A family network: Grandmother uses LinkedIn to track down her long-lost brother after 73 YEARS when bowls tournament opponent who shares the same name prompted her to renew search

Published: 11:03, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 11:20, 28 June 2026 A grandmother met her long-lost brother after nearly eight decades, having tracked him down on LinkedIn and identifying him by the family's distinctive nose.  Gill Thompson, 73, only discovered her estranged father, Colin Bardsley, at 25 after receiving a Christmas card from her paternal grandfather. She later uncovered her father's move to Cape Town, South Africa, where he remarried and had a son, Michael Bardsley. Despite searching for him in the late 1990s, she was unable to trace her half-brother.  The grandmother-of-four resumed her search in August 2025 after competing against a man with the same surname at a bowls tournament.  Her 31-year-old daughter Sammy turned to LinkedIn and eventually tracked Michael down, recognising him by the family's unmistakable nose.  The siblings met for the first time on June 8 at Colwyn Bay railway station.  Ms Thompson, a retired PE teacher from Llandudno, north Wales, described feeling 'very emotional' as her brother's train pulled into the platform.  'We embraced as only a long-lost brother and sister could do. We had a happy evening catching up on a lifetime of memories,' she added. Gill Thompson met her long-lost brother Michael Bardsley after nearly eight decades Michael, a sports film producer from Cape Town, recalled: 'I saw the joy on my sister's face and a flood of emotion and memories of my dad kicked in.  'As we hugged the reality sank in, after a lifetime apart I was now holding on to my closest living relative.' The 64-year-old said the meeting was 'worth every mile', having battled to reach his sister after a 'frustrating' journey of cancelled trains. Ms Thompson's parents, Joyce Priestley and Colin Bardsley, married in 1952 after finding out they were expecting their daughter. However, they separated before she was born and later divorced.  Ms Thompson said she 'never knew anything' about her father, saying: 'I never asked and mum never said. I was just happy and never thought about it. 'Other kids at school talked about "mummy and daddy", I just said "I don't have a daddy", for me it was "mummy and nanna", that was normal.' The now-grandmother only saw her father's face for the first time in 1986 after her mother died aged 56, when she found a photo from her parents' wedding. 'I felt as though mum wanted me to find it eventually,' she said. The siblings met for the first time on June 8 at Colwyn Bay railway station, after Michael travelled to England from his home in Cape Town, South Africa Ms Thompson's daughter Sammy tracked down Michael on LinkedIn, identifying him by the family's distinctive nose Ms Thompson, a retired PE teacher from Llandudno, north Wales, described '[embracing] as only a long-lost brother and sister could do' at the train station 'I was amazed and excited to see it. He looked quite like me.' Ms Thompson, also mother to 34-year-old son Nick, discovered Michael's existence when she searched for births, marriages and deaths records 27 years ago.  However, her search was halted after her then-husband, Ian Hainey, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. He passed away in 2004. Three decades later, and married to 79-year-old Peter Thompson, Ms Thompson found herself playing against a Michael Bardsley in the Colwyn Bay Crown-Green Bowls Festival in August 2025.  Reigniting the wish to find the family member, Ms Thompson's daughter discovered Mr Bardsley's LinkedIn profile and directly messaged him with her number.  'Sammy was sure it was him. She said we have the same nose,' Ms Thompson said.  'It is the same nose my dad had, and my son has it too.'  After Mr Bardsley called Sammy in September, the siblings spent half an hour chatting on FaceTime.  Ms Thompson's parents, Joyce Priestley and Colin Bardsley (pictured), married in 1952 after finding out they were expecting their daughter. However, they separated before she was born and later divorced Mr Bardsley had always known his father had another child, but never had enough information to find her.  Ms Thompson described being 'so excited and nervous' before finally meeting her brother.  'He said "this is the most wonderful thing ever", and it was,' she recounted.  'We talked for ages. We both laugh a lot and we are both into, and work in, sport.'  The reunion also led Ms Thompson to discover her father had a sister with three children - their cousins Jacqueline, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, Nicola, from Northwich, Cheshire, and Alison, from London.  The siblings now text every week and FaceTime every fortnight, after Mr Bardsley stayed with his sister in June for two weeks. During the visit, the pair also met with their newly discovered cousins.  Ms Thompson described the siblings as both being 'delighted', adding: 'This wouldn't have been possible at all without the internet.'  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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