Sep 2010
Hugh Quarshie’s extraordinary journey into his past last night was intriguing. His evocative story began after discovering that he might have Dutch ancestry. Naturally, he was curious to find out where the bloodline originated from.
Hugh Quarshie (copyright wookie1138)
The Holby city actor was born in Ghana in 1954 and moved to Britain with his parents when he was three years old. His father was a diplomat and his mother was a school teacher. His mother often called herself the Duchess of Abii and nobody in the family ever knew what she meant by that, or what the Royal connection was. It had remained a mystery for many years.
Hugh travelled to Ghana to find more about his mixed heritage. He began by visiting his uncle Jimmy on his 88th birthday. Jimmy is the son of Hugh’s maternal grandfather, William Reginald Phillips. Hugh was shown an intriguing wedding photograph which depicted the Phillips family as being quite wealthy and well dressed in English attire. The image was starkly contrasted, showing an exotic African family looking entirely Edwardian. William Reginald Phillips, it turns out was a successful businessman. Hugh was puzzled as to where William might have got the money to set up a business. He also discovered from Jimmy that William’s mother was called Anna Kamerling. She was half Dutch and lived in a small town called Elmina.
Hugh then travelled to Elmina to find out more about Anna Kamerling. He met some new relatives there, including his Aunt Gertrude who told Hugh that his grandfather’s half brother had been the Chief of Abii. Hugh was astonished that there might be some truth in his mother’s royal claim after all. He then visited the village of Abii to delve deeper. Hugh was told that the village Chieftancy was in dispute and that he must tread carefully. He was introduced to the acting Chief, who told Hugh that a Pieter Kamerling bought the village of Abii for his wife and children. Pieter Kamerling, a Dutch civil service Commander, had married local woman Efua Jensch. The Chief informed Hugh that as he is a ‘son of Kamerling’, he has a right to the stool and claim to the Chieftancy. Hugh politely declined.
After uncovering the Dutch side of his family, Hugh decided to travel to the Netherlands to take his research one step further and find out more about Pieter. Michel Doortmont, an associate professor in International Relations and Africa Studies at the University of Groningen, revealed that everything Hugh had been told by the Chief in Abii was true. Pieter did apply to be a civil servant in what was then called Equatorial Guinea. The records show that he did arrive in Almina in 1856, where he lived for 12 years. After falling seriously ill he returned to the Netherlands but left his family behind. Hugh was shown another record in which Pieter listed the name of his wife – the crucial bit of the puzzle. Her name was listed as Ellen van der Spek rather than Effua, though Michel informed Hugh that it’s likely that Ellen and Effua were in fact the same person.
Hugh was then put in touch with Pieter’s relative Eric Kamerling to shed some more light on Pieter’s life. To Hugh’s astonishment, Eric was able to show him the same photographs he saw in Ghana and also confirmed that Pieter did marry Effua but that she had used a different name. Hugh was shown a photograph of her and told more about Pieter’s life, including the fact that he left everything in his will to his children. This was clearly what helped them set up their trading company and also explains why the family were so well dressed in the wedding photograph.
Overall, it was a thrilling story in which all the dots were vividly connected. We’d love to know what you thought of the episode too!
The deeper you go into history with genealogy searchies it’s always best to expect the unexpected , hughs story just highlighted when two humans are left alone love and peace always prevails in the end .
I thought this episode was the best of the series so far. It was such an interesting story and, having lived in West Africa myself, I loved the amount of time spent in Ghana. Hugh Quarshie came across as a very nice guy. He has certainly inherited his father’s diplomatic skills, which he displayed very effectively in how he dealt with the chieftaincy issue.
Along with Jason Donovan’s “Who do you think you are”, I rate Hugh Quarshie’s as the most fascinating of this series. The lasting impression is that Hugh Quarshie has impeccable manners and is charming to everyone he meets - far too rare these days!
I’ll miss him in “Holby City” - who’s left to drool over?!!
By far the best episode - with a Clancy-like plot at the end. Absolutely thrilling.
i thought i was a great episode, being from ghanaian ancestory i enjoyed the way hugh quarshie went back to his roots and found a love story. when we think of the slave trade in the west coast of africa we always think of the opression of aficans but here we see a man who love his children
I’ve seen this series a few times (i’m dutch) and like it a lot. entertaining, informative, fun. i didn’t know hugh quarshie but what a nice smile he has. in this whole story you can feel love and responsability of a man for his family, but also the tragedy of this pieter kamerling who didn’t/couldn’t go back to africa. you ask yourself why..maybe it is the time, late 1800. it is clear to me that he was happier there than he was in the netherlands. too stiff??
and why did he call his wife ellen van der spek (spek=bacon) does jensch mean something in ghanees??
Absolutely fascinating. This guy seems such a lovely person and trated everyone he came into contact with with true humility.
I have been doing geneology for the past 2 years and have not as yet found anything so gripping in the various branches of my tree.
I hope the information found by Hugh gives him a lot of pleasure and a sense of wonderment at his ancestors.
Please please BBC, cure him from cancer so that he can stay in Holby city !!!
What found remarkable about this story was that both his brother and sister weren’t mentioned they both teachers and if I’m correct his sister look very much like his grandmother if BBC did more research they find number of interesting story around some people they taught
HI. I ENJOYED WATCHING YOU FIND YOUR FAMILY HISTORY.
WHEN I SAW THE PHOTO OF YPUR GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER KEMMERLING, I THOUGHT I KNOW HIM! THEN I REALISED THAT IF YOU PUT A MOUSTACHE ON ONE OF THE ACTORS {ALUN ARMSTRONG)IN “NEW TRICKS” IT WOULD BE HIM! PERHAPS HE IS RELATED TO YOU!
I just watched it!!amazing really amazing!!connected by two continents indeed….
loved it and didnt want it to end. i think there is more in this episode. how come he never shared a tear, i was moved by it lol
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