Nephew found after 40 years
192.com provides missing link to British family
A Melbourne Mum used the internet to find her missing nephew 28 years after emigrating from the UK.
“ When you move abroad, family becomes more important,” said Mary*, 65, “ I just wanted to find out what had happened to them and to know they were all ok.” 
Mary was 23 when she discovered her father had a son by a previous marriage.
“My Father never wanted to talk about his first marriage and had no idea where his son was. He died shortly before I moved to Australia in the early 1980’s, but I was determined to continue the search for my missing brother Brian.*
Mary embarked on a painstaking search for Brian, finding his birth and marriage certificates at a family records centre in London.
Through the records, Mary found out that Brian had changed his surname by deed-poll, and that he had a son, Tom* as revealed in a birth record, bringing to light a nephew she never knew existed.
After putting Tom’s name into 192.com, the UK’s leading people-finding website, she found a listing matching every criteria she was looking for.
192.com contains the contact details of millions of UK residents, gathering official public data all on one website. This data includes 26.5 million names and addresses from the UK’s current edited electoral roll. This is the database UK residents can choose to share their contact details with when they register to vote.
“I found Tom’s contact details within a few clicks. With great trepidation I rang his number, aware that it would be a really sensitive a phone call. There was an answering machine, so I left a message saying I believed there was a connection to our family.
“I never expected a call back, so I called once again, and his wife answered saying that Tom probably was related. When he finally called back I was overjoyed.”
“I went to meet Tom in England in 2009. It was very easy and we got along very well,” said Mary. “In some ways it’s not a bad thing to live so far apart, as there’s no pressure to keep in touch every day,” she added.
“Finding my nephew just goes to show what can happen if you never give up on your hopes and dreams,” Mary says.
*Names have been changed. Image is of actors.