JERRY SPRINGER, American Talk Show Host

I never met a person who chose to be born. No. Life is simply a gift - from God - and those who came before us - the decisions they made - the burdens they carried - the price they paid. Who are we? We can't know unless we learn something of them - the journey of self-discovery, a futile effort - without a journey to find out who we were - before we were.

For the BBC, Sue and her team took my sister and I on a journey of a lifetime discovering people and circumstances of our past unknown and therefore unappreciated. Two and a half centuries back - but how close we came to not being. The Holocaust destroyed most of my family - my parents escaping to England literally days before the gates shut with Hitler's invasion of Poland. The details, the records they found - of both my grandmothers - of their last days - of my uncles and aunts and cousins - their deportation orders - the trains they were on - their final destination and extermination - it was all there and presented by Sue and her team with utmost sensitivity. To be there - in person - for all its intensity - was indeed a journey of a lifetime- capped off by meeting a cousin - also a child of survivors - I never knew I had - well, what a gift.

I highly recommend Ancestral Footsteps for your personal journey - and what a wonderful experience and video to pass on to your children.

BARBARA WINDSOR MBE, British Actress

Being a big fan of the first series of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, I was thrilled to be asked to be a subject and what an amazing experience it turned out to be. Having been born and bred in the East End of London, naturally I expected my ancestors would be the same. But what a surprise to find out not only did I come from Irish stock, but also from Suffolk, with a very, very famous relative, John Constable. The journey was made even more special because of the enthusiasm of Sue Hills. It was obvious from the start that she had a passion for this particular area of work, and at all times she made me feel that she was enjoying it as much as I did, and was generally involved and visibly moved as we discovered the various layers of my ancestors and their plight. With her care and attention to detail, and thorough professionalism, it turned out to be a joyous experience.

Favourite ancestor:

Mary Ann Collins (born Ireland, 1846)

Favourite ancestor? So difficult, as each one touched me in different ways. But if I was pushed I think it would be Mary Ann Collins, ‘the match girl’. She was a real grafter as I have always been, although I have never had to work in such cruel and dangerous conditions ( although the Carry On Films came a close second, - I'm joking). I also love the fact that she fought for a better working environment and was part of the famous Match Girl strike.

ALISTAIR MCGOWAN, British comedian and actor

Tracing your family history is a hugely emotional experience. I really went through the gamut: pride, loss, excitement, love, and wonder... But I always felt very lucky to have Sue alongside me throughout my journey. She was hugely supportive in every possible way. She knew my family's story well, helped reveal it piece by piece and enjoyed trying to patch together the intricacies with me and to bring to life those who had died often centuries before. She calmed my nerves about travelling to distant corners of the world and was always in control of everything but ready to have a laugh at situations too. She gave me energy when I lacked it, comfort when I looked like I needed it and was always unflappable.

Favourite ancestor:

Cecil McGowan (born India, 1904)

I knew nothing about my father's father who had died ten years before I was born. It was amazing to see pictures of him for the first time, to be told about his violin-playing talents and to hear about his incredible bodybuilding exploits from people who had known him and to see his house and his homemade gym in India. He was a popular, well-known man and a well-loved father who clearly had a huge influence on my own father and, therefore, unwittingly, on me. After ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, I feel I really know him and that we would have got on well. He feels like a new friend.

NIC EVANS, Western Cape, South Africa

The 5-day ancestral voyage of discovery was terrific. It ran smoothly and not knowing where we were off to next keeps you enthralled. The morning session at Kew National Archives made me realise just how much research must have been done, not only on the discovered family branches but on the trails that resulted in nothing, especially with the surname Smith being in the family tree. I am not too sure if it occurs often on your ancestral tours that you go to the exact place where a long lost relative fought in the First World War, almost pin point where he got injured trying to cross a river, but that was humbling.

Please pass on my appreciation to all the people involved from Tim my researcher-guide and Graham our chauffeur to the back staff researchers who must spend hours researching.

Read about the research that went into this trip here.

THE RILEY FAMILY, Buckinghamshire, England

I had done quite a lot of digging into my family tree but was keen to get to know my ancestors better and to actually see the places they lived and worked. Our 5 day trail led us from the heart of the Industrial Revolution in Bolton and some prestigious Methodist ancestors to generations of family in Cheshire.

Highlights were coming across the Riley garage in Nantwich and realising we didn't just share a name we shared the same ancestors, then meeting a local postman who had us literally lifting up gravestones to find Riley inscriptions beneath. Our tour culminated in Dublin and County Wicklow and, as I knew Irish ancestry is very hard to trace, it was a buzz to see actual handwritten 1832 marriage and 1833 baptism records in the church of my great great great grandfather Terence Reilly in Rathmines, Dublin.

JO MCGRATH, Cambridge, England

I'm so glad that I discovered Ancestral Footsteps. Sue Hills and her team amazed me with how far back they managed to research my family tree and the depth of their findings. The whole trip was so wonderfully planned, which made it a very memorable experience. It was particularly good not to have known anything in advance thus enabling every element of the journey to be full of surprises.

I would recommend that everyone should take this trip of a lifetime. Thank you to everyone involved.

Read about the research that went into this trip here.

MICHELLE and BETTY, Oxfordshire, England

We had a lovely weekend tracing my paternal grandmother's family back in time and there were some great surprises. My grandmother and I got to know silversmiths and railway policemen and generations of screw makers with buildings still standing in picturesque villages from where they had lived and worked in the 1800s.

But the biggest revelation was finally discovering what happened to my grandmother's uncle and aunt who had died in a mysterious double murder/suicide, Sue had unearthed  the original police report which contained not only my great great uncle's handwritten suicide note but also the very bullets that had gone through my ancestors' skulls! All very morbid, but on a positive note, the police report and newspaper accounts led us to finally understand my uncle's actions in the context of extreme trauma suffered from fighting in World War 1.

My Ancestral Footsteps weekend was a present from work colleagues and one of the best gifts I have ever received, I would definitely recommend it.

MICHAEL SPENCE, Sussex, England

I must compliment Sue Hills of Ancestral Footsteps for a superbly researched family history and tour that encompassed London, Northamptonshire, Somerset and Bristol.

Not only was the family tree more comprehensive than I anticipated, but it was so rewarding to see the houses, streets and churches where my ancestors had lived. Quite literally I walked in their footsteps.

Backing this Sue had arranged meetings with experts; the museum curator of my father's professional body; the military historian who provided information on his 1914/18 experience; the guide/historian with knowledge of Kettering; and the railway archivist at Swindon who was able to produce an obituary on my great great grandfather.

In short a very professional and rewarding experience.

HILARY, Gloucestershire, England

A Christmas present from my husband became two days of wonderful discovery for my brother and me with Ancestral Footsteps tracing our ancestors going back to 1786.

At the end of the two days, we were certainly fired up with Sue Hills' enthusiasm for her subject.  Since then, we have both been getting to grips with so much information with our family trees and we are only now beginning to realise what a superb present it actually was. 

Imagining your relatives from a long distant age and piecing together their livelihoods was fascinating.  We visited many areas where they were born and baptised.  A truly wonderful experience and one we could highly recommend.

Sue certainly knows her subject and her endless excitement and exuberance over each discovery is amazing.

TONY AND JOY, Melbourne, Australia

When my wife and I were over on a month long visit to the UK I also took some time out to meet the ancestors with Sue. It was great going back in time stage by stage and trying to decipher the clues. There was a revelation every decade of the way! Fantastic.

One of my grandfathers was a police detective and up in Oldham, North England, the local police archive even had his personnel record from 1894 where he was docked pay for letting a prisoner escape from jail and for being drunk on duty! I flick through my album all the time – its brilliant to have all the documents in front of me.

Favourite ancestor:

John Duffy (1871 to 1944) the police detective.

COLIN AND IRENE, Auckland, New Zealand

Over in England, Sue showed us more ancestors than we believed possible, from tea brokers to railway guards. The ancestral highlight is that there is actually a plaque dedicated to one of our ancestors up at the magnificent Ely Cathedral where he was the verger. Great to have something tangible which should be there forever, especially when you live thousands of miles away from your roots.

Favourite ancestor:

John Southby (1801 to 1880) verger and porter at Ely Cathedral.

ANTHONY RUDD Kent, England

Thank you so much for the amazing experience. I felt enormously privileged and humbled to enjoy the results of all your hard work and extensive research on our behalf - all done with such enthusiasm and good humour on your part. Apart from discovering our family history, the entire trip, including the ‘mystery’ element, the hotel, our driver and the luxury mode of transportation, all made for a very unique and memorable experience indeed.

Favourite ancestor:

Martin William Rudd (1766 to 1830)

Garrison Fort Major.

We found out so much about him and by visiting the places he grew up in and worked at, he really came to life - he was born plain Martin but added the William later. The son of illiterate parents he died with shares in the Bank of England. Quite a social climber!

ART MANFREDI, McLean, Virginia, USA

Ancestral Footsteps is a miracle worker! I had been searching for the birthplace of my late wife's Italian ancestors for at least 16 years. I'd written probably over 100 letters and emails to various places in Italy, tried to track down distant relatives in the US, went to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City and spent a day with their Italian expert - all to no avail.
I had hit the proverbial ‘brick wall’.

Then one of my neighbors told me about Ancestral Footsteps. I contacted them, told them my story and they agreed to look at what information I had. They quickly agreed to undertake the research, and after only three weeks or so succeeded in doing what I had not been able to - find the exact birthplace of the ancestors! They emailed me a report and images of the documents they had found.

I am thrilled that I can now complete this part of the family tree and bequeath it to my children.
I could not be more pleased.