MISSING . . . and FOUND!
THE DAILY MAIL offers readers a unique opportunity to re-establish contact with long-lost relatives and friends. Each week, MONICA PORTER features the story of someone trying to find a missing loved one, as well as a tale of people reunited. This column is produced in conjunction with the voluntary tracing service Searching For A Memory, run by Gill and John Whitley.
FLORENCE TAYLOR, nee Roche, emails us to say: ‘I am trying to regain contact with four cousins with whom I lost touch almost 60 years ago. They are Evelyn, Angela, Patsy and Jean O’Callaghan.
‘Their parents were William and Annie O’Callaghan, at the time living near the Firth of Forth. William worked in a foundry and I believe he died in about 1960. Annie’s maiden name was Roche.
‘I don’t have many more details. I tried looking up official records, but with no success. You are my last chance of finding out what happened to them. Perhaps some member of the family will see my story and the photo and get in touch.
‘My father and my cousins’ mother were brother and sister. I believe my grandmother (Florence Roche) left my father (James D. Roche) in the care of an aunt in Dublin and took her daughter to live in Scotland.
‘My paternal grandfather (James Roche) went to the U.S. and never came back, losing all contact with his friends and family in Ireland.
‘From time to time, my four cousins visited us from Scotland. The last time I remember was in 1958-59.
‘After their father died, we didn’t hear from them again.
‘I’m 66 and live with my husband Christopher in Holyhead, North Wales. We have no children. I worked in office administration in Dublin until 1985 and then in London. I retired in 2015.’
IN FEBRUARY, Norman Leslie wrote: ‘I hope you can find my old friend Ian Hart.
‘We grew up in Wentworth Crescent, Hayes, Middlesex. I was born in 1941; Ian was two years younger.
‘We went to different senior schools, but on Saturday nights we’d go dancing at the Town Hall in Reading, the Castle in Richmond or the Hammersmith Palais.
‘Later, Ian worked as a printer. I worked at a bank, but in 1964 I started with a tile company and had a company car. That Easter, I drove us to Bournemouth for a day out. We had a great time on the beach, followed by a club and dancing. We slept in my Ford Anglia.
‘We lost touch in the late Sixties, when Ian moved to Surrey after his wedding, at which I was best man.’
Well, our ace sleuth Jeff Pinson has pulled it off again. He traced Ian’s family and managed to reconnect the old mates, who spoke on the phone and eagerly arranged a reunion. And there is further good news.
This email arrived from Keith Roach: ‘I also lived in Wentworth Crescent. My mother, 96, still lives there. We believe she’s the last remaining original resident.
‘Norman is four years older than me so I don’t remember him too well, but Ian was my school hero as he was the captain and scorer of our school football team. I worked with him at a large printers in Slough.’