I started the search for my ancestors quite late,  I was  already  in my late 40s.  I wish now  that I had started years ago.  My Grandfather,  Joseph Tumbridge,  had done some work on the Tumbridge name many years ago but unfortunately I don't think he wrote anything down. I am sure if the WWW  had been  around 40  to 50  years ago he would have discovered quite a  bit more than he did. 

The best advice anyone will give you, when you first decide to break into this very time consuming past time is, speak to your relatives. Find out as much information as you can about the family members they remember. Your Grandparents, or Great Grandparents if you are fortunate enough
to have them still with you, are your best source of information.

I am now 51 years old. My Father, whose age I will not divulge, has a good memory, and has helped a great deal with details he remembers of the family. He could not however help me with details of his Grandfather,  William Edmund Tumbridge, because he died long before my Father was born. The only person who could have helped me was my Grandfather, Joseph Steward Tumbridge and he passed away in 1970. It appears that he did not talk much about his Father and therefore there is no information about him. None of my Uncles and Aunts ever knew him.

It is William Tumbridge who is now proving to be a little difficult to locate. I have managed to locate his death record and that took me about six hours searching through several very big and very heavy books at the Family Records Centre in London.

Names and dates!! It will save you so much leg work. Spending days in the records office can be very tiring, and on occasions frustrating, so make it easy on yourself, get in touch with as many relatives as you can and start making notes. Write everything in a note book, the smallest details, names of Brothers, Sisters, place names etc. You would be surprised how useful a small detail can be when you are trying to decide if the person you have located in an index somewhere is your relative. You must be 100% sure that you have found the right person, otherwise you can waste months following the wrong relatives.

Once you have your little note book full of useful information start with one relative at a time. Work backwards from what you already know. When you think you have found an ancestor, go back to your relatives and tell them what you have. I know all this sounds obvious and simple but you will be surprised by how relatives suddenly start to remember more information when you show them what you have found.