Raynton House resident George Billinghurst has been reunited with three sisters who live half way across the world in the UK. George is excited to be back in touch with his sisters and is preparing a DVD of his hometown, friends and his recent 80th birthday celebrations as well as some footage of the famous Blue Mountains landmark ‘The Three Sisters’, which is just down the road from his home.

A former Royal Navy Officer, George has lived in Australia since1972. He lost contact with his siblings and in recent weeks mentioned to his key worker Maree Grego that he wanted to search for his family. Maree spent hours with George discussing his life and managed to piece together a brief family history, which led her to South Devon. With a few brief details and the names of just three sisters (George is the third child of seven) Maree contacted the local newspaper in South Devon - the Herald Express. On 24 June an article entitled ‘Plea from Australia in hunt for sisters’ (copy below) hit news stands and almost immediately the Herald Express received a tide of calls and emails from George’s relatives and friends living in the UK.

While George’s sister Audrey and brother Donald are no longer alive, he has four remaining sisters: twins Pam and Maureen who live in Newton Abbott, Dorothy who lives in the Teign Valley and Monica who lives wither husband Charlie in Liverton. Monica told the Herald Express “I’ve always thought about George. I always got on well with him. I would very much like to speak with him.”

It has been suggested that the family could keep in touch via the world wide web; Skype would allow the siblings to chat online free of charge and therefore overcome the tyranny of distance at the same time as avoiding expensive phone calls. However, at 80 years old, George is opting for the tried and true form of communication: a letter in the post to be sent by air mail, accompanied by a postcard of The Three Sisters.

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