0:00:02 > 0:00:05Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons...
0:00:05 > 0:00:07My mum went away and didn't come back.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10..and when you do lose touch with your loved ones...
0:00:10 > 0:00:12I never saw Kathleen again.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15- ..finding them can take a lifetime... - I wonder where he is?
0:00:15 > 0:00:19- I wonder what he's doing?- You don't really know where to begin.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22..especially when they could be anywhere, at home or abroad.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28And that is where the family finders come in.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Hi, it's the Salvation Army family tracing service.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34From international organisations...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37There has never been a day when we have not heard new enquiries.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..to genealogy detective agencies...
0:00:40 > 0:00:42When is it you last had contact?
0:00:42 > 0:00:45..and dedicated one-man bands...
0:00:45 > 0:00:47I like to do the searches that other people cannot get,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51- cos it makes me feel good. - ..they hunt through history,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54to bring families back together again.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56You are my biological dad.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59In this series, we follow the work of the Family Finders...
0:00:59 > 0:01:02This case came from our Australian colleagues.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06..learning the tricks they use to track missing relatives through time.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08I am 68 years of age.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10She is 75 years of age and we are just starting off.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14And meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16I said, "Well, this is your younger sister."
0:01:16 > 0:01:18It's a miracle.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I was struck speechless and I could not stop crying!
0:01:21 > 0:01:23It is a proud moment for Dad.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26It was the thought of finding a family.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Across Britain, there are dozens of specialist agencies
0:01:37 > 0:01:40who reunite people with their families.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The biggest one is the Salvation Army,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46who, for a small fee, trace over 2,000 people a year.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Good afternoon. Salvation Army. Can I help you?
0:01:49 > 0:01:51All our caseworkers
0:01:51 > 0:01:56are currently working on over...nearly 250 cases,
0:01:56 > 0:01:57live, presently.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02'There has never been a day when we have never had new enquiries.'
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And this organisation has a huge global presence,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09with branches in 126 countries. So, very often,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12the Salvation Army family finders reunite people
0:02:12 > 0:02:17- from different sides of the world. - When did you last see him there?
0:02:17 > 0:02:22One such person in need of their help is 80-year-old Violet Rossini,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25who has lived in Australia for nearly 50 years.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33When she was around five years old, Violet and her older sister Kathleen
0:02:33 > 0:02:36were placed into care in Lincolnshire.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40I was told my mother died when I was born. And...
0:02:42 > 0:02:47..we were taken into the children's homes and then I was fostered out
0:02:47 > 0:02:48and Kathleen was adopted, I believe.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Initially, the two sisters were in the same children's home...
0:02:53 > 0:02:56..but they were separated when they were fostered.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00However, by a quirk of fate, Violet and Kathleen were, at one point,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04placed in foster homes which were in walking distance of each other.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07I lived in South Street and she lived round the corner
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and we met up through a friend of mine.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12She knew me, but I did not know her, to start with.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14And that is how it all began.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Once they'd realised how close their foster homes were, the two sisters
0:03:19 > 0:03:22used to sneak out and play with each other in secret.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25But this joyful time didn't last.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28My foster mother found out that I was meeting Kathleen
0:03:28 > 0:03:31and she sent me back to the home.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36And that was it. I never saw Kathleen again.
0:03:36 > 0:03:37Yeah.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43The last time she saw Kathleen, Violet was just eight years old
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and, although her memories may have faded, she has never forgotten
0:03:47 > 0:03:48her older sister.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50She was the good looking of the two!
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I used to be jealous of her sometimes.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56She had lovely curly hair, as I remember.
0:03:56 > 0:04:02And...I don't remember that much. We were about the same in build
0:04:02 > 0:04:05and that. The only thing that really sticks in my mind was
0:04:05 > 0:04:08she used to give me a piggyback up Eastwood Hill, cos it was
0:04:08 > 0:04:09a steep hill to school!
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Violet moved to London when she was 14
0:04:14 > 0:04:18and married when she was 20. After her first husband died,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22she remarried and, in 1968, emigrated with him
0:04:22 > 0:04:24and her five children to Australia.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27I did not say goodbye to Kathleen
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and she never got to say goodbye to me
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and it was just like, you might say, a parting of the waves.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Violet tried to trace Kathleen several times over the years,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42but never had any luck. And then, a few years ago,
0:04:42 > 0:04:47her granddaughter Candice made one last-ditch attempt.
0:04:47 > 0:04:48I have a sister
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and three brothers and I couldn't imagine life
0:04:51 > 0:04:53without any one of them,
0:04:53 > 0:04:58'so I just knew that I had to do something to help her
0:04:58 > 0:05:01'have that connection with Kathleen again.'
0:05:01 > 0:05:04I spent quite a few hours researching the internet,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08to try and see what information they could get.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09We had very little to go on.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Using that, I found Kathleen's birth certificate
0:05:13 > 0:05:17that I surprised my grandma with for her 80th birthday.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20And the look on her face when I gave that to her just...
0:05:20 > 0:05:23It was more than I can even describe.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Armed with Kathleen's birth certificate, Candice contacted her
0:05:32 > 0:05:36local branch of the Salvation Army, in the hope this document would now
0:05:36 > 0:05:39be enough to finally reunite her grandmother with her sister.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43There are 28
0:05:43 > 0:05:45family tracing service offices across the world
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and this case came from our Australian colleagues.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Violet and Kathleen had been out of contact for over seven decades
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and Kathleen's name may well have changed in this period.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00So, the family tracing unit started by searching marriage certificates,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- which list maiden names. - We were able to find
0:06:03 > 0:06:08that she had actually married and her name had changed to Cousins.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11So, that was the first step in the process and, after that,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13all we had to do then was try and find her.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Just three months after Candice sent the Salvation Army
0:06:17 > 0:06:18Kathleen's birth certificate,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22the family-finding unit got a solid lead on her whereabouts.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27In cases like this, where we have found a possible name
0:06:27 > 0:06:31or a current name for somebody, the next step would be to check
0:06:31 > 0:06:34the electoral roll, to see if we can find an address for them.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37That is what we did with Kathleen and we were able to find
0:06:37 > 0:06:40one possible address, which we wrote to.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45A few weeks later, we had a letter from Kathleen's daughter, Sharon,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49who told us that Kathleen was really excited and really overjoyed
0:06:49 > 0:06:53at the possibility of being back in contact with her family.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55They called Violet in Australia with the good news.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59When I got this phone call from the Salvation Army,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03I thought something was wrong, because they only said it
0:07:03 > 0:07:06in an ordinary voice and then she said, "Oh, no, it's all right!"
0:07:06 > 0:07:11But she was in a nursing home. Then, we said one or two things
0:07:11 > 0:07:15that I didn't answer for a while. She said, "Are you all right?"
0:07:15 > 0:07:20Well, I was very emotional. I made a fool of myself and cried!
0:07:20 > 0:07:25And then I said something about shouting it from the rooftops.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Oh, we just had a conversation from then on.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33She was asking me to describe how I feel and...
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I just couldn't tell. It was like...
0:07:38 > 0:07:41..having Christmas all together. Christmas, birthdays -
0:07:41 > 0:07:44the whole lot together. But, yeah, it was great.
0:07:46 > 0:07:47Violet could not wait
0:07:47 > 0:07:50to actually talk with her sister, but she could not get
0:07:50 > 0:07:53her hopes up yet, because at this stage,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56the decision to reconnect rested with Kathleen.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01When I heard from the Army, they told me that she would get
0:08:01 > 0:08:04permission for me to write to her, so I wrote and explained a bit
0:08:04 > 0:08:07about the family and that and said that it was up to her to make
0:08:07 > 0:08:09the final decision.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Then, she received the long-distance call she had been dreaming of
0:08:13 > 0:08:15all these years.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Very late one night, I had a phone call,
0:08:18 > 0:08:19because of the time difference.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I think it was about 11 o'clock our way.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27And, erm...we had a talk, but don't ask me what we said
0:08:27 > 0:08:30what we did, because I just can't remember.
0:08:30 > 0:08:31I just know it was great.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36After 72 years, Violet had no shortage of things to catch up
0:08:36 > 0:08:38on with her sister Kathleen.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Some good things do happen.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Yeah. And it is something that is... Well, no matter how much longer
0:08:45 > 0:08:48I have got, I shall remember for all the days of my life.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Two months after hearing the news that her sister Kathleen
0:08:54 > 0:08:58had finally been traced, Violet and her granddaughter Candice arrive
0:08:58 > 0:09:02at London Heathrow, after a 23-hour flight from Australia.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Now we have to see what sights there is!
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Tomorrow, Violet will see her beloved sister again for the first time
0:09:13 > 0:09:17since they were forcibly separated when she was just eight years old.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, Violet's sister Kathleen and her daughter
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Sharon can barely wait.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33I can't get hold of her soon enough!
0:09:37 > 0:09:39She may remember more than I do and...
0:09:41 > 0:09:44..I am just hoping that we can fit the pieces together
0:09:44 > 0:09:46about both our journeys through life
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and see what comes at the end of it.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53To have this opportunity to share a journey so big,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56like this, is just amazing.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59It's a miracle, really.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- And I am glad that I could be a part of that.- So am I.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11There are thousands of archive libraries around Britain,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14which are full of your family secrets,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16if you wish to delve into them.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19And most of the information is public.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22In Liverpool, the local archives proved invaluable
0:10:22 > 0:10:26to Ron Clark, when he wanted to find out about his family history.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31As a young boy in the 1950s, Ron grew up in one of the poorest parts
0:10:31 > 0:10:32of the city.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40Life at the time, in the, sort of, tenement block, living in Liverpool
0:10:40 > 0:10:43would have been real tough,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46because times were hard, anyway, money was scarce.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Ron was a child born out of wedlock to a single mother,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54but at the time, he had no idea how difficult life was for her.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59We were terribly poor, but we were also very rich,
0:10:59 > 0:11:04because she brought me culture. She taught me to read and gave me
0:11:04 > 0:11:08an appreciation of authors and poetry and stuff.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11So, it didn't feel like poverty.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14He may have fond memories of his early life,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17but everything changed for Ron when he was just eight years old.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20One day, out of the blue,
0:11:20 > 0:11:25I went with my mum from school to some nearby relatives
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and, while we were at the relatives, my mum stated that she had left
0:11:28 > 0:11:34her purse back at home and she was drifting off to get it
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and, sadly, she went away and did not come back.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43There was a short period of time, where I thought maybe my mum
0:11:43 > 0:11:45was going to return to the relatives.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Soon, it became obvious that she was not coming back.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52For me, it was devastating.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I thought the world of my mum.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57It was only me and her. We were a little team.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Suddenly, she'd gone. I mean, I was absolutely devastated.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Ron was only with his relatives for a short time
0:12:07 > 0:12:10before being uprooted once again.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14I was taken away by some guys from social services
0:12:14 > 0:12:20and taken to a completely new life. We went to a place
0:12:20 > 0:12:24outside the city, where I was brought up with my, now,
0:12:24 > 0:12:25new brother, Steve.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Whilst I can't hide the fact that it was very sad to lose
0:12:31 > 0:12:36one aspect of your life, I then, sort of, entered another one
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and was being brought up with my brother.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42When Ronnie turned up, this young boy, round about
0:12:42 > 0:12:45the same age as myself at the time,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48my parents said that Ronnie was joining us,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51that he had issues with his family and he would be staying with us
0:12:51 > 0:12:52for a short period of time.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Ron lived happily with his foster parents and his foster brother Steve
0:12:57 > 0:12:59for many years.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00I had given up
0:13:00 > 0:13:05on anything relating to my previous family.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08So, I, at that point, simply accepted that I was a guy
0:13:08 > 0:13:11with a foster brother going through life. That was it.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17It was only when he got married that Ron started to miss his birth family.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22My wife had a huge family and I had Steve, my foster brother,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26so we had to cater for that by having a very, very small
0:13:26 > 0:13:30daytime wedding, because of course, I had, sort of, one relative
0:13:30 > 0:13:32at the time that I could bring along.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38With his focus now on married life and children, it was, in fact,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40another two decades before
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Ron started his hunt for his family.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46He started his search at grassroots level,
0:13:46 > 0:13:47at his local library.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The library were a great help, actually, because what they did,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55they gave me an address and a phone number of a particular
0:13:55 > 0:13:56social services department.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I wrote to them and they were able to send me information
0:13:59 > 0:14:01about my mother
0:14:01 > 0:14:03and there was some very sad news.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05After nearly 50 years of uncertainty,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09this letter from social services would finally allow Ron
0:14:09 > 0:14:12to know how his beloved mother had really died.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14On the 12th of March, 1969, she was found dead
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and suicide is indicated on the file,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20but no official confirmation is given.
0:14:20 > 0:14:26As well as revealing the tragic circumstances of his mother's death,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30this letter held some other big surprises for Ron.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32It told me that I had siblings.
0:14:32 > 0:14:39A girl, born in 1939, a boy, two years later, and twins,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43who are half Chinese, whose ages were not given.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And it says that there are no details about these children
0:14:46 > 0:14:47on the file.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55This came as a shock and an amazing surprise.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59It was like this fantastic bonus that, because I had done the work,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01to find out about my mum,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05all this information came my way about my siblings.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08But of course, it was only the start, because,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10who were they and where were they?
0:15:10 > 0:15:12There was obviously some work to be done.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14Through a painstaking search of the library records,
0:15:14 > 0:15:19Ron was able to track down the marriage certificate of a Jean Rae,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23with the maiden name Clark, who he hoped was his older sister.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26The registry office helped Ron find a possible address for Jean
0:15:26 > 0:15:30and so, he wasted no time and drove round there.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34I was filled with all sorts of mixed emotions,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37because I had real butterflies. I knew that what happened next
0:15:37 > 0:15:42could be a life-changing event for me.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46I knew if I could clarify that this was actually Jean and Alan's home,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50I would be about to meet my sister. And it was life changing.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56And so it was, on Christmas Eve, 1998, that Ron's life
0:15:56 > 0:15:58was to change forever.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I was 60 when I met Ron.
0:16:04 > 0:16:05Hi, Jeannie!
0:16:06 > 0:16:09At the time, it was a total shock for Jean,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13who, like Ron, had grown up thinking she had no other family.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17'The only time I knew about Ron was when he found me.'
0:16:17 > 0:16:22It was good, you know, knowing that I did have someone,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24because all them years on, I did not have anyone.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26No relatives, you know?
0:16:26 > 0:16:30You said to me husband, "Is your wife's birthday the 24th
0:16:30 > 0:16:34- "of the fourth, '39?"- That's right. - And Alan said, "Yes."- Yeah.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38- And he said, "You'd better come in." - Yeah, because I'll never forget
0:16:38 > 0:16:41the moment I said, "So, would you mind if I say hello
0:16:41 > 0:16:45- "to my sister?"- Yeah.- And he just looked at me and he said...
0:16:45 > 0:16:48I don't know whether to laugh or cry. It was emotional,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50- but it was a lovely occasion. - It was.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52- And thank you for that. - You're welcome.- Thank you very much.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57Through finding Jean, Ron also made contact with another brother, Roy,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01who has since passed away, but his search for his new family
0:17:01 > 0:17:04didn't end there. A letter Ron was given by social services,
0:17:04 > 0:17:09explaining his mother's death, had also referenced two mysterious
0:17:09 > 0:17:12twin siblings, who were half Chinese.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Finding Jean inspired Ron to launch a new search, for them.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21After a local newspaper wrote an article about him and Jean,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24a cousin got in touch with a vital piece of information
0:17:24 > 0:17:26about the twins.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28They gave me that little clue that we didn't have,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32which was that surname, which led to the name Yong
0:17:32 > 0:17:36and, because by now, we were used to doing a bit of detective work,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40we were able to trace the births.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44And that was the start of the adventure of actually finding them.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49This time around, Ron was able to use the internet
0:17:49 > 0:17:52to trace the unusual name of Yong.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58The name is obviously nothing like as widely known as the name Clark
0:17:58 > 0:18:01would be. In searching for that name,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04I was able, actually, to find a birth registration
0:18:04 > 0:18:08for somebody and it was listed as "Yong or Clark",
0:18:08 > 0:18:13so I knew, absolutely, that I had found their names.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15It was an incredible moment.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Armed with this information, Ron trawled the social networking sites
0:18:19 > 0:18:23and found a photograph that someone had posted of a wedding in Bali.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28Yeah, there it is. That is the photo that I found when I could identify,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31for the first time ever, the guy that I thought was Raymond,
0:18:31 > 0:18:32my brother.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36I just immediately felt a, sort of, bond that,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40"There he is. That's my brother." I knew.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45He had a strong lead, but now Ron had to find a way of getting in touch
0:18:45 > 0:18:47with this Raymond Clark.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57In Lincolnshire, 80-year-old Violet Rossini is on her way to meet her
0:18:57 > 0:19:03beloved sister Kathleen. They were separated when Violet was aged eight
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and have not seen each other for 72 years.
0:19:06 > 0:19:14- Are you excited?- Yes. Yes. Excited, but also...nervous.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18After taking on their case,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21the Salvation Army found Kathleen in a nursing home in Lincoln,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24where she is waiting with her daughter Sharon
0:19:24 > 0:19:27- for this transcontinental reunion. - Does it feel unreal?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- It does, actually. - Yeah, a bit surreal.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32I just want to hold her.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35Is your heart going?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38- Yeah.- Yeah! Blood pressure going up!
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Can you give my daughter a hug now?
0:20:01 > 0:20:05- 72 years.- I thought of you all the time.- Have you? So have I.
0:20:05 > 0:20:06So have I.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13- How have you felt? - Oh, waiting, waiting, to the start.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17- But it has been worth every minute. - It has, hasn't it?- Yes.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20- Well, we are here now.- Yes.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22- And we'll keep in touch.- Yes.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- Don't know where to begin, do we? - No, but we will, eventually.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28- Never forgotten.- Neither have I.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31There has been that bond. A very strong bond.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34- What is her name, did you say? - Candy.- Candy.- Yeah.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36I had a little dog called that!
0:20:36 > 0:20:37LAUGHTER
0:20:37 > 0:20:40I think she is better than a dog!
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Auntie Violet has travelled across, what, half the world to get here,
0:20:46 > 0:20:51at her age. I am astounded. Respect, to the lady.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54LAUGHTER
0:20:54 > 0:20:56CHATTER
0:20:56 > 0:20:59I have never seen her cry, so the fact that she broke down,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02it's like you knew she was coming home,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06that she has come to someone that she recognises and has a bond with
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and is someone who is so familiar, without knowing her for 72 years.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13It is amazing that that is the reaction that they have.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Can you remember giving me a piggyback up the hill,
0:21:17 > 0:21:18when we were going to school?
0:21:18 > 0:21:22- Oh, yes.- When we met in secret.- Yes. - Yeah. We used to meet in secret.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24I think, yes, I did.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27The ultimate revenge for my mum, meeting Violet again, on the people
0:21:27 > 0:21:30who dragged them apart is that they are now together again.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33They should have known each other their whole lives
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and now they get to make up for that.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41'It is really nice to have my sister back, because,'
0:21:41 > 0:21:45well, she has meant a lot to me all these years.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49I have never forgotten her and I have always thought about her.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52So, I am glad to have a sister back again.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56'It doesn't feel like 72 years, at all, since we last met.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59'A lot of things that I have felt,'
0:21:59 > 0:22:05Kathleen has been able to put into place and I have got that
0:22:05 > 0:22:08sense of feeling that what I thought was right and I was not just
0:22:08 > 0:22:15imagining it. She has just closed everything up for me.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17That is my youngest daughter, Diane.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'It's like a miracle.'
0:22:19 > 0:22:21I can't describe it in any other way,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24because I never really thought I would never see her.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'I thought, if I found her,'
0:22:27 > 0:22:31she might have passed away, because she was older than me
0:22:31 > 0:22:34and I am getting on, too!
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'But, no, this is just really wonderful.'
0:22:45 > 0:22:47In Liverpool,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Ron Clark thought he was on his own from the age of eight.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55But when he was in his forties, Ron started searching for his siblings
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and found four brothers and sisters he had never known.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02That is me, you, and there is our Roy.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05He had found his older sister Jean and a brother, Roy,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09but next, Ron was on the hunt for the half-Chinese twins
0:23:09 > 0:23:14- who are also his siblings. - The difference between finding Jean
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and dealing with finding the twins
0:23:17 > 0:23:22was I could use some more modern technology, some newer methods.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27When Ron started trawling through social network sites, he came across
0:23:27 > 0:23:31an image that changed everything, but it turned out that Ray was on
0:23:31 > 0:23:34the other side of the world, in Bali, Indonesia.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Ron found an e-mail for the hotel which he manages there and sent him
0:23:39 > 0:23:40a letter.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46"Dear Raymond, I have something important to discuss with you.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49"Will you contact me?", with a telephone number.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54I recognised it as being a Liverpool telephone number.
0:23:54 > 0:23:55Signed, "Ron Clark".
0:23:57 > 0:23:58Whoof.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59Speechless.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00SHE CHORTLES
0:24:00 > 0:24:04I'm sat my office and I took a deep breath and thought,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06"Oh, my God, what's this?!"
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Then, I, sort of, calmed down a little bit and I am thinking,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13"Hmm... Relative."
0:24:14 > 0:24:16Somebody has found us.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Cos I did not know about Ron.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Nobody told me about Ron.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25I did not know he existed.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28So, then, when I called him, the moment he spoke,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30the minute I spoke...
0:24:30 > 0:24:32automated connection.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36It was like we knew each other already.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Just chatted and chatted and chatted.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44And then, I told him, "OK, next time I come to the UK,
0:24:44 > 0:24:45"we will get together."
0:24:46 > 0:24:50The next time I went to the UK, we had the weekend together.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Fantastic. Super nice. Yeah.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Ray always thought he and his twin sister Irene were completely
0:25:00 > 0:25:03on their own, with no immediate family.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05- I am so proud of what he has done. - Yeah, fantastic.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07And he has found us, in the end.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11- Yeah.- He has helped us belong to someone, at last.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- I take my hat off to him. - Yeah. Absolutely.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18They have all met up before, but today, Ray has come back over
0:25:18 > 0:25:23from Bali to visit Ron, Jean and Irene, who now lives in Wigan.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26And Ron has someone really special he wants them to meet...
0:25:28 > 0:25:32..his foster brother Steve, who he grew up with from the age of eight.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I have never met Irene or Ray.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44This is the very first time. I am really looking forward to it.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47I am sure we will get on great, hopefully, and I hope to see
0:25:47 > 0:25:51a lot more of them, as well. You know, it is good for me.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53I am a little bit nervous, because we have never met.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Hey-hey!
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- I don't even need to be introduced. - There is our kid.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Hi. Come here. I've got you first!
0:26:17 > 0:26:22- Hiya.- And you. Ray. - Hello, mate. Pleased to meet you.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26- Very, very pleased to meet you. - I'm glad you're here now.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31- Thank you.- Thank you. We have met. - Yeah, we have met, a few times!
0:26:31 > 0:26:33LAUGHTER
0:26:33 > 0:26:34'I thought,'
0:26:34 > 0:26:40through my whole childhood, adulthood, that the only relative
0:26:40 > 0:26:42I had was my twin sister, Irene.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45'There was nobody else. And all of a sudden, I have got'
0:26:45 > 0:26:47this new-found family. Massive!
0:26:47 > 0:26:52- It has gone from, like, a small finding to a massive...- Massive.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Ronnie rings me and says to me, "I have found somebody else now."
0:26:56 > 0:27:00It is networking, isn't it, really? It is networking, isn't it,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03in effect? Because, "Oh, you have got a cousin here
0:27:03 > 0:27:06"or a second cousin there or an auntie here or an uncle there."
0:27:06 > 0:27:08And they're not just in Liverpool.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11- No, they are over the world, aren't they?- I was in Australia
0:27:11 > 0:27:14two weeks ago and he was telling me, "Oh, we have got relations
0:27:14 > 0:27:16"in Brisbane." I said, "I was there last week!"
0:27:16 > 0:27:20So, I have a family and I had been brought up all these years thinking
0:27:20 > 0:27:23I did not have a family. So, now, I am a family man!
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Yeah! So, it is quite exciting, yeah.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30It went superbly well, didn't it?
0:27:30 > 0:27:34As much as it may be true to say that my mum is not here
0:27:34 > 0:27:40to see these things, this is the next best thing. We have created
0:27:40 > 0:27:44a situation that she would be very, very proud of
0:27:44 > 0:27:48and I just know that she would. For me, that is everything.
0:27:54 > 0:27:55Since filming the programme,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Kathleen has passed away.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02But not before having the opportunity to catch up on a lifetime
0:28:02 > 0:28:05of happy memories with her beloved sister, Violet.