My parents had me and my sister comparatively late in life (my father was 55 and my mother 41 when I was born in 1957), so I never knew any grandparents. My father's only brother had died young so there were few relatives on that side, and my mother's siblings had scattered far and wide, although they kept in touch. His life before me was something of a mystery to me. He was a master bootmaker in London (though sadly just a shoe repairer by the 60s), and then we had a village shop when he had to move to the country and change work for health reasons. But I was also vaguely aware that he had been a conjurer and singer and that he used to compere shows, all pre-war. I remember visiting a pal of his who kept doves in his garden, and when having a thorough clear out after his death, I found a whole load of magic paraphernalia. He died when I was 18, and I'd spent the previous 7 years at boarding school, so although we had a good relationship I never got to know him in the same way that I assume most sons get to know their fathers.
I mention all that just to give you a glimpse of why I was curious to find out more about my father's life. He was born in 1902 in the same south London street I spent my early years in 60 years later. I often used to wonder how very different things must have been for him.
When I started researching my family history there was no internet. The only way to find things out was legwork, central records, the reference sections of local libraries, parish records, etc. While I was in Thailand I piggybacked a colleague's Ancestry.com membership for a while. It was interesting, but didn't really take me any further. But a couple of weeks ago I came across a load of notes and records from years ago, and since things were a bit quiet here I signed up on Ancestry myself. I was absolutely amazed how much information is available. All that stuff I had to trek around and dig out by hand, squinting at microfiches and blowing the dust off Victorian directories, is right there at your fingertips! Military records, Census, passenger lists for cruise ships taking people off to a new life (or bringing them back a year or 2 later). Most amazing of all is the number of people researching their family tree. I found a photo of my father aged 4 at a family wedding (in 1906...)* and other photos of forebears going back to the mid-1800s.
I have to say there was something satisfying about ferreting out information yourself after hours and hours of time spent in records offices and libraries - I even went up to Rugby on my motorbike in 1998 and spent a couple of days in the library there. But... and it's a big but, you can achieve in hours on line what would have taken you a lifetime 30 years ago.
Anyway, that's just a little glimpse of something that's getting me away from Netflix (if not from the computer) during lockdown. I'm corresponding with several distant relatives who've been doing similar work. I find it all fascinating, the background much more so than the simple names and dates - occupations, religion, court appearances
, illegitimate births, marriages shortly before the birth of the first child 
, people ending up in the workhouse, serving overseas in the forces, working in the merchant navy, childhoods spent in orphanages, families with 12 kids most of whom don't make it through infancy. There are tragedies and triumphs, disasters and desperate situations, people who accept their lot and others who emigrate in the hope of a better life elsewhere... and I hope eventually to get it all down on paper so that if, one day, one or two of my own descendants have a similar urge to find out about their roots they at least have a place to start.* My father aged 4 in 1906
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