Perhaps this news article from the Chorley Guardian will be of interest to some: "A Chorley magistrate who spent five years painstakingly researching his family tree has published his own book. "Paul Helmn [sic], a former podiatrist, and now a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire, spent years researching 625 names, 168 marriages, and 21 generations. "With various hiccups along the way, including a computer glitch which meant he lost a lot of work, Paul has now recorded his family history stretching back almost 700 years. "Paul, who lives in Charnock Richard with wife Blanche, said the process was a labour of love and helped him feel closer to his ancestors. "The adventure started in 2008 with a call from a cousin who wanted some information about their great-grandfather. "Not wanting to stop there, Paul decided to delve deeper. "He said: “I did some research and I couldn’t find what we were looking for, but I went further back instead. “'I thought I would try to find out exactly where we came from. “'In a family you get lots of rumours. Your gran says she came in on a boat, or whatever, but I wanted to find out for sure. “'I rejoined the Lancashire County Record office, in Bow Lane, Preston, and after several years we got to where we started from, in Chipping. “'I traced the family name and got back to 1304.'” Wish I could get back that far! Read the rest at <http://www.chorley-guardian.co.uk/community/flashback/magistrate-paul-pieces-together-700-years-of-family-history-for-new-book-1-5101675> or http://tinyurl.com/azueqet