LETTERS have been known to cause tragedy, create wonderful opportunities and even change the course of history.
For Abraham Cadigan, however, one letter brought about what he described as a “happy reunion” of family members who never thought they would meet.
The Fiji Times reported on October 17, 1990, that Mr Cadigan, then about 60, had been reunited with relatives in Papua New Guinea after generations of separation.
Mr Cadigan traced the family’s roots to his ancestor, Ned Cadigan, an Irishman who “came to Fiji in the early 19th century and married a Fijian woman”.
The couple had four sons.
“Two of them went and settled in Papua New Guinea and raised families there,” Mr Cadigan said.
“The other two remained here and also raised families.”
Over the years, members of the Cadigan family in Fiji had tried to establish contact with their relatives in Papua New Guinea.
“They tried, and the PNG kin tried too.
“But no one succeeded.”
It took a letter from Lucy English, a member of the Papua New Guinea branch of the family, to finally bridge the gap.
Mrs English described writing the letter as “making a stab in the dark”.
She said she had written from Papua New Guinea in “a desperate attempt” to locate her maternal great-great-great-grandfather’s family.
“I addressed it simply to ‘Cadigan’ and sent it through a friend who was visiting Fiji,” she said.
The letter eventually reached Abraham, who replied with what Mrs English described as a “sentimental but sincere letter”.
“I couldn’t believe it! It was a very happy moment for me when I received the letter.
“After four generations, I had finally established contact with my great-grand-uncle’s family members.”
The discovery was equally emotional for Mr Cadigan’s family.
“The letter brought tears to my eyes,” Mrs English said.
“It was wonderful to know that our family was in Fiji.
“And to locate, after all those attempts to locate our family, we are reunited.”
Mr Cadigan explained that the separation had begun when two of the brothers migrated to Papua New Guinea.
“Since the two brothers migrated, there was no contact,” he said.
“In our young days we were always told stories of how our granduncles were separated.
“I always wanted to contact my relatives in PNG, but all my attempts proved fruitless.”
Then came an extraordinary twist.
Four members of the Papua New Guinea-based Cadigan family had arrived in Suva the previous month to attend the wedding of one of their relatives, Jackie Cadigan, who was marrying Tui Kabu, son of Pastor Aisake Kabu, then president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Central Pacific Union Mission.
The wedding was scheduled for 4pm that day at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tamavua.
Members of the Cadigan family in Fiji had initially known nothing about the wedding.
“But one thing led to another, and here we are,” Mr Cadigan said, as he pointed to members of the clan preparing at his Delainavesi home for the “big and happy event”.
Mrs English summed up the extraordinary reunion simply.
“Everything has turned out so beautifully.
“The wedding is the icing on the reunion cake.”
Members of the Cadigan clan from Savusavu also joined the family gathering in Suva. For Mr Cadigan, it was more than a wedding. It was the long-awaited coming together of a family separated for generations.
“It would be a truly wonderful occasion.”
