When I first started tracing my family tree using Genes Reunited I found an uncle that I knew nothing about, he was Alfred Lloyd Portwine (1896 ? 1938). I asked my sister about him and she had no knowledge. I found two Doreen Portwines from Croydon. My sister was able to tell me that the two Doreens had met. After my sister died I discovered that the two Doreens were first cousins. One was the daughter of my father and one the daughter of Alfred Lloyd Portwine. I wonder if the illegitimate female Portwines that I come across in Croydon are related to Doreen Portwine and so are cousins of mine.

I was contacted by a Mrs Portwin who directed me to William John (Portwin) who was brought up with my father William James Portwine. Again I had no knowledge of William John, and by this time my sister had died so I could not ask her. It is supposed that the father of William John was my grandfather Alfred Portwine and having deserted his wife left her with an illegitimate child to bring up, echoes of Brian Aldridge in The Archers.