Musician traces long-lost family to Ghana after discovering his father's secret life

In 2011, Joe Jaquest Oteng embarked on a family history voyage that would change the course of his life forever.

His father had sadly passed away, and soon after, Joe began the painstaking process of clearing out the house. It was during this that he found a box of documents beneath his father’s bed.

This box kickstarted a drive to discover who his father really was, and ultimately track down a family that he knew nothing about over the next 10 years.

It contained a 1974 marriage certificate to an unknown woman called Irene, a passport with a different birth date for his father, and a photo album packed with faces that Joe did not recognise.

In Joe's own words:

Joe initially put the documents to the back of his mind as he focused on organising the funeral, clearing the house, and starting his music career. However, when the pandemic hit years later, he was forced to put his career on hold. 

Armed with the scant details he already knew about his father, he used our records here at Findmypast to begin his detective work.

He found that his dad, Peter Afriyie Oteng, had arrived in the UK from Ghana in 1964 at the age of 28, and attended Harlech College in Wales. He later worked at the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), and in 1987 met Joe’s mum, Su, at a conference.

The family lived together in Wolverhampton in the 90s, before his parents separated in 1998 and Joe divided his time between them.

Joe started digging into historical newspapers for more details.

As Joe's voyage into his heritage continued, he uncovered the reason his father had lied about his age and made himself a decade younger: so that he could bypass the Civil Service’s strict retirement policy and continue to work.

But it was when Joe discovered a scrap of paper in the box with a return address to a J.W. Oteng in Kpong, Ghana, that he felt he was edging closer to uncovering his father’s family and mysterious wife.

After extensive Googling, he found a lead in the form of Professor Alfred Apau Oteng-Yeboah, who had written an article online about his dad’s hometown, and sent him an email.

With Edward’s help, Joe was able to put names to many of the people in his father’s photo album. He found out that he had hundreds of cousins, most of whom were in Ghana. 

The decision was made: Joe needed to travel to Ghana to reconnect with this hidden heritage. He booked the flight and just a few months later, in January, he jetted off to finally meet his father's long-lost family.

Once he arrived, te whole picture began to click into place for Joe. Upon meeting the village residents, he uncovered that his dad had actually been the son of the village chief, and was one of 69 children in total. Joe met many of his relations, and they even held a ceremony for him:

The trip also allowed Joe to piece together the final element of the puzzle: his dad’s mystery wife, Irene. The family put him in touch with Irene, and he organised to meet her on the last day of the trip.

As it turned out, Joe's father and Irene had met and married in Birmingham, but Irene had later returned home to Ghana. She had expected Peter to follow her - but he never did.

Joe has documented his family history journey in his series Hidden Roots on YouTube. He concludes:

It's an incredible story of love and loss, and one which has brought Joe ever-closer to understanding his heritage.

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