A Postcard 121 Years Late Reunites Me with My Long-Lost Family

 A Message from the Past

In August last year, I received an unexpected message on Ancestry.com. It was from a woman named Rhian Davies — someone who, like me, carries the fifth most common surname in the UK. She had sent me a link to a that would ultimately change my life.

The story was about a postcard, postmarked 1903, that had mysteriously arrived at the Swansea Building Society’s head office. It was addressed to a Lydia Davies, who once lived at the building’s address. Somehow, this fragile relic of the Edwardian era had travelled 121 years through time to find its way back into the world.

The staff at the society, puzzled and intrigued, launched a public appeal to find Lydia’s descendants. When Rhian saw the surname and the story, something clicked — and that’s when she reached out to me.

The Card and Its Curious Contents

The front of the card featured a black-and-white print of a painting by Edwin Landseer, depicting a regal stag in the Scottish Highlands — a scene both haunting and timeless. But it was the message on the back that truly drew me in:

“Dear L,
It was unpossible, I could not get the pair of these. I am so sorry! But I hope you are enjoying yourself at home.”

The language was old-fashioned and touching in its simplicity. Who was the sender? What were they trying to send Lydia? The fragment felt like a whisper from the past — a moment of disappointment, affection, and care frozen in ink.

 Tracing the Line: Could Lydia Be One of Mine?

Davies is a surname with deep roots in Wales, and its frequency had always made my genealogical research a challenge. But something about this story felt personal. The mention of Swansea, a city closely tied to my family’s own lore, drew me in further.

As I dug into the records, with Rhian’s help, we uncovered more about Lydia Davies — her family tree, her siblings, her likely descendants. Incredibly, our paths began to intersect. It turned out that Lydia was my great-great aunt, a woman I had never heard of before, and whose quiet existence had been tucked away in time.

 A Family Rediscovered

This chance discovery led to something even more unexpected: new relatives. Rhian and I were distant cousins, both descended from Lydia’s extended family. Over the following months, we pieced together parts of our shared ancestry — stories, photographs, and histories that had been forgotten or never told.

What started as a simple piece of delayed post had become a living connection to my past — and to people I’d never imagined meeting.

The Strange Power of Serendipity

It still amazes me that a single postcard, held in limbo for over a century, managed to bridge the gap between two distant family branches. How it ended up being delivered in 2024 is still unclear — perhaps it was tucked away in a crevice, lost in a sorting room, or misfiled for decades.

But its arrival, precisely when it did, was nothing short of miraculous. It reminds me that history doesn’t just live in museums or books — sometimes, it’s tucked in drawers, waiting to be found. And sometimes, the past still wants to speak to us.

A Message That Found Its Way

Lydia never received that postcard — but, in a way, she still delivered its message. Her presence in the records, and the quiet trace she left behind, brought together people she never knew. The card’s apology, its warm wishes, and its old-fashioned charm reached someone after all — me.

And through it, I found a family I didn’t know I had