William (William the Conqueror) at the conquest, he was one of the  grand officers of the duchy of Normandy.

In my case it is because only a few generations ago this particular line was very rich and were knights at the court, so there is lots of information about them at the British Library, Burke's Peerage etc.

On the other hand, I can't even find out the origins of my g.grandfather who married into this line 

[StanleysChesterton]

I missed most of it, randomly stumbled across it as he first said the word "Tudor".  Never seen the bloke before/didn't know who he was.

I, too, knew that once they dragged him into the posh people's research place they'd end up with the big scroll on the desk.

I wonder what the bill would be if he'd phoned up a genealogist and asked them to do the research for him.  All that research, Latin translations, meetings, etc. 

[Mowsehowse]

I can trace one of my lines to a Lord who accompanied Duke William (William the Conqueror) at the conquest, he was one of the  grand officers of the duchy of Normandy.

In my case it is because only a few generations ago this particular line was very rich and were knights at the court, so there is lots of information about them at the British Library, Burke's Peerage etc.  On the other hand, I can't even find out the origins of my g.grandfather who married into this line   

As the chap in the Heraldry Office said, many people will be descendants, few can prove it.  My married name is thought to derive from French and is suggested to have arrived with the Conqueror, but I am still striving to find a route into the 16th century.

I enjoyed the programme, and admired Frank Gardner's attitude throughout, though I think his cousin deserved more credit.

Wish I could be a fly on the wall in the royal bus shelter!!! Haha.