Author using grandad's name discovers his long-lost relatives

An author from Hebden Bridge has discovered long-lost relatives after using his grandad’s name as his pseudonym.

Harry Heape is launchied his debut children’s book, Shiny Tippin and The Broken Forest, about a little girl who can talk to animals, at Something Sweet.

But the twist in the tale is that Harry has been contacted by long-lost relatives, including his mum’s sister, whose son spotted Harry’s Twitter account while researching their family tree.

Harry, who has lived in Hebden Bridge for 20 years and works at Suma in Elland, said: “It’s all by chance really.

“I think the family were always online looking for Harry Heape but nothing was coming up.

“Then my mum happened to mention to me that it was grandad’s birthday one day so I mentioned it on Twitter, which the family saw.

“I started a Twitter account under my pseudonym and got a message from a man saying he was researching his family tree. His mum had been told in 2004 that the man she thought was her father actually wasn’t but was a man called Harry Heape.

“He had letters from him to his mum naming my mum and my auntie, so I knew they were genuine. When I told my mum she was shocked. She’s going to meet her for lunch in Manchester.”