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 > 0:00:15..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 > 0:00:23..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 > 0:00:37There'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 > 0:00:45..and dedicated one-man bands.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47I like to do the searches half the people can't get
0:00:47 > 0:00:49because 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 > 0:01:04..learning the tricks they use to track
0:01:04 > 0:01:06missing relatives through time.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08I'm 68 years of age, she is 75 years of age,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10and we're just starting off.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14And meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I said, "Well, this is your younger sister."
0:01:17 > 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 > 0:01:26It was the start of finding my family.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Family break-ups can occur all too easily
0:01:37 > 0:01:41for any number of reasons and, once it's happened,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46putting the pieces back together can feel like an insurmountable task.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48But these days, tracking down
0:01:48 > 0:01:51a lost family member is easier than ever,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54thanks to the ever-increasing number of family finding companies
0:01:54 > 0:01:58who go that extra mile to make, what seems impossible possible.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02You can be dealing with people in emotional situations,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04especially if you're finding living family members.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08But it's really about gathering evidence and investigation,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10and putting evidence together and assessing it.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14These committed detectives work hard to reunite people,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17often with the odds stacked against them.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21You don't often think of the impact that what you're doing will
0:02:21 > 0:02:25have such an effect on somebody, until you get that phone call
0:02:25 > 0:02:27and you can hear it in their voice that they're
0:02:27 > 0:02:30so excited to be in contact with that person.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Fraser Kinnie runs a family finding agency in Hartlepool
0:02:34 > 0:02:37with the help of his wife Tracey.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Quite often, when people are doing searches, they kind of...
0:02:43 > 0:02:45They think they want to do the search,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50but they haven't got the resources or the ability to conduct the search.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Fraser uses his expertise to run an online service that helps
0:02:54 > 0:02:56put together missing pieces of family puzzles
0:02:56 > 0:02:59others have struggled to solve.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I like to do the searches other people can't get
0:03:02 > 0:03:04because it makes me feel good.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08One of their toughest cases was helping Sandy Smith,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11who lives in North Walsham, in Norfolk.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14With the name Smith, it was going to be hard for a lot of people
0:03:14 > 0:03:17and I think, really... I knew it was going to be hard search,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20but I knew that if anybody could do it we could do it.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26I was born in 1970.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28My mum was called Jessie.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32I lived in a place called Billingham, a nice little town.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35It was a three-bedroom house, it was lovely.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37The neighbours were all nice and we had, like,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39a bit of grass out the front where we could play
0:03:39 > 0:03:41when we were little kids.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43It was lovely.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Yeah, I've been... I'd say brought up well.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48When she was ten years old,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Sandy came across a piece of paper with her name on it.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56I was wanting some colouring paper and my mum said, "Go in the cupboard."
0:03:56 > 0:03:59And I found some paperwork.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02I had a look because I knew it said Sandra Smith.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04So I was like, "Oh, hang on, what's this?"
0:04:04 > 0:04:06So I asked my mum, I said, "Who is Sandra Smith?"
0:04:08 > 0:04:11And she said, "Oh, well, I wondered
0:04:11 > 0:04:12"when the time was to tell you.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14"So, you've got another mother,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17"who had to give you up because she couldn't look after you
0:04:17 > 0:04:20"at the time because there were too many in the family.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24"We got you when you were six weeks old
0:04:24 > 0:04:25"and I've brought you up."
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Because, obviously, they couldn't have kids themselves,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30so they adopted me.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34The news that she was adopted came as a huge shock.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37But who exactly was her birth mother?
0:04:37 > 0:04:39My mum told me she was called Janet.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41She was 18 when she had me
0:04:41 > 0:04:43and she was still living with her parents,
0:04:43 > 0:04:45so she couldn't look after
0:04:45 > 0:04:48me because there was still a baby in the family already.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51She was from a family of 13 and I thought, "Whoa."
0:04:51 > 0:04:54It was quite shocking how big the family was.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59So, in a way, I understood why she got me adopted.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02When my mum was pregnant, her mum was at the same time,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05so that's why it was hard for her.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Sandy had some basic information about her birth mother,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14but it raised as many questions as answers.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17I always wondered, "Well, do I look like my mum?
0:05:17 > 0:05:18"Do I talk like my mum?
0:05:18 > 0:05:21"Do I do the same things?
0:05:21 > 0:05:23"How do I find her? How do I meet her?"
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Because, obviously, I've got a mum that brought me up and I'm thinking,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29"Well, will I hurt her? I don't want to hurt her."
0:05:29 > 0:05:32But, yeah, it would have been nice to meet,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37but my adopted mum wouldn't give too much information to me.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39I suppose I understood in a way
0:05:39 > 0:05:42because, obviously, she's brought me up and she's given me a good life
0:05:42 > 0:05:45of happiness and love and everything.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Yeah, it was quite hard for her, I suppose.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Out of loyalty, Sandy didn't search for her birth mother.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55She met her husband Andy and started her own family.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58But just before her first child was born,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00her adoptive mum, Jessie, died.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08When the grieving passed, Sandy felt able to look for her birth mother.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12I always said to myself I wouldn't look for my birth mum
0:06:12 > 0:06:15until this sadness happens.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Sandy went to see social services,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22who not only had her adoption papers,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25but also a box full of precious mementos,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27saved meticulously by her mother.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31That was your mum's signature there, look.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34This is amazing because I'm surprised they've kept it this long.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37That was what they tie around the crib, when you're born,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39and it's got the weight of...
0:06:39 > 0:06:40It says baby. It's in pink.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44The name was Smith. The weight was 4-14
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and the time of birth was five past three.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Five past three.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I remember on the day you were quite tearful, weren't you?
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Because it was quite a shock.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56I was shocked to see that.
0:06:56 > 0:06:57- Do you remember?- Mh-mm.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- You're getting all emotional now, aren't you?- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Well, that's what I mean, that's what happened.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Then you get the milk tokens.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07I mean, that's weird, milk tokens.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11Yeah, because you were give tokens so you could buy milk.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13But, like you say...
0:07:13 > 0:07:15I'll keep that forever because
0:07:15 > 0:07:17it's a hard thing to see, isn't it?
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- Don't get upset. Are you all right? - Fine.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26For Sandy, the box of treasured memories revealed
0:07:26 > 0:07:30that even though their relationship lasted just four precious weeks,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33it was full of nurturing and love.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36One of the things that you said to me
0:07:36 > 0:07:37was, you said, "I don't know whether
0:07:37 > 0:07:40"my mum, did she care for me? Did she not care for me? Was she...?"
0:07:40 > 0:07:43You can tell immediately, when you see all the things, that she probably
0:07:43 > 0:07:46- didn't really want you to be adopted.- Yes.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49She looked after me in hospital for four weeks until I got to the right
0:07:49 > 0:07:51weight and before I was allowed to leave,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53so that must have been hard for her.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55She's looked after me, fed me, whatever.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Then, obviously, had to give me up,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59so that must have been heartbreaking really.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01You felt better though, didn't you?
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- Because you knew that she cared for you, then.- Yeah.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06I remember that was quite a hard time, wasn't it?
0:08:06 > 0:08:10It was just a hard time, 1970, with a big family as well.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15So, obviously she had to do what she had to do, best for me.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Alongside the precious record of their time together was vital
0:08:19 > 0:08:23new information about Sandy's mum.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27So we went to the records office and we got the birth certificate,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29didn't we? 19... So this was '97, wasn't it?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Yeah, we got the birth certificate.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33And that's when it had the address on, didn't it?
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Of where your mother lived.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Now they had an address, they had to decide what to do.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Instinctively, Sandy wanted to go to the house where her mum lived
0:08:45 > 0:08:47when she was born.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50They left Norfolk and headed to Brafferton, near Darlington.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Would Sandy's mum still be living there?
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Then we probably sat in the car for, I don't know,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58an hour or something thinking about it.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Because we found the house and I was looking, saying to you...
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- Can you remember?- To see if we could see anyone walking about... - See anyone come out.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07We didn't see anyone, did we, come out of house?
0:09:07 > 0:09:09We were hoping to see, like a... I don't know.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11We thought, "Would she would look like you?" I think, didn't we?
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- We both thought that, yes.- We were looking then, weren't we? Thinking,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17"I hope a woman comes out who looks like you and I can knock on the door."
0:09:17 > 0:09:21After a long wait, Andy decided there was nothing to lose
0:09:21 > 0:09:23and went up to the house.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26I was knocking on the door and you were in the car, I think.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28A woman came to the door and I asked her and she said,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30"I don't know what you're talking about.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34"Sorry, I don't know anybody of that name."
0:09:34 > 0:09:37We didn't know whether to go on.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40It was a bit of a nightmare, wasn't it, really?
0:09:40 > 0:09:44The trip to Brafferton had failed to unearth any trace of Sandy's mother.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47For now, they'd hit a brick wall.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Baffled, weren't we?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Thinking, "What do we do now?"
0:09:52 > 0:09:54It is hard because...
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Like I say, it's hard to describe because you can't give up, can you?
0:09:57 > 0:10:01No, because there's always a gap and you think, "I have to fill that gap."
0:10:01 > 0:10:03I need to find it, find out.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Sandy's search appeared to be over,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09but unbeknown to her, expert help was just around the corner.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23100 miles away in Merseyside, Alfred Alcorn, born Alfie Denny,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26is on a family finding quest of his own.
0:10:26 > 0:10:32I was born in 1941 in Birkenhead.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Alfie lived with his mother Anna-Cecilia and older brother
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Tony close to the Liverpool docks during World War II.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41I remember my mum vividly.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44She was alone during the war, of course,
0:10:44 > 0:10:50and I remember her being taken away in an ambulance several times
0:10:50 > 0:10:53to go to the hospital, coughing blood.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Alfie's mum had contracted tuberculosis, a common
0:10:57 > 0:11:00bacterial disease that, before the advent of antibiotics,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02could prove fatal.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04And then my dad came back,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06he came back from the war.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09He was demobbed, oh, probably 19...
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Late '45, early '46.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17They were together and we were a family for a while.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22Alfie and his brother enjoyed their childhood in post-war Liverpool.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Very early on, my brother and I had a lot of freedom,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28I was probably six years old.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32You know, we would just hang around the docks and just go for miles,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34walking along the docks.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38We would go down, get on the ferry and go back and forth
0:11:38 > 0:11:41to Liverpool for almost nothing,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44and pretend that we were in the Royal Navy.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49That freedom to hang around was amazing.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Even as a teenager, I didn't have that kind of freedom.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56But this carefree period didn't last.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Sadly, Alfie's father became ill.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02I think around 1946, late '46,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06he was diagnosed with leukaemia
0:12:06 > 0:12:10and he died in December of 1947.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13And then my mother's condition worsened
0:12:13 > 0:12:17and she just got sicker and sicker.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Her condition meant Alfie's mother was unable to care for her two sons,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24so Alfie and his brother were sent to live with his mother's family
0:12:24 > 0:12:26in rural Ireland.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29And that was a total change of life.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It was a little bit like going back to the 19th century
0:12:32 > 0:12:37because we were picked up at the station in a pony and trap.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Alfie's ailing mother then wanted to join them in Ireland.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45She wanted to come home but, at that time tuberculosis was, kind of,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47the slow Ebola of the day.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52I mean, people simply tried to avoid it.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Alfie's Irish relatives made the heart-wrenching decision
0:12:56 > 0:12:58not to allow his mother to return
0:12:58 > 0:13:03and then the news came from Liverpool that she had passed away.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07They held a wake without her body.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Everybody gathered from around,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12people recollecting what Anna-Cecelia was like.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18You know, I was eight years old at that time.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21We did have a family and then there wasn't any.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Ah, anyway...
0:13:29 > 0:13:31It's them...
0:13:31 > 0:13:33It was they who suffered.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Now orphans, Alfie and his brother Tony were adopted by
0:13:40 > 0:13:42his mother's sister in America.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45My mother had a sister, Mary,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49who'd emigrated to America back in the '20s
0:13:49 > 0:13:53and had married a dairy farmer named Alcorn -
0:13:53 > 0:13:55that's where I get the name Alcorn -
0:13:55 > 0:13:59so I went from being Alfred Denny to Alfred Alcorn.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Now living on a dairy farm, in New England, life was tough.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07My aunt had a terrific temper.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The feeling was that there was simply not enough
0:14:10 > 0:14:14gratitude in the world to, you know,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17pay for this, to give for this.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20And there was a lot of work to do on the farm,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23but it meant getting up in the morning and helping out,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27and the New England winters are brutal.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29But Alfie came through this tough childhood
0:14:29 > 0:14:33and the States proved to have a lot to offer the lad from Liverpool.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40America had long been a magnet for immigrants from all
0:14:40 > 0:14:43four corners of the globe.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Alfie's aunt arrived in the 1920s,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49part of an immigration boom known as The Great Wave.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54And for the young Alfie, 1950s America was a land of promise.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58The country's economy was booming.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01With victory in the bag and cash in their pockets,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Americans could confidently chase the American Dream.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07The ideal that freedom, opportunity and equality
0:15:07 > 0:15:12should be made available to all, regardless of class.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15The frugality of the Great Depression and the war years
0:15:15 > 0:15:17gave way to a period of materialism,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21as society's pent-up demand for consumer goods was unleashed.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25New cars, houses and other luxuries,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27once the reserve of the upper classes,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30were in the grasp of more people than ever before.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Alfie couldn't have arrived at a better time.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Alfie took full advantage of what his new life
0:15:41 > 0:15:43across the pond could offer.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45He carved out a successful career
0:15:45 > 0:15:48in the Natural History department at Harvard University
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and became a widely-read novelist and crime writer.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57But he never forgot his roots
0:15:57 > 0:16:01and the family he'd left behind in Ireland and in Liverpool.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05We stayed in touch with the Irish side of the family,
0:16:05 > 0:16:10but that other side of the family just seemed to disappear.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15It became, kind of, like a shadow life before.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Almost like, did it really happen?
0:16:19 > 0:16:22In the 1980s, desperate to reconnect with his father's side
0:16:22 > 0:16:24of the family, the Dennys,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28Alfie made two separate trips to Liverpool.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32I spent a couple of days in and around Liverpool,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35just trying to find out about the Dennys.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I couldn't find anything.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42I came back here several years ago with my brother
0:16:42 > 0:16:48and he remembered more, and so we walked over to Limekiln Lane.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51We went along the docks.
0:16:51 > 0:16:57We also found the hospital where we saw our dad for the last time,
0:16:57 > 0:16:59but no Dennys.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02With no living relatives to be found,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Alfie returned to America disappointed.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09But little did he realise, his Liverpudlian Denny family
0:17:09 > 0:17:11were about to reappear.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21In Norfolk, Sandy Smith's search for her birth mother Janet
0:17:21 > 0:17:26had hit a dead end, but Sandy refused to take defeat lying down.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28She turned to the internet,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31desperate for some kind of breakthrough.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35I went on the internet and typed in, "Find a birth parent."
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I thought I'd type that because I'd never tried that one.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42The combination that you'd tried, probably "find a family," "find a friend,"
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- "find a sister," "find a mother." - "Find a birth parent."
0:17:44 > 0:17:48Then there were loads of ads on there, what other people had put on
0:17:48 > 0:17:50and I thought, "Oh, that looks interesting."
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Sandy posted a message asking if anyone could help
0:17:54 > 0:17:57and it turned out someone felt they could.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Sandy had been looking for her mum for 19 years
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and I just felt, you know, after 19 years of looking
0:18:03 > 0:18:05and not being able to find her,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09a little bit of help from us could go a long way in that sense.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Family detective Fraser Kinnie knows every trick in the book
0:18:12 > 0:18:14when it comes to navigating the internet.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16He saw Sandy's advert online
0:18:16 > 0:18:21and approached her, saying he could find her mum for a fee.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26I think Sandy and Andy were quite wary, as anyone would be,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28when I offered to help.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31But I think it didn't take too long before they realised that there
0:18:31 > 0:18:34was some substance to what I was saying.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37I think then, once you start doing the research
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and you can come up with information about the family,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43they start realising that you're on their side, in a sense,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45there to help them if you can.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47From her adoption papers, Sandy knew
0:18:47 > 0:18:53her mum's name was Janet Smith, born on the 6th of May, 1952.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57In 1952, in the UK, there were 137 Janet Smiths born.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01What we had to do was work out which Janet Smith we were talking about.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04We had a date of birth for Janet Smith,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07which then drastically reduced the number.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10What we then tried to do was close it down by the areas that we
0:19:10 > 0:19:12thought she was born.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Fraser knew she was born in the Darlington area.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Out of the 21 possible Janet Smiths,
0:19:18 > 0:19:20there was one born in Northallerton
0:19:20 > 0:19:23and because of the proximity of Northallerton and Darlington,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27my hunch was that it was most likely that one.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31The only way we could prove it was to find that birth certificate and that
0:19:31 > 0:19:35then would confirm the date of birth on this certificate as being
0:19:35 > 0:19:38the date of birth that we knew for Janet.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Fraser's wife Tracey went to County Durham
0:19:41 > 0:19:43to get hold of the birth certificate.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Would it match the date of birth on Sandy's adoption papers?
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Tracey went down there, bought that certificate and instantly she phoned
0:19:50 > 0:19:54me up, and it was good news for us because we knew we were right then.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56The dates of birth matched.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00They had the right Janet Smith and now they also had the names
0:20:00 > 0:20:03of Janet's mum and dad, Sandy's grandparents.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07From that information, we could then start looking for Janet's siblings.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09It was a key breakthrough.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12In a matter of minutes, Fraser had tracked down possible
0:20:12 > 0:20:16addresses for Sandy's aunts, Wendy and Linda.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Tracey was on her way back from Northallerton,
0:20:18 > 0:20:23so I asked Tracey to go up to Darlington and knock on the door,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and hand the telephone to whoever answered the door.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30I didn't know what to expect, turning up unannounced,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33but as soon as I knocked on the door and once we explained who we were
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and asked Wendy was she the sister of Janet,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39when her niece was trying to contact her,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- she burst into tears.- Mh-mm.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43We knew straight away.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45WENDY: I just got a knock on the door.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50She said, "Do you have a mum called Veronica,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52"a dad called Charlie and
0:20:52 > 0:20:54"a sister called Janet?"
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- And I said, "Yeah." And that's what set me off.- Yeah.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Because she said, "We've found...
0:21:01 > 0:21:02"Sandy."
0:21:05 > 0:21:09It was the breakthrough Sandy had so desperately been hoping for
0:21:09 > 0:21:11and Fraser got straight on the phone.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14- He told me that he'd found your aunties.- Yeah.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16And you were still at the school, picking the girls up.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19And when you come in, I told you and you were crying.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21I just burst into tears.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Wendy and Linda are Sandy's mum, Janet's, younger sisters,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30two of 13 children who grew up in Brafferton in North Yorkshire,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34where their father was involved in pig farming.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36It was very hard then, wasn't it?
0:21:36 > 0:21:40I think she was 18 when she got pregnant.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43With such a big family, there was little room for another.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I wouldn't have wanted to give it up from six weeks.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It'd have been a hard choice to make, wouldn't it?
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Yeah, I think it was a decision because there was all of us.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55- We were very young and that.- Yeah.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Being so much older than Linda and Wendy,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Janet was very much a mother figure to both of them.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- My friends used to think my sister Janet was my mum...- Yeah.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08..but she wasn't. And when they saw our proper parents, my mum and dad,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11- they used to think that they were our grandparents.- Yeah.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Despite the sister's closeness,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Janet rarely felt able to discuss the child she'd had to let go.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21I never spoke about it because Janet never spoke about it.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24It's only because of what mum said to me, you know what I mean?
0:22:24 > 0:22:28And I just used to say, "You've got a little girl called Sandy?"
0:22:28 > 0:22:30and Janet used to say, "Yeah."
0:22:30 > 0:22:32But if I'd asked any more questions,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35she used to just turn round and say, "I don't want to talk about it."
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Yeah, I think she maybe thought I was too young, to not talk about...
0:22:39 > 0:22:42- But we did know about her, didn't we?- Yeah.- Yeah, yeah.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47Janet had lost Sandy but went on to live a full life.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49- Oh, Janet was happy-go-lucky.- Yep.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51She used to love her singing and... Don't know, she just...
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Yeah, used to always get on the karaoke.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55- ..loved being around people. - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Sadly, Janet died in 2002 from cancer.
0:23:05 > 0:23:0912 years later, Linda and Wendy were overjoyed to hear,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12out of the blue, from Janet's daughter Sandy.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14- She rung me and...- Scared.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17I was talking to her as if I'd known her for years, you know what I mean?
0:23:17 > 0:23:20It was just like...
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- our big sister's come back.- Yeah.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Shame she couldn't have met her though, isn't it?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29But the other thing I think now is...
0:23:29 > 0:23:32she's given us the next best thing.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Sandy has met her aunts just a handful of times and today is a much
0:23:47 > 0:23:50welcomed chance for the three of them to get to know each other more.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56- Hello.- Hi.- Long time.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02- Hello, babes.- Are you all right? - Yeah, brilliant.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Remember the first time like this, eh?
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I know, yeah. It's always like the first time meeting
0:24:07 > 0:24:09- when we see Sandy.- It only seemed like five minutes ago, didn't it?
0:24:09 > 0:24:13It always feels like the first time every time we meet, doesn't it?
0:24:13 > 0:24:15- Yeah, it does. - We'll never forget that.- I know.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17SHE EXHALES
0:24:17 > 0:24:19You don't want to start, do you?
0:24:19 > 0:24:24For Sandy, Wendy and Linda, being reunited provides them all
0:24:24 > 0:24:27with a new emotional connection to Janet.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29It feels as if we've known each other for years, doesn't it?
0:24:29 > 0:24:32- It does, yeah.- It feels like, from the first phone call... - Clicked, yeah.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37- Yeah, we just got on so well.- That was nerve racking that, like.- I know.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Shall I? Shall I? Yeah, I will.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41It was like our Janet talking to me again
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and that was overwhelming as well, you know what I mean?
0:24:44 > 0:24:46It was like...
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Oh, she's given us a good thing here, you know what I mean?
0:24:48 > 0:24:51You'll know that, won't you? Because, obviously, I've never heard her talk.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Yeah.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55When it comes out of me, you'll be thinking of your sister.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Yes, of course. We look at you and we can see her,
0:24:58 > 0:24:59you know what I mean?
0:24:59 > 0:25:02It's scary, isn't it?
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Isn't it a lovely day?
0:25:04 > 0:25:10Today, Linda and Wendy want to show Sandy where her mum Janet grew up...
0:25:10 > 0:25:14and it's a place Sandy recognises from earlier in her search.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17God, it's weird coming back here after 13 years.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20We knocked on that door, trying to find my mum.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22- I know, it's a shame we weren't here.- Oh, yeah.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- Because we didn't live here then. - The woman that... - Imagine what it'd been like.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28The woman that answered the door, she said she didn't know.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31It's quite nice to come back here with yous.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35You'll have to move here, Sandy, to the village.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Like, my mum used to knock round here with yous and things,
0:25:37 > 0:25:38- know what I mean?- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40It's quite unreal, to be honest.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45The aunts are keen for Sandy to learn as much as she can
0:25:45 > 0:25:47about her mother.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50They're taking her to meet their older brother Rob,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52who has lots of photos of Janet.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55- Hello, there.- Hello, are you all right?- How are you doing?
0:25:55 > 0:25:59I'm fine, thank you. Yeah, you?
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- WENDY:- Are you all right, Rob? - Why-aye.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08It's nice to see photos of my mum because, when I look at them,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11I think, "Some of them just look like me."
0:26:11 > 0:26:14- You try and work out what's happened by looking at the picture...- Yeah.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16- ..or what she's been doing. - It's just...
0:26:16 > 0:26:18As you can see, she's had a fun life.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22- It's the blonde hair. - I haven't seen them ones before.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26It looks like she's happy enough. I always wondered what she looked like.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Until you see photos and that, then you don't, so...
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Did you think, "Oh, she just looks like me"?
0:26:31 > 0:26:34- I did, yeah, she's got a look of me, yeah.- Shocked.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Because I always wondered, when I was younger, when...
0:26:37 > 0:26:39"Do I look like my mum? Do I look like my dad?"
0:26:39 > 0:26:41You don't know, do you?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43So defo my mum.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Me mum looks happy holding a baby.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Yeah, that's what I keep looking at, when she's got hold of the baby.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52- The smile's different.- Yeah. She must be thinking...- Memories.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54..of me, yeah.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Glad I've found yous.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00You can have that now, can't you?
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Yeah.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Sorry.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07- I did say I wasn't going to cry. - You're setting me off.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10There's nowt wrong with crying, lass, it just shows that you care.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13I was just looking at the photos and things.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15You can see she's had fun and that,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18even though she had to give me up at the end.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21- It would have been hard for our Janet, wouldn't it, like?- Yeah.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Giving you up and then having to carry on with life.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26Because she'd have known in her mind that...
0:27:26 > 0:27:30- That you were there, somewhere. - ..I was there, somewhere.- Yeah.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Sandy knows for sure that her mum never forgot her
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and always hoped one day she'd return,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38and she has the proof.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43I got a ring given off one of my mum's friends.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46The words were, my mum said,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50"If my daughter ever turns up, please give her this ring."
0:27:50 > 0:27:54And because I turned up and found you all, she gave me the ring...
0:27:54 > 0:27:56- That's nice. - ..which was quite emotional.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00It'll be with me forever and I'll treasure it as much as I can.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04- She always wore it and she'd expect you to always wear it, wouldn't she? - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08The ring has brought Sandy physically closer to her mum
0:28:08 > 0:28:12and Sandy's return to her family has only strengthened
0:28:12 > 0:28:16her aunts' memories of a much missed sister.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19- Nobody could say you don't look like your mother.- Yeah.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23You're two peas in a pod.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27The photos, and that, I've seen today were quite upsetting
0:28:27 > 0:28:29because they're all of my mum and the family.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33And it's just upsetting because I think she looks like me.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Yeah, I got upset. I didn't want to but I did.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Now I've found my family, I relate my mum through
0:28:40 > 0:28:42my aunties and uncles.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44It still hasn't sunk in properly yet.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47- Yeah, it's only been a few months since we met her.- I still wake up
0:28:47 > 0:28:50- and think we were just dreaming it, know what I mean?- Yeah.
0:28:50 > 0:28:51But no, no.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54- It's still emotional sometimes as well.- Yeah, definitely.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58- Aye, of course it is.- There's no keeping her away now, is there?
0:28:58 > 0:29:01No, that's it, she's got us all now. She's got us all.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06Might be a long way away, but not in our hearts and our mind.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08I've learnt a lot today about my mum
0:29:08 > 0:29:13and I'm so glad that I've heard such great things about her.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15It's just a shame that I didn't get to meet her
0:29:15 > 0:29:17but, yeah, it's been great today.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Alfie Alcorn was born in Liverpool,
0:29:26 > 0:29:31but aged just eight, he was adopted by relatives in America
0:29:31 > 0:29:33after both his parents died.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38Alfie's been desperate to track down any family on his father's side,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41but after two separate trips to Liverpool ended in failure,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43he'd given up hope.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46I spent a couple of days, in and around Liverpool,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50just trying to find out about the Dennys,
0:29:50 > 0:29:51but no Dennys.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56But 60 miles away in Colne, Lancashire,
0:29:56 > 0:29:5873-year-old John Denny
0:29:58 > 0:30:02has also been wondering about his father's life.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Because I was born in the war, like a lot of kids,
0:30:04 > 0:30:06we never knew our fathers.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10My dad was away in active service in Brazil, Argentina,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13all over the world basically.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15And as a child growing up in wartime Liverpool,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19his dad's wider family also remained largely a mystery.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22On my father's side, he was one of,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24I think it was, eight children.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28At that time, you didn't really know just who was who.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Now kids can ask their parents anything,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34or get told everything by their parents.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38When I was a kid, you wouldn't dare to ask questions.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41John's determination to find out more about his dad's family
0:30:41 > 0:30:43has only grown with time.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46As you get older, people disappear,
0:30:46 > 0:30:50they either leave town or you've been told that they've died.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52It's part of your ageing process.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56I realise now that I didn't know that much about my own family
0:30:56 > 0:31:00and I don't want my granddaughter to not know who her family was.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04So John resolved to create a family tree for his granddaughter.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08During the course of the research, he typed his own name
0:31:08 > 0:31:12into an internet search engine and made a life-changing discovery.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15I used one of the search engines and put my own name in,
0:31:15 > 0:31:19and it came up with the name of Alfred John Alcorn.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23And I thought, "What is Alfred John Alcorn got to do with John Denny?"
0:31:24 > 0:31:27And it turns out he's an American author.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31A little more digging uncovered further details about this
0:31:31 > 0:31:33mysterious Mr Alcorn.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38There was a bio that said that Alfred John Alcorn was
0:31:38 > 0:31:43born in June, 1941,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47and his name at that time was Alfred John Denny.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51So as I read further into his bio, he talks about his dad,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53who was Alfred James Denny,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55and, wow, did that ring a bell.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58That was Pop's brother.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02John had stumbled across a cousin he never knew existed.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Next, he went on social media and struck gold.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08It showed an Alfred John,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11or Alfred J Alcorn in Boston,
0:32:11 > 0:32:14so I thought, "That's my man."
0:32:14 > 0:32:16I sent him a friend request and,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20although there's a five-hour time lag between here and Boston,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23there was an answer about 20 minutes later.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26"Hi, John. How the hell have you found me?
0:32:26 > 0:32:28"Where are you?
0:32:28 > 0:32:29"I think we're related."
0:32:29 > 0:32:33I wrote back immediately and at first a little bit,
0:32:33 > 0:32:38not sceptical, but since I'd been so unsuccessful,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40not quite believing.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45And then it, you know, became obvious that John was my first cousin.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48He was overjoyed, I think, because I think he'd found the key
0:32:48 > 0:32:52to a side of the family,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56a side of his life, he just knew absolutely nothing about.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00It was a really nice surprise to suddenly think, "Wow."
0:33:00 > 0:33:04You know, again this was this shadow world,
0:33:04 > 0:33:06almost a ghost world,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08that was coming to life.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Over the past 20 years, the internet has revolutionised
0:33:14 > 0:33:17the process of finding missing relatives.
0:33:19 > 0:33:20Without leaving your home,
0:33:20 > 0:33:25you have a wealth of genealogy research tools at your fingertips.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Message boards are a great way to share information and to
0:33:29 > 0:33:34connect with other people who are also searching for lost relatives.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37And, of course, there's social media,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41which can be a very immediate way of tracking someone down.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43But if you do find someone quickly via this route,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46don't act straight away.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Take time to consider how to make contact
0:33:48 > 0:33:53and think about the potential impact this might have on you and them.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56It can be a good idea to use an intermediary,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00especially in cases of adoption, where it's strongly recommended
0:34:00 > 0:34:01you only proceed with the help
0:34:01 > 0:34:05and advice of an experienced adoption counsellor.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10After more than 60 years' separation,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Alfred has finally found his Liverpool family
0:34:13 > 0:34:18and John now has a new connection to his own father's past.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22I'd felt that our family hadn't treated Alfie
0:34:22 > 0:34:27as he deserved to be treated, following the death of his parents.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30And I wanted to try, if I could, help him in some way.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Realising Alfie only had faint memories of his father,
0:34:36 > 0:34:38John sent him a photograph.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42I remembered him in my memories,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46but I had no photographic evidence at all,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49and then I got this picture
0:34:49 > 0:34:53of him in his uniform.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57It was the first time Alfie had seen his father's face
0:34:57 > 0:34:59in over 60 years.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02It was just incredibly gratifying
0:35:02 > 0:35:05to be able to look at this picture and remember him.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09And so the memory lined up with the photograph, so to speak.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13And it took me a little while for that to happen, but then it did.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17Now, nine months after they first made contact,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21Alfie's come over from America to Liverpool, with his wife Sally,
0:35:21 > 0:35:26to meet John for what may, or may not, be the very first time.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30I have this very, very faint recollection of visiting this
0:35:30 > 0:35:33family who'd got a couple of kids
0:35:33 > 0:35:36about my age.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Now, with hindsight,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40it could well of been Alfie.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44It's going to be about 70 years since that meeting,
0:35:44 > 0:35:48if we did even actually meet then, but I'm pretty sure now that we did.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53They've arranged to meet at the Old Docks in Liverpool,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56an area much changed since their childhoods.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03I don't know quite what to expect,
0:36:03 > 0:36:05first cousin, my age.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08I don't think he's a teetotaller...
0:36:08 > 0:36:10SHE LAUGHS
0:36:10 > 0:36:12..so we have some things in common.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Basically, I just want to thank him,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17you know, for opening up that
0:36:17 > 0:36:20closed chapter of my life.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25I think it will be kind of amazing to find...
0:36:25 > 0:36:28To be able to just speak directly back and forth.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32I'm sure other things will become unearthed.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37In all honesty, I don't know quite what to expect.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42One has a picture of the
0:36:42 > 0:36:45atypical American, sort of loud and brash.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48But then again, the guy is a limey at heart.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50He was born a scouser
0:36:50 > 0:36:53and will be a scouser,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56so we'll just have to wait and see.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58So it all builds up to a degree of,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01shall we say, nervous anticipation.
0:37:01 > 0:37:02It's...
0:37:02 > 0:37:04It's... You know, words fail me.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07It's mega. It really is mega.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13I think I recognise the old, red brick
0:37:13 > 0:37:16more than anything else
0:37:16 > 0:37:18because, like everything else, it's been, kind of,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20tarted up over the years.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29Ah, I love this little, these little docks.
0:37:29 > 0:37:30I get...
0:37:30 > 0:37:33OK... Good God, that's him!
0:37:33 > 0:37:34My goodness.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36- Alfie!- Cousin!
0:37:36 > 0:37:39You old dog!
0:37:39 > 0:37:42- How are you?- I'm fine.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46- You've kept me waiting nine months. - I did, I did. Nine months, yeah.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51- And I've kept you waiting 73 years. - Exactly, yeah.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56- Hello, lovely to meet you, John. - And you.- Great.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00- It's amazing.- Yes.- It is. Good for you for pulling this one off.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Yeah, thank you.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05- Thank you so much.- Alfie!- Cousin!
0:38:05 > 0:38:09- God, you're the first Denny I've seen in...- Ever.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13- ..in nearly 70 years.- Yeah, yeah.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Aware of all the gaps in Alfie's knowledge,
0:38:15 > 0:38:19John's brought with him a case full of precious memories
0:38:19 > 0:38:22of the Liverpool family he's barely known,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25including the photograph of his father.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29- That's Alfred James.- Oh, my.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32- Not a bad-looking fella.- Well, all of the Dennys are handsome.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Yeah, that's true.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37It is incredible to see another picture
0:38:37 > 0:38:40and what's really incredible is that box of goodies.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43- Well, you've had to wait for that then.- I know, I know.
0:38:43 > 0:38:44That's going to take us...
0:38:44 > 0:38:48We've got to live a few more years so we can get through that.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50So what do your kids think about this?
0:38:50 > 0:38:54They're happy for me. They think I feel more legitimate now somehow.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01You have made all of the Dennys talk again.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03Really?! OK, well, you made me...
0:39:03 > 0:39:06- You know... It's your fault. - No, it's not. It's yours.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Alfie may have the rest of his life to catch up on the family history,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16but he only has a couple of days in his old home town.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21And with his new-found cousin, he's keen to spend time retracing
0:39:21 > 0:39:24his life as a child, growing up around the Liverpool docks...
0:39:26 > 0:39:30..starting with the street where he lived as a little boy.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33- Sherlock Lane, I remember that. - Yeah, yeah.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36So it's a little bit Sherlock Holmes that we found it.
0:39:36 > 0:39:37A little bit, yeah.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42And then the entrance to the house is up and in to the...
0:39:42 > 0:39:44- It's in the ginnel, is it? - Do you want to...?
0:39:44 > 0:39:46- Let's give that a go.- Yeah.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Alfie's old house is still standing.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51He and his family lived above a shop,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54though things have changed somewhat since then.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56I lived here back in the early '40s...
0:39:56 > 0:39:58- SHOPKEEPER:- Oh, right.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00..with my bother and my mother and,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03at times my dad, he was away in the war...
0:40:03 > 0:40:08and this was an old bicycle shop.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12It is one of those things that's just simply hard to of imagined
0:40:12 > 0:40:17back then that there would have been this kind of abundance now.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Then it's time to take a look round the back -
0:40:20 > 0:40:22Alfie's natural playground as a kid.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28We used to have Guy Fawkes bonfires here,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31right on this area right here, yeah.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35And it's not just Alfie for whom memories are stirring.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40I'm pretty sure now that that recollection I've got...
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Because it was the terrace and that was it.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47And I remember coming out through the house, into a back yard,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50which presumably is going to be there.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- This- back yard. The- back yard. Yeah.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56- I think you and I have actually played together.- We may have, yeah.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02And for two small boys growing up, what could be more exciting
0:41:02 > 0:41:05than a treacle factory on the doorstep?
0:41:05 > 0:41:06These used to molasses then?
0:41:06 > 0:41:09- There were two or three that were molasses...- Yeah.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12..and they bricked them up against the Luftwaffe
0:41:12 > 0:41:17because you didn't want molasses all over the place.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20You'd come to a sticky end, I should say. But when they trucks would
0:41:20 > 0:41:23pull in, or when they were coming out, would slow down
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and it was still dripping from where it discharged the molasses.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30We'd ride on the back of a truck for a while,
0:41:30 > 0:41:32taking a finger and licking the stuff off.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Didn't your mum give you some...?
0:41:34 > 0:41:35Sweet memories for Alfie.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39The perfect end to a momentous day, which has put him back in touch
0:41:39 > 0:41:43with his father's side off the family after more than 60 years.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47The whole world has changed,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50so it's coming back to the same area,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53but you're not coming back to the same place.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57I had a link to my past before but now I have a living link.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00It's the other side of my family, where I came from,
0:42:00 > 0:42:05and maybe it's a form of egotism, but I'm very curious about them.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Coming round with Alfie, it's just blowing my mind away,
0:42:08 > 0:42:09it really is.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12He's really pleased, I think.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15It's a shame that we've missed what we have.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19But I tell you what, the last few days...
0:42:20 > 0:42:23..it's as if I've known the guy all my life, it really is.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27What happened to Alfie has made him what he is today,
0:42:27 > 0:42:30and having seen the surroundings and all the rest of it,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32I don't think Alfie would have achieved half as much.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35I mean, OK, we might have been great mates
0:42:35 > 0:42:37and all the rest of it, and that would have been fantastic,
0:42:37 > 0:42:40but I don't think he'd have been the man he is today
0:42:40 > 0:42:42without all of those formative years,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45however awful they must have been for him and his brother.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47It really is... It is...
0:42:47 > 0:42:49It's moving. I'm sorry.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57John's invited me over, we've come, it's been amazing so far.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03And I think it's my turn now to invite him to the United States,
0:43:03 > 0:43:10to New England, and show him some of the life that I did lead.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Reunited, the cousins can't wait to make up for lost time.