Here are a few things to do before anything else:

•Get all the information you can from your own family about names, dates and places. Some of this may later be proved to be inaccurate but it might help point you in the right direction

•Read a good basic guide to tracing your ancestors, either from your local library or bought from a bookshop

•Decide how you're going to collate the information you will amass, whether a manual system or using a computer program designed for the purpose. Collate all the details you have to date

•Work out which part of your family you are going to trace first, rather than going off in several different directions at once

•Try and find out if anyone else has done work on your particular family or name. The easiest way to do this is either through a local Family History Society such as the Cambridgeshire Family History Society or the Guild of One Name Studies