Our Stories: Searching for 60 years

Ann's mother and father at their wedding

After 60 years of searching, MyHeritage found the connection – in just two months – between Australia’s Ann Clare Meagher’s mother Hilda Welchman Moss, and Ann’s previously unknown maternal uncle, John Welchman, in the UK.

Ann’s mother, Hilda, died at 32, leaving six children, when Ann was nine. Her father, Fred Moss, was a British Army major posted to India, and Ann was born in Lahore (now Pakistan) in 1945. Her mother Hilda Welchman had travelled to India from England and she married in 1941.

As a teen, I often wondered about my grandparents, as I had no knowledge or contact with them. We moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1962. I became a nurse, and have been happily married for 43 years, with a wonderful husband and three sons.

Ann had spent years looking for any relative of her mother without success until she became a member of MyHeritage and found her previously unknown uncle. She discovered a story he had written about his life and was dumb-founded that he had been looking for his sister’s family for 60 years. He lives in Dorset, England.

Ann wrote the following letter to her uncle when she found him:

Dear John,
My name is Ann nee Moss Meagher. My mum was Hilda and her sister was Una. I got a shock when I found your website and found out you are my uncle. I have been looking for any information on Una for years till yesterday Mum’s bridesmaid Mollie told me mum had a brother. May I ring you and have a chat? I live in Queensland with my husband and three sons. I am a grandma of one and another on the way. I would fly to England and bring my sister Hilda who was one month old when Mum died at 32. I am doing the family tree and you are the one I was desperate to find, being Mum’s brother. My half-brother Peter lives in England. I will get his address and send it to you. Please reply asap.
Love
Ann

John Welchman and his wife Maureen

Soon after, she received a letter from her uncle, John Welchman:

Dear Ann and family

It was quite a shock to be contacted by you. I nearly put the phone down as there was a time lapse before you spoke. I thought it was another call from the spammers!

I won’t write to much as it would be a lot better when we use Skype. I am attaching two photos of your Mum and Dad which were given to me by Maurice (Una’s husband). These are the only ones that I have and I have very little memory of them as we left in ’47 after my Mum died in Rawlpindi. I have a photo of her grave at that location. I also, some years ago, contacted the Bishop of Lahore and his reply was that your Mum’s grave was in the cemetery over there.

Once we make contact we will have a lot of catching up to do.

Love from the Welchman family.
John

Ann says that they have since spoken on the phone and Skyped many times, and that she and her sister will be traveling to England to meet him – all thanks to MyHeritage!

She became interested in family history because she had no knowledge of her own ancestors and longed to find someone. During her quest, she joined MyHeritage just two months ago and likes it because of the good information she received.

Ann says all her family is interested in her research, and adds that her friend, Helen Blain, also of Australia, is her main motivator. Although her relatives are not members of her MyHeritage family site, it has changed her relationships and communication with family members for the better.

Currently, she has 29 family members in her tree, from Australia and England. She has discovered more relatives in Australia. As described above, she located her uncle and some cousins, and they communicate via email and Skype. These connections she describes as “very emotional.”

Her biggest surprise was finding an article on the Internet written by her uncle about his life in which he mentioned he had lost contact with Ann’s mother and her children over 60 years ago.

Ann’s tips for readers just beginning their journey include:

• Speak to all older living relatives.
• Join MyHeritage, which is extremely helpful.

Have you enjoyed Ann’s story? Have you discovered family members on your journey who have also been independently searching for you? How did you find each other? Let us know via the comments below.