Jersey message in bottle from 1938 goes to sender's family

The note asks the finder to reply to Mr Stapleford at an address in Hertfordshire

A message in a bottle sent 82 years ago is to be posted to the sender's relatives.

The bottle, found on a Jersey beach on Tuesday, was originally thought to have been sent by John Stapleford.

It is now understood to have been sent by his teenage son, also called John, when the family attended a wedding in Jersey in 1938.

Nigel Hill, who found it, said he would be posting it to the younger Mr Stapleford's daughter.

It was her daughter who first got in contact with Mr Hill after seeing reports of his discovery.

John Stapleford, who send the message when he was 14, travelled across the world with the Merchant Navy

The note is written on a back of a cake box, which can be traced to the company Cawley Bros, once based in Jersey.

Mr Stapleford's daughter, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed the handwriting was her father's.

He is thought to have been 14 when he sent the note, according to those investigating.

He later served in the Merchant Navy, and died in 1994.

"Sometimes with these stories you can never close the book on it, but we actually have", Mr Hill said.

"It will be a family heirloom for her and generations to come, and what an incredible story that is."