A man is looking for the owner of a Maltese number plate found 55 years ago in a gutter outside some timbered cottages in a UK village.

Graham Rook’s curious find actually put him in touch with his own past, as he discovered that – just like the number plate – he too has a connection with Malta.

Mr Rook, now 70 years old, found the car registration plate bearing the number 109 when he was a teenager, sometime around 1959 or 1960.

The plate was lying on Church Lane, behind the parish church of St Peter, in Arlesey, Bedfordshire, and attached to it was an international oval plate with the pre-independence designation GBY.

The plate was found on Church Lane in Arlesey, Bedfordshire.

When he reported his find to the local police, Mr Rook was told that it could be from Malta.

Following some research, he discovered that English vehicle registration plates carried GB for mainland Britain, while British territories were issued with different suffixes: GBJ for Jersey, GBG for Guernsey, GBM for the Isle of Man and GBY for Malta.

Mr Rook also asked around the village, but no one had a clue about how it ended up in Arlesey, and the number plate was never claimed. “I couldn’t even find anyone in the village who had a connection with Malta – except for, strangely enough, myself.

“One of my grandmothers was born on the island to a British naval family. I have no idea when the family moved back to the UK, but by the time she married my grandfather in the early 1900s, my grandmother was a young widow with three children.” His paternal grandmother, known as Ada, had four other children, including Mr Rook’s father, but he never knew his grandmother, as she died well before he was born.

Her previous married name was probably Adelaide or Adeline Smith, but Mr Rook has not yet found out her maiden name and has no idea whether her mother was British or Maltese.

Mr Rook has since married and moved house three times – and each time the number plate has moved with him.

He recently re-discovered it in his garden shed and thought it might be interesting to find out its history. “Who owned car 109? How did the plate come to be lying in a Bedfordshire road? Was the car actually driven to the UK?

“Did it belong to a parent or grandparent? There can’t have been that many cars on Malta immediately post-war, so someone may remember it. If anyone can enlighten me I would love to know the history of car 109.

“I have never been to Malta, but perhaps a visit is long overdue!”

Mr Rook is also in the process of compiling a family tree and hopes to discover more about his antecedents.

“Who knows? I may have a whole family of Maltese cousins as yet undiscovered. Although I have travelled extensively all over Europe I’m sorry to admit that I’ve never visited Malta but if I discover relatives on the island I will have to rectify this omission.”

If you have any leads regarding who could be the owner of number plate 109 or Mr Rook’s ancestors from Malta, please get in touch through sarah.carabott@timesofmalta.com.