Hugh Quarshie

Hugh Anthony Quarshie (born 22 December 1954) is a Ghanaian-born British actor of stage, television and film. Some of his best-known roles include his appearances in the films Highlander (1986), The Church (1989), Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), and the Doctor Who episodes 'Daleks in Manhattan' and 'Evolution for the Daleks' (2007) as well as his long-running role as Ric Griffin in the BBC medical drama Holby City (2001–present). Quarshie has currently played the role of Ric for almost 15 years and is also the longest serving cast member in Holby City.

• Wikipedia: Hugh Quarshie

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Hugh is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry and was born in Ghana the former Mosquito Coast or the Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea.Elmina

From BBC Who do you think you are 6 September 2010:

"He also tells Hugh about a house that he should visit, the Kamerling house, where Hugh meets a cousin, Gertrude Ephson, and a whole branch of his family that he never knew existed. Hugh has connected with his African ancestry. This idea is strengthened further when he heads to the village of Abee, where it turns out he may have a claim to be chief. Hugh’s mother, Emma, always joked she was the Duchess of Abee. It seems she may not have been exaggerating.

In Ghana, Hugh also begins to learn more about his Dutch ancestry. Anna, Hugh’s great-grandmother, was the son of Pieter Kamerling, a Dutchman who bought land in Abee for his relatives. Having basked in African heat, Hugh’s next stop is chilly Den Haag, home to the Dutch national archives where he sees records relating to Pieter’s service overseas. It seems he was an adventurer, a restless civil servant who volunteered to go abroad, returning home to Europe only when he became ill. Later, he asked to be sent back to an area then known as Dutch Guinea, but his request was refused."

http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/quarshie.php

Hugh was born on the 22nd December 1954 in Accra, Ghana, and emigrated to England with his family when he was 3 years old. They departed from Lagos, Nigeria on board the ‘Aureol’, part of the Elder Dempster Lines Ltd fleet, which was 537ft long and could carry 253 First class passengers, 76 Cabin class and 145 crew. The 'Aureol' arrived in Liverpool on the 21st October 1957.