Tracing ancestors...

So, when I was home last year in England I watched So Who Do You Think You Are? Yes, I know there's an American version but I really love watching the stars I recognise from childhood and later and seeing their histories. Anyway, I ended up going to YouTube and watching a couple of older ones - I watched Julian Clary, Graham Norton and Stephen Fry. Very interesting. It got me thinking about my own ancestors. I don't know a lot about them. My Dad left when I was young and we didn't really ever talk about him. I visited his mother and her live in 'friend' (I always thought he was my Grandad but it was only later that Mum told me he wasn't actually her husband or my biological Grandad), but we didn't really talk about him. As a child I really wasn't too interested.

The internet is a wealth of information - some free and some paid for but I'm not really sure what paid sites I should even trust. I'm the first one (at least recently) in America, so I have to go to English sites to find out about my people. I'm having trouble with specific dates and it would be nice to actually look at the birth certificates, death certificates etc to be able to see the names and make connections. I always planned one summer going back and doing a search with my Mum.

Alternatively... I could win the lotto and have someone do it for me. Sigh. I have to pop off now and go to bed - work tomorrow and 2.30am looms...