(Nov. 10, 2016) Not until he was 70 did Ocean Pines resident Barry Wright learn that his family was larger than he realized. That was this summer, when he was contacted by a previously unknown sibling.
Born in Bolton, England, Wright was brought to the U.S. as an infant in 1947 by his maternal grandmother, Ethel Wright, after her youngest child, Joan, bore him out of wedlock.
“I was brought over here by my grandmother, who gave me to her oldest son and his wife, who was the oldest brother of my mother,” he said. “I was over here two years, got citizenship papers, and was adopted.”
In 1955, Barry Wright visited England with his adoptive parents, Edwin and Mary Wright. At that point the family opted to keep the identity of his mother a secret.
“While we were over there, I met Joan and I was told she was my aunt,” he said
He recalls being confused when his adoptive father and maternal grandmother argued about meeting “aunt” Joan, causing his grandmother to walk out of his life for good.
“She just left and I never saw her after that, ever,” he said.
Unbeknownst to Wright, his biological mother gave birth to a daughter in 1948 who was immediately put up for adoption. In fact, Wright didn’t learn he was adopted until he stumbled upon some documents.
“In the late 1950s, I found my adoption papers,” he said. “I confronted my (adoptive) mother about it and she finally told me, but my father never admitted it to me.”
His father died in the early 1960s, his grandmother died later that same decade and nearly 10 years passed before he saw Joan again.
“In 1977, I reunited with my biological mother,” he said. “We talked a lot on the phone, she came here and visited and I went there and visited.”
During the reunion, Wright tried to dig into his roots but the family deception continued.
“I was told I had no brothers or sisters and she wouldn’t tell me anything about my biological father,” he said. “The only thing I knew about my (biological) father was his name was on my birth certificate. When I came home from England I was a little disappointed and couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Although he attempted to form a bond with his biological mother, Wright drifted away because she seemed overbearing.
“She wanted to take the place of my mother who raised me,” he said. “I told her, ‘you didn’t raise me, this is my mother and that’s the way it is.’”
When he lost his adoptive mother in 1980, Wright contacted Joan to share the news and the two lost contact shortly thereafter.
His life continued and he put the situation out of mind until this July, when there came a knock on the door from the Ocean City-Berlin Rotary Club President Cliff Berg.
“He said ‘I have a letter here for you,’ and I thought I was being served with papers. I was dumbfounded.”
To Wright’s amazement it was no summons, but was from the sister he didn’t know he had, Brenda Moorhouse from Stockport, England.
For more than half a century, Moorhouse had searched through public records to locate her brother after her adoptive parents told her of her family background.
“Since she was 15 years old, she has been searching and over the years she put more pieces together,” he said. “In this letter was how I got here, the ship that I was brought over on, and how I entered the country.”
As she narrowed her search over the intervening decades, Moorhouse tried numerous local channels until eventually contacting the Rotary International.
“I had tried to contact local help in your area, adoption societies, newspapers, TV and radio stations to no avail and then I tried the Rotary,” she said. “The terrific chap there took a copy of an email that I sent.”
For his part, Berg said he was leery after Moorhouse’s email was forwarded to him and contacted her for more particulars.
“His sister did research on a manifest of a ship that came over and she thought she had a brother,” he said.
Delighted to make apparent headway, Moorhouse sent a letter for Berg to deliver to Wright, who just happened to live within walking distance of his south Ocean Pines abode.
“I knocked on the door and explained I had a letter,” he said. “He was taken aback and didn’t really believe it so I let it sit.”
Wright was unsure how to react to the news.
“I said, ‘I don’t really know where to go with this, I’m shocked,’” he said. “This was a segment of my life that I knew about, but I knew nothing about.”
Despite his mixed reaction, Wright asked Berg to confirm receipt of the letter with Moorhouse and promised to make contact.
Berg was delighted when he later heard the two had begun conversing.
“She then called me and said his wife motivated him to reach out,” he said. “The part I played was small but I was excited to be involved. It’s fun the Rotary was part of that.”
For her part Moorhouse was grateful for the intervention of a third party.
“I was concerned about first contact because I knew that Barry was older than myself and did not know about his health,” she said. “I didn’t want to shock him.”
Since initial contact this summer the siblings have spoken on a near daily basis through Facetime.
“Barry knew nothing of me and didn’t get in touch for some weeks after initial contact…but then he did and now we speak everyday,” she said. “Both of us and our families are so pleased.”
Over the last several months Wright has continued to process the life-changing revelation.
“I’m 70 years old and I’m told I have a sister, to be honest I feel very jilted about it,” he said. “It was cool when I think about it, but here I am like, ‘this is weird.’ Her side was excitement; my side, I’m bewildered.”
The pair continues to talk daily and have tentatively scheduled trips to visit each other next year.
“I never had any brothers and sisters growing up so now I have another family,” he said. “The biggest pill to swallow for me is how many years do we have to enjoy this. I’m getting better at dealing with it and having good feelings about it, but at the same time it’s been an emotional rollercoaster.”
Born in Bolton, England, Wright was brought to the U.S. as an infant in 1947 by his maternal grandmother, Ethel Wright, after her youngest child, Joan, bore him out of wedlock.
“I was brought over here by my grandmother, who gave me to her oldest son and his wife, who was the oldest brother of my mother,” he said. “I was over here two years, got citizenship papers, and was adopted.”
In 1955, Barry Wright visited England with his adoptive parents, Edwin and Mary Wright. At that point the family opted to keep the identity of his mother a secret.
“While we were over there, I met Joan and I was told she was my aunt,” he said
He recalls being confused when his adoptive father and maternal grandmother argued about meeting “aunt” Joan, causing his grandmother to walk out of his life for good.
“She just left and I never saw her after that, ever,” he said.
Unbeknownst to Wright, his biological mother gave birth to a daughter in 1948 who was immediately put up for adoption. In fact, Wright didn’t learn he was adopted until he stumbled upon some documents.
“In the late 1950s, I found my adoption papers,” he said. “I confronted my (adoptive) mother about it and she finally told me, but my father never admitted it to me.”
His father died in the early 1960s, his grandmother died later that same decade and nearly 10 years passed before he saw Joan again.
“In 1977, I reunited with my biological mother,” he said. “We talked a lot on the phone, she came here and visited and I went there and visited.”
During the reunion, Wright tried to dig into his roots but the family deception continued.
“I was told I had no brothers or sisters and she wouldn’t tell me anything about my biological father,” he said. “The only thing I knew about my (biological) father was his name was on my birth certificate. When I came home from England I was a little disappointed and couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Although he attempted to form a bond with his biological mother, Wright drifted away because she seemed overbearing.
“She wanted to take the place of my mother who raised me,” he said. “I told her, ‘you didn’t raise me, this is my mother and that’s the way it is.’”
When he lost his adoptive mother in 1980, Wright contacted Joan to share the news and the two lost contact shortly thereafter.
His life continued and he put the situation out of mind until this July, when there came a knock on the door from the Ocean City-Berlin Rotary Club President Cliff Berg.
“He said ‘I have a letter here for you,’ and I thought I was being served with papers. I was dumbfounded.”
To Wright’s amazement it was no summons, but was from the sister he didn’t know he had, Brenda Moorhouse from Stockport, England.
For more than half a century, Moorhouse had searched through public records to locate her brother after her adoptive parents told her of her family background.
“Since she was 15 years old, she has been searching and over the years she put more pieces together,” he said. “In this letter was how I got here, the ship that I was brought over on, and how I entered the country.”
As she narrowed her search over the intervening decades, Moorhouse tried numerous local channels until eventually contacting the Rotary International.
“I had tried to contact local help in your area, adoption societies, newspapers, TV and radio stations to no avail and then I tried the Rotary,” she said. “The terrific chap there took a copy of an email that I sent.”
For his part, Berg said he was leery after Moorhouse’s email was forwarded to him and contacted her for more particulars.
“His sister did research on a manifest of a ship that came over and she thought she had a brother,” he said.
Delighted to make apparent headway, Moorhouse sent a letter for Berg to deliver to Wright, who just happened to live within walking distance of his south Ocean Pines abode.
“I knocked on the door and explained I had a letter,” he said. “He was taken aback and didn’t really believe it so I let it sit.”
Wright was unsure how to react to the news.
“I said, ‘I don’t really know where to go with this, I’m shocked,’” he said. “This was a segment of my life that I knew about, but I knew nothing about.”
Despite his mixed reaction, Wright asked Berg to confirm receipt of the letter with Moorhouse and promised to make contact.
Berg was delighted when he later heard the two had begun conversing.
“She then called me and said his wife motivated him to reach out,” he said. “The part I played was small but I was excited to be involved. It’s fun the Rotary was part of that.”
For her part Moorhouse was grateful for the intervention of a third party.
“I was concerned about first contact because I knew that Barry was older than myself and did not know about his health,” she said. “I didn’t want to shock him.”
Since initial contact this summer the siblings have spoken on a near daily basis through Facetime.
“Barry knew nothing of me and didn’t get in touch for some weeks after initial contact…but then he did and now we speak everyday,” she said. “Both of us and our families are so pleased.”
Over the last several months Wright has continued to process the life-changing revelation.
“I’m 70 years old and I’m told I have a sister, to be honest I feel very jilted about it,” he said. “It was cool when I think about it, but here I am like, ‘this is weird.’ Her side was excitement; my side, I’m bewildered.”
The pair continues to talk daily and have tentatively scheduled trips to visit each other next year.
“I never had any brothers and sisters growing up so now I have another family,” he said. “The biggest pill to swallow for me is how many years do we have to enjoy this. I’m getting better at dealing with it and having good feelings about it, but at the same time it’s been an emotional rollercoaster.”