Siblings search for their mother following life changing revelations

A man with roots in Rochdale has recently been reunited with his long lost half-sister at the age of 51, but he has simultaneously received shocking news about his mother, which has caused him to reassess his life and embark on a whole new search.

Derek Beaver, who now lives in Cambridge, was contacted in July by Barnardos who claimed that his sister was looking for him. Stunned by this revelation, Mr Beaver was soon to be notified that his mother was alive; for all of his life Mr Beaver had assumed that she was dead.

Frustratingly for Derek and his sister Delores, who is now 57, their mother has not replied to Traceline, the tracing organisation that located her, thus refusing the siblings of any contact with their mother.

Their mother worked in a cotton mill where she met her future husband. The couple lived in Rochdale, and later moved to Chadderton where Mr Beaver was born and raised.

A year after Mr Beaver's birth, his father was found dead at his home in Chadderton, Mr Beaver believes he committed suicide by gassing himself and says, "the reasons for his death are a complete mystery".

On the news of his mother being alive, Mr Beaver and his sister have since devoted themselves to finding her, but many of the records from the period of her disappearance have been destroyed. 

Mr Beaver commented: "It still hasn’t sunk in that I have a sister and it is fantastic news, especially because she doesn’t live very far away from me. We are understandably desperate to contact our mother; it just isn’t fair for her to ignore our efforts to speak to her, especially if she has more children. My grandparents would never speak about her and I have spent most of my life trying to find her resting place.

"My sister is especially upset and annoyed at her not wanting to speak to us, as she feels she was dumped as a child and had a terrible upbringing because of this. Regardless of this we would love to speak to her and meet her, especially now that we have found each other. We are begging anyone with information about her past or even her current whereabouts to come forward and speak to us."

Reporter: Katie Hill

Date article online: 22/08/2007