READERS of The Northern Echo are being asked to help a granddaughter fill in the missing link in her family tree.

Rena Cuddigan has spent five years trying to find out more about her late grandfather Albert Proud who was born in Witton-le-Wear, near Bishop Auckland, in 1880, and died in Coventry, on October 16 1945.

She knows there are members of the Proud family in south Durham and hopes some of them will remember Albert, whose sister Elizabeth taught music in the Bishop Auckland area, and died in 1965.

He worked as an accountant and moved to Stockton on his short-lived marriage to Elizabeth Russell.

Before they separated, the couple had two children, Molly, who lived with her mother, and Mrs Cuddigan's father, Eric, who was brought up by Elizabeth.

Although Mrs Cuddigan has her grandfather's death certificate, she cannot find out where he was buried.

Mrs Cuddigan can be contacted on 0208 488 9019.