Denise McLernon, centre, with Di Fitton, Pamela Stevens, Joyce Woodhouse and Aileen Manners Denise McLernon, centre, with Di Fitton, Pamela Stevens, Joyce Woodhouse and Aileen Manners

DENISE McLernon spent 15 years searching for the family she had longed to meet since childhood.


DENISE McLernon spent 15 years searching for the family she had longed to meet since childhood.

Kept from contacting her father’s Tyneside relatives by her mother, she feared she would miss out on knowing her North East family.

But, thanks to the Chronicle, the mum-of-one has had an emotional reunion with her cousins who, until three months ago, didn’t even know she existed.

Sisters Pamela Stevens, Aileen Manners, Joyce Woodhouse and Diane Fitton, who live in the Northumberland and North Tyneside areas, invited Denise and her daughter Victoria up to the region at the weekend so they could show her the town which her dad, George Henry Forster, grew up in.

Denise, who lives in Middlesex, said: “It’s been amazing. I was a little nervous before but it honestly feels like we’ve known each other for years. The hardest thing has been trying to get used to the accent and the funny words they use.”

Denise, 50, spent almost two decades looking for her relatives armed only with the knowledge that her father descended from a long line of miners. Investigations led her to discover that George Henry was born in Seaton Burn in May, 1925, had a stepsister named Hilda and was the middle child of three children with Mary and John.

After a conflict within the family over Denise’s father’s marriage to her mother Beryl, Denise lost touch with her paternal family and the discrepancy was never forgotten. Attempts from Denise’s grandfather to visit her and her sister Michelle were met with hostility from her mother and a meeting never came to fruition.

Denise’s father died in 1993 and after failed attempts to contact his siblings, Denise placed a free advert in the Reunited section of the Chronicle expressing her desire to meet the family. It was as a result of this that her cousin Pamela, of Dudley, North Tyneside, finally made contact with Denise.

Mum-of-two Pamela, who runs home kennel service Happy Pooches, said: “I was at an 80th birthday party and my friend Alison Stanley came over and said there was an article in the Chronicle about my family. So I decided to phone Denise and I said ‘Hello, I’m Pam’ and she just screamed down the phone then she started asking lots of questions.”

Soon Pamela’s older siblings Aileen, 56, Joyce, 55, and Diane, 54, were all talking to Denise over the phone sharing their memories and tales of her late father and filling her in on her North East heritage.

And she was able to meet them face-to-face at the weekend during what she says will be the first of many visits up North.

Denise said: “It’s been lovely meeting everyone and seeing all the places where the family lived and worked. I’m never ever going to lose touch with these people ever again. They’ve got me for the rest of my life.”

Denise and her new cousins are hoping to trace George Henry’s brother John – also known as Jack – and his wife Ann who were last believed to be living in the Byker area of Newcastle. To get in touch, contact Denise on 07977 929 281 or email almac@talktalk.net

By Ruth Lawson

Source: chroniclelive.co.uk