That things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs — George Eliot, Middlemarch

GEORGE Eliot was right. It is not only the rich and famous who have made their mark on the life of our land. The rest, too, the unsung labourers, stable-lads and kitchen maids have their stories to tell.

Tracing one's family tree is a pursuit growing in popularity. Start digging into the records of your forgotten ancestors and you embark on a personal game of private detective.

But, begin with the living. Sit down, notebook or tape recorder in hand, and talk to the oldest members of your family. Grandmother may forget where she put her pension book yesterday, but, surprisingly, memories of her childhood often shine crystal clear.

Armed with recollections of her grandparents — your great-great grandparents — you can start your search in earnest.

Records of births, deaths and marriages for England and Wales are housed in London's Public Records Centre. The centre opened in its new base three years ago and offers ample room in which to study the numerous files as well as a shop and refreshment area — be warned, it can be a long job.

The three sections are clearly separate: red-covered files for births, green for marriages and black (what else?) for deaths. Your initial search will only give you an approximate date and the original registration district.

The office is full of people, each on a personal mission to uncover their long lost ancestors. It leads to a friendly atmosphere. One woman, a Cockney, inspecting files alongside me, voiced surprise that she had uncovered an ancestor who came from Bethnal Green in the East End. The rest of her ancestors were from neighbouring Leytonstone. 'Bethnal Green! Imagine that,' she said. 'And I thought we were middle class!'

Later, an elderly woman asked me if I could decipher the Victorian script showing the birth district of one her forebears. It read: Melton M. 'It must be Melton Mowbray,' I told her, adding that perhaps her ancestors were big in pork pies . . .

The best way to unravel the tangled web of your ancestry is to tie up a birth certificate with a marriage. First, obtain grandmother's birth certificate. It will show her father's full name and her mother's name. Once in the records office, head for the files on marriages. They are listed alphabetically with three months to a file. Work back from the birth date (assuming grandmother was born after the knot was tied!) until you can match the two names in the marriage files, and bingo, you have a result.

The marriage records are the best to head for as each listing contains a reference number. Find a record of the bridegroom, search elsewhere for the maiden name of the blushing bride and the reference numbers should be identical.

A copy of the original marriage certificate will cost you £6.50 and take a week or so to be sent to you.

Your own surname quickly becomes a small part of the equation, a wealth of others, most unknown to you, soon take their place in your personal pantheon. And, of course, it is easier if your family tree includes unusual surnames rather than common ones. If your ancestors are called Brown, Smith or White you will plough through many a column of Uriah Heep-like script until you narrow down a list of possibles.

I was fortunate enough to find an ancestor who went by the splendid moniker of Ithamar Hayhoe. He married in his north Essex village of Thorpe-le-Soken in1850 and his son, my great-grandfather, appears to have left rural life for London. Why? Agricultural depression? That is where family history awakens an interest in social and economic history.

The family records centre's files go back to 1837 when the original Registration Act came into force. Before that you need to go to parish registers which are housed in county records offices. Inspecting them could mean a lot of travelling. A more direct way is to join the Society of Genealogists (£33 a year plus a joining fee of £7.50).

The society holds extensive records in its London offices, including census material, another invaluable source for tracing your ancestors - it will give you a snapshot of your ancestor's family, his mother and father's ages and birthplaces. Armed with that you have a link to church records.

But why is the pursuit of family trees increasingly popular? Has the arrival of a new millennium prompted us to look back in search of roots in a slower, more placid England?

Else Churchill, the society's genealogy officer, thinks not: 'Our membership has doubled in the last ten years. I don't think that is due to millennium fever.

'Some people say the increased interest is because of a more fragmented society with families pulled apart, but I don't think it's because of that either. It's just that people have always been curious.

'It's getting easier all the time because records are easier to access, particularly with the Internet, a brilliant means of communication but you cannot guarantee tracing your ancestry on it yet.'

The society has a 15,000-strong membership. Else Churchill says the majority of those are people doing their own family history.

'They are eager, amateur enthusiasts. Researching your family tree is not just fun, it brings history alive for a lot of people.'

Thousands of files containing thousands and thousands of names. Among them, your distant but direct ancestors. Research may serve no purpose other than personal interest. But . . . I like to think Ithamar Hayhoe is looking down and thinking: 'At last, someone's found me!'

l The Family Records Centre is at 1 Myddelton Street, London EC1R 1UW. Tel 0181 392 5300. Web site: http://www.pro.gov.uk/">http://www.pro.gov.uk/

The Society of Genealogists is at 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA. Tel 020 7251 8799. Web site: http://www.sog.org.uk/about.html">http://www.sog.org.uk/about.html