Woodbridge man reunited with his family generational umbrella after losing it in London

A man has been reunited with his engraved umbrella that has been passed down several generations of his family after he lost it in London.

Henry Paulley, 29, visited the Morpeth Arms pub in Westminster in July this year.

He accidentally left behind his old umbrella, which is engraved on the handle with "Dr Paulley, Eyke 263".

It is extremely special to Henry's family, who are originally from Suffolk, having been handed down several generations.

The umbrella was handed into the lost and found at the pub and became known as the "special umbrella" by those who worked there.

It took some detective work from Narze Blake at the Morpeth Arms, posting on Suffolk Facebook groups, to track down the family.

Mr Paulley who now lives in London but grew up in Woodbridge, Suffolk, said: “A friend of my aunt’s spotted the picture of it on the Eyke, Suffolk Facebook page.

"They sent a screenshot to my aunt who sent a screenshot to me, asking if I knew anything about it as my dad’s umbrella is there.

“It’s now an unusual item. It’s a very old-fashioned umbrella and has sentimental value for sure.

"It was my grandfather's, and then it was my dad’s, and now it’s mine.

"I share the same name as my grandfather, so when he passed away my mother eventually allowed me to have it, on the condition I didn’t lose it, which obviously didn’t go very well."

After seeing the Facebook post, Mr Paulley rung the pub and asked them about the umbrella.

To his delight, it was the one he'd lost days earlier and he was reunited with the umbrella later that week.

Mr Paulley said: “They told me they went outside when it was raining and collected it and thought that the umbrella was far too nice to have been left by accident.

“They started looking and trying to reach out and it all started from there, asking around Suffolk on Facebook.

“I went and collected it later that week. The staff referred to it as the special umbrella.

“It was impressive someone managed to track me down. I was stunned at the effort they put into it."