General News
22 January, 2024
Locals track down long-lost family members
“It is the best 80th birthday present I could have ever asked for.” That was the reaction of Maryborough resident Coral Giles when her family’s century old mystery was finally solved. Her cousin, Kevin Whitney explained the remarkable story of...
“It is the best 80th birthday present I could have ever asked for.”
That was the reaction of Maryborough resident Coral Giles when her family’s century old mystery was finally solved.
Her cousin, Kevin Whitney explained the remarkable story of how multiple generations were able to track down their missing family member at a recent get together in Maryborough.
“In 1922, my grandmother had her third child, Margaret, and then she died 10 days later — the baby was then given away to another family who lost their baby at the same hospital,” he said.
“There was no birth certificate or records as to what had happened.
“We had been trying to trace that child for years and years but we were looking at the wrong place — we always looked in [Australia] but the family was in Scotland.
“After all this time I had given up, and that same week I got a call on the way to school from a random woman in England.
“She said I think we might be related — my grandmother was given away in a hospital in Launceston [Tasmania] in 1922 — I literally fell out of my seat.”
One of the first people Kevin called was sister Rhonda Hudak, who has since been creating contact between relatives who she didn’t know existed before August last year.
“We have been emailing Margaret’s grandkids and I am going to England in March to catch up with these people for the first time,” Rhonda said.
“We are so grateful we were able to find her and they are so grateful we were looking for her.
“We are a very close family and it was important to us to find the missing link.
“To see them have similar interests to us and hear about Margaret’s life is truly wonderful.”
For Coral, the prospect of reuniting with her long lost family made for the perfect gift as she celebrated her 80th.
“What more could I have asked for this birthday,” she said.
“The icing on the cake would have been if my mother was alive for this moment — she would always say to me that she wanted to know whatever happened to [her] baby sister and it brings tears to my eyes thinking she never got to find out what happened.
“But it is still wonderful we were able to find that missing link and I highly recommend people learn about their ancestry, you never know how fascinating your story can be.”