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.

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!

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!

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)

Last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are saw actor Rupert Penry-Jones eager to learn more about his Indian heritage.

Rupert was born in 1970 and he is listed below in the fully indexed birth records on findmypast.co.uk:

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Rupert began his journey by speaking to his mother, Angela Thorne. Angela was born in 1939 in Karachi, India, which was part of British India. We found Angela in our overseas birth records, as shown below.

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For the first five years of her life, Angela’s father, William Thorne, was a doctor in the army. William commanded the 29th field ambulance unit as part of the Indian Army in World War Two. William died when Rupert was 12 and he wanted to learn more about his grandfather’s time in the Indian Army.

Rupert Penry-Jones (copyright Owen Benson)

William was posted to Italy from India and was involved in the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1943, one of World War Two’s most vicious battles. Rupert’s mother told him that William never talked about his experiences in the army, so Rupert travelled to Cassino to find out more.

Rupert met a soldier who served in the battle and paid tribute to how brave William’s medical unit was. William’s unit worked on the front line, treating over 1,500 casualties with no regard for their own safety. William stayed in Italy until 1945 and returned to India where he worked until 1971.

Still with no answer as to his Indian heritage, Rupert went on to investigate his great grandfather Theophilus Thorne. Rupert visited The British Library and discovered that Theophilus was a self made man who did well for himself, despite a humble upbringing.

Theophilus was born in Somerset and joined the army as a private when he was 18, leaving behind his job as a gardener. He arrived in India in 1881 when Queen Victoria was empress of India and the British Raj was at its height. At this time in India there were plenty of opportunities for young men to prosper. Theophilus quickly rose through the army ranks to become major and he looked after ceremonial and state camps. These camps were lavish places where India’s and Britain’s elite paid homage to each other. Rupert learnt that Theophilus was part of the 1911 Delhi Durbar, a mass assembly held in Delhi to commemorate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India.

Theophilus’ army service record lists his marriage to Sarah Jane Todd in 1885 - here you can see them both on the General Register Office Index of Army Marriages in findmypast.co.uk’s armed forces marriages 1818-1994:

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Rupert discovered Sarah Jane’s baptismal record which showed her parents to be Thomas Todd and Louisa Johnstone. They got married in 1866 in South India when Louisa was just 15.

Louisa’s father, Thomas Johnstone, first went to India in 1842 where he was a sergeant in the Indian army.

Rupert travelled to India to find out once and for all if he had true Indian blood. He discovered that Thomas was stationed in Allahabad in 1857 during the uprising in India, when the Indians were rebelling against the British and their western culture. Thomas was 38 at the time and fought to calm and control the rebellion. At this time his wife Louisa and their children were in South India out of harm’s way. Rupert read some of the letters Thomas had written to Louisa which portrayed him as a loving husband and father. In 1857 Louisa received a letter from a commanding officer telling her Thomas had died after falling victim to cholera.

After tracing back six generations of his family in India, Rupert found out that Louisa’s parents were John Smith and Susannah (no surname). Rupert went to Nagpore to find out more about Susannah. Susannah’s baptism record shows her as an ‘Indo Britain’. Susannah’s and John Smith’s marriage record shows her surname as Collum.

Rupert then discovered that Susannah was baptised in June 1817 and the baptismal record showed her parents as Samuel and Elizabeth Collum. Elizabeth was born in 1816 but Rupert was unclear as to whether she was a native Indian or an Anglo-Indian.

Rupert successfully traced his mother’s line back eight generations, spanning two centuries, but never really achieved clarity around the origin of his Indian ancestry.

Make sure you tune into Who Do You Think You Are? tonight at 9pm on BBC1. This week actor Rupert Penry-Jones find out about his past. Rupert’s mother was born in Karachi and Rupert embarks on a journey to discover more about his Indian roots.

Rupert learns about his maternal grandfather, Bill, who was a doctor in India. This discovery inspires Rupert to travel to India where he finds out about his great-great-great-great grandfather Thomas who was part of the Great Indian Rebellion.

Last night, Monty Don became the latest celebrity to get the Who Do You Think You Are? treatment.

Monty Don (copyright jo-h)

The episode focused on two branches of his family tree, his maternal Hodge and paternal Keiller lines.

One of the ancestors focused on was Monty’s great-grandmother, Charlotte Augusta Hodge. The programme revealed that Charlotte was one of nine children born to the Reverend Charles Hodge and his wife, Ann. Charlotte was left behind in England when her parents and four of her elder brothers emigrated to New Zealand in the 1850s.

While taking a look at the large Hodge family in the all-new fully searchable birth records this morning, findmypast.co.uk has discovered that there was actually a tenth child – Charlotte’s twin. The image below shows the record of Charlotte Augusta Hodge’s birth in East Retford, Nottinghamshire in the July / August / September quarter of 1846. Nine lines below Charlotte is an entry for a Harriet Vere Hodge, born in the same district.

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The death index for the same quarter of 1846 reveals that Charlotte’s twin died soon after her birth. Reverend Charles and Ann Hodge’s youngest child was born four years after this tragedy and was also named Harriet, presumably in memory of the child they had lost.

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This fresh information may help Monty understand why his great-great-grandmother, Ann Hodge initially emigrated to New Zealand without her husband and family in 1850. It was speculated last night that this showed a wish to escape from her husband. However, we feel that Ann’s emotional state following the loss of one child and the recent birth of another must have played some considerable part in her actions.

Please do let us know what you thought of last night’s episode and what you think Ann’s motivations may have been for leaving her family in 1850.

Make sure you don’t miss Who Do You Think You Are? tonight at 9pm on BBC1. This week, gardener Monty Don traces his family history and discovers more about the side of his family that’s always been a bit of a mystery.

Among other things, Monty unearths what happened to the fortune his ancestors made in the marmalade business and why his immediate family didn’t see a penny. With family feuds and tragedies, tonight’s episode should be an interesting one!

Last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was a rollercoaster ride for Dervla Kirwan. She found out about her great great uncle Michael Collins, a key player in establishing the Irish Free State, and the political relationship between Michael and his nephew, Finian.

Dervla Kirwan (copyright damo1977)

The programme spent a lot of time focusing on Dervla’s great grandfather, Henry Kahn. Henry was Jewish and married Teresa O’Shea, a Catholic, in what was for the time a very unusual (yet very romantic) union. Henry was sentenced to 12 months in prison for breaking a window, and in his hearing was subjected to anti-semitic comments by a notorious judge, who refused to let Henry make a statement in his defence and condemned him as ‘a specimen of your nation and your race that cause you to be hunted out of every country’.

This incident was so grievous (and a reflection of how Jews were viewed at that time) that it led to a question being asked in the House of Commons and it was even retold in James Joyce’s epic novel Ulysses.

Henry’s prison sentence, which involved months of hard labour, ‘broke’ him and he died aged 50 after suffering a series of strokes. Dervla described her journey into her past as ‘tough’ but said that she would recommend anyone to do the same. It just goes to show that tracing your family history can throw up some unexpected revelations, not all of which might be easy to hear.