The sixth celebrity to take part in this year's BBC series of Who Do You Think You Are will be the comedian Alan Carr who will explore the mysterious circumstances surrounding a change of name on the maternal line of his tree.

Alan Graham Carr was born on June 14th 1976 in Weymouth, Dorset, but spent his childhood in Northampton where his father Graham Carr (William Graham Carr b. 25/10/1944) managed Northampton Town and Nuneaton Borough F.C.

Alan was expected as a young boy to be interested in sport and follow in his father's footsteps into the football world however this was not the case. He attended Weston Favell School, before moving to Manchester and then Stretford. He studied at Middlesex University and gained a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies.

He began his television career on BBC2, Christmas Day in 2007; Alan later co-presented The Russell Brand Show and his own Alan Carr's Comedy Outings. A number of his performances have taken place in venues including the Manchester Comedy Club, the Apollo Theatre and he has taken part in the Royal Variety Performance.

Interestingly Alan's father is not the only sporting member of the family, his grandfather Wilfred Carr was also involved in football and played for Newcastle and some of Alan's cousins also play football.

Several members of Alan's paternal line can be traced back through the census years with occupations of coal miners or working in the coal industry, all living in Northumberland. The census image below shows his 3x Great Grandfather Edward Rochester as a coal miner living in Burradon, Northumberland.

You can follow Alan's journey of discovery on 14th September, BBC 1 at 9 o'clock.

You will find a wealth of resources available on TheGenealogist.co.uk to start discovering your ancestors. Records available online include BMDs, Census, Parish Records, Non-Conformist, Directories, Poll Books, Wills, School/College & University Registers, Military Records, Occupational Records including Biographia Dramatica (A biographic record of actors, playwrights and their works from the 1500s to 1811. Information includes background history and a record of the individuals work with dates).

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