Scot discovers original gravesite of long-lost relatives in Crawley church

Steven Feist couldn’t believe that he found the graves after all this time and that “against the odds”, was reunited with a part of his family history.

He would like to thank the parishioners of St Nicholas' Church for their “team-effort” to tidy and restore the gravesite.

Mr Feist said: “Prior to WW1, my Grandfather, James Henry was posted to Leith, the port outside Edinburgh where he met and married my Grandmother. They settled in Scotland. After surviving the war he chose to reduce his term in the army by volunteering for a year in Sierra Leone.

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“Unfortunately he contracted malaria. During a period of illness in 1924, he returned to Three Bridges but died while visiting. At my Grandfather’s request, his body was later returned to Edinburgh and is buried at Liberton cemetery.”