Richard Madeley Uncovers Boston's Original Settlers | Who Do You Think You Are

Richard's trail finally leads him to Boston, where he finds ancestors who travelled from England in search of religious freedom in the early 1630s, and discovers that they were among Boston's very first settlers and part of the birth of modern America.
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Having reached a turning point in his life, former daytime television presenter Richard Madeley decides to find out more about his family roots, and in particular the Canadian side of his family. He traces his extraordinary lineage back to the earliest Canadian and, to his surprise, American pioneers.
The trail leads Richard back seven generations to the first settlers of the then wild and largely uninhabited province of Nova Scotia. As he pushes back further, Richard discovers that the trail leads to America and New England. In Massachusetts, Richard discovers one ancestor striking a blow for women's rights, 300 years before women got the vote in America.
In Rhode Island Richard finds out that his eighth great-grandfather, Ezekiel Woodward, fought in a war between New England colonists and local Native Americans. In a moving and emotional encounter with a member of the Narrangansett Indian tribe, he discovers the role his ancestor played in one of the bloodiest ever massacres on American soil.
Richard's trail finally leads him to Boston, where he finds ancestors who travelled from England in search of religious freedom in the early 1630s, and discovers that they were among Boston's very first settlers and part of the birth of modern America.
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In each episode one of Britain's best-loved celebrities traces their family tree to reveal the surprising, extraordinary and often moving stories of their ancestors.
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[@kathleendaugherty4218]

As someone who just found out a year ago that I am a descendant of John Howland who came over on the Mayflower, I find this so thrilling. I am on a quest to find out all I can about life at that time. Congratulations!

[@kumarvikramaditya9636]

Was he a coloniser?

[@kathleendaugherty4218]

@@kumarvikramaditya9636 Today you would call him a Pilgrim. He was just an ordinary man.

[@randomvintagefilm273]

@@kumarvikramaditya9636 They were escaping religious persecution

[@kumarvikramaditya9636]

@@kathleendaugherty4218 oo cool. I am half British and half Indian and I am proud of both my ancestors. My British ancestors weren't colonisers,they resettled the island of Barbados and my Indian greatX4 times grandmother was the second cousin of Rabindranath Tagore who was the first non European to win a Nobel in literature.

[@kathleendaugherty4218]

@@kumarvikramaditya9636 Wow!

[@Celticcross688]

Same as my Family. My 10x Great-grandfather was Thomas Rogers. I think one couple were married in one of the churches in BOSTON. Some were affected by the massacre in an Indian altercation, like Richard's story.

[@cpfavorites5584]

Hi cousin! Thomas is my 12th ggfather!

[@emmataylor2748]

Watching them touching those old documents without gloves…

[@jonnavrusso8356]

Me too I cringe!

[@gracierose3076]

@Nicky L I'm sure not too many people see those books. This was for this program and all ready found for them ahead of time.

[@judymahercampbell798]

Wow! I love it when people get to the founding of the colonies.

[@nyproud590]

You mean the genocide of humans who were already there? It’s weird that you love that.

[@kurtsgirl2002]

Mine is John Alden the cooper on the Mayflower ⚓️

[@Ivehadenuff]

Can’t wait!

[@jonnavrusso8356]

Mine came with Winthrop
Breed & Avery so amazing 👏

[@macking104]

Some of my first relatives arrived in the Winthrop fleet! a few arrived earlier.

[@susannortham11.11]

Very interesting ancestry!

[@elizabethbower2168]

I can never forget that Richard Madeley was convicted of shoplifting in the 1990s

[@senecaknowledge2274]

He tried to colonise Tesco’s

[@annnee6818]

Hahaha

[@mcgarrtirishgal3903]

5:10 there's a difference between the Plymouth pilgrims and the puritans whom they were trying to flee...

[@krugerfuchs]

Yeah but the land wasn't theirs