Web leads Ray to sisters

AN UCKFIELD man was astonished to learn he has two half-sisters on the other side of the world.

Now Raymond Whiteway-Roberts is heading out to Australia on Wednesday to meet the family he never knew he had.

Raymond's parents broke up when he was only 14 months old and he lost contact completely with his father.

But Raymond, 55, a senior care officer with East Sussex County Council, recently decided to do something about it.

And he made the startling discovery over the Internet.

'I learned that my father re-married and had three girls. He then divorced again and his wife and girls migrated to Australia in 1960,' he said.

'My father died in 1975.

'I did try 30 years ago to find out more about him but apart from finding a few photographs and discovering I had several aunts I learned nothing.

'Recently, with all this new interest in family trees I tried the Internet and the second person I contacted turned out to be one of my half-sisters.

'It was incredibly exciting and very emotional.

'We have e-mailed each other and spoken on the telephone.

'Now I have saved up enough money to go out to meet them for a month. I still can't quite believe it.'