'Last' Pimbury seeks namesakes

Mike Pimbury fears his surname will die

A Briton who fears his surname will die with him has made an on-air appeal for any hidden namesakes to contact him.

Mike Pimbury, from north London, believes he may be the only living Pimbury in the world.

Genealogists have failed to find others and as Mr Pimbury has no children he fears his surname will die with him.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today: "I'm 73 and I've had a lot of girlfriends but I've never got married - so I'm afraid that's the end of it."

"If there's anybody listening to this programme whose name is Pimbury, we should be very pleased to hear from you."

I don't think I'm getting too upset about it, but it is a shame if the name is going to die out Mike Pimbury

Mr Pimbury said thorough research in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia had not uncovered anybody else bearing the Pimbury name.

"We've traced the family tree right down to the present day and most male Pimburys died without any family - so I think I'm the last," he said.

"I don't think I'm getting too upset about it, but it is a shame if the name is going to die out - I'm afraid that's going to happen."

'Immortal'

But Mr Pimbury said he believed a character named Pimbury in Laurie Lee's book Cider with Rosie was probably named after his father's aunt - so in a literary sense the Pimburys may already be immortal.

The Times newspaper spoke to Karen Bali, a Southampton genealogist who contacted by Mr Pimbury and his sister, Jo Wilkes, 71, in an effort to find surviving Pimburys.

Ms Bali told the paper she had traced the family back to 1746 - when Mike Pimbury's great-great-grandfather was born.

"I have worked on cases where the surname is quite rare but this is the first case that I have worked on where it is actually confirmed as the last," she said.

Ms Bali asked any Pimburys to contact her on [phone] or at [e-mail] .