Who do you think you are? Find your family tree

But that sentence can lead to a series of never-ending questions to contemplate.

“Where did I inherit that trait from?” “Why do I hate doing the ironing?” “Where do I get my interest in racing and the cinema from?” The list goes on.

But, remember, you are not alone in wondering these things.

Thanks to inquisitive minds, the genealogy industry has ballooned in recent years and is now worth billions to the global economy.

Genealogy website Ancestry.com not only boasts more than two million subscribers, but also 16 billion historical records. While MyHeritage has roughly 80 million members.

Many people have been applying great importance to exploring their past since a young age.

But for me, it was only within the last couple of years that I started to take an interest in my ancestors.

I knew common knowledge in my family. Firstly that I have Polish roots, with my great grandparents unsuccessfully attempting to flee Poland for Britain days before the outbreak of the Second World War. Luckily their children later happily escaped. And secondly I am a great-great nephew of John Fielding V.C.

Once I started researching my family tree, I later discovered Finnish, Russian, Jewish and Italian lineage.

Fortunately both my 88-year-old maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather are still alive and often talk about the past. Both of whom have been able to fill in some major gaps in my family trees, which have so far been traced back to the 1660s.

The secretary of the Pontypool branch of Gwent Family Society, Nicola Thomas, believes it to be very important.

She said: “I was interested in history. I did history at university and was always interested in social elements.

“This I suppose led to my interest in tracing family trees.

“A lot of people ask me of the importance of knowing your ancestors.

“I think it is very important because it gives people an answer to so many things and brings a lot of pleasure. It also brings happiness and memories between family and friends.”

Mrs Thomas added that searching your family’s past is rather like being a detective.

“You have absolutely no idea what you are going to find,” she said.

“I had an ancestor who worked with herbs but ended up in court because of his licence being out of date. I have not found any murderers yet.

“You are a detective in many ways because you are looking for clues and answers.”

She added: “People really ought to have a go. You will probably enjoy it.

“When I ask people what they enjoy most about it I get a variety of reasons.”

For Shaun Bladon, who lives in Trevethin, the part he found most exciting in building his family tree was discovering his biological ancestors.

“I was adopted when I was young,” said the 40-year-old.

“I am very close to my mum and dad, but I wanted to know who my biological parents were and of their families.

“I knew nothing about them.”

And when Mr Bladon discovered his biological family roots he was left “speechless”.

“I got onto Ancestry.com,” he said. “It is very straightforward.

“I had found my biological parents and originally they were from Scotland. I then discovered my great-great-great grandfather had been a member of parliament up north. I also found a double murderer, who was hanged.

“I was speechless, probably because I never would have thought I would have these sorts of characters in the family. It was a lot of fun for me and my girlfriend.

“You do not know what you are going to find.”

He added: “I continued to trace my family tree. I got to the 1890s. I had a lot of help from living relatives.”

Mr Bladon’s enthusiasm was passed onto his girlfriend, Chloe Williams, who later managed to unravel a perplexing family mystery.

“My mum’s mum would never speak of her parents,” she said.

“I could never understand why nan would always change topic when I would ask her about them.

“It turned out that they put her up for adoption when she was young. They could not afford to keep her. She must have felt upset by what had happened.

“I am happy that I know the question that I have been after for 10 years.”

Genealogist Will Roberts, who lives in Newport, said he spends “at least four hours” a day tracing his family tree.

He said: “It can get tiring in places but when you find a relative it is a great feeling. I also have a coat of arms which is pretty cool. You can find this stuff out on most of the family tree websites.

“My mother’s family were German and my father’s Irish - I only found this out after doing research online.

“Really, how do you know who you are until you have looked into your family past.”

So, after all this, who do you think you are?

For more information on the Pontypool family history group, email secretary@gwentfhs.org.uk or visit gwentfhs.org.uk