A MAN from Carmarthenshire who found out he was a relative of a former Penarth soldier on an ancestry website is hoping to give the soldier's plaque to a closer relative after it was found on his late father's estate in Napier, New Zealand.

The plaque is dedicated to Joseph Clifford Hart, who died fighting in France in 1915 as a member of the Staffordshire Regiment. It is not known where he is buried.

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John Thomas, who was given the plaque when his sister-in-law visited from New Zealand following a clean up of Mr Thomas' father George's former estate, recently found out he is a distant relative of Mr Hart.

Mr Thomas, originally from Cardiff, said his father grew up in Plassey Street in Penarth, and was also an ex-war veteran, fighting in World War Two before moving to Adamsdown and then to New Zealand in the 1980s, and the plaque went with him. George Thomas died in 1987.

The plaque reads: "Joseph Clifford Hart. He died for freedom and honour."

Now Mr Thomas wants to track down the Hart family to pass on the honour.

"Having searched the internet I found that Joseph was the son of a distant relative of mine, through Ann Hart, nee Harris," said Mr Thomas. "I found that the Harris family are on my family tree.

"I recently noted an obituary in the Penarth Times of 2018 for a Maureen Hart, and I was wondering if the lady was related to Joseph.

"It would be fantastic to present the plaque to the direct descendant of Joseph, and it would be great to meet them too."

Mr Hart's mother Ann Harris was born in 1882 in Cogan and is believed to have married a Mr Hart in 1902. The Harris family had spent time in Hartford Connecticut USA before returning to Cogan.