A Huddersfield-born woman now living in South Africa is anxious to trace more information about her grandfather.

Deirdre Corthouts – who was born at the Princess Maternity Home on October 1, 1945 – said her late grandfather, Robert Field, was a very accomplished man.

She said: “When I was little I remember seeing a newspaper clipping in my mother’s memory box. It also had a photo. He invented a safety device for a loom in the mill where he worked, designed the machine that gave coin change on buses and trams and also wrote a song for the local team, Claret and Gold. He also held records for swimming underwater.

“Unfortunately my mother passed away in 1977 and I never found the clipping.

“I believe he passed away before I was born in 1945. Unfortunately, I do not even know when he was born. I believe the family may have lived in Bankfield Road at one time.”

Deirdre, 69, said her father, Robert Hall, was a corporal in the Royal Air Force and he was born on August 2, 1908. Her mother’s name was Joyce Hall (nee Field) and her date of birth was February 4, 1916.

The address on Deirdre’s birth certificate was given as 50 Bankfield Road, off Manchester Road.

Deirdre added: “My mother was one of four children. Her siblings were Daisy, Keith and Brian. Brian was in the armed forces and apparently was able to speak and read several languages. Their mother ran a boarding house and my mother used to tell me that a lot of showbusiness people stayed there, including Gracie Fields.

Deirdre Corthouts

“I managed to find a photograph of Auntie Daisy with her husband Jack Caufield, and actor Ronald Fraser taken in October 1963 at the Royal Halifax theatre. I also remember that their son, David Caufield, was an ABA boxing champion when he was young.

In 1947 Deirdre and her parents emigrated to Rhodesia and sailed on a ship called the Athlone Castle.

She added: “I know my mother was in contact with her sister Daisy and used to receive letters and news from her. My mother passed away in Zimbabwe in June 1977. My father returned to Southport where he originally came from in the early 80s and passed away in June 1998.

“I grew up in Salisbury (now Harare) Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) moving to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1975 on transfer from Nestle, the company I worked at for over 40 years. I am married to Maurice (a Belgian), with three children Belinda, Riki and Rozanne (now deceased).”

The couple have nine grandchildren and live in the same house when they first married in a suburb called Randburg in Johannesburg.

Anyone with information should contact Deirdre at deirdrecorthouts@yahoo.com