Latest news with #JessBaseyFisher
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Woman finds her long-lost brother on the other side of the world after decades apart - and reveals they nearly crossed paths 34 years ago
A woman who tracked down her long-lost brother after only finding out he existed when their mother died has revealed how her life has been 'enriched' in the midst of tragedy. Jess Basey-Fisher, 53, was perched on the end of a bed holding her mother's ashes in 2019 when her father Nicholas dropped a bombshell that would change her life forever. Unbeknown to her, Jess, a nurse from Carleton St Peter, Norfolk, had a biological brother living on the other side of the world who had been hidden from her through her whole life. Her mother, Ann Weir, had given birth to a baby boy years before meeting Nicholas, but put him up for adoption in the 1960s due to the societal pressures of raising a child out of wedlock. In a bizarre coincidence in 1991, the secret sibling travelled from his adoptive family home in Australia to stay with his paternal aunt in the Norfolk village of Brundall - just 10 minutes away from where Jess was living at the time. However, it would not be until April 1 2025 - some 63 years after her brother was born - that the siblings would finally meet for the first time after Jess tracked him down through Ancestry and Facebook. In another heartbreaking layer to their extraordinary story, he was diagnosed with stage four cancer in November 2024 - just a month after they first made contact online. What followed was an emotional reunion between Ann's separated children which came at a key moment in Jess' life when she was battling through a double tragedy along with the revelation that she had a secret older brother. Her GP father Nicholas, who had strongly urged her to track down her brother, died in a fatal cycling crash in Amsterdam just five months after Ann's death - and six days after the family laid her to rest. 'I remember him saying you've got to find him. And I said, "Yeah, too right"... I just had this yearning to find him.' She added: 'When when dad told me, obviously my jaw just dropped. It was just a real surprise but I had such an urge to find him. 'The reason why dad had told me was because he'd read a book by Joanna Trollope, called Brother and Sister. He waited until probably six weeks after mum died to tell me so. It wasn't something that he told me straight away. 'But he felt that we should know, because he'd read this book, and I've read it now, and I can see why he felt he needed to, and he was very keen for me to find Alistair. 'I haven't got a very big family, so I suppose you want to find out any extra members. It was just something that I was really important to me. 'I can't even begin to think how mum would have felt.' Despite being filled with determination to find her brother, the only information that Jess had to go off was her mother's name. She subsequently discovered that her mother and the father of her long-lost brother had met at a ball at a US airbase in Sculthorpe. Ann, who went on to work as a nurse and a midwife, was then sent to London to give birth. Jess then managed to track down her brother's birth record from September 1962 on the Ancestry website after guessing what his first name would be. She was met with 50 different results for 'A Weir' but incredibly tracked her brother down by guessing what his first name would be based on knowing what her mother would have picked. 'I searched down and looked at all the names that mum would have chosen. It was just a hunch. I thought I've got to start somewhere, so let's start with James. And it was the right one, so I didn't have to do any more searching, which was rather lovely. Thrilled with the discovery, Jess then contacted a social worker who tracked James down on Facebook in 2021. He had been renamed Alistair Dalgliesh and was 62 and living in Australia, having moved over with his new family from Kent when he was three. His new parents had a daughter but were struggling to have another child when they adopted Alistair. They had moved Down Under via the Ten Pound Poms scheme, a term given to British immigrants who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after the Second World War. Back in England, Ann would go on to marry Nicholas, with the wedding taking place on Alistair's birthday - six years after he was born. 'I think the fact that she got married on his birthday says a lot,' Jess said. 'That was her nod. 'I mean it could be total coincidence that but equally I think you'd never forget.' Bearing extraordinary similarities to her own childhood, Alistair's adoptive mother was also a nurse, his father also a GP. The journey to find Alistair did not come without stumbling blocks. To begin with, there was a red herring where Jess was told by a social worker they had found her brother, only for them to realise he was born 10 years too late. Then when the social worker found the right Alistair on Facebook, he failed to respond to follow-up emails. 'I was quite nervous as well, because he might not want to be found, he might not know he was adopted for a start, he might have changed his mind, and I went through all the possible scenarios,' she added. Social workers came and went but persistent Jess always asked them to keep contacting Alistair - and then one day he started replying. The pair first started exchanging messages on October 3 2024 and held their first phone call, starting with Jess asking him 'Have you got red curly hair?' to which he replied yes. The siblings then proceeded to have a two-hour FaceTime and connected instantly, laughing about how similar they look. 'We were just having two hour conversations every couple of days, because we had so much to catch up on.' But then came another tragedy. 'Literally a month later, he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer,' Jess said. 'And I also had to tell him that his birth mum was no longer alive, which wasn't an easy thing to do. 'But he he actually said to me, he said, "Do you know what, Jess? The only thing I regret is not being able to say to her, "Thank you, I had a really lovely life"."' Jess then travelled to Australia in April this year to finally meet Alistair in person and support him through his chemotherapy. Describing the moment she met her brother for the first time, Jess said: 'I was really cross with myself because I'd asked Suzie, his wife, to video us. In a reference to ITV show Long Lost Families, she quipped: 'I said, all we need is Davina McCall to be there! 'But I stupidly crept up on them which is just a bit stupid because she couldn't video it. 'I saw them, and I was just so excited I forgot to do it properly. But never mind! 'I couldn't stop looking at him. You're looking at every single detail. I was comparing him to my mum. I just kept saying, "God, this is just so unreal. Is this happening?" It's so weird.' Jess was stunned by the similarities between Alistair and their mother, including his love for history and music. 'I think I watched more English television when I was out there than I ever watched. That's all we watched, Antiques Roadshow, Antiques Road Trip, 1 % Club and all those.' Jess said she was welcomed into the family by Alistair's adoptive mother, Marjorie, and has even been added to the family tree. She also has two nephews through Alistair. Jess revealed how the pair nearly crossed paths 34 years ago, when Alistair came back to the UK to stay with a relative. She explained: 'Alistair's been out there since he was three, and ironically, in 1991, he was staying with his adoptive father's sister in Brundall, which is 10 minutes from where I was living. 'How weird is that? The parallel lives, it's just a bit weird, there's some real coincidences.' Alistair is having chemotherapy every three weeks but is due to come over and stay with jess in Norfolk. She joked how he will have to adjust to his 'life in Suburbia' to the 'mud of the Norfolk farm'. Jess says that Alistair as 'really enriched my life', adding: 'I still can't comprehend it really. 'She said they are 'making up for lost time', adding: 'We're just basically picking up a little bit later. 'It is weird because it's like I've known him all my life.
Telegraph
a day ago
- General
- Telegraph
Siblings united after woman guessed long-lost brother would be called James
A woman has found her long-lost brother after guessing what her late mother Ann would have called him. Jess Basey-Fisher, 53, was told in 2019 that Ann had given birth years before meeting her father Nicholas. She gave the baby boy up for adoption, but Ms Fisher was 'determined' to find her brother. The only information Ms Fisher, a nurse who lives in Carleton St Peter, Norfolk, had was that her mother had met the father of her older brother at a ball at a US airbase in Sculthorpe. She was then sent away to London to give birth. 'I was determined to find my older brother,' she told the BBC. Ms Fisher tracked down her brother's birth record from 1962 on the Ancestry website by guessing what his first name would have been. 'I knew the surname, and I just had a hunch that she would have called him something like James, and it turned out to be correct,' she said. After finding his birth record, she reached out to a social worker who then tracked James down on Facebook in 2021. He had been renamed Alistair Dalgliesh and was now 62. The social worker contacted Mr Dalgliesh but heard nothing back. Ms Fisher assumed her brother did not want any contact from his biological family. Ms Fisher tried to contact Mr Dalgliesh herself in October through social workers, and a conversation started. 'That was an incredible moment for me. And I found out my brother lives in Australia,' she said. 'I was really happy to be found' Over a two-hour chat on FaceTime, the siblings laughed at how similar they looked and how Mr Dalgliesh's mannerisms resembled those of Ann. Ms Fisher said they also shared the same interest in history and music. 'I was really happy to be found,' he said from his home in Queensland. 'I had such a great upbringing with amazing parents, and I feel very lucky. Ms Fisher told her brother that Ann had died, but he wished he had met her. 'My only regret is that I didn't get to tell her I had a great life,' Mr Dalgliesh said. He called his sister a month after they first spoke to tell her he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Ms Fisher then stayed in Australia for five weeks to help her brother through chemotherapy. Mr Dalgliesh is set to stay with Ms Fisher in Norfolk this October. She said she wished her mother could have shared her secret before she passed away, adding: 'I feel devastated for her and I feel cheated out of knowing Alistair for longer. But we are going to make the most of the time we have left.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'I found my brother in Australia, just in time to make memories'
Six years ago, Jess Basey-Fisher was holding her mother's ashes when her father, Nicholas, said he needed to tell her revealed that his wife, Jess's mother, Ann, had kept a secret until the day she died. She had given birth before she met him and put the baby boy up for adoption."From the moment I found out, I was determined to find my older brother," says the 53-year-old nurse, who lives in Carleton St Peter in Norfolk. Jess did not have many facts to go on. She knew that the father was someone who Ann had met at a ball at a US airbase in Sculthorpe in who went on to work as a nurse and a midwife, was sent away to London to give that information, Jess managed to track down her brother's birth record from September 1962 on the Ancestry website, after searching for a 15-year period."I knew the surname, and I just had a hunch that she would have called him something like James, and it turned out to be correct," Jess father, Nicholas, a GP, was very supportive of the search but died on a cycling holiday a few months after revealing his wife's secret. 'An incredible moment' Jess contacted a social worker who managed to find James on Facebook in 2021. He had been renamed Alistair Dalgliesh, though the social worker could not tell Jess due to data social worker sent him a message, and he replied with his email address, but there was no further correspondence, and Jess presumed he did not want to be found."I was very anxious because I didn't even know whether he was aware he had been adopted," Jess October, Jess decided to try and contact her brother again, through social workers, and a conversation started."That was an incredible moment for me," Jess says. "And I found out my brother lives in Australia."In an astonishing coincidence, Alistair's adoptive mother, Marjorie, was a nurse and his father, Ken, was a GP - mirroring Jess's had a daughter but were struggling to have another child when they adopted Alistair. They went on to have another biological son, and the family then moved from Kent to Australia when Alistair was three, under the Ten Pound Poms scheme. The siblings arranged to speak on FaceTime and had a conversation for two hours, in which they laughed about how similar they recognised her brother's mannerisms as being very similar to their mother, and told him they shared a passion for music and 62, did not actively search for his birth family but often thought about them over the years."I was really happy to be found," he says, speaking from his home in Queensland. "I had such a great upbringing with amazing parents, and I feel very lucky." Fortunately, Alistair knew from the age of ten that he was adopted, but Jess was worried about telling him that their mother had took the news well, but wishes he could have reassured his biological mother before she died that he had a great life."My only regret is that I didn't get to tell her. All I wanted to do was say, 'It's ok. Don't worry about me," he says. Jess was able to share with her brother that her parents got married on his birth date, six years after he was says the information sent a shiver down his spine."That made me realise that I still meant a lot to her," he says. A month after the siblings first spoke, Alistair called his sister with some news. He had been diagnosed with stage four lung decided to visit him to help him through chemotherapy and arrived in Australia in April to spend five weeks with adoptive mother Marjorie was particularly pleased to meet her. "I just wanted to support him. It was a magical time. He is the most loving person - he gave me a kiss and a hug every morning and night, and the whole family embraced me," Jess says. Alistair is coming to stay with Jess in Norfolk in October, when he will meet his wider says she wishes her mother could have shared her secret before she died."I feel devastated for her and I feel cheated out of knowing Alistair for longer. But we are going to make the most of the time we have left," she says.
