WHAT does a pantomime star do when he is off stage?

If you are Keith Simmons, the answer is delve into your family's past.

His research has revealed an astonishing truth that will leave him forever fascinated with Hampshire and its people.

Keith, who grew up and lives in Kent, now has good reason to believe that relatives he has never met could be sitting in the audience while he performs in Peter Pan at Southampton's Mayflower theatre.

When he is not treading the boards as Starkey alongside Paul Nicholas, Geoffrey Hughes and Nadia, he is finding some amazing stories about his ancestors' connections with Southampton.

The most shocking is a tale that left his great great grandfather facing trial for manslaughter in Winchester.

In 1850 Edward Henry Simmons, a former Southampton poorhouse officer, came before a judge after a destitute woman he turned away from the house was found dead days later.

Keith's great great grandfather was acquitted of the crime but sacked from his job at the poorhouse.

Other ancestors had more successful careers.

During the 1850s Keith's great grandfather Edward Marks Simmons, born at Orchard Terrace in St Mary's, worked as an apprentice for C Yarndley clockmaker and jeweller at 30 Oxford Street, before working as a watchmaker in London.

Keith said: "My interest in family history began when I was in Leeds and found out that my grandparents had a big Salvation Army wedding in the city where about 600 people attended. I found articles that had appeared in local press about it and it took off from there.

"People say you don't go very far back before you find some skeletons in the closet but what I found out about my great great grandfather hit me quite hard.

"Knowing that I have this link with Southampton has made me quite proud of the people of the city who have been donating such a lot of money to the theatre's tsunami appeal.

"Southampton feels like a special place now. When I walk around the city and I pass places like the Old Walls and the Bargate I think to myself, 'they must have seen these things too'. It gives me a strange feeling.

"I've traced my family back to the 1700s but I'm always trying to confirm what I have found and learn more. It would be great to hear from anyone in Southampton who could tell me more about the Simmons family."

Keith, an actor and writer, has written for comedians Brian Conley and Hale and Pace. Last year he held the prestigious title of King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats - one of the oldest and most exclusive showbiz charities in the world.

Can you help Keith find out about his family's past? Contact Daily Echo reporter Sarah Gomme at sarah.gomme@soton-echo.co.uk or by ringing 023 8042 4500.