I've never met nor spoken to my maternal grandfather. When I was a kid, that didn't seem strange. Besides, I already had three grandparents and all of them were annoying, so I didn't want another one.

But after my mom died a few years ago, I decided to try to find him.

The photos

I already knew his name was Christopher Jenkins. I also had these two photos from my mom's belongings:

On the back of each photo was written "June 1962 - Christopher Jenkins aged 17". So now I knew his that his birth year was either 1944 or 1945.

My mom's diary

I also had my mom's teenage diaries. I read them even though I probably shouldn't have.

There were entries about my grandfather, like:

• 11 Jan 1980: Chris came down. I might be able to go with him Sunday as he is practising for deep sea diving.
• 13 Jan 1980: Chris came at 12 and he took me to the Belfry for a 3-course lunch. It was a fantastic afternoon. His bill must of been around £14.
• 29 Jan 1980: Chris phoned, apparently he has been in Bagot. [A local pub.]

She also mentioned an even older man who whose last name was also Jenkins:

• 5 Jan 1980: Mr Jenkins 60 today

'Mr Jenkins' had to be Christopher's dad, i.e. my great-grandfather.

Finding my grandfather's workplace

I asked my dad if he knew anything about the elusive Christopher Jenkins. "He's a millionaire," my dad said. "He's a self-employed trader, buying and selling stuff from China. His warehouse is near the railway station in Stetchford." Using Google, I found his business: C.J. Jenkins Wholesalers. It was right next to Stechford railway station, just like my dad said. And the warehouse was only two and a half miles from my family's house. Two and a half miles! All these years he'd only been a ten-minute drive away.

The phone number

The website also had a phone number. I was afraid to ring it, so I let my sister do it. She phoned the number - and success! She was speaking to our grandad!

I remember sitting in the garden while my sister talked to my grandad on the phone. She said, "Here you go, Paul, do you want to talk to him?" I was shy so I said no. Besides, I thought there would be countless more opportunities to talk to him in the future.

But I was wrong. There were no more phone calls. There were no emotional meet-ups. Even though I’d found my grandfather, he seemed to have no interest in meeting my family or even staying in touch with us.

Years later, I tried that phone number again. But this time, the number was dead.

The birth certificate

I decided to try a new line of investigation: getting my grandad’s birth certificate. The General Register Office lets you search birth records for free. Using this service, I found two relevant hits: a Christopher J Jenkins in Exeter in 1945, and another born in Birmingham in 1944. I guessed that the one born in Birmingham would be the most likely to be my grandfather, so I ordered a full birth certificate for him. You can actually order a birth certificate of anyone, as long as you have enough information.

The certificate came in the post a few days later. It revealed his date of birth (he was born on Christmas Eve, 1944) as well as the name of his mom and dad: Ernest Wilfred Jenkins and Violet Laura Holder.

My great-grandparents

Now I had my great-grandparents' names, I was able to find documents about them on Ancestry.com. I found a death index for Ernest Wilfred Jenkins, saying that his birth date was 5 Jan 1921. This collaborated with my mom's diary where she had written "Mr Jenkins 60 today" on 5 Jan 1980. Okay, so he was actually 59 that day, but it's still too close to be a co-incidence.

Bromsgrove & District Bowls Club

Recently I googled "Christopher John Jenkins" and checkcompany.co.uk was one of the results. This webpage says he was a director at Bromsgrove & District Bowls Club. So I googled "Bromsgrove & District Bowls Club" plus his name and I found a photo:

That's where the trail runs cold, for now. I suppose I could contact this bowls club and ask if Chris Jenkins will speak to me. I'll keep you updated.