One of the stars of 'The Office' was the subject of the last in the series for Who Do You Think You Are, as the show traced the origins of actor Martin Freeman.
He lost his father at a young age, when he died when Martin was only 10 years old, from a heart attack. He had little knowledge of his father’s side of the family other than the fact that he died on the same day as his own father, during the Second World War.
His paternal Grandfather, Leonard died during 'The Battle of Dunkirk' and the family tale was that he was shot whilst making a cup of tea. His service record said that he was a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps and he died on the 24th May 1940. His unit was the 150th Field Ambulance Unit and was part of the British Expeditionary force that was sent to Europe in 1940. As the Germans cornered the BEF they were forced to retreat to Dunkirk. The constant bombing and shelling from the Germans meant that the medical units would have to work in increasingly chaotic situations.
All the while the infantry was fighting a rearguard action but whilst many units were at the coast, 50 miles away, Leonard’s unit were dealing with the vast casualties of the German attack. As well as this, all lines of communication had been broken.
As Martin was able to visit the base of Leonard’s regimental conclusive proof of his death was available, as there was a more in depth record of his death and also his name on a memorial at the barracks. He died as the result of a bombing raid by the Luftwaffe.
Finding the marriage of Leonard's parents brought about an issue that's very common for us, there was no record of marriage! When there are no records to be found, you have to go about tracing their origins in other ways. By finding the family on census returns, it is still very possible to build a tree on that basis. Discovering that Leonard's father, Richard was blind, the records could be traced back to the school he attended. The information held by the school's archive was fascinating and proves just how valuable on site research, or foot soldiering as we like to call it!
It turned out that Richard learned a vital skill whilst at the school; he learned to play the piano, which gave him the chance to become a professional piano tuner. He had a family before his marriage to Martin’s great grandmother. He did very well for himself and lived in an affluent area of Hull. He became a widower when his first wife died of heart failure but there was no reason as to why his second marriage ended.
By the time he married Martin's great grandmother; they'd had 12 children between them, where six of them had died. As a result, Martin was able to speak to a living relative who could give him much more information. Finding living relatives is always exciting for us too, as it means that we can put people in touch with their living, breathing family history!
The reason for the death of so many of the children was syphilis. Martin’s great grandmother was blinded by it as a result of her being born with it. Her brother died from syphilis and later in her life she contracted it again through Martin’s great grandfather, who was also born with it. Before the introduction of penicillin, it was seen as being as dangerous as the plague.
It's been a great series for Who Do You Think You Are but I have to say that my favourite episode was Chris Moyles, followed closely by the stories of Kate Humble's ancestors, in particular the story of The Great Escape!
Rob Denholm
Meet Your Family