For as long as she could remember, Pebbles Cordeiro heard references to her brother Billy whenever her large family was discussed.

Born long after he left the Island, she neither knew the man nor had any idea what he looked like. All his siblings knew was that he had left the Island as a teenager and failed to keep in contact.

Eventually, Mrs. Cordeiro began to believe that Billy Lewis either never existed or was dead. Then came a school project that would change the entire family's life forever.

In November, 2000 her daughter, Terrylynn, a student at Berkeley Institute, was given an assignment to research her family tree as far back as she could.

Coming from such a large family meant that a search begun so innocently at the National Archives would become a frustrating international quest that was to consume her life for the next two years.

“As a working mother, I could only help Terrylynn with her research on Saturdays, but Archives was closed then, and we were getting nowhere,” Mrs. Cordeiro recalls. Referred to the National Library to look up the book, ‘19th Century Church Registers' by Dr. A.C. Hollis Hallett, she found the volume was not available. Fortunately, however, she was able to borrow a copy of from someone else, and began with her grandmother's name.

For Christmas and her birthday, her husband and children gave her all but one of the other volumes in the series. Every night when Mrs. Cordeiro came home from work she searched their pages - parish by parish - for family members. She also signed up for a host of internet databases - everything from ancestors.com to findagrave.com.

Searching North America and the UK for ‘William Arthur Lewis', she discovered that there were many men with that name. She even wrote to Robert Stack of ‘Unsolved Mysteries' and the medium James Van Praagh of ‘The Beyond Show' but got no response.

Near the end of last year, weary and frustrated, ‘Pebbles' Cordeiro made herself a promise: After November 30 she would cease looking for the brother she had never known. He was probably dead, she decided.

Meanwhile, in England the more William Arthur Lewis recovered from his amnesia, the more he began to wonder if he had any family. He remembered he was from Bermuda, but his ex-wife had long ago destroyed all of his personal records, including his passport.

“I was determined to find out if I had any family left in Bermuda because I wanted to make my will,” Mr. Lewis says. “So I contacted the Police in Hamilton and was told of one brother who was dead.”

In all, he would spend about ?20,000 before his search was over.

Ironically, both his and his sisters' quests involved the Salvation Army, which was ultimately responsible for linking the two.

On December 10, 2002, nine days after she planned to end her search, Pebbles Cordeiro received the magic phone call to say the organisation had located her brother. Armed with his phone number, she paced the kitchen floor in a state of nerves, crying and smoking, for hours.

A thousand thoughts crowded her restless mind. What if he rejected her? Resented her intrusion? Wanted nothing to do with his Bermuda family?

Finally, she could stand it no more. At 10 p.m. the phone rang in Billy Lewis' home, where he was upstairs relaxing. Sheepishly, Mr. Lewis admits he was “a bit rude”.

“She started asking me these questions about the family and I said, ‘What the hell do you want to know my business for? Who the hell are you'?”

“I think I'm your baby sister,” Pebbles replied.

“I don't have any bleddy baby sister,” was his curt response. “The only sisters I have are Wilhemina and Pat.”

They agreed that each would answer three questions to confirm that they had found the right relative: their mother's, grandmother's and stepfather's names.

With the correct answers given, Mr. Lewis was so overcome with emotion that he could no longer speak. Several hours later he called back, but this time the mood was different.

“He was very sassy,” Mrs.Cordeiro remembers. “But as we talked he told me things that only a real brother would know, and finally I said, ‘Billy, you are my real brother.”

The siblings talked for over three hours, and decided on a Christmas reunion in Bermuda. Unfortunately, however, all flights were booked, as were those which coincided with Mrs. Cordeiro's birthday. Finally, on Saturday, January 11, their cherished dreams came true, and Billy Lewis, at the end of his first-ever flight, emerged from the Civil Air Terminal to a royal welcome he could never have imagined.

Since then, he has been smothered with love and attention, and has spent every waking moment catching up on years of family news and events, meeting old friends, sightseeing, visiting places with special memories, surprising a brother in a seniors' home, and generally enjoying all the things that make a long-cherished homecoming special. So special, in fact, that already Mr. Lewis has booked to return in July to celebrate his 66th birthday. Although his parents, grandmother and four of his siblings are no longer alive, his extended family, which includes 25 nieces and nephews, are certain to make the party memorable.

As to why he never kept in touch for 47 years, Mr. Lewis says it was because he can neither read nor write.

To others who are still searching for loved ones, Mrs. Cordeiro says: “Never give up hope of finding a missing family member. You can find that needle in a haystack.” Meanwhile, she has high praise for schools who encourage students to learn more about their genealogical history.

“Getting children to research their family tree beyond the basics is invaluable because Terrylynn has not only found her uncle but also has put a whole family back together after 47 years.”

Wrapping her uncle in a bear hug, the Berkeley senior student concurs.

“I'm so glad I found him,” she smiles. “I really like him. He's the best.”