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Four Siblings Who Were Separately Adopted After Their Mother Died In A House Fire Reunites 75 Years After
Four siblings separated after their mother died in a house fire have been reunited over a fish and chip dinner almost 75 years later.
The three sisters and one brother - who met up in Sheffield - were all aged under five when their mother passed away and they spent most of their lives living with grandparents or adoptive families.
Before 1982, adopted children could not look for their siblings but once the law was changed the search began for Maureen Coleman, 79, Chris Clay, 78, Mavis Clarke and Trevor Forshaw, both 76.
After a number of unsuccessful research attempts, Mr Forshaw from Derby found the Genes Reunited website. He said: ‘If you had a family name, date of birth and place, you could get a list.
‘This gave me family tree and that led me back to one sister, Maureen. We met a fortnight later and got to know each other.’
He discovered that Ms Coleman and Ms Clarke had already been in touch and soon the three siblings had met up. However that left Ms Clay, and the trio struggled to locate her.
Mr Forshaw said: ‘We just couldn’t find her. I posted a note on a forum and eventually had an email in September. The writer said she was aware of my sister.
‘I emailed and we then spoke on the phone to Chris. Ironically, she lives only 20 minutes’ drive away from me and Maureen is only half an hour away.
‘Mavis lives just short of Rotherham. We were all within 40 miles of each other for so many years.’
The close locations of all four siblings led to them being in the same room for the first time in 74 years and four months.
The only hint of sadness was the absence of their eldest brother, Arnold, who had sadly died when he was 36.
Mr Forshaw said: ‘We had a bottle of wine and fish and chips so it was a really good celebration. It was really good.’
Each sibling has their own family but they plan to meet as a group of four again. Mr Forshaw added: ‘It was a great meeting and we really enjoyed it after so many years.’
The three sisters and one brother - who met up in Sheffield - were all aged under five when their mother passed away and they spent most of their lives living with grandparents or adoptive families.
Before 1982, adopted children could not look for their siblings but once the law was changed the search began for Maureen Coleman, 79, Chris Clay, 78, Mavis Clarke and Trevor Forshaw, both 76.
After a number of unsuccessful research attempts, Mr Forshaw from Derby found the Genes Reunited website. He said: ‘If you had a family name, date of birth and place, you could get a list.
‘This gave me family tree and that led me back to one sister, Maureen. We met a fortnight later and got to know each other.’
He discovered that Ms Coleman and Ms Clarke had already been in touch and soon the three siblings had met up. However that left Ms Clay, and the trio struggled to locate her.
Mr Forshaw said: ‘We just couldn’t find her. I posted a note on a forum and eventually had an email in September. The writer said she was aware of my sister.
‘I emailed and we then spoke on the phone to Chris. Ironically, she lives only 20 minutes’ drive away from me and Maureen is only half an hour away.
‘Mavis lives just short of Rotherham. We were all within 40 miles of each other for so many years.’
The close locations of all four siblings led to them being in the same room for the first time in 74 years and four months.
The only hint of sadness was the absence of their eldest brother, Arnold, who had sadly died when he was 36.
Mr Forshaw said: ‘We had a bottle of wine and fish and chips so it was a really good celebration. It was really good.’
Each sibling has their own family but they plan to meet as a group of four again. Mr Forshaw added: ‘It was a great meeting and we really enjoyed it after so many years.’
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