But a new BBC Wales family history programme called Coming Home has revealed this isn’t the case. In fact, a great-uncle of his had something of a privileged life by attending an exclusive public school in the South East of England.

Born in the coal mining town of Tredegar, Neil later acquired a degree in history and industrial relations at Cardiff. He also gained a postgraduate diploma in education.

During the TV show – which is going to be aired next Wednesday – he traces his ancestors and discovers that his working class background isn’t as humble as he once thought.

Of course, we’ve learnt and read many things about the former politician over the years, so it’s interesting to see Lord Kinnock’s family history uncovered. Particularly as the programme reveals some facts that even surprised him.

It just goes to show. We cannot truly know who we are until we’ve researched our family history.

I offer a very personal service here at Family Tree Genie. All family tree research is carried out by myself confidentially and I care very much about each and every project I embark on.

What you also might not realise is just how much effort I put into my work. I love uncovering people’s family trees and I always like to ensure that my passion for genealogy is reflected in the outcome of each and every project.

What does this mean to you? Well, it means you’ll get a friendly and personal service from start to finish. You’ll have someone who cares deeply about achieving results for you and going back as far as records will allow.

What’s more, I even like to meet you face-to-face once all research is complete to present you with your very own family tree – both printed and electronically recorded – in a quality presentation folder. Something that you will be able to treasure forever.

This presentation pack – which comes at no extra cost to you – includes:

• all the family groups, for example man with wife (or wives) and their immediate children
• for each group – any relevant birth, baptism, death, marriage, census, WW1 service record or pension details
• a disc containing all the data electronically, including all images or PDFs to read or see plus the family tree in Family Tree Maker 2010 format. Please note, this software can be purchased separately for around £10.

A full family free print is optional – priced on an individual basis, depending on size of tree and paper/canvas option.

During our final meeting, I will also happily talk through the research and explain your very own family history. I’m also happy to answer any questions you might have.

So you see, I offer a very personal and bespoke service and you get a lot of value from hiring me to do your family tree on your behalf. I care very much about my work and will go above and beyond your expectations to create something that you will undoubtedly appreciate for the rest of your life.

If that sounds good, then why not give me a call on 01270 877893 or you can fill out my contact form online. I’ll be happy to chat through your enquiry and offer my initial advice at no cost and with no obligation. I very much look forward to hearing from you.

With Christmas fast approaching, you may already be thinking about what you plan to achieve in 2012. You might add the usual resolutions of ‘getting fit’ or progressing up the career ladder but why not consider your family history as one of next year’s challenges?

Of course, you don’t have to do it yourself. You can call in an expert to do all the hard work for you. Yes, there’s a matter of cost but essentially you’re paying for someone’s time and expertise to get your family tree in order.

I’ve been researching family trees for quite some time now and I thoroughly enjoy the process of tracing ancestors. I’m available to have a friendly chat over the phone on 01270 877893 or you may fill out my enquiry form for a free, no obligation price estimate.

I’ve helped dozens of families to finally sort out their family trees and I’d love to help you with yours. Just get in touch and we can start the process and make 2012 the year that you finally get your family history sorted.

Thanks to the Gainsborough Heritage Association you can now look up your ancestors or view old photos of the town at the new Heritage Centre on North Street, which is staffed by volunteers and currently open on Saturday mornings only.

The Association is hoping to open for longer in 2012 and they’re also keen to collect more artefacts from across the region. They also want to extend their database of births, marriages and deaths, all sourced from local newspapers.

What a fantastic opportunity for the people of Gainsborough. If you’re keen to research your family line or you want to help the Association, you can find out more by visiting their website at www.gainsboroughheritage.com or by calling 01427 612030.

Of course, preserving your family tree is one of the most important things you could ever do. It’s something everyone should get sorted in their lifetimes, so they’re able to pass the information from generation to generation.

It’s crucial to know who you are and where you come from – not just for health reasons but to honour your ancestors and keep the memory of them alive. Your very DNA includes part of them, so it would just be criminal not to investigate your past.

Let 2012 be the year that you finally put together your own family tree. But don’t keep putting it off. Hire a family tree researcher to do all the hard work for you. It’s not as expensive as you might think and it will take the hassle away completely.

Once I’ve started your family tree – and gone back as far as records will allow – you can then continue to add to it before handing it down to your own children. Our ancestors are so important, so don’t leave it any longer.

If you’ve always wanted to find out where you come from, please get in touch and I would love to help make 2012 the year you finally get your family tree together.

For years scientists have known that Neanderthals and modern humans co-existed as two different species of human – and have since been searching for evidence that the two mated. This new study suggests that interbreeding did in fact take place thousands of years ago.

A fragment of Neanderthal DNA has been found on the X chromosome – of which woman have two and men have one. And it was reported that around one to four per cent of our DNA may actually hail from Neanderthal ancestors.

But how was this discovered? Years ago scientists discovered an element of human DNA that could not be indentified on the X chromosome. Then in 2010, partial Neanderthal DNA was found. Scientists have since compared the unidentified DNA fragment of more than 6,000 modern humans with the Neanderthal gene. They found that sequences on the Neanderthal X chromosome were similar to those of modern humans from all over the world – except sub-Saharan Africa.

When you consider that Neanderthals migrated from Africa around 300,000 to 750,000 years before modern humans, it makes sense that no Neanderthal DNA – no matter how small – could be found in African genes.

It’s unlikely that this has any effect on us now, but it’s interesting to think about how far back our heritage actually goes.

According to Ancestry.com the two ladies are distant cousins through Henry Percy – the second earl of Northumberland, born in 1392. What’s more, Henry Percy was the second great-grandson of King Edward lll, making King Edward a distant great-grandfather to the Middleton sisters.

The website’s research indicates that the Middleton/Austen family connection also makes them 11th cousins, six times removed.

But perhaps the most interesting fact about this link is that Kate is actually living the life of a typical Jane Austen heroine – a middle class girl marrying the future King of England. How ironic.

And that’s not the only thing the pair have in common. Rumour has it many of Austen’s relatives were in love with men of high social rank – and clearly Kate is no exception.

This discovery was made on the 200th year anniversary of Jane Austen’s first novel, Sense and Sensibility – which actually has a character in it named Lady Middleton.

Kate certainly seems to be developing an incredibly interesting family tree. Shortly before marrying Prince William in April this year, it was revealed that TV host Ellen DeGeneres had received a letter from the New England Genealogy Society claiming that Kate is her fifteenth cousin. The society has even published a book with details of the Duchess’ British and American relatives. It dates right back to Sir Thomas Fairfax who died in 1521 – a very distant shared relative of Prince William himself.

Picture credit: Piotr Adamski / Shutterstock.com

The recent study, carried out by researchers at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic Genomic Medicine Institute, found that family health histories are the ‘best kept secret in healthcare’.

It looks like your grandparents were right! Whatever they suffered from, it looks like you could too. It certainly saves on any costly genetic testing doesn’t it!

But all this begs the question – if our grandparents were right and they’ve only just discovered this information now – why aren’t GPs doing more to consider family history? Yes, they may ask very basic questions about our families but shouldn’t doctors be taking a more accurate record of our past?

Family health histories are certainly the cheapest and most effective way of predicting what could happen to our own health. But it’s important to include both sides of the family – if they’re going to get it right.

My advice? Talk to your grandparents and parents and even consider noting down any family illnesses or disease. Might seem a bit of a morbid addition to your family tree, but wouldn’t you want your descendants to be fully warned and therefore prepared?

Making a family health history is simply a case of starting with your own health and then talking to parents, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles… even cousins.
Ask all the right questions like what exactly people have suffered from and at what age the condition or ailment started. Include lifestyle information as well, i.e. did your relatives smoke or drink? Did they take regular exercise?

And then update your family history whenever new information becomes available. Do all this and you’ll be protecting your family and future generations.

As you know, I’m a Cheshire genealogist who can unlock the secrets of your ancestors on your behalf, that’s whether you’re based in Cheshire, elsewhere in the UK or if you live in the USA or Australia where it’s difficult to access relevant records – I can happily research your family descendants for you.

If you’d like to surprise a loved one this Christmas, I offer a service designed to be flexible and meet your needs. I can either trace a male, male/female or entire family line – it’s entirely up to you.

Something that will make an excellent Christmas gift for family or friends.

All you have to do is fill out my initial contact form and I’ll be in touch as soon as possible to see if I can trace your family line.

I will carry out some initial research – that’s free and under no obligation to you – to ascertain whether your family history is traceable. But hurry! Time’s running out if you’re after a unique Christmas gift. Otherwise, I’d be happy to present you with a special voucher, something that you can give as a Christmas gift for a family member or friend to use in the New Year. Just get in touch and I’ll be happy to provide your very own family tree as a unique Christmas gift.

Resources available to find out about your family past are becoming more and more popular on the internet.

An American family social network website, FamilyLink, has recently partnered with Historic Map Works to provide the world’s leading historical map collection to its 70 million users.

FamilyLink has 3.6 billion genealogy names and once the partnership with Historic Map Works has been implemented on the site, they plan to add more than 1.3 million maps and one million names to its collection.

You will be able to search for historic maps, including land ownership maps, using current addresses, farms, cities, businesses and even GPS coordinates. In addition to this, you can explore more than two million images of several hundred years of American development.

Once you find the historic map you are looking for, you have the ability to overlap it with new maps to see exactly where your ancestors lived. And if images are available of the area, you may have access to pictures of your ancestor’s houses, place of business and even grave stones.

This is a great resource for me to have at my finger tips as I offer my services not only to residents in the UK, but also in America and Australia.