A REGULAR visitor to the archives is Jenni Dobson, 63, a writer and teacher, who now lives in Loughborough but is originally from Newark.

After attending a course on how to trace your family history she wanted to find out more about her own family tree.

"It's something I'd talked about doing for a few years but I never got round to," says Jenni.

After receiving a subscription to Ancestry.com as a present, Jenni set about tracing her family.

She says: "I spent two or three days continually working back through my family tree. I started with the four names of my grandparents."

Jenni came to the archives to trace the family of her paternal grandmother, who was born in Long Bennington, Lincolnshire, but had ancestors in Tuxford, north Notts.

Having already done some of her research online, Jenni used the archives to check some of the information she'd already found.

"One thing that I learnt early on is that, whatever you find on the internet, you need to confirm. The information is only as good as the person who copied it and mistakes get made," says Jenni.

She found the process relatively easy and used the self-service system once she'd been shown the ropes.

Jenni says: "I came as a complete novice. When I arrived somebody showed me how to use the microfiche and how to use the index. Then when I was really struggling to read handwriting, somebody was on hand."

By looking through old census and probate records, Jenni found out a lot about her Tuxford roots including the exact address of one of her descendants.

She says: "I went to Tuxford and walked past the house that my three times great-grandfather William Beedham lived in."

She also learnt something interesting about how her relatively poor ancestors were able to get educated.

She says: "My ancestor Gabriel Beedham was married in 1773 and he was literate enough to write his name. That got me interested in how he was schooled and why he hadn't worked as a child. After a bit of research I found there had been a free school in Tuxford.

"A man from the area had moved away from Tuxford, made his money as a merchant and then came back and opened up free schools for the local youngsters.

"The building is still there in Tuxford. A part of it used as the local library. When I went there I felt a real connection."

Through posting her family tree online, Jenni has got in contact with a second cousin who lives in Long Bennington.

She says: "I joined her for lunch as a fourth cousin of ours was over from Australia.

"It really has been a fascinating experience for me. I've always enjoyed history and this is history on a very personal level."