My mother, who died on New Year’s Eve 2009, never knew who her father was. Her mother never married and she was a domestic servant when she gave birth to her first child - my mother’s older brother by almost two years, whilst she was a charwoman at the time my mother was born in May 1925.

After my mother’s death I resolved to see if I could find out who her father was. However, in doing so, I was mindful of the fact that, as my mother had never known a single thing about him, I was setting myself a considerable challenge - especially as her mother had once told her that he had gone away.

Perhaps, upon reflection, it was a slightly crazy thing to do - particularly as I had no sensible plan as how to proceed, and given that what subsequently transpired turned out to be so much more than I could have ever anticipated.