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00:13I'm excited about this journey and I have no idea what I'm embarking on I'm
00:17hoping it's really interesting and I mean I don't even mind it being a little
00:20naughty I don't know I'm looking for anything acting it definitely was a
00:29dream I grew into because I'm from Alabama and they're not a lot of actors
00:33running the streets down there well friends was just the most amazing
00:39experience that I could ever even dream up and I feel really lucky and I couldn't
00:47be more thankful I'm the youngest of four my dad's name is Richard Lewis Cox he
00:56passed away in 2001 my dad was the youngest of five every Sunday we'd get
01:02together and have these family gatherings there's always stories and family
01:06history that we learned whereas my mom's side we never had any gatherings because
01:10she was an only child and my mom's dad Bruce died when she was six weeks old so
01:15she didn't ever know her father I only know his name was Bruce Bass now that I'm
01:22older of course I want to know all about my family but I'm hoping to find that my
01:27ancestors made a mark of some sort I mean I hope we didn't murder anybody but hey I
01:34don't know
01:38come on in thank you for having me yes thank you so I'm meeting up with
01:43genealogist Joseph Shumway and he's gonna help me get started on my adventure so I'm
01:47excited to show you some of the things that I've been able to find based on the
01:50information that that you were able to provide me with Wow wait a minute let me
01:55just check this out okay that's my grandfather that's my mom's dad that's
02:01the only picture I've ever seen of him that's my grandmother oh she was from
02:06Alabama and then she moved to Virginia with him because my grandfather was from
02:10Virginia that makes sense okay going back a little bit further here this is
02:15your fourth great-grandparents Thomas Bass Thomas Bass and his wife Mary
02:20Moseley her father's Richard Moseley and was married to Mary Bass okay I was
02:28researching back and Thomas Bass and Mary Bass they are related
02:34well that's terrible half cousins what it looks like but back in those days you
02:40have a smaller population area and it's the south we gotta do we gotta get down
02:44there that's right it could be worse I'm really curious to know it seems like we've
02:49been in Virginia for a long time when did we come over I was able to find some
02:54information about that and I found a particular ancestor that I think is
02:57really interesting that I'd love to introduce you to okay it's Thomas Ligon
03:02here mm-hmm so he was born in 1623 and died in 1675 so he was born in Warwickshire
03:11England so we're English that's good yeah so he's the first ancestor that would
03:15have come over on this particular side of the family and so he's my ninth great
03:18grandfather mm-hmm we can see that he came in the 1640s so he was a young man at
03:23the time when he came so why would Thomas Ligon have come to Virginia Thomas
03:28appears to be one of the many young men who came to Virginia seeking economic
03:31opportunity you had the colonies in New England that were Puritan based that
03:36were more attracting religious freedom seekers Virginia is really attracting a
03:41lot of young men who are looking to make their fortune so do we get to learn
03:44more about them Ligon's Ligon's it's gonna take going to England oh that's great
03:49thank you so much yeah so I'm headed to England and hopefully I'll find out if
03:56my family maybe did make a mark
04:07hello Courtney come on in okay
04:13so you've been looking at Thomas Ligon I understand were you able to find out more
04:17about him well actually yes land at this time 17th century is really important
04:21that carries with its status and money now the Ligon or Ligon family had estates
04:27lots of land around this part right in the heart of the country where the
04:31richest farming was likely to be these were landowners so they were quite high
04:35up the social scale because they were of this status they've left more records and
04:39and this is the result a huge family tree that's crazy here's Thomas Ligon your nine
04:47times great-grandfather and we follow the line back generation after generation
04:51when you're doing genealogy there are certain names that jump out at you the
04:56name that jumped out of me is here it's one of those names as a genealogist when you
05:01sort of sit back and think this is really important now you are descended from an
05:05aristocratic family not just any aristocratic family but one of the most
05:08important in the country I can't stress enough how important this family was the
05:14Barclay family are even more important than ligands in the history of the region
05:18and indeed the history of England and as a result we can go back up the
05:22generations until we find people such as Thomas de Barclay marries Margaret
05:28Mortimer another powerful family he is your 18 times great-grandfather they are
05:34families of such power and stature that there's lots written about them Wow okay
05:38so he was around late 12th into the 1300s we've gone back best part of 700
05:43years so he's a baron okay wait I'm sorry to be ignorant but what's a baron I mean I
05:49know no no no a baron is just below the rank of the king oh so he is the top
05:55aristocrat of his time so he is as big as it gets if you are at that level of
06:00society you would be expected to attend the royal court on a regular basis so
06:05all the really important stuff happens with you present so nothing escapes
06:09your notice all the good stuff and all the bad stuff as well all the scheming you
06:13may well be part of that and what do you mean part of the scheming what what kind
06:17of scheming would there be well nothing escaped the attention of people like the
06:21Barclays and I think this document really shows that it's from 1327 this is a scan
06:28it's not the original now it is in Latin this is the receiver's account and it's
06:34money being spent not just on managing the estates but also day-to-day errands that
06:39Thomas would ask his servants his household staff to do on his behalf but there's
06:43one particular entry here that is of key importance and I've got a translation of it
06:48for you okay this is the person Gorn yeah okay Gorn going to Nottingham to tell the
06:55king and queen of the death of the father of the king with letters of the Lord now
07:00the Lord in this case is Thomas de Barclay wait so this guy Thomas de Barclay my 18
07:09times great-grandfather was going to tell the king that his dad died absolutely well
07:17that's terrible job that he had well I mean why didn't anyone else he wasn't there with
07:21him well that's the heart of the mystery why is your ancestor Thomas de Barclay the first
07:27person to hear about the death of the king and why should he then dispatch his servant to tell the
07:32son of the king would be Edward the third the new king well he's clearly close to the old king
07:39when
07:40he has died where did all this happen I'm gonna get that map back out okay now Barclay spelled
07:49differently b-a-r instead of b-e-r but this is the same place there's a castle there this
07:55is your
07:55ancestral castle and they have records about this time about the Barclay family from this
08:02period onwards and that's the thing where you'll find some of the answers to these questions good
08:06I can't wait to find out what they did bad I'm on my way to meet a medieval historian at
08:14Barclay
08:14castle oh oh it's beautiful
08:29hello Courtney hi there welcome to Barclay castle thank you home of your ancestors yes
08:34it's lovely isn't it it's beautiful I've been told that my 18 times great grandfather Thomas Lord
08:42Barclay had sent a note to the king saying that his father had passed away and I would love to
08:48know
08:48more about that well we have some documents here which I think will reveal what happened this is a
08:55700 year old financial account this original this is original it's not it's on parchment this is in
09:02Latin of course which was the usual written language of the time this is a list of the expenses in
09:08the
09:08castle and it's this bit here that is particularly interesting and what I'm going to do is I'm going to
09:14give you a translation of that for the Lord's expenses in Barclay castle for 22 weeks from the
09:23day after all Saints until the 5th of April which was Palm Sunday this year on which day the father
09:30of
09:30the king came at dinner time that's correct I'm confused why isn't the father of the king the king if
09:39he's still alive it's very odd indeed isn't it in a hereditary monarchy because the father should be
09:45the king should we just look at one other yes please um manuscript which will just give us an idea
09:51this is
09:52from 1327 and this is the bit that is particularly revealing and again we have a translation here for
10:00bolts rods bars and other iron work bought for the chamber of the father of the king so the father
10:08of
10:08the king was living in a chamber chamber with a prison with lots ah he was indeed being kept prisoner
10:15here
10:15he was being kept prisoner by his son no he was actually being kept prisoner by your 18 times
10:22great-grandfather he was the man who was paying for all these locks and bolts and bars to be put
10:28on the chamber of the kings okay let's just back up a second my 18 times great-grandfather yes
10:35Thomas Lord Barclay is holding the king's father prisoner yes well this is getting juicy okay okay tell me
10:44more the king's father who was king edward had been king edward ii of england was a remarkably bad
10:51king this is edward ii and he just a few months before this had been forced to abdicate from the
10:59throne after ascending the throne in 1307 edward ii married isabel of france for over a decade they
11:07reigned in harmony but the queen grew to detest her husband for his many failures on the battlefield
11:12and his lack of leadership he often inflamed tension among the nobles by picking favorites
11:19many nobles united over their hatred of one favorite in particular hugh dispenser the younger
11:26dispenser used his influence over the king to gain land and wealth he was ruthless he was brutal and
11:32he was a financial wizard as well he was very good at managing the king's money so that is why
11:38edward
11:38the second light hugh dispenser isabel was said by one chronicler to have loathed hugh dispenser with
11:45a more than perfect hatred uh she really hated that's a nice one more than perfect yes
11:55hostility towards king edward ii and hugh dispenser eventually led to war in 1321
12:02queen isabella took up arms against her husband and joined forces with roger mortimer a nobleman with
12:08whom she allegedly had an affair then in 1327 the pair overthrew the king
12:17and so roger mortimer seized power for himself during the next few years um so mortimer i feel
12:24like that was in my family tree somewhere you're absolutely right here you have your family tree
12:29and look at the top thomas lord barclay so this is my 18 times great that is your 18 times
12:34great grandfather was he married to margaret mortimer yes and margaret mortimer was the daughter
12:39of roger lord mortimer
12:44okay all right wow so my 18 times great grandfather thomas de barclay married margaret mortimer
12:53which makes her my 18 times great grandmother and this marriage between thomas and margaret makes
13:00roger mortimer the guy who was allegedly the queen's lover my 19 times great grandfather
13:06so roger mortimer told his son-in-law thomas de barclay i trust you and will you keep this man
13:14edward ii in your castle in barclay yes how come roger mortimer had the opportunity to rule the country
13:21if he wasn't a royal well nominally the king was edward the third but he was still a boy he
13:29was only
13:2914 oh so you have isabel in effect ruling the country until he comes of age mortimer has great
13:37influence over her and there is an element of military coup about this okay did hugh dispenser
13:43ever try to get um edward ii out hugh dispenser himself did not try to get edward ii out because
13:50if you look carefully at this drawing what you have here is mortimer and isabel at the front
13:57during the revolution hugh dispenser was executed this is hugh dispenser the younger being put to
14:06a very very unpleasant death so it looks like it had to do with this private part well it did
14:11and several other parts are you serious looks like there's fire involved well they chuck the bits in
14:18the fire once they cut them off or cut them out so what you have is your 18 times great
14:25-grandfather
14:25is holding the king prisoner and your 19 times great-grandfather is in effect ruling the country
14:32i mean it's kind of crazy powerful little family we got there we have your ancestors
14:41okay i want to know why uh how he died edward ii well shall we go and look at his
14:46cell i'd love to
14:55so this is where edward ii was held prisoner for five and a half months and where did he die
15:02or
15:03he is supposed to have died in this room he did oh actually in this room this is the room
15:07where he
15:07died oh oh well okay yes will you tell me how shall we sit down after edward ii's death all
15:17sorts
15:17of rumors were going around about how edward ii died mortimer and isabel their story was of course
15:24that he had died a natural death because of course they didn't want any suggestion that he had been
15:29murdered because imp suspicion would immediately fall on them but most of those who tell us or think
15:35they knew how he died are chronicles they contain a fair amount of factual information but they also
15:41pick up quite a lot of rumors and hearsay and uncorroborated information some of the chronicles
15:47said that edward ii died of natural causes others said that he was suffocated and then we have this
15:55account just see what you can make out going from there they said late king was shut up in a
16:01close
16:01chamber but that not sufficing to hasten his death which was desired and covertly commanded by the queen
16:10and her fodders which means supporters okay and with great and heavy feather beds smothered him
16:18thrusting and hollow instrument into his fundament
16:24and through it a red hot iron up into his bowels okay i'm getting the picture of this
16:31yes this story is obviously a very lurid story and it is the one which has sort of come to
16:37be commonly
16:38believed what do you think that actually happened i think he was suffocated early in september 1327
16:44roger mortimer was told that there was a plot to try and free edward ii from this cell
16:51and so very probably he and queen isabel ordered edward ii to be killed well thomas feel about this
17:00and how big of a deal was it to have the king of england in your home and this is
17:05where he died
17:06it was a massive deal if there was any suspicion that thomas barkley was involved in the murder
17:14of edward ii that was the highest form of treason because a king of course was someone who was
17:20anointed by god in a sense it was a crime against god as much as it was a crime against
17:24the king
17:25and it was a crime against the kingdom to kill to kill a king it's like i'm not even realizing
17:30this
17:30is huge yes it's not even just possibly that it was my 18th time great-grandfather
17:36it pretty clearly or i mean there's a big shot that it was my 19 times great-grandfather
17:41so no matter what we're talking someone in my family killed the king of england
17:47not surprisingly it didn't look good for thomas barkley or roger lord mortimer by the autumn of 1330
17:55edward iii was getting awfully sick of being told what to do by mortimer and by this time and he
18:02was
18:0217 now yes and he decided that that was enough and so quite suddenly he had mortimer arrested and
18:09what he decided to do was to launch a parliamentary investigation into the death of his father and this
18:15is called at westminster which of course included your 18 and 19 times great-grandfathers not
18:21surprisingly they were the chief suspects to find out what happened at that parliament what you need
18:27to do is to go to westminster wow it just doesn't end does it this is a juicy story
18:37i was really hoping to have a story that was not going to be just run-of-the-mill or
18:42boring and it
18:42turns out that this is extremely fascinating
18:56hi i'm courtney absolutely very pleased to meet you nice to meet you
19:01thank you this magnificent building dates from the 11th century this is 900 years old yes it's the
19:11oldest surviving part of the medieval palace of westminster and this is where they had as well
19:17as parliament they had state trials so people who were accused of really serious crimes against the
19:22king against the state were brought in here right and so my 18 times and 19 times great-grandfathers
19:29both were possible suspects in them in the murder if that's what it was of king edward ii so that's
19:36what i want
19:37to find out do we know what happened to thomas and to roger roger was bound and gagged and led
19:44here thomas
19:45was also brought in they were under suspicion we have some documents relating both their trials um if you want
19:51to go up to the record yes i'm dying to
19:58these are copies of the original proceedings from parliament which terrible roger and thomas were
20:06summoned to this first one deals with roger's trial you may just be able to pick out here um in
20:15one of
20:15the accusations against him the word roger roger is being accused not only of taking on royal power
20:22himself but then of murdering the king and then what happened they give judgment on him it's very swift
20:31this is judgment as in a rule like the ruling yes render just and lawful judgment on the said roger
20:39as is appropriate for such a person who is truly guilty of all the above noted crimes and particularly
20:45the article touching the death of the lord edward awarded and adjudged that the said roger be drawn
20:53and hanged as a traitor and an enemy of the king and of the realm oh it's gonna be hung
20:59not only just hung he was drawn which means he was uh placed on an ox hide and that was
21:08attached to
21:09two horses and they dragged him from the tower of london where he was being kept all through town
21:14all through town two miles of that on bumpy streets the worst story all right so roger is
21:19gone now and then what happens to thomas thomas was summoned at the very same time as roger
21:26and he is tried on the same day oh boy we have a copy of the rolls of parliament dealing
21:32specifically
21:33with thomas okay he is actually accorded more of a proper trial than roger was just read the first
21:43paragraph here thomas of barclay knight came before the lord king and is full aforesaid parliament
21:51he wishes to acquit himself of the death of the same king and says that he was never an accomplice
21:57nor did he ever know of his murder until this present parliament if you remember that seemed a
22:04little odd roger mortimer he and isabella told everyone edward ii had died of natural causes
22:11so it would be a surprise to thomas that he was murdered or so he's he's trying to make us
22:19this
22:19excuse that big a lot of talkers i'm sure around that castle and the aforesaid thomas says that at
22:25the time when it is said the lord king was murdered and killed he was detained with such and so
22:31great
22:32an illness outside the aforesaid castle at bradley that he remembers nothing of this so he gives this
22:38long excuse about where he was and how he had no idea there's some kind of suspicious yeah so so
22:44what
22:44happened to him the jury then comes back and this is their deliberation on thomas barclay
22:54oh my goodness now i'm nervous all right therefore the jurors came there upon before the lord king
23:02and his parliament at westminster who say on their oath thomas of barclay is not guilty of the death
23:11of the aforesaid lord king edward wow so thomas has been found not guilty of the murder of edward
23:17the second luckily for you otherwise you wouldn't be around today he survived that is lucky i didn't
23:25even think about that oh thank you parliament okay this is one of the greatest soap operas i've ever
23:32heard and it's not finished yet if we go back to your family tree thomas de barclay's son morris de
23:38barclay then marries elizabeth dispenser yes dispenser do you remember that's the where how's
23:47she related to hugh she's the youngest daughter elizabeth is the youngest daughter of hugh dispenser
23:53the big financial wizard of edward the second yes the barclays have now joined with the dispensers
24:02so elizabeth dispenser is my 17 times great-grandmother which makes hugh dispenser who
24:08was edward the second's ally and thomas de barclay's enemy my other 18 times great-grandfather
24:15and i learned yesterday that my 19 times great-grandfather roger mortimer had hugh dispenser
24:20executed there this is messed up stuff why would you marry off your son to the daughter of your enemy
24:28i think you need to go to the college of arms and find out a little bit more about your
24:33family
24:34wow
24:41how can it possibly get more interesting than this
24:44okay so i have learned that my 18 times great-grandfather thomas de barclay his son
24:51morris de barclay married elizabeth dispenser i don't know how these families got together it
24:55seemed like they were enemies or at least the families were well we have got a manuscript which
24:59i'd like to show you okay it's a volume recording family trees so your family line you can see here
25:06here's morris lord barclay he's married to elizabeth dispenser so basically what you what you said is
25:12absolutely right okay you've got roger mortimer and the barclay family on one side opposed to edward
25:19the second and on the other side you've got the dispensers who were edward ii's allies this is
25:25about there's some scheming going on yeah this is this is about politics because of course both the
25:30barclays and the dispensers had fallen on rather hard times we're into the reign of edward ii really
25:36want to get some yeah they really wanted to secure themselves and one of the ways it secured the
25:42the barclay family if you look up the line you'll see hugh dispenser who's married to eleanor that
25:49marriage was actually arranged by her grandfather her grandfather okay yeah so then you can follow
25:56the line oh so if joan of acre was her mother then her grandfather was
26:04wait a minute edward the first he's my 20th times great-grandfather the king of england yeah
26:10that's right an incredibly charismatic and exciting king you know one of the best medieval kings to be
26:15descended from if you're going to be lucky enough to be descended from one he's your direct
26:20ancestor that's crazy wow now this manuscript is quite special this is your family tree through
26:29edward the first they're really beautiful yeah it's beautiful isn't it like the colors these are
26:35all your own direct ancestors your family your line comes in here because this character with a large
26:43crown is your ancestor edward the first okay so courtney your line comes up here and you can follow
26:52it all the way back up and back to henry the first and then who would he be to me
26:5625th 25th great
26:58grandfather let me go to 26 then who is this man it says william the first line is william and
27:05the
27:05second line is bastard william bastard yeah and then it says conqueror of england yeah oh okay william
27:16what william the conqueror is my 26th times great-grandfather yeah well you are directly
27:23defended right
27:27so he's the reason why england is here you conquered it from france okay
27:33this is pretty intense you know english children if they learn about one date in history it's 1066
27:39i haven't learned that well thank you so much this has been fascinating it's pretty good isn't it yeah
27:47it's really good after yesterday's discoveries i actually thought there'd be no reason to learn
27:55anything else and then i come here and today i found out that um my 26th times great-grandfather is
28:03william the conqueror that was the one thing i learned in school that i remember 1066
28:14i can't wait to tell my whole family it's a dramatic story and it's even more dramatic than
28:19you could even imagine history is such a constant and living thing and if one of these events had not
28:27happened or if anything had changed i wouldn't be i wouldn't be here