This week on Who Do You Think You Are? Australian actor and singer Jason Donovan traced his roots.

Jason was born in Melbourne in 1968. He was brought up by his father, Terence, and is estranged from his mother, Susan Menlove. Susan’s mother Joan looked after Jason when he was a child while both his parents were busy with their show business careers.

Jason Donovan (copyright Phil Guest)

Jason’s maternal great grandmother, Eileen Dawson, was born 1886 in Melbourne. Eileen was also in show business and Jason visited Judy McCard, his mother’s cousin, to find out more. Judy confirmed that Eileen started her stage career in 1903 when her father put her on the stage. Eileen headlined nightly at the Sydney Opera House at the height of her career.

Eileen’s father was Simeon Lyons who was born in Tasmania. Joseph Lyons, Simeon’s father, first arrived in Tasmania in 1842. The findmypast.co.uk team found Joseph with wife Rosetta on our 1841 census before they left England:

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We also found Joseph, Rosetta and Simeon in the 1861 census on findmypast.co.uk:

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Jason traced his family back seven generations to find William Cox who was born 1764 in Dorset, England. Here you can see William’s baptism record, recently published on findmypast.co.uk courtesy of the Dorset Family History Society:

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From this record we can tell that William’s father was Robert Cox - one generation further back than Jason found during his research.

When he was 36, William volunteered on board the convict ship Minerva; Jason assumed he was a convict but he was actually the captain of the ship, in charge of the convicts and soldiers on board. William’s ship arrived in Sydney harbour in 1800 and during the voyage his wife Rebecca gave birth to their baby.

By 1814 William and the convicts had built 60 miles of road across the Blue Mountains from Sydney to Mount York. Jason read Cox’s memoirs which described difficult conditions, including traversing a sheer rock face. William treated the men as equals and looked after them well. In 1815 the men laid the final stretch of road - it was 101 miles long in total. This road linked Sydney to the Interior and paved the way for settlers to make their way inland to start a new life.

William died in 1837. Today’s road still follows traces of his original route.

Jason was pleased to connect with his Australian roots. The findmypast.co.uk team, however, have found more evidence in our records of Jason’s British ancestry in his paternal line.

Jason’s Donovan line were based in Staines, Middlesex as far back as we could trace them - until we got to his great-great-great-grandparents who were both born in Ireland.

Here you can see Jason’s great-grandfather Walter Donovan and great-great-grandparents John and Martha Donovan on this 1911 census return on findmypast.co.uk:

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This census return shows Walter as an Examiner and Packer for Wallpapers Ltd, while John worked as a Coal Porter. Martha had given birth to a staggering 14 children and the census form shows 12 people living in five rooms.

We also found Jason’s ancestors on the 1861 census on findmypast.co.uk. Here you can see Jason’s great-great-grandfather John (aged three) and great-great-great-grandparents, Mathew and Catherine Donovan:

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Mathew, described as a Labourer, and Catherine were both born in Ireland.

The Rowat(t) family, another side of Jason’s paternal family history, provide more British heritage and a black sheep of the family. The Rowat side were based in Kingston, Surrey until we get back to Jason’s great-great-great-grandfather who was born in Scotland.

The 1901 census on findmypast.co.uk shows Jason’s great-great-grandfather Robert Rowatt as a prisoner in HM Prison Holloway (Holloway was not made female-only until 1903):

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Robert is listed as a Bricklayer and can be found at home with his family in both the 1891 and 1911 censuses.

We found Jason’s great-great-great-grandfather Thomas Rowat, who was born in Scotland, on findmypast.co.uk’s 1851 census:

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This census return shows that Thomas was employed as a Carpenter and was lodging in Kingston with a widowed laundress and her grandson.

Don’t forget to watch Who Do You Think You Are? tonight at 9pm on BBC1.

This week Australian singer and actor Jason Donovan embarks on a journey to trace his estranged mother’s side of his family tree. He discovers links to show business he didn’t know he had, a British miscarriage of justice and traces his tree all the way back to the time of the Australian settlers.

Jason Donovan (copyright Phil Guest)

Alexander began the show by saying he had always been called ‘posh’ and that he would be disappointed if his research didn’t reveal a ‘posh’ background. As it turned out, he didn’t need to worry…

Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong was born in 1970 - we found Alexander’s birth record in findmypast.co.uk’s records:

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Alexander started his journey by talking to his parents and revealed that he wanted to learn more about his mother Virginia Thompson-McCausland’s side of the family. Virginia’s mother was Helen McCausland. Helen’s father was Maurice Marcus McCausland, Alexander’s great grandfather, who was born in 1872.

We found Maurice’s birth record in findmypast.co.uk’s record collection:

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Maurice’s parents were Laura and Connolly.

Alexander wanted to find out how the McCauslands did so well for themselves. He learned that his 6x great grandmother Mary Boughton was a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Charlotte, confirming Alexander’s solid link to royalty in the 18th century. Mary died in 1786.

Mary had two sons, Edward and Charles. Charles was Alexander’s 5x great grandfather. Edward inherited the baronetcy from his cousin Sir Theodosius in a controversial turn of events.

Alexander discovered a letter which Edward sent to Charles informing him of Theodosius’ death. Edward described the death as ‘wonderful’ news because it meant he would inherit the baronetcy. All was not well, however, as Theodosius’ death was deemed suspicious and his body was examined by physicians, who claimed he’d been poisoned.

Alexander travelled to Boughton Hall to read the records of the trial which followed to see if Edward acquired the baronetcy through foul play.

Alexander Armstrong (Copyright Justin Sneddon 2007)

In the end Edward wasn’t implicated - Captain John Donellan, Theodosius’ brother in law, was tried for the murder instead. He was found guilty of poisoning Theodosius, although Alexander thought it was more likely that he had died from syphilis, as Donellan claimed and medical records supported.

When Edward died in 1794 he left his estate to his illegitimate daughters and left Charles £100 - a pittance compared to the value of his estate. Alexander thought it very unfair that Edward disinherited Charles, describing him as a ‘rogue’.

Alexander discovered that Mary Boughton, his 6x great grandmother, was the great granddaughter of the first Duke of Beaufort, Alexander’s 9x great grandfather Henry Somerset. Today the Beauforts are one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in the country.

Henry’s father was Edward Somerset, 6th Earl of Worcester, who lost most of the family’s fortune in the 16th century during the civil war. Edward donated money to King Charles I from early on in the civil war; he loaned the King more than £70 million in today’s money.

Charles I made Edward the Earl of Glamorgan and made him secret envoy to the Catholic confederates in Ireland. The King’s letter detailing this fell into the wrong hands and he had no choice but deny all knowledge of the mission and accuse Edward of high treason. Edward was imprisoned in Ireland and his home, Raglan Castle, fell. In 1649 King Charles was executed.

Edward never again occupied the family seat of Raglan. Alexander felt that Edward was heroic and didn’t get the reward he deserved.

Edward turned to science in later life. He invented a water commanding engine which harnessed steam power 40 years before steam engines were invented. Edward died in 1667 and it was believed that he literally took the designs for the steam engine to his grave.

We searched our parish record collection and found Edward’s parish burial record:

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In a bizarre twist 200 years later, a group of engineers took a trip to Raglan in 1861 to exhume a model of the engine from Edward’s grave. Alexander found a detailed account of the mission which stated that the engineers hoped to find model of the engine in Edward’s tomb but after a thorough search failed to find anything.

Finally, Alexander traced the earliest roots of the Somerset family and discovered Edward III 20 generations back in the 1300s. Edward III was a distant relative of William the Conqueror, making William the Conqueror Alexander’s 27 x great grandfather!

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured, answers your questions.

From Victoria Hopkins in Norwich:

‘I’m trying to discover what happened to my stepmum’s grandfather Vasco Agolini (born c.1882) and his wife Elena Agolini (nee Gawlowska, born c.1885). The only papertrace I can find of them in the UK is the births of their two children, one in Cardiff (Yolanda b.1913) and one in Southport (Elenora b.1914).

The ship’s manifest of the Demerera sailing from Liverpool in 1915 has Vasco’s name on it…but it is crossed through! Does that mean he didn’t board the ship? I thought maybe he was interned but I understand these records were lost in WW2 incendiary raids. I really don’t know where to turn next. ‘

Steve says:

‘Thanks for your question.

It is hard to know what to propose next, as I cannot tell from your email what else you know about Vasco and his wife Elena after WW1. There are so many options: Vasco may have remained in the UK but changed his name, or he may have emigrated, or he could have returned to his native Italy.

From your email, it seems likely that Vasco and Elena were very recent arrivals in England – particularly if you cannot find them on the 1911 census. It may also be the case that they were itinerant, which would add to the difficulty of tracking down documentary evidence of them.

The passenger list you refer to shows Vasco Agolini, aged 33, an Italian artist booked to travel 2nd class with a group of artists (presumably theatrical or music hall performers rather than fine art painters) on the SS Demerara from Liverpool to Buenos Aires in May 1915. He is on a page of the list for alien passengers, so had not naturalised at that time – he is still a subject of the Kingdom of Italy. The group were going on tour rather than intending to emigrate, as the last column of the list shows their ‘country of intended future permanent residence’ as England.

Other pages of the same passenger list show more artists, both alien and British, travelling to Buenos Aires, several of whom are struck out in pencil as is Vasco. I agree that this suggests that he did not sail – perhaps because he missed the boat accidentally, perhaps because of a deliberate change of heart given the conditions of wartime and the fact of his wife and young children.

An Italian such as Vasco would technically have been an enemy alien during WW1, irrespective of his personal politics, and, therefore, subject to internment. It is generally thought that very few records survive, although there are various series at The National Archives (which is always the first place to look for nationally significant records). See TNA’s helpful Research Guide on Internees for more details. Another online resource worth checking for the availability of records is Access To Archives, hosted by TNA - this enables you to check nationwide across the holdings of participating archives.

It might also be worth checking speculatively the local record offices and reference libraries in the Southport and general Merseyside region in case they hold anything on local enemy internees. The well-known internment camps on the Isle of Man would have been nearby but unfortunately there is very little individual name level information surviving - click here (PDF) for more information.

There are references to records held by the International Red Cross but I have no information as to whether these are searchable in practice. Finally, you should consider contacting the Anglo-Italian Family History Society in case they have any suggestions for you.’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured, answers your questions.

From Chris Hobson in Sheffield:

‘I am trying to find a great great grandfather who was born in 1823. His name was Thomas Woodhouse, born in Sheffield, and he joined the army serving in Ireland, Glerkad barracks Glasgow, Canada and Portsmouth. He must have served 12 years between 1842 and 1854 but I cannot find any trace of him in findmypast.co.uk’s military records.

I think he was overseas in 1841 because his family is not on the census. I also cannot find any record of his marriage to Maria from Lavenham, Suffolk. Can you help please?’

Steve says:

‘Thanks for your question.

If you cannot find your ancestor in the Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service Records, it is worth trying again in future. The reason for this is that we will be adding related series of records over the next months. The first will be Militia records 1806 to 1915 from The National Archives’ WO96 series; while it may not have been true in the case of your ancestor, there was movement out of the army into the militia, sometimes after a break of years, following completion of regular service.

In such cases, it is just possible that records might be with the Militia series WO96 rather than in the Chelsea Pensioner WO97.

We also have plans to add further complementary records relating to the 19th century soldier towards the end of this year and over the course of 2011.

In the meantime, I note from the 1861 census that the recorded details of Thomas Woodhouse’s eldest children then living at home – Thomas, born circa 1843/44 in ‘America British Colonies’, Ann, born 1845/46 in ‘Taranca’ (maybe Tauranga?) and David, born 1852/53 in ‘Glasc, Scotland’ (Glasgow?) – certainly indicate a strong possibility that the family could have been travelling with the British Army for at least a decade.

It is also possible, therefore, that his marriage may have taken place outside the jurisdiction of England & Wales (perhaps in Ireland or Canada). Therefore, if you have not done so already, it is worth searching at least the army chaplains’ and regimental records among the overseas BMD indexes on findmypast.co.uk. Please bear in mind that these official records from the General Register Office are known to be incomplete.

Genealogy is sometimes, even often, frustrating and unfortunately there does not seem to be an immediate answer to the difficulties you are encountering at present. The amount of information which is being digitised and made available online, however, is ever-increasing and it is quite possible that what now strikes you as a brick wall could become straightforward to solve in 18 months’ or two years’ time.

Of course, if in the meantime any readers have any ideas, please send them in as usual!’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured, answers your questions.

From Barbara Jarvis in Bromley, Greater London:

‘I am trying to find some information about a probable great or great great uncle whose medals I have inherited. They are from South Africa and the first one has a date bar 1878-9. The inscription is ‘1724 Pte J Lipscombe 1/13 Foot’. The second medal is inscribed ‘2100 Pte J Lipscombe. Som L I’.

As far as I know they belonged to the same person, who may have been my paternal grandmother’s brother or uncle. Are you able to tell me where I might get his military history or any other information? I cannot find a J Lipscombe on any census.’

Steve says:

‘Thanks for your question, Barbara.

You are in luck here, as your man is to be found in the Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service records which we have recently been publishing on findmypast.co.uk. The originals of these records are held at The National Archives; we have scanned and indexed them.

They are the surviving army service records of men who were pensioned out from the British Army within the period 1760 to 1913 (although at present only the records up to 1900 have been published online - the period from there to 1913 will follow later this summer). Some of the soldiers were indeed Chelsea Pensioners resident at the Royal Hospital Chelsea; however, the great majority were out-pensioners receiving a home pension at home.

There is an entry in the database for a Private 1724 later 2100 John Lipscombe (sometimes Lipscomb without the e) of the 13th Foot, complete with no fewer than 10 images. These give all sorts of fascinating information - a physical description, his medical history, a complete potted history of his army career including the Sekukuni Campaign in South Africa in 1878 and his related medal entitlement (South African Medal and Clasp 1878/79). You can also see details of his immediate family: mother, brother, sister and wife, with date and place of their marriage.

You can search for Private John Lipscombe in the British Army service records and download the images here.’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Discover My Past Scotland is a monthly online magazine which is the only available genealogical and historical reference resource dedicated to Scottish ancestry.

Don’t miss September’s issue, published on 30 August. This 40-page magazine is packed with special features and how-to guides to connect you with your Scottish Heritage, including:

• Gateways to the world – Scotland’s maritime links
• Scottish freemasons – from poets to presidents
• Blogs for the family historian
• Valentines of Dundee – pictorial heritage
• Trace your blacksmith ancestors
• Spotlight on Kintyre
• Expert Q&A
• Family history newsround, library and events

Find out more about Discover My Past Scotland and how to subscribe here.

Discover My Past Scotland September issue

Remember to tune in to Who Do You Think You Are? tonight at 9pm on BBC1. Comedian Alexander Armstrong is the celebrity tracing his ancestry this week, and he’s keen to find out for sure how posh he really is.

Alexander discovers that he is linked to one of the wealthiest families in the country, closely connected to the King, which proves his aristocratic roots. But what other discoveries will he make, and will they all be so pleasant?

Alexander Armstrong (Copyright Justin Sneddon 2007)

I joined findmypast.co.uk at the start of the year and walked straight into my baptism of fire: reindexing the birth, marriage and death records.

As head of the data team, I am responsible for the quality of the data we receive from two separate transcription companies. I have to ensure that they meet their guarantees of quality so that everything falls into place in time for the launch.

Richard Jackson

We received the files in quarterly batches, usually with one file per quarter - for the births alone this amounted to more than 600 files and 113 million records. The challenges came in verifying that we were not missing any records and ensuring that all of the 800,000 images were in place and of high enough quality and that we could identify and standardise any fields that had been transcribed in error.

We shared knowledge with the transcription companies, provided them with lookup tables for valid districts, common first and last names and provided regular feedback so they could validate their transcriptions before delivering them to us. This ensured that we were as close as possible to our desired accuracy levels before we handled the data ourselves.

That said, there was still plenty of work to be done. By programmatically checking the files we received for gaps and inconsistencies, e.g., comparing the representation of first letters of surname across quarters, we were able to identify and plug plenty of gaps well before the project neared completion.

One of the most time consuming parts of the births project was cleaning up the registration districts from their incorrectly transcribed values into something that could be used in a search. Our list of invalid districts included over 60,000 incorrect values which all had to be standardised. My colleague Francesca Aiyeola and I spent many hours trying to work out if that ‘B’ should have been an ‘R’ or an ‘H’ and acquired a fine appreciation for the transcribers’ skills and patience in the process!

We hope that you enjoy the birth records and that you’re looking forward to the fully indexed marriages and deaths, coming soon.

We’ve had some exciting news from The National Archives this morning!

They have just made the correspondence between a number of English and Welsh Poor Law Unions available online. If you’ve found any of your ancestors living in workhouses in our census collection, these documents can help you establish what their living conditions were like.

You can search and download the records for free now from The National Archives’ website.