Madness, death, hardship: star's roots revealed

Cox, an accomplished Shakespearean actor who has appeared in many Hollywood films including The Bourne Supremacy, X-Men, Rob Roy and Braveheart, is the latest celebrity to feature in the Famous Scots exhibition, part of the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.

The actor is the fourth subject in a series of six. He follows comedian Billy Connolly, scientist Sir James Black and rock singer Shirley Manson.

Yesterday the Dundee-born actor visited the exhibition at the New Register House in Edinburgh where he said he was proud to be "100 per cent Dundonian" and "humbled" by the adversity faced by previous generations of his family.

"I feel humbled, very humbled by all of this today. It's quite overwhelming. It reminds you of how precarious life is," said Cox, who began his career at the Dundee Repertory Theatre.

"Sometimes I think I've had a hell of a struggle, but compared with them my life's a dawdle.

"This is a story of survival. Its an incredible experience and makes you think about who you are and what your values are.

"I feel a lot of bitterness about the terrible way people were treated. People talk about fame but it's only because of these people that I am where I am. It's their struggle and I owe everything to them. This is a living memorial."

Researchers at the National Archives of Scotland traced Cox's family back to late 18th-century Ireland. He is descended from Bernard Cox from Fermanagh and Bridget Boylan from Monaghan, who like thousands of starving Irish immigrants, came to Scotland seeking work.

Patrick McCann, Cox's great-grandfather on his mother's side, arrived in Glasgow in the mid-19th century. By 1897, his wife and five of their eight children had died and injury had rendered him unfit for work.

In August 1897, Patrick and his youngest son Samuel, six, entered the parish poor house. In June 1911 he was committed to Gartloch mental asylum, where he died a few months later.

Cox commented: "I found that part very distressing – someone who had tried so hard but was beaten down and driven mad.

"Most of the men who came to Dundee from Ireland were brought under suffrage. The interest was in the women, who could spin and weave, which was why it was known as the woman's town."

The exhibition features family photographs, including some of Cox as a child and a charcoal drawing of Cox as Titus Andronicus by his friend Sir Anthony Sher. It also includes a will written by soldier Joseph McAdams, one of two brothers killed in the First World War. The other three brothers who also served, survived the war.

There is also a 1939 documentary film about Dundee, showing scenes of the jute mills, women packing fruit and newspaper headlines of the day.

George MacKenzie, Keeper of the Records, who presented Cox with a bound volume of his family history, said: "These stories are inspiring and fascinating and they are available to everyone for free. I encourage as many people as possible to see these impressive exhibitions for themselves and, those unable to join us here in Edinburgh, to investigate their own family ancestry through the website."

Famous Scots – Brian Cox is on until 11 September, at New Register House, Edinburgh.