I've made a new film that I would love to share with you about what was lost when our ancestors were severed from their land.
Over the past three years, I've been on an ancestor trail, taking me to all the places where my seventh-generation ancestors lived.
These ancestors were the last to be born in the countryside.
Their lives were transformed by being forcibly removed from their land through the Enclosures as they moved into the industrial towns and cities of Victorian Britain to find waged labour in the factories and mills.
On my recent trip, I visited the home of one of the landed gentry who enclosed the land where one family up my mother's paternal line lived. In doing so, he removed my ancestors ability to support and feed themselves.
In this film, I share my reflections on visiting not just that man's home, but also the kinds of homes my ancestors lived in before enclosure.
The message that came through is how important it is to tell our ancestors' stories. We ned to re-write the story from that which we have been told. Through this retelling, by understanding what they lost - sovereignty, autonomy and power- we can reclaim it back.
What a powerful film Nicola, thank you.
Whenever I go around a Stately Home, I am always struck by the amount of artefacts that have been stolen from other countries or the material effects that are the result of the aristocracies abuse of others less powerful. Yet, as you say, those aspects are untold stories. I once asked a guide at one of the houses about whether the theft of the gold jewelry was done over a long period of time or not. He turned the word ‘theft’ into acquisition and spoke as if everything was a gift. I wasn’t surprised.
But I do strongly feel that the stories of these silenced majorities needs to come out, be exposed, be told.
So thank you. I can’t wait for more!!
Thanks for your note Caroline and we are on the same wavelength here. My sense was when I was at Petworth that the volunteers often get asked awkward questions and have answers prepared. They were very quick to tell me that Petworth hasn’t been built on money from the slave trade. On carrying out research afterwards, that wasn’t strictly true. The lady who inherited Petworth married into a family who invested in the slave trade.
It is all about who gets to tell the story and I feel the same as you, it is important to speak the story from the other side, the silenced majorities.
I am encouraged you are looking forward to more of the story I am bringing through, thanks Caroline 🙂
As you know, Nicola, I’ve been researching my family history for some time. Seeing your recent film has reminded me of some research I did about two years ago, after I moved to Saffron Walden and discovered I had loads of ancestors who had lived about half an hour’s drive from my home! A visit to the Halstead Heritage Museum shed light on the reason why one of my agricultural labourer ancestors went to work as a power loom weaver in the town’s mill. The owners, the (Courtauld family), built housing and many town amenities for their silk weaving workers. I could not understand why my ancestor then left his good job etc to go to the East End of London. The answer was the arrival of the railway. Many people were scouted and enticed to move to London believing life would be even better there, and the railway made that possible. It didn’t always work out that way. They must have missed the lovely town and surrounding Essex countryside so much.
At that time I also borrowed Volumes 1 &2 of “The Village Labourer -1760-1832” by J.L.Hammond and Barbara Hammond from the library. If you haven’t come across this work whilst researching for your book I thoroughly recommend them. Loads of detailed information about the government of England before the Reform Bill, and some vividly described accounts of actual events and how individuals and communities reacted to the enclosures.
I’m looking forward to reading your latest book when it’s published. The key word we must all share when describing our ancestors must surely be “Resilience”!
Hi Betty, it is funny – I was just in the Ancestral Echoes Masterclass a few minutes ago and was reminded of your wonderful case study in there! Funny timing seeing your note here.
Yes, I have read and re-read the Hammonds work. They have three books I have studied really carefully. In the foreword of one of them, in a later edition, there is a piece from someone disputing their findings and saying they had been largely disproven. It is part of the rewriting of the story. I was shocked that it is legal to write a forward like this after an author has died.
That is really interesting to hear about your ancestors. Yes, I have read the railways made it easier for people to move into the cities. They must have missed the countryside so much once they got there and saw what the conditions were like.
It is so lovely to hear you are looking forward to reading my book 🙂
Interestingly too, in a journalling activity I did yesterday on an ancestral trip to London, resilience was the word that came through really strongly. Resilience. And love for family.
Nicola, its lovely to know that you have come down south to continue your family ancestral search and enjoyed your stay. I am close to the Weald & Downland Museum & Petworth House (I live in Haslemere, Surrey) I can understand how you must have felt!
My ancestors were in domestic service and rural agricultural labourers working the land and learning from their experiences is helping me to understand what life was like for them – a different time – doing my family history is a real eye opener but learning will help our family in the future.
I volunteer for the NT and learning about the grand history of the stately homes is very interesting & rewarding, enjoying the heritage and nature gives our future generations to protect & enjoy.
I love you are doing your family history for your family and that you enjoy working for the National Trust. The volunteers at Petworth clearly got a huge amount from volunteering there.
Your video gave me the shivers Nicola.
Until I joined the mystery school, I had no interest in ancestral ways and I’ve never really thought about it in depth. However I find you & Jason fascinating & inspiring, I have learnt so much being part of the way of the buzzard. Your ancestral video was a ‘WOW’!.
Wow right back at you Karen. This is amazing for me and us to hear, thank you! Amazing 🙂
What a wonderful , moving film. Thank you for sharing with us 💜
Thank you Gail, this is so encouraging for me to hear 🙂
Thank you so very much for making this short film, and sharing your research. I am hugely moved by it.
Wow, thank you for sharing this Jennifer. I am really touched to hear this.
I got very emotional listening to your story. I hope we can all be inspired by your journey to research and tell our ancestors’ stories.
This is so lovely to read your note, thank you Dawn 🙂 I hope so too 🙂
Thank you for sharing your families history. All our individual histories can take our families back to shared common experiences. Although not pleasant, at the time, unfortunately that was the life they knew.
Once again a thank you to both you and Jason for all of the interesting things you have shared through Way of the buzzard.
Regards
Paul. X
Thanks Paul. From my research the peasant life seems to have been pretty good – compared with what was to follow during the Industrial Revolution. I’ll be writing about this in my book as it’s very diff to the narrative I learned prior to this reach. It is lovely to receive your thanks about what we share 🙂 Thank you 🙂
What a thought-provoking film; thank you for sharing it. I often feel angry at the wealth of the our ‘grand houses’. I feel even more anger when I visit one of our cathedrals and see all the silverware behind glasses cases for us to gaze upon. Why don’t they sell it and do something good with the money? On another note, I’ve just read ‘The Awen Alone’ by Joanna Van Der Hoeven, in which she talks about ancestors not only of blood, but also of place and tradition, so although we’re not related and (as far as I know) I have no Tadcaster connections, I feel we share common ancestry in the broadest sense. Press on with that book! _/_
Thanks for your encouragement Julia! You pose an interesting question about wealth and the cathedrals. Yes, we can have ancestors not just of blood – I have heard this too and feel it as well.
Hi Nicola, I’ve been following your ancestor trail for some time as it echoes the way my ancestors had to leave a moorland village (not far from Anglezarke) to go and work in the dark satanic cotton mills of Blackburn. But the other amazing coincidence was that I visited Petworth House earlier this year and was drawn to the only painting of poor people in this house of vast wealth. Obviously put there not out of social conscience but almost out of curiosity for animals in a zoo or slaves in the colonies.
You are absolutely right that the story of British history needs to be revised to show the impacts of those that wrote our history books. I don’t think National Trust visitors would approve of a sit-in demonstration in Petworth House. Subservience runs deep!
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/sussex/22571504.art-depiction-child-beggars-hanging-amid-splendour-petworth-house
Yes, I don’t think they would.
I wasn’t paying attention to the pictures – apart from one. That is so interesting that you spotted and were drawn to this one. The motives to buying it are terrible arn’t they.
The picture I was drawn to was of Charles Seymour. He was the man who extended the original house into the huge palatial style mansion that is there now and decked it all out. There is a little boy of colour in the bottom corner and I have been wondering why since I saw him. Here’s the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Seymour,_6th_Duke_of_Somerset
There was a second painting to match of his wife, but she is standing next to a dog.
Your note prompted me to look into this some more as the volunteer there on the day couldn’t tell me why he was included in this portrait.
I have learned that back then, having a coloured servant / slave (although the volunteer was quick to tell me he wasn’t a slave) was a status symbol as it meant you had trade connections with the wider world.
This painting has been renamed. It’s no longer Charles Seymour and the Black Page Boy. It’s now Charles Seymour and the Unidentified Child Attendant…
It is so sad to hear your story about your ancestors who moved into Blackburn, Peter. Which village did they move from? I remember to telling me about your Lancashire connection years ago.
I love we have this shared interest.
That’s interesting Nicola that you have uncovered the National Trust trying to downplay the true meaning of slavery, by being politically correct. I always thought the National Trust aimed to get us to venerate wealth and privilege. Tokenism of black and poor people does not work amongst a house of such obscene wealth (the family still live upstairs, with tourists downstairs!).
David Olusoga is doing a great job in trying to redress the true story of slavery, and similar needs to continue to be done for the Industrial Revolution (and Enclosures before that). Much of the wealth of country estates came from enclosures, slavery, and Industrial Revolution. A few years ago I did a great Workers Educational Association course about Britain’s Forgotten History – to highlight the role of poor people, black people, and women: mostly airbrushed out of history by wealth, entitlement, and privilege. There are several museums in Lancashire highlighting the importance of people’s history like Luddite rebellion, Peterloo massacre, and Kinder Scout mass-trespass.
I was interested in the link from Charles Seymour to Egremont – which is the ex-industrial Cumbrian town where I went to school. I too was following my family history trail (after Space to Emerge) and this summer. I visited the Lancashire ex-industrial moorland villages of Hoddlesden (now gentrified) and Pickup Bank (still looking quite poor) my ancestors lived in after being ejected from the original Saxon farmstead which became Duxbury Hall near Chorley. For industrial heritage I visited Ironbridge Gorge, where National Trust have just taken over management of several sites, including Blists Hill working Victorian Town. National Trust aren’t used to industrial sites so several working exhibits were closed for “risk assessment”. There was an interesting squatter’s cottage – what a contrast from Petworth House!
Best wishes and solidarity for your research into our common ancestry that Julia refers to.
This is so fascinating to hear your research Peter. Thanks for sharing with me. I haven’t visited those Lancashire museums and they are right on my doorstep! I will look them up.
Airbrushing is a great term. I expect this uncomfortable history of displacing English people so the landowners could amass extraordinary wealth and build these palatial homes is one the National Trust are keen to keep quiet.
It is so important that these stories are told.
Yes, in solidarity 🙂
What amazing journey for you Nicola and so admire you with all you achieve. Look forward to reading your 2nd book, thank you!
Thank you Sheila. This is so lovely to hear.
I can emphasise with you feeling like you’ve been punched in the gut by the unfairness.
Really interesting. I haven’t felt that sensation before or said those words but that was exactly how it felt.
Yearning to be back in nature after being thrown from it too, due to bereavement. Not getting it enough, and ring in a town I have embraced the positives but I feel I’m not really living and breathing. No friends in the countryside anymore to visit. Crying sometimes just by driving country lanes nearby or sitting in a wood.! Not wanting a new relationship but mourning the ability to have self sufficiency in the countryside and the closeness to nature. Don’t think I’ll ever get it back. Hope so.
This sounds like a really difficult place to be Ness, I am sorry to hear this. I hope you find your way to some peace and happiness.
Terrible that one man could be responsible for so much misery inflicted on families without thought or care, terrible too is he wasn’t alone, it was happening everywhere.
It is incredible, isn’t it, the distribution of power and wealth? This person did have a regard for the poor, at least in some ways. I’ll bring it through in my book. It’s complex.
Nicola you are so brave to go on this journey because you are feeling all the hurt and trauma your ancestors felt. Feel it and then let it go it is the past and cant affect you in the now. Wish the video had been music free would have liked to just hear your voice. Sending you love and healing
Thanks for your note, Jillian. Really touched by your words. Yeah, music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Thanks for the feedback.
Awww Nicola I find your story moving and very heartfelt. I think your ancestors will be pleased and proud of you by telling their story from their point of view.
Looking forward to to the book
Thank you so much, Chris. This is really lovely to read, and I’m so delighted you’re looking forward to the book. That means a lot to me.
Its heart breaking to see the brutal reality of the difference between landed gentry and the common people. Most of my ancestors were miners in the North East of England. Another miserable existence in most respects.
It really is, isn’t it, Diane? That’s really interesting that you’ve got ancestors in the northeast of England. That’s going to be one of my next research visits later in October, as I have miners up in the northeast too.
I live in West Sussex and recently visited the cottage you showed. It is beautiful and I could almost hear the sound of singing, hum of bees and children’s laughter as I wandered through it. Difficult to leave as it must have been all those years ago. I was really moved by your piece.
Hi Steph,
I love that you had this experience too. It just felt so homely and alive, didn’t it? Thanks so much for your note. I’m really touched that you’re moved by my film.
Loved watching this. I’m having a journey myself since starting my ancestral research after starting on the course in the mystery school. What struck me watching this was when the large rich house first came on the screen I imagined the film showing you throwing eggs and screaming profanities at the house. It was quite visceral! That was before you talked about how hard you had found visiting.
Hi Sarah,
It’s really interesting to read your note here. Yes, that was going on inside me as I was going around Petworth House! Interesting enough, I can have a tendency to visualize myself throwing eggs at things that make me mad! I love that you’re going through the Ancestry Echoes course.
Gosh, I could really feel your emotions Nicola. I’ve visited so many stately homes over the years & never really thought about the impact all that wealth had directly on others. I love history so view those places from that point of view, often feeling a distaste for the gawdy, in your face, oversized wealth (if that makes sense) but obviously it had a much more serious, far reaching & devastating effect. I look forward to your next book although I know it’ll reduce me to tears as your 1st one did, but these stories need to be told! I take my hat off to you, keep going x
Thanks so much for your note, Gainer. A spoiler alert: I cry every time I read Thomas’s story back. Thanks so much for taking your hat off to me. I am really, really touched. Thanks for the encouragement. 🙂 x
Ooooooh it hits hard doesn’t it, when you realise how the few influence so much the many. Your story will be very liberating for your family and anyone with whom it resonates, when it is complete. Keep going Nocola
Thanks Rowan, this is so inspiring to hear 🙂
Yes, it is hard to sit with the story as it unravels. Thank you so much for encouragement to complete my book 🙂