Don't give up, it can be done. When I first started doing my father's side of the tree, all I had was an old photo of my grandfather and grandmother, and that was it. I didn't even know what their names were. Most of my early failures were due to the fact that I hadn't got a clue on what I was doing - although my father was born in 1898, I couldn't find his birth record, or find him on the 1901 census. I didn't even know exactly where my father was born - only that it was the Islington area of N London.
Eventually, with the help of several Rootschatters, I made progress. I couldn't find his birth record because I was looking in the wrong place. Although he was born in November 1898, his birth wasn't registered until early 1899, and I hadn't realised that births were recorded under the date they were recorded, and not the birth date. Eventually I found his birth entry - Southgate, 1st Quarter 1899, and from the certificate I got his father's name and his mother's maiden name. I couldn't find my father in the 1901 census because he had been entered under his middle name, and not his first name. All the information is there - you just have to find it, and that's part of the fun
