Shortie
master brummie
A few weeks ago, I noticed on the 'Products that have faded away' thread, that someone had written about Zebo. Now I don't remember the product, but I do remember the adverts - painted on the side of shops, etc. I read all of the post, and was doubly interested because I noticed an address that I knew, and then I looked at the name of the person posting it, and what a surprise! The person who had written about Zebo was a cousin of mine, who I last saw in 1957, at my grandmother's house in Sheldon. I had often wondered what had happened to him. Of course I sent him an IM, and we started corresponding. Paul was the adopted son of my grandmother's half sister, of whom she was particularly fond, and after my grandfather died, they used to holiday together. I have been researching family history for twelve years now, and as anyone who does research knows, you become VERY nosey. Paul's birth name was quite different from the one he was given upon adoption, and once I knew it, I just naturally (being very nosy as aforementioned) found the name of his birth mother. Neither of us knew what was to happen then, and we are both reeling from the discovery, but Paul more than myself, naturally.
Paul found he was born in Bodmin, and his mother had come from a village called Luxulyan (I think I have spelt it correctly). He Googled the village and was interested in a group who were preserving the natural beauty of the place - and it really is lovely. Out of curiosity, Paul emailed someone mentioned on the site, and as luck would have it, this lady has, for years, been reuniting adoptees with their own families. To cut a long story short, Paul has gone from being an only child, parents long passed on, to one with about a hundred new close relations. Paul is one of eight children, seven of whom are in contact, and now Paul is in touch with most of these and has even met his brother Mike, sister Doris, spoken on the phone to Peter, living in Germany, and Yvonne who lives in Australia. The very oddest thing is that in 2004, Cilla Black featured the family on 'Surprise Surprise', and on that programme the only one they did not trace was Paul, that is because his birth name was Kelwyn and it was Kelwyn they were looking for. Mike was particularly interested in Kelwyn and kept saying to Cilla 'where is our other brother?'. Well now, Mike has his brother and they seem to get on very well indeed. Mike has a neice who lives a couple of miles from myself and Paul and Sandra have met too.
I am telling this tale for more than one reason - it needs to be told, but also I want to thank people from the Forum who assisted in the initial search for people who were related (I could find only one initially) and I think one of those was Maurice. Mikejee also assisted with Electoral Rolls during the 1930's and 1940s. So from not just myself, but from Paul Whalley, thank you for all who helped, even if I have not remembered who you are, there are several enormously grateful people - me and Paul, and of course, his new found family.
Thanks and God Bless
Shortie
Paul found he was born in Bodmin, and his mother had come from a village called Luxulyan (I think I have spelt it correctly). He Googled the village and was interested in a group who were preserving the natural beauty of the place - and it really is lovely. Out of curiosity, Paul emailed someone mentioned on the site, and as luck would have it, this lady has, for years, been reuniting adoptees with their own families. To cut a long story short, Paul has gone from being an only child, parents long passed on, to one with about a hundred new close relations. Paul is one of eight children, seven of whom are in contact, and now Paul is in touch with most of these and has even met his brother Mike, sister Doris, spoken on the phone to Peter, living in Germany, and Yvonne who lives in Australia. The very oddest thing is that in 2004, Cilla Black featured the family on 'Surprise Surprise', and on that programme the only one they did not trace was Paul, that is because his birth name was Kelwyn and it was Kelwyn they were looking for. Mike was particularly interested in Kelwyn and kept saying to Cilla 'where is our other brother?'. Well now, Mike has his brother and they seem to get on very well indeed. Mike has a neice who lives a couple of miles from myself and Paul and Sandra have met too.
I am telling this tale for more than one reason - it needs to be told, but also I want to thank people from the Forum who assisted in the initial search for people who were related (I could find only one initially) and I think one of those was Maurice. Mikejee also assisted with Electoral Rolls during the 1930's and 1940s. So from not just myself, but from Paul Whalley, thank you for all who helped, even if I have not remembered who you are, there are several enormously grateful people - me and Paul, and of course, his new found family.
Thanks and God Bless
Shortie
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