The 'incredible' family secret revealed at a funeral

An author from Somerset has published a book about a family secret revealed at a funeral.

Justin Adams, from Curry Mallet, was attending a funeral for his 87-year-old Aunt Flo when a man arrived claiming to be her son.

Decades later Mr Adams was able to find out more information about his new family member and why he had been kept a secret.

The tale is told in the book, The Unexpected Mourner.

Mr Adams told BBC Radio Somerset that on the day of Flo's funeral, the family was lining up outside the church on the outskirts of Watchet, when a car drew up.

"This middle-aged man got out of the car and his wife propelled him to push in front of my father to stand right behind the coffin.

"The wife said 'this is her son, this is her son'," Mr Adams said.

"We just took one look at this chap and we thought, 'he is her son'.

"The likeness was instant," he said.

The family was in "absolute and total shock".

"It was one of those occasions in life when you actually feel that it's happening to somebody else, it's surreal," added Mr Adams.

Her son, Len, chose not to stay in touch with the family, but after he died, they received "an enormous volume of paperwork", because he had not been legally adopted.

Mr Adams said when he began delving into the family history he discovered Aunt Flo had met an Australian serviceman at the end of WW1 and become pregnant in 1924.

"This chap basically did a runner and abandoned her," said Mr Adams. Her son Len was then fostered.

Mr Adams said it must have been difficult for his aunt, due to the stigma at the time of having a child out of wedlock.

"She managed to keep the secret, but it impacted both of their lives terribly."

He said the experience helped to explain her demeanour.

"I think it meant that she was a very conflicted person. She had her moral views, which were the normal views for someone of her time, and she was carrying this burden, this secret.

"She was quite hard on us and in her own way I think she was trying to tell us that life could be tough."

Mr Adams' aunt remained in contact with her son and some of the letters between them are printed in the book.

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