Popular travel and wildlife TV presenter Kate Humble knew little about her ancestors before she agreed to appear on Who Do You Think You Are?.  And what she found was a colourful history with many surprises. Her paternal grandfather, Bill Humble, was a celebrated RAF pilot and her maternal grandfather was interned in the infamous Stalag Luft III during the Second World War.

But perhaps the biggest surprise and most moving story was that of great-great-great grandfather Joseph Humble, who worked for a colliery in Northumberland.

Kate was first alerted to Joseph Humble’s story through looking at the 1861 and 1871 censuses. On the 1861 census (below) he is listed as a ‘colliery viewer’ living alongside other mine workers in Northumberland.

Joseph Humble on the 1861 census.

But by the time of the 1871 census he had moved to Durham and was listed as a grocer and draper.

Joseph Humble on the 1871 census

There’s nothing unusual in this you might think, except that, as Kate found out he worked at the colliery at the time of the Hartley Colliery Disaster in January 1862. The event is still regarded as one of the worst mining accidents in England, and caused the death of over 200 miners.

We haven’t seen the programme yet, but our curiosity got the better of us and we did some research of our own. First stop was the Durham Mining Museum website where we found that that a ‘colliery viewer ‘is the person who gives directions as to the method of working and ventilating the mine’. In modern terms, he was the colliery manager.

Some research on the accident revealed that it was caused when a cast-iron beam for a steam engine (used to pump water from the mine) fell into the mine’s single shaft, killing several men instantly and blocking off the escape route and ventilation for the others who died of suffocation.

So as the person responsible for the workings of the mine, was Joseph Humble in some way responsible for the accident? Or was there another reason for his change in career?

Contemporary newspaper reports and local records state that Mr Humble, as the pit manager, was one of the first people to see the full horror of the disaster underground. He was said to have been deeply affected and is quoted as having said, ‘Oh, my men, my canny men, they would have done ought for me and there they are all lying dead and cold’.

Could the trauma of disaster have led him to give up his respected position in the community (incidentally, he was also an enumerator on the 1861 census) and change career? Like you, we’ll have to watch the programme (screened tonight at 9pm on BBC One) to find out…

Hit family history series Who Do You Think You Are? made a triumphant return to TV screens last week, seeing off popular entrepreneurial programme Dragons’ Den to claim the most viewers in the primetime 9pm slot.

Over 6.4 million tuned in to watch TV presenter Davina McCall find out the truth behind a family rumour that her great, great, great great-grandfather, James Bedborough, was the illegitimate son of George IV.  Davina could not substantiate the claim, but what she discovered was no less interesting.

There was a royal connection; James Bedborough was the King’s stonemason and responsible for a £1million overhaul of Windsor Castle. Davina was able to flesh out the details of his work life through the occupational records at The National Archives in Kew. You can do the same on findmypast.com using the various occupational records found in our More records section.

From the outside at least, James Bedborough appeared a respectable and successful individual. His obituary in the local press indicated he was popular and respected as Mayor of Windsor, but his will told another story. It seems he left a mountain of debt, which placed a burden on the family that survived him.   This discovery highlights the importance of checking all available sources to gain a fuller picture of an ancestor’s life.

Findmypast.com holds an index to death duty registers for the years 1796-1903. You can search these records for details of an ancestor’s will.

If you missed the first episode of Who Do You Think you Are?, you can view it on BBC iPlayer.

This week on Who Do You Think You Are?

In the second episode of the series, which will be screened this Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One, outspoken Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles examines his Irish Roots.

Watch old episodes on Blighty

Blighty, the UKTV channel available on Sky Digital (channel 534), Tiscali TV and Virgin Media (channel 206), regularly shows reruns of old episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?.  If you’re based in the UK and haven’t seen all the old episodes, it’s a great way to catch up on what you’ve missed.

Findmypast.com will be at the South West Area Group fair this Saturday, which takes place at the Winter Garden Pavilion, Weston-Super-Mare between 10am and 4pm. Admission is £2.50 (or free for under 14s) and entitles you to two free lectures: a guide to family history for beginners and a tutorial on parochial and diocesan records.   

The event takes place every two years and is attended by a host of family history societies, online-record suppliers, and other organisations.

Visit our stand to buy findmypast.com family history starter packs, which include our CD-ROM tutorials. The £9.99 pack comes with £10 worth of vouchers, and the £19.99 pack gives you £25 worth of vouchers, valid on findmypast.com and 1911census.co.uk. Our Explorer subscription vouchers, which always prove popular, will be specially discounted at the show. The three-month Explorer voucher – usually £30 – will cost £25, and the 12 month Explorer will cost £80, instead of £89.95. Vouchers make an ideal gift for any family historian.

You can also enter our competition to win a 12 month Explorer subscription, or claim 10 per cent off the price of a subscription with a special SWAG show discount code.

We hope to see you there.