The family of Bermudian retiree Charles Jeffers unexpectedly grew, after an article about him appeared in The Royal Gazette in March.

“Growing up in Bermuda, my family was really quite small,” the 83-year-old said.

His mother, Sarah Francis, was the only one of three siblings to have children. His father, Henry Hubert Jeffers, was originally from St Kitts & Nevis, and did not have any other family in Bermuda. Charles was little when his father, an Angle Street shoemaker, died.

Two years ago, after years spent running the Heritage Educational Funds International, Charles and his wife, Juneia, moved to St Kitts to relax, and explore their shared heritage there. Juneia’s grandmother was also from the region.

After The Royal Gazette interviewed the couple about their relocation, Charles received an e-mail from a previously unknown family member.

“One of my relatives in England did a Google search for the name Jeffers and came up with the article,” he said. “She immediately messaged her sister, Fenella Jeffers. Fenella lives in England but has a home in Nevis and spends several months out of the year there.”

Mr Jeffers has one older sister left.

“Suddenly, we find we have all of these first cousins on my father’s side,” he said. “It is just overwhelming.”

Fenella, 68, was born in Nevis.

“When I was little my family moved to England,” she told The Royal Gazette. “I turned six on the boat as we were going over there.”

She grew up in Leeds, a destination for many St Kitts & Nevis immigrants, during the fifties. Today, the Yorkshire city of 800,000 people, is known for its annual, long standing West Indian carnival.

In England, Fenella’s parents split up.

“We only visited my father, Max Jeffers, occasionally,” she said. “I did not really know him or his side of the family and that really bothered me.”

She had no idea her father had a brother who moved to Bermuda.

After retiring from a counselling job in England, she decided it was time to return to her roots. She wanted to spend more time in Nevis and learn more about her family.

She was excited when her sister sent her the link to The Royal Gazette article.

“I thought, let’s give it a go,” she said.

However, she was not really sure how to get in touch with Charles.

“The comments section did not work,” she said.

Then she remembered that the instructor at her aqua aerobics class in Nevis was Bermudian, Annette Lewis.

“I had only been to the class once before,” she said. “The second time I took the class, I asked her if she knew Charles. She said ‘yes’, and had his number on her phone.”

Fenella was a little surprised that Ms Lewis knew her cousin and had his number so readily on hand.

“I suppose I should not have been surprised because I have this idea that we are all related,” she said.

Charles was excited to hear from this new cousin.

“We knew that my father had a brother, Max, but knew nothing about him,” he said. “All of the sudden our little family has expanded. Fenella and her sister are a bit younger than me, in their sixties and seventies.”

His father Henry Hubert, and Fenella’s father, Max, were half-brothers.

“My father’s biological father was James Byron,” Charles said. “He died and my grandmother, Geraldine Rawlins, married Benjamin Jeffers, a carpenter. He was Max’s father. Max also became a carpenter and joiner. He never came to Bermuda.”

Charles and Fenella spoke on the phone. He gave her a photo of their shared grandmother, Geraldine Rawlins. They also compared photos of their fathers.

There were similarities between Max and Henry Hubert Jeffers.

“It was an exciting few days,” Charles said.

They made plans to meet at a café in Nevis called Just Desserts.

“It is not far from the pier,” Fenella said. “We sat down to have a cup of coffee. We just talked and talked and then went somewhere else for lunch, and talked and talked some more. He is very easy to talk to.”

Right away, she loved her new cousin’s enthusiasm.

“It is good to meet someone like that and to know that he has taken this very seriously,” she said. “It was wonderful to find someone who had done so much research.”

She is more focused on building family connections because she has found genealogy research to be challenging.

“I last went to the Historical Society in Nevis in 2009,” she said. “I now have to look at my notes and see what I have. Part of the problem in leaving such a gap is forgetting what I have written. I need to go back to it.”

She still felt amazed to have met her first cousin.

“We will definitely get together again,” she said. “There is still so much to talk about and information to share about the family. It is not about meeting once and that is it. This is a new chapter.”

Next year, Charles may also have the chance to meet some of Fenella’s extended family, two children and three grandchildren.

“There is talk of them coming to Nevis for a visit,” she said. “Hopefully, that will happen in 2025.”