How researching two names on a marriage agreement turned into a family history rollercoaster ride from a 16th century rural backwater to the very top of 19th century Nottingham society. Featuring greedy lawyers; land speculators ; a father trying to safeguard his daughter’s £2000 dowry against a groom who’d left it rather late to get ‘heir and spare’; women who married well and those who didn’t; an inventor; a lord mayor and the black sheep of the family who married in Gretna Green but did well for himself in the end.