Well, as far as I know, my family goes really far back. Pre 1066, in fact. I know that the start of my family originated in Norway, as Vikings! I've been told that they were also chieftains/warlords of some sort. Then my family took part in the group that settled in Normandy. They became Dukes, and owned a fair bit of land. Then, they went with the Norman invasion to England. Owned a bit more land around Yorkshire, I believe. They also fought in the war of the Roses, on the side of York. Good few hundred years later, and it's WW1. One of my family entered service as a machine-gunner. Survived the entire war. My great uncle also served as a home guard in WW2.
That's just my dad's side.