« Reply #639 on: Monday 05 August 13 03:39 BST (UK) »
And a warm welcome from me, Bearsome.
It doesn't matter how "common" your ancestors' names were, with careful checking of records each step of the way you should be ok. The old mantra rings true: always start with what you know, and work back.
And there are loads of helpful people on here to give you a hand, as Celticcrafter has said.
I am Australian, from all the lands I come (my ancestors, at least!)
Pine/Pyne, Dowdeswell, Kempster, Sando/Sandoe/Sandow, Nancarrow, Hounslow, Youatt, Richardson, Jarmyn, Oxlade, Coad, Kelsey, Crampton, Lindner, Pittaway, and too many others to name.
Devon, Dorset, Gloucs, Cornwall, Warwickshire, Bucks, Oxfordshire, Wilts, Germany, Sweden, and of course London, to name a few.