Acworth Man Finds Long Lost British Daughter

Tanya King from the UK was 18 when she received a birthday card from a man she had never met. It was from her father.

“The envelope was postmarked Atlanta. I knew I had a father somewhere in America, but I didn’t think the card would be from him. The card said, ‘It’s your Dad, happy birthday’, and contained a telephone number. I called him and we arranged to meet.”

Colin Robinson originally from Nottingham, now living in Acworth, found his daughter Tanya after a search on 192.com, the UK’s leading people-finding website. 

192.com contains names and addresses drawn from the UK’s telephone directory and the edited electoral roll, and attracts half a million searches a day.   “I broke up with Tanya’s mom before we knew she was pregnant and I later emigrated to America,” Mr Robinson said.

“Although I was paying maintenance through the Michigan court system they were unable to tell me where Tanya was, as the cheques weren’t going directly to her,” he added. 

“In 2006 when Tanya turned 18 I started looking through millions of the UK’s public records on 192.com. I quickly found Tanya on the site. “We began to write and exchange photographs and talked about meeting up.”

Dominic Blackburn, Product Director of 192.com said: “192.com reunites thousands of families and friends and we are delighted to have helped in this case.”

In 2007 Colin told Tanya that he was meeting his family in a Nottingham pub and invited her to come and meet him.

“I doubt he thought I actually would come along,” said Tanya, “but after a drink for Dutch courage I found him in the bar and introduced myself. I just went up to him on impulse. ‘Hi Dad,’ I said, he was shocked.”  

“It was a surprise as the reunion happened two days earlier than we had planned,” said Colin, but we had lots of friends and family in the pub and that helped relax us.”

Mr Robinson, 49, a Product Manager for an industrial microscope firm advises those looking for long lost family to only do so when they are ready. “I’m happy that I’ve met Tanya and have been able to have a good relationship with her, but it’s a very personal decision to reconnect,” he says.

In 2008 Tanya went to stay with Colin in Atlanta, where she met his family. “It was the first time I had travelled outside the country. I took a mate from work to look after me.  Atlanta has a massive airport and we got lost.”

“Eventually I found him with his Texan wife Mary. I would have loved her to have been my mum, she’s such a nice lady.“The best bit was going home to his big house, and sitting there next to my Dad. I felt nice and looked after. Dad and I walk the same way, and have the same eyes and feet.”

Tanya and her friend Tony, Colin and Mary took a road trip together through America’s Deep South, traveling for a week from Atlanta to Orlando. “It was amazing,” Tanya said, “It was 30 degrees and so clean I would love to live in America.”  

As a child, Tanya became aware that she didn’t have a father, and had asked her mother where he was, but never got an informative reply and assumed they would never meet. After meeting Colin, Tanya changed her surname to his by deed-poll. 

Tanya has Asperger’s syndrome which makes it difficult for her to work for other people. Last year she lost her job and her home. “I didn’t become homeless, but I had to stay with friends to survive.”

Tanya is now living with her partner, Tara 24, near Nottingham. She has just started a business producing bespoke ID cards. “Dad is helping design the website and it’s going to be a brilliant enterprise. I’ll design any type of card, from photo ID cards to access entry cards and gift cards,” Tanya says.  

She adds: “I had the opportunity to go to the USA, but I made the heart breaking decision to stay in the UK at the time. I will still go to America when the time is right.  I have a lot of respect for my Dad, I’ve looked up to him over the years, and one day I hope to follow in his footsteps and be a success like he is.  

“I’m 25 and still young. My partner and I have plenty of time to live abroad and it isn't something that we need to rush into. The opportunity will come one day and I will take it.”