I found more than 3,000 long-lost relatives after discovering my great-gran had cheated on her husband
A MUSICIAN found more than 3,000 long-lost relatives after discovering his great-gran had cheated on her husband.
Bob Brooker, 72, decided to research his family tree in lockdown.
He loaded a DNA test into Ancestry.co.uk and was contacted by Jack Torch, who was a match.
They could find no link until Bob learned Jack’s Italian grandad Antonio Tocci lived in Tooting, South London, in 1891 — opposite his own great-gran Annie Woombell.
She got pregnant while her husband served with the Royal Marines and kept the paternity secret.
Organ grinder Antonio fathered at least 13 kids — with 3,136 living descendants who have their own Facebook group.
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Bob, of Lyme Regis, Dorset, said: “He sounded like a real character.
“It's a great story.
“If I was a novelist I'd have written a book about it but I'm a musician so I wrote a song instead.
“There's so many in my new-found family that if all of my relatives each buy a copy, it'll be a hit.”
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He now aims to visit relatives in Frosinone, Lazio.