Olivia Colman shocked to discover Indian heritage! | FULL EPISODE | #WDYTYA

the strong possibility is that um Harriet's mother was not British and that very likely very probably uh she was a local lady in the early 19th century I don't think British women would have come to the interior of India this would be way too far out so it was very common that East India Company uh officials would actually live with local women soon we be coming to find records about English people from but not that my great great great great great great great grandmother is Indian mhm yes oh that's so exciting from here yes from Kish gam yes very probably she's Indian oh this is so exciting awardwinning actor Olivia Coleman is known for a wide range of roles in comedy and drama here we go the transfer of estranged sunbears Millie and Tony I grew up in in nor as far as I know my family from England and Ireland they're fairly boring in the aquarium should we go back when I was a kid my dad's parents lived with us certainly it's a sort of a Roots thing I feel I know much more about the colemans just because I think they were always in Norfolk forever so I feel like that's my you know my place let's just go back my mom's family I wouldn't really know where they came from there's lots of questions for me I love it that they genuinely love one there are stories which sound quite exciting my mom did mention once she said oh there was a French woman but I don't know how far back she was for me it's very exciting so there's someone who's not from norol Olivia lives in London with her husband and children are you excited I think so I'm interested in well in the people that have gone before there's a fragility to to life and also you know when you go will you be forgotten and and it would be nice to I don't know what's happened in my family I I don't know who's been forgotten and it might be quite nice to remember them again it would be interesting their loves and losses yeah you always want to know a bit more and you know what was it really like French one I know wow I mean if there's any adventures in my family I they'd be so disappointed cuz I think I'm currently probably the least adventurous person I know you know I don't really go out don't like to be at home yeah I'm in my pajamas with my family maybe that'll change to start her investigation into her family's past Olivia's back in Norfolk where she grew up and where her parents still live it's lovely coming back there's something about the the big Skies it's dramatic and beautiful as you get closer to the coast I love the smell of it and the smell of the marshy mud feels like it's in my bones and blood being here I'm off to see my mom and dad now and my uncle Richard is uh coming as well he's coming over because he did some research on the family tree so he's probably a really good one to ask this is my favorite at Bridge in Nork are you holding on [Applause] ready come in come in come in I love see oh darling love to see you and yes I'm fine good Alfred come Richard's in the kitchen come and say hello the dogs are going mad how are you hi I'm I'm so excited boys come on dog Impressions ready so I've been telling them about Norfolk and the colemans yeah as far as I know the colemans have never lived anywhere other than norf Farm laborers Postman yeah Republicans at the Rosen crown of great rra no yeah do that mean we get free beer but it's your family leis that we have less of a sense of well look what I found the other day this is Daddy's graduation I remember this you walked five something like that what have you dressed me in mom KNE high socks and killed they were happy days so got Coleman's on the left and leaky on the right I've got a family tree here leaky family tree a bit of a leaky family tree oh exciting family tree that brilliant right um there Mary oh there's yeah it's going back so far though isn't it yes we're going back a long long way 1766 Richard Campbell Basset and Sarah Basset these folks are your great great great great grandparents four four wow and Richard Campbell that's it was born on the island of St Elina and where's St Elina my geography is awful it's um an island in the middle of the South Atlantic miles from anywhere can I just show you some picture of them this is Richard and Sarah his wife yeah lovely got lovely long straight noses but you know it's not photograph is it they might have said could you give me a nice nose and Richard Campbell Basset was working in London for the East India Company but that's so exotic isn't it St helina East India Company we that you just end up not knowing we're lucky to have pictures going back this far yeah so I want to find out more about the Richard Campbell Basset I'm sure there's some more information down in London I'll let you know Richard's research takes Olivia back to her great great great great grandparents Richard Campbell bazit and his wife Sarah Richard was working in London in the early 1800s Olivia has returned to London to see what she can find out about her four times great grandfather she's meeting historian Rebecca proit hi hey Rebecca hi Olivia love to meet you love me to meet you coming yes thank you very much um so these are my great great great great grandparents Richard Campbell bazit a handsome young child isn't he and his wife Sarah and he was born in St helina and then worked with the East India Company yes so we have here this page from his account book we can see at the top Richard C bazit Esquire oh my God look at that he's clearly well established and you can see the kind of sums that he's dealing with wow 145,000 what would that be is that possible it's about half a million are you kidding in today's money what so he's in London some of the time but we also know that he's also in Kolkata really from the register of marriages at calata Bengal for the year 1790 Richard Campbell buzzit and Mark Margaret an what I thought she was Sarah Margaret Anne Hampton of the same place spinster who's Margaret I thought he was married to Sarah Margaret is Richard's first wife not a wife in different ports well let's let let's see calm down and find out okay this document gives a bit of a hint as to what's going on so this is a court case bazet versus bazet a divorce how common was that actually a divorce this is in the church court Church Court the church courts of this stage have jurisdiction over all aspects of marital life including whether couples can separate legally right and this is what Richard is seeking in 1808 so Richard Kel baset wants a separation yes why so when Margaret and Richard came back to London she met a particular person at her sister Mrs Palmer's house as Richard's deposition goes on to describe in or about the month of July or August in the year 1806 Frederick dizzy then principal harp player at the Opera House attended at the house of Mrs Palmer and Margaret an bazette thereby became acquainted with the said Frederick dizzy unknown to Richard Campbell bazette her husband mhm someone nice who plays the heart a nice Arty type yes but we don't know that they're doing anything awful do we well the the story then then unfolds honor about the sixth day of September 1806 Richard Campbell bazette and Margaret Anne bazette having visit at the house of the said Mrs Palmer Margaret's sister and the said Frederick D harpist being there and the said Richard Campbell bazette having observed affections and familiarity in the conduct of Margaret andette towards Frederick dizzy on return in home insisted that she should stop all acquaintance with him or he could just be a jealous egyp could he might be but thereupon Margaret amberset expressed herself with great warmth towards her husband declaring that she would not live with a man who could suspect her of improper conduct and would look out for a separate residence wow yeah so she's basically saying to him up yours if you don't trust me because there's nothing to suggest it's nothing more than a flation at the moment no okay nothing whatsoever so Margaret leaves his home still quite rare yes absolutely and she she finds somewhere else to live almost immediately after Margaret and bazette went to reside at the said house Frederick dizzy oh visited her there secretly oh well Richard was right all along it gets worse that he usually came after the Opera had finished and went upstairs into the bedroom he and Margaret andette lay together there naked and alone how do they know this you have to remember that these were people who had servants servants and thereby the said Margaret and bazette committed the crime of adultery okay so she was definitely having a fling with the harpist MH the servants were interviewed and said he was there at breakfast I heard some noises so Richard was right he was he was clearly right in his in his suspicions no children at this point uh not that we of okay or that's something so do we know what happened and did he get the separation so we have here the sentence of the church CLA bazette versus bazette sentence it's quite yes it is it is quite hard to read according to the lawful proofs made before us in this case the said Margaret and bazette not having the fear of God before her eyes but being seduced by the devil wow this did commit the crime of adultery with Frederick dizzy wherefore we do pronounce that Richard Campbell bezet ought by law to be separated from Margaret and bazette neither in the lifetime of each other shall presume to contract any other marriage so they're allowed to be separated well they're not allowed to remarry so they're both stuck yeah did they have divorces legal divorces then divorce is very rare at this time the only way to get a divorce in the modern sense that actually allows you to remarry is by a private Act of parliament wow yeah to find out whether following his separation in 1808 Richard Campbell bazet petitioned Parliament for a divorce Olivia has come to Westminster petitioning was a complicated and expensive process and in the first half of the 19th century on average only three divorces were granted each year Olivia is meeting Joan beato an expert on the history of family law hi is it Joanne yes it is hi to meet you and you thank you so much for meeting me I'm going to just come around the corner here very excited don't have a nosy Joanne's taking her into the Parliamentary archives and this is the original act room oh wow wow oh it's never ending this is amazing there are over 64,000 acts stored here covering all sorts of things yes Lots about tax fun I'll have a little read of some of those hi welcome this is mean conservative lovely to meet you squeeze in and you're here to find out about Richard and whether he petitioned to an active Parliament and he did wow so the third Bond of matrimony between Richard Campbell bezet and Margaret an his wife being violated and broken by the Manifest and open adultery of the same said Margaret Anne be and is hereby henceforth wholly dissolved annulled and made void so he got it yes he did this is the actual act he was successful Richard cbell bazette it's amazing you can see the date as well so 13th of March 1809 and then this is a really important bit of the act all right okay that may be lawful for Richard Campbell bazette at any time to marry in the lifetime of the said Margaret Anne as if she was actually dead as if she was actually dead nice okay so this is very clear March 1809 he can move on and marry again so hopefully he now goes to find Sarah well there is a a Twist in this tale okay the next thing I'd like to show you is Richard's will see the date here 17th of January 1833 yes so that over 20 years after the divorce that's right this is the last will and testament of one Richard Campbell bazette can't read the rest it I give and Beque my property to be divided between my beloved wife Sarah bazette okay and my beloved Sons oh William young bazette Charles young bazette Henry young bazette Richard young bazette and Alfred young bazette so five five boys how Charles is the one that I'm descended from so we have Charles and these are Charles's Cadet papers dated 1827 stating that he's the right age to uh join the Army so I Charles young bazette do make oath and swear that from the information of my parents that I was born on 12th of September in the year 1807 okay so yes 1807 H hang on a minute no Richard oh my God Charles Young bazet is born in 187 and of course the uh divorce is not granted until March 189 so Richard has made a big deal about his first wife yes being unfaithful Unfaithful how awful and shocking and terrible yes meanwhile he's definitely having it away with Sarah I liked him a little while ago Richard but now what a hypocrite hang on which son is Charles which number is he Charles is number two so there is an older son William William is baptized yeah in January 1806 and it's the summer of that year that Margaret is accused of beginning the affair with Frederick okay so um uh I'm descended from Charles their second son do we know anything else about Charles well I've got this oh this is from uh the 1871 census many decades later in reading now yes Charles bazette head head of household that's right married yes 633 liutenant Colonel Indian army retired oh so he did get through he did get into the army he did and it tells us where he was born middlex London oh Harriet wife yes o 63 well I suppose I knew he had a some sort of relationship otherwise but uh one two three servants oh how lovely so they're very comfortably retired yeah three servants so Harriet is my great great great grandmother that's right and Harriet was born East Indies kissing something kiss and Gung is what it says there I don't know what I've never heard of that it's a fairly remote town in the northeast of India oh and it's interesting that Harriet is born in kishen Gan in 1807 and see I had no idea yes that my family had any connection to India at all so it might be interesting for you to go to kishen Gan to find out more about Harriet your three times great grandmother have you been to India before oh I'm not very brave I don't go anywhere Norfolk that's it oh wow okay oh wait should I tell my mom this Olivia has discovered that her great great great grandmother Harriet was born in kishen Gan in the Indian state of biar in 1807 to get to kishen Gan Olivia must travel to the Northeast of India close to the border with [Music] Nepal it's very Misty at the moment much greener than I [Music] imagined Ashish what Farms are these uh dear mam so cool this is all done Jing tea God I'm in [Music] India it would appear that you can overtake on either side of the road and there's a lot of horn toting on the outside of a [Music] Bend I think that's probably the most used bit of the car which side of red was he on it's Mr Joe caroy the thought that members of my family have lived here is amazing just such a long way to come Olivia's great great great grandmother Harriet was born in the early 1800s before British Imperial rule in India at the time British involvement in India was through the the East India Company a corporation with a monopoly on exotic goods from the East with regional headquarters in Kolkata the East India Company used an extensive Fleet of ships minted its own coins and had its own armies which grew to be twice the size of the regular British Army by the time of Harriet's birth the company's Authority stretched deep into the interior of India uh this is K gun M how oh it's much busier than I thought it would be it's fruit and veg look beautiful I do like the little outfits that some of the goats have this is amazing think my great great great grandmother Harriet was born here 200 years ago today kishen Gan is a city of over 100,000 people when Olivia's ancestors were here it was a village Olivia has come to the former British club in kishen Gan to meet historian anurada chaty hello Namaste Namaste Miss chaty welcome to kishen gun thank you very much I have some papers to show you should we take a look thank you please thank you well the first thing we have is a marriage certificate Harriet's marriage certificate and it's got her father's name seser yes William seser so she was Harriet seser before she married Charles bazette yes and this tells you more about William seser born in 1778 so as you can see he traveled a lot around India with the Army belonging to the East India Company he was involved in various Wars and by 184 he becomes a captain right and ultimately we know that came here to kishen gun okay and Harriet was born here yes so do you know anything about William's domestic life here who he married well that's the strange thing is we could not find either a marriage certificate for William uh or a birth certificate for Harriet okay so what does that mean the strong possibility is that um Harriet's mother was not British and then very likely very probably uh she was a local lady in the early 19th century I don't think British women would have come to the interior of India this would be way too far out so it was very common that East India Company officials would actually live with local women soon we'd be coming to find records about English people from but not that my great great great great great great great grandmother is Indian mhm yes oh that's so exciting from here yes from Kish G yes very probably she's Indian oh this is so exciting I'm so much more interesting than I thought I was it's estimated that in the later part of the 18th century a third of British men in India were living with and often having children with Indian women what's this it's an administrative list of William lesser's possessions telling us about their lives here wow one small writing deck one paper slice one rule it's so detailed two papers of ink powder hookah pipe yes do you know what hookah is is that the big the pipe smoking tobacco through water through the yeah yes is swords 27 pairs of pantaloons so I suppose it's a different time isn't it corks with silver tops Bible and prayer book hindustani grammar and the volumes of Shakespeare's works it's just amazing isn't it bottle of madira and a hook of pipe sounds lovely doesn't it yes that's so funny quite near the bottom of the list one elephant an elephant elephant a real elephant a real elephant are you kidding this gives me an amazing picture of the of the life that Harriet was born into two languages bits of silver on Corks And an elephant great mixture yeah Britain and India yeah sounds beautiful it does but it doesn't last very long okay The Madras career of February last contains the following article we are extremely concerned to relate a Melancholy accident that happened to Captain seser s William at kissen gun Captain seser was out shooting his gun having misfired he had just Reed when the gun went off and its contents passing through his head he was killed on the spot so this is 1810 how old would heret have been three or 4 years old oh no yes so really young so considering we think they weren't married H what happens do we know anything about what happens to Harriet or and her mom well we don't know what happened to her mommy uh but about Harriet we do have some information there's a letter from a lawyer okay so uh and cash paid out on account of Miss Harriet seser Captain Fairfax for Miss lesser's voyage to England oh okay, 1400 CES in fact her grandmother William's mother who was also called Harriet actually paid for Harriet to be taken from India and brought to England wow age three or four age three or four did the mother have any say in the matter I think it most unlikely that her mother would have had any rights over her on the other hand she might have been happy that Harriet was going somewhere where she would have a good life yeah we don't know yeah yeah the thing that I just find sad is uh she's so little she's not far off the age of my youngest going to the other side of the world wondering where Daddy's Gone without your mommy oh but hopefully hopefully she has a happy time and they'll love her so we don't know about harr's Mom we don't know what happened to her we don't know specifically what happened to her mother no no so um little Harriet is here in kushen G and the grandmother wants to get her back to England how does she start who how does that work well she'd have to go to Kolkata which is almost 500 kilm from here gosh that's such a thing to do isn't it the thought that Harriet's mom came from here so I might might have relatives here it's really exciting and then little Harriet's life it's a proper Bittersweet thing her father's died and the intervention of Harriet's grandmother I suppose obviously obviously it makes sense let's give her a better life in England and I'm so pleased somebody wants to love her the thing I feel most sad about is that we don't know Harriet's mommmy we don't know her name we'll never know if she had much say in it but she she gave up her daughter for hopefully for the best reasons knowing that she would no she wouldn't see her again it's hard so next I want to find out about harr's journey I want to know that she's [Music] okay Olivia now knows that little Harriet following her father's death in 1810 was sent from kishen Gan to England her grandmother also called Harriet paid for her Passage Harriet would have started her Voyage in the city of Kolkata at the time it was the Grand capital of the British East India [Music] Company it's a very big city these roads are 1 2 3 4 five Lanes wide on either side and for me it's a culture shock coming from K so for Harriet must have been allog together different Kettler [Music] fish all the sights and sounds so many more people wonder if it was exciting or scary but certainly a big big difference for [Music] her thank you to begin her journey to England Harriet would have come to the hogly river there were no passenger ships between India and England at the time passengers had to travel alongside cargo on the East India company's ships The Voyage was expensive Harriet's grandmother would have had to pay many thousands of pounds in today's money to bring her to England would travel down the river to find out about Harriet's Journey Olivia is meeting Dr sudip bachar East India Company ships so Olivia we are lucky enough to have found a record of the ship Dutch uh had you traveled on oh my god wow you've got passenger list yes list of ships company ah James Fairfax Esquire Commander oh I hope he's nice there are a lot of people and uh over here if would you like to take a look at the list of children here oh this is amazing okay children Miss Charlotte softy that's a sweet Name six years five years Harriet lesser here it's says 7 years old I thought she was three or four you know these would be approximate ages and and they wouldn't have referred to any documents oh so they just sort of guessing the kids are but again we have something very interesting uh children not accompanied by parents would be accompanied by servants right uh now we don't know if har was a compani there certainly isn't an attendant listed uh for her as you can see she's on her own really she's certainly on her own and she's a child on her own oh that's really sad okay so who's looking after her probably some other lady who was accompanying her children would be requested to look after her to care for her surely some would look probably somebody right so hopefully I'm hoping that someone takes her under their wing I keep saying she's going home to England but of course she's not she's leaving her home she really going home to going to an alien country yes and imagine her all alone I me she it's all right she's been taken out from kishen gun brought to Kolkata it's a huge impact and then there she is on no mommy no Daddy oners ship and how long was the journey that she had it would take about 6 months so 6 months around 6 months all the way to to written oh it's really sad isn't it little girl I've got quite little children so I get very emotional but uh the good news is that she got there safely as you can see she disembarked at Long Reach just outside London on the 20th of May so do we know where she went from there there's no more information in the shipping records okay there all the information we have okay all right thank you very much finding out about um Harriet's Journey was a shock the thought of know a tiny person going and 6 months hopefully other families took her under their wing I do feel like um I'm finding out about this little person who did become without her I wouldn't be here I feel quite invested in finding out what happened to her next and uh hopefully it's happy and good or I'm leaving Olivia has come to meet Professor ranu mukui who has more information about Harriet hello hello welcome I'm ranu hello lovely to meet you come inside thank you so much this is lovely yes it is it's a quaint Hotel um the last sign I had is that my great great great grandmother Harriet landed in London in 1812 and I wanted to know what happened to her after that well this is the first mention we have of Harriet in England o this is the last will and testament of one Louisa girardo I give to my great niece Harriet seser the granddaughter of my said sister Harriet Elizabeth seser and now residing with Miss Mills Park Street Bristol she G to Bristol the sum of £300 a lot of money those days yes £300 oh I hope her luck is changing so this is Harriet's grandmother's sister her great aunt great aunt yes Louisa is bething 300 she knew about her so everyone knew about her that's lovely yes with Miss Mills who's that Miss Mills ran a boarding school in in Bristol and and presumably Harriet was a pupil there okay and how how old is she here well this will is 1824 which makes Harriet 1718 something like that but if you go on reading there's an addition to the will 4 years later okay I leave to Harriet slesser the granddaughter of my sister slesser £500 in addition to the £300 bequeathed to her by my will yes I'm imagine now enormous affection between these two the great aunt and the great nie 800 quid do you know what that is in today's money it's about roughly £40,000 40,000 it's actually makes her quite a rich girl wow oh her luck has changed I'm so pleased really her luck has changed so she's about 21 now and now has her own money and do we know what happened to her after that we do have some information of what she does with that money few years down the line okay list of passengers this is from the Kolkata magazine and monthly register 1832 this is a list of passengers who have arrived by ship in Kolkata from England oh so if you look at the the ship Orient ship Orient Mrs Caroline valpy Mrs Jane Dixon Georgiana Ricket Harriet seser that's exciting so she's gone she's gone back to India yes she comes back here to Kolkata she's around 2425 okay this is a massive investment isn't it of her Fortune to come back so there must be very strong reasons and motives one possibility is she came back to seek her Roots as it were where she came from if she could find her mother the other possibility is she seems to have been of mixed parentage Anglo Indian right and she might be looking to find a suitable husband and it's easier for her to find a husband in India because of her background than in England interesting title tattle here is it was very common for English women in the late 18th early 19th centuries to make this journey to look for a husband in fact the Kolkata slang for many of these Ships coming into po was the fishing fleet and those who went back without a husband were called returned empty oh no that's so so we don't know whether Harriet was fishing or not fishing or she was coming back for her Roots I hope she has fun and do you know she has fun she has a lot of fun does she yay she has a lot of fun in fact this visit is a turning point in her life oh good and that's you're my favorite so far next document will reveal to you ooh marriages 1832 on this third day of April 1832 William trig Garrett leftenant Bachelor and Harriet slesser hang on so who is William trig Garrett I thought my great great great grandfather was Charles bazet this is Harriet's first husband oh and In 1832 she did that very quickly I think it'll be worth your while to look at the passenger list of the Orient once again you read only after Harriet's lesson oh oh oh um Harr ler Laura dongan and may Charlotte Loi Lieutenant W Garrett oh they met on the ship they met on the ship oh and then they got married as soon as they got there yeah so she didn't return empty no she really didn't so it was it was a ship romance this is so exciting and do we know what happened to them next yes we do sacred to the memory of William TIG Garrett leftenant Bengal artillery oh God he departed this life 25th of July 1833 age 29 after a year M back to her lonely self again oh poor Harriet seems like everyone body dies so now she's young woman mid-20s what was it like for a young British Widow in India well the life of a widow in 19th century India even for an English Widow couldn't have been easy this was not the place for single women woman on your own yeah on your own right gosh that was amazing to find out that Harriet came back to India the country she was born in hopefully it shows that she did in some way hold it dear that there some warm place where it started out happy and maybe it'll be that again and then this again this roller coaster thing she falls in love and within a year her beloved is dead just really highlights what a sort of pretty rough hand she's been dealt she seems to spent her life on her own from the age of three or four the thought that um she's now alone in this country and only in her mid 20s I think pretty daunting I can't I can't imagine after her first husband's death in 1833 Harriet Fades from official records for a number of years her life as a young Widow in India left little Trace to try to pick up her story again Olivia has come to St John's Church in the center of Kolkata she's meeting Professor Rashana chakra hello hello Professor jackor hello hello amazing place yes this was the first public building of the English East India Company oh really and I think your ancestors must have known this place that's amazing yes great so the last thing I knew about Harriet is that she was widowed just over a year after she got married mid2 and so I want to know what happens next this is a letter written by Charles young beit her second husband oh my great great great grandfather yes um cheltonham August the 14th 1838 to my dear Richard that he was writing to his brother oh okay the letter reveals that Charles bazet first met Harriet in India and fell in love with her there but Harriet had turned him down four years later they met again I see I am to give some account of my meeting with my beloved H in this country so that's Harriet so she goes back yes she goes back to England Charles meets her once again where he visits the brother of Harriet's first husband okay when I arrived at his house he had only just received a letter from Harriet in answer to one inviting her to come and pass a month with him there she came I felt awkward enough in me meeting her but did not discern the least awkwardness in her which I hoped I might have seen I saw no Prospect of being anything but a friend to Mrs G that's Mrs G Mrs Garrett Harriet yes when one Friday evening I nearly half by chance took her hand as it was lying as it was lying on the couch and pressed it it was almost immediately withdrawn oh no but not instantaneously a minute afterwards she slightly changed her position and after this I love it that he's telling his brother everything yes I took her hand again and allowed mine to remain touching it for some time and I did fancy that once or twice there was a little motion which might have said I am not indifferent to you it's straight from atin no really is isn't it we were summoned to tea and I did not find any opportunity of talking anymore with my fingers till Saturday evening when having to determined to be more decisive I pressed her hand and she returned the pressure and stroked my hand in turn we were again called to tea much to my annoyance something was brought to H Harriet to ask her opinion and getting behind her chair I put my head down as close to hers as I dared you can just feel it can't you and felt the warmth of her person on my face while thus her head moved slowly towards me and she rested on me I felt half mad the Sunday following for half an hour we were alone together and then she said she loved me oh go it's so L it happened can you imagine how lovely for him as well she loves me we should just stop the program now I don't want to hear anything bad about har so what happened next they got married and would you like to see a photograph you're kidding oh my cist yes oh after all this time my good this that's them yes oh my word at the time of marriage they were both 31 Found Love that's Harriet she's Lovely isn't She and I think you can really see that she's mixed parentage yes it is undeniable that she was butly indan you see you see it color of the hair and the eyes yes oh my God can't believe there's a photograph of her so they got married and what happens to them next you come with me I'll help you with that okay where we going more surprises coming oh sex too [Music] much following their marriage in September 1838 Harriet and Charles returned to India where Charles continued his career in the Army on their arrival in Kolkata they embarked on a journey up River Charles once again wrote to his brother September the 21st 1839 so this is um about an year a a year or so after they get married okay yes my dear Richard after a long very long ah that will help you brilliant a friend and school fellow of Harriet's who is married to the surgeon at the Civil station has asked her to be confined there okay understand so she's having a baby yes oh how lovely and now if you come to the end of the letter yes you will notice a change in the handwriting oh I must add a few lines to my dear Charles's letter to say what he has omitted that we are by the mercy of our God both quite well so is Harriet writing this now yes wow sweet that they're eaing over each other's shoulders yes I feel most thankful we have left Kolkata as whilst we were there preparing for our river trip my dear husband underwent a great deal of exposure which made me rather anxious so she was really worried that she was going to lose cuz the experience she's had through all of the awful things that have happened to her is everyone has just lost everyone so uh was the baby all right yes he was safe and sound oh good Richard buzzit son of Charles young baset and Harriet his wife was baptized at chrishan and these are the successive children that they had oh Mary bazette baptized 1845 kernal which is in Punjab Charles bazette wasur India again and Fanny bazette 12th of August 1849 in Maha 1 2 3 four oh how lovely they stayed in India yes had all of their children there yes but I think they were enjoying a big family because Harriet didn't have much of a family been on her own all this time yes now she's found someone she loves who loves her back yes big family lots of children it's all working out very well yes yes I remember that in the house of parliament I saw the census 1871 that had Harriet and Charles living in red but now to find out that they've done all of this yes what an amazing life Harriet ended up having I keep think about her grandmother if it wasn't for her grandmother who she was named after what would have happened do you know anything about her I don't know much but Harriet's grandmother was Harriet Elizabeth slasher yes I know that she had made a will and it contains a long list of bequests but I think it'll be interest in the closing lines okay to Charlotte seser I bequeath £50 to India Harriet I leave 50 so oh they called her India Harriet so that's her nickname so she always knew India was where she was from that she's different from the rest India Harriet she's extra special yes that's lovely so Olivia I have very interesting book about hared Elizabeth's slasher and slasher family this book is based on original documents and these documents are owned by descendant of the sler who are right now in Scotland the highlands of Scotland and I think you should go to see these letters to find out more about your ancestors wow okay the highlands of Scotland it's too exciting before this I hadn't got a clue that India played any part in my family harro's overall story is just incredible I was very surprised at how much I ended up caring about her someone I'd never heard of before then to find out that her mom was local kishen GW woman that was the most exciting bit I think when I realized it's tangible that her grandson is my mom's Granddad which means we've all touched each other's hands throughout time going back into time you can almost and that that really brings it home that she was real what I knew about my family was it's all English maybe there was a French woman somewhere in the past now I definitely feel more exotic I've loved being here and I don't really want to go I really I've loved it so much but now to Scotland in search of Harriet's grandmother Harriet's Father William was the son of Harriet Elizabeth seser the grandmother who brought little Harriet to England it was Harriet Elizabeth's sister Louisa Juro who left Harriet a generous bequest Olivia has come to Scotland to track down another present day descendant of Harriet Elizabeth who she hopes will have more information about her so here we are in Scotland um quite different I think you'll agree to Kolkata so what I've learned now now I spent some time in uh Kolkata taxi so the only way to drive is like that so I've made contact with another descendant of the seses and I'm hoping he might have more information about Harriet's grandmother and her family so we're on our way there now hello Jordie yes hello hello Olivia thank you nice to meet you much welcome thank you very much come on in thank you very much you I've never enjoy India loved it yes it was amazing now Olivia come with me I've dug some stuff out for you which I think you will enjoy thank you give me your cake there oh very much thank you um do you know how we are related cuz I couldn't work it out yes cuz I've dug up these documents it's done me a good turn because I've had to look at them all again and um I think I'm pretty sure of this now but we're both five generations down from Harriet Elizabeth oh okay yeah because Harriet Elizabeth she changes the course of my great great great grandmother Harriet's life brings her to England when her father dies but she's sort of in the background doing things and I want to know more about her I've got a portrait of her for you and I can tell you a lot about her what an actual picture picture sure sure here she is she's a splendid looking person oh wow very faded but she's very much there isn't she beautiful with her Bonnet and her fishu gosh it's so lovely to see her she had a very extraordinary life Harriet Elizabeth lived most of her married life in Portugal where her husband was serving in the Army she left a series of Diaries and letters starting in the late 8 Century which were later typed up a bit I think you'd be really interested in is when um Harriet Elizabeth brings her two sons William aged nine Harriet's father yep and his elder brother John Henry and aged 11 to school in England she spent n months trying to find the right school and you get the sort of complete devotedness she had to her children and here we are these letters are written to John is John yeah her son okay you and William were come to an age for school how to reconcile the act of separation and here is the day she leaves and she has to say goodbye to them and return to Portugal to her husband and their three younger siblings Mrs yuru oh Mrs yuru so I I know her name that's Harriet grandmother's sister Louisa Juro so she left a small fortune for India Harriet she left a small fortune oh I love that Mrs Jadoo was the only sister I might venture to Hope might take you home for the holidays the Shay was at the door to take us away oh that's the coach I could not resist the impulse we were both crying in each other's arms this is awful I exclaimed look at my dear boys so that's the same age as my boys do but say you will be kind to them if you knew the Pang I feel at parting with them oh you will not refuse some comfort by the answer I so anxiously wish for you might have to carry on Mrs your seemed as much Afflicted as I was she promised all that was kind oh good and abs it's brilliant this isn't it and would act as a mother toward strictly she kept her word yes well I didn't know that it's obviously it's very distressing but it does come across how much she loved them sort of always assume don't you that people have told her pself together chin up stiff uper lip and it's so nice to see her was not nice that but they obviously suffered the same pain as we did and they didn't always keep their mouth shut she's telling she's really expressing how she felt and at least she had her sister there it's wonderful that she had her there so one paintful of depart is very tough for you but I'm afraid you got another one here Olivia she was also saying goodbye to her mother that harus mother yeah who she didn't see very often cuz she lived in aorto and her mother lived in London she was an old lady she was 81 and she was say goodby her and it's probably easiest if you actually read from here you will not have forgot the distress of parting with my mother so still talking to John William's brother and how difficult it was to tear ourselves from her last Embrace oh she lamented that she would never see us more I think I see her sitting in her wheelchair with a little black bonnet pulled over her eyes to hide her tears for she was crying bitterly oh so this poor woman do you know more about her and what her name was indeed and I've got a portrait of her upstairs would you like to see it yes come on let's go this bring that with you in just you never know how long you might need it for splendid follow me Olivia and we've got all the ancestors up here wow and the one you're interested in is her up there and we're going to get a proper look at her here she is and Judith brist oh wow we left her the old lady with the Bonnet to hide her tears yeah there she's when she's married I guess 1740s I think that's her and that's our husband John Bristo MP in Norwich in Norfolk no cuz my dad's family all from Norfolk so and Judith Bristo is my great great great great great great grandmother wow and an Judith she she wasn't born British she was naturalized and this is the document that explains her naturalization very shortly after her marriage oh in this present Parliament assembled an Judith wife of John Bristo Esquire and daughter of Paul fasing F FASA by Louisa his wife born at Paris in the Kingdom of France French yes 100% oh so she's the French woman enough oh my God and why was she having to be or wanting to be naturalized well she was a French Hugo she was Protestant she was a French Protestant yeah from the late 17 Century tens of thousands of Hugo fled oppression in Catholic France and sought refuge in Britain in fact the French Hugo were the first refugees who carried the name Refugee yeah really yeah at the very beginning of this my mom said I I think there somebody was French once but I thought it was more recent now I love the idea that families remember things this long back we don't write it down they didn't remember that anyone was Indian but they've said there was a Frenchman once how exciting wow [Music] it it's been it's been an incredible journey of Discovery find out about the family that I never would have known about and I have loved that feeling of feeling like a it feels like we're honoring them I thought there was nobody exotic in my family ever I was so wrong and the spread over the world Portugal India France and Cina that I had to look up on a map cuz I had no idea where that was yeah I had no idea and it is it's so fragile once you've gone you don't want to be forgotten I suppose I've always considered myself not adventurous but then I've never been tested like they were tested and when they were up against it they did what they had to do it's really humbling I'm still incredibly proud of being from Norfolk that will never go but it's so exciting finding out this stuff it gives you a little bit of uh confidence and I've got to try and be a little braver now I don't let them down

Channel: Who Do You Think You Are?

Views: 343,054

Keywords: who do you think you are, wdytya, who do you think you are uk, who do you think you are BBC

Id: V2NeRgsy2ek

Length: 57min 47sec (3467 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 04 2023