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.

As the 2010 Wimbledon Championships head towards the closing stages, we’ve searched our census records from 1841 to 1911 to find some interesting tennis-themed entries.

In the 1901 census, a male Venus Williams can be found working as a labourer in Hampshire. Venus’ parents were hawkers and lived in a tent/caravan along with Venus’ seven other siblings. Here you can view the census return:

Venus Williams on the 1901 census - click to enlarge

In the 1891 census, a Miss Mary Wimbledon aged 3 can be found in the house of her 22 year old sister Ann Ball at 160 Latimer Road, London. Also present in the house were Ann Ball’s husband Richard and their son James, who was 7 weeks old.

Ann Ball also appears 10 years earlier in the 1881 census when she still carried her maiden name, Wimbledon. She was recorded living with her parents, William and Elizabeth Wimbledon, and her four siblings. The family were living at 14 Thresher Cottages, Kensington, where William worked as a brick maker and Elizabeth as a washer.

A Fred Perry can be found in the 1861 census living with his parents and sister who were tailors in Sawbridgeworth:

Fred Perry on the 1861 census - click to enlarge

Another person by the name of Fred Perry can be found in Lenton, Nottinghamshire as a lace winder, aged 14. Much like the Fred Perry of Wimbledon fame, the name seems to lend itself to those working with fabric!

In the 1841 census we found a rather large Tennis family living in Smith Street in Warwick. The head of the household was William Tennis (40), recorded living with his wife Margaret Tennis (40) and the couple’s three daughters and six sons - creating a household of 11 Tennis’.

Debra Chatfield, our marketing manager (pictured right), said: “These finds outline just a few of the fascinating people who can be found in our census collection. The census records are an amazing resource for researching our own family histories, for providing a snapshot of British social history and for having fun at the same time.”

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured right, answers your questions.

From Dick Myhre in Blaine, Washington, USA:

‘My wife has hired at least 3 different researchers to try to find information on her family in England and Scotland - all without success. The facts:

Her great-grandfather was George Slater, born 23 February 1826 in White Lea (Whitley?), Northumberland Co., England, ‘on the border between England and Scotland’, per family lore. His parents’ names are unknown by us. The family story is that the father died, and his wife invested the family money with ‘friends’ and that the money was ‘lost’. George was the youngest (?) of the sons in the family; the other sons were college-educated - for the ministry, we’ve heard - but the father died before George could complete his college education. We believe that there was at least one sister, whose married name was ‘Mrs Potts’.

George Slater married Elizabeth (Margaret Elizabeth?) Metcalf in 1851 at an unknown location. From a death record, we know that Elizabeth’s father’s name was William, and that he was born in England. Elizabeth herself was born 8 August 1831 in Durham Co., England. The family lore there is that Elizabeth’s parents died and Elizabeth and a younger brother were raised by a ‘wealthy aunt and uncle’, the aunt being known as ‘Lady Metcalf’. Elizabeth is said to have attended Bishop Auckland School.

From a family Bible we have record that George and Elizabeth’s first child, daughter Ann or Annie, was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on 31 December 1851. This baby died at sea on 10 October 1853 on the trip from the British Isles - departure point unknown - to North America. Where the family intended to land is a matter of speculation, but they ended up in Chile, where 2 more children were born to them. One family history states that George and Elizabeth were headed for Eastern Canada, where George had brothers in the ministry. The story continues that the ship’s captain was steering a northerly course and began running into icebergs. After trying to convince the captain to turn south, which he refused to do, the crew mutinied, thus their arrival in Chile.

Two family histories exist, written by granddaughters of George and Elizabeth Slater. One states that the family was Church of England; the other states that they were non-conformist. If they were non-conformist, might that explain why no records of them have been found to date? We have enough information that it seems really strange not to have been able to find anything on this family - Slaters or Metcalfs - in Great Britain! We would very much appreciate your help in solving any of these mysteries.’

Steve says:

‘Thank you for submitting your very interesting question.

It is quite common to hear family legends and lore which have been passed down through the generations like heirlooms. However, the difference between a normal heirloom, such as a valued piece of jewellery or furniture, and a family legend is that the latter tends to be changed over time: to become more colourful, more elusive, less plausible. In many, if not most, family legends there will be a kernel of truth and it is the job of the family historian to work through the accumulated layers of elaboration and embroidery to uncover that truth.

This is of course easier said than done, especially when, as in this case, the family appears to have been transcontinental, travelling from the British Isles to South America to North America. This makes it all the more important, however, to follow the cardinal rule of genealogy, which is to work back as systematically as you can from proven and known facts towards the unproven and unknown. I cannot tell from your email whether you have exhausted all enquiries in North America and been working back methodically but, if not, and not least given the negative outcome of the investigations made upon your behalf by hired researchers, I would advise you to take stock and review all available information to ascertain what might be missing and what your next steps might be. You really need to ensure that you have accurate and reliable information before continuing.

As to the components of the family legend in your email, some of these are likely to have foundation in reality and some less so. The full combination of lost fortunes, a wealthy aunt, icebergs and mutiny aboard ship is unlikely to be wholly factual. Regarding the individual details in the story, I have taken a quick look at some of these but, not unexpectedly given the outcome of previous research, did not find obvious candidates for the Slater or Metcalf families in the 1841 or 1851 censuses, nor a birth or baptism for Annie in Kilmarnock in 1851/52.

There will probably be multiple places named ‘White Lea’: certainly, there is one in Northumberland near Alston (which is on the Cumberland side of the county boundary) and another near Billy Row, just north of Crook in Co Durham, and quite possibly others. Education of young women other than at home was not standard in 1840s and I would be surprised if there was a ‘Bishop Auckland School’ admitting girls that Elizabeth Metcalf attended, although of course there may be local researchers among findmypast customers who can correct me on this point.

As for Chile, there were many purposeful British settlers in South America, all around the Chilean coast from Pisagua and Iquique down to Punta Arenas (Sandy Point) and Tierra del Fuego, and a mutiny on a Canada-bound ship in the North Atlantic would be unlikely to lead to a subsequent rogue docking so very far away. If you search the 1890-1960 passenger lists on findmypast.co.uk, or search the same records on www.ancestorsonboard.com, using the combination of surname Slater and destination Chile, you will find a surprising number of records. Of course this is not the right period for your family history but it does show that Chile was not an unusual emigrant destination.

Perhaps some findmypast customers might want to comment on Dick’s question?’

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 right, answers your questions.

From Debbie Dixon (nee Munday) in Australia:

‘Perhaps you may have some suggestions for finding my Munday family.

My grandfather was Charles William Munday born in 1904 in St Pancras to Charles Thomas Munday and Margaret Elizabeth Fitzgibbon. The family eventually emigrated to Australia.

I have found Charles Thomas Munday born c1875 in St Pancras to James Munday and Jemima Howard whose first married name was Spankhurst. On James and Jemima’s marriage certificate James’ father is listed as Richard Munday (labourer) and James is listed as a bachelor. Both James and Jemima’s ages are recorded as ‘of age’. This gives me no idea where or when James Munday was born. I have found both a Richard and James Munday but have no way of proving if these are my ancestors.

James and Jemima had a son in 1871 but did not marry until 1872. On the 1871 census Jemima is living with her father William Howard. By 1881 James Munday was dead so I have no way to find out any information about him. Can you help?’

Steve says:

‘Thanks for your email, Debbie, which I have selected to answer as it highlights a question that I believe many researchers come up against.

You have a James Munday who married in 1872, had some children, and then died at some date before 1881. Furthermore, on his marriage certificate he is described as being of full age, which should indicate that he was born at some date in or before 1851 (i.e., at least 21 years earlier).

What this combination of circumstances means is that currently you have him on neither the 1871 nor the 1881 census returns. Furthermore, you feel that you cannot positively identify him on earlier census returns as you do not know when he was born and you will be faced will several candidate entries.

However, all is not lost.

Firstly, his wife Jemima was alive at the time of the 1881 census, upon which her recorded age is 39 years. She is on the 1871 census (as a young widow, not yet married to James Munday) as 29. This seems to reliably place her birth circa 1841/42. This is not necessarily a guide to the age of James but it provides a starting point.

Secondly, you have the approximate parameters within which the death of James occurred, i.e., from the date of birth of his last known child to the date of the census in April 1881. The death indexes for this period give the age of death, so you can calculate the approximate year of birth. Eliminating all the deaths for men of the same name born after 1851, you will be left with a list of candidate entries of death. I took a look and there would appear to be about 10 entries which meet the available criteria.

One is in Pancras but he was aged 63 years at his death in June quarter 1876, which would mean that he was born in 1812/13, making this person considerably older than the husband of Jemima (who was born circa 1841/42). I don’t believe this eliminates this individual: a widow with young children might marry an older man and, certainly, although ‘of full age’ is a very common formula, it was definitely used on occasion to disguise a disparity in age.

There are at least two possible next steps.

One is simply to apply for the candidate death certificates, one at a time, starting with those you consider most probable. Of course, this will cost money, as the General Register Office has to charge you the statutory fee. However, hopefully, on one of the first certificates the informant at the death will be Jemima Munday. You would then know James’ age at death, be able to calculate his approximate year of birth, and be able to start looking for him more confidently in the 1871 and earlier censuses.

An alternative is to use family reconstruction techniques to begin to identify the other candidates from the list of deaths with individuals enumerated on the 1871 (and earlier) census, trying to match them with census returns with a father Richard. You may find that you can confidently eliminate some candidates, and you may find a favoured candidate for ‘your’ James. Assuming you have a subscription rather than PayAsYouGo access, this will not cost you money, just time.

A variation on this second family reconstruction approach would be simply to search each of the four census years from 1841 to 1871 for a Richard Munday with a son James Munday born before 1851. However, note that this approach runs the risk of the father and son already living in separate households (or the father Richard being dead) by 1841.

In summary, you are unlikely to find a quick and easy answer but I believe that you should be able to resolve this particular problem through careful lateral thinking and a systematic approach to the available resources.’

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

We’ve researched the political party leaders’ family histories, using our family history records and other public records, and found some fascinating details.

The Tory and Labour party leaders are commonly thought to have wildly opposing backgrounds. Genealogical research, however, has found that the family histories of David Cameron and Gordon Brown are not so different after all.

David Cameron - blue blood, ‘White Mischief’ and Scottish lineage

David William Donald Cameron was born in 1966 in London to Ian Cameron and Mary Mount. The well-heeled Tory leader is a fifth cousin twice removed of the Queen and a seventh cousin of Princes William and Harry, and a descendant of William IV.

David’s paternal great-great-great-grandmother, Lady Agnes Hay and her parents, the Earl and Countess of Erroll can be found in the 1841 census. Here you can see Lady Agnes Hay’s 1841 census return:

The Countess is David’s royal link - Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence, the illegitimate daughter of William IV.

Through Elizabeth, he is also related to Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Errol whose dramatic murder in Kenya in 1941 was depicted in the film ‘White Mischief’.

Perhaps the least known element of Cameron’s background, however, is that he is also a distant cousin of Boris Johnson, the Tory Mayor of London. Both descend from King George II (1683-1760) - albeit by illegitimate lines.

The Scottish Cameron side of the family has also not been commonly explored. While Gordon Brown’s ancestors were farming in Fife in the early 1800s, the Camerons were also tilling the land around Inverness. William Cameron, David’s great-great-great-grandfather was recorded in the 1851 census as a farmer at Upper Muckovy, just outside Inverness. William’s son Ewen then went into finance, and beginning a tradition of financiers that continued until David Cameron entered politics.

Gordon Brown - Scottish farmers and a family secret

The current Labour leader’s background is well-known and often discussed; he descends from a line of hard-working and upwardly mobile Scottish farmers and stonemasons. The prime minister was born James Gordon Brown in 1951 in Renfrewshire, the son of a Minister in the Church of Scotland, John Brown. Before that, the Browns were farmers in Fife for three traceable generations.

There is, however, a little-known family secret in Gordon Brown’s family’s past, discovered by extensive searches through online records. One of Brown’s great-grandfathers was born illegitimate in the late 1840s as a result of a relationship between a farmer’s teenage daughter and a man 20 years her senior - a doctor of medicine who became a wealthy GP.

Francis Troup Manson, a great-grandfather of Gordon Brown on his maternal line, was born illegitimate to Jessie Cruickshank, a farmer’s daughter of about 16 years old. It is quite probable that the affair would have caused people to gossip in their small Highland village.

Gordon’s paternal grandfather was called Ebenezer Brown and his parents, Brown’s great-grandparents, John and Mary Brown are recorded in the 1891 Scottish census living at Brigghills Farm House in Auchterderran, where John was a farmer. Here is Ebenezer Brown’s 1891 census return:

Nick Clegg - an intriguing multi-cultural family

Nicholas William Peter Clegg is the youngest of the three leaders and was born in 1967 at Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire to a Dutch mother and a half-English, half-Russian father. He speaks five languages and has by far the most cosmopolitan background of the three, with a Russian baroness as a grandmother and a Dutch mother who was once a Japanese prisoner of war in WWII. He is also currently married to a Spanish lawyer.

Nick Clegg’s paternal grandfather is Hugh Clegg, whose 1911 census return you can see here:

Hugh Clegg married a baroness who was the granddaughter of the Russian nobleman Ignaty Zakrevsky. This nobleman had a daughter called Maria Ignatievna Zakrevskaya, born in St Petersburg in 1891, and Nick Clegg’s great-great-aunt. She became a countess through her first marriage and then a baroness through her second.

She was suspected of being a double agent, spying for both the Soviet Union and British Intelligence, leading to her being called the Russian Mata Hari. She was known to be a heavy drinker, and also had affairs with the writer HG Wells and the Russian literary giant, Maxim Gorky. She also wrote books and film scripts, including ‘Three Sisters’ directed by Laurence Olivier in 1970.

Like both Brown and Cameron, Clegg also has a more ordinary side to his family tree. In his direct paternal line, his great-grandfather was a schoolteacher and clergyman from Leeds who married a master mariner’s daughter from Hull called Gertrude. John Clegg ran schools in Suffolk and Huntingdonshire.

Nick’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Simeon and Mary Clegg, can also be found in the 1871 census. The couple were living at 3 Grange Street in Leeds and Simeon was employed as a butcher.

Our expert Stephen Rigden answers your questions:

‘Help! I have an elusive great-great-great-grandfather who appears out of no-where. His name was Absalom Boucher/Bowcher who married on 17 Aug 1825 in Bridport, Dorset to Priscilla Coombs.
Absalom died in 1848 but not before fathering 7 children. He was buried in St Mary’s churchyard in Burton Bradstock.

What I cannot find, is his Birth or Christening, which from the age given on his Death Certificate would’ve been circa 1790/91. His occupation has variously been described as: M. S., Gentleman’s Servant, Butler & Inn Keeper on his children’s records.

To work as a gentleman’s servant or butler, you would think it was for a well-healed land owner.
A thorough check of the Ilchester estate records (Fox & Strangeways families) did not reveal a butler or servant by the name of Absalom Boucher.

Another rich land owner was the Pitt-Rivers family and yet another was the Roberts family who owned the local mill. No further in-depth research has been done as I live in Australia.

Absalom may have had 2 sisters: Sarah b: c. 1798 & Abigail b: c. 1901, both around the Bridport area, but can only find a 1861 census showing these 2 ladies (Sarah married a chap named Edward Macey from Symondsbury & they were all living in Dorchester in 1861).

Absalom is shown on the 1841 Census living in Symondsbury, Dorset. He was NOT of that Parish.
He is listed as a land owner in Burton Bradstock & Shipton Gorge, shown on the Tithe Apportionments around 1843.

Also listed as Land Owners was Sophia Roberts, Lord Rivers & Elizabeth Roberts.

Two clues:
1). Absalom had a daughter named Ann Roberts Boucher chr: 31 Jan 1835 in Burton Bradstock.
2). He and a woman named Mary Roberts were Witnesses to the marriage of one Ann Roberts in 1835 to a Robert Slader.

And that’s as much as I know about Absalom. There are of course records of other Boucher’s in the general Dorset area, but none that can be linked to Absalom.

I wonder if you could give me some tips as there is nothing more publicly available on the Internet or on the BVRI Disks. ‘ Cheryl

Steve says:“One of the least auspicious scenarios in which a genealogist can find themselves is the one where an ancestor is recorded with a No against Whether Born In Same County on their 1841 census return and then inconveniently dies before the 1851 census can shed any light upon place of birth. It is not possible to solve such a problem quickly or painlessly.

In your case, we know only that Absalom was not born in Dorset. You also say that you have searched all the usual online sources, although these are of course far from complete in the required period before the start of civil registration in 1837. I am assuming the Whether Born In Scotland, Ireland Or Foreign Parts field in the 1841 census is silent for Absalom, in which case the usual inference is that he was born in England, for which you also have some circumstantial evidence (his sisters were apparently born in Dorset, although I believe you have found no evidence of this).

Two things occur to me in light of this. Firstly, as you will no doubt have considered, the surname may be French and quite possibly Huguenot and you may wish to consider a speculative browse through the publications of the Huguenot Society – for details of what is available, see http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk.

Secondly, an alternative scenario (not necessarily contradicting the first), is an origin in the Channel Islands, both because of the surname and of a possible family seafaring connection given his marriage in Bridport (I am assuming that the marriage register says “of this parish”).

Of course, neither of these may be true: he may simply have hailed from, say, neighbouring Devon or Somerset, or from London or elsewhere, but you have nowhere to go without some leads.

This may be one of the problems which you have to put by a for a year or so and periodically review, for instance in light of newly available online resources as and when they are published. However, if you have not done so already, you may wish to search for probate records just in case Absalom died testate and mentioned siblings, or nephews and nieces (given the large family of his own, this may be improbable but you will not know unless you check). Pre-1858 probate papers are decentralised but there are some searches you can make online, for instance on Documents Online (for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills only) http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/wills.asp and, indeed, on Find My Past’s indexes to death duty registers http://www.findmypast.co.uk/DeathDutyStartSearchServlet. Note that the last, which cover the period from 1796 to 1903, are indexes and that, if you find a reference to the deceased, you need to take your search to The National Archives to view the registers on microfilm.”

We hope this is useful to your research. If you would like to pose a question for Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

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