Yorkshire Day is held on 1 August every year and is a celebration of the culture and history of the county. We’re getting in the spirit here at findmypast.co.uk and have found some lovely Yorkshire examples in our records.

First up is the family history of the newest member of the royal family, Mike Tindall. Tindall married Zara Phillips, the Queen’s granddaughter, on Saturday at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh.

As with the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton earlier this year, this weekend’s royal wedding was an example of a royal marrying out of the upper classes. We can see Mike Tindall’s working class Yorkshire roots by taking a look at his ancestors in the 1911 census.

Mike Tindall's maternal family - please click to enlarge

Tindall’s maternal great-great-grandparents Charles and Fanny Machell were living in Yeadon in the West Riding of Yorkshire at the time of the 1911 census. Their census form reveals that Fanny had given birth to a staggering 13 children, three of whom had sadly died by 1911.

Charles and Fanny were living with nine of their surviving offspring in 1911. Charles was employed as a stone mason at a stone quarry, while the eldest of the Machell brood were employed as nippers, woolliers and twisters at a cloth mill. The census form also reveals that their property only had five rooms – rather small for such a large family!

Mike Tindall's paternal family - please click to enlarge

Tindall’s paternal great-great-grandmother Sarah Ann Tindall can also be spotted in the 1911 census. She was a widow at this point in her life and was living in Skipton in the West Riding of Yorkshire with two daughters, three grandsons and a boarder.

Sarah’s daughters, Mike Tindall’s great-great-aunts, appear to have been rather entrepreneurial. Each was recorded as being a ‘joint restaurant proprietress’ in the 1911 census.

Check back later today for another Yorkshire example from our records and enjoy Yorkshire day!

The newest addition to the Beckham clan, Harper Seven Beckham, was born yesterday to much speculation about the inspiration behind the little girl’s name. Findmypast.co.uk has searched through the 1911 census and can reveal that baby Beckham is not the first to have been given the name Harper, though most people with this name 100 years ago were male.

We’ve found four female Harpers in the 1911 census, including fourteen-year-old Harper Lane. Harper was working as a Nurse and Housemaid at The Bank House in Royston, Hertfordshire – just 45 minutes away from where Victoria Beckham was born herself.

Harper Lane's 1911 census return - please click to enlarge

By comparison, there were 128 male Harpers in the 1911 census. It seems odd that after reportedly wanting a girl for so long, the Beckhams appear to have given their baby a traditionally male name.

What do you think of the Beckhams’ choice of name and have you found any ancestors named Harper?

With the royal wedding almost upon us, we’ve been getting in the mood by exploring our marriage records.

When you search for your ancestors’ marriage records on findmypast.co.uk, we will actually match up their marriage records for you. We’ve chosen a royal wedding-themed example to demonstrate how this will benefit your family history research…

We searched for ‘Catherine Middleton’ marrying ‘William’ to see what our search returned. Note that we’re able to search for both spouses at once. Previously you had to search for both spouses separately then match up their records yourself.

Our first few search results look like this:

Looking in the ‘marriage matched’ column, the results with three green ticks show us the definite matches for Catherine Middleton marrying William. The results with one or two green ticks will display a list of all the people that Catherine might have married. This is a great way of solving those marriage mysteries - you can search using one partner’s name and we will show you all the possible people they could have married.

Now is the perfect time to search for your ancestors’ marriages. Try our free trial to access our marriage records for free for two weeks. Have you come across any royal-themed marriages in your family tree?

It seems that crime writer Agatha Christie, author of the Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot detective novels, was somewhat of a mystery woman herself. One eagle-eyed findmypast.co.uk customer, Ian Plimmer, dropped us a line this week to tell us that she actually appears twice in the 1911 census.

Christie, who was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller 120 years ago this month, appears at the home of her grandmother in Ealing, Middlesex on the night the census was taken. The image below shows her listed as Agatha M. C. Miller, aged 20, born in Torquay, Devon.

Agatha Christie in Ealing in the 1911 census - click to enlarge

However, she was also recorded around 200 miles away, living with her mother in Torquay. This census return lists her as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, with her age and place of birth matching the previous record. In the Nationality column on the right of the form, Agatha’s mother noted that her father was American.

Agatha Christie in Torquay in the 1911 census - click to enlarge

We’ve spotted a few examples of people being listed twice in the 1911 census like Agatha Christie was – were any of your own ancestors recorded twice?

Actor Alan Cumming featured in the final episode of Who Do You Think You Are? last night. Alan’s maternal grandfather, Thomas Darling, had always been a bit of a mystery, a ‘black hole’ in Alan’s family history. The family story was that Thomas had died in a shooting accident but Alan had heard a rumour that his death wasn’t an accident at all. Alan embarked on a journey to discover the truth.

Alan Cumming

Alan was born in Scotland 1965. Growing up he was close to his mother Mary Darling and her mother Margaret Noble. Alan started his journey by visiting his mother in Dundee to find out what she knew.

Tom Darling was Mary’s father, Alan’s grandfather. Alan found out that he left home and joined the army when he was 17. Tom was stationed in Inverness where he met and married Margaret. Tom then went to France and Burma as a courier. Alan read Tom’s service record which described him as ‘an excellent type’.

Alan travelled to Edinburgh to find out more about his grandfather’s early military career. Tom worked as a cook and was described as a ‘reliable worker’, another testament to his excellent service.

When Tom was 24 he served as a despatch rider in the army in France, acting as a crucial line of communication between battalion headquarters and the front line. He was awarded a military medal in 1940 for his great courage and the fact that he showed no regard for his own personal safety.

Alan travelled to France to find out exactly what his grandfather did to win the medal.

Alan read Tom’s battalion report which described the many journeys he made on his motorbike along a ‘fire-swept’ road. This road had no cover and Tom risked his life repeatedly among the mortar and machine gun fire to get the message to the battalion headquarters.

Tom was eventually evacuated from Dunkirk, leaving behind many comrades who were either trapped or dead. Alan thought that this experience must have psychologically damaged his grandfather.

Back in London, Alan looked for clues about what happened to Tom when he returned from France. Tom served in times when post-traumatic stress disorder wasn’t recognised, let alone treated, and Tom had no real chance to recover. Two years after returning from France, Tom was sent to India where in 1944 he fought against the Japanese army in a fierce battle.

Alan read Tom’s medical history and found out that Tom was admitted to hospital for a gunshot wound after this battle. Tom was ill for many months, and his medical history didn’t make it clear what had actually happened to him. Alan thought it was possible that Tom was admitted to a psychiatric ward during this time, as it was common for these records to be deliberately destroyed. There was such a stigma attached to mental illness at this time that it was covered up wherever possible.

Alan’s next stop was to visit Bristol to meet David, a soldier who fought with his grandfather in 1944. David said that the soldiers all looked up to Tom as a kind of mentor. David described Tom as big, strong, tough and someone you didn’t argue with. David said he genuinely respected Tom.

In 1945 Tom returned to Britain from India to visit his wife and children. They didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the last time they ever saw him.

Tom left the army in 1949 then joined the police force in Malaya, now Malaysia. Alan learned that his grandparents were recorded as ‘separated’ at this time and felt that this could have been the reason that Tom decided to go to Malaya. Tom sent money home to the family but didn’t visit them again.

Within seven months of being in Malaya, 35 year old Tom died in 1951. No records of his death existed in Britain so Alan travelled to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to find out once and for all how he died. The official record of Tom’s death from the Malaysian National Archives stated that Tom died from a gunshot wound to head. Alan wanted to know if it was suicide or murder.

Alan travelled to Cha’ah, south of Kuala Lumpur, for more answers. He spoke to Roy, a police officer in Malaya at the same time as Tom. Roy wasn’t there when Tom died but he told Alan the story he’d heard - that Tom died during a game of Russian roulette. Roy believed that Tom wouldn’t have deliberately killed himself and that either he got careless or ran out of luck.

This revelation deeply shocked Alan and he questioned Tom’s state of mind to play Russian roulette on what Roy described as a regular basis.

Alan then spoke to two brothers who had been children when Tom lived in Malaya. They said the people loved Tom very much and that their father, Tom’s friend, named a park and a road in Cha’ah after him: ‘Darling Walk’. The brothers took Alan to see this road and to the place where Tom played Russian roulette the day he died.

A police telegram confirmed that Tom died during a game of Russian roulette. The letter the police sent to Tom’s wife described his death as a terrible accident. She never knew what really killed him, and Alan finally located the source of the family legend that Tom’s death was a shooting accident.

Don’t miss the last episode in the series of Who Do You Think You Are? tonight at 9pm on BBC1.

Tonight actor Alan Cumming traces his Scottish ancestry and learns about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his maternal grandfather’s death. Alan’s grandfather was only 35 when he died in Malaysia and tonight Alan discovers the unexpected truth behind how his grandfather actually died.

Alan Cumming

On Saturday 28 August the Battle of Britain commemorative flight took place and I was lucky enough to be on board.

The flight was organised by the Battle of Britain Historical Society to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle this year and was sponsored by findmypast.co.uk, along with the John Lewis Partnership and Serco.

Amy Sell, findmypast.co.uk's marketing executive

Fourteen Battle of Britain veterans attended, all of whom are now in their 80s and 90s. There were also 15 war widows on board and members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force who also played an important role in the Battle of Britain.

Here’s Battle of Britain veteran William Walker with findmypast’s marketing manager Debra Chatfield:

The specially chartered British Airways flight took off from Heathrow Terminal Five. We flew over the areas in which the RAF was engaged in combat with the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. The plane flew over the coast of Southern England and the English Channel.

Two surviving fighter planes - a Spitfire and a Hurricane - joined the flight for part of the way. The pilots had flown these aircrafts during the Battle of Britain. Here you can see the Spitfire and Hurricane alongside our plane:

My colleagues Debra Chatfield (findmypast’s marketing manager) and Paul Yates (head of findmypast) were also on board the flight, as well as our two lucky competition winners Sally Hayward and her guest Stuart.

There were a few other notable figures on board the flight: defence minister Dr Liam Fox, South African High Commissioner Dr Zola Skweyiya, Belgian Diplomatic Counsellor Pascal Gregoire, actor Edward Fox and Battle of Britain Historical Society supporter Bamber Gascoigne.

We took this photo of Edward Fox speaking at the champagne reception:

It was a fascinating and memorable day and a fitting tribute to the bravery of the men who fought for our country.

See more photos of the flight on our Facebook page.

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!