Hi gang, sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread. Thanks for the responses - I'd like to look some of these people up.

And I'd love to hear more detail from those of who you mention doing original research. How exactly do you go about it? As I mentioned, I've found that sometimes stories come looking for you, and the more you sing about oral history, the more people start talking to you about their own family history. But I'd be interested to know if there are more systematic methods of research within my reach, rather than just relying on serendipity.

Thanks, Marion