May 18, 1990

A man came one step closer to solving the mystery of his birth when he met the woman who found him abandoned in a New Malden telephone box at one day old.

Peter Igaz, 23, who had launched a search for his mother in the Surrey Comet two weeks previously, enjoyed an emotional reunion with 80-year-old Miss Nellie Smith on Wednesday.

And Miss Smith, of Green Lane, said she believed the mother was a New Malden woman.

“There were a number of girls who were expecting – and I didn’t see the babies,” she said.

Miss Smith contacted the Surrey Comet after reading that Mr Igaz wanted to meet George Leaver, who found him wrapped in towels in the kiosk at the junction of Green and South Lane on July 25, 1966.

Mr Leaver died in 1983, but Miss Smith, who was his companion for 45 years, and was with him when the baby was found, remembered the occasion well.

She said: “George was furious and kept asking how anyone could abandon a baby.

“It was a wonder the young policeman who took him away didn’t keep the baby – he was so taken with him.”

Mr Igaz said he felt no anger against the mother who abandoned him, and would understand if she did not want to contact him.

He said he would be happy with any information, such as an anonymous letter giving information as to why she had to leave him.

A police spokesman at the time said: “He was a perfect baby. He had been washed after birth, but medical opinion is that whoever helped the mother was not qualified in midwifery.”

Mr Igaz lived with his adopted parents Brenda and Sandor Igaz in Crawley, with his wife Marina.

50 YEARS AGO

May 19, 1965

The 32nd festival of the Kingston, Surbiton and District Music Festival Society wound up at St Andrew’s Hall, Surbiton, with two prize-winning concerts. 
The yearly music festival drew nearly a thousand entrants.

The awards were presented by the Surrey Comet’s Gilbert Jenkins.

25 YEARS AGO

May 18, 1990

Worries over mad cow disease prompted opposition councillors to call for an emergency meeting at Guildhall. 
The Liberal Democrat group asked for a combined meeting of the social services and education committees to discuss what action to take. 


10 YEARS AGO 

May 18, 2005

England cricket legend Alec Stewart and Olympic rower Rebecca Romero were set to open the 2005 Kingston Games at Kingsmeadow. 
The eight-day Games, one of the biggest sporting events held in the borough, was in support of the 2012 London Olympic bid.