I had a great aunt who spent decades and a huge amount of her inheritance tracing family members back well into the 16th and 17th centuries. She even brought ancestral personal items and a few pieces of property she thought was of interest. She loved the military history side of the family
She found some pretty amazing people both good and bad.....being one of those proper ladies, she like talking about the good ones and I always made her talk about the bad ones which she acted ashamed of. As she got older and her only daughter came out as a lesbian, she loosened her up some she even enjoyed the dark side of family history.