Solved 80 years on, riddle of blackberry bush baby
A WOMAN abandoned as a baby in a blackberry bush yesterday said she has finally discovered the identity of her father – through DNA tests on a stamp.
Anthea Ring, 81, was just nine months old when she was found by a family who had heard her crying in 1937. Her hands were tied and she was covered in scratches and insect bites.
She was taken to a hospital but, despite a nationwide search for her parents, they never came forward.
Six months after she was found in the bush on the South Downs in Sussex, she was adopted by a family in Surrey.
Mrs Ring found out she was the “blackberry bush baby” when she was 25. She was a big national story at the time and has spent the past 35 years searching for her birth parents.
She finally got her first breakthrough six years ago when DNA testing helped her find her mother, Lena O’Donnell, who was from Ireland.
But Mrs Ring was still unable to track down her father until DNA technology recently revealed he was one of six brothers from the Coyne family in County Galway, Ireland.
Newly discovered 30-year-old letters from a brother, Patrick, have now been tested and saliva on one of the stamps has confirmed he was her father.
Mrs Ring, a married grandmother who now lives in Bradford on Avon, Wilts, said: “I’m delighted to have found the final piece in the puzzle of my family history. Who would have thought that stamps from decades-old letters were the key to unlocking my story?
“I can now finally tell my children and grandchildren about their roots and where they came from. I feel like I have some closure. It’s wonderful.
“There was a nationwide search. I was in every national daily. Being able to track down my family has been incredible.”
Although Patrick has died, Mrs Ring is now in contact with his wider family.