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Series 22: 4. Layton Williams

Actor and star of musical theatre Layton Williams is excited to be exploring his family history. He grew up in Bury with his mum and three of his siblings, but came to London aged 12 to star in the musical Billy Elliot.\nLayton’s father was also born in Bury but has Jamaican heritage. Layton would like to connect more with his Jamaican ancestry as he knows little about his roots there. \n\nLayton heads back to Bury to catch up with his mum and her cousin Tracy. They tell him that his great-grandma Josie and her parents William and Matilda Downing came from London, but moved to Bury during World War II. They show Layton a postcard that Layton’s great-great-grandfather William sent to his daughter Josie from France during the war. \n\nWaiting to know about William and what he was doing in France, Layton heads back to London, where he meets historian Glyn Prysor. Layton discovers William joined up when he was just 17, a year after the First World War ended, and was a Remount Rider, training horses for the battlefield. William later left the army but was in the Reserves. Layton knows that, during this time, William married and had Layton’s great-grandmother Josie, but then, when he only had two weeks left in the Reserves, World War II broke out.\n\nNext, Layton meets military historian Sarah-Louise Miller to see if she can tell him about the French postcard. Sarah explains that William was posted to northern France and saw no fighting during the early months of the war. But just a month after he sent the postcard home, Germany invaded France, and the Allied troops were forced to evacuate. William found himself at Dunkirk with hundreds of thousands of other terrified men, as they waded through the water to reach the ships to take them home. After returning to the UK, William ended up in Bury working at a PoW camp there, which is how Layton’s family came to Bury. Layton now wants to see if he can trace his family any further back in London.\n\nGenealogist Laura Berry has been researching the Dowling family and has got back to Layton’s five-times and six-times great-grandfathers, both called Edward Downing. The son is listed as a furniture seller in Camberwell. Layton goes to the address and is delighted to discover it’s now a nail bar, and that he lives just down the road. Economic historian Alexander Wakelam shows Layton some newspaper articles that reveal five-times great-grandfather Edward Dowling was in financial trouble and was even sent to debtors’ prison. Layton is surprised, as he knows that Edward was born in affluent St James Piccadilly. A document reveals that Edward Downing Senior, Layton’s six-times great-grandfather, was a piano tuner. Layton is delighted to discover a musical ancestor. \n\nAt Hammerwood Park, East Sussex, Layton meets music historian Marie Kent and learns that his six-times great-grandfather was an agent for the prestigious Stodart family of piano makers, and later even lived above the Stodart shop at 1 Golden Square in Soho. Layton goes to Golden Square, still a centre of the entertainment industry, and is delighted to know that his ancestors lived and worked in the same parts of London as he does today. \n\nHaving found out about his London roots, Layton now turns to his Jamaican heritage. He visits his grandmother in Bury, and they reminisce about his grandfather Clarence. Layton regrets never having spoken to his grandfather about his family in Jamaica. \n\nIn Jamaica, Layton rings Clarence’s sister to see if she can give him any more clues. They talk about Clarence’s mum, Layton’s great-grandma Jane, and Sandy tells him that she remembers going to a church in a town called Porus. Layton goes to find this church, where he meets Pastor Fennell, who has some documents for him. He discovers that Jane’s parents - Layton’s great-great-grandparents - were called Jonathan and Ellen Bradford. Jonathan is listed as a planter - or farmer. Another document shows that Ellen was a washerwoman. Layton reflects on how they were a family of hard workers, and it helps him understand why his grandfather had such a strong work ethic. \n\nNow Layton wants to see if he can get any further back on his great-great-grandmother’s line – the Dentons. Historian Suzanne Francis-Brown tells Layton that it’s always challenging, as records can be patchy in Jamaica, but she thinks that they’ve found Ellen’s father, Alex Denton.\nWhile Layton knows it is inevitable, he is shocked to see his likely three-times great-grandfather listed as a slave. Suzanne tells him Alex was born in Jamaica and would have been about nine years old when slavery was abolished there. Suzanne has also found Alex’s mother, Jessy Denton, who came sometime before 1807 on one of the slave ships from Africa. Layton is astonished and moved that this was his four-times great-grandmother. \n\nLayton ends the film reflecting on how incredibly strong his family must have been to survive the horrors of slavery. He feels proud and grateful to his ancestors.

Source: BBC 1