This month we had a very interesting talk from Dr Nick Barrett who has been closely involved in the BBC programme "Who Do You Think You Are?"
He told us some interesting snippets about the celebrities the programme has featured. Things like Jeremy Clarkson's reticence to be featured and Jeremy Paxman's surprise when he found out he came from poor Scottish stock when he had always had aristocratic leanings.
Then there was Lesley Garrett's delight at undercovering a murder in her family.
The programme got it's title thanks to Bill Oddie who first used the phrase "I really don't know who I am."
Oddie found out things about his mother's health that he had never known and said.
"I wish I knew then what I know now. It could have made a difference."
Dr Barrett made a very interesting comment and it's a phrase I will unpick in my own mind over the next few days. He said " Storytelling makes us people."
In other words storytelling is vital for us as human beings.
One member at the zoom talk urged us all to write down our memories of lockdown before this hugely historic event just becomes exactly that - an historic event.
I am so pleased that I started a blog that covered the entirity of lockdown and hopefully will be in a position before not too long to have them published. Watch this space as they say.
A couple of us asked Dr Barrett which celebrity he had enjoyed working with and he singled out a couple.
His favourite was Norfolk's own Stephen Fry who he described as "delightful" to work with and having a childish enthusiasm for all the discoveries and also being genuinely grateful for all the research undertaken on his behalf.
He also mentioned the enthusiasm of Ian Hislop for the military side of his research.
Incidentally if you have ancestors in Norfolk and would like to join the Norfolk Family History Society you can do so via our website.
Membership is such good value as it will give you access to millions of Norfolk records in the members' section of the website along with our regular zoom talks and four copies a year of our magazine Norfolk Ancestor. Anyone can visit our research centre in Norwich where we have computer access to the major research sites such as Ancestry and Find My Past. We also have a Facebook page which is free to join and for which you don't have to be a member of the society. We currently have almost 4500 members on this. Just go to Facebook and search for Norfolk Family History Society.
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We've been enjoying the three part television drama Maryland but feel conned.
After watching the scenery we were practically on the point of booking a holiday on the Isle of Man. That is until we found out it's actually set in Ireland.
Apparently that was due to tax reasons but why didn't they just set it in Ireland? I read a piece of nonsense saying the series would do wonders for both Ireland and the Isle of Man.
I can imagine a load of people travelling to the Isle of Man to be bitterly disappointed when they can't find the places depicted in the drama.
It reminded us of a slightly different scenario many years ago when we went to Guernsey. It was just after the film "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" (hardly the most catchy title ever) had come out. People told us that a whole load of American tourists had complained because the Guernsey they found was very different from the one they expected. They expected it still to be like it was in the Second World War.
I have to say the plot of Maryland was ultimately very disappointing as there were no real mysteries or plot twists. You kept expecting them but they just never came.
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I tuned into the national news on Friday evening just to catch up before going to bed. I find nowadays that I only want to hear the headlines at 6 pm before turning over to something a bit more entertaining.
And what was the main story of the day? A story deemed more important than immigration, more important than the cost of living, more important than mortgage rises, more important than the search for Madeleine McCann and more important than the war in Ukraine (or should I say the invasion in Ukraine). Yes more important than all these hot stories was the fact that presenter Phillip Schofield has left ITV.
The presenter is in a right mess at the mo and seems as if he urgently needs counselling but his departure really isn't that important. I'm sure I speak for many when I say I don't give a tuppeny damn what happens to Mr Schofield and whether we ever see him on television again unless it's as a caring human being concerned for his mental health.
But there I go talking about him. I'm sure he will resurface as a subject for one of those Piers Morgan profiles.
Interesting phrase tuppeny damn. It got dredged up from the far recesses of my mind. So what was a tuppeny damn?
Apparently it's a phrase coined by one of my ancestors The Duke of Wellington. Did I ever mention I'm related to the Iron Duke? Yes he's the uncle of the husband of my fourth great grand aunt.
Yes that's true. So the next time you see me I expect a bow from the ladies and a curtsey from the men (or have I got that the wrong way round?)
To simplify or confuse the issue, my 4x great aunt Keziah Edmonds married Ormond Smith who was the illigitimste son of the brother of the Duke of Wellington.
But back to a tuppeny damn. It means to not give a fig which is another strange phrase. In modern language old chap (please read the following in a posh accent) it means not to be at all interested in a subject. Tuppenny is a slang word for twopence - in other words a trifling amount, although there's a slight anomaly here as in Wellington's day two pence or 2d as it was then would be a fair amount of money as they had farthings and there would have been eight farthings in 2d.
Today a farthing would be worth over 10p so I suppose it was a trifling amount.
I'm not sure how the word damn fits in. Perhaps somebody could enlighten me and what exactly is not giving a fig?
Tomorrow I'll tell you why I supported a football team that I once put a curse on and why I hate wearing suits.
I have to say that as I read through what I have written I always try to imagine you my reader reading it for the first time and perhaps feeling angry or amused by what I have written. That gives me a very warm feeling inside and I am so so grateful for you indulging me every day.