Mark Carroll was for over 30 years a biochemistry lecturer at one of London's premier medical schools. He was introduced to family history by his sister in 2002. His first major project was to research his mother's maiden name, Orriss. Little did he know that it would not be so easy, despite the apparently rare surname. He also did not realise that he would come up against the genealogist's worst nightmare: a Smith family from London! In spite of these challenges he made substantial progress. Along the way he was helped by archivists and by some distant cousins who had been researching the shared family for years. With their combined sleuthing, he and they together took the Orriss line back to a marriage in Suffolk in 1597. But what to do when you hit a genealogical 'brick wall'?

In recent years DNA analysis has opened up new possibilities for family historians. With his professional background in human biochemical genetics, Mark was well placed to take advantage of this novel technology.

In this fascinating and at times amusing book Mark takes you on a journey to discover the origins of his mother's family. He describes, in an engaging and non-technical way, his successes and failures, the research methods he employed, the skills he developed, and his use of DNA analysis. He has yet to overcome his greatest genealogical challenge - to prove whether his mother's Orriss family is descended from King Alfred the Great!