Man who was shocked to discover his late mum had TWO secret kids ends an emotional 14-year search for his brother as Long Lost Family tracks him down in Australia
A POLICEMAN who discovered his late mum had TWO secret children has finally met his older brother after a 14 year search.
Richard Beckley, who grew up in Kent with two of his siblings, was shocked when an uncle revealed the existence of an older brother and sister in 2002.
He was told mum Margaret, who had died six years earlier, had the two children and given them up for adoption before marrying Richard’s dad.
After tracking down older sister Jenny, he spent 14 years in search of brother John before turning to Long Lost Family for help.
Richard said: “I feel a bond with John even though we’ve never met, he’s out there somewhere, he was a family secret and back then I think secrets remained secret.”
The 53-year-old, who lives in in Sutton with his wife Karen, was told by his uncle Frank about the missing members of the family.
Margaret had given birth to a daughter Jenny in 1943, and then six years later in 1949 to a son, John.
He said: “It was just staggering because I knew my mum, I thought I knew everything about her.
“So in the first instance there was a feeling of almost betrayal that she kept that secret.”
But there was more to come.
Richard’s uncle revealed that Jenny had been in touch with Richard’s mum in 1984 but Margaret made the decision she wasn’t going to meet with Jenny.
“It was incredibly hard to find that Jenny had been in touch and we didn’t know anything about it. Knowing my mum, it must have absolutely broken her heart to keep that secret,” said Richard.
Because of the letter from Jenny, however, he had been able to track her down to Biggleswade in Bedfordshire and they were reunited.
He said: “I remember walking in and thinking ‘you are the the spitting image of my mum.’ She was so like my mum it was uncanny.”
Jenny added: “Meeting them for the first time was unnerving because a long time had gone by since me and Margaret had been in touch but it was just amazing.”
Jenny showed Richard the letter from Margaret, in which she explained her decision not to meet.
She wrote: “I have given this much thought and do feel that the possibility of meeting could not be considered as this would only be done by deceiving my husband and family.”
Jenny said: “I was disappointed that she chose not to see me. She obviously didn’t want to share it with her family so we had no more contact.”
Richard added: “It’s a terrible shame because we would have been delighted to find out back then we had a sister and a brother.”
Despite searching for 14 years, Richard’s had no luck finding their missing brother.
He said: “It’s been wonderful having Jenny and her family in our lives, but we know nothing about John whatsoever.”
Breaking down in tears, he added: “One of the things I do is to give a little toast to him and say ‘Good luck’ wherever he is in the world, and think about him.
“It’s important to find him, We just want to make the family complete and for the last 14 years, that’s all I’ve really wanted.”
The programme found that John had been adopted by the Nicklin family in Manchester, but after 1968 there was no trace of them.
But they found John had an older sister Doreen who gave them his new address in Brisbane, Australia and revealed he had emigrated when he was 19.
John told host Nicky Campbell that he had a happy childhood but had never searched for his birth family because he had been told that his parents had died in a car crash.
After discovering he has four siblings, he said: “The only family I have ever known was my adopted family. One of the reasons I came to Australia was to shut the door on it a bit, but to find out I have blood relatives is amazing.”
“I can’t believe it, I thought I was the only one in the world. I certainly can’t wait to see them and give them a big hug”.
An emotional Richard shed a tear as Davina McCall told him John had been found and produced a photo.
He said: “I didn’t expect that… it makes searching worth it because what he was told.”
“He looks really familiar, he looks like a member of the family… I can’t wait to meet him.”
John made the 10,000 mile journey from Brisbane to London to meet Richard, Jenny and their siblings Andy and Rachel at a hotel in Surrey
He said: “I’m excited and nervous. This is not just one person it’s a whole family. After so many years of not knowing they existed, it’s just amazing that this is my flesh and blood.”
After meeting John, Rachel said: “We’re complete as a family, finally, and that’s how it should be.”
Jenny told the show: “I’m very happy, he didn’t feel a stranger… I feel like his big sister.”
John added: “The first instincts when I met them all was I belong here, they felt like family, and they are family.”
Long Lost Family viewers were recently left in tears when childhood sweethearts were reunited with the baby son that was taken away from them in 1970.
Long Lost family is on ITV on Wednesday nights