Blog

WDYTYA? LIVE competition winners

Thank you to everyone who entered our competition at Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE at Kensington Olympia in February. We have now awarded the following prizes – congratulations to our lucky winners!

12 month Full subscriptions – David Applin, Jill Harvey and Terry Riley
6 month Full subscriptions – Joan Pitman, Pam Murdoch, Phyllis Davies, Sybil Lunn, Louise Adams and John Farrell

August newsletter competition winner

We’ve picked the winner of our August newsletter competition in which we asked you this question:

‘What is the name of Seb Coe’s paternal great-grandfather?’

Congratulations go to Lynne Nurhonen who correctly answered ‘Robert Coe’. Lynne wins a year’s subscription to Who Do You Think You Are? magazine.

Lynne found out the answer by reading our research into Seb Coe’s past.

Thanks to all of you who entered – look out for the next competition question in our September newsletter, coming very soon.

BBC One seeks families to step back in time

Would you and your family like to follow in your ancestors’ footsteps in a unique living history experience?

BBC One’s hit living history series Turn Back Time is back! Last year shopkeepers were sent back in time on the British High Street. This year the series looks at family life through the ages and the hunt is on for families to travel through time and experience a century of change first hand.

The series will take a street of houses back to the turn of the century and, over the course of several weeks, will fast forward the families through the 20th century. In an exciting new twist, some of the families’ journeys will even be based on their own family history! Over the course of the century, the street’s community will evolve and reflect change in British society, so the programme would like to hear from a broad range of British families.

Turn Back Time is made by the company behind Who Do You Think You Are? They are looking for people who would love to learn about their family history but don’t know much already – they want to take you on a journey of discovery. Ideally your family will include at least one child aged under 20. Filming will be in Spring 2012.

If you’d like to find out more, please contact Caroline Miller on 020 7241 9292 or at caroline.miller@walltowall.co.uk

Competition winners – Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE 2011

A big thank you to everyone who entered our competition at the Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE exhibition at Kensington Olympia this year! The prize of a 12 month Full subscription was offered on each day of the show, along with two runner-up prizes of a 6 month Full subscription.

We’re pleased to announce that these prizes have now been awarded to the following lucky winners:

12 month Full subscriptions – Barbara Parsons, Pam Buckmaster and T Marshall

6 month Full subscriptions – Janet Evans, Darren Grosvenor, Robert Moore, Duncan Graham, Barbara Brooks and Janet Pegg.

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine Christmas offer

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine is packed full of expert advice for family historians. Every month you will get useful tips on how to uncover more about your ancestors’ lives and get further with your research.

This Christmas, the magazine is offering new subscribers their first five issues for only £5 if you sign up by direct debit.

Click here to find out more and take advantage of this great offer.

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine Christmas offer

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine is packed full of expert advice for family historians. Every month you will get useful tips on how to uncover more about your ancestors’ lives and get further with your research.

This Christmas, the magazine is offering new subscribers their first five issues for only £5 if you sign up by direct debit.

Click here to find out more and take advantage of this great offer.

The final episode of Who Do You Think You Are? – Alan Cumming

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.

Tune in to the last episode of Who Do You Think You Are? tonight

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

Hugh Quarshie on Who Do You Think You Are?

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!

Who Do You Think You Are? – see Jason Donovan's ancestors in our records

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:

Click to enlarge

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

Click to enlarge

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:

Click to enlarge

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:

Click to enlarge

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:

Click to enlarge

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):

Click to enlarge

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:

Click to enlarge

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