The first task undertaken was to find Pat’s marriage record, as this would supply her married name and also her husband’s forename. A simple people search was carried out and Pat and her husband were found on the electoral roll living in Pulborough, West Sussex. After leaving school she had worked as a secretary, eventually marrying in 1959 to a Patrick, and together they had five children.

Margaret reminisced, “In our early teens we went hiking in the Lake District, I remember one occasion when we climbed the ‘Coniston Old Man’, just before reaching the summit, we sheltered in a hut, exhausted and hungry.  We had not brought a lunch pack with us and all we had was a cheese sandwich that my mother had thrust on me as I was leaving our house, not much but it kept us going. It will be good to recall old times with Pat.”

A marriage search was performed, as Peggy knew she had married, but did not know the name of Daphne’s husband. The search of the marriage indexes showed that Daphne had married a gentleman named Donald. The marriage records also revealed middles initials, helping to precisely identify the correct individuals.  A simple people search was carried out and they were found living in Great Yarmouth. A property ownership search confirmed that they still lived at the property.

Daphne’s response to the letter, explaining that Peggy was looking to be reunited with her, was very emotional and she was extremely pleased to be back in touch with her old friend.
“To me it’s like winning the lottery, actually finding my old friend again, we are meeting up in September and I can’t wait to see her”.

Mrs Gray contacted ‘Searching for a Memory’, who use the Tracesmart search engine, and the search began. The first task undertaken was to find Annabel’s birth record; this provided a year of birth and also any middle names that might otherwise have been unknown. The birth indexes revealed that her middle initial was ‘M’ and this was a key piece of information, as it was possible to identify her marriage from the marriage indexes. Margaret confirmed that the name of the husband found on the marriage records matched that of the young man she was courting when Margaret was married. 

A people search of the current electoral roll revealed that Annabel and Peter were now living in Coventry. They were both delighted to have been found and plan to make an extra special effort to attend the celebrations very soon.
 
“It was like the years had melted away when we spoke again after all this time”.

The first task was to find Rachel’s birth records on the birth indexes; this provided us with her full name including middle name and also the year of birth. As usual with traces involving females, it was necessary to search for her married name using a marriage search, and a match was found on the marriage indexes within Tracesmart. It was then possible to perform a people search using the current electoral roll and she was found at an address in Wokingham.

Rachel was really pleased that Julie had taken the trouble to find her and the e-mails are now flying fast and furiously between them.
 
“It’s wonderful to chat again after all this time.Thank you very much!”

A people search was performed to find her cousin but too many results were recovered, this is because their surname is one of most popular in the UK. A marriage search was carried out using the marriage indexes for the girls and eventually their new married names were found. A people search was successful in provided an address for Toni, and a letter was sent to her.

After a lengthy period of being apart they are now looking to future family occasions they will be able to share together once again.

Donna wrote,’ Thank you so much for starting all this - I can\'t tell you how thrilled I am.’

Roger remembered that Dave’s wife was called Daphne and they also had two daughters. A simple people search within the current electoral roll was carried out and only 17 results were found using his full name.  A quick look through each address profile was required to find his wife’s name, this was completed in minutes and their current address was found. It was also possible to complete a Property Ownership Search to confirm he was still the existing owner. A letter was sent to the property, and Dave helpfully contacted us and corroborated that he was the right person.

Roger said,” I’d have given up all hope of finding them, after 30 years.  I didn’t realize how easy it would be to find a friend. No plans have been made to meet up as yet, that’s for the future.”

Jeffrey was born in Ireland, which made it very difficult to find his family, so a search of the electoral roll was performed. No matches were found, so a death search was carried out and this provided a suitable match. The certificate was ordered using the codes given with the death indexes, and the information on the certificate furthermore confirmed this was sadly Karen’s father.

The certificates provide next of kin information, which listed a son called Jeffrey and his address. An address search confirmed he was still at the property and a letter was sent to him. Understandably he was shocked to learn after all these years that his father had fathered other children, and he was a half brother to them.

They are currently taking things slowly and are getting used to knowing each other after all this time.

Elizabeth was able to supply her father\'s age and last known location, and a people search was performed. No suitable results were found, so a death search was performed. A possible match was found on Tracesmart, and Elizabeth decided to obtain his death certificate, which would provide his next of kin details. When the certificate arrived an address search confirmed that his widow was still living at the address, and she was contacted by telephone. She corroborated that her husband was Elizabeth’s father, and was thrilled to hear from her. It transpired Elizabeth had two brothers she never knew existed and they had made attempts to locate her before.

“I wanted to thank Tracesmart again for all the information you gave me.  I know that I could never have completed this research on my own, so I\'m really grateful to you... And now the contact has been made and we can begin to catch up on our lives!  I\'m overjoyed to hear of my two brothers.
Thank you so very much again for all your help - I\'m so happy with this outcome.”

The last time the two had met was on holiday to North Wales in 1970, after that all contact was lost. John took early retirement to help his wife run a Children’s Home in Stevenage, Hertfordshire in the early 1960’s,  eventually relocating to Bolton to fully retire. A search of the electoral Roll was performed and John and his wife were found at their new address.

They are both thrilled to be in contact again and a meeting is being planned.

A search was performed using birth indexes, and a number of possibilities were found. It was necessary to try searching for each match using the people search facility on the electoral roll.

After a few attempts, her father contacted us and confirmed that he was the correct person. He was a bit overwhelmed that Abigail had decided to contact him after all these years. A reunion is planned once Abigail returns from travelling in a few months.

‘I left my details on your website after carrying out numerous searches myself and had actually given up all hope. When I received your phone call I was totally stunned! I didn\'t know how to react about any of it.  It took me quite a while, a lot of courage and many sheets of practice paper to eventually get a letter sent to my father!
Within three days I had received a letter back from him and he explained that he was delighted to have heard from me.’

Victoria was able to supply an approximate age and her father\'s full name; enabling us to find his birth record. From the information provided on the birth indexes it was possible to acquire his brother’s name. A people search of the electoral roll yielded only two results, one of which could not be correct as the age did not match. A letter was sent to his address to which he responded, and was able to update me on his brother’s circumstances. As his new family didn’t know about Victoria, he offered to act as an intermediary and communicate with her until the time was appropriate.

“I would like to say a very big thank you, for all the help in trying to find my dad...thanks to you, my uncle has replied to my letter and we are emailing each other now.
It is early days yet but he is answering all my questions I ask and I have a little brother!
Once again thank you for taking time to help me.”

The research carried out yielded information that she had 11 children, and her husband’s name was Dennis.  A search for relatives on the current electoral roll enabled us to find some of her children, who still reside in Birmingham, and they informed Betty that three other cousins were living in Australia. Following this search for relatives, Betty is now elated and reunions are busy being planned. She says..

“It’s been a bit hectic; everyone wants to run up to Scotland, especially those in Australia they are so enthusiastic, it’s like they’ve won the lottery”.

A simple marriage search was performed, and this provided her married name. They then carried out a people search using the Electoral Roll and her address was found.

Irene also wanted to find her brother, whom she had not had contact with in nearly 45 years. His name was found to be on the Electoral Roll, living in the South of England and a letter was sent to the address.

Now the siblings can look forward to the family occasions when they can all be present, and not have to think about the absent members of the family. The sisters are pictured sharing their first New Year’s party with the rest of the family.

Initially an electoral roll search was conducted on Tracesmart, which provided an address in Dunoon, Scotland. No positive reply was received when the property was contacted and following a search on the land registry data, it was evident the property had recently been sold. At the same time the records revealed the name of Stephen’s wife, which led us, following an additional address search to Stephen’s new home, again in Danoon. As Stephen was ex-directory we located a neighbour to pass on a message and contact was eventually established.

Brother and sister have now been in touch by phone many times and plans for them to be reunited are well underway.

The name supplied was Rene, though in all likelihood the correct name would be Irene. A thorough birth search was performed for Irene and Alan. Following further search, a brother and sister match with the same mother’s maiden name and birth area was established.

As a people search for Alan was inconclusive, a death search was performed, establishing that Alan had indeed died. This in turn revealed Alan’s widow and a further people search was conducted for her. Alan’s widow confirmed Irene was indeed her sister in law and contact with Rene, the missing bridesmaid was achieved. Both parties are delighted and a surprise reunion is organised for 2008.

Using the information found on his birth index, it was possible to find a match who shared the same mother’s maiden name and place of birth. A letter was sent to a potential sister that was found using the People Search, and the most recent Electoral Roll. She obligingly telephoned and confirmed that she was Michael’s sister and was willing to contact him and assist with this people search. Michael was overjoyed to hear that Ieesha had been trying to contact him, and there were a few tears from Ieesha after hearing he had been found.

Ieesha has now been reunited with her father, and also her brothers, some of whom she had never met.

The death certificate was ordered through UK Certificates, and arrived within a week, providing details of his son, who was his next of kin. An address search was performed using the details from his certificate, also known as a people search by address.  A letter was sent, and Daniel replied confirming his relationship to Denise, and that he was delighted to be reunited with her.