0:00:02 > 0:00:05Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08My mum went away and didn't come back.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10And when you do lose touch with your loved ones...
0:00:10 > 0:00:13I never saw Kathleen again.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14..finding them can take a lifetime...
0:00:14 > 0:00:17I wonder where he is, I wonder what he's doing.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19You don't really know where to begin.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23..especially when they could be anywhere, at home or abroad.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28And that's 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 > 0:00:37And there's never been a day when we haven't had new enquiries.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..to genealogy detective agencies...
0:00:40 > 0:00:42When is it you last had contact with him?
0:00:42 > 0:00:44..and dedicated one-man bands...
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I like to do the searches other people can't get,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49because it makes me feel good.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54..they hunt through history to 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 > 0:01:03..learning the tricks they use
0:01:03 > 0:01:06to track missing relatives through time...
0:01:06 > 0:01:10I'm 68 years of age, she's 75 years of age, and we're just starting off.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14..and 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 couldn't stop crying!
0:01:21 > 0:01:23It's a proud moment for Dad.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25I was finding a family!
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Every year, thousands of people throughout the UK attempt to
0:01:36 > 0:01:39trace long-lost relatives.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42This daunting quest is one the Salvation Army has provided
0:01:42 > 0:01:47help with for over 130 years through its Family Tracing Service.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Good afternoon. Family Tracing. How can I help?
0:01:50 > 0:01:55On average, we accept around about 2,000 enquiries a year from family
0:01:55 > 0:01:59members, and obviously with every enquiry we take on,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02we want a positive result.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Recently, the Family Tracing unit received an intriguing enquiry from a
0:02:06 > 0:02:11woman in Huddersfield who hadn't seen her little brother for over 30 years.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13We received an application from Mary,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16who explained that she was looking for her younger half-brother,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Leonard, and she believed that he was still living in London,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22where she last had contact with him.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Mary Kitchen lives in Huddersfield with her husband
0:02:27 > 0:02:31and four children, but her story begins in 1960.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34I was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39At the age of three months, myself and my mum moved to London.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Her mother met Jamaican-born Sydney Banton
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and fell pregnant with Mary's baby brother, Lennie.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50I don't remember Mum being pregnant, but obviously when she had him,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52I was taken to the hospital
0:02:52 > 0:02:56to see him, and so obviously I knew about him.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00After growing up with just her mother, Mary now had a brother.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02But it turned out Sydney was married,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04and it wasn't long before his family
0:03:04 > 0:03:07came over from Jamaica to join him.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09At first, Mary and baby Lennie
0:03:09 > 0:03:11lived together with their own mother,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13but just a few months after his birth,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18she fell ill and both children moved in with Sydney and his family.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20I remember staying in the house with him
0:03:20 > 0:03:23and all his other brothers, and he's got one sister,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25being part of the family,
0:03:25 > 0:03:31and then obviously Mum must have moved on then, and so we lost touch.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36So, basically, I've been brought up as an only child, really.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Ultimately, Lennie's birth father, Sydney, wanted to bring him up,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42so Mary and her mother moved back to West Yorkshire.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49All she had left to remind her of her brother was one precious photo.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55I had a photograph of myself and him that I've carried with me
0:03:55 > 0:03:57wherever we've moved to.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01He's never been out of my thoughts. I've always thought about him.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Aged 19, Mary tried to reconnect with the then-teenage Lennie,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10but he didn't want to know.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Now, 30 years later, she wants to give it another try.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19I discussed it with my family. My husband was very wary,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22but I think that's because he was looking out for me.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27But my daughter pushed me.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29She's like, "You've got to do it, Mum, you've got to do it."
0:04:29 > 0:04:32My mum's always spoke about her brother.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35She's always mentioned him, and I know that she's wanted to
0:04:35 > 0:04:37get in contact with him for quite a long time.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39I've said to her as well,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43"You need to do it, cos if you don't you're never going to know."
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Determined to strike while the iron was hot,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Mary's daughter Elena contacted the Salvation Army.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51But as Mary didn't know Lennie's age, they had to give them
0:04:51 > 0:04:53three possible dates of birth.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54I didn't think for a minute,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56actually, that the Salvation Army would be
0:04:56 > 0:05:02able to find him, because on my form there was so little information.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06I even said to me daughter, "There's no chance of finding anybody,"
0:05:06 > 0:05:10with the little snippets of what I'd got.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Mary may have thought it was scant information to go on,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17but for the family finders, it was the perfect starting point.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19With that information, we would take that
0:05:19 > 0:05:23and apply to the General Register Office for birth certificates
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and ask them to send us
0:05:25 > 0:05:29copies to establish which date of birth was the correct one.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Once we had Leonard's birth information,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34we were able to find him pretty quickly.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39It turned out that Leonard wasn't living too far from where Mary
0:05:39 > 0:05:43had last seen him, and we were able to send him a letter straight away.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49The Salvation Army letter informs a lost relative a family member
0:05:49 > 0:05:51would like to get in touch.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55The person can then decide how to respond.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58I received this letter, and, to be honest, I didn't know how I felt.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02I didn't know if I was shocked, surprised, mortified or what.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05And I didn't know how to react, like...
0:06:07 > 0:06:13..you know, so I didn't immediately say, "Well, reply to the letter."
0:06:13 > 0:06:19I didn't know what to do. As well, I was scared, as well. I don't know.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21I don't know how to explain it.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Lennie decided to proceed, but with caution.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27He called the office and said
0:06:27 > 0:06:30that he would love to hear from his sister
0:06:30 > 0:06:35and that he'd like initially to have a letter from her via our office.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38The letter-forwarding service that we offer is something that's
0:06:38 > 0:06:42taken up in quite a lot of cases, and people sometimes are nervous
0:06:42 > 0:06:47about being in touch with their relative after such a long time.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50It's a good way to break the ice without disclosing anything
0:06:50 > 0:06:54personal, like address or contact details.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Mary had an agonising wait to discover the news.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00'I didn't hear anything then for about four weeks,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02'and then I got a letter.'
0:07:03 > 0:07:0730 years after last setting eyes on her brother, the contents of this
0:07:07 > 0:07:12letter would determine whether or not Mary would ever see Lennie again.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16So I opened it, and I said, "They found him, they found him!"
0:07:16 > 0:07:21So I set to that night and wrote just a few short lines
0:07:21 > 0:07:22and enclosed a photo.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Lennie may have asked for the letter,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31but its arrival was no less overwhelming for that.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35The emotions I had when I received the letter?
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Everything. Joy, sadness, shock, horror...
0:07:44 > 0:07:48'I had to pinch meself sometimes, to say, "Is this really happening?"'
0:07:50 > 0:07:51It's crazy.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53It's good, but it's crazy.
0:07:54 > 0:07:55But it was the photograph Mary
0:07:55 > 0:07:58had enclosed which had the biggest impact.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00When Mary sent me the letter,
0:08:00 > 0:08:05she put a photograph of me what I didn't even know existed.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10And then that's when I looked at it and I thought, "Wow! Who's this?"
0:08:10 > 0:08:11HE LAUGHS
0:08:11 > 0:08:15And it's me and Mary when we was kids.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19And, oh, straight away I had to photocopy it, blow it up.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23It's everywhere. It's on me laptop, it's on the wall. It's everywhere.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Leonard's story begins with his father in 1963.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35When he first got here, he had to find lodgings,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38and that's where he met my birth mother.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41That person was Mary's mother.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43And obviously...
0:08:43 > 0:08:46two and two equals Lennie!
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Soon after that, Sydney's wife and children arrived from Jamaica.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56When my dad had found his own place to live,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00he sent for me mum to come over with my brothers and sister.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Lennie grew up with his dad's family in south London,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06unaware of his true origins.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10I just had a normal childhood.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Y'know, like, I didn't feel different, y'know, I didn't...
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Y'know, I didn't look at meself and think,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20"I'm a duck, you lot are chickens," you know?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Lennie struggles to remember exactly how
0:09:22 > 0:09:25he learnt the truth about where he'd come from.
0:09:25 > 0:09:31I can't remember when it first came up or how it came up.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36But my mum explained about my birth mother.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41But he found it hard to cope with the revelation.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I didn't want to know, because as far as I was concerned,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47I'm with my mother. I've still got my mother today, you know?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52So I suppose, in a way, that's why I put it to the back of me mind
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and just forgot all about it and just got on with life.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Lennie has no memory of living with Mary as a tiny baby
0:09:59 > 0:10:03and can only vaguely remember her visit to London in 1979.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08She was at the house, and, y'know, I wasn't rude to her, but...
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Because I didn't know who she was.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14And I just totally ignored her.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18And it's only at a later date I found out that she was my sister.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23But the past is now the past, and tomorrow brother
0:10:23 > 0:10:27and sister will be reunited for the first time in their adult lives.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32There's so much we've got to say to each other.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36In fact, there's that much, I don't know where to start.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Apart from saying sorry. That's the first thing, of course.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51In recent years, there's been a boom in independent family finders
0:10:51 > 0:10:53who can help track down missing loved ones.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59One such authority is Derbyshire-based Charlie Watson.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04It's commonplace for people to want me to undertake enquiries to try
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and find something special in the family.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10But Charlie doesn't just delve into his clients' past,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12he also helps them track down living relatives who
0:11:12 > 0:11:15they may not have seen in years, if at all.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Many of my clients are actually in their later years,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21who have suddenly taken an interest in trying to find out
0:11:21 > 0:11:24about their families, whether they're living or dead.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Recently, Charlie was contacted by a woman desperate to
0:11:28 > 0:11:32track down her missing family and to finally unravel a long-standing
0:11:32 > 0:11:36mystery surrounding exactly who she was and where she had come from.
0:11:42 > 0:11:4681-year-old Linda Wright is a retired musician who now
0:11:46 > 0:11:48lives in North Yorkshire.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Born in 1934, she grew up in Southport, Merseyside.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56An only child, she was brought up by the couple
0:11:56 > 0:11:59she assumed were her birth mother and father.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03When I was young, I went to a private day school, and it was very
0:12:03 > 0:12:08old-fashioned, and occasionally we had air raids over the town.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12So we slept every night in an Anderson shelter,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14underneath the kitchen table.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Music was her biggest passion,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and she would spend many evenings glued to the family wireless.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23One night, we were listening to a lovely violinist, so I said,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25"I want to learn one of those."
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And that was Sunday, and on Tuesday I'd started.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35In three years, I was playing quite good concertos.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39And then I got a scholarship to the Royal Manchester College of Music,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41and I went there for three years.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Linda passed her musical studies with distinction
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and went on to become a professional violinist.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52By this time, I'd already met my husband-to-be, Cliff Wright.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Linda and Cliff got married in 1954.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Then, later that year, he got a posting to a new
0:12:58 > 0:13:02position as band leader to the Border Regiment, based in Berlin.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06I was 20, and I'd never been abroad.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11And eventually, I realised that I hadn't got a passport
0:13:11 > 0:13:12and I hadn't got any...
0:13:14 > 0:13:17..any piece of paper that said who I was.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22So I rang my dad up, and he came across with a...
0:13:22 > 0:13:24well, my marriage certificate.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26But then I said, "Well, haven't I got a birth certificate?"
0:13:26 > 0:13:30Linda's dad was initially unable to produce her birth certificate,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and the possible implications began to dawn on her.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38I started to have a suspicion then, and then he told me I was adopted.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42The news that her mum and dad weren't her birth parents
0:13:42 > 0:13:44was shock enough for Linda, but when
0:13:44 > 0:13:48she pushed to know more, the details behind her adoption were hazy,
0:13:48 > 0:13:49to say the least.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54He told me that he'd gone to Barnardo's and chosen me
0:13:54 > 0:13:55for my lovely smile.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00Hardly likely at one month old, when you've got no teeth, is it?
0:14:00 > 0:14:03It was only years later, on the night of her father's
0:14:03 > 0:14:08funeral, that Linda's auntie, Iris, challenged this story.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10"What did your father tell you?"
0:14:10 > 0:14:14"Oh," I said, "he told me he'd been to Barnardo's and picked me out
0:14:14 > 0:14:16"for my big smile."
0:14:16 > 0:14:20And she said, "Oh, not that story again."
0:14:20 > 0:14:23She said, "I'll tell you the real story."
0:14:23 > 0:14:27This news came as a huge shock, because now Linda had two
0:14:27 > 0:14:31conflicting stories about how she came to be adopted.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35In her Auntie Iris's version, Linda's music-loving adoptive parents
0:14:35 > 0:14:39had long wanted a child of their own, and not just any old child.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42They couldn't have any children. And they were very musical,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46loved opera and all sorts of things, and just wanted a musician.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50And they heard about this child in Yorkshire.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Their prayers were answered in the form of an unusual news
0:14:53 > 0:14:55story in the local paper.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58An opera singer was putting her daughter up for adoption.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01"Young opera singer has unfortunate liaison."
0:15:01 > 0:15:04And of course I was the result.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08So they arranged to adopt me on the spot.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13As the years passed, Linda never stopped wondering about her mother
0:15:13 > 0:15:17and, more importantly, whether there might be anyone else out there.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19I thought, "Wouldn't it be fantastic
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"if I actually had some brothers and sisters?"
0:15:24 > 0:15:28It was time to bring in expert help in the shape of genealogist
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and family finder Charlie Watson.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34What Linda had in her possession was an adoption order
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and a birth certificate, which really isn't very much
0:15:37 > 0:15:39but not entirely unexpected,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43because we're going back quite a few years now, to the 1930s,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48and it's fairly commonplace to find very few documents that one can use.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52But armed with what little he had, Charlie set to work.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53The adoption order will give you
0:15:53 > 0:15:55the name of the court that made the order,
0:15:55 > 0:16:01so it was necessary to write to the court to see whether they had any
0:16:01 > 0:16:04records, an adoption file relating to that particular adoption.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Charlie's investigations unearthed a name for Linda's birth mother,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Dorothy Turner.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Dorothy was no longer alive. But did she have any other children?
0:16:14 > 0:16:18I started to look for Linda's birth mother's parents,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21so that'd be Linda's grandparents, and what
0:16:21 > 0:16:26I finally managed to do was evidence of their marriage by looking online.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31By accessing scores of online records, Charlie managed to get
0:16:31 > 0:16:34a clearer picture of Linda's history and family tree.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37That whole process took probably two to three months
0:16:37 > 0:16:42and eventually resulted in my sending out four letters to people.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47These four letters were sent to potential close relatives of Linda.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49We had one positive response,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and one positive response is pretty much all you need.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54One will do!
0:16:54 > 0:16:59Charlie's sleuthing had paid off. Linda did indeed have siblings.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03And, 270 miles away, in the Brecon Beacons, one of them,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Bridgett, was about to receive a
0:17:05 > 0:17:07phone call that would change her life.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11My remaining brother, Richard, called me up and said,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15"A genealogist has been in touch with me saying that there's a lady
0:17:15 > 0:17:19"that would like to contact us, who's our sister."
0:17:19 > 0:17:24Born 15 years after Linda, Bridgett grew up with her birth parents
0:17:24 > 0:17:25and two elder brothers.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But while Linda spent her adult life wondering
0:17:28 > 0:17:30whether she had any siblings, Bridgett
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and her brothers had been put in the picture much earlier.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39When my mother died in 1999, my father got us all together
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and said, "I've got some news,"
0:17:41 > 0:17:46and he told us that we had... a sister, which was a shock,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48because we'd always been a three and suddenly we were a four.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50It was a bit of a bombshell, I have to say.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Remarkably, just like the sister she'd never met,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Bridgett has also spent her life steeped in music.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59I had a passion for music right from the start.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01I just have a musical brain.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02Bridgett and her partner, Brendan,
0:18:02 > 0:18:07run an opera company, an uncanny echo of the story Linda was told,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10that her mother was a young opera singer.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14I've spent all my life in opera. That's what I do...and have done.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Bridgett and her brothers had decided to let sleeping dogs lie
0:18:18 > 0:18:20and not go looking for Linda...
0:18:20 > 0:18:22until she came looking for them.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Suddenly, we got this call saying, "There's a lady wants to find you."
0:18:26 > 0:18:29So we couldn't really believe it.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33I went, "Oh, God!" at the time!
0:18:33 > 0:18:36And then we just talked about it and I said,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39"Well, of course we've got to meet her."
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Three months after his first meeting with Linda, Charlie contacted
0:18:44 > 0:18:47her with the news she had desperately been hoping to hear.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50"Bingo! I've found your family."
0:18:50 > 0:18:54I was excited! Yes, of course I was.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57"I really have got a family. Oh, gosh!"
0:18:57 > 0:19:00The sisters have already met once, briefly.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Tomorrow they'll be reunited again
0:19:02 > 0:19:05with two whole lifetimes to catch up on.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15In London, Mary Kitchen and her younger brother, Lennie,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19have been separated for over 30 years.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Today, they'll be reunited after being brought
0:19:21 > 0:19:24together by the family finders at the Salvation Army.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32We've found each other but I haven't spoken to him verbally as yet.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34So obviously I know he's a cockney,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36but I don't know if he'll understand me!
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Us Northerners, y'know!
0:19:39 > 0:19:43The last time Mary made the journey to London to see Lennie,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46he was a teenager who barely acknowledged her.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Today, she's hoping for a very different reception.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Very nervous!
0:19:51 > 0:19:52But excited.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54A nice nervousness.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56She's shaking!
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- Aren't you shaking?- Yeah, I am.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- I don't know if you need to be nervous.- I know. I know.
0:20:01 > 0:20:02You're all right.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07It's just weird being here and it all going to happen.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Lennie has brought his partner, Dana, along for support.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14- How are you feeling, babe? - Scared. Frightened.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17- Are you still sick? - Apprehensive. Yeah, very sick.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20But that's nerves.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Lennie is the first to arrive.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37And he faces an anxious wait.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43I can't believe how stressed out I am.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Sick. Terri... Ohhh...
0:20:53 > 0:20:55I bet she cries.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00- Will you cry?- I don't think... Well, no, I'm a man, I won't cry, no.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02SHE CHUCKLES
0:21:02 > 0:21:03No!
0:21:22 > 0:21:24At last!
0:21:24 > 0:21:26HE SOBS
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Found you at last.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35I'm s...
0:21:37 > 0:21:39- ..sorry.- No need to be!
0:21:42 > 0:21:45- I can't... I can't talk. - It's all right, it's all right.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50I can't...
0:21:52 > 0:21:53I'm sorry, this is...
0:21:54 > 0:21:56..Dana.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03With a tearful Lennie lost for words, Mary decides to bring in her
0:22:03 > 0:22:06daughters, his nieces, to help break the ice.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09THEY GREET EACH OTHER
0:22:11 > 0:22:13- How are you?- All right.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Oh, they're proper Northerners, they are!
0:22:15 > 0:22:18- You all right there? - They your children, yeah?
0:22:27 > 0:22:32Without Elena in particular, none of this would ever have happened.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35It's down to you, isn't it? It's all down to you.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37- It is. - I just pushed her, cos...
0:22:37 > 0:22:40she wanted to do it for many, many years,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43and she's always talked about you, so I was like, "Right..."
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Everyone talks about me, don't they?
0:22:45 > 0:22:46THEY LAUGH
0:22:49 > 0:22:50I were just like, "Right, that's it,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53"we're doing it whether you like it or not."
0:22:53 > 0:22:56She made me sit down and fill it all out...
0:22:56 > 0:23:00- the bits that we could fill out. It was really sketchy.- Yeah.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05- I wouldn't even know where to start. - No.- All I know is "Mary, Yorkshire".
0:23:05 > 0:23:07That's all I would have known.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11I'm just glad that I found my little brother. New beginnings, this.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- New beginnings.- Yeah. - New start.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17- We've got a lot of catching up to do.- Oh, yeah!
0:23:23 > 0:23:24As soon as I saw her...
0:23:26 > 0:23:30..I was struck speechless.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32And I couldn't stop crying!
0:23:32 > 0:23:36For him to have that reaction when he met me I think was pure relief
0:23:36 > 0:23:41and gladness that he did actually meet me, so it was wonderful.
0:23:41 > 0:23:42It was a nice feeling.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44My mum's going to be a lot happier now,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46cos she doesn't have that sense of not knowing.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51She knows now, and she knows that Lennie feels the same way she feels.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53THEY LAUGH
0:23:53 > 0:23:57I'm going to suggest that he comes up to Huddersfield
0:23:57 > 0:24:02and we show him around, and we're just going to be in touch loads.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13In Yorkshire, 81-year-old Linda Wright had been given up
0:24:13 > 0:24:17for adoption but was told that her birth mother was an opera singer,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21which makes sense, as Linda's very musical herself.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Keen to discover more and desperate to know
0:24:23 > 0:24:26if she had any other family out there,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Linda asked genealogist Charlie Watson to help, and he managed
0:24:29 > 0:24:34to track down her sister Bridgett, who, remarkably, is an opera singer.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37The two sisters have only met on one previous occasion.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Today, Bridgett is making the trip to Yorkshire to see Linda on home
0:24:41 > 0:24:44turf for the very first time.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49It's fantastic to have people that actually are of the same bloodline.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52I'm off to see Linda for the second time in my life,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54so there's lots to catch up on.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58And it feels as though there's loads to talk about still.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01I've been alone all my life
0:25:01 > 0:25:04except for my husband and my two sons.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06I never had any other family.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Linda and Bridgett have a lifetime to catch up on
0:25:11 > 0:25:14and a whole host of unanswered questions to consider.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Hello!
0:25:19 > 0:25:24- Hello!- You've been left out here for ages!- Yeah, been waiting for ages!
0:25:24 > 0:25:27- Hello, darling. - Hello.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30Come and sit down.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Bridgett has brought along some photos of their mother
0:25:33 > 0:25:36so Linda can finally get a sense of what she was really like.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Have you seen that one?
0:25:40 > 0:25:43- That was Mum.- Really? - Yeah.- Oh!
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I don't know, I suppose she's in her early 40s there.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54- Mm!- That's a younger one. That'd be when she was in her 20s.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- Well, that's nice, isn't it? - Yeah, that's nice.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00See, she looks like you, doesn't she?
0:26:00 > 0:26:03I feel as if I look like that sometimes.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Well, you've got the same mouth, you see.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07- Yes, it is, it's the mouth, isn't it?- And the nose.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09We've both got that nose, yes.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11And the similarities don't end there.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Both sisters are musicians and, according to one story Linda
0:26:15 > 0:26:19was told as a child, it's because their mother was an opera singer.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24I had, from my aunt, the story that my foster mother and father,
0:26:24 > 0:26:29who were Vero and Irene... my father was a journalist, Vero was
0:26:29 > 0:26:33a journalist, and he got me into all sorts of things.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35- Fiddled it out. - Yes, fiddled it out.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38This may well be the story that Linda was told by her aunt,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42but her father had told her a very different version of events,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and this opera-singer story is certainly news to Bridgett,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47who grew up with their mum.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49It's a mystery. I mean, obviously Mum...
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Somewhere in there is a very, very strong musical
0:26:52 > 0:26:54connection, isn't there, considering
0:26:54 > 0:26:56I've made my life in opera and music? So...
0:26:56 > 0:27:00But what I remember of Mum is, bless her, that she
0:27:00 > 0:27:04smoked up to 60 a day for a long, long time in her life, coughed,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06and I never heard her sing, ever.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08However musical their mother really was,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12these two sisters are definitely singing from the same hymn sheet.
0:27:12 > 0:27:13You can't get away from it,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16there's a very spooky connection that we're both in music.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18- There is rather, isn't there? - Yeah.- Yes.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22And I think, erm, we're very fundamentally a little bit...
0:27:22 > 0:27:24We're quite alike in a lot of ways.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27- Yes. A good sense of humour. - Yes!
0:27:27 > 0:27:28We see the ridiculous very easily.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33- Yes, yes. I think that's a saving grace, don't you?- Absolutely, yes!
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Linda and Bridgett may have missed the chance to perform together
0:27:36 > 0:27:39when they were young, but today they're bringing their musical
0:27:39 > 0:27:42talents together for the very first time.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55I think it's a shame, really, that I didn't do this earlier.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Have a hug. Have a hug!
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- You'll have to kneel down! - THEY LAUGH
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Good lass. You're lovely.