University of Stirling historian Dr Ian Cawood appeared in the new series of BBC One’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ featuring Spice Girl Mel C.
As a Victorian political historian, I am fairly used to remaining something of a niche item when it comes to media exposure. Having written a book on Liberal and Conservative coalitions in the nineteenth century, I did briefly get my face and name on the media at the beginning of the Cameron-Clegg era. Then when Theresa May praised the work of Joseph Chamberlain on the steps of No. 10, I ascended the dizzying heights of BBC2’s Newsnight (for about 10 seconds) after I’d hosted the conference on the anniversary of his death.
My recent work on administrative corruption in the period has resulted in a few calls from BBC radio and podcasts and even a slot this year at the Scottish Festival of Politics, but I can’t really see this being a hot topic on the One Show (thankfully). So, I was surprised to get a call last year from the production company behind the BBC’s Who Do you Think You Are? series. Plenty of local historians have appeared (including Stirling’s Jim Smyth who led Lulu through the horrors of life in Glasgow’s tenements), but why were they asking me?
An Anonymous star
It turned out that the celebrity concerned (who was not revealed to me at this stage) had ancestors in Liverpool, one of whom had been a campaigner for political and social reform in the 1860s. I was sent some primary sources and asked if I’d like to come down to film with the anonymous star. I must admit, the fact was that I really wanted to look at some documents on commercial corruption surrounding the Liverpool dockyards in the 1880s, so, with a free trip on offer, I accepted.
“I shook Mel C’s hand and tried my best to whip up some interest in the cause of constitutional and temperance reform in the mid-nineteenth century.”
The character I had to put into context was one Thomas O’Keefe, an insurance clerk from Bristol who had moved to Liverpool after being accused of theft by his previous employer. O’Keefe was a Catholic, so it was fairly likely that he had been victimised in Bristol, therefore, after clearing his name, he’d moved to Liverpool which had the largest Catholic community in England.
Here he’d done very well, becoming a manager in the insurance firm he’d taken a job with and raised a family, with his sons following in his footsteps. But he’d also got involved in politics in the 1860s and taken on two powerful enemies of ordinary people in Liverpool (as he saw them) – the Conservatives, who controlled the town’s politics, and the brewing industry, who he blamed for the terrible poverty of Liverpool’s Catholic community.
A Challenge
Clutching a newspaper report on a radical protest meeting in 1866, I was placed outside St George’s Hall at 9am (which is obviously where I usually discuss my work) and was told, with much excitement, that I would be meeting the ex-Spice Girl, Melanie Chisholm, to discuss Thomas’ political career. I can’t say I was that thrilled at the prospect (I was hoping for Alan Bleasdale myself), but I like a challenge, so I shook Mel C’s hand and tried my best to whip up some interest in the cause of constitutional and temperance reform in the mid-nineteenth century.
As this was at the end of Mel’s journey (TV documentaries have to have a ‘journey’), she was actually already intrigued, clearly proud that her ancestor had fought back against his poor background and prejudice and so was actually very receptive to what I had to say (or was better at pretending than me).
I blathered on about the importance of the 1867 Reform Act, which finally brought mass politics to Britain, and how temperance (the banning of the sale of alcohol) was perfectly understandable in a society where most blamed poverty on the behaviour of the poor (as many still do). I did try to point out that Thomas was a very minor player in a much bigger story of the reform of British public values and ethical standards, but I may have got a bit over-ambitious once we’d retreated inside the Hall (you try chatting to a former Spice Girl in public – you don’t get a lot of peace from passers-by).
Understanding the past
When it was all done, Mel thanked me for having led her through the story and having brought it to life and I was free to go and investigate how Liverpool shipowners scuttled their old vessels (often with the crews still onboard) for the insurance money – which is much more my comfort zone.
Although I may sound a bit dismissive, Who do You Think You Are? does explain how we build up our understanding of the past from the available sources (which largely means newspaper reports and census returns for the mid Victorian era) and doesn’t shy away from the horrors of the past, as well as the enormous courage and resilience of the people who lived then. I hope I brought some of this across to Mel and to the viewers.