0:00:02 > 0:00:04Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07I had no information at all about where my mum went.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10And when you do lose touch with your loved ones...
0:00:10 > 0:00:12You don't know who you are, where've you come from?
0:00:12 > 0:00:15..finding them can take a lifetime.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19I might have a brother that's still living here.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Especially when they could be anywhere. At home or abroad.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26And that's where the Family Finders come in.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28From international organisations...
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Hi, it's The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34..to genealogy detective agencies...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37For someone to say that it's changed their life,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40it makes coming to work, you know, really, really special.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42..and dedicated one-man bands.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46It's a matter of how much effort you really want to put into it.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48How badly you want to solve the problem.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52They hunt through history to bring families back together again.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Finding new family is wonderful.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59In this series, we follow the work of the Family Finders...
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Suddenly, you get one spark of breakthrough and there they are.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08..learning the tricks they use to track missing relatives through time...
0:01:08 > 0:01:13I didn't think I'd ever find my sisters but I have.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17..and meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I've been waiting to meet John my whole life.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Since we've met, I feel part of a family again.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26You've just completed my life for me.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Many family secrets are shrouded in the mists of time.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Tracing a family separated across decades or even centuries
0:01:39 > 0:01:41can seem a daunting task.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Today, we meet David, whose search for his birth family was
0:01:45 > 0:01:50floundering until he sought out the very latest online resources.
0:01:50 > 0:01:51It took me a while to realise...
0:01:53 > 0:01:55..that that's the people...
0:01:56 > 0:01:59..that's the people I was looking for.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02- There he is. My new brother. - At last. My God!
0:02:03 > 0:02:08And we follow the story of Sally, who used cutting-edge DNA techniques
0:02:08 > 0:02:12to decipher her family's 80-year-old enigma.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15It told you the countries of origin that you came from.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19But it also matched you online to other people who had the same DNA.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24And he said to me, "I've never had a match this close before."
0:02:26 > 0:02:3055-year-old David Stewart grew up in Scotland,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34along with two older sisters and his brother, Michael.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38When he was still a young boy, and for reasons David never knew,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40his older brother, Michael, was placed in care.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I was really young at the time when he went.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I was only three, something like that.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I just... In fact, I don't even remember him going.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I don't remember. One day he was there and the next day he was gone.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I was so young.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55I didn't know where he went or why he went.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56No idea.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59But that wasn't the only family mystery
0:02:59 > 0:03:02surrounding David's childhood.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04He later discovered that his mother
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and older sisters weren't, in fact, his family by birth.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11His dad was his real birth father and had brought David
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and his brother to live with him and his new family.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I was never told anything about my birth mother.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Or whatever happened to her.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22I had no knowledge whatsoever.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24A very strange upbringing
0:03:24 > 0:03:27when you're living with one lady who you call Mum
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and two girls who you call your sisters, but in the back
0:03:30 > 0:03:33of your head, you know there's something different there.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34There's something...
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Then each year that went on, I just got more intrigued by it.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40But my dad still never told me anything.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Life carried on for David.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46His father died in 1985.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49David married and started a family of his own.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52But the urge to find out what happened to his older brother,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Michael, and the desire to find out about his own birth relatives
0:03:56 > 0:03:57kept on growing.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Everybody I know's got blood relatives.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01And I didn't have any.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04It's always been a thing, I have to have some blood relatives.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07David's case was taken on
0:04:07 > 0:04:10by the Salvation Army's Family Tracing Unit.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Within just a few months, they had found a possible match.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16The next stage was to get in touch.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18They wrote a little letter.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Would he be willing to get in touch with me?
0:04:23 > 0:04:26They basically gave him my name and address, my phone number,
0:04:26 > 0:04:27and they left it up to him.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32All David could do now was wait and see
0:04:32 > 0:04:33if his brother would get in touch.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36- PHONE RINGS - He rang me on Christmas Day.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38About ten years ago.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47Although the brothers reunited briefly, they have since lost touch.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50But finding his brother now spurred David on to try
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and find any other family he had out there.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57However, all he had to go on was a few vaguely remembered tales about
0:04:57 > 0:05:02his father, a previous marriage, and possibly other children.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05It was then that David turned to the internet for help.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Getting this random phone call out the blue and
0:05:08 > 0:05:12the person at the other end saying, "I'm your brother."
0:05:12 > 0:05:16It's amazing. It's just amazing.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24People can turn family finder for all sorts of reasons.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28In the case of Sally James, it was a desire to give her mother Phyllis
0:05:28 > 0:05:31the closure she craved about her unknown origins.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34I grew up in a suburb just outside of London.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37It was myself, my mother, my brother.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41But because my mother was an orphan, she didn't know her parents,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43we didn't really have any other family.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48All Mother knew about her childhood was that she was
0:05:48 > 0:05:51born in the Bethney Home, because that was on her birth certificate.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54And she grew up in Kirwan House orphanage.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59At the age of 16, Phyllis left the orphanage,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01moved to England to train as a nurse,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03and eventually started her own family.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07But she never stopped wondering about her birth mother.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10The only thing that she knew was that her mother was called
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Margaret Little,
0:06:12 > 0:06:13which was her maiden name.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16There was no father's name on the birth certificate.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18And in those days, you didn't ask questions.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Everything was kept hidden.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Sally took up the challenge to find out the truth
0:06:23 > 0:06:24about her mother's family.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30The first port of call for Sally was online.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31I was searching for a birth,
0:06:31 > 0:06:37death or marriage certificate for her mother, who was Margaret Little.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38But I couldn't find anything.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Trying a different approach, over the next few years,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Sally got in touch with several charities
0:06:45 > 0:06:47who help children who grew up in care
0:06:47 > 0:06:48to trace their families.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51And finally, she got a result.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55One thing the charity were able to give me was a copy
0:06:55 > 0:06:57of my mother's orphan certificate.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59On the back, there was a very sad note written.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02It says, "This is a very needy child.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06"The mother now is married but living in very poor circumstances
0:07:06 > 0:07:10"and it would be the most undesirable place for this child."
0:07:10 > 0:07:14So it explains why she gave my mother up.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19The certificate also showed that by the time Phyllis was placed in the
0:07:19 > 0:07:23orphanage, her mother, Margaret, had married a man named James Clancy.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26But despite all this new information,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30it didn't lead to the breakthrough Sally so desperately wanted.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Even though I knew from one of the charities that she'd married
0:07:33 > 0:07:37a James Clancy, I still couldn't find -
0:07:37 > 0:07:39and nobody else could find - a wedding certificate.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Which seemed most odd,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44because you'd think that was the one thing you could find.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46But, in fact, it was impossible.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Undeterred, Sally kept looking.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53But when a few years later her mother's health deteriorated,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56the search became all the more critical.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59She was diagnosed in the summer with lung cancer.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04It suddenly hit me that, you know, time was not on her side.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06In fact, it wasn't on my side either,
0:08:06 > 0:08:11because I now had a desperate search to try and find who her mother was.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Even though I had bits of information all over the place,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I just didn't have the things I needed the most,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21which were her mother's date of birth and the place she was born.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Another two years went by, Phyllis' health was deteriorating
0:08:26 > 0:08:29and she was now living in a nursing home.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It was then that Sally decided to take a gamble on some new
0:08:32 > 0:08:35cutting-edge family-finding technology -
0:08:35 > 0:08:37DNA testing.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40It told you the countries of origin that you came from.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45But it also matched you online to other people who had the same DNA.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47And I thought, "If only we could find a connection,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49"it might lead somewhere."
0:08:49 > 0:08:53So I thought, "Now's the time to get the kit, get the test done,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55"and see what happens."
0:08:56 > 0:08:58After a quest that had lasted years,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01little did she know just how quickly she would get an answer
0:09:01 > 0:09:05and that it would lead to a totally unexpected discovery.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09All these years, all these searches, and there she was.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11And there I'd found the family.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13- Welcome!- Oh!
0:09:18 > 0:09:21In Scotland, David Stewart had also turned to
0:09:21 > 0:09:24technology for help in his search.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28David had always yearned for blood siblings of his own.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31He was chasing down a family rumour that his father had had other
0:09:31 > 0:09:33children before him.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35People were telling me that I've got three brothers
0:09:35 > 0:09:36and a sister out there.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39David took his search online,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42where he found a wealth of genealogical resources.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46He even made contact with online amateur family finders
0:09:46 > 0:09:48willing to take up the search.
0:09:48 > 0:09:54Within hours a message popped up from a lady that I didn't know.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55She was able to...
0:09:55 > 0:09:58tell me that I had three half-brothers and a sister.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03Within hours of joining the site, she was able to give me
0:10:03 > 0:10:06an address of one of my brothers.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09I wrote him a letter pretty much straightaway.
0:10:09 > 0:10:1450 miles away, that letter landed in Steven Stewart's hand.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17There was one letter on the table for me.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18Got the letter and opened it.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Then there was this, "Dear sir."
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Which I thought was quite quaint. "My name is Dave Stewart.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27"I think you may be my long-lost half-brother."
0:10:27 > 0:10:28So I gave him a ring.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30I think it was Christmas Eve, actually.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33We were just doing our thing, getting ready for Christmas and my phone rang.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35PHONE RINGS
0:10:35 > 0:10:40I answered it this day and the man on the other end just...
0:10:42 > 0:10:44HE SNIFFLES
0:10:44 > 0:10:46..said he was my brother.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51After looking for so many years and then just...
0:10:51 > 0:10:54getting this random phone call out the blue
0:10:54 > 0:10:56and the person at the other end...
0:10:57 > 0:10:59..saying, "I'm your brother,"
0:10:59 > 0:11:01it's, well...
0:11:01 > 0:11:05It's amazing. It's just amazing.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Steven is one of four children
0:11:09 > 0:11:12all from David's father's first marriage.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14I was born in 1948 in Ipswich.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19The eldest of four children.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24I can't really remember exactly when he left.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26He was there, he was there, he wasn't there.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31I was aware only via the effect you'd have at school.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Cos I wasn't a particularly nice little kid.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36I was always fighting, getting into trouble and scraps,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39and it always used to really irritate me in the background
0:11:39 > 0:11:41when they'd say I'd been in this trouble
0:11:41 > 0:11:43because I'd come from divorced parents.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45And that used to really irritate me.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48But before he lost contact with his father, there's one
0:11:48 > 0:11:52particular meeting that's always stuck in Steven's mind.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57I can remember coming out of school one day.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I remember this big car came out and I walked past.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02And my dad came out of the car.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06And he introduced me to these two little boys, Michael and David.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I can't remember which was which or which was the biggest one.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10They got out.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14You know, what do you say as a young child to two other kids? You know?
0:12:14 > 0:12:16So I never said much.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20I was just hoping he might give me ten bob or something, you know?
0:12:20 > 0:12:24And then disappeared and I never saw them or heard of them again.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28It was only years later, after he was married,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31that Steven heard anything of his father.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34I hadn't thought of my father or gotten involved with him,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36with anything about him, for ages.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41But I then got a call off my sister saying she's got my dad's address
0:12:41 > 0:12:42and he was in Scotland.
0:12:44 > 0:12:50We drove down one day. Ruth, myself and my eldest daughter, Claire.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54I sat outside there for two or three hours
0:12:54 > 0:12:55and I couldn't get myself to go in.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57Because I didn't really know what I was going to get into.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59I was just sort of sceptical about it.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I thought, "Well, all these years he's not bothered.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05"Why should I bother?" And that's how I felt about it at the time.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07We'd had our first child, Claire had been born.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And I was absolutely besotted with the girls when they were born.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11They were fantastic.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Best things in my life, the two daughters, you know?
0:13:14 > 0:13:18So I thought, "Well, why couldn't he care like I care for my kids?"
0:13:18 > 0:13:21So I wasn't that interested in... I lost interest in seeing him, really.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24We just drove back home, back home to Glasgow,
0:13:24 > 0:13:25and didn't do anything about it.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29And that's the way things stayed until just a few months ago,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32when David's letter landed in Steven's hands.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35After several weeks speaking on the phone,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40and several years unknowingly living just 50 miles apart,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43today the two brothers have arranged to meet up for the first time
0:13:43 > 0:13:46since their dad introduced them as young boys.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48You can't explain this feeling.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51There's not many people go through this, I don't think.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54It's worse than a first date.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57You know, when you're dead nervous and you're meeting someone
0:13:57 > 0:13:58and you want to make a good impression.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01You know, I'm not trying to impress or anything,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03I'm just trying to... You know, I'm just going to meet my brother
0:14:03 > 0:14:06and it's like meeting a girlfriend for the first time.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08It's a really strange feeling.
0:14:10 > 0:14:11I'm looking forward to it, really.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14A little bit apprehensive, but absolutely fine.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15Looking forward to meeting him.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18I've had a couple of conversations with him on the telephone
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and I'm really looking forward to meeting him and his wife.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25I feel really nervous and I don't know why I should feel so nervous.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27I'm really emotional.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I'm really pleased that he's contacted us.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32I think it's really nice.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34I just think the whole thing that he's bothered is really nice.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41I'm too nervous. I don't want to eat or drink.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43HE CHUCKLES
0:14:46 > 0:14:48There he is.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50- Me brother, at last.- My new brother. - My God!
0:14:50 > 0:14:53How are you, mate? You all right?
0:14:53 > 0:14:56- Yep.- It's really nice to see you, mate. It really is.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- Nice to meet you.- Really pleased. You all right?- Yeah, I'm good.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02- Hiya, Ruth. Are you all right? - Nice to meet you. Yes, I'm fine.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04- Thank you.- Oh, my God. This is hard. - RUTH LAUGHS
0:15:04 > 0:15:06- Hey up, Tracy.- Hi!
0:15:06 > 0:15:07- Nice to see you.- Nice to meet you.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09- My new sister-in-law.- Yeah.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Oh.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13Sit down, mate.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Good to see you, mate. I'm really pleased to see you in the flesh.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Yeah. I am. I can't tell you. This is... This is phenomenal for me.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24It really is. I've been trying this for years and years.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26We were talking about it yesterday.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29- How stupid that we're so close. - I know, yeah.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32It's not taken us 30-odd miles to come here.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34- That's amazing, isn't it? - I know. It really, really is.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38And you would never have found me. You didn't have, well, I mean...
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- I didn't...- How would you start?
0:15:40 > 0:15:42I found my dad lots of times. No problem.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45On various lists, I found him. Where he lived at particular times.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46But there was no...
0:15:46 > 0:15:49I couldn't get any further to find if he had any children.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51- I knew he had two children.- Right. - A minimum of two.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54- I assumed he might have had a couple more.- Mm. Probably did.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56So I never thought much about that.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Every time, I just seemed to get stuck.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04We've brought a few pictures. We've got only one of our father.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06Wow. Look at that! Wow!
0:16:07 > 0:16:10- Gosh, yeah.- Jenny always says, "Oh, isn't he handsome?
0:16:10 > 0:16:12- "Isn't he handsome?" - STEVEN LAUGHS
0:16:12 > 0:16:13Yeah.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I don't see a resemblance there, do you?
0:16:15 > 0:16:19- For you?- No.- I do for me. - I'm more my mother's side.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22I used to sneak into my dad's bedroom and I used to bring
0:16:22 > 0:16:24this out and look at these little old photos of him.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27We had a load. We had a load of army photographs.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- That's what these are. - But my mother burned them all.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Oh, God. That's the earliest one, I think.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:16:34 > 0:16:35He looks really young in that.
0:16:35 > 0:16:3914, 15, something like that, I'd have thought.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40But that's all I've got of my dad.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42- That and that ring.- Really?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44He was the same initials. RDS.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- Ah, yes. Yeah.- Roy David Stewart. Roy Douglas Stewart.- Yeah, yeah.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49So that's all I've got. That and that.
0:16:49 > 0:16:50Well, I've got nothing.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I've got nothing at all because he just suddenly disappeared.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55You know. He was there, then he was gone.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58I must have found this when I was really, really small.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01This here is three letters from the courts saying,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03"You've got to pay maintenance."
0:17:03 > 0:17:07- No! Really?- Yeah. To be honest, I'd forgotten all about them.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10- Up until a couple of weeks ago when we were talking.- Yeah.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And all your names and dates of birth and everything are on there.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- Really?- So if I'd have found that 20 or 30 years ago...
0:17:16 > 0:17:19- But I must have not, you know, it just didn't...- Can I have a look?
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- Yeah, yeah.- I know that was a big thing in our house,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24not getting any money from our father. I remember that.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Well, if you look at them, that's exactly what they say.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Again, I should have looked at it. I don't know why...
0:17:31 > 0:17:34All your dates of birth and all your names are on one of these.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38I looked at the pictures but probably didn't take these in.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42When you try as hard as I've done over the years to find blood
0:17:42 > 0:17:47relatives or to find people I could call my own, you get expectations.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51And I've been rejected a few times over the years.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54So I didn't know what to expect, really.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57But now that I've met him and now that I've shaken his hand,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59I'm very happy. I'm really happy with how it went.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01He's very easygoing.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03'You know, it's...'
0:18:03 > 0:18:05It couldn't have been better, really.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08They're really nice. Really nice. He's a nice guy.
0:18:08 > 0:18:09Easy guy to talk to.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12And I'm really looking forward to meeting the family
0:18:12 > 0:18:13and doing other stuff with him.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17- That's been amazing.- Yes.- It's been amazing.- Lovely to meet you.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19- Nice to see you. - Hope to see you again.
0:18:19 > 0:18:20- Hopefully see you soon.- Yeah.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22- All right, brother.- OK. - Nice to meet you, mate.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24- And you. Take care.- Fantastic.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26We'll work something out and see you again.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27- Yeah.- All right?- Soon. Soon.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30'The future's looking good now, really. Not that it wasn't.'
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I've got a great family, my own children and all my Scottish family.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36But it's just...
0:18:36 > 0:18:37This completes it now, doesn't it?
0:18:47 > 0:18:51In Sussex, Sally James had been searching for her grandmother,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Margaret Little, on behalf of her mum, Phyllis.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58After hitting a dead end with traditional tracing techniques,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Sally had decided to use the latest DNA technology.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04She added her results to an online database.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07It wasn't long before she got a match.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Within three weeks, I had the results back.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Which were amazing.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17And the next thing I knew, I had three e-mails ping in my e-mail box.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Two from the same person.
0:19:19 > 0:19:20A guy called Matthew.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24On the other side of the Irish Sea,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Matthew Stewart had also been researching his family history.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32He has also added his DNA to the online database.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34The e-mail came through saying,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37"You have a new match on your DNA matches list."
0:19:37 > 0:19:40So I sent an e-mail off through that website.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46Through the DNA test, Sally and Matthew knew they were related.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Now they just had to work out how.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Sally logged on to look at Matthew's family tree
0:19:52 > 0:19:56to see if she could find any trace of her grandmother, Margaret Little.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59And, my God, I couldn't believe it.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01There she was.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Margaret Armstrong had married a James Clancy.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07And it was then that the penny dropped,
0:20:07 > 0:20:12because I realised that she'd lied about her name all this time.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Sally now knew why she hadn't been able to find
0:20:15 > 0:20:17her grandmother, Margaret.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20The name she had given on the birth certificate of the daughter
0:20:20 > 0:20:22she gave up was Margaret Little.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Her real name was Margaret Armstrong.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29It's likely she used her mother's maiden name because of the stigma
0:20:29 > 0:20:32of having a baby born out of wedlock at that time.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Sally was soon on the phone to Matthew
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and they quickly ascertained that they shared great-grandparents.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43But Matthew had some even bigger news.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45So he said...
0:20:46 > 0:20:50.."Your mother has got three brothers still alive.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53"And an aunt in Australia, of 92."
0:20:53 > 0:20:57I said, "What?!" He said, "Yeah.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01"And this isn't the first time that Peggy has done this
0:21:01 > 0:21:04"because your mother's got a brother called Jim
0:21:04 > 0:21:07"and he was also born out of wedlock the year after her.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10"And we only found him last year."
0:21:10 > 0:21:14So I was absolutely amazed.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17I just wanted to shout from the rooftops.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20You know, I was... The first thing I wanted to do was tell Mother.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23"Mother, I've found your family!"
0:21:23 > 0:21:27When I told Mother, she couldn't believe it. She was astounded.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31The next member of her new-found family to make contact was
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Phyllis' brother and Sally's uncle, Jim.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40And he said to me, "I understand I have a sister called Phyllis.
0:21:40 > 0:21:41"Can I speak to Phyllis?"
0:21:41 > 0:21:45And I said, "Well, Jim, she's actually in a nursing home."
0:21:45 > 0:21:48"Oh, I've got a sister! I've got a sister!
0:21:48 > 0:21:50"When can I speak to her? When can I speak to her?"
0:21:50 > 0:21:53He was so excited. He was beside himself.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Sally discovered that her new uncle, Jim, was born in Dublin
0:21:59 > 0:22:01to Margaret in 1938.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06A year younger than Phyllis, he too was given away as a baby.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09It wasn't until over 70 years later,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12when Matthew was researching the family tree and found him,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16that Jim was reunited with his birth family.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18That's how the ball started rolling.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22I discovered I had all these relations. I had two brothers.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26I didn't find out about Phyllis, my sister in Sussex,
0:22:26 > 0:22:28for a few months after that.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30So I was thrilled.
0:22:30 > 0:22:31Absolutely thrilling.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Shortly afterwards, Jim flew to England to meet his sister, Phyllis.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41By this time, Mother, her mobility had more or less gone
0:22:41 > 0:22:43and she was in a wheelchair.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49And the cancer was getting progressively worse.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It was a touching moment. And we had a lovely lunch together.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55We spoke about everything, really.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Her life, Sally's life.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02It was phenomenal. I can't tell you. Phenomenal. You know?
0:23:02 > 0:23:07To think that she had brothers still alive who could meet her,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09and she was still alive. You know, wow.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13I was trying to hold back the tears, I was, seriously.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15Even talking about it now upsets me, you know?
0:23:15 > 0:23:17What a lovely woman.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The only thing I regret is that we didn't do it earlier.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Sally had fulfilled her mission.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Just four months later, her mother died.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31But before she did, Phyllis got to hear all about her birth family,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35and even met Jim, her newly discovered brother.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39But that's not the end of Sally's journey.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Today she's heading to Dublin
0:23:41 > 0:23:45as her research had thrown up another exciting lead.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50But first, she's meeting her mum's brother Jim and her cousin Matthew.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56- Hi!- Great to see you. - And you. Yeah, great.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59- Jim, how are you doing? - You're looking good.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- Yeah, thank you.- Long time no see.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Mwah! It's lovely to see you again.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06It's been eight months since their first reunion
0:24:06 > 0:24:09and there's still lots of family history to catch up on.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12You had no inkling that your mother had any siblings at all?
0:24:12 > 0:24:15- You had nothing to go on?- Nothing.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18No. And all her life, she longed to know who her mother was.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22And she would have loved having a big Irish family.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27Tell us the DNA, we have some strange relations, haven't we?
0:24:27 > 0:24:32There's 1% Melanesian, which is Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35THEY LAUGH
0:24:35 > 0:24:36How did they get there?
0:24:36 > 0:24:38- I don't know.- That's amazing.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41We've still to find those cousins, dig them out.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44- I couldn't imagine you in a grass skirt.- Do you not think so?
0:24:44 > 0:24:47THEY LAUGH
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Now it's time for Sally to reveal her new information
0:24:51 > 0:24:54and the reason for her trip today.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Through her research into her mother's childhood, Sally has found
0:24:57 > 0:25:01someone who grew up with Phyllis in the orphanage 70 years ago.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Eileen remembers Sally's mother well,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07but lost touch with her once they left the orphanage.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13- Hello!- Hello!- Eileen.- Sally.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16- Welcome. How are you?- Oh!
0:25:16 > 0:25:19It's the first time Sally has ever met someone
0:25:19 > 0:25:21from her mum's childhood.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23You're the link with her past.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27You're the only link I have now with the past.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32You have now to look to the future. And at least you had a good mum.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34That's all that matters.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35- Isn't that true?- Yeah.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37- JIM:- OK.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39- Lovely to meet you. I'm Matthew. - How do you do?
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Eileen has a special surprise to show Sally.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47The story of one of the happier times at the orphanage.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Every year we put on this display.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55- It's a nice photo.- Is it? - It's lovely.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56- That's Mother.- Yeah.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58I hardly recognise her.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00There's me.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Can you remember what Mother was like growing up together?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05You know, when you were in the orphanage together,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07what personality did she have?
0:26:07 > 0:26:11She had a lovely personality. And was very well-liked.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Her bed was beside mine.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19And I always remember she got a doll with one eye and one leg.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24She was thrilled with it. She said she'd look after it, she'd nurse it.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29I'm going to show you now a video of Mum and me as a baby.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32- Yeah.- This was taken about 1963.
0:26:33 > 0:26:39That's Mum. And that's me as a baby. In the red. Look at her.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- She was beautiful.- She's gorgeous.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45- That's just as I know her.- Yeah? - Yeah.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- She would've been about 27 there. - Yeah.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52- She was a lovely child anyway, so. - Do you recognise her face?
0:26:52 > 0:26:54I do indeed. Yeah.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Did you find out that you had relations?
0:26:58 > 0:27:05- No.- Did you ever? - I have been searching for 50 years.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10- Good Lord. - And every door in Dublin, Ireland,
0:27:10 > 0:27:11has been closed.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17I've tried everybody to help. Nobody can help me.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21And my daughters, they've gone to the ends of the earth
0:27:21 > 0:27:23to try and help.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26But I don't think it's going to be, somehow or other.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28But anyway...
0:27:28 > 0:27:31May I say that you can consider us part of your family?
0:27:31 > 0:27:34- Thanks very much, Jim. - That's sweet, isn't it?
0:27:34 > 0:27:37That's lovely. You'll have me crying.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39I am already!
0:27:41 > 0:27:43It's wonderful to meet you.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46To think that you were in the orphanage and you were a friend of
0:27:46 > 0:27:50my mother, I mean, I never thought I'd find anybody that she knew.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54- Mm-hm.- That means an awful lot. - I'm delighted you've come.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57I appreciate it. I really do.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59It's fantastic.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02I'm thrilled that they've come
0:28:02 > 0:28:07and somehow, it has given me a great boost.