Two complete strangers with an uncanny resemblance to each other are now “firm friends”.
Retired priest Neil Richardson, who served over three decades at the Holy Cross Church in Oldfield Lane South, Greenford, found himself repeatedly mistaken for a mystery man called John upon moving to Braintree with his wife 18 months ago.
He finally met his doppelganger John Jemison, 74, last week when they boarded the same coach trip to see an exhibition at the British Library in London.
The pair ended up having lunch together- the start of a lovely friendship.
Not only do they look like identical twins but they also have a multitude of things in common, including the fact they both proposed to their wives within one week of meeting them.
Mr Richardson, 69, formerly of Greenford, said: “It’s astonishing. Walking around the town I kept getting ‘hi John’.
"I went to a café with my wife and the manager was calling me John - I said I’m not John, I’m Neil, and got out my driving licence to prove it.
“The news has gone global, I can’t believe it. It has been in the media in Ghana, Belgium, Germany. It’s a nice thing to happen.
“We have so much in common. We both went to the College of St Mark and St John [then in Chelsea] and trained as RE teachers. We both have four grandchildren, very similar political and social views, we both sing in choirs and like poetry.
“His wife Jenny and my wife Marion both do needlework.”
Mr Jemison, who has lived in Braintree all his life, went on to become a headteacher, whereas Mr Richardson became a priest.
