Jerry Hall knows her father's family were originally from Oldham but wants to find out how they ended up in America. Her journey takes her from the cotton mills of Lancashire to the plains of Texas at the time of the railroads. Once there, Jerry also investigates her mother's side of the family and discovers her ancestors' pioneering roots as they blazed a trail west across America at the time of the Frontier, and a connection to the original pioneer and folk hero - Daniel Boone.

Actress Anne Reid was close to her father but knows very little about his family. She only has a couple of clues to go on - the name of a house in Scotland and a family story that her father's side were ministers in the church. These clues soon put her on the trail of her great-great-grandfather John Reid - not a minister at all, but a schoolteacher in Fife with a sideline in forgery. When John's forgeries land him in the dock his life takes an unexpected turn - to Tasmania, on a convict ship.