The four siblings met for the first time last week: From left: Norman Alexandre, Shauna Williams, Lesley Boshell and Mavis Le Marquand

TWO sisters met a brother and sister for the first time in their lives at an emotional meeting in Jersey last week.

Lesley Boshell and Shauna Williams met their half-brother Norman Alexandre, who had travelled from America, and half-sister Mavis Le Marquand at her home at l’Hermitage Gardens in St Peter. Also there were a nephew and nieces, whom they had never met before.

The meeting was the culmination of months of searching for the ‘lost’ siblings and then – as a result of an article in the JEP Connections section – contact via e-mail and telephone.
‘It was brilliant, almost surreal,’ said Lesley, describing the moment they met. ‘When we first walked into this flat to see Norman and Mavis, we spent what seemed like five minutes just looking at each other.’

Lesley is married with a son and granddaughter and lives in the Isle of Man and her sister Shauna lives in Stockport, also with a grown-up son. The two, who had never visited Jersey before, also met a nephew and nieces, born to their half-sister Sheila Le Marchand, who, sadly, died in 2005. Another half-brother, Leonard, who had lived in the UK and had been looking forward to the family get together, sadly, also died six weeks ago.

Lesley said that she had known since she was about 12 that there were children from her father’s first marriage, but had no details about how many or what sex they were. And she and her sister did not wish to upset their mother by trying to find their siblings.

It was only after her death that they felt they could begin to make inquiries. They visited Poplar Hill, in Walton, where their father, Norman Jones and his first wife, Dorothy, known as Doll, had lived and discovered that there had been four children of the marriage, James (now known as Norman) born in 1929; Sheila, born in 1931; Leonard, born in 1932; and Mavis, born in 1934.

The sisters also discovered that the two separated in 1936, Norman returning to Manchester, where he later met their mother Margaret. Doll had met a Johnnie Alexandre from London and left Walton to live in Jersey.

The family get together, from left: Wendy Ritzema, Jane le Marchand, Norman Alexandre, Shauna Williams, Lesley Boshell, Mavis Le Marquand, Bernard le Marquand and Sara Wysmuller with Charlotte Alexandre in front

The connection with Jersey led the sisters to write to the JEP in December 2006, and an article was published with the headline ‘Looking for lost siblings’. They stated in the report that Doll and Johnnie returned to Walton a few years later but they did not know what had become of the four children.

‘We recently discovered some information on an ancestry website about Dorothy Burt and it confirmed that one child went to America, one to Essex and two to the Channel Islands, but who went where is unknown,’ they continued. ‘Some old family diaries have only recently revealed the existence of our half-siblings, so we would really appreciate it if you could help us in our quest before it is too late.’

One of those who read the article was Peter Le Marchand, son of Sheila, and he contacted his twin-sister Wendy, brother Stephan and sisters Jane, Sara and Vikki.

And – after recovering from the shock of discovering two new aunts whom they had no knowledge of before – the connections ball began rolling. E-mails and telephone calls over the next few months resulted in the family getting to know each other before the meeting was arranged at Mavis’ home.

Wendy said that for all of them, it had been an emotional and wonderful experience. ‘We felt as if we’d known each other all our lives,’ she said. ‘It was just sad that our mum was not here.’

Norman, who took his step father’s surname of Alexandre, lived in the Island in the late 1940s and was one of the founders of the company Tubeolight, before he followed his calling to become a priest, studying at King’s College London theological college. He moved to America in 1954 and has served as a priest in the Oklahoma Episcopal Church for 45 years, eventually becoming archdeacon.

Aged 79 and married to Charlotte, with grown-up children of their own, he said he had thought that there might have children of his father’s second marriage, but had no idea for sure and it was a real surprise to discover their existence 18 months ago. ‘It really has been a wonderful experience,’ he said.

Mavis, who has lived in Jersey for 45 years is married to Bernard Le Marquand. She has a son from a previous marriage, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren, all living in Jersey. ‘It was like going back in time – as if we’d known each other for ever,’ she said. ‘And that’s what’s been so nice.’