Canada man finds dozens of long-lost Limavady relatives online

Keith with his wife, Chantal (left), and his distant cousin, Jacci (right)

After contacting a relation online a decade ago, one Canadian man with an interest in family history has managed to track down dozens of distant relatives in Limavady - so far.

Keith Brown was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta and knew little about his grandmother’s heritage other than that she originally hailed from County Londonderry.

“She never talked about being back home and or why she came to Canada,” he told BBC News NI.

“But when I started my research 10 years ago, I found out she was actually from Ballyscullion, just outside of Limavady. It all started there.”

Keith came across the Limavady Area Ancestry group on Facebook and uploaded the documents he had on his grandmother, Margaret.

“It took a little while for people to warm up to me," he said.

"But once they realised that I was a relative, then I started getting messages."

New connections

Jacci Payne, from Limavady, is one of more than 150 connections Keith has made thanks to the help of the Facebook group.

The pair, who are distant cousins, have kept in touch ever since.

“I really wasn’t expecting to connect with anyone,” Jacci said.

“I had commented on a post of his and upon further investigation, it turned out we're related.

“We keep in contact at least once a week, if not more. And he's always come back with more connections he's found and it's just mind-blowing.”

Keith's grandmother, Margaret, who came from Ballyscullion

Fiona Pegrum offered a helping hand to Keith, drawing from her experience as a qualified genealogist.

Having moved from England to Limavady 10 years ago, she identified the need for a place to share local heritage stories within the area, so she co-founded the Limavady Area Ancestry page.

“For me, it's the love of actually connecting people and for people like Keith when they visit, I get to say 'Would you like to meet your relatives?' rather than just giving them a piece of paper saying 'Here's your family tree'.

“The group makes it much easier to share information, post photos, and then just watch those connections start up.

“This is exactly how we should be sharing our heritage, so much of our history would be lost otherwise.”

Fiona speaking at a Coleraine Historical Society Conference in May

Keith described the entire process as “unbelievable”.

“A lot of people do the research because they want to know about the past, but I want to know who is still out there that I’m related to," he said.

"I wouldn't have met two thirds of the people I've met if it wasn't for Limavady Area Ancestry.

“My ultimate goal is to find a photo of my granny before she moved to Canada, taken back home in Limavady. Fiona has been a tremendous help through the entire process.”

Although they are still searching for that potential photograph, together the pair discovered that Keith's grandmother had another half sibling who passed away before she moved to Canada aged 18.

“I had sent him a record for one of his ancestors, who I thought he had known about, so when I sent it to him and he didn’t come straight back to me, I could just sense his shock,” Fiona said.

This meant Keith's relatives found out about an aunt they had never known - a great aunt of Keith’s.

“It was so shocking, none of my family knew of this," he said.

"My granny had a large family when she moved [to Canada], two of which are still living.

“My auntie, who is in her late 80s, actually cried when she found out."