FOUR generations of the same family gathered at Bury Town Hall to celebrate the reuniting of a brother and sister after 74 years.

The Radcliffe Times revealed in March how a chance remark brought together 81-year-old Albert Holt and his younger sister, Joyce Catchpole, (78). Albert was just seven years old when he last saw Joyce.

The two, who were born in Bury, were sent to the workhouse for adoption in 1929, after their mother died and their father found that he could not cope. The brother and sister lost touch when Joyce was adopted and taken from the area. Albert tried in vain for years to find his sister. But it was a chance remark made by Albert's son, Ronald, to a friend at a local pub which finally led to Joyce, who was living in Wigan.

Albert was still living in Radcliffe. The couple were finally reunited at the end of February.

On Sunday, about 50 members of the family, many of whom were meeting for the first time, came together at the Elizabethan Suite at Bury Town Hall.

Joyce said: "It was a wonderful occasion, as a few of us had met earlier in the year, but this time all the members of the family came together.

"We tried so hard to find each other, and now we have. We are never going to lose touch again."

Albert's wife, Dorothy, said: "It was a big celebration and a chance to meet the family we did not know we had until recently."