0:00:02 > 0:00:04Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.
0:00:04 > 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 > 0:00:12I never saw Kathleen again.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15..finding them can take a lifetime.
0:00:15 > 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 > 0:00:23Especially when they could be anywhere - at home or abroad.
0:00:24 > 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 > 0:00:33From international organisations...
0:00:33 > 0:00:37There's never been a day when we have never 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 searches that other people can't get,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49cos it makes me feel good.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54They 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 with Dad.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25That was the start of finding my family.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Across Britain, there are dozens of specialist agencies
0:01:37 > 0:01:39who 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 > 0:01:51Along with all their other work, the Salvation Army
0:01:51 > 0:01:55has been reuniting families for over 130 years.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00All our caseworkers are currently working on over 200,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04nearly 250 cases live, presently.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08There's never been a day when we have never had new enquiries.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And this organisation has a huge global presence,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14with branches in 126 countries,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17so very often, the Salvation Army Family Finders
0:02:17 > 0:02:21reunite people from different sides of the world.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24When did you last see him there?
0:02:24 > 0:02:28One such person in need of their help is 80-year-old Violet Rossini,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31who's lived in Australia for nearly 50 years.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37When she was around five years old,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Violet and her older sister, Kathleen,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41were placed into care in Lincolnshire.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46I was told my mother died when I was born. Erm...
0:02:48 > 0:02:50We were taken into the children's homes
0:02:50 > 0:02:54and then I was fostered out and Kathleen was adopted, I believe.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Initially, the two sisters were in the same children's home,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02but they were separated when they were fostered.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04However, by a quirk of fate,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Violet and Kathleen were at one point placed in foster homes
0:03:07 > 0:03:10which were within walking distance of each other.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13I lived in South Street and she lived round the corner,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16and we met up through a friend of mine.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18She knew me, but I didn't know her to start with.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20And that's how it all began.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Once they'd realised how close their two foster homes were,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28the two sisters used to sneak out and play with each other in secret.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31But this joyful time didn't last.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34My foster mother found out that I was meeting Kathleen,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39and she sent me back to the home. And that was it.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42I never saw Kathleen again.
0:03:42 > 0:03:43No.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50The last time she saw Kathleen, Violet was just eight years old,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52and although her memories may have faded,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55she's never forgotten her older sister.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59She was the good-looking of the two. Used to be jealous of her sometimes.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02She had lovely curly hair, as I remember.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06I don't remember that much -
0:04:06 > 0:04:10we were about the same in build and that. But the only thing
0:04:10 > 0:04:13that really sticks in my mind is when she used to give me a piggyback
0:04:13 > 0:04:16up Eastwood Hill, because it was a steep hill to school.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Violet moved to London when she was 14, and married when she was 20.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25After her first husband died, she remarried
0:04:25 > 0:04:30and in 1968, emigrated with him and her five children to Australia.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Violet was not alone in making this move to the other side of the world.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38- RADIO:- You could be on your way to a sunnier future,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42on your way to Australia, a great place for families.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Starting in the late 1940s, the Australian government
0:04:46 > 0:04:48wanted to entice British workers
0:04:48 > 0:04:51by offering passage to the country for £10.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55These travellers became known as Ten Pound Poms,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57and over 1.5 million of them
0:04:57 > 0:04:59made the journey to a new life down under.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Violet and her family settled happily in Australia,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05but she never forgot Kathleen.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06I didn't say goodbye to Kathleen
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and she never got to say goodbye to me, and it was just like...
0:05:10 > 0:05:13well, you might say parting of the ways.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Violet tried to trace Kathleen several times over the years,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19but never had any luck.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23And then, a few years ago, her granddaughter, Candace,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26made one last-ditch attempt.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28I have a sister and three brothers,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32and I couldn't imagine life without any one of them.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35So I just knew that I had to do something
0:05:35 > 0:05:39to help her have that connection with Kathleen again.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44I spent quite a few hours searching the internet
0:05:44 > 0:05:46to try and see what information I could get,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and we had very little to go on.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52And using that, I found Kathleen's birth certificate
0:05:52 > 0:05:55that I surprised my grandma with for her 80th birthday.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59And the look on her face when I give that to her, just...
0:05:59 > 0:06:02It was more than I can even describe.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Armed with Kathleen's birth certificate,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Candace contacted her local branch of the Salvation Army
0:06:13 > 0:06:15in the hope this document would now be enough
0:06:15 > 0:06:18to finally reunite her grandmother with her sister.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23Good afternoon, Salvation Army Family Tracing Service. How can I help you?
0:06:23 > 0:06:26The London Family Tracing unit was given the case
0:06:26 > 0:06:28by their Australian counterparts,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and set about trying to find Kathleen.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37There are 28 Family Tracing Service offices across the world,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40and this case came from our Australian colleagues.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45Violet and Kathleen had been out of contact for over seven decades,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and Kathleen's name may well have changed in this period,
0:06:48 > 0:06:52so the Family Tracing unit started by searching marriage certificates,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54which list maiden names.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56We were able to find that she'd actually married
0:06:56 > 0:06:59and her name had changed to Cousins.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02So that was the first step in the process,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05and after that, all we had to do then is try and find her.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Just three months after Candace sent the Salvation Army
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Kathleen's birth certificate, the Family Finding unit
0:07:12 > 0:07:15got a solid lead on her whereabouts.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19In cases like this, where we've found a possible name
0:07:19 > 0:07:20or a current name for somebody,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23the next step would be to check the electoral roll
0:07:23 > 0:07:25to see if we can find an address for them,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and that's what we did with Kathleen.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31And we were able to find one possible address, which we wrote to.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37A few weeks later, we had a letter from Kathleen's daughter, Sharon,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41who told us that Kathleen was really excited and really overjoyed
0:07:41 > 0:07:44at the possibility of being back in contact with her family.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48They called Violet in Australia with the good news.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51When I got this phone call from the Salvation Army,
0:07:51 > 0:07:52I thought something was wrong,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54because they only said it in an ordinary voice,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58and then she said, "Oh, no, it's all right, but she is in a nursing home."
0:07:58 > 0:08:02And then I think we said one or two things,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05and I didn't answer for a while,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07and she said, "Are you all right?"
0:08:07 > 0:08:12And, well, I was very emotional and made a fool of myself and cried.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16And then I said something about shouting it from the rooftops,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20and we just had a conversation from then on,
0:08:20 > 0:08:24and she was asking me to describe how I feel and...
0:08:24 > 0:08:26I just couldn't tell, you know?
0:08:26 > 0:08:30It was like...
0:08:30 > 0:08:33having Christmas all together. Christmas, birthdays,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36the whole lot together. But yeah, it was great.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Violet couldn't wait to actually talk with her sister,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43but she couldn't get her hopes up yet,
0:08:43 > 0:08:48because at this stage, the decision to reconnect rested with Kathleen.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50When I heard from the Army, they told me
0:08:50 > 0:08:54that she'd get permission for me to write to her.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57So I wrote and I explained a bit about the family and that,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01and said that it was up to her to make the final decision.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Then she received the long-distance call
0:09:04 > 0:09:07she'd been dreaming of all these years.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Very late one night I had a phone call,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11because our time difference.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13I think it was about 11 o'clock, our way.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17And we had a talk,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19but don't ask me what we said or what we did,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23because I just can't remember. I just know it was great.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27After 72 years, Violet had no shortage
0:09:27 > 0:09:30of things to catch up on with her sister Kathleen.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Some good things do happen.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35And it's something that's...
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Well, no matter how much longer I've got,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I shall remember for all the days of my life.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Two months after hearing the news that her sister Kathleen
0:09:45 > 0:09:49had finally been traced, Violet and her granddaughter Candace
0:09:49 > 0:09:53arrive at London Heathrow after a 23-hour flight from Australia.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Now we have to see what sights there is.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Tomorrow, Violet will see her beloved sister again
0:10:04 > 0:10:07for the first time since they were forcibly separated
0:10:07 > 0:10:09when she was just eight years old.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, Violet's sister Kathleen
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and her daughter Sharon can barely wait.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25I can't get hold of her soon enough.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27It's so hard to describe how I feel. This is...
0:10:27 > 0:10:29It's a dream come true for my mum, obviously.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34It's something that she's wanted... oh, all your life, probably.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36- Since you left.- Yes.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41So yeah, excitement, anticipation - they're all there.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43- Just - oh, I can't wait. - SHE LAUGHS
0:10:45 > 0:10:49She might remember more than I do, and...
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Well, I'm just hoping that we can fit the pieces together.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55You know, we've both had journeys through life,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58and see what comes at the end of it.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03To have this opportunity to share a journey so big like this
0:11:03 > 0:11:06is just amazing.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09It's a miracle, really,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- and I'm glad I could be a part of that.- So am I.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15I haven't slept properly for the last couple of nights.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Once I knew they were on the plane and on their way,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I really haven't slept, cos all that's in my head
0:11:20 > 0:11:22is thinking about them being here,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26and seeing my mum and them reunited, and meeting her for the first time.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Oh, it's just going to be so fantastic. I just can't...
0:11:31 > 0:11:35- I'm so excited, it's ridiculous. - I wouldn't let her go.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39I wouldn't want to let her go. She'd have a job to leave me.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41To be quite honest,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44I've been looking for Kathleen that long
0:11:44 > 0:11:48that I didn't think I would see her again, no.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53And I didn't think I would be making this trip. Not at my age, anyway.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57But I'm glad, I am.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59I'm glad I took the nerve to do it.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07There are thousands of archive libraries around Britain
0:12:07 > 0:12:09which are full of your family secrets
0:12:09 > 0:12:13if you wish to delve into them, and most of the information is public.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18In Liverpool, the local archives proved invaluable to Ron Clark
0:12:18 > 0:12:22when he wanted to find out about his family history.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24As a young boy in the 1950s,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Ron grew up in one of the poorest parts of the city.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34Life at the time in the sort of tenement block,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38living in Liverpool would have been real tough,
0:12:38 > 0:12:42because times were hard anyway, money was scarce.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46Ron was a was a child born out of wedlock to a single mother,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50but at the time, he had no idea how difficult life was for her.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53We were terribly poor, but we were also very rich,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56because she brought me culture.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01She taught me to read and gave me an appreciation of authors
0:13:01 > 0:13:06and poetry and stuff, and so it didn't feel like poverty.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09He may have fond memories of his early life,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12but everything changed for Ron when he was just eight years old.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14One day, out of the blue,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17I went with my mum from school
0:13:17 > 0:13:20to some nearby relatives,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and while we were at the relatives,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26my mum stated that she had left her purse back home,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and she'd be drifting off to get it, and sadly,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33she went away and didn't come back.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38There was a short period of time where I thought maybe my mum
0:13:38 > 0:13:40was going to return to the relatives'.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Soon it became obvious that she wasn't coming back,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and for me, it was devastating.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49I thought the world of my mum.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51It was only me and her.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54We were a little team, and suddenly she'd gone.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56And I was absolutely devastated.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Ron was only with his relatives for a short time
0:14:03 > 0:14:05before being uprooted once again.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08I was taken away by some guys from social services
0:14:08 > 0:14:12and taken to a completely new life.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16We went to a place outside the city
0:14:16 > 0:14:21where I was brought up with my now new brother, Steve,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and whilst I can't hide the fact that it is very sad
0:14:25 > 0:14:28to lose one aspect of your life,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I then sort of entered another one,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and was being brought up with my brother.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Ronnie turned up as a young boy,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40round about the same age as myself at the time.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44My parents said that Ronnie was joining us, that he had issues
0:14:44 > 0:14:48with his family, and he'd be staying with us for a short period of time.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Ron lived happily with his foster parents
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and his foster brother Steve for many years.
0:14:54 > 0:15:00I'd given up on anything relating to my previous family,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02so I at that point simply accepted
0:15:02 > 0:15:05that I was a guy with a foster brother going through life.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07And that was it.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09It was only when he got married
0:15:09 > 0:15:12that Ron started to miss his birth family.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18My wife had a huge family, and I had Steve, my foster brother.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21So we had to cater for that by having a very, very small
0:15:21 > 0:15:23daytime wedding, because of course,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27I had sort of one relative at the time that I could bring along.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32With his focus now on married life and children,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35it was in fact another two decades
0:15:35 > 0:15:37before Ron started his hunt for his family.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42He started his search at grassroots level, at his local library.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Roger Hull is one of the senior archivists.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51This is the main centre to come for family history
0:15:51 > 0:15:53in the Liverpool area, and the wider area as well,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56cos a lot of our records cover the whole country.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00So there's a huge wealth of resources here.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05We have the baptismal, marriage and burial registers
0:16:05 > 0:16:08for most of the Liverpool parishes.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11We also have the Census returns.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15We have a vast collection of local newspapers.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Probably have about 15,000 people who come through this unit
0:16:19 > 0:16:21every year looking for their family history.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24For Ron, these archives were the perfect place
0:16:24 > 0:16:27to try and find out more about his troubled childhood
0:16:27 > 0:16:31and discover what became of the mother who abandoned him.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34The library were a great help, actually, because what they did,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36they give me an address and a phone number
0:16:36 > 0:16:39of a particular social services department,
0:16:39 > 0:16:40and I wrote to them,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and they were able to send me information about my mother.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46And there was some very sad news.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Ron remembers very clearly the moment
0:16:49 > 0:16:52when he was told about his mother's death as a child.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54I was an 11-year-old kid.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57I'd come home from school. Normal day,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00brought home some woodwork that I was proudly showing off.
0:17:00 > 0:17:06But when I arrived home, my social services visitor
0:17:06 > 0:17:08was waiting for me - Mr Wilson -
0:17:08 > 0:17:11and I could tell straight away that something was wrong.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14And he informed me that my mother had died.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21It was devastating. I was very, very sad - I was just a kid.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25After nearly 50 years of uncertainty,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28this letter from social services would finally allow Ron
0:17:28 > 0:17:31to know how his beloved mother had really died.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35On the 12th March 1969, she was found dead.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38And suicide is indicated on the file,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40but no official confirmation is given.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47As well as revealing the tragic circumstances of his mother's death,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50this letter held some other big surprises for Ron.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55It told me that I had siblings - a girl born in 1939,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57a boy two years later,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00and twins who are half Chinese,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03whose ages were not given.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07And it says there are no details about these children on the file.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15This came as a shock and an amazing surprise.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17It was like this fantastic bonus,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20that because I'd done the work to find out about my mum,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24all this information came my way about my siblings.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27But of course, it was only the start,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29because who where they and where were they?
0:18:29 > 0:18:31There was obviously some work to be done.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Ron started the search for his siblings
0:18:35 > 0:18:38with the one key bit of information the letter contained -
0:18:38 > 0:18:41the date of birth of his sister.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44But all he had to go on was the name Georgina,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48which he'd overheard his foster parents mention once.
0:18:51 > 0:18:52But the search for this name
0:18:52 > 0:18:55didn't deliver any results with that date of birth,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59so Ron tried searching again under an abbreviation of it.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02We got through all that and found it wasn't actually Georgina,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05it was Jean. It was then a question, really,
0:19:05 > 0:19:09of finding, potentially, the year that she may have married,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13because my guess was that being a young lady, she would have married,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17and we're not going to find her until we have her married surname.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Ron had to forensically look through every single marriage record
0:19:22 > 0:19:26in the Liverpool area over a period of almost ten years.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29It was a huge undertaking.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33But finally, it paid off.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35There we go. Found it there.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39We've got Jean Clark,
0:19:39 > 0:19:45and she's married a guy with the surname Ray,
0:19:45 > 0:19:52Liverpool South, and the entry is 10D867.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55This Jean Ray had the maiden name Clark,
0:19:55 > 0:19:59which is also Ron's surname. And her date of birth matched too.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Her marriage certificate revealed another vital bit of information -
0:20:05 > 0:20:10a mother listed as Elizabeth Clark, which was Ron's mother's name.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15So more detective work helped Ron find a possible address
0:20:15 > 0:20:18for the Jean who he hoped was his older sister.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22And so he wasted no time and drove round there.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26I was filled with all sort of mixed emotions, because...
0:20:26 > 0:20:28I had real butterflies.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I knew that what happened next could be a life-changing event for me,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and I knew if I could clarify that this was actually
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Jean and Alan's home, I would be about to meet my sister.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42And it was life-changing.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46And so it was on Christmas Eve, 1998,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49that Ron's life was to change forever.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52I was 60 when I met Ron.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Hi, Jeanie.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01At the time, it was a total shock for Jean, who, like Ron,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05had grown up thinking she had no other family.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09The only time I knew about Ron was when he found me.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12It was good, you know, knowing that I did have someone,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15because all them years on, I didn't have anyone.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18No relatives, you know?
0:21:18 > 0:21:19You said to my husband,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23"Is your wife's birthday the 24th of the 4th '39?"
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- That's right.- And Alan said, "Yes."- Yeah.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27And he said, "You'd better come in."
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Yeah, because I'll never forget the moment I said,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- "So would you mind if I say hello to my sister?"- Yeah.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- And he just looked at me...- I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- It was emotional, but it was a lovely occasion.- Yeah, it was.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- Thank you for that.- Ah, you're welcome.- Thank you very much.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47I just wish it had been a bit...
0:21:47 > 0:21:50- Sooner.- Sooner than that, yeah. And aren't we alike?
0:21:52 > 0:21:55- We are.- Poor you! HE LAUGHS
0:21:55 > 0:21:57- I think it's lovely, Ron. I do.- Ah.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00But yeah, I suppose we are alike, aren't we?
0:22:00 > 0:22:02- And says we laugh the same. - And we like the same -
0:22:02 > 0:22:04we like the Eagles and you like the Eagles.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- There you go.- Strange, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Through finding Jean,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Ron also made contact with another sibling, Roy.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17That's me, you, and there's our Roy.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Sadly, Roy's no longer with us, of course,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22but because of you I did get to see him
0:22:22 > 0:22:25- and I did get to meet him and spent time there.- Yes.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28So that again was the same experience all over again
0:22:28 > 0:22:32of meeting a sibling that, you know, I'd never known previously.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35- So another lovely experience.- Yeah.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40But Ron's search for his new family didn't end there.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42A letter Ron was given by social services
0:22:42 > 0:22:45explaining his mother's death had also referenced
0:22:45 > 0:22:49two mysterious twin siblings who were half Chinese.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55Finding Jean now inspired Ron to launch a new search for them.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58After a local newspaper wrote an article
0:22:58 > 0:23:01about him and Jean, a cousin got in touch
0:23:01 > 0:23:04with a vital piece of information about the twins.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07They gave me that little clue that we didn't have,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11which was that surname, which led to the name Yong.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15And because by now we were used to doing a bit of detective work,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18we were able to trace their births.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23And that was the start of the adventure of actually finding them.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30It was a bit daunting to think
0:23:30 > 0:23:32that it was time to start searching all over again,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35because I did realise that it takes up a lot of time.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38But at the end of the adventure, finding Jean,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42it was so rewarding, and I wouldn't change a thing.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46This time around, Ron could use all the family finding resources
0:23:46 > 0:23:49the internet has to offer, so he went straight to website
0:23:49 > 0:23:53that allows anyone to browse through a range of family records.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58Once I had the name Yong, it was a sort of eureka moment,
0:23:58 > 0:24:03because the name is obviously nothing like as widely known
0:24:03 > 0:24:06as the name Clark would be.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09And searching for that name, I was able, actually, to find
0:24:09 > 0:24:14a birth registration for somebody, and it was listed as "Yong or Clark"
0:24:14 > 0:24:19so I knew absolutely that I'd found their names.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21It was an incredible moment.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25There he is. So we know we've got Raymond F Clark,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29mother's maiden name Yong or Clark, for whatever reason at the time,
0:24:29 > 0:24:33but it helped me no end, because that proved to me
0:24:33 > 0:24:35that this is the guy, unquestionably.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37I've now got his birth date as well as being between
0:24:37 > 0:24:41January and March 1952, so we've got an age.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46Armed with this information, Ron trawled the social networking sites
0:24:46 > 0:24:49and found a photograph that someone had posted of a wedding in Bali.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Yeah, there it is. That's the photo that I found
0:24:53 > 0:24:56when I could identify for the first time ever
0:24:56 > 0:24:59the guy that I thought was Raymond, my brother.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02And I just immediately felt a sort of bond -
0:25:02 > 0:25:06that, "There he is, that's my brother." I knew.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11He had a strong lead, but now Ron had to find a way
0:25:11 > 0:25:14of getting in touch with this Raymond Clark.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23If, like Ron, you fancy searching for your family by yourself,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25then birth, death and marriage certificates
0:25:25 > 0:25:28are a great starting point.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Cross-referencing these records will allow you to discover
0:25:31 > 0:25:33if families have moved address
0:25:33 > 0:25:36or if people have changed their last names.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And signatories on these documents often lead
0:25:38 > 0:25:41to other relatives or next of kin.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Until the 1990s, the only way of accessing these documents
0:25:45 > 0:25:48was by going to the national or local registry offices
0:25:48 > 0:25:52and trawling through their archives on microfiche.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54But in recent years, these certificates
0:25:54 > 0:25:56have been collated into searchable databases,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00which are available on various genealogy websites.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10In Lincolnshire, 80-year-old Violet Rossini is on her way
0:26:10 > 0:26:13to meet her beloved sister Kathleen.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16They were separated when Violet was aged eight,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and haven't seen each other for 72 years.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Are you excited?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Yes. Yes, excited.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27But also nervous.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31After taking on their case,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34the Salvation Army found Kathleen in a nursing home in Lincoln,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36where she is waiting with her daughter Sharon
0:26:36 > 0:26:39for this transcontinental reunion.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- Does it feel unreal? - It does, actually.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Yeah, bit surreal.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Just want to hold her.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49- Your heart going?- Yeah.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51- Yeah. Blood pressure going up! - SHE LAUGHS
0:26:59 > 0:27:00Oh!
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Hello.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11THEY MURMUR INDISTINCTLY
0:27:15 > 0:27:17- 72 years.- But I've thought of you all the time.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Have you? So have I. So have I.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26- How have you felt?- Oh, waiting, waiting just now.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29But it's been worth every minute.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30- It has, hasn't it?- Yes.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35- But we're here now.- Yeah. And we'll keep in touch.- Yes.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39- Don't know where to begin, do we? - No, but we will eventually.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42- Never forgotten.- Neither have I. There's been that bond.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44A very strong bond.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48- What's her name, did you say? I forgot.- Candy.- Candy?- Yeah.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50- I had a little dog called that. - I knew that was coming!
0:27:50 > 0:27:53THEY LAUGH I think she's better than a dog!
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Auntie Violet has travelled across,
0:27:57 > 0:28:02what, half the world to get here at her age. I'm astounded.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Respect to the lady.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09She's found a missing piece of her life.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14I think as much as she says that she is happy and, you know,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19bubbly - she is all of that, but now it's that one notch higher.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23She's found someone that knows the stories that she remembers
0:28:23 > 0:28:25and can confirm that they're true.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- I had a little dog called Penny. - Oh, did you?
0:28:28 > 0:28:31- Yeah.- He was a cheap one, then? - Very cheap!
0:28:31 > 0:28:33THEY LAUGH
0:28:33 > 0:28:35You've got the same old cracks, haven't you?
0:28:37 > 0:28:39They are so alike,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43and immediately the sense of humour came out,
0:28:43 > 0:28:44and it was the same.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51I've never seen her cry, so the fact that she broke down -
0:28:51 > 0:28:54it's like, you knew she was coming home.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58She's come to someone that she recognises and has a bond with
0:28:58 > 0:29:02and is someone that's so familiar without knowing her for 72 years.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06It's amazing that that's the reaction that they had.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Can you remember giving me a piggyback up the hill
0:29:09 > 0:29:12- when we were going to school? - Oh, yes.- And we kept it secret.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16- Yes.- We used to meet in secret. - Yes, I did.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20The ultimate revenge for my mum, meeting Violet again,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22on the people who dragged them apart,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23is they're now together again.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26I lived round the corner, and my foster mother didn't want me
0:29:26 > 0:29:29to have anything to do with Kathleen when she found out we were related.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31- How awful's that, though? - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34- And so we used to... - Meet in secret?- Yeah.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37They should have known each other their whole lives,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39and now they get to make up for that.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43I don't believe that!
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Thrilled to bits.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49She was what I expected.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54I've been waiting for her and loved her for all this time.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58I was shocked to see how much we do look alike.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03And it was after that, everything just blew away.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06You know, it's, "Oh, yes, this is Kathleen," you know?
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Awesome, awesome.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12It is really nice to have to have my sister back, because,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16well, she's meant a lot to me all these years.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20I've never forgotten her and I've always thought about her.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23So I am glad to have a sister back again.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27It doesn't feel like 72 years at all since we last met.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30A lot of things that I've felt,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Kathleen's been able to put into place,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37and I've got that sense of feeling
0:30:37 > 0:30:40that what I thought is right,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43and I wasn't just imagining it.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47And she's just closed everything up for me.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49That's my youngest daughter.
0:30:49 > 0:30:50It's like a miracle.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53I can't really describe it any other way,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56because I never really thought I would ever see her.
0:30:56 > 0:31:01I thought if I found her she might have passed away,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05because she was older than me, and I'm getting on to.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08But now this is just really wonderful.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15In London the next day,
0:31:15 > 0:31:19Violet and Candace pop by the Salvation Army Family Finders office
0:31:19 > 0:31:22to meet the team who helped them trace Kathleen.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Good morning, everybody.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30I just want to say thank you for the wonderful,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33wonderful job that you've done, and for all the hard work.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37I'm very grateful and always will be. Thank you very much.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39Thank you once again.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43As a caseworker, you don't often think of the impact
0:31:43 > 0:31:45that what you're doing will have on somebody
0:31:45 > 0:31:48until you get that phone call and you can hear it in their voice,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51that they're so excited to be in contact with that person,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55so it's thrilling to be able to be part of that excitement
0:31:55 > 0:31:59and that reuniting of family members.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14In Liverpool, Ron Clark thought he was on his own
0:32:14 > 0:32:18from the age of eight, but when he was in his '40s,
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Ron started searching for his siblings,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23and found four brothers and sisters he'd never known.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27That's me, you, and there's our Roy.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31He'd found his older sister, Jean, and a brother, Roy,
0:32:31 > 0:32:34but next, Ron was on the hunt for the half Chinese twins
0:32:34 > 0:32:36who are also his siblings.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39The difference between finding Jean
0:32:39 > 0:32:42and dealing with finding the twins
0:32:42 > 0:32:46was I could use some more modern technology,
0:32:46 > 0:32:48some newer methods.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52When Ron started trawling through social network sites,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55he came across an image that changed everything.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58But it turned out Ray was on the other side of the world,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01in Bali, Indonesia.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Ron found an e-mail for the hotel which Ray manages there
0:33:04 > 0:33:06and sent him a letter.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11"Dear Raymond, I have something important to discuss with you.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13"Will you contact me?"
0:33:13 > 0:33:15With a telephone number
0:33:15 > 0:33:19I recognised as being a Liverpool telephone number,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21signed Ron Clark.
0:33:24 > 0:33:25Speechless.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Sat in my office and took a deep breath, I thought,
0:33:29 > 0:33:31"Oh, my God, what's this?"
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Then I sort of calmed down a little bit, and I'm thinking,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38"Hmmm, relative."
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Somebody's found us.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Cos I didn't know about Ron.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Nobody told me about Ron.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Didn't know he existed.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53So then when I called him, the minute he spoke,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57the minute I spoke - automated connection.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02It's like we knew each other already.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Just chatted and chatted and chatted.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07And then I told him,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11"OK, next time I come to the UK we'll get together."
0:34:11 > 0:34:14And the next time I got to the UK, we had the weekend together.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Fantastic.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20Super nice. Yeah.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Ray always thought he and his twin sister Irene
0:34:24 > 0:34:28were completely on their own with no immediate family.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30I'm so proud of what he's done.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33- Yeah, fantastic.- And he's found us in the end.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37- And he's helped us belong to someone at last.- Take my hat off to him.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39Yeah, absolutely.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43They've all met up before, but now Ray's come over from Bali
0:34:43 > 0:34:48and Irene's come from her home in Wigan for another family gathering.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52And the first port of call is big sister Jean's house.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54- Hi!- Hello!- My little sister.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57- How are you?- Jean, look what I found.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00- How are you?- Little bit better now, thank you.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Hiya. I heard you haven't been very well.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05- I'm all right now, seeing you.- Ahhh. - THEY LAUGH
0:35:05 > 0:35:08- Nice to see you again.- Thank you.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- Everything go OK?- Yes, thank you. - Good girl.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14- Lovely.- It is lovely, isn't it?
0:35:14 > 0:35:16- What a nice little house you've got here!- Eh?
0:35:16 > 0:35:19- Nice little house you got here. - Lovely little bungalow.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22- Yeah.- I like it, me. It's lovely. Cosy. Dead cosy.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Connecting with Ron has been an amazing experience for Ray
0:35:26 > 0:35:29and Irene, but they still have a lot of questions for him
0:35:29 > 0:35:30about their mother.
0:35:30 > 0:35:36As far as we know, our mother is listed as deserting us
0:35:36 > 0:35:38at three months.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42No physical memories.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47Unlike Ron - Ron's got eight years he lived with her. Great memories.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50So some of the things he tells me, I'm all ears.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54Listening, listening, you know? Cos we didn't have that privilege.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58- Is very interesting, though, isn't it? When he's telling us.- Yeah.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04While they're in Liverpool, Ron takes them both
0:36:04 > 0:36:08to the very same area where he grew up with their mum in the 1950s.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12How long did you actually live there with Mum?
0:36:12 > 0:36:15Six, seven years of my life was spent here in Kent Gardens.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18- We didn't get that privilege, so we don't know.- No.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21- But this one is an actual photo... - Of the apartment?- Yeah.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24But you don't call it apartment, you call it a tenement.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Well, yeah, I mean, they were referred to -
0:36:26 > 0:36:28the Scouse term was "tennies".
0:36:28 > 0:36:32The tennies. So we'd say we live in the tennies of Kent Gardens.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Built in 1938, Kent Gardens was part
0:36:36 > 0:36:40of a £20 million redevelopment scheme across Liverpool,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43which was designed to replace the overcrowded
0:36:43 > 0:36:45and unsanitary slums across the city.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Kent Gardens itself was demolished in the 1970s,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53but at the time of its construction,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57tenement blocks like this were considered highly progressive.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00So they were brand-new as the time, and they were probably much better
0:37:00 > 0:37:02than the housing that people had lived in before.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Obviously had running water, sanitation,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09indoor lavatories and baths, whereas the old buildings might not have had that.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Probably have been a luxury for the people who moved into them,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14from what has happened before.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17But while these new blocks did provide safe,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19sanitary housing for former slum dwellers,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22this was still high density living,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26with many large extended families crammed into small flats.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30It probably would have been a hard life for them, but you tend to find
0:37:30 > 0:37:33there's a great community atmosphere in these tenements.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Some fell by the wayside, but others were indomitable,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38and that's this Liverpool spirit, isn't it?
0:37:38 > 0:37:42This indomitable spirit which saw them through the Blitz in the 1940s,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46and it's the Scouser as we know today.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50In a close-knit community like this, being a single parent
0:37:50 > 0:37:52would undoubtedly have carried a certain stigma
0:37:52 > 0:37:56for Ron's mother, Elizabeth, and this may ultimately have contributed
0:37:56 > 0:37:59to her children ending up in care.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02Because of the social ethos, the morality of the time,
0:38:02 > 0:38:04which frowned on such things -
0:38:04 > 0:38:07that marriage was sacrosanct
0:38:07 > 0:38:11and to have a child out of wedlock was, you know,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13frowned upon, to put it mildly.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18And although Kent Gardens was close to Chinatown and the docks,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20having mixed race children out of wedlock here
0:38:20 > 0:38:23would have made life even tougher.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27- Looks quite grim, doesn't it? - It does.- In one way,
0:38:27 > 0:38:29- but it's a community.- It is.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33- This was Liverpool in the '50s and the '60s.- It was.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37- It wasn't an unhappy place.- No.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42At the time, most of the people in this area were poor,
0:38:42 > 0:38:47but of course our mum, single parent, poorer than most.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52And yet, you know, she managed with no resources whatsoever
0:38:52 > 0:38:56to make my life as happy as possible at things like Christmas time.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59All my memories of living there are very happy ones.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02It's quite ghostly, cos this is the very first time
0:39:02 > 0:39:04- I'm hearing this address.- Yes.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08This area feels so familiar to me, because although there are buildings
0:39:08 > 0:39:10that have modernised and changed,
0:39:10 > 0:39:12the basic layout of the area is the same,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15and you know, I recognise, I'm familiar with it,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17cos I used to go to school down the road.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20During the time you were still living there,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22I'm actually just starting to go to college.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24- College, just up the road. - Which is walking distance away.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28- I wish I'd known a bit more about this earlier on.- Of course.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31- Walking down the road, could have gone knocking on the door.- Yeah.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- Would've been good, that, wouldn't it?- "Can I have a cup of tea?" - THEY LAUGH
0:39:34 > 0:39:38- There, see? That's how close we were.- Absolutely.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40- So close and so far away. - That's right.- Yeah.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43- Great stuff, man.- Thank you.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I think life was pretty desperate.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49I mean, this was post-war years -
0:39:49 > 0:39:53money was short.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57Maybe there was bread on the table some days, not every day.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59He tends to gloss over a little bit,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01cos they were happy days for him,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04and I'm sure they were really, really happy days,
0:40:04 > 0:40:07but I think during those happy days,
0:40:07 > 0:40:11and he didn't know anything different, things were tight.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15And I think that was poverty in reality.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18I wish I could have been there with my mum.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Not sure I'd like to be there
0:40:20 > 0:40:22enduring those same circumstances, though.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27Ron's tireless search for his family
0:40:27 > 0:40:31has brought him together with his siblings Ray, Irene and Jean.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35But while Ray's here in the UK, Ron would like the twins to meet someone
0:40:35 > 0:40:39who's equally important to him - his foster brother Steve,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42who he grew up with from the age of eight.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52I've never met Irene or Ray. This is the very first time.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55I'm really looking forward to it, I'm sure we'll get on great,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58hopefully, and I hope to see a lot more of them as well.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00You know, it's good for me.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03I'm a little bit nervous, because we've never met.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09- Cheers.- Cheers, Ron.
0:41:17 > 0:41:18Hey, hey!
0:41:18 > 0:41:20I don't even need to be introduced.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23- Is that OK?- Cos I'm sure...
0:41:23 > 0:41:27- Hiya. Come here. I've got you first.- Hiya!
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Hiya. How are you?
0:41:29 > 0:41:34- Ray.- Very pleased to meet you. - Very, very pleased to meet you.- Yeah.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37- You're here now.- Thank you.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40- We've met.- Yeah, we've met a few times.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43THEY LAUGH
0:41:43 > 0:41:49I thought through my whole childhood, adulthood,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52that the only relative I had was my twin sister Irene.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54There was nobody else. And all of a sudden
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I've got this new-found family - massive!
0:41:57 > 0:42:01- It's gone from like a small finding to massive.- Massive.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04You know, when Ronnie rings me and says to me,
0:42:04 > 0:42:08"I've found somebody else now." And it's networking, isn't it, really?
0:42:08 > 0:42:09- It's networking in effect.- Yeah.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Because oh, you know, you've got a cousin here
0:42:12 > 0:42:15or a second cousin there or an aunt here or an uncle there.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18And they're not just in Liverpool any more.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20- No, they're all over the world.- And I was in Australia two weeks ago,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24and then he was telling me, "Oh, we've got relations in Brisbane!"
0:42:24 > 0:42:26And I said, "I was there last week!"
0:42:26 > 0:42:29So I have a family. And I've been brought up all these years
0:42:29 > 0:42:31thinking I didn't have a family.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34So now I'm a family man.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Yeah, so it's quite exciting.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41Well, it went superbly well, didn't it?
0:42:41 > 0:42:44As much as it may be true to say that my mum's not here
0:42:44 > 0:42:49to see these things, this is the next best thing.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53We've created a situation that she would be very, very proud of.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58I just know that she would. And for me that's everything.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Since filming the programme, Kathleen has passed away,
0:43:07 > 0:43:11but not before having the opportunity to catch up
0:43:11 > 0:43:14on a lifetime of happy memories with her beloved sister Violet.