Phil Davies family have been reunited - after one hundred years ..

Thelma and her brothers in 1945

Phil's Great-Grandfather went to North America in 1886. He travelled with his apprentice and his brother, and they were looking for work and for a new life.

They settled initially in Pittsburgh, but it was a troubled place, with strikes and riots. Phil's Great grandfather came back in the 1890's, but his brother and his apprentice, Jaybez, decided to return to the States.

Jaybez went back and staked his claim for 160 acres of free land in Montana. This was a legal entitlement, if you'd farmed the land for five years. The family doesn't still own that homestead but does have a lot of land nearby. Phil's uncle was 'land rich, and money poor'.

Contact was maintained through Phil's grandfather writing to his cousin Elsie. They hadn't met since early childhood but felt a kinship since they'd been born in the same place. However the link was almost lost when his grandfather died in 1960. The family didn't have Elsie's address, and the only clue to her whereabouts was a postcard of a motel in Montana. Phil's father decided to try to track down the family in the States.

In 1996, 16 travelled over to Montana to meet the Cox family. About 80 people were at the reunion: 16 Davis', and the rest were Cox's. Now the tie is strong and getting stronger. Phil went back with his family last year and earlier this year one Jaybez's grandchildren came over.

Aisha, John and Thelma

MORE INFORMATION