A BIG family reunion was being celebrated in Mary Tavy this week, after a brother and sister met each other for the first time in more than 55 years.

Danny Thorndale of Mary Tavy lost contact with his sister Joan Ebdon after she moved to Canada when he was just 10 years old.

But a chance dip into the internet by one of his daughters finally brought Danny, Joan and two Australian cousins together for the first time since the end of the second world war.

Danny, who is now 67, said: 'It was amazing really, it was just like it had been planned. She was just playing around on the internet and these names came up and that was it.'

Danny and Joan first got in contact in November last year. A planned meeting earlier this year had to be postponed because of Joan's ill health, and the couple finally had an emotional reunion last week.

Danny said: 'I was very nervous and had been feeling like that for a few weeks. It was very sad, I only had these little memories of her, but things flooded back when we met.'

Joan, who is 78, now lives in Pickering Village, about 40 minutes from Toronto. She said she had tried several times to get back in contact with Danny over the years, without success.

'The years passed and we always thought about him, but we were moving round all the time and Danny was in the army and moved a lot so we kept missing each other, like ships passing in the night,' said Joan.

She said her cousins in Australia phoned to tell her of the contact made by Danny's daughter and she immediately wrote to her long-lost brother.

'It's just been a beautiful chain of events,' said Joan, who said she recognised Danny the instant she saw him.

'It was just as if time didn't exist — we're not going to lose touch again,' said Joan, who hoped that the family would be able to come to Canada to visit in the future.

And the champagne corks popped at a big family party held at the Blacksmiths Arms in Lamerton last Friday, when Danny and Joan were reunited with their cousins Lyn and Len from Australia and celebrated Joan and her husband's 59th wedding anniversary.