So...
..I'm here to ask you about my great-great grandfather,
Thomas Bick, and I'm curious about this part, here.
He was a man of independent means.
We take a look at this family tree, here.
Oh! I love a family tree!
Any clues on there? OK!
So, Thomas Bick and he was a soldier and horseman, it says.
So, it's probable that, being a soldier,
his independent means are the military pension.
Living off his army pension, OK!
And he was married to Marian...Col-qwa-hoon?
Colquhoun. Col-hoon.
Amazing spelling. C-O-L-Q-U-H-O-U-N.
So, that's an Irish surname.
Now, we've got more information on Marian.
We've got her ancestors on this tree.
WHAT?!
Marian Colquhoun was one of...
..one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten...
..11 siblings.
So, Marian Colquhoun was my great-great grandmother
and she was one of 11 children.
And here are her parents...
..William Colquhoun and Eliza O'Brien.
William was a soldier and his father was also called William Colquhoun
and he was a soldier.
Lots and lots of soldiers.
So, military. Yeah, strong military theme.
So, we haven't been able to find out any more about William Senior,
the records just don't survive for him, unfortunately.
But we have got more on William Junior.
He was in the Grenadier Guards, the guards that guard Buckingham Palace.
Well, I hope he was good at his job because he had 11 children
to support and a young wife.
lot of mouths to feed.
How fantastic.
GUARD SHOUTS
Wellington Barracks is home to the Household Division,
the prestigious army regiments that guard Buckingham Palace.
Kate's three-times great grandfather William Colquhoun
served with one of them, the Grenadier Guards.
They must be boiling!
Their heads must be like furnaces under those things!
Oh, here we go. Here we go!
OK.
And the brass band played.
THEY PLAY
The regimental band are leading troops out for the traditional
changing of the guard.
It's just amazing.
I'm really thrilled to have seen that.
would very much like to know what William had to do
with all of this.
Did he play an instrument maybe? Be cool if he did.
can barely play a recorder.
Kate's here to see military historian Eamonn O'Keeffe.
Hi, Kate. Hello! Great to meet you.
Eamonn. Hi. Welcome to Wellington Barracks. Thank you very much.
It's an amazing building. Oh, it is, yeah.
So, I've managed to track down William's service record
and here's a page listing the regiments and ranks he held.
OK.
Slanty writing.
Yes.
What year is this? 1810.
"Grenadier Guards.
"Drummer."
So, he was a drummer!
And you'll notice something else. Do you see what it says here?
Can you read that?
Under something? "Underage".
He was 11 years old and enlisted in the British Army as a drummer.
What?! Mm-hm.
How was that even allowed?
Well, his father, remember, was a soldier. Yes, was a soldier.
And it was very common at the time for soldiers' sons to enlist
at a very young age. Wow.
In this period, the army was the largest employer of musical
professionals by a country mile and gave ordinary men and boys
the opportunity to learn musical skills
and, in William's case, he would have also learned to read and write
at the regimental school. I see.
In the early 19th century, when there was no easy way
to get an education,
boys as young as seven enlisted in the British Army.
Drummers like William were paid more than ordinary privates
and their training offered them greater opportunities
for social advancement.
After 20 years of being a rank and file drummer in a very elite
regiment, he's then transferred to the 30th Foot and then takes
charge of the drummers there as the Drum Major.
Drum Major? Drum Major.
So, here is an image from 1792 of the changing of the guard.
But I saw that today.
Yes! I saw this this gentleman today.
Drum Major. So, Drum Majors were highly visible.
They led their regiment marching on the parade square.
People look to the Drum Major with the dramatic flourishes of his cane,
he'd toss it up in the air.
The crowd would go wild.
He really was a larger-than-life figure.
And so he was a performer.
There's no two ways about it.
Well, it's great entertainment!
mean, I can't believe how entertained I was outside.
This is really wonderful.
Making something of...
..of his life.
Hard work and diligence and commitment.
And a musical talent.
just love that.
Eamonn is taking Kate to the Guards Chapel to teach her one
of William's drumming routines.
Now, see if it's a better fit.
There you go.
At dawn, the reveille would be played to wake all the soldiers up
and it would sound like this.
And on and on and on.
Now, you know I can't do this. No, you don't.
But we'll practise a few very basic rhythms.
Try to hold the sticks slightly higher up. Higher up.
Yep. There? That's just for better control and try to hit in the centre
of the drum. And this was what they told the drummers historically
with "Daddy Mummy".
Da-ddy...
..Mumm-y.
Da-ddy...
..Mumm-y.
Now, I want you to try to bounce two with your left, two with your right.
Two with your left, two with your right. Start off very slowly.
OK!
Nope!
Da-ddy...
..Mumm-y.
Da-ddy...
..Mumm-y.
Try to speed up a little bit.
Follow me.
Brilliant!
Slow down!
Stop! Ooh! What do you think?
Well, that's fabulous!
Oops!