It started in 1978 when my first wife died of cancer and I went back to the UK to see her brothers and sisters. Whilst there I had a sudden desire to see where my father hand come from. With two days to spare I arrived in Staines, Middlesex and eventually landed on the doorstep of the vicar of St Mary's Church, who, sporting a RAF moustache said, "I don't know why you want to dig him up, he hasn't been giving me any trouble". Taking me into the vestry he got out the original registers, would you believe Vellum and, asking my fathers baptism date, found the page and entry and then said "I'll leave you to it". To my astonishment I found three aunts and three uncles that I had never heard of before. I spent the rest of that day and the next poring over these registers, being vellum they had turned brown in colour and the ink the registrars used was, I believe, Indian Ink which also turns brown, it wasn't easy to decipher some of the entries.
I got back to Australia, joined the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies, and started doing research seriously. I had, like any other researcher, times when I was absolutely stuck, but persistence paid off and in the end I had succeeded in tracing the male line back to 1683 in Kingsclere, Hampshire (I've been called a MCP for doing that) and that's where I am stuck at present. Thomas Bates, my 6th great grandfather, arrived in Kingsclere with his wife Maria and their first child Thomas was baptised on 20th February 1683. I have been unable to ascertain where Thomas and Maria came from or where their marriage took place.
I composed nine verses of poetry expressing my frustration, which has been published in the Hampshire FHS Journal, and on various Rootsweb mailing lists. To make my point I have to repeat the first two verses, for which I apologise.

The penny still hadn't dropped, despite criticism about Captain Cook's wife which was sorted out. Yes she was baptised BATES although her father was BATTS
It took the owner of the Gunpowder Plot site on the 'net, to ask me if I would be interested in researching THOMAS BATES, the faithful family retainer to Robert Catesby the prime instigator of the Gunpowder Plot, for the penny to finally drop. He continued saying that because Thomas was rated a menial the chances of there being any positive information available for research was doubtful. Little did he know! Letters showing an interest in Thomas Bates were passed on to me, but in the background my piece of poetry was working overtime
THOMAS BATES the family retainer to ROBERT CATESBY, was allowed to wear armour and had his own personal servant CHRISTOPHER STORIE. He carried out cattle deals for his master and moved them around the various Catesby holdings. When he was hanged, drawn and quartered, his son JOHN BATES carried on the cattle business.
A letter from Veronica M Bates of Western Australia informed me that she had been researching Thomas Bates from about 1975, we agreed to exchange our information. I think I got the better side of the deal, Ronnie, as she prefers to be known, had been in touch with the Tower of London and had established a good rapport with the archivist there. She says that it is "a father passed to son" thing that originally there were connections between her family and Thomas Bates. She hasn't progressed as far back as I have.
Then a letter came from a Colin Thompson of South Africa, saying that a Henry Edmond Bates married a Emma Hemming and that Henry was a direct relative of Thomas Bates
This was followed by a letter from a F John Bates of Peterborough, England who, through the archivist at the Shropshire County Records Office, was told I was researching Thomas Bates and his son John Bates. In his letter he stated that the last of the line of cattle drovers and hauliers was his grandfather Thomas Allard Bates. That they were direct descendents of John Bates son of Thomas Bates who was Robert Catesby's bodyguard. For some reason he would not part with any of his family tree information.
Then a letter from Janice A Snowden of South Australia saying that her father had passed on the information that they were related in some way to Thomas Bates of gunpowder plot infamy. They had even gone to the UK and sent me some photographs of the Catesby Gatehouse where the plotters did their planning.
One would think that with all these leads the researching would be easy. However because a lot of the personnel involved were Catholics their individual BDM records are 'hidden', and more than likely irrecoverable.
The original owner of the gunpowder plot web site has said since that "It would be extremely ironic if the first documented line came from Thomas Bates, the one you were told would be impossible to trace because of his lower social status."
I have been amusing myself writing to various Rootsweb mailing lists asking for anyone with information about cattle hauliers or drovers. So it had to happen eventually, a lady lister said her father had worked for a number of years at the Banbury Cattle Market and he remembered two Bates brothers A & R who had chocolate coloured lorries, with their name on the front, for some reason he associated Brill and Oakley Wood in Buckinghamshire with them. This was in the 1920's.
So the next general enquiry went out on the Bucks list, where to my astonishment someone wrote to say that an Albert Bates had a cattle hauling business as well as the Swan at Grendon Underwood. He had two sons Les and Brian who did cattle hauling in and out of Aylesbury market in the period 1940/60.
The gunpowder plot research has produced some facts that I did not know before. Bonfires, so popular on Bonfire Night, were originally called Bone Fires and people threw bones on the fire representing the Pope. It wasn't until 1806 that the public started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes was known as John Johnson, and after serving in Spain called himself Guido Fawkes. He was engaged as a mercenary mainly to handle and set up the gunpowder stored under the Houses of Parliament.
Now back to my own personal line, I've been searching for the marriage of Thomas and Maria for 16 years now, and recently joined the Sussex list where after a general enquiry a lady lister offered to do some research. She found a marriage of a Thomas Bat and Maria that fitted the time slot, they didn't settle in the same area as where they got married. The description of Thomas as yeoman could have allowed him and his wife to arrive in the Kingsclere area, I understand no settlement papers would have been required. Mary Collyer was described as a local maiden (What distance from the Church would be covered by the word local?) The church was at a place called Rumbleswyke now called Wyke in the south-east outskirts of Chichester, Sussex. Interestingly the church has a reputation of being a sort of Sussex 'Gretna Green' and in this direction its activities haven't been confined to just one vicar.
I have been hopeful that somewhere along the line my Thomas Bates was a stray from the gunpowder plot Thomas Bates, there are a lot of Thomas' in my earlier history.
To finish off here is a laughable twist, I hadn't got my credit card when going to pay for some petrol, so asked the attendant if he would take a cheque. "No problem" he said, "Do you want my licence number on the back?" I asked, "Not unless you have a criminal past" he joked. "Well you'll have to make your mind up about that" I said. "One of my relatives was hanged, drawn and quatered in St Pauls Churchyard in London for his involvement with the Gunpowerder Plot, but on the other hand my father sang solo in St Pauls Cathedral". A burst of laughter went up behind me, I had been holding up a queue of people wanting to pay for their petrol!

NOTE: The Gun Powder Plot site is at www.gunpowder-plot.org/gun-plot.htm