A DOCUMENTARY writer is searching for a former Ramsbottom woman who worked in Bolton to claim the throne of a Caribbean island.

The tale of the uninhabited island of Redonda and its royal family is being told in a documentary, narrated by Angus Deaton, on Radio 4 on Tuesday.

The island, near Montserrat in the West Indies, was claimed by Irishman Matthew Shiel in 1865. He crowned his 15-year-old son, Phillipe, in 1880 after a bitter row with Britain which annexed the rock in 1872 to capitalise on lucrative guano deposits.

Phillipe grew up to become the cult science fiction writer MP Shiel. On his death in 1947, the crown passed to poet John Gawsworth, who spent the next 20 years bestowing knighthoods and dukedoms on anyone who would by him a drink in the bars of Soho.

Among his peers were the actors Barry Humphries, Dirk Bogarde, Diana Dors and Vincent Price.

Since Gawsworth's death in the 1970s, there have been several claimants to the throne, but writer Roger Dobson would like to get in touch with Margaret Parry.

"Queen Maggie is the granddaughter of the first king, MP Shiel," said Mr Dobson.

"She was last heard of in the 1990s living in Ramsbottom and managing a furniture company in Bolton."

He is planning a television documentary and hopes to be able to include Queen Maggie.

Anyone who can help can contact our newsdesk on 01204 537 259.