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.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36When it comes to tracking down lost family members,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39you don't always have to pay for a professional service
0:01:39 > 0:01:40or seek outside help.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44In the age of the internet, anyone can become a family detective.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Today, we follow one man's mission to find out about his grandfather
0:01:51 > 0:01:54which uncovered a family lost across the generations.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00Well, that's really quite shocking, actually, in a pleasant kind of way.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02It's as if it's meant to be.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07And Lynn who spent years trying to track down her long-lost brother.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09A million things went through my head,
0:02:09 > 0:02:10what I thought I would say to him,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13and I practised it and practised it and practised it
0:02:13 > 0:02:14and then I rang the number
0:02:14 > 0:02:18and just before I put the last digit in, I put the phone down
0:02:18 > 0:02:21and if I did that once, I must have done it 20 times.
0:02:25 > 0:02:3153-year-old Simon Wrigley was born and brought up on the Isle of Wight.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35But at the age of 21, Simon decided to leave the island
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and broaden his horizons.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40And by chance, I ended up in Israel.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Literally by chance as a volunteer on a kibbutz.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46I was working in the bananas and with the oranges
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and we were a group of young people who were having a wonderful time.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51And been there ever since.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Even though he's been living in Israel for over 30 years,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Simon has never forgotten his roots.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59England is my home.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Especially the Isle of Wight and that's where I come from.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06When you live away from your family, you realise how important they are.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11But it wasn't until he returned to the Isle of Wight, briefly,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15after his grandmother died that Simon began a fascination
0:03:15 > 0:03:17with his family history.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20When grandparents die, when they pass over,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22the knowledge goes with them.
0:03:22 > 0:03:28I think that living away from my family and growing older
0:03:28 > 0:03:31and family members passing away,
0:03:31 > 0:03:32I became aware of that more
0:03:32 > 0:03:37and it's very important to talk to them about the past,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41to get that knowledge from them, because if not, it goes.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47I discovered a picture in my parents' house of my grandparents
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and this was when they were engaged.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53It must be around 1923.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56I can see myself in my grandfather.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59And I realise that nobody really had any connection
0:03:59 > 0:04:01with his side of the family
0:04:01 > 0:04:06and there was this whole, sort of, mystery that nobody knew.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08That's why I wanted to know more about him.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Determined to discover more, back in Israel,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15he began to search, in earnest, on the internet.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18One of the first things I discovered online was
0:04:18 > 0:04:20my grandfather's death certificate
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and here's my grandfather's name on the certificate,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Bernard Frederick Groundsell.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30He died at a very early age, at the age of 46 in 1949.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34He died of lung cancer to which I didn't know.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38It stirred an emotion in me, reading this because
0:04:38 > 0:04:40what does this come down to,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42just a piece of paper saying somebody's died?
0:04:42 > 0:04:44But this is... This is...
0:04:44 > 0:04:46This is somebody. This is my family. This is my...
0:04:46 > 0:04:48This is my grandfather.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54And it's not just a date on a piece of paper. It was a human being.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Simon also discovered that his grandfather was one of nine siblings.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01He realised he could have surviving relatives out there
0:05:01 > 0:05:03he didn't know about.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Simon decided to investigate further.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07I thought I'd give it a go
0:05:07 > 0:05:10by putting an advertisement in the local paper.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13They have a section, here, called Islanders Reunited.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15So I thought, "I'll send an e-mail, here,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17"and let's see if anything comes up."
0:05:17 > 0:05:21But with no idea if his ancestors had any surviving relatives
0:05:21 > 0:05:23left on the Isle of Wight,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25all he could do now was wait.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29It must have been about six months and I got a bit, sort of...
0:05:31 > 0:05:32..I wouldn't say I'd given up,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36but I didn't have much hope of finding family members from this
0:05:36 > 0:05:39but I thought, "At least I'll give it a try, you never know."
0:05:44 > 0:05:4854-year-old Lynn Lewis has been waiting almost 40 years
0:05:48 > 0:05:51to find out the truth about her long-lost family.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Lynn grew up in Buxton, in the Peak District, with her parents,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Maureen and Alan, her two sisters and a brother.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04I had a wonderful childhood. Everything we wanted, we got.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06We were a bit spoilt, really.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08It was always a happy home.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13But this picture of the perfect family wasn't all that it seems.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19My parents told me I had an older brother when I was around 15.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22I think they thought, at that point, I was probably old enough to
0:06:22 > 0:06:25take on board the information.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30It was much of a shock to me so I asked, "Will I ever see him?
0:06:30 > 0:06:32"What does he look like?"
0:06:32 > 0:06:34And they said, "Well, we'll never know
0:06:34 > 0:06:37"cos we gave up all rights to have him.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39"He was given up for adoption, you know,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42"there's nothing you'll ever be able to do about it."
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Mum was only 15, at the time, when she got pregnant
0:06:47 > 0:06:51and she said in them days it wasn't allowed
0:06:51 > 0:06:54for you to have a baby out of wedlock and so young
0:06:54 > 0:06:59so she was sent away to a mother and baby home to have my brother.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01She didn't want to give him away.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Her and my dad would have loved to have just kept the baby
0:07:05 > 0:07:10and got married and carried on with a lovely family life,
0:07:10 > 0:07:15but the decision was taken completely out of her hands.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18In the years after giving up their son for adoption,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Lynn's parents carried on their relationship,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22married, and had four children,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24of whom Lynn is the eldest.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29It wad the loss of her father, Alan, to leukaemia at the age of just 39
0:07:29 > 0:07:33that inspired Lynn to start searching for her older brother.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37So I gathered the information from Mum, as much as I could,
0:07:37 > 0:07:42and I was determined that, one day, I'd meet this brother of mine.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47But Lynn's search immediately hit a brick wall
0:07:47 > 0:07:51that would leave her frustrated for the next 25 years.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Because Mum had given him up for adoption,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56I didn't have any rights to look for him.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00He could look for us but we couldn't look for him.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03And it wasn't until I watched a programme on the television
0:08:03 > 0:08:07in 2005 that said, "Please dial this number
0:08:07 > 0:08:10"if you've been affected by this programme."
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I dialled the number, I explained what had happened
0:08:13 > 0:08:19and I was told, then, that the law had changed a couple of years ago
0:08:19 > 0:08:23and you, now, had a right to look for your siblings.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26It was because of this law change that Lynn could finally try
0:08:26 > 0:08:31and find her long-lost brother with the help of an adoption agency.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35I got a phone call from the agency saying they'd narrowed it down
0:08:35 > 0:08:39to one person who they felt sure was my brother
0:08:39 > 0:08:44and could I write a letter and send photographs
0:08:44 > 0:08:46that they would pass on to him.
0:08:46 > 0:08:52It was just so, so exciting to think that after 25 years
0:08:52 > 0:08:56the door was opening and maybe he would be at the other side of it.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01But there was still one big question that remained unanswered.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Would her long-lost brother want to get back in touch
0:09:04 > 0:09:05with his birth family?
0:09:06 > 0:09:11I wrote this long letter and left it with the adoption agency...
0:09:12 > 0:09:14..and waited.
0:09:14 > 0:09:20So, it all hung on whether he actually read the letter
0:09:20 > 0:09:24and wanted to get in touch with me.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27All Lynn could do now was wait.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40In Israel, Simon Wrigley was also playing a waiting game.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44What began as a desire to discover more about his grandfather
0:09:44 > 0:09:48had become a mission to find long-lost relations on the Isle of Wight.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Simon had appealed online for any news
0:09:52 > 0:09:55of his grandfather's eight brothers and sisters.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58But, there, his search seemed to have hit a dead end.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02From the time that I placed the advert,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06more or less six months passed and I hadn't heard anything.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10And, then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, I saw an e-mail.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14It was a very emotional moment to think that somebody's read
0:10:14 > 0:10:18the e-mail and who was a family member and I was very curious to see
0:10:18 > 0:10:21who this person was or how they're connected.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23I was quite excited about it
0:10:23 > 0:10:26because, at the time, I was working on the family tree myself
0:10:26 > 0:10:29but only the bare skeleton of it and he started telling me
0:10:29 > 0:10:31a bit of the information that he'd got together which
0:10:31 > 0:10:35I was, then, able to piece together with the information I already had.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40And, then, I realised that her father must be my mother's first cousin.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Hayley had seen Simon's ad.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47They worked out that their grandfathers were brothers,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50making Hayley and Simon second cousins.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53It was very exciting when I first read the e-mail because
0:10:53 > 0:10:57I felt there was a re-connection with the Groundsell family.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01It was the next step for me. It was another piece in the jigsaw.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03I'd never met my grandad.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05He died the year I was born and the Groundsell family has always
0:11:05 > 0:11:08been quite a mystery to me, a bit of an enigma.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11But it turns out it's actually quite a large, extended family
0:11:11 > 0:11:15on the island that I never even knew about.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19And that wasn't all. Someone else saw Simon's ad.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Jane.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Her father, Frank, was another of the Groundsell brothers.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29It was so absolutely amazing because Simon wrote back to me
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and wanted to know what stories I knew and I filled him in
0:11:33 > 0:11:37with quite a lot because my father was a great storyteller.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40I knew loads of...loads of stories going right back to
0:11:40 > 0:11:42when they were little boys.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45As more of Simon's grandfather's relatives came to light,
0:11:45 > 0:11:50Simon decided to commit all his research to paper.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Although I had all this information, it was all online -
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I had documents, I had things here and there -
0:11:55 > 0:11:57so I decided to put a small book together.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I wrote a profile on each member of the family.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Everyone has a story.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Every relative has a story attached.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08And I continuously work on this and I continuously update this
0:12:08 > 0:12:10all the time so it's an ongoing project, basically.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13They might have passed away but it's important to
0:12:13 > 0:12:16keep their memory to know who they were, what they were,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20how you were related because it's part of you.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23It's important. It's important to know these things.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31After making contact with relatives he never knew he had,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34now Simon is embarking on the next chapter
0:12:34 > 0:12:38of his ongoing journey to find out more about the Groundsell family.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44He's making the 4,000-mile trip from Israel to the Isle of Wight
0:12:44 > 0:12:47along with his partner, Yuval.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Tomorrow, he'll be reunited with his new relations again
0:12:51 > 0:12:55and hopes to fill in even more of the blanks in his family history.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59I'm going home and it's always exciting to be with your family
0:12:59 > 0:13:00and to come home.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03I've got some new information for them and to share with them
0:13:03 > 0:13:05and maybe they have some new information for me
0:13:05 > 0:13:08so it's quite exciting to see what they have
0:13:08 > 0:13:10and, also, to share what I have.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21But this morning, before the reunion,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Simon has one very important stop to make.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28The graveyard where his grandfather, Bernard, is buried.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It's important to visit my grandfather's grave and to...
0:13:33 > 0:13:35for me to keep his memory alive.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38But while searching for his grandfather,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Simon stumbles on something unexpected.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46By chance, I've just discovered my great grandfather's grave,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48George Young Groundsell.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Died November the 28th, 1915.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Aged 74.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Well, that's really quite shocking, actually,
0:13:57 > 0:14:02in a pleasant kind of way, to discover their grave by accident.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03It's as if it's meant to be.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Just stumbling along here and there we are.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09This must be the Groundsell row, I should imagine.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Think all these years have passed
0:14:25 > 0:14:27since 1949.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33But it's important to visit the grave and to remember.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48After finding the graves of his grandfather
0:14:48 > 0:14:52and even his great-grandfather, Simon's heading to meet
0:14:52 > 0:14:56some of the surviving generations of the Groundsell family.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58CHATTERING
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Hello. Oh, so many people here. Hello.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Come in for a hug.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08- You look lovely. Hello, Jane, how are you?- Lovely to see you.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11- Hello, Simon.- Hello, how are you?
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Thanks to Simon's work, everyone here has now been reconnected
0:15:15 > 0:15:18with family members they never knew they had.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22Now Simon can share the latest edition of his family history book.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27And also his latest discovery, made just a few hours ago.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29It took us a while to find the grave.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32We were, sort of, hunting because it all looks the same.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36And then, while we were looking, we came across our,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40- let me get this right, great-great-grandparent's grave. - Oh, wow.- What? No.- By chance.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44- George Young Groundsell and his wife, Sarah.- No way.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46So that was interesting, yeah.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50And cousin Jane has been carrying out some research of her own.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52I brought this along for you to see, Simon,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56because I know that some of the pictures you wanted... I've been up in the attic.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01- Have you?- Looking at... - What did you discover in your attic?
0:16:01 > 0:16:03That's an early picture of my father there...
0:16:03 > 0:16:05And who's this little cute one?
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- Ah, I was about three months old, I reckon.- Ah.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12All of this new information will be added
0:16:12 > 0:16:14to Simon's ever-expanding archive
0:16:14 > 0:16:18and the next edition of the Groundsell family history.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21I've got some new information for you
0:16:21 > 0:16:25regarding the Groundsell family house.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29So, this is the house in its day, in the early 1900s.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- I think in its day it was quite a grand residence...- Mmm. - ..by the looks of things. It was...
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- I think they had servants.- Mmm.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40And this is the house, today, as it stands, so little has changed much.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44We could have passed each other in the street umpteen times,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46we live ten minutes away from each other,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and because of Simon, we've got to know each other.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53On behalf of us all, I'd like to say a huge thank you, Simon,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56for bringing us all together and for organising all of this.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58So, I'd like you all to raise your glasses, please, to Simon.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02- Thank you.- And to the Groundsells. Cheers everybody.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Cheers.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Simon's mission to uncover his family history continues.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11But today marks the successful conclusion to the chapter
0:17:11 > 0:17:15that began his story 20 years ago.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18I felt I've reconnected to my grandfather
0:17:18 > 0:17:25and part of researching the family tree is to keep the memory of your relatives alive
0:17:25 > 0:17:28and to realise, this is your heritage. It's very important.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30It's like the end results of my research
0:17:30 > 0:17:32so it's been a really fun day.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47Lynn Lewis had been hoping for her own happy family reunion.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Through an adoption agency,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53she thought she had found the older brother, David,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57who her mother had given up for adoption 60 years earlier.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Now, all Lynn could do was wait and see if the man the agency believed
0:18:01 > 0:18:04was her brother, would respond to her letter.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10"Hello David, it's hard for me to describe how it feels
0:18:10 > 0:18:15"to actually be sitting down writing this letter to you.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18"Knowing that you are going to read it.
0:18:20 > 0:18:26"You can't imagine how many times I have gone over what I would say
0:18:26 > 0:18:28"if this time ever came."
0:18:31 > 0:18:33I can't. I can't read it.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36Oh.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43"I totally understand that you need to take things very slowly,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45"as do us all.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48"I have tried many times to look for you."
0:18:50 > 0:18:53"When I received the phone call with the wonderful news
0:18:53 > 0:18:56"that you had been found,
0:18:56 > 0:19:02"I went through a rollercoaster of emotions, as I expect, did you.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08"I am so looking forward to receiving a letter back from you.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10"In your own time."
0:19:10 > 0:19:14BOTH: "Until then, may I wish yourself and your family well."
0:19:14 > 0:19:16"Love, Lynn."
0:19:18 > 0:19:20After reading that letter, I just wanted to get in touch
0:19:20 > 0:19:24with her as quick as possible, really, then.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Lynn had found her long-lost brother, David.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Now, the adoption agency could put the two in touch directly.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37They said, "We found your brother." And they said to me,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"We have a phone number for you.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42"He wants you to get in touch with him."
0:19:42 > 0:19:46And I was, "Oh, my goodness, no. It can't be happening."
0:19:46 > 0:19:48And then I rang the number
0:19:48 > 0:19:50and just before I put the last digit in,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52I put the phone down and if I did that once,
0:19:52 > 0:19:57I must've done it 20 times before I finally dialled the number
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and the phone rang and my stomach was turning
0:19:59 > 0:20:04and I was close to tears and this voice answered the phone.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07I said, "Is that Dave? It's Lynn."
0:20:07 > 0:20:09And he said, "Hello, Duck."
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Erm, cos he's a proper country bumpkin
0:20:12 > 0:20:18and I just said, "You wouldn't believe how long I've been trying to find you."
0:20:18 > 0:20:20We just seemed to click and we just hit it off.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21From within seconds,
0:20:21 > 0:20:26we were laughing at each other's little jokes and things and...
0:20:26 > 0:20:29You'd have thought we'd have known each other all our lives and, yet,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31it was the first time we'd ever spoken.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35After his mother, Maureen, had to give him up,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Dave grew up with his adoptive parents
0:20:37 > 0:20:39on a farm in the Peak District.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44I found out I was adopted at the age of around seven.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47When I think me mum thought we'd possibly understand
0:20:47 > 0:20:49what she was telling us and what it was.
0:20:49 > 0:20:55And, I mean, I did asked many years ago if we wanted to find out any more
0:20:55 > 0:20:57but, you know, you're a small child, then,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and Mum and Dad was Mum and Dad
0:20:59 > 0:21:02and you never thought no more about it as a small child.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06And it was left like that and before I knew any more,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08I had a letter and a phone call
0:21:08 > 0:21:11and Lynn had been looking for me, me sister.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15As Dave learned more about his birth family,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18there were several surprising revelations.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Not least, that his birth parents had stayed together
0:21:21 > 0:21:25after he was born and that Dave grew up just a few miles away
0:21:25 > 0:21:27from where they lived in Buxton.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31It was a shock to know that they'd got married
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and lived together happily ever after,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and raised a big family,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and I'd only been, literally, teens of miles away from them.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42All those lives I'd never known but,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44sadly, I never got to meet Alan.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48He died before I got the chance to meet him.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Although it was too late to be reunited with Alan,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Dave wasted no time in getting together with Lynn
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and the rest of his birth family.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Including his mother, Maureen.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05I went along with my mum and my sister, Paula,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07and we got there before they did.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09We got there early so we wouldn't be late
0:22:09 > 0:22:12and we sat down with a drink and we watched through the window
0:22:12 > 0:22:15and, then, all of a sudden, this 4x4 pulls up
0:22:15 > 0:22:20in the car park and out pops this strapping bloke.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Erm, round to the other side of the car, opens the door
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and this little old lady gets out
0:22:26 > 0:22:30so I said to me mum and Paula, "This must be them."
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Lynn and Paula had seen me come in.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Unbeknown to me and as we walked through the door, they grabbed me. Ha.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39They bounced on top of me, erm...
0:22:40 > 0:22:42So that was very emotional.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46We just hugged and cried and looked at each other
0:22:46 > 0:22:48and didn't want to let each other go.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52And me mum walked round the back and Maureen was sat there
0:22:52 > 0:22:56very, very frightened, nervous like the rest. Like we all was really.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00She walked straight up to her. Put her arm around her.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Said, "It's been a long time. But he's here now."
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Maureen died a few years after they were reunited
0:23:07 > 0:23:11but Dave still wants to learn more about his birth family
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and, especially, his father, Alan.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Today, Lynn has arranged for Dave to meet their aunt,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Alan's sister, Beryl.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- Me dad confided in Auntie Beryl... - Right.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26..when he was 15 so she's known about you and the circumstances
0:23:26 > 0:23:29why you were adopted, right from the very beginning, I think.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33This is going to be a really good day.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35A really good day.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Alan would have been overjoyed at this meeting.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Oh, it would have been a joy for him. A real joy for him.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48- Hello.- Hello.- Come on, darling.- Aw.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57- Come on, David.- Hello, Auntie Beryl.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58THEY LAUGH
0:23:58 > 0:24:03- Oh, dear, dear, dear.- Oh, we'll have a nice little chat now, won't we?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Oh, yeah, I hope so.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09- Oh, wow.- Come on, sit down. Sit down with me.- How special this is going to be.- How special is it?
0:24:09 > 0:24:12A very special day for me.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17- Off I go!- Ha-ha.- Now, don't he look like me mum and our Alan?
0:24:17 > 0:24:18Yes. Yes.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22- He's more like your mum than our Alan.- Yeah.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Dave's keen to find out exactly what happened to his mum
0:24:25 > 0:24:31and dad after he was born, from someone who was there at the time.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35- So, can you remember what actually happened after...?- Not really.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38No, it was more or less taboo, you know, I mean...
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- Did Dad get into trouble...can you...at the time?- Yes, he did.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Because they actually met again when they probably shouldn't have done
0:24:44 > 0:24:48- and, well...- Well, I don't thi... - ..as you know, they got married. - ..I don't think they ever stopped.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53- So did Dad get told he had to keep away from her or...- Yes. - ..was there things...?
0:24:53 > 0:24:57- In fact, there was a really big do. - Right.- You know, he got really...
0:24:57 > 0:25:00- Into trouble.- Yeah.- He did. Yeah.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05They were a unit. There was no other word for it.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08They were meant for one another, you know.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12They did everything they could to be together.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14It was a one, true love.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Like Heathcliff and... All over again.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Let's have a look at the photographs, then, Auntie Beryl, that you've brought. You start.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28This is your dad. That was taken at Rhyl.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33- I remember that.- Wow.- Wait till you see what I've got of my lads.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36We all look the same and me when I was small, believe it or not.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41- There's your mum and dad at the wedding.- That one there, you mean? - Yeah, yeah.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45- You can have that because...- Can I? - ..I've got a couple of them. Yes. - Lovely, thank you.- Yeah.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Let's look at your photographs, Dave.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54- Oh, my God.- Oh, my goodness. Look at that.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Wow.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- Oh, if only Mum and Dad had've seen these.- Mmm.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05Me mum seems to think that was me on me way home to the farm...
0:26:05 > 0:26:07- When you were a... - ..the first day. Yes.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And the clothes I'm wearing there,
0:26:10 > 0:26:11believe it or not, are in here.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15The day that we met, the very, very first time,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19we all sat there talking away and getting on really well
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and me mum went down to her bag and come out with this.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And I'd never seen it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28And she said to Maureen, "You recognise these?"
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Oh, my God.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33And Maureen said, "Yes," she said, "Because I embroidered them."
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And she couldn't believe me mum had still got them.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- And that's what I came...- So that's...- ..that's what I came home in the first day.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- ..that's what you came home in. - Oh, my God.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Mum said, "How is it you've still got it?"
0:26:43 > 0:26:48- And she said, "Cos I... I just wondered and thought maybe one day I could show you back again."- Mmm.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Wow.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52It really is amazing.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54That is beautiful.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56I can't believe she kept it.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Dave hasn't just been reunited with a sister and an aunt...
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Let's have a group hug.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08..he's now part of a large, extended family
0:27:08 > 0:27:12that until a few years ago, he didn't know existed.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15- Who is all these presents for? - Are they yours, Elizabeth?- Me!
0:27:15 > 0:27:17- Wow.- Birthday girl.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Dave seems a lovely man. Very pleased to have met him.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And to think he's part of me family so that's rather nice.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29It's been a very good weekend.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32I didn't expect half of what was going to happen and it's happened
0:27:32 > 0:27:38and it's been good and, obviously, I've met more family so that's...
0:27:38 > 0:27:42It's been a good ending to the story. And a new beginning.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45ALL: Woo.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48What a day. It's been absolutely fantastic.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50I can't believe that it's took all these years...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53FIREWORKS CRACKLING ALL: Woo.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54..but, yeah, amazing.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Absolutely amazing.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58I've loved every minute of it.