In this episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, former EastEnders actress and Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis explores her family history, uncovering stories of resilience and strength. Having campaigned for deaf rights, Rose now turns her attention to her ancestors, hoping to confirm rumours of Italian ancestry on her father’s side and expecting to uncover some drama on her mother’s side.
Rose begins her journey in Kent, visiting her mother, who shares an intriguing photograph of Rose’s three-time great-grandmother. The family believes she ran a pub in Birmingham with a firm hand. With only this lead, Rose travels to Birmingham, where local historian Simon Briercliffe helps her uncover the woman’s name: Agnes Chilton. Trade directories and census returns reveal that Agnes and her husband, Alfred, indeed ran a pub. Rose also discovers a local newspaper article detailing a dramatic altercation involving the couple, which resulted in a court appearance—a tale worthy of an EastEnders plotline.
Sadly, Rose learns that Alfred passed away at a young age, leaving Agnes a widow. However, Agnes proves to be a resilient woman, as she soon moves to her own pub, the Aston Tavern, where she even marries again at the age of 50. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes once more, as Agnes’s second husband also passes away just two years later. Yet, undeterred, Agnes expands her pub business. Rose is delighted to find that the current landlord of the Aston Tavern honours former landlords, including Agnes, by naming rooms after them.
Turning to her father’s side of the family, Rose visits her grandmother in Somerset, who reveals that Rose’s great-grandad came from a large family of 17 children. Rose’s attention is particularly drawn to her great-great-grandfather, James Welland, who lost his hand in an accident. Additionally, Rose’s father recalls stories of his family’s poverty, including squatting in Exeter. Rose also seeks to confirm the rumoured Italian connection, which her father attributes to a great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother who anglicised her name from Leone to Lyons.
To uncover more, Rose investigates the circumstances surrounding James Welland’s accident. At the Great Western Railway Museum, she finds records confirming that James was injured while working on the railroads and even attempted to claim compensation, though unsuccessfully. Rose is fascinated to discover this connection to disability in her family history.
Continuing her exploration, Rose heads to Exeter, where she learns that James and his family frequently appeared in the city’s board of guardians’ records. In the 1920s, their home in one of the city’s slums was cleared, and the family struggled to find suitable housing. Eventually, they rented an empty wing of a workhouse on Gladstone Road, the same road mentioned by Rose’s grandmother. Despite attempts to evict them, the family persisted, and they ultimately found a home in a newly built council house, where James lived until his death.
Rose’s final mystery involves tracing the Italian connection. With the help of genealogist Lucy Browne, she traces the Lyons line back three generations but is disappointed to find they were all born in Devon. However, the name of her four-time great-grandfather, Pasquel Lyons, piques her interest as it doesn’t sound English. Pasquel worked as a hawker in South Molton.
Meeting with historian Dr Oskar Jensen, Rose examines a census record from 1851, which confirms that Pasquel was indeed born in Italy. Rose is thrilled to finally claim Italian heritage and learns that Pasquel married a local woman, possibly falling in love and deciding to stay. He continued working as a hawker until his death at the age of 82 in 1882.
As Rose drives through Exmoor, taking in the same landscape that her ancestor Pasquel once knew, she reflects on the stories of strength and resilience that have emerged from her family history.
Who Do You Think You Are?: Rose Ayling-Ellis airs on BBC One on Thursday, 5 September 2024.
