A Family History Of...

Two Suffolk brothers leave home together as war closes in.

In 1911, Frederick and Charles Grimwade are living and working together on a Suffolk farm. Joined by broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle, host Jen Baldwin traces his ancestors’ journeys from rural village life into the First World War, using records to uncover the men behind the memorials. How much can one family's story reveal about a generation shaped by war?

Host: Jen Baldwin
Researchers: Charlotte Ward-Kelly and Jen Baldwin
Guest: Ben Fogle
Editor: Guy Bettison
Script editors: Madeleine Gilbert, Daisy Goddard, and Niall Cullen
Producers: Madeleine Gilbert, Ellie Ayton, and James Plumb
Designer: Michael McCosh
Social media: Sarah Cornes, Ellie Ayton, and Thomas Davis
Executive Producers: Helen Kaye and Steve James
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Three initials reveal a life cut tragically short.

Another name on Dan Snow's local memorial leads to a very different life. Together, Dan and host Jen Baldwin trace Thomas Alexander Fletcher Slater from Hampshire to Canada, from school records to the Western Front, uncovering the future he never had the chance to fulfil. What can three initials carved in stone still tell us today?

Host: Jen Baldwin
Researchers: Jen Baldwin and Madeleine Gilbert
Guest: Dan Snow (History Hit)
Editor: Guy Bettison
Script editors: Madeleine Gilbert, Daisy Goddard, and Niall Cullen
Producers: Madeleine Gilbert, Ellie Ayton, and James Plumb
Designer: Michael McCosh
Social media: Sarah Cornes, Ellie Ayton, and Thomas Davis
Executive Producers: Helen Kaye and Steve James
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A schoolboy actor becomes a missing name on a memorial.

Historian Dan Snow joins host Jen Baldwin to investigate a name on his local war memorial: Samson Holman. Through census returns, newspapers and military records, a village schoolboy emerges from the archives before disappearing on the Somme. How do you remember someone whose story survives only in fragments?

Host: Jen Baldwin
Researchers: Jen Baldwin and Madeleine Gilbert
Guest: Dan Snow (History Hit)
Editor: Guy Bettison
Script editors: Madeleine Gilbert, Daisy Goddard, and Niall Cullen
Producers: Madeleine Gilbert, Ellie Ayton, and James Plumb
Designer: Michael McCosh
Social media: Sarah Cornes, Ellie Ayton, and Thomas Davis
Executive Producers: Helen Kaye and Steve James
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A grave robbed. A coffin smashed. A body vanished.

Martha Oddy had been buried for just days when her grave was found open and her coffin broken. The fifteen-year-old was gone. In this Halloween special episode of A Family History Of…, host Jen Baldwin and guest Paul Bavill (History Rage) follow the clues left behind in a Yorkshire churchyard, from scattered grave clothes to a mysterious box at a coaching inn. What happened to Martha after her burial — and who was waiting for her body on the other side?

Host: Jen Baldwin
Researcher: Paul Bavill and Jen Baldwin
Guest: Paul Bavill
Editor: Guy Bettison
Script editors: Madeleine Gilbert, Niall Cullen, and Daisy Goddard
Producers: Madeleine Gilbert, Ellie Ayton, and James Plumb
Designer: Michael McCosh
Social media: Sarah Cornes, Ellie Ayton, and Thomas Davis
Executive Producers: Helen Kaye and Steve James
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the ancestor you're searching for in the records is someone you'd rather not find?

Every family tree contains surprises. Some inspire. Others leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. After exploring the families at the heart of the Battle of Cable Street, host Jen Baldwin examines the darker discoveries hidden in the records, from fascist organisers to enslavers, and asks how we should respond when our ancestors end up on the wrong side of history. How do you reckon with a past you'd rather not claim?

Host: Jen Baldwin
Researcher: Jen Baldwin and Sidra Baldwin
Editor: Guy Bettison
Script editors: Madeleine Gilbert, Niall Cullen, and Daisy Goddard
Producers: Madeleine Gilbert, Ellie Ayton, and James Plumb
Designer: Michael McCosh
Social media: Sarah Cornes, Ellie Ayton, and Thomas Davis
Executive Producers: Helen Kaye and Steve James

Music licensed through Soundstripe.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.