It all began with a familiar name above a butcher's door.
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The former mayor of Wingecarribee Shire Council, and lawn bowls extraordinaire Gordon Lewis was wandering around the English rural city Hereford and there he noticed a butcher shop called Heggies of Hereford Ltd.
The name Heggie was his long lost father's last name.
Lewis was admitted as an orphan to Barnardos on June 28, 1936, until he was 21 years old. He then had the decision to either go to Canada or Australia to live. He traveled to Australia as a Barnardos migrant on March 13, 1950.
The trip took six weeks, but one important thing took much longer to get to him in his home Down Under.
"I didn't get my Barnardos records till a few years ago," Gordon said.
"When I got them, I saw the name Charles Heggie. It's an unusual last name. I had kept my mother's name.
"I knew my father had been in the Hereford area and it was mentioned he was a butcher.
"I had visited Hereford a few times before and saw this butcher shop with the name Heggie. I thought to myself, I'm going to walk in there one day. I wanted to know if there was a connection.
"It was about 4.50pm one afternoon, and I asked if Mr Heggie was there? The assistant replied, yes that's him down there at the end of the counter.
"I approached the owner after he had finished with his customer and asked if he knew Howard Charles Heggie, he replied, yes that's my father.
"I replied, well, he's mine too."
Lewis's half brother James Heggie couldn't believe it, but knew instantly that there was a connection to this man.
"Four years ago, Gordon came into my butcher shop in Hereford," James said.
"He came into the shop with a baseball cap on and as he spoke to me, I instantly recognised him. Before he even spoke I knew I was connected with him.
"Gordon clasped his hands just like my father did and had the same blue eyes. All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It was like talking to my dad again.
"It was an absolutely amazing feeling. I couldn't believe it."
This immediate bond was formed and Gordon and James made sure to remain in contact. Now James has made the trip over to Australia to see Gordon and get to know his Australian family.
"Considering the age difference it's quite amazing," Gordon said.
"James rang me before his trip over. He couldn't do what I did and just show up unannounced (laughs)."
"It's amazing to have Gordon in my life now," James said.
"From my view, it's been very nice. Gordon has been very welcoming to me and my family. It's great that we've connected as a family.
"We'll be joined together now for generations to come. It's amazing what the tentacles of life will bring."
With so much time passing without having one another in their lives, there is a hint of sadness, but that is replaced with pride and happiness for each other.
"It's a little sad for me, because we should have known about each other a long time ago," James said.
"I'm a little younger than Gordon and we could have had all this time together. But for him to go through the Barnardos system and accomplished all the things he has done is amazing.
"I had never even heard of Bowral before, now I proudly tell all my customers and friends my brother was the mayor of Bowral (laughs)."