“My auntie received the letter and called me early this morning, almost in disbelief to hear from me and my dad after such a long time of disconnect. She had misplaced all her contacts and thought she will never hear from us again.” – AK
Living Relatives
As a consequence of researching people’s family histories, I often come across cousins, etc, whom clients either had not spoken to for years, or didn’t even know existed. As a result of these finds, I have often united (or reunited) people.
It can of course be quite a sensitive area, and usually I supply my client with contact details, rather than contact the relative myself. However, I have yet to find someone who has not been delighted to have found their ‘new’ relatives.
Sometimes I have specific requests to locate living relatives. This is not always possible (especially with limited information, or with common names). However, the majority of my requests have been successful.
“Thanks to Mathew’s research, I have now met cousins in Wales I never knew I had!” – Karen T
Reuniting families with old photographs
I have found many collections of old photographs at auctions and boot fairs over the years. If any of the photographs are labelled, it is often possible to trace the family, and thereafter trace living descendants. They usually find their way to an auction via a house clearance, where someone has died leaving no spouse or children.
This picture is from a family photo album I found at an auction house. One of the photographs was of a wedding, and noted the place and the exact date. From this I was able to trace the family in the album. I then managed to track down one of their descendants. He now has this album. These photographs show his great great grandparents with their children.