It looks like you already have the best idea, Sarah..... talking to your family

Unfortunately I got into genealogy rather late in life, so my grandparents were long gone, but I have gained an awful lot by talking to cousins. Family stories do tend to get rather exaggerated over the years, especially when they are passed around the family, but there is often a grain of truth in there somewhere. There was a story in my family that my grandfather had gone to America in the late 1890's, when there was a bit of a scandal with one of the village girls. It was so far-fetched, I assumed that it wasn't true - until I found a ship's passenger list with his name at the very top !

Try to get as much from all your family members as you can, then try to prove what they say by using whatever you can find (like newspaper reports, ship manifests, military records, wills, criminal records, as well as BMD and baptism records). And don't overlook the obvious - like Google. One day I idly typed in my grandfather's surname and place of birth, and I found a web site run by a descendant of my grandfather's brother, and on visiting the site I found an account of my great-uncle's life and family, complete with photos !
Good luck with your research
