The Strictly Come Dancing star learns of her ancestor’s devastating fate in a new episode of Who Do You Think You Are?
Amy Dowden is left devastated in an upcoming episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (Image: BBC/It Takes Two)
Amy Dowden discovers a shocking family tragedy as she delves into her ancestry.
The Strictly Come Dancing icon has taken part in BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? where she learns about her lineage.
At one point, Amy is left in tears as she hears of a family member who suffered from breast cancer and died at a young age, leaving several children behind.
The Welsh dancer is left devastated, as she reflects on her own cancer battle, having been diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023 and suffering health setbacks as she underwent treatment.
Elsewhere during the programme, Amy learns of a 13-year-old who was shot dead in an awful accident.
After hearing of a rumour of a murder from her mum’s side of the family, Amy begins her journey in west Wales, where she seeks to find out if her ancestor was the victim or the perpetrator.
“Was there a murder, was one of my family involved? Detective Dowden on a mission,” Amy declares.
She meets her distant cousin Wyn at his home in Ceredigion, where he shows Amy a family Bible that belonged to her three-times great-grandfather.
Inside it, she reads the name Elinor Jenkins, with information revealing that she was shot dead by the “cruel man Offley Owen” in November 1888, when she was just a teenager.
“Why would somebody want to shoot a 14-year-old girl?” Amy wonders, shocked to hear the distressing news of her ancestor’s murder.
“When I heard of this mysterious death, I didn’t think it would be somebody within our family who was killed, I assumed one of our family members shot somebody. I was not expecting this and not expecting a child,” she says.
Elinor was Amy’s three-times great aunt, and was killed at a nearby farm, Berthlwyd, where she worked as a servant.
The dancer meets historian Dr Angela Muir, who confirmed that Elinor was actually aged 13, and was working at the farm with a 17-year-old boy called Offley Owen.
She reads newspaper reports that detail what happened, revealing that Elinor had been sent to fetch water before a witness heard Owen saying “I’ve shot Nelly dead”.
Owen had taken up the gun “with a purpose of showing her”, but was unaware it was loaded, and was supposedly being playful.
He did, however, tragically kill her, with Elinor being shot in the mouth.
“This is awful,” Amy says. “That would have been an instant death.” The historian agrees, saying: “It’s quite horrific.”
However, Amy finds it difficult to believe the death came about as an accident. She wonders: “He obviously had intention to use that gun,” adding: “To me, this was planned.”
Amy hears about the coroner’s inquest that took place after Elinor’s death, leaving her “confused”.
The reports eventually confirmed that Owen was charged with manslaughter, and would have been tried in the assizes court in Carmarthen.
“I’m horrified by what I’ve read, it’s going to take a little time to process it,” Amy admits.
In Carmarthen, Amy meets another historian who explains that Owen pleaded not guilty at court and the prosecution announced they would call no witnesses.
She’s stunned to discover that Owen was discharged, which would often happen in cases like these during those times, as the court took into account that he had never been in trouble with the law before.
“Some part of me is not satisfied with this,” Amy says, hearing that the victim’s family didn’t get justice after the tragedy.
Seeking comfort after hearing of the outcome, Amy travels to a church in Blaenpennal, where Elinor was laid to rest.
She says: “At first when I heard that he was found not guilty, I was like, how did the family move on? How did they start to process the grief? But it does seem like it was an accident and I guess, after time, they started to forgive.”
She learns that Elinor was remembered “as a young person of more than ordinary ability”, and also that a valley near the farm where she lost her life is now named after her.
Amy says: “I never realised that a member of my family has landscape named after her, I think that’s something quite special, really touching.”
Amy Dowden’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesday 2 June at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer