This week reporter Andrew Moores spoke to local people who have been looking into the past

GRAHAM Fidler knew that delving into his family's history could unearth murderers, thieves and illegitimate children.

But that didn't put him off after he was inspired to look into the past by some family scrapbooks.

"I think most people who look into their family history crave some notoriety," said Graham. "It makes it more interesting."

But other investigators don't seek such notoriety.

David Dickenson, another member of the Cheshire Family History Society, said not everyone was looking for a chequered past.

"People are worried about finding skeletons in their cupboards," said David. "But you have to just think that what my ancestors did is nothing to do with me."

It was a quick peek into a scrapbook about his family that inspired Graham's interest in family history.

The life and times of his grandfather was chronicled in newspaper cuttings dating back to 1905.

Graham's great aunt kept a record of her brother's achievements, but her interest suddenly dried up, leaving Graham at a loss to know why.

He discovered that two years after his grandfather was married and was living in London.

"It is interesting to know how this man had moved on his own from the Lake District where his family have lived for 300 years," said Graham.

Graham has yet to unearth details about his ancestor's relationship.

But he believes his aunt became distraught after giving up her job when she got married, only then to lose her husband in the war.

"I think she turned bitter after seeing her brother had made the break and was happy in London," said Graham.

Despite never knowing what the research might uncover, more and more interest is being shown in family history. Many Knutsford residents also belong to the Family History Society of Cheshire.

Time spent on Internet sites is now rationed with more and more people looking to the past to tell them something about the present.

David has tracked down 4,000 members of his and his wife's family.

He believes it's something most people want to to do, but can't find the time.

"It's a bit of an odd thing actually, but mostly people don't get involved until they are in their 60s," he said.

"I think that's when they want to get to know their ancestors before they end up meeting them!" It is getting easier to trace family history with the advances made in computers and every library is now equipped to cope with the hordes of researchers.

And they need every help they can get because it isn't always an easy process.

In the past names were spelled how they were pronounced and that meant many confusing translations.

One vicar would spell Ann Smith while another would write Anne Smithe.

"You do find names that are very local to Knutsford and you might not see them anywhere else," said David.

"But the spelling of these names is almost meaningless."

The problems don't end there.

Every generation the number of relatives for each person doubles and David predicts that by 2300 everyone could be related to TWO MILLION people.

He got interested when a baby in the family was named William Hill.

The same name cropped up in a will made decades earlier and David wanted to find out the connection between the relatives. When he first started his research he relied on a pencil and paper and his own specialised filing system.

Now he needs a computer to collate information that he hopes will be of some service to his grandchildren.

The rest of the world is also showing an interest in tracing their families' roots.

The Cheshire Society has 1,500 members and many of them are foreign.

"A lot of Canadians, Americans and Australians seem interested in tracing their family history in Britain," said David.

But Knutsford is known for its interest in the past and several residents are hoping to find out a little more about their ancestors through the society.

One local man who has trouble tracing his family history is Mike Herrievien, who runs Mere Post Office.

He doesn't know anyone in the Knutsford area who shares his name and believes his nearest namesake lives in East Anglia.

"We tracked our name back to Dublin, but were told we couldn't get any further because the IRA had burned the record office down in Ireland," said Mike.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.