{"id":34088,"date":"2024-05-29T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/7acf24fe-032d-4073-95ea-ca0fd830e076"},"modified":"2024-05-29T02:53:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T00:53:11","slug":"sarah-millican-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/rss_feed\/sarah-millican-on-who-do-you-think-you-are-everything-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Millican on Who Do You Think You Are?: Everything you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 29 May 2024 at 00:01 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Comedian Sarah Millican was born on 29 May 1975 in South Shields and is 49 years old.<\/p>

On her episode of Who Do You Think You Are?<\/a><\/em>, she’s surprised to learn that not all her family comes from Tyneside – her 3x great grandfather James Hoult was born in Kent. It\u2019s not this that really makes his name stand out though, it\u2019s his profession. James was a diver. Sarah heads to Whitstable on the Kent coast to learn more.<\/p>

James, she discovers, was a salvager, part of a crew that went to the aid of ships in trouble, as well as making a day-to-day living from pulling up lost cargo and abandoned anchors from the seabed. The invention of diving suits in the early-19th century revolutionised this work. James, one of the world\u2019s first professional divers, was able to go down 60 feet below the waves rather than operate solely from a boat. This was tough work, as Sarah discovers when she tries on an old-fashioned diving suit with its lead weights.<\/p>

In 1843, James worked on the wreck<\/a> of a passenger steamer, the Pegasus<\/em>, off the Northumberland coast near Holy Island. Bringing up luggage was \u201cmelancholy work\u201d. Even more so was the hunt for bodies at a time when relatives would pay a reward for the recovery of the remains of loved ones. In later life, James took a steady job, working for the Tyne Commissioners on keeping shipping channels clear of obstructions. James married and had five children (Sarah: \u201cI\u2019m 37 and I\u2019ve got a cat\u2026\u201d), and an 1867 obituary recalls him as a man of a \u201cgenial and affable disposition\u201d.<\/p>