That is a really fascinating story, Pauline. You are right, the previous generation obviously weren't as fascinated by their ancestral roots as we are. I was lucky enough to find a long-lost cousin via the Internet and that, in turn, connected to me to other cousins. This led to a tiny bit of information that I posted on a website and which a woman in Canada saw a couple of years ago. She has been tracing her genealogy for some years and it turns out she is descended from my (hitherto unknown) paternal grandmother's sister. Through her, I have been put in touch with other descendants on that side - it's amazing - and have family details dating back to 1760. Of course, there are still a lot of gaps and, as you rightly say, it's not easy to work one's way back from the other side of the world. Well, it would take a lot of time, effort and money.
Bren