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Who Do You Think You Are? - 4th October 2009

Castle featured on the Australian version of the hit BBC series

Earlier this year the castle was contacted by researchers for this popular series. They had discovered information- new to the castle- about one of the people tried at the Assize Court in 1824. Sylvester Thornton was accused of arson at a factory in Manchester and ended up, as did so many others at this period, transported to the penal colonies of Australia.
We were delighted to be able to participate and filming took place in March in various Lancaster locations, including the cells in which Sylvester would have been held awaiting his appearance in court.
His famous descendant, the well-known and much- loved Australian actress Sigrid Thornton, was on a real voyage of discovery, and it soon emerged that Sylvester (various placed at between 11 and 15 years old at the time) may well have been a scapegoat for the crime he stood accused of.
It was a delight to meet the descendant of 'one of ours', who, like so many others before her, was able to make the long trip back to England and see the place where their ancestor's life took such a sharp detour.