There were scattered records to be collected, forgotten wills to be sought in county offices, parochial registers to be searched for births and deaths.

A nomadic family has no traditions; Robert Turold had to trace his back to the darkness of the Middle Ages.

It was a notable feat to trace the wanderings of an obscure family back so far as he did, but even then he seemed as far away from the attainment of his desire as ever.

There remained a gap of forty years.

To establish his claim to the title he had to prove that the Turolds sprang from the younger brother of the last Lord Turrald, who had allowed the title to lapse for fear of losing his head if he came forward to claim it.
It did not seem a great gap to bridge after following a wandering scent through four centuries, but the paltry forty years almost beat Robert Turold, and cost him five years additional search.