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Actor Sheila Hancock was born on 22 February 1933 on the Isle of Wight and is 91 years old. She has a long history of roles in theatre, film and TV. She learned more about her family history when she appeared on Who Do You Think You Are?<\/a><\/em> in 2006. <\/p> At the start of her episode of Who Do You Think You Are?<\/em>, Sheila says she has a \u201cpassion for London<\/a>\u201d. It\u2019s a passion that dates back to a childhood spent partly in a King\u2019s Cross pub with an Italian<\/a> father, Enrico Hancock, who \u201ccried at the drop of a hat\u201d. Sheila wants to find out more about her London roots, and about a mysterious family photograph of an exotic-looking woman.<\/p> Sheila starts by finding out more about her grandmothers. The two were a chalk-and-cheese pairing who in later life shared a room in the family\u2019s Bexleyheath home where, recalls Sheila, they used \u201cto row like mad\u201d.<\/p> Emma Hancock, in particular, emerges as a colourful character. Sheila remembers her \u201cas a rather weird old lady in a moth-eaten tippet [a scarf-like wrap]\u201d whose \u201cairs and graces\u201d annoyed Sheila\u2019s other grandmother, Louisa Woodward.<\/p> But perhaps Emma\u2019s aloofness wasn\u2019t entirely an affectation. Sheila learns that her grandfather, George Hancock, was an agent for Thomas Cook in Milan at a time when there was a growth in tourism to Italy\u2019s lakes. He would have had to know in detail about the city\u2019s art and culture. Emma\u2019s father, Benjamin Croft, was also a figure of substance, the superintendent of a pumping station \u2013 and if that doesn\u2019t sound too cultured, try imagining civilisation without indoor plumbing.<\/p> In contrast to Emma, Sheila remembers Louisa Woodward as a \u201cvery solid little woman\u201d who worked all the time. This hardly conjures up the most inspiring picture and yet Louisa\u2019s family history proves to be every bit as intriguing as that of Emma.<\/p> Her father, James, was married to the gloriously monikered Louisa Octavia Zurhorst. Going back another generation, Sheila\u2019s 2x great grandfather was Hamnet Zurhorst. A metalworker<\/a> with a company that manufactured steam engines for ships, Hamnet evidently fell on hard times because he ended up living in an almshouse<\/a>.<\/p> For Sheila, still trying to identify the woman in the old photograph<\/a>, it\u2019s proof that she needs to go back further in time. This is confirmed by a visit to an expert on clothes and costumes at Sotheby\u2019s, who says the image probably dates from the 1830s. Could she be Hamnet\u2019s mother?<\/p> Success. With the help of the International Genealogical Index<\/a>, Sheila learns that Hamnet\u2019s mother was called Ann-Judith Williams. The portrait shows someone who is nouveau riche, holding a book to demonstrate her learning. It\u2019s soon clear that it\u2019s Ann-Judith. Sheila also learns that Ann-Judith and her husband, Frederick, had a big family.<\/p> The trade directories<\/a> at the London Metropolitan Archives<\/a> reveal a family success story. Growing steadily wealthier through the shipping business, Frederick became a freeman of London. As for the unusual name, the archives also reveal that Frederick\u2019s father, Herman, lived in Rotterdam<\/a> before emigrating to Ireland<\/a> and then London. Ann-Judith too was in business. At a time when London was buzzing with an entrepreneurial spirit, she dealt in \u201cready-made linen\u201d.<\/p> Sheila, who lives in Hammersmith, is delighted by what she\u2019s found. \u201cIt\u2019s reinforcing why I feel so essentially a Londoner,\u201d she says. \u201cI love this city and I love this river [the Thames]. The feeling of the power of this river runs through the story. My relatives have lived on or near the river and I\u2019ve ended up living on the river.\u201d<\/p> But what became of Frederick and Ann-Judith? The couple were able to retire to St Peter Port in Guernsey, a tax haven. On the island, Sheila visits Ann-Judith\u2019s grave. \u201cMy mind is peopled with ancestors,\u201d says the actress, \u201cI\u2019ve filled in a picture of these people that is so vivid.\u201d<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Rich Marshall Published: Thursday, 22 February 2024 at 09:41 AM Actor Sheila Hancock was born on 22 February 1933 on the Isle of Wight and is 91 years old. She has a long history of roles in theatre, film and TV. She learned more about her family history when she appeared on Who Do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":31659,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/02\/sheila-hancock-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Rich Marshall Published: Thursday, 22 February 2024 at 09:41 AM Actor Sheila Hancock was born on 22 February 1933 on the Isle of Wight and is 91 years old. She has a long history of roles in theatre, film and TV. She learned more about her family history when she appeared on Who Do…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/31658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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