It was the family tie the passage of six decades could not sever. Courier reporter Andy Argo talks to the brother and sister whose astonishing Dundee reunion ends 60 years of wondering and waiting.
A brother has been reunited with his sister in Dundee 60 years after a devastating split in their family.
Allan Healy, 66, had an emotional greeting with Margaret Mitchell, 67, at her home in Douglas just over a mile but a lifetime from when they were last together as children in Broughty Ferry.
Their reunion was down to Allan’s desire to find his long-lost sister after six decades apart.
After years of fruitless searching, a simple Facebook search by Margaret’s neighbour brought up Allan’s profile from his home in the south of England.
The fracturing of the family is a long and painful story and one Allan and Margaret cannot recount without tears and regret.
Yet, rather than dwelling on the past, they are determined to make the most of their lives as brother and sister and restore the bond they thought had been broken forever.
Parents John and Elizabeth Healy, who are still alive, came north to Dundee from Plymouth and made a home with their three children Allan, Margaret and Stewart in Dundas Street, Broughty Ferry.
Domestic life was difficult, however, and in 1954 John and Elizabeth decided to separate.
Rather than stay in Dundee, John took his six and nine-year-old sons to the only other life he knew more than 500 miles south in Plymouth, leaving Margaret and Elizabeth behind.
John and his sons lived with his parents for a spell and then he met his new wife.
The cooper by trade found a new job which came with a house but the dwelling was a tied cottage and there was no room for the boys.
In an act that may seem difficult to understand by today’s standards, Allan and Stewart were sent to live in a Barnardo’s home in Plymouth.
Their father maintained contact with them in the home and when they left, they went to live with him again.
Allan then joined the army and settled in Margate in Kent, while Stewart remained in Essex.
His military career over, he became a community warden and then retired to Surrey.
Although happy with his life as a parent and grandparent, he could not forget the sister he had last seen when both were children in Dundee and he decided to try to find her an undertaking that finally concluded with their emotional reunion.’Together again’“I scoured birth and marriage certificates, voting registers and other records to try to find my sister,” said Allan.
He was determined to leave no stone unturned in his desperate bid to be reunited with his long-lost but never-forgotten sibling.
“My search took me to Scotland, where I at first drew a blank because of the different system with data protection,” he told The Courier.
“Then I thought about Facebook and a cousin sent me a photograph of Stewart, Margaret and myself taken when we were children. It must have been one of the last that was taken in Dundee before we were separated.
“I made it my Facebook profile picture and put out a message for anyone who might know where Margaret Healy was to get in touch.”
Unknown to him, former night care assistant Margaret was also being shown the social networking site and wondered if it could help find her long-lost brother.
“My neighbour Kathie McGill is interested in family history and she helped me by searching for an Allan Healy, who I thought might still be in Plymouth.
“Then Kathie came through and said there was a photograph on Facebook with a young Allan Healy and a boy and a girl with him and I was the girl. I was amazed.”
Unfamiliar with the workings of the internet, she had her son-in-law send a message to Allan and he replied.
The final piece of the jigsaw was in place.
Next they had a tear-filled phone conversation, able to speak only after overcoming the shock of finding each other after 60 years.
Last week, Allan travelled north to Dundee with his daughter and grandchildren for an emotional meeting that will never be forgotten.
“I got out of the car, looked over and saw Margaret standing there,” Allan said. “I ran over and we hugged and cried. We couldn’t believe it that we were together again.”
The family gathering Margaret is also a grandmother was a joyous celebration with so much for the two of them to catch up on. Brother Stewart, now 69, was aware of the meeting but was not able to attend.
Their father is now 90 and lives in Plymouth.
Margaret is planning to visit Allan at his home in Surrey in the next of what they are sure will be many happy family occasions.
A special moment in their reunion visit was when Allan and Margaret went to visit their mother Elizabeth, 88, in a care home in Dundee.
Suffering from Alzheimer’s, she has good and bad days and it was a private visit which Allan and Margaret approached with apprehension.
They needn’t have worried. Margaret said: “I said hello mum. I’ve brought Allan to see you. She looked up, put my hand on his hand and put her hand on top as if to say “we’re together again”.