Without doubt the most satisfying part of tracing an individual is when there is a feel good story to go along with the narrative. It’s impossible not to be moved by some of the tales we hear and feel honoured to be a part of their story, which was the case with George.
Born in 1949 George was raised by his mother and had one sibling Henry. The two brothers were inseparable growing up but after a family bust up when George was 23, they stopped talking and lost contact. George moved out of the area for a fresh start, moving around a few times before eventually settling in Clapham, South London. A few months after arriving he met Gladys and they courted for a couple of years before marrying in a small service in 1977, none of George’s family were present.
Over the years George’s anger with his brother lessened and he would often think about his family and especially Henry. Should he get back in touch? How would Henry feel about it? Would Henry want to see him? Had too much time passed? George was filled with questions and conflicting feelings.
The years rolled until TraceInline became involved with George’s family, his wife Gladys was identified as a beneficiary to the estate of someone who had died. Gladys knew that George would like to make peace with his brother and at least attempt to mend broken bridges before it was too late. Being a beneficiary to an estate reinforced to them the fact that time catches up with everyone and there was only a limited time left to find Henry.
George and Gladys subsequently approached TraceInline to find Henry and we were more than happy to help.
A few years after George had moved away Henry also moved out of the area and with a relatively common surname there are many individuals in the UK with the same name. George knew some personal details about Henry, his middle name and approximate date of birth but that was enough for us to go on.
We managed to track down a cousin of the brothers, who thought Henry had moved to somewhere in West Sussex possibly. After a few dead ends we were reasonably confident that we had traced Henry to an address in Brighton.
Unable to find a working telephone number we wrote to the address explaining who we were, why we were contacting him and whether he would be happy for us to release his contact details to George.
We were beginning to doubt whether it was the correct address after all when, a few days after the letter was sent, Henry contacted our office to find out a bit more the situation. He had been slightly overwhelmed when the letter first arrived; it had been 45 years since he last heard from George and it had released a lot of suppressed emotion.
Fortunately for George, Henry was chuffed to hear that his big brother had been trying to find him. We were able to provide Henry with George’s contact details and he gave us permission to release his details to George.
In November 2017 George travelled to Brighton and the brothers were eventually reunited. The reunion went well and the relief George felt was palpable.
We would like to congratulate George and Henry and wish them all the success in their relationship going forward.
If you have a family member or old friend you would like to back in touch with, contact TraceInline and start your search today.