Who Do You Think You Are?

Widdecombe (and various spellings) is a Devon name. I have some in my family tree.

I had a great Aunt Lettuce , pronounced the same as your friend’s name Aveline

I was annoyed by the continued pronounciation of 'Lettice'. They kept saying 'Lettees'. I have a friend called Lettuce. It's always 'Lettiss' ( like the veg!). I checked online and found confirmation that it isn't 'Lettees' and referred to it as 'faux french'.

And if they had followed up the Rich connection they would have gone back to Richard Rich, who did very nicely out of the dissolution of the monasteries and was the villain of the piece in A Man For All Seasons. That would have produced another splendid tomb, too.

Dee1012

I love this programme!

I've managed to go as far as the 1700's with my family tree and one surprise was that on both maternal and paternal sides, it all appears to originate around the "east end" of London...was there a palace close by I wonder? .
The only other surprise was an ancestor with a LOT of wives, thankfully not at the same time!

Tower of London is not far from the East End.

Grandma70s & Witzend - I'm another one descended from Irish Kings - Kings of Munster to be more specific

MayBeMaw- I was being facetious when asking if Josh was related to Anne!

Thanks, Sparklefizz.

I enjoyed it too, and yes, JW does seem very likeable.

His parents live on a farm on Dartmoor -not grand at all.

I thought Josh came across as extremely likeable. I know his ancestry is being compared to Danny Dyer's but I can't stand DD so didn't enjoy his programme at all.

I missed the first few minutes, so didn't see his parents or any grandparents - were they very grand, or 'ordinary people'?

I'm seventh cousin of the Queen on her mother's side. A genealogist cousin found that link.

Blossoming

Two of my ancestors are buried in St. Machars in Old Aberdeen, I keep meaning to fund out why. I think there had to be some connection to the church, you couldn’t just buy a lair.

Fabulous ceiling....

Two of my ancestors are buried in St. Machars in Old Aberdeen, I keep meaning to fund out why. I think there had to be some connection to the church, you couldn’t just buy a lair.

I did enjoy this episode although what they failed to mention (unless I missed it) was that he is obviously related too to Sabine Baring-Gould, clergyman who wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Now the Day is Over" amongst other hymns
I was waiting for that connection too but they didn’t mention him. Too eager to get onto the aristocratic/royal connections I expect.
BTW Aveline Josh and Ann spell their surnames differently - Widdicombe and Widdecombe respectively.

I don't think so but he might keep that quiet!

I always liked Josh Widdecome. He seems so natural and friendly. I wonder if he's related to Ann W?

It's amazing what you find out

I don't think any of my ancestors are buried in Westminster Abbey though!

Josh's X times great grandmother did look very much like Queen Elizabeth I, didn't she.
Red hair like Henry VIII

I loved it that every time some new revelation came up, he was absolutely gobsmacked!

"So-and-so is buried in Westminster Abbey."

"of course she is" ?

I absolutely love this programme- and can't wait for Judy's!

But last night was just 'wow' - what a shock for Josh. Just incredible.

Our eldest is working very hard on finding out about her ancestry and she has discovered so much we had nooo ideal about. We always knew so much of OH's grand-father and family- as he and other members are quite well-known, for varied reasons. But on his grand-mothers side, we knew very little. We have now found out about slaves from India and Indonesia, including Indian Royalty, and also Huguenot (like me)- and on his mother's side, local tribe slaves, Dutch, Norwegian, Huguenots from Northern France and more.

What an incredible family.

And a lot on the wrong side of the blanket, I dare say!

Witzend

My normally very level headed MiL used to say that way back in the mists, her mother’s side was descended from the Irish kings.

My grandmother said that, too. Those Irish kings had a lot of descendants!

My normally very level headed MiL used to say that way back in the mists, her mother’s side was descended from the Irish kings.

We watched it - v interesting.
Given connections so far back, though, I dare say half the country could be distantly related to some royal or other - if you could find the records. Or of course related to one of the many offspring over the generations born on the wrong side of the royal blanket - harder to find evidence for those, though!

Anniebach

As my lot are and were all Welsh there will definitely be no link
to royalty !

I did enjoy this episode although what they failed to mention (unless I missed it) was that he is obviously related too to Sabine Baring-Gould, clergyman who wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Now the Day is Over" amongst other hymns.
I remember going to Lew Trenchard for dinner. There was a very old wooden cradle on the landing which would sometimes start rocking mysteriously on its own.

Anniebach of course you probably are.
Two of my friends and a woman I met in Australia all claimed to be descended from Welsh royalty.
Oddly enough, although they didn't know each other, they all looked very similar!

What a great start to the series! Josh's humour as it all unfolded was a joy to watch, a great research and an entertaining programme.