I'm Mark, the youngest grandson of James Emmanuel Hayton, born in South Shields some 21+ years ago.

That's me, left, at the grand old age of six months. A Newcastle Journal photographer couldn't resist my good looks (!!!) when my family went to a food exhibition in Newcastle.

I've aged a fair bit since then of course. Now married with kids, I live in Northumberland, England, just up the road from my birthplace.

When I was a child, my father always suggested that our family came from the village of Hayton in Cumbria (not sure which one) but never looked into it. The thought of 'where did we come from?' has been with me ever since, but it wasn't until I worked for a boss who was tracing his own ancestry that I got the necessary kick start to get me going.

That was eight years ago and the bug is still with me. Genealogy on the internet was still in its infancy then, so a website was set up to show off what I had found. When other researchers began to contact me about their Hayton ancestors, I began to collate records on all Haytons I came across - not just my own. Since then I've been fortunate enough to help many others worldwide trace their roots, from passing on notes I hold to bringing separated families together.

Mark Hayton