Computer course brings family together

18:00 16th June 2009

A computer course has brought an unexpected surprise for a brother and sister living in Wallsend, North Tyneside.

Tom Ayre, who is 65, was researching his family tree on a genealogy website when he discovered he had a sister, Liz Burn.

ChronicleLive.co.uk reports the two siblings grew up in the same town, but never knew about one another as Tom was adopted when he was five months old.

Tom was inspired to look into his family background when a student on his computer course at a careers centre asked him about genealogy.

Tom told the newspaper: "When I found out I went sky high, I couldn’t believe it."

He added: "We’ve got a heck of a lot of catching up to do and it could never have happened if I had not done the computer course."

The pair said they were planning on meeting up regularly to catch up on the years they missed growing up together.

Genuki.org.uk is the genealogical service for the UK and Ireland.