Find My Past Series 2 - Gunpowder Plot

On next week's episode of Find My Past, which airs at 9pm on 6 November 2012 on the Yesterday channel , three people find out how their ancestors were involved in the infamous gunpowder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Miranda Barran discovers that her ancestor, Robert Catesby, was actually the mastermind behind the gunpowder plot – not Guy Fawkes.

Cordelia Mayfield, a descendant of King James I's spymaster Sir Robert Cecil, discovers how her ancestor uncovered the plot and hunted down the conspirators, including Everard Digby.   The Gunpowder Plot conspirators came to a very nasty end - being hanged, drawn and quartered. Looks like this will be a very exciting episode!

Find My Past Preview: A Royal Scandal

This week's programme is the series finale of Find My Past's series on Yesterday, which airs on Thursday at 9pm.  This episode is devoted to a Victorian royal scandal: the story of Sir Charles Mordaunt and his wife Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, daughter of a Scottish baronet.  Harriet entertained a string of lovers, one of whom may have been the Prince of Wales: the future Edward VII. The shocking thing to modern eyes about this tragic marriage is the 'double standard' surrounding adultery.  Men were allowed to have their 'little affairs' providing they were discreet, but women like Harriet risked losing everything.

Find My Past Preview: Tay Bridge Disaster

This week's Find My Past episode focuses on the Tay Bridge Disaster of 28 December 1879. In this horrific accident one stormy night, many people lost their lives when the bridge collapsed during a gale.  A passenger train on the bridge (which had opened just the previous year) plunged into the ice-cold waters of the Tay: no-one survived.  As always, the programme, which airs on Yesterday this Thursday at 9pm, looks at the stories of some people whose ancestors were involved in this tragedy.

Find My Past Preview: The Suffragettes

This week's Find My Past episode explores the Suffragettes' heroic struggle to win votes for women. On 4 June 1913 Emily Davison stepped onto the racecourse at Epsom as a protest to help publicise the suffragette movement.  She died from her injuries shortly afterwards. 

In this week's programme, which airs on Yesterday at 9pm on Thursday, three people - Philippa Bilton, Katy Arnander and Matt Jopling - discover how their ancestors are linked to this famous but tragic incident in the history of women's rights.

Find My Past Preview: Firing Squad

This week’s Find My Past programme, which airs on Yesterday at 9pm on Thursday, traces the desperately sad story of a WW1 soldier shot for desertion, and the stories of the people and their families involved. Over three hundred men were shot for desertion, even though many of them may have suffered from shell shock owing to the horrors of trench warfare. There’s a memorial in Staffordshire dedicated to these soldiers – some of whom were only teenagers.

Images supplied courtesy of Find My Past.

Find My Past Preview: Jack the Ripper

I thought last week's Find My Past programme about the Mutiny on the Bounty was the most interesting of the series so far! This Thursday's programme on Yesterday is about the horrific murders committed in Victorian London by Jack the Ripper, so tune in at 9pm if you want to find out more about the family trees of three people whose ancestors were caught up in these terrible tragedies.

Mutiny on the Bounty: Find My Past preview

This week's latest offering from Find My Past, which airs on Yesterday on Thursday at 9 pm, looks at the amazing story of the mutiny on the Bounty on 28 April 1789. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the commanding officer, William Bligh. According to many accounts, the sailors were attracted to the idyllic life on the Pacific island of Tahiti and repelled by the harsh treatment of their captain. Eighteen mutineers set Lieutenant Bligh and 18 of the 22 crew loyal to him afloat in a small boat. Mutineers then settled on Pitcairn Island or in Tahiti. The Bounty was subsequently burned off Pitcairn Island to avoid detection and to prevent desertion. Descendants of some of the mutineers and Tahitians still live on Pitcairn island. The programme charts the stories of three people whose ancestors were involved in the mutiny.  This could be the most interesting programme yet!

Find My Past preview: Battle of Britain

This week's Find My Past programme is a 'must-see' for viewers with relatives who experienced the Battle of Britain. It looks at the stories of the relatives of musician Jamie Naden, Timothy Parsons, who lives and works in Kingston-upon-Thames, and keen cricketer Alex Sears.  So check it out this Thursday at 9pm on Yesterday if your ancestors were involved in WWII!