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Three siblings in their 70s who have met in person for the first time after discovering they all share the same dad have said they were “overjoyed” to have found one another.
Lorraine Williams, 74, from British Columbia, Canada, discovered fellow retirees James “Jimmy” McLoughlin, a 77-year-old from Liverpool, and Isle of Wight resident Josephine Morey, 75, through a family history website in summer 2023.
It turned out that Lorraine’s father, Sydney, born Arthur Sydney John, who died at age 80 in 2000, had fathered James and Josephine in the UK before he emigrated to Canada in 1951, where Lorraine and her mother joined him the following year.
James’ birth mum had a “brief fling” in 1946 with Sydney, who had moved to Liverpool for work, and said his mother left him on the doorstep of an orphanage at three weeks old – he spent the first three years of his life in hospital before being put into care but was never adopted.
Two years after James was born, Sydney met Josephine’s birth mum, also in Liverpool, but the pair broke up when Josephine was two years old and she also ended up in foster care.
The family believe Sydney had an affair with Lorraine’s mother around that time – as Lorraine was born just 13 months after Josephine – and a few years later, Sydney, Lorraine and her mother emigrated to Canada.
Discovering each other seven decades later, the half-siblings have become incredibly close through online calls and messages, with their families talking almost every day and Josephine feeling like her life is “complete”.
On June 14, they met in person for the first time at the Best Western Hotel in Southampton, and were so pleased to finally see each other in the flesh and have a “big group hug.”
James and Josephine never knew who their father was and have learned from Lorraine he was from Saint Kitts in the Caribbean – allowing them at last to teach their children about their black heritage.
Josephine told PA Real Life: “I was so shocked … I just was floored when we found out about James too.
“I was very shocked and apprehensive to start with because I didn’t want to get hurt … but I love them so much now, and I feel complete.”
Lorraine added: “I can tell you with absolute certainty my dad would be over the moon with this, he would be just tickled pink, he would be so proud of them, because I am.”
The siblings’ father, Sydney, was born in Saint Kitts in 1920 and moved to Liverpool in the early 1940s for work where he met James’ birth mum, and they were believed to have had a “brief fling” – James was born in 1947.
But, James said his mum abandoned him at age three weeks on the doorstep of a convent’s orphanage in the pouring rain, which caused him to have bronchopneumonia and spend the first three years of his life in hospital.
He was then taken back to the convent where he said whenever he wet the bed he was caned by the nuns and forced to have a freezing cold bath as punishment.
James was put into foster care, had no idea what his heritage was, and faced racism all throughout his childhood and early adulthood.
“I was getting called every name under the sun, and I didn’t even know where I came from,” he said.
He tried to track down his birth mum, by visiting the address which was on his birth certificate, and after a neighbour found her contact details, he said she denied having a son.
A few months later, James received a call from her, but decided not to have a relationship with her.
“We met up with her a few times, and she was saying she’d loved me all my life, but she didn’t show it, and it just upset the kids too,” he said.
Two years after James was born, Sydney met Josephine’s birth mum, and had Josephine together in Liverpool, but the pair broke up when Josephine was around two years old.
Josephine said her mum struggled to look after her and she ended up being taken into foster care with the help of the children’s charity, Barnardo’s.
“My mum, who was white, went to London and she couldn’t get a room because they didn’t want any mixed race people – there were notices up,” Josephine said.
“She tried to get me into a playgroup or day centres while she was looking for something, but was told they couldn’t have me because it would upset the other parents, so she left me in a bedroom and went off to work.
“A neighbour called the welfare and I was put into foster care.”
Josephine was fostered and ended up moving to the Isle of Wight with her foster mother and, like James, experienced racism throughout her life but never knew her real heritage.
“I cried so much and was called so many names over the years,” she said.
“Even later in life, when you have to tick a box saying what ethnicity you are – I never knew what to put, so I’d put things like the coffee-coloured woman as a little joke.
“I’ve been told off for putting white, and people always say I should put black, but my mother was white, so it was always confusing.”
Josephine said she attempted to get back in touch with her birth mum, who told her she “was a skeleton best left in the cupboard”, and considered finding her father, but “didn’t want to go through rejection again”.
Around the same time that Josephine was born, the family believe Sydney may have had an affair with Lorraine’s mum, as Lorraine was born just 13 months after Josephine.
In 1951, Sydney emigrated to Canada, and a year later, Lorraine and her mum joined him. Lorraine grew up with her father but he never told her about Josephine, and believes he might not have known about James.
In summer 2023, Lorraine found Josephine through a DNA match on MyHeritage, and shortly after – with the help of Chloe Fox, Josephine’s granddaughter – found James.
“I was blindsided, gobsmacked, just absolutely astonished,” Lorraine said.
James added: “I feel whole now – I always thought my family started with me, and I was just delighted to find out the news.”
James and Josephine found it particularly emotional to discover their heritage, and be able to feel more connected to their ethnicity.
“After Lorraine showed me some pictures, I realised I’m the spitting image of my dad,” James explained.
“Now we know our heritage, I can tell my kids all about it, and we all have something to connect to, and they’re all so happy to have two aunties out of it too.”
They have since created a WhatsApp group together, talking most days, and have become close.
Josephine said: “We just seem to have the same sense of humour, and there’s a lot of love between the three of us, and I think they’d all agree on that.
“I absolutely adore Lorraine and Jimmy – Jimmy is hilarious and I have sort of deep conversations and laugh a lot with Lorraine.
“I’m so so pleased … I could call them up tomorrow and they would support me which is something I didn’t think I’d have because I wasn’t adopted.
“Our grandchildren even speak to each other and have become close – it’s so lovely to see.
“We wouldn’t have met without MyHeritage, and I just want to say a huge thank you to them, they’ve been amazing.”
The siblings were able to meet for the first time on June 14 2024 in Southampton.
Lorraine said: “It just felt so surreal – I was overjoyed to meet them and just couldn’t believe it.
“I jumped up and down and it was such an emotional moment and we had a big group hug.”
Josephine added: “It’s been so joyous and just phenomenal – as soon as I saw Lorraine I was shocked at how much we look alike because I didn’t think we did on Whatsapp videos – we have similar expressions and we were comparing our hands to see if they looked similar.”
The siblings are planning on continuing to stay in touch as much as possible and meet more in person.
For more information, visit: myheritage.com.
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