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‘Will Mr Tiffen of Appledore please come to the inquiry desk – there is a message for him’ said the loudspeaker announcement at Exeter railway station.

1972 Tiffen

But when Mr George Tiffen, a taxi driver, of Sunnyside, Appledore, who was waiting for a train to arrive, made his way there he found another man in front of him.
‘I’m Mr Tiffen of Appledore’ said the man. ‘Excuse me’ said the second Mr Tiffen, ‘but I’m Mr Tiffen of Appledore’.
To both men’s amazement they discovered that while one came from Appledore, Devon, the other came from Appledore, Kent. They found out that they were born some dozen miles apart, the Kent Mr Tiffen in Suffolk near the Essex border and the Devon Mr Tiffen in Essex near the Suffolk border.
Now they’re going to check whether they are distantly related.

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