FAMILY history researchers-turned-detectives are embarking on a global voyage of discovery to trace their roots.

Three members of the Graves family from the United States are coming to York, armed with family trees - and even DNA tests - to help track down relatives.

They are appealing to people with the same surname, and variations such as Greaves and Grieve, to attend the event at King's Manor, University of York, Exhibition Square, York, from 1pm until 3pm on Saturday, May 13.

"We are hoping to meet as many family members as possible from York and the vicinity, especially those who have some knowledge of their ancestry," said Kenneth V Graves, of Massachusetts.

"If people, descended from any of these families, bring information about their ancestry we will try to help them learn more."

Kenneth is from The Graves Family Association, which collects and preserves variations of the name from all periods of history and across the globe.

He will be showing slides of family trees and talking about the hundreds of family genealogies the association has compiled. He will also shed light on the migration of the families over the centuries and some of the results from the association's DNA study.

"There will also be an opportunity for any male with the Greaves/Graves surname to take a DNA test on the spot," he said. "DNA testing of males allows us to discover which families are descended from a common ancestor.

"The results of our testing study have shown that families in the US, England, Australia, and elsewhere, that were not known to be related are indeed part of the same family.

"We are trying to gather as much information as possible about all these various families, and connect the ones who are related."

Dr Richard Greaves, 37, a university research assistant, from Clifton Moor, York, said he knew very little about his family history, but would be interested to learn more.

"There are a few of us around," he said. "The DNA test would be quite interesting, although I would never be forgiven if it revealed I was more closely related to a Lancashire branch of the Greaves family."

City archivist Rita Freedman said thousands of people annually visit York's Borthwick Institute and York City Archives, whose records of city freemen go back to 1272, to trace their family history.

There are also numerous family and local history groups set up to help people research.

"It is very important that people do know where they come from and who they were," she said.

"Often, researching family history is the first step to people doing other research, such as looking into their local history, and academic work."

Updated: 09:51 Thursday, May 04, 2006