A former Sunderland woman's search for a photo of her late dad: Can you help with her precious wish?

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Anne Bartlett, (nee Atkinson), 76, used to be a Saturday girl at Woolworths, and went to Bede Grammar School.

She worked at the Sunderland Forge until March 1967 when she emigrated to Toronto in Canada.

She has had a busy life which has included jobs with the Department of Immigration, working as a driving instructor, and then a pharmaceutical company for 17 years in sales and marketing before her last job with a large American transport company.

Anne Bartlett (nee Atkinson) has made the appeal.

But now she wants to find a photo of her dad John Emery Atkinson, who she believes she last saw when she was two.

She said: “I am still searching, have done an appeal on Facebook and was even back in the UK but was not able to find a picture.

“I have seen the records of his date of birth, date of death and date of marriage to my mother, Margery Ethel Stafford in 1944.

“I was born August 30th, 1945, and he is listed on my birth certificate as John Emery Atkinson, a baker's labourer.

The grave of Anne's father. She would love to trace a photo of him.

“The only additional information I now have is a photograph of his headstone, with mention of his mother and father.”

Anne now lives in Wingham which is ‘a small town in rural Ontario in Canada.

She said: “It would be wonderful to have a picture of my Dad to place alongside my Mom and I, as, from the details on his headstone, I am surmising he had no more children.”

Anne said it would ‘make my day if I could just see his face and share the story with my family, here in Canada. I feel that when I go, that will be the end of him.

Anne Bartlett pictured during her work for the Salvation Army in Wingham, Canada.

“I realise that there are a million stories like mine in Britain, but I am passionate to get closure as I am now 76, and, living through this pandemic has given me lots to think about. I want my daughter, and the subsequent generations to know where they came from.”

Can you help? If you can, send an email to [email protected] and if there is an aspect of Sunderland history you would like us to report on, email [email protected]

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