Episode 77: Claire's convict ancestors

Welcome to episode 77, in which Claire lets the skeletons out of her closet by sharing the stories of two of her convict ancestors - her four-times great-grandparents William and Mary Turfrey. While she knew much of William's past, as an Oxfordshire boatman who got himself transported in 1845 for burglary, she realised that Mary's convict record was a complete mystery. It hadn't rated a mention in the family history book, but it turned out that wasn't because it was a boring tale - in fact, quite the opposite. The crime she'd been convicted of was so shameful there had been attempts to keep it quiet...To finish things off Ben has a case from 1963 which saw a group of amateur criminals hoping to strike it rich engineer one of the most infamous kidnappings in American history - that of Frank Sinatra Jr.If you'd like to reach out pls email us at [email protected]