Hi Nancy I have had similar results to Adrian, very little response to how many I have sent out, one lady replied although not connected and was very helpful and happy to be so , although I know categorically that one family I wrote to are related they will not communicate, why I do not know However in chasing up a lead I found to my surprise that my grandfather had two half brothers, one died with one daughter who never married or had children , the other I eventually traced to South Africa, found his death notice which gave me the names of three children, one a girl had married and it gave her married name, not an unusual one unfortunately, I thought the children would probably all have shuffled off this mortal coil but on the off chance tried the online SA phone book, I found a surname that matched with just initials in the area the half brother had died in some 40 years before So I sent a letter on the off chance giving a brief of the family and connection, I enclosed an SAE and a few weeks went by and frankly I had forgotten all about it One Thursday evening the phone rang, my wife said theres someone on the phone for me, on picking it up I found the daughter on the other end from South Africa I can only liken it to throwing a dart from 100 yards away with a blindfold on and scoring a bulls eye I should add that I don't think my father knew the half brothers existence any more than I did, sadly he is not here to discuss it with So the moral of the tale is give it a go, you never know unless you try Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) > Hello, > I am writing for direction as to the best type of letter to write to > possible relatives (same surname, & county) that I have never met, but who > I > have located via the Ancestry UK phone directories. Understanding the > importance of the connections, I also want to do it sensitively and > professionally. I live in the U.S., and our attitudes on this may be very > different. Also using the address from the book, is that all I need? > Example: > John Smith (alias) 41 Smith Avenue, Town, Durham, DH6 4LT Town Durham > UK??? > > many thanks for any experiences shared, and any good orderly direction! > regards > Nancy

Hi again Just saw a couple of replies and thought I would also mention (as I forgot previously) Remember to include your e mail address and a telephone number On my situation re South Africa, this brought forth a photo of my great grandmother, something I never thought I would see So as others have said, go for it :-) Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) > Hi Nancy > > I have had similar results to Adrian, very little response to how many I > have sent out, one lady replied although not connected and was very > helpful and happy to be so , although I know categorically that one family > I wrote to are related they will not communicate, why I do not know