Tracing her mother's history led a Bradford woman to a fascination with her family tree.

And Marie Dorman, 66, of Wrose, has now traced her family back to the 1600s.

She had planned to research her family history once she retired.

"We had been looking at some old photographs and I said to my mother: 'When I retire, I will look at them properly and you can tell me who these people are and what they did'," Mrs Dorman said.

But six months before that date, her mother died.

"Before I retired, my mum, the eldest member of the family, was gone," Mrs Dorman said.

"This made me more determined that ever to try to find out about my family.

"So many times you are told things and you don't listen or pay attention and then it is too late."

With the help of the Bradford Archive Office, Mrs Dorman, pictured, started to piece together her family tree.

"The more I got into it, the more I was fascinated," she said.

"It became like an addiction and hearing about the family members made them real.

"I wanted to learn all about them, how they lived, what they did."

The majority of Mrs Dorman's family were based in Idle and worked as quarrymen, so were relatively easy to trace.

"It was heart-breaking to read about the young children who died from so many diseases and from working long hours in horrible conditions," she said.

Mrs Dorman has now managed to trace her family back to the 17th century.

"We found out a lot through the Internet and the Archive Office has proved invaluable," she said.

"Getting hold of the marriage certificates also provided a lot of information."

She recommended the exercise to others.

"I have got four files full of photographs and information," she said.

"Sometimes I think there is still so much to do.

"I wish I had more pictures of my mother and mother's mother.

"On the other hand, there are people who don't have any information so we are lucky."