Can Rootschat members help? - Lost Teddy Bear 'Seeks' Owner

[millymcb]

I think more accurately - the "most likely" father and two children have been provisionally identified - but we need to actually make contact with the family to confirm if Rootschatters are right or not.

Milly

[Trancesgirl]

Thank - when I read "family found" - I thought it had been re-united - I hope someone claims it but will teach me to read things properly

[trystan]

The bear has now been claimed, by Robert Glyn Baker who lost the bear on the way to Cyprus.
A press announcment has been made, whcih was received below. Unfortunatley, no mention of all of us here on RootsChat.com though.

NEWS COPY – WITH PICTURES

The mystery of a 100-year-old dog-eared teddy bear found abandoned in an airport departure lounge has finally been solved.
 

Airport staff found the antique bear, which has one eye and a floppy ear, in a bag with a frayed black and white photo, dated March 1918, of him being cuddled by two little children.
 

Unlike Paddington Bear, the toy had no name tag but a message in faded ink on the back of the picture read: "With dearest love and kisses to our darling Daddie from your loving little daughters Dora and Glyn."
 

Staff at Bristol Airport made a public appeal to try and trace the owner earlier this year but were unable to find any living relatives until a campaign by The Mature Times, a newspaper for the over 50s.
 

Reader Robert Glyn Baker spotted the story and recognised the bear as a family heirloom he lost while travelling through the airport on his way to Cyprus.
 

He said: “I was stunned when I got a cutting of the Mature Times in the post and saw my bear on the front page.
 

“I thought it was lost forever, I was convinced it had been destroyed.”
 

The bear was found in 2012 and staff spent 14 months trawling flight records to see if they could find any two passengers with the same names as those mentioned on the back of the picture.
 

When they could not they appealed for help from the public and a number of experts stepped forward to help with the search.
 

They were able to trace the date of the picture after they discovered a second message on the picture, which said: "taken on Baby's birthday March 4th 1918, one year and five-months-old."
 

But, despite tracing who the children were they were unable to find them.
 

Robert spotted his bear - nicknamed 'Bristo' by staff - after his former wife sent him a cutting of the Mature Times front page from January.
 

The gobsmacked dad-of-one, who is still in Cyprus, was so shocked when he realised his bear was still out there he immediately rang the paper to try and get him back.
 

“I'm an only child and my auntie Dora didn't have any children either so I am the only person that could have got the bear,” Robert said.
 

“My mum gave him a different nose, he has pads on his arms too. I think I gave him a rough time when I was a kid!
 

“It’s the sentimental value really, my hands were so full with what I was carrying I thought I had left it in the toilet.  I had so much with me, but like a fool I left it in the airport.
 

“I would love to have it back.”

[Treetotal]

Oh thanks for the update Trystan...What a wonderful outcome and a real sense of achievement for those of us who spent hours trawling through records....Boy and bear now reunited...and all the sceptics have also been proved wrong 
Carol

[LizzieW]

What a shame they didn't mention Rootschat.  Did the readers of The Mature Times (whatever that is) have as much input as Rootschatter?  I guess they ran the story and the owner just saw it.  You do wonder why the owner would carry such a precious bear around with him.

[toffeebear]

Great news!! Well done to all you 'experts' on Rootschat who helped to solve the mystery!

[trystan]

What a shame they didn't mention Rootschat.  Did the readers of The Mature Times (whatever that is) have as much input as Rootschatter?  I guess they ran the story and the owner just saw it.  You do wonder why the owner would carry such a precious bear around with him.

This is the story they ran, last Wednesday: www.rootschat.com/links/0xtm/

Trystan

[myluck!]

Great News!

As with much family research it is taken for granted rather than applauded!

LizzieW
Book #1 "Who do I belong to?"
your quote:You do wonder why the owner would carry such a precious bear around with him
The follow-on book "How I got to where I am!"

[jess5athome]

Sad that Rootschat members were not mentioned, But .................................................
Wow! you've got that "Warm Feeling" inside of you all. 
Well done to every single one of you.

Frank.