Kathy and her husband Stuart met in Singapore in the 1950s. She was stationed there while working as a telephonist in the WRAF and he was in the RAF. Kathleen Dymond and Stuart MacKay married at Changi in 1959 and their bridesmaid was Kathy's best friend Twylia Worlund.

Where are you Twylia?

Twylia was an American working in the naval department at the American Embassy. Kathy and Stuart haven't seen or heard from her in over 50 years. As time has passed, address books were lost and different continents crossed.

Kathy looked upon Twylia as a sister and was very keen to find out what had happened to her, which is why she asked me for help.

Kathy thought Twylia was the same age as her, so born around 1937. She might have been from a small town, in either Wisconsin or Minnesota, and her first name may have been of Welsh origin. But Kathy quickly added that they were far too busy having fun at the time to talk about home or their families!

As usual I leapt at the chance, simply assuming that it would be easy with such an unusual name, even though Kathy wasn't too sure about the correct spelling of Worlund.

How wrong could I be?

Worldwide access on ancestry.co.uk did not throw up any immediately obvious candidates, which can often be the case with American research if you don't know the state and other more specific details. There was also nothing on the family trees posted online or on Genes Reunited.

I did find a Twylia Dailey who died in Winsconsin in 1998, but she was born in 1973, which was far too young for our Twylia.

So I turned to Google for help and quickly found two very relevant and helpful organisations.

First I sent an email to the RAF Changi Association. Alongside their email addresses and rank and trade, they had very helpfully given the dates of when they were based at Changi and I could see that several of the key members had been stationed there between 1957 and 1959, which fitted perfectly with Kathy and Stuart's dates.

Their reply was instant and positive: "This is what the RAF Changi Association is all about, trying to connect old comrades with one another, bringing them together and others with reunions," they said.

They agreed to post some photos that Kathy had sent me of her 21st birthday held at Changi RAF base in 1958.

Kathleen Dymond, Twylia Worlund, Elaine (surname unknown but an American) and Paddy McNamee (later Mitchell)

Memories of Singapore organisation offered a similar service and so I jumped at the chance to spread the search for Twylia further. Their site contains many photographs and images contributed by people who lived in Singapore during the 1960s and early 70s, including a section on RAF Changi.

But I still can't for the life of me find Twylia and I need help.

Perhaps you recognise the other people in the photographs and maybe, just maybe, they can lead us to Twylia.

Left to right : Ronald M Mitchell AKA "Mitch", Kathy, "Mo" Mosely and Stuart Mackay. Mo & Mitch were part of the security guard detail at the US Consulate.

Please contact me if you know where Twylia is now or if you think you can help in any way.

Cat will be joining Jamie and Louise on BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday 24 July 2012 from 9am.

It was posted in 1918 from her friend Gladys and sent to Lil's address of 10 Mountjoy Street in Newport. I found it on my computer when I was cleaning old files.

Front of post card

9th August 1918, Portsmouth

Dearest Lil,

Just a line to say I am having ripping good time. Trusting you enjoyed yourself, which I have no doubt. I went to a dance last night. I can tell you Dear there were plenty of sailors and midies. I should very much like you to be here with me as times are jolly...ta ta for now, with love Gladys xxxx

We bought it at the flea market in Abergavenny back in 2005 as part of a programme idea for Look Up Your Genes, BBC Radio Wales' family history series. The idea was to reunite the postcard with Lil's family.

And at long last I am pleased to be able to report that I have finally managed to trace Lil's family.

In research, as in life, some things are easy and run smoothly and others are not so easy, and there is a temptation to give up. This search was one of those times when I kept wishing I'd never even had the idea in the first place!

Let's just say that looking for a Lil/Lily/Lilian Wilson in Newport without knowing her age or her parents' names was a challenge. But then I had a Eureka moment.

Searching electoral registers

In 1918, Lil may not have had the right to vote but her parents or possible siblings might have while living at 10 Mountjoy Street.

Normally I'd rush off to the relevant county archives but this time I decided to send an advance email to Gwent Archives in Ebbw Vale. This was lucky because they replied to say that old copies of the electoral registers for Newport were not held by them but by the main reference library in Newport itself.

Absent voters

When I got to the library in John Frost Square I asked for some help. I was guided towards shelves heaving with old copies of electoral registers, as well as bound indexes of absent voters (which basically covered any soldiers who were away fighting during World War One).

To my amazement the absent voters' list was easy to use - once the librarian had utilised their ever powerful local knowledge to inform me that Mountjoy Street would have been in the Tredegar Ward - and I quickly found what I had started looking for in 2005!

Tradegar Ward

Clearly listed is number 10 Mountjoy Street, even if is rather confusingly located next door to Mountjoy Road and Mountjoy Place.

The names of Wilson, Ernest James number 18251 of the 7th South Wales Borderers and Wilson, Reginald number 26055 of the 1st Monmouths jumped off the page.

Fortified by finding these details I tried the main electoral registers to see what else I could find.

In 1920 Lilian Wilson was registered at that address. Next to her name was the letter O, indicating that she was eligible to vote.

In 1923 there was no sign of Lilian but I was glad to see that Reginald had returned home safely after the war and was living at number 10 again with Alfred Wilson and also Harry Glynn and Leslie Parry Jones.

John's Newport Directory

The librarian suggested I try John's Newport Directory, which is a local trade directory similar to the our modern yellow pages but which also lists private residents if they had requested their details to be published.

John's Directory showed that in 1917 a lady named Mrs Margaret Wilson lived at number 10; in 1920 it was Miss Lilian Wilson but by 1923 it was Mrs Lilian Jones.

A quick scan of the marriage indexes on FindMyPast, which is free in the library, revealed that Lilian Wilson had married Leslie Parry Jones in 1921. Another click lead me to the digital image of their marriage certificate - again free of charge as I was in the library - and this confirmed both their ages and the name of her father, John.

Tracking down the Wilsons

So all that remained was for me to find a living member of the Wilson family and this is just the sort of thing that Genes Reunited was created for. So I pinged off some emails and waited patiently for a reply.

The 1911 census showed Margaret Wilson aged 53, a widow living with four children Ernest 17, Lilly 15, Reginald 14 and Alfred 9. But it also confirmed that Margaret had had nine children, two of whom had died and that incredibly she had married 36 years ago.

My maths told me that 1911 minus 36 equals 1875 but, try as I might, I couldn't find an entry in the marriage indexes for John Wilson marrying Margaret in 1875.

A postcard home

Luckily, though, I received a reply to my message from a man who was Lilly's great nephew and he was able to confirm that Lilly's closest brother Reginald had married Gladys Peake in 1924 and that two of their four children were still alive and living in Newport.

I am truly glad, and a little bit relieved if honest, to say that finally the postcard has made its way home again. It's been an incredible journey and just goes to show that perseverance pays.

I'd gone with two research projects in mind but was immediately sidetracked by an incredible video art installation, something I can honestly say has never to me happened before.

The sound of a melancholic cello drew me into a room where Nerea Martinez de Lecea's We Are Still Here was playing. It is a story about the red dust that covered Ebbw Vale during the steel production process, resulting in much of the surrounding hills, buildings, cars, laundry and even sheep getting covered in red dust.

My plan at the archives was to unearth some of the most unusual or quirky items that had been deposited with them. Their budgets don't always allow for the purchase of vast quantities of documents and so most archives rely on the generosity of local individuals, businesses and organisations to donate documents and items which might be of local historical interest.

Denbighshire Record Office

In the Denbighshire Record Office, which is based in the old Gaol in Ruthin and well worth a visit even if you don't have any interest in family history, they have some weird and wonderful things in their Glyndwr Collection.

This is a collection of family papers from Edward Hughes (1862-1938) and his family from the Wrexham area. Objects include part of a zeppelin, onfederate bank notes, a package of Russian tea and a lottery ticket dated 1793.

Not the average household contents, I agree, and I can't help but wonder at how these were obtained. Perhaps Mr Hughes was travelling home from Hughesovka in a zeppelin drinking tea winning a card game with an American gentleman!

Other items deposited in the past include the diaries of local soldiers from World War One, minutes from Freemasons' meetings, a passport belonging to the travel agent Thomas Cooke from Newport dated 1845 for a trip to Russia, and the diary of Reverend LW Williams of Newbridge detailing his 1902 voyage across the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

The Rolls Family

There is also a vast collection of personal documents donated by the Rolls family, including Baron Llangattock of the Hendre, Monmouthshire. The most famous recent family member was Charles Stewart Rolls (1877-1910) , who after meeting Henry Royce in 1904 went onto create the Rolls-Royce. Sadly he was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident, during a flying display near Bournemouth at the age of just 32.

But it his grandfather John Etherington Welch Rolls (1807-70) who appears to have led a really fascinating and affluent life. There are invitations to the coronation of George V, sketches of monkeys, navigational charts, alphabetical lists of yachts and letters signed by Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale to name just a few of the curious items.

One of the archivists suggested I ordered D361/FP4/41. And I was amazed at what appeared just a few minutes later.

Calendar of Prisoners Spring Assizes 1849

Jury service sketch

Clearly J E W Rolls was sitting on the jury during a very long day in 1849 and like most of us he was tempted to doodle. The end product is 6 pages of finely drawn cartoons illustrating the offences of each of the 60 prisoners in turn.

It has been well preserved and despite its sepia tint and age is robust and not torn or fragile in any way, thanks to how it has been stored in the past and is now being cared for by Gwent archives.

Donating to Welsh archives

If you think you might have an item lurking in your attic or under the stairs in a dusty old shoe box then why not donate it? On their website Gwent Archives state that they are:

"Always pleased to accept new donations and deposits of records which... can come in many formats, from hand-written deeds and documents to typed minutes, maps, photographs or films. They can be the records of individuals or of societies, businesses or other organisations. Records do not have to be "old" and can relate to the recent past. You may well be surprised at the items we are interested in - we are trying to reflect all aspects of life in the Gwent area."

If you have something you would like to offer to a county archive then you can decide whether to donate the documents, in which case their ownership will pass to the Archives. Or, you can offer an item on indefinite loan, where the ownership remains with the person who deposited it.

Women's Archive of Wales

Perhaps if you have your mother's land girls' uniform in your attic or another item which relates specifically to women in Wales rather than a geographical location then why not approach the Women's Archive of Wales. Their aim is to identify, rescue and preserve materials relevant to women's lives, past, present and future by actively collecting relevant records, and arranging for their deposit in an appropriate, recognised repository.

I really urge you to visit Ebbw Vale and especially the archives and have a look at the art exhibitions on display. The archives are also organising free sessions to help people start their family history research and the next one is on Friday 27 July 2012 at 10am.

If you join the Gwent Family History Society, you can travel further afield with a trip to the National Archives at Kew on Saturday 14 July 2012.

Kristina's search concerned her maternal grandfather. Her mother, Ruth Schmidt was born in 1913 in Germany as the illegitimate daughter of a German Aryan mother and a Jewish father from Poland.

When World War One began Ruth's father disappeared. She was just four years old in 1917, when she and her younger brother Hans were placed in a Christian orphanage in Dresden by their mother. She remained there until she was 14.

Children's home in Dresden. Ruth and Hans Schmidt are nearest the camera.

The choice

Ruth was six years old when the war ended. Her father had survived the war and came to claim his children from the home. Incredibly Ruth was given a choice by the Lutheran staff who ran the orphanage.

She was told she could stay with Jesus in the orphanage, or go with her father. Because she had been brought up in the Christian faith she chose to stay in the orphanage. She never saw her father again. She thought it likely that, being Jewish, he was later killed in the Holocaust.

Ruth left Germany in 1939, eight weeks before the outbreak of World War Two, and settled in England. In the 1980s she moved to Cardiff to live close to her two daughters, where she lived until her death in 2000.

Kristina's search for Chaim Levy Rotblatt

Kristina started searching for her Jewish grandfather. Luckily he had an unusual name: Chaim Levy Rotblatt, which he changed to Herman Jordan, a fact she only learnt much later. Sadly, by the time her mother died she had made no progress, but nevertheless continued her quest.

Four years ago, Kristina entered his details on a Jewish genealogy website www.jewishgen.org and found his name. She contacted the person who had entered his details, and began a four year correspondence with Howard Rotblatt, even though neither could be certain whether this was the Chaim Rotblatt who would have been her grandfather.

DNA gender comparisons

After four years Howard and Kristina decided to undergo a DNA test to confirm their relationship. In August 2010 they discovered that they were indeed first cousins once removed; their fathers were brothers.

Kristina has since been to New York with her daughter, and met her mother's half brother Fred. Her mother's half sister Charlotte lives in Ohio. Kristina's mother's middle name was Charlotte, suggesting that Ruth's father must have named his second daughter after the one he lost.

Howard's family were able to help fill in the details of what had happened to Ruth's father in those missing decades.

Interned during World War One

Chaim had been interned in Austria for the duration of the Great War. He was unsuccessful in claiming his abandoned children following the end of the war, and went to live in Vienna where he married and had a second family.

Sadly his wife perished in Auschwitz, but he and his two children, Charlotte and Fred survived. Fred, aged 13 at the time, was one of the children evacuated to Britain on the Kindertransport. Chaim spent World War Two in hiding in Belgium and later emigrated to America where he changed his name.

Chaim Rotblatt

Further intrepid research by Kristina confirmed that Ruth's full brother, Hans, was released from the children's home in Dresden aged 14. Amazingly he hid the fact he was Jewish and became a driver during World War Two. After the war he worked as a policeman in East Germany under the Communist Regime. Hans died in 1989, just weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Many of Kristina's questions had been answered, but one issue remained unsolved.

Mystery girl

Among her grandfather's possessions was an undated studio photograph of a little girl. On the back in Yiddish it says "My daughter aged 3".

Could this possibly be Ruth? Could Chaim have treasured this photograph all his life, through two world wars and moving between countries and continents?

On the back of this photograph, in Yiddish are the words "My daughter aged 3"

I was sent the photograph and quickly realised that I was going to need the help of another expert. I recalled that each month in the Who Do You Think You Are magazine there is a section on how to date photographs, so I sent off the photo of the mystery girl to Dr Rebecca Arnold who works at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Her reply was swift and truly incredible.

The knitted trousers that the mystery little girl was wearing came from a Woolworth's knitting pattern only published in 1916.

This was the year that Ruth Schmidt would have been aged just three. The year before she was placed in the orphanage and the last fond memory that Chaim would have of his daughter.

It's such an incredible story that Kristina decided to write a book, Tied With An Easy Thread, which has since been published.

Seeking Mr Savage

Judith Savage was one of the first to admit she had simply given up with her dad's side of the tree years ago. Her grandfather's name was Caradoc Savage and he was born in 1903 in Rhosllanerchrugog near Wrexham.

I think perhaps the records may have been indexed more efficiently since Judith last looked because a quick look at the 1911 census shows an eight-year-old Caradog Savage living with his widowed father Peter at 56 Jones Street in Rhos and several siblings.

1911 Wales Census for Caradog Savage

A quick scan of the family trees posted on websites such as Ancestry and Genes Reunited revealed that there are several other people interested in the Savage family history. I think perhaps it would be wise for Judith to subscribe to one so that she can contact those people and share information and photographs, rather than struggling on alone.

One of the things that Judith really wanted to know though was whether the family took or gave its surname to Savage Street in Rhosllanerchrugog. This might be possible to verify but not without a trip to the local archives or local studies library probably. If you are uncertain where to find the correct location of relevant county archives the best place to look is www.genuki.co.uk, which covers the whole of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

From the research I completed for Cilla Black's Coming Home family history story in Wrexham I recalled that the Savage surname was also prominent in Cilla's tree so it is certainly a popular local name. If anyone else has an answer or has any better suggestions please post a comment below and I will make sure Judith gets the details.

Searching for John Jones

One of the queries that made me shudder came in from Terry Jones. His great great grandfather was John Jones, who was born in Wales in 1836. It was an incredibly common surname in Wales at that time just before civil registration began. Terry knows John Jones died in 1872, aged 36, and is buried in Ystalyfera but that is it.

All I can think of to help Terry is to make sure that he has the marriage certificate for John Jones. This should give John's father's name and occupation, as well as John's age and address. These details could then help identify the right family on the 1841 and 1851 census returns or at least help eliminate the wrong families.

Tracing Mr and Mrs Stocking

Eighty-five-year old Marie Evans also wanted help with her father's family history. Her parents were William Stocking and Maria LC Delponte who married in 1920 in Knighton, Radnorshire. After her father's death in the 1950s her mother remarried and went on to have more children.

She believed that her parents met in hospital when he was wounded as a soldier but wasn't sure how she can go about verifying any of this, especially when she cannot access the internet. I asked Marie to confirm the details of her father's death by visiting his grave and once she sends these through I should be able to make some progress, but as usual, if this is your family or you have any better suggestions then please send them to me.

Workhouse admission registers

One of the nice things that happens quite often on the radio is that people go out of their way to help others. This happened last week when Maureen Boyardi admitted she was struggling with her father's family history. He was born William John Howard and brought up in the local workhouse in Pentre.

I had a quick look at the birth indexes when we were on air to see if I could provide an easy solution (which is never that easy with just a few minutes spare between all the music, weather, travel and advice being broadcast). Anyway I could see that there were at least six possible matches for people with those combinations of name and so I suggested that Maureen pay a visit to the West Glamorgan Archives in Swansea who may be able to help with baptism details or better still the admission registers for the workhouse.

Just as the programme ended we had a call from Jeff Howard. He's researched the Howard family history in south Wales back to 1695 and he very kindly offered to help Maureen with her Howard research.

I'm not sure whether you can have a family history angel or what the equivalent of an MBE for service to those in family history need might be, but whatever it is Jeff and other's like him are angels and the world is a better place with kind and generous people like them.

Bee's father was Thomas Edward Richards, born in 1895 in Llantrisant. He served in the army during World War One and World War Two, as well as in the Territorial Army and the Home Guard. But as with so many proud and humble men from that time he never talked about his time in service.

Thomas Edward Richards with his first wife Catherine Morgan

So Bee turned to me for help finding out what her old man did in the war. The two photographs were crucial since she knew nothing at all; no details of a regiment or a service number or any sign of any medals.

World War One war records

Many people had waited patiently for the World War One military records to become available online, but a large proportion was disappointed to learn that there was only roughly a one in seven chance that an ancestor's military record survived the Blitz. The basement in which all the World War One records were stored was bombed, badly burned and then subsequently so water damaged that those records that survived are known as the "burnt series" in their permanent home at the National Archives.

But Bee had other obstacles to overcome before she could even determine whether her father's records were part of the burnt series. How could she work out exactly which of the vast number of men called Thomas E Richards was her father?

The Eureka moment

I couldn't see a way forward to start with and so I turned to my brother Tim for help. He is interested in military history, especially World War One, and he scrutinised the photographs. While there was little to be gleaned from the first image of the young Thomas something caught Tim's eye in the second photo.

Sgt Richards in Belfast 1940

We viewed the photo on the computer and zoomed in on the cap badge he was wearing. Comparing it to ones listed on various World War Two military history websites it looked as though it could be from the Royal Army Service Corps but Tim couldn't be certain. He then noticed that Thomas was proudly displaying three medal ribbons.

This was one of those Eureka moments, since only men who served in France after entering the army in a specific time period were awarded all three medals. Therefore it was then possible to narrow down the vast number of possible Thomas E Richards to just a handful, and since one of these was a Thomas E Richards serving with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers he seemed like the most likely candidate.

MOD Historical disclosures section

We knew that Bee's father had served continuously from World War One into World War Two but we did not know that the World War One service records of those soldiers who saw continuous service would not have been released with the others. Instead they were retained with their main service records and still held by the historical disclosures section of the MOD.

Permission from his next of kin was required, so I quickly asked Bee, and she agreed to me submitting a request on her behalf. Depending upon what you want there are various types of service record available, and providing you send the £30 fee and proof that the person has died then the records will be sent out.

It took a few months of waiting patiently, but it was worth it. Pages and pages of A3 sized paper thumped onto my door mat and I learned that Private Thomas Edward Richards 15617 enlisted into the RWF on 20 September 1914, and entered France a year later on 27 September 1915.

Further investigation revealed that this was the day the 10th Battalion arrived in France. Using another website Tim discovered that the majority of RWF soldiers who died with a 156** number were from the 10th Battalion.

Rather more poignantly I learned that Thomas was just 5'7" tall with a 38" chest, a fresh complexion, brown eyes and he was Roman Catholic with his attributes listed as "clean, smart, honest, sober and works well."

Among the many military facts and figures, one detail that caught my eye was this one:

on 26 December 1939 in Llanelli Sgt Thomas Richards... "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline in that he did, whilst escorting prisoners, enter a licensed building with his prisoners" for which he was severely reprimanded.

And to think that all this valuable and personal information about Thomas Edward Richards could have been lost forever were it not for my eagle eyed brother.

Among all the pomp and pageantry I scanned the bright red tunics to see if I could recognise one of the heralds. Needless to say I didn't see him but it did get me thinking about all of the fabulous and special experiences that I notched up during my time working on BBC Radio Wales' family history series Look Up Your Genes.

We started Look Up Your Genes in 2002, way before Who Do you Think You Are? was created or any of those other popular family history programmes. One of the best things was the roadshow that travelled around Wales from county to county, supported by local history groups and the relevant county archives and Family History Societies. All of us adequately fortified by the ladies from the local WI serving up carrot jam, tea, scones and cakes.

At the roadshows many people would appear with strong memories but with vague evidence. We brought cybercafes with us and vouchers for the newly released 1901 census and set about helping as many people as possible get started on their family history. It obviously worked as the series ran very successfully for 10 years.

Look Up Your Genes Roadshow

Part of my job after the roadshows was to spend time researching further into some of the more interesting stories. This inevitably led me to some incredible places and with the magic 'BBC' prefix it seemed that we were allowed access to some very precious and private collections.

I wonder how many people have had the chance (never mind being paid to do it as well) to visit Powis Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Cyfarthfa Castle and Cardiff Castle and be escorted behind the public exhibitions to examine personal records and incredibly private documents with their own hands.

Not to mention visiting every county record office and most of the main libraries throughout Wales, including obviously many trips to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.

I also visited the National Archives in Kew (where we were allowed to look at the original passenger list from the Titanic), the Guildhall in London (where the exterior of this stunning building is matched by the depth and details of the documents held within it) and the British Library (where I examined the diary of a lady who decided to follow her husband fighting in the Boer War).

Also, and quite uniquely I think, we had access to the College of Arms, where I learned how Harry Secombe's coat of arms was created. The man who showed me all this was the Herald of Windsor, the one I couldn't spot at the jubilee celebrations.

If you are looking for new ways and ideas to explore your family history over the summer months, there are numerous family history fairs and other events taking place. To find one in your area take a look at geneva.weald.org.uk which provides an online calendar of genealogical events and activities.

By way of an update, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I haven't even managed to narrow down the Lil Wilson who lived at 10 Mountjoy Street in Newport in 1918. However, I have a cunning plan which involves visiting the Gwent archives in Ebbw Vale to examine the electoral registers, although this plan might be a disaster since women under the aged of 30 did not get the vote until 1928.

But I have good news about to the gentleman in the image below.

Ironically, for someone who writes a blog on the world wide web, if only I had tried searching Google rather than searching my memory I would have found him.

Arthur Cottam

Alfred Cottam was not from Barry or Aberystwyth as I thought. Nor was he a fisherman as I brazenly announced on my blog. He was the mechanic of the Tenby lifeboat from 1933 to 1948 and was awarded the RNLI Bronze medal for his part in the rescue of eight men from the streamer Fermanagh in 1938.

There has also been a book published about Alfred Cottam. 'A Tenby Lifeboat Family' by Avis Nixon.

Avis is the sixth of seven children born to parents Alfred Cottam and Annie Ethel Webb who met and married in London in 1922.

"At about 4.30 in the morning of January 15 1938 the coastguard at Tenby, Pembrokeshire, reported that a small steamer was in distress. She was the Fermanagh, of Belfast, bound light for Llanelly. A gale was blowing from the south west, with frequent gusts at hurricane force. At 5.15 the motor lifeboat John R. Webb was launched and found the Fermanagh had come off the rocks and was drifting before the gale, her stern sinking, her bows in the air. The lifeboat crew could see men aboard her. The second coxswain at once took the lifeboat alongside, handling her with great skill in the heavy seas. She was there only a few seconds. In that time the eight men of the Fermanagh's crew had jumped aboard her. The lifeboat made at once for Tenby, arriving at 8.30am. After landing the rescued men, she put out again to search for the master, but could find no trace of him. The weather was so bad that the lifeboat could not be rehoused until 4.15 in the afternoon" (Ref. Minutes of the Committee Meeting).

For their gallant services Second Coxswain John Rees was awarded the RNLI silver Medal, and mechanic Alfred Cottam was awarded the bronze. The remaining seven members of the crew of the Tenby Lifeboat were awarded the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum.

It turns out that at the launch of her book Avis was reunited with the son of the ship's mate John Macarthur and has also been in touch with John Shanks, both of whose fathers were members of the Fermanagh's crew. There is no doubt that without the Tenby Lifeboat they simply would not exist.

It seemed there was not much I could add to Alfred Cottam's story that his family did not already know. However, Avis Nixon mentioned that the family had had broken up during World War Two and Avis had no idea where her father was buried, or when he had died, or what had become of his RNLI bravery medal.

She also told me that she did not have access to the internet and had not been able to clarify some of the Cottam family history details.

So, these newer details below are especially for you Avis.

Alfred Cottam was born in 1897 in Middlesbrough. He was the only child of Harry Cottam and Catherine D. Johnson who married in the December quarter of 1894, also in Middlesbrough. On the 1901 census the family lived at 151 Stockton Street in the parish of St Hilda's, along with the Johnson family (Nixon's paternal grandmother's family).

By the 1911 census the family moved to 39 Tennyson Street. Their entry confirms that Alfred was the only child born to Catherine Cottam, and that she was from Middlesbrough. It seems that Harry was born in 1871 in Llanrwst in Denbighshire.

A quick look at the 1891 census shows Harry living with his parents George (a furnaceman, born 1825) and Mary (born 1822 in Llanrwst) at 94 Lime Street in Middlesbrough. Also with them are Harry's brother George and sister Emily.

The old electoral registers available online for London via www.ancestry.co.uk reveal that in the 1920s Alfred Cottam had moved to London and was living at 29 Mellish Street in Poplar. In the same house lived Albert Victor Webb and Ellen Webb - these could well be Avis Nixon's maternal grandparents.

The passenger lists provide a further revelation into the life of Alfred Cottam. In 1925 he is listed as a passenger embarking in Calcutta on board the Manora travelling home to Mellish Street, with the occupation of marine engineer. In 1927 he travelled home from Kingston on board the Carare aged 30.

A little bit more Googling resulted in finding an entry for a medal awarded to Alfred Cottam.

Lot number 112 on 25 September 2008 sold at auction in London.

Lot 112, 25 Sep 08 RNLI medal (Image provided by Dix Noonan Webb)

An email quickly confirmed that this was Alfred's medal. The RNLI medal was sold at auction, still in its original case, for the sum of £720.

Although the auction house, Dix Noonan Webb, cannot divulge the name of any buyer they suggested that if Avis or other Cottam family members would like to write a letter or email to the purchaser, then send it to them with a covering note (stating sale date and lot number), they would be happy to pass it on and hopefully the person concerned would reply to them directly.

Which just leaves his death and burial as unknown facts for Avis and her family.

I've found a few people on GenesReunited who have Alfred Cottam and his father Harry in their family trees, but so far nobody has been able to help. Can you?

In the General Register Office (GRO) birth indexes once you get to the end of each quarter you can often find a small separate list of individuals, all alone and unable to be processed in the same manner as the other births because their names are unknown.

These are foundlings. The people who come after Z.

Foundlings listed in December 1881

Input a name like William Young into Ancestry or another website where you can view the original image of the birth index. Keep scrolling through until you get to the last page, where the surnames beginning with Z are indexed.

At the very end you should find a small group of forlorn babies whose parents felt the best option would be for their child to have a better life without them.

They were known as foundlings because they were found most often on the doorsteps of a parish church or somewhere else where they were certain to be found quickly. They were usually named after the place where they were baptised, the street where they were found or sometimes after the person who found them.

Naming foundlings

So children baptised in the parish church of St John were named John, but as shown below others such as Elizabeth Saturday take the name of the day of the week, and I guess that Julia Fawkes was found on 5 November 1881.

Over the past few years I've been asked on several occasions to help with research into foundlings, twice on behalf of foundlings who are desperate to find some biological connection or simply some answers to the daily question of "who am I and where do I come from?"

Each time I find myself hoping that this will be the time where I can actually use my research skills to help. But so far I haven't been able to help at all. Maybe by publishing their stories in this blog I can help in a small way.

Foundling Hospital

Ioma Jones contacted me from her home in Ireland to ask for help tracing further information relating to her great grandmother. Family legend was that she was left on a doorstep in Cwmbach in Glamorgan but unfortunately Ioma has such few details it's hard to even pin down the correct birth entry for her grandmother Eleanor Evans, later the wife of Harry Russell. Ioma knows they were buried in Brithdir so perhaps someone in that area might know more. Do get in touch.

For once it might well have been easier to find Ioma's great-grandmother if she had been born in London as she may well have been one of the 27,000 children who passed through the doors of the Foundling Hospital between 1739 and 1954. Yes, that's not a typo - it does say 1954!

The archives relating to the Foundling Hospital can be searched in the London Metropolitan Archives, although I fear that that is where the family history trail will end for those who have a foundling ancestor.

But what if you were a modern day foundling?

Meet the modern-day foundlings

In 1960 David was found wrapped in a rainbow coloured blanket on the doorstep of a second floor flat in Golders Green. To read more about David's story visit his blog therainbowbaby.blogspot.co.uk.

David and his partner Julie have searched long and hard into every possible lead including testing his DNA. The results pointed to Scottish borders ancestry on the male side, but with no close matches (his DNA analysis is 90% Western European, 10% SE Asian). With time it is possible that someone who knows something about his story will decide to come forward or the DNA database throws up a match.

I was asked to get involved because there was a potential Welsh link, albeit a very tenuous one. A Welsh man, Richard Hamer who was born in Rhayder in 1899, lived in a neighbouring flat to where David was abandoned. The aim was (or is) to trace the descendants of Richard Hamer and ask them to provide a DNA sample. Even if this only results in that family being eliminated from the list of possibles it would mean a great deal to David.

Searching for biological heritage

In April 2011, BBC Three broadcast a documentary about a baby boy found in 1986 at Gatwick airport. Steve Hydes, now 25, was found as a 10-day-old baby on the floor of a ladies toilet in Gatwick airport. I was asked to try and help find his mother. I like a challenge but this task needed a magic wand!

Steve's DNA was compared to a global genetic databank of millions of individuals and from this, a number of individuals who are Steve's seventh or sixth or even, in one case, fifth cousin were identified. For most of us this would be too distant to be of any real interest but if you have no knowledge of your biological heritage then I imagine that a fifth cousin might feel like finding a twin.

In 2000 Germany introduced 'baby-drops' where mothers could anonymously leave babies they were unable to look after themselves in the knowledge that they would be properly cared for. Now a network of some 80 'hatches' exist across Germany and similar schemes exist in Japan, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Clearly having a foundling in your family is not only a thing of the past and is certainly much more that the famous fictional foundling, Oliver Twist.

I was reading it while visiting my mum recently. One day, while having coffee in the garden, we tried to make our own A-Z of family history. Isn't that what all normal families do on bank holidays?

A-C

We quickly started with A for ancestry, adoption and archives. B for births, burials and baptisms. C for cousins, census, cemetery, coroner's records, civil registration, criminal registers, and how about Crockfords? It's a clerical directory, so you can identify churches and contact the current incumbent.

Churchyards and cemeteries can often get quite overgrown!

Getting a little carried away we imagined publishing a checklist for people who have just started their family history, to help them ensure that they are aware of the vast variety of types of resources available.

D-E

D for deaths, deeds, diaries. E for electoral registers, emigration, employment records and enumerators (don't forget most were English speaking and wrote down anglicised versions of Welsh names).

F

F for family history societies and family history, fairs (of which there are plenty over the summer months) and foundlings and Familysearch.org; the home of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a vast collection of genealogical records that includes the names of more than three billion deceased people.

G

G for Genes Reunited, General Registrer Office (GRO), Guild of One Name Studies obviously, but perhaps not so obvious is Gathering the Jewels, a site containing 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.

H-I

H for heraldry, hearth tax and human error! I is for inquest, immigration, indexes and specifically the International Genealogical Index (IGI) which can be searched free via FamilySearch.org.

J

And then we started to struggle. J is for..? Any suggestions welcome.

K-L

K was only for kilts and knights until kith and kin popped into my mind. L is for Latin, land taxes and libraries. If you have time this summer why not take the long and windy road and pay a visit to the stunning National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. Even if you don't find an ancestor you can enjoy the exhibitions, the café and the views.

M-N

M was easier: murderers, mariners, military, marriages, monumental inscriptions, maps, memorials and don't forget your magnifying glass! N has to be newspapers but don't underestimate the power of a note pinned to a notice board.

Janet Street-Porter trying her hand at her great grandfather's occupation of sett maker

O-P

O for obituaries, occupations, orphanages, but you must never forget oral history. We were overwhelmed with options for P - parish, probate, photographs, ports, pensions, passports, patronymics (the system in Wales whereby individuals were identified by the name of their father, deserving of its own blog post to fully explain it) and don't forget your pencil (always preferred when working in archives).

Q

For Q we quickly quashed quaker, quirky, questions, quotes, quills, and even the Queen and settled on quarters (civil registration events are recorded in quarters and so a birth in November 1912 might not show up until the March quarter of 1913).

R

R for royalty (why is it that people would rather have a murderer than a royal in their family tree?) and for religion, crucial if you are searching parish registers before 1837.

S-T

S for second cousins (the issue of your grandparents' siblings), schools, street directories, surnames and the Society of Genealogists. T for tithe maps, transcriptions and the National Archives at Kew if you fancy a trip to London (best left until after the Olympics perhaps).

U-V

And then we really, really struggled. U is for urchins, university alumni and uniforms (there are people who specialise in identifying military and other uniforms). V for vicar, verger and votes (from 1918 women aged over 30 could vote, this was lowered to 21 in 1928 for both sexes and again in 1969 from 21 to 18).

Donny Osmond gets to wear the white gloves at Cyfartha Castle

W

W for workhouse, wills, window taxes and Archives Wales, an online catalogue of over 7,000 collections of historical records in the holdings of 21 archives in Wales. And those white gloves you get asked to wear when looking at old precious documents to help preserve them, which make you feel privileged and have the magical power of turning the moment into slow motion (or is that just me?).

X-Z

X marks the spot where your illiterate ancestor signed their name. Y is for year of birth; always to be taken with a pinch of salt and Z, well Z is the end of the alphabet.

But unlike coming to the end of the alphabet it isn't possible to get to the end of your ancestry. No matter how hard you try there will always be an elusive person or record that is just beyond your reach. However, never give up on because new records go online every week and errors are constantly being corrected so you never know.

But it appears that I am not as thorough as I should be, and I am clearly failing to practise what I preach.

I hereby solemnly confess to having found some images on my computer. I'm talking about photographs of someone's ancestors and other valuable family documents, which I should have put into the correct folder immediately after scanning. Obviously I forgot and now I can't remember. Worse still it seems that neither can my computer!

Arthur Ridley Cottam

Is there an Arthur Ridley Cottam in your family tree? Would you like to have him back (since I know for sure that he doesn't belong in my family tree)?

Arthur Ridley Cottam

I know Arthur comes from Wales. He was part of a family tree that I have researched for BBC Radio Wales' Look Up Your Genes during the first series in 2002. I know this only because very cleverly the computer has saved the date that I scanned the image 21/11/2002 within a folder marked "BBC LUYG Roadshow".

I can tell that he was a fisherman (maybe I should have been a police officer!). He might belong to a family who lived near the sea and since we had fantastic Look Up Your Genes roadshow events in both Barry and Aberystwyth that year maybe he comes from one of those towns.

Start naming the people in your photographs

If like me you are frustrated whilst it's raining why not sit down one afternoon with a pencil, surrounded by your old photographs and the people you love, and go through each picture. Make sure you write clearly who it is in the photograph, where and when it was taken, and whether it might have been of special importance.

It doesn't matter whether it is a recent glossy digital photo or an old dog-eared sepia image retrieved from the attic. What matters is that the individuals are identified before the details are lost forever.

Which brings me onto my second confession.

In the summer of 2005 myself and Charlotte Evans went to the flea market in Abergavenny for Look Up Your Genes. The idea was that we purchased a few choice items with familial historical interest and reunited them with someone from the original family.

It was a great idea in theory, but in practice it proved a lot harder, especially since the items we chose surrendered few clues.

While spring-cleaning my computer I also found this misfiled postcard. It cost just a few pence and we chose it because the words seemed to bring alive the spirit of the time.

Front of post card

9th August 1918, Portsmouth

Dearest Lil,

Just a line to say I am having ripping good time. Trusting you enjoyed yourself, which I have no doubt. I went to a dance last night. I can tell you Dear there were plenty of sailors and midies. I should very much like you to be here with me as times are jolly......ta ta for now, with love Gladys xxxx

It's addressed to Miss L Wilson, No 10 Montjoy Street, Newport, Mon.

The postcard was obviously designed to promote daylight saving and even the short poem and drawing on the front seems to evoke a sense of making the most of any precious time available during the last few months of World War One.

I wanted to reunite the postcard with Lil Wilson's family. To return it to them, and for them to have the chance to cherish it and remember Lil fondly. To think of her racing down to Portsmouth to join her friend Gladys and dance the night away on the arm of a sailor. Perhaps they even have a photo of Lil. Maybe she married a sailor or that could just be my imagination running away with me.

So, come rain or shine I know what I must do over the next couple of weeks. It's not so much of a punishment for losing them on my computer, more of a homework-type challenge really.

I must find Arthur Ridley Cottam and Lil Wilson's families and return their items.
I must find Arthur Ridley Cottam and Lil Wilson's families and return their items.
I must find Arthur Ridley Cottam and Lil Wilson's families and return their items.

Keith Matthews from Workington had lost touch with his nieces in Wales after the death of his brother Terry in 2001. While moving house they had lost various important details, including the addresses of his brother's daughters.

Keith was able to tell me his brother's age and the name of his sister in law. I quickly checked the marriage indexes and found the entry, which meant I could also check the spelling of her name and maiden name. Then using the birth indexes I was able to confirm the full names of their daughters.

Luckily, each of the girls was also given a middle name and having this additional initial made it easier to determine which Matthews was the right one when checking the marriage indexes.

After that it was simply a matter of examining the current electoral registers and sending them a letter to ask if they wanted to be put in touch with their uncle and if they knew that he had moved house and was looking for to be reunited.

Within a few days three of the nieces had been in touch and were amazed to learn that Keith was looking for them, since as far as they knew they weren't lost! All that was left was to reunite them.

The producer asked Keith if he would ring the studio while I was live on air to explain what he wanted and why it was important to him to find his nieces.

Unbeknown to Keith, the producer had also set up one of his nieces to be on another line and so we were able to reunite him with his long lost family.

It still brings a lump to my throat now. Afterwards listeners were tweeting to ask us to stop making them cry in the car!

If you are looking for someone here are some tips on what to do next:

Full name

Make sure this is spelt correctly if possible, or write down all the different ways of spelling the various name combinations.

When searching on databases most will accept a wildcard or * in place of an unknown letter... so if you don't know whether Stephen could also be spelt Steven then try simply entering Ste*en. If the person you are looking for has a really unusual first name or surname then try just using that and leave the other details blank.

Age

What year were they born? Do you know their birthday? Are they older or younger than you or the same age as your siblings? If you know their date of birth you can search the death indexes on ancestry.co.uk without entering a surname. Then you could order the death certificate from gro.gov.uk to see who registered the death and write to them.

Address

What was their last known address? What year was this?

As long as it wasn't during World War Two there will be old electoral registers you can access at the local archives or library, or you can ask a researcher to do this for you. This will give you the names of all the people of voting age living at that address. To find out where the archives and county record offices are located visit genuki.co.uk.

If you have a last known address then why not visit or write, enclosing an SAE and a plea for the current occupier to forward it or pass it to the person who has lived in their street the longest or even to the estate agent.

For searches of current electoral registers or for those times when you don't know where they live then try using 192.com.

Family

Can you recall more personal details about their family? What about their siblings, parents and even cousins; all of whom might know where the missing person is. Tracing males is often easier since the surname does not change.

Locating the deaths of parents or grandparents can also help and often details can be found on online obituaries such as iannounce.co.uk. Often a distant member of the family will have posted a family tree on a site such as Genes Reunited. You will need names to be spelt correctly and ages known and the best place to do this is on ancestry.co.uk (which is free if you pop into your local library) or via freebmd.org.uk.

Adoption

If your request involves adoption then please make sure you have received the necessary counselling from social services or similar and then seek professional advice from a relevant specialised organisation like norcap.org.uk, afteradoption.org.uk or perhaps salvationarmy.org.uk.

Abroad

If you think they have moved abroad then you can try international phone directories via infobel.com or try emailing a local library asking for details of local newspapers or radio stations and then contact them with a brief plea. Make sure to send a photo if you have one but only give your email address and mobile number.

General advice

Keep trying. New databases keep being added and details being updated almost daily on the internet. Make certain that it is easy for them to find you too.

Please remember if you post a message on the internet or join an organisation then make sure they have your current email address so messages will get passed onto you. Keep entering their name into Google etc and don't give up.

As I expected there was a lot of waiting around but lots to watch, and then finally about 30 minutes before the start of the programme there was a frantic flurry of activity. I was rushed into make-up and sat next to Louis Theroux who was chatting to Jessica Hynes, and soon I felt like I was ready for the red carpet. Instead I was heading for the red curtain in the corner of the room, where I got changed into my chosen outfit... chosen so as not to clash with the vivid lime green sofa!

Cat Whiteaway and Alex James

I'd already pre-recorded a film about a reunion and so all I had to do was talk about the research and how you can start looking for people who you've lost touch with.

A long time ago I'd been asked if I could find Doreen Hambridge who had been evacuated from London to Carmarthenshire during World War Two. The family she was sent to lived in Four Roads near Kidwelly and they had always wondered what kind of life little Doreen had led and whether she had fond memories of her time as an evacuee.

The family could remember that little Doreen was less than 10 years old when she arrived, just after Fred Harries and Elizabeth Doreen Bowen had married in 1942. Incredibly they also remember that it was a Sunday afternoon when the bus arrived at the village green. They went down to pick a child and chose little Doreen, exhausted from her overnight adventure but clinging to her brother Fred, who was taken in by the Harris's aunt at the post office in the village.

Searching the indexes of births on www.freebmd.org.uk for girls called Doreen Hambridge born after 1930 resulted in just three results.

Births March 1930
Hambridge Doreen Haddon Hendon

Births March 1932
Hambridge Doreen Burrows Marylebone

Births September 1938
Hambridge Doreen L Munday Brentford

To try and establish which one was the correct one I knew that I had to search for a brother called Fred by cross referencing against the mother's maiden name.

There were no births entered for a brother called Fred for the Doreen born in 1930 with the mother's maiden name of Haddon, nor for the one born in 1932 with the mother's maiden name of Burrows.

But for the last entry in 1938 there was an entry for a Frederick W T Hambridge born in 1936 also in Brentford, crucially with the mother's maiden name of Munday.

Just to be certain of my facts I quickly searched and found the marriage of Doreen's parents Frederick W T Hambridge and Lilian E Munday in 1936 in Brentford. After that it was simply a matter of repeating the processes; searching for any marriages of a Doreen L Hambridge and then for any subsequent children.

Luckily Doreen had married David Jeff in 1955 and they had four children. So I had a nice unusual surname to work with and four extra chances at finding her.

In my second stroke of luck one of Doreen's daughters had posted her family tree on Genes Reunited and so I sent her a message and waited patiently for a reply. The eventual outcome was an emotional reunion between two women aged 91 and 74 who hadn't seen each other for nearly 70 years.

If I hadn't had such unusual names to work with or if fewer details were known then I could have contacted the Evacuees Reunion Association or asked in the local studies section of the nearest library or perhaps located a local history group or family history society to ask their advice. And if all that had failed I would have written a little article and sent it off to the local newspapers with a photo and a plea for help.

I can't promise an emotional reunion every time but you never know.

Known as Commander Harold G Lowe R.N.R at the time of his death in 1944, he was probably better known as 5th Mate HG Lowe, survivor of the Titanic. But to others he was simply "the one who went back".

Archives often contain unusual and poignant documents, but they are not the only source of information and this employment card along with a photograph of Harold Lowe was located on a CD titled Titanic - The True Story. Vital to my search was the fact that it also confirms his date of birth.

The third of seven children, Harold Godfrey Lowe was born on 21 November 1882 at his home Bryn Lupus, Llanrhos in Conway. Since this meant he was missing from the 1881 census it was necessary to purchase his birth certificate to confirm his parents' names. George Edward Lowe and Emma Harriett Quick had married in 1877 in her home town of Liverpool.

Harold's decision to go to sea was perhaps due to his geographical location rather that one based on family tradition, since his father was a jeweller and goldsmith, as were as his grandfather George Lowe and his great-grandfather Edward Lowe who originated from Chester.

By the time of the 1891 census the eight-year-old Harold and his family had moved to the Castle Hotel in Llanddanwg, Merionethshire, where his father's occupation is listed as "landscape and cattle painter" and his mother as the hotel manageress.

Just 12 months before that fateful night in April 1912, Harold can be found on the 1911 census listed as a boarder at 7 College View, Bootle at the age of 27, where his occupation is given as Master Mariner.

Working for the BBC means that I sometimes gain access to the most unusual places, and the time I spent with the original Titanic documents was the most treasured. Behind the scenes at the National Archives at Kew, in a small room with two nominated members of staff to act as security, we were very privileged to be able to turn the pages created by the White Star staff in the chaotic aftermath of the disaster.

I remember the vast lists of the names of the missing and the survivors scribbled in pencil, with many mistakes crossed through and roughly erased. This simple list projected a real sense of the urgent need to know who was alive and who had died.

By a cruel twist of coincidence, while Harold famously survived the sinking of the Titanic, two of his brothers tragically drowned in separate incidents. According to details published in his obituary in the North Wales Weekly News on 12 May 1944 it seems young Harold also had a lucky escape while out punting with his father. When their punt capsized at Barmouth he had to swim to shore in his boots.

Harold was linked to various other deeds of bravery during his naval service; one that stands out is of Harold jumping overboard to rescue a man while suffering from a poisoned arm himself. Naturally, this type of detail is much more valued than any amount of facts obtained from a death certificate or will.

Crucially, the obituary also provided the names of the chief mourners. These included his widow Ellen and details of his two children Florence and Harold, who was abroad serving in India but whose fiancée, Miss Marguerite Davies, attended on his behalf.

The obituary ends with the simple words "his coffin was draped with the Union Jack. On it were Commander Lowe's hat, medals and sword".

Read Titanic: Victims from Wales of 1912 liner tragedy on BBC Wales News.

View the rise and fall of the Titanic animated timeline on the BBC History website.

Cat Whiteaway joins Chris Evans and Alex Jones on The One Show tonight, Friday 13 April, 7pm, BBC One.

Known as Commander Harold G Lowe R.N.R at the time of his death in 1944, he was probably better known as 5th Mate H.G. Lowe, survivor of the Titanic but to others he was simply "the one who went back".

Archives often contain unusual and poignant documents, but they are not the only source of information and this employment card along with a photograph of Harold Lowe was located on a CD titled " Titanic - The True Story". Vital to my search was the fact that it also confirms his date of birth.

The third of seven children Harold Godfrey Lowe was born on November 21st 1882 at his home Bryn Lupus, Llanrhos in Conway. Since this meant he was missing from the 1881 census it was necessary to purchase his birth certificate to confirm his parents' names; George Edward Lowe and Emma Harriett Quick who married in 1877 in her home town of Liverpool.

Harold's decision to go to sea was perhaps due to his geographical location rather that one based on family tradition, since his father was a jeweller and goldsmith, as were as his grandfather George Lowe and his great -grandfather Edward Lowe who originated from Chester.

By the time of the 1891 census an 8-year-old Harold and his family had moved to the Castle Hotel in Llanddanwg, Merionethshire, where his father's occupation is listed as Landscape & Cattle Painter, whilst his mother is the hotel manageress.

Just 12 months before that fateful night in April 1912 Harold can be found on the 1911 census listed as a boarder at 7 College View, Bootle at the age of 27, where his occupation is given as a Master Mariner.

Working for the BBC means that I sometimes gain access to the most unusual places, and of all the documents I've viewed the time I spent with the original Titanic documents was the most treasured. Behind the scenes at the National Archives at Kew, in a small room with two nominated members of staff to act as security we were very privileged to be able to turn the pages created by the White Star staff in the chaotic aftermath of the disaster...and don't worry of course I was wearing white cotton gloves to protect the pages for perpetuity.

I remember the vast lists of the names of the missing and the survivors scribbled in pencil, with many mistakes crossed through and roughly erased. This simple list projected a real sense of the urgent need to know who was alive and who had died.

By a cruel twist of coincidence whilst Harold famously survived the sinking of the Titanic two of his brothers tragically drowned in separate incidents. According to details published in his obituary in the North Wales Weekly News on 12 May 1944, it seems young Harold also had a lucky escape whilst out punting with his father, when their punt capsized at Barmouth and he had to swim to shore in his boots.

It seems that Harold was linked to various other deeds of bravery during his naval service; one that stands out is of Harold jumping overboard to rescue a Chinaman whilst suffering from a poisoned arm himself. Naturally, this type of detail is much more valued than any amount of facts obtained from a death certificate or will.

Crucially for the family history enthusiast the obituary also provided the names of the chief mourners who included his widow Ellen and details of his two children Florence and Harold, who was abroad serving in India but whose fiancee, Miss Marguerite Davies, attended on his behalf.

The obituary ends with the simple words " his coffin was draped with the Union Jack. On it were Commander Lowe's hat, medals and sword".

Find out more about the Titanic on the BBC History website.

Read 'Titanic: Victims from Wales of 1912 liner tragedy' on BBC Wales News'.

And all his life, all that Ron Morgan could do was to imagine an image.

Among the chaos caused by World War Two, Ron Morgan was born in 1942 - before his biological parents had the chance to marry. This upset his maternal grandmother who was a captain in the Salvation Army and she felt it necessary to urge her unmarried daughter to give up the baby for adoption.

Baby Ron did not travel far though and was adopted by his maternal aunt and raised by her alongside the rest of her children in south Wales.

Adoption papers

Aware that he was treated differently but not knowing quite why, at the age of 19 Ron found an attaché case in a wardrobe which contained his official adoption papers. Although his original birth certificate contained no details of his father, the adoption papers encouraged the use of Ivor as a middle name and provided the minimum details of his putative father, "Private Ivor Griffiths of Swansea, deceased."

After some painful question and answer sessions with his adoptive parents Ron learned the basic facts behind his adoption.

GRIFFITHS, IVOR
Rank: Private
Service No: 3971373
Date of Death: 02/10/1944
Age:30
Regiment/Service: Welch Regiment

1st Bn. Grave Reference I, B, 16.Cemetery: FORLI WAR CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of James and Esther Griffiths, of Morriston, Glamorgan

His birth father was Ivor Griffiths, who died in 1944 in Italy while serving with the Welch Regiment. At the age of two, with no husband and an illegitimate child, his birth mother made the decision that Ron would be better raised by her sister.

Several years later Ron managed to persuade the MOD to release Ivor Griffiths' campaign medals to him. With his authority I applied for Ivor's full World War Two service record, which is available to the next of kin providing that there is proof of death.

After paying £30 and waiting patiently for many weeks, we learned that service records rarely hold photographs. The details on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirmed that Ivor Griffiths was aged 30 years at the time of his death. Born in 1914 this meant that he would not be living with his family on the 1911 census, but this did not matter as his parents' names were also provided by the CWGC.

Searching the 1911 census

Knowing his parents' names, it was simply a matter of matching him to his parents on the 1911 census and searching for any siblings; all of which is much easier after 1911 when the mother's maiden name was added to the birth and marriage indexes, making it simpler to cross reference details.

I arranged a trip to West Glamorgan Archives based in the civic centre in Swansea, as well as the central library. This meant that I could access electoral registers and school admission registers.

So the Griffithses' family tree evolved, revealing that Ivor was one of nine children; fortunately increasing Ron's chances of having cousins. The school registers even carefully noted that Ivor's sister Bertha was an eczema sufferer, whilst the electoral registers indicated that another sister Hannah preferred to use the name Nancy.

It's easy to get carried away when searching and I often find myself building a whole family tree while trying to resolve the original query.

Newspaper search

Newspaper cutting with Ivor's photo

Over lunch in the café overlooking Swansea bay it occurred to me that the main source of information during World War Two was newspapers and that I'd often seen photographs of young men and women in their uniforms printed in their local paper to announce their ultimate sacrifice.

Knowing that Ivor Griffiths died on 2 October 1944 I loaded up the microfilm for that month and year and whizzed through the Western Mail to the appropriate week. Only to find nothing. Not a mention.

Utterly deflated I started to rewind the film before realising that it was also a tradition to print a photograph of someone when they went missing.

And so, page after page, I slowly worked backwards, trawling each day carefully and eventually found Ron's father Ivor. The details in the text matched those names on the 1911 census and the name of the street also matched the entries in the electoral registers.

It's a faded old photograph, not quite in focus and not easy to reproduce in any quality, but none of this meant any the less to Ron.

I spoke to Ron this week to check he was happy for me to share his story and he told me that since we last met his daughter has taken on the challenge and just last week he met up with yet another paternal cousin who has more photos of his father and more memories to share.