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Series 21: 5. Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill

Olympic gold medal winner Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is one of the world’s greatest track and field athletes. Jess believes her sporting success comes from determination and hard work, and she wants to find out if this is something she’s inherited from her ancestors. \n\nGrowing up in Sheffield, Jess was always close to her grandparents on her mum’s side. They still live near to her in the Peak District, and Jess begins her search into her family’s past here. Jess’s grandfather tells her about a family mystery concerning her great-great-grandmother Emily Maud, known as Maud. When his father, Jess’s great-grandfather, was about eight years old, his mother kissed him goodbye and left with a suitcase – it was the last time he saw her. The family never talked about Maud, and Jess’s grandfather has no idea what became of her. Jess wants to investigate what could have happened to make her two-time great-grandmother abandon her children and effectively be written out of the family’s history. \n\nJess begins her search into the mystery at Sheffield City Archives. Jess is shocked to discover that her two-time great-grandmother Maud was involved in a court case where she accused her husband of assault. Maud later withdrew the allegation and Jess’s two-time great-grandfather was ordered to pay her maintenance. The 1921 census reveals that Maud is now in the South Yorkshire Asylum. Jess visits the site of the hospital and sees Maud’s medical records, which reveal she had a history of psychiatric illness. At the time, there was so much shame associated with mental illness that this could offer an explanation for her being cut off from her family and children. Maud spent the rest of her life institutionalised and died in a psychiatric hospital in 1970. At that time her son, Jess’s great-grandad would have been 58, Jess’s grandad, 31, and Jess’s mum, four. Jess reflects on how her two-time great-grandmother almost disappeared from the family history, and she’s delighted to find a photograph of Maud and have a chance to acknowledge her story. \n\nJess next investigates her paternal side. Her dad Vinnie was born in Jamaica. At the age of 13, he travelled to Sheffield on a freezing cold January day in 1963 and has never been back. Although Jess grew up hearing her father’s stories of his childhood in Jamaica, she has never been there. Now there’s a chance for them to visit the island together and see if Jess can find out about their Jamaican roots.\n\nIn Jamaica, Jess and her dad Vinnie head first to Linstead, the town where Vinnie grew up. They meet cousins, aunts and uncles and Jess’s grandmother’s youngest sister, her great-aunt Edna, tells Jess what she knows of the family history. Jess’s great-grandmother was called Louise, and her family name was White. Edna tells Jess that the White family owned land and farms. Armed with the name of her great-grandmother Louise White, Jess goes to meet historian Dr Shani Roper to see if she can help trace her family further back and reveal more about their lives and where their land came from. \n\nDr Shani helps Jess trace her family back six generations to the 18th century. Through a will, she discovers that her four-time great-grandfather George Thomas White left a considerable amount of land to his children, despite being born into slavery in about 1795. Jess wants to know how he went from being enslaved to become a landowner. \n\nHistorian Dr Suzanne Francis-Brown explains to Jess that it’s hard to find records for enslaved people. Jess learns about the brutal regime that her four-time great-grandfather George Thomas White would have had to endure on a sugar plantation. Thomas’s will reveals that he was a cooper – someone who makes barrels for rum – a skilled and in-demand job. In 1833, slavery was abolished, and seven years later in 1840, Jess discovers that Thomas White was able to earn enough money as a cooper to buy 25 acres of land for £160 – from the very estate he was enslaved on. Jess finishes her journey by visiting one of her relatives on a plot of land passed down the generations from him. \n\nAs Jess comes to the end of her journey, she reflects on the incredible achievement of her four-time great-grandfather and thinks how proud she is if she has inherited an ounce of his grit and determination. She considers how both her great-great-grandmother Maud and her great-great-great-great-grandfather George essentially had their identities taken away from them and how this journey has been a chance for her to uncover their stories.

Source: BBC 1