But the study of family history is already well established in Kenilworth through the local branch of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry.

The group meet once a month at the Senior Citizens Club in Southbank Road and talks from special guests spread far wider than the confines of family history.

Secretary Jenny Morris said: "There's quite a wide focus to this group. Local and family history often overlap because people who are interested in finding out who their ancestors were will also want to know how they lived. It's not just a case of putting names on a tree."

She added: "My family comes from Warwickshire so I've visited the farms where they lived and their gravestones. Genealogists spend a lot of time creeping around graveyards."

Mrs Morris also used her studies to arrange a family reunion for 86 descendants of her great grandfather Thomas Metters and his wife Mary Ann.

Society member Nick Parker, of Lockhart Close, has traced his family back to the 17th century at the County Records office in Warwick.

He said: "I'm quite lucky because I've found three business letters. Obviously there are no personal outpourings but it's still quite exciting to come across them. And if you can't find information about people you can still find out about the places where they lived. It's up to you what you make of it."

But he warned people not to search their family history if they didn't want to uncover any skeletons in the cupboard.

Mr Parker added: "It would be a very unusual family if you didn't have at least one black sheep - you might discover you had a relation who was transported to Australia as a criminal.

"My favourite has to be Robert Fielding who had four wives, including two at the same time. He must have collected these women for their money."

But most members seem to enjoy uncovering their ancestral rogues.

Joyce Hodges, who attends the talks with husband Clive, said: "Scandals are always great fun, if someone discovered a relative was involved in a murder they'd think it was lovely. Why be ashamed - you can't do anything about it now can you?"

Bookstalls are also held at meetings for people to find out more about local history.

Among the current best sellers is Kenilworth And The Great War: A Tribute to the Fallen.

The book, released last month, was a five-year Millennium project for Susan Tall of Laburnum Avenue and Barrow Road resident Betty Sunley.

Mrs Tall said: "I'm pleased to say it's selling extremely well. It's not just a list of who went to war but an account of life in Kenilworth throughout the 1910s."