Griffiths/Nash Heir Hunters

long they were living there for. Records show that either and

Patricia had been living together at one of the houses. The team try to

work out if Patricia and her partner were married. We have a hit on

either gritters. He married Patricia D'Arcy in 1983 in Weymouth. That is

really good for us. They cannot find a birth record for a Patricia D'Arcy

that matches the date of birth for Patricia Griffiths given on the

electoral roll. So they look to see if Patricia had married in Mr Darcy.

There is a marriage in Weymouth. It was in December 1960 in Weymouth. To

me, that is a good indication that will be her first marriage. We still

have to check to see if there is a corresponding certificate so we know

we have the right person. Searches confirm the findings. A hunt for any

children born to the couple comes up negative. That is probably why we

could not find him. Patricia's death certificate confirms the research

done yesterday. The team have realised that as either died after

Patricia, the case is more complex than they originally thought. Now we

have discovered that Mr Griffiths survived his wife, it changes the

complexion. He appeared to have died without leaving a will. He has a

vested interest in his wife's estate. He survived her. When we are

looking at a vested interest in an estate, if the deceased is survived

by their partner or spouse, the estate forms part of their estate.

Essentially, one estate moves over to the partner. We then look at the

surviving spouses. As Mr Griffiths had moved out of the family home

before Patricia died, Joe thinks this may be relevant to their

investigation. We will try to find details relating to Mr Griffiths.

One of her first concerns will be whether we can locate a divorce

record. He would not be entitled to any of Patricia's estate. The estate

belonged to would change dramatically.

After some searching the team can find no evidence of a divorce. The

team soon found people who knew I for in Weymouth. -- Ivor. He was

always popping in and out of the shop with his wife Pat. I thought he

was fascinating and unique will stop our chat developed and he would say

Madame comedy Juno? And the conversation would develop from

that. -- Madame, did you know? My colleagues, he did not always know

them by name, Madame or Sir. I feel quite welled up just thinking about

him now. They begin with his birth

certificate. We are quite lucky with his name. It was not too difficult

for us to find his birth. It was registered in Surrey.

It is good news. That looks really good. The next step is to work out

what happened. We located the marriage of Thelma to a Mrs Frances

and the marriage resulted in them having one child. Unfortunately the

child died a spinster, there are no relatives, so we have to go back to

eternal and maternal families -- Pat eternal. The mother's birth

certificate clearly stated she was the daughter of Percival and

Gertrude. The team look at the Census records. John Henderson

dredge, he was Devon and Clifford Henderson dredge was 12 months old.

-- he was seven. With Eric unfortunately passing away without

descendants, we had to pin our hopes on one of the other brothers. We

soon discovered that they had a most and usual hobby. Before they got

married, Clifford and Dorothy both became the civilian pilot. People

learned to fly for all sorts of reasons. Clifford probably flew

because he wanted to. I once asked a man why he joined the London

aeroplane club in the late 20s and he said we had done is dating and I

think that was rather what it was. Between 1925 and 1929, XT clubs were

started and 9000 pilots were trained. -- 60 clubs. The moth was

invented. The moth is behind me. They would have been flying an

aeroplane is similar to this one. Clifford and Dorothy were flying

gypsy moths. All the clubs had this kind of aeroplane. They really

lasted until the wall -- the world War. If Clifford did not have any

children... Today Andrew Fraser is at a property auction.

It's a very good result for the estates.

In the office, the search for any heirs to Ivor's estate rested

with two of Ivor's uncles, Clifford and John.

But before they look into them, the team decide to look

Research to locate any potential beneficiaries on the paternal family

was a lot trickier than the mother's side of the family because

There is only one marriage before his birth and that's in 1928

in Romford from a William Griffiths to a Margaret Dredge.

William's birth record was found, which gave them his mother's

The crucial information on the birth certificate was the specific village

name where William was born, which helped us locate

The census shows that William had three sisters and one

We've been asked to try and find the next of kin, which we

The team think David could be the person who signed as a witness

to William's marriage to Margaret Dredge in 1928 and feel

confident they've found the right Griffiths family.

The next step is to find out what happened to these aunts

Ethel died in 1972, she was a spinster.

Winifred also died in 1990 as a spinster and Sadie died

in 1978 as a spinster, so we're only left with David

after that and thankfully he married in 1932 and had two children.

With their first two potential heirs found, the team move back

onto Ivor's mother's side of the family to see

if the remaining two uncles, Clifford and John, had any children

It turns out that aviators Clifford and Dorothy had three children.

When I first heard that Ivor was leaving some sort of estate,

that I might be a beneficiary along with my sisters, it

Ivor's third and final uncle on his mother's side,

John, had one daughter who had passed away,

so her two children became heirs, bringing the total number

In total, we end up with seven beneficiaries, two on the paternal

In the auction room in London, Andrew is about to discover just how

With the first house having sold for ?143,000,

now it's time for Patricia and Ivor's investment

property to go under the hammer.

We're going to get there, aren't we?

For the first time, ?198,000 for the second time.

Let's be absolutely clear, madam, you will lose this to these guys

for another ?500, possibly, if I don't get another bid from you.

Third and final time, then, at ?198,000, I'm pointing

The heirs to Mr Griffiths' estate, his blood relatives,

will now have quite a substantial amount of cash

But for Ivor's cousin John, the benefit isn't

I think I'm thrilled to bits to hear now that

even in his later years, he was out there

He was always wanting to make people happy and please them.

While for Ivor's friend Sandra, it's a reminder of a man

He made people love him and if you can do that,

That's all I can say about him, just wonderful.

In many of the cases the heir hunters investigate,

surprising family histories are uncovered in their searches that

One of these cases is that of Valerie Linda Nash.

She was born on 26th March 1936 in Birmingham and grew up living

Liz Wallis met Valerie many years ago.

I can only ever remember Valerie coming to visit us once

and I would be about ten years of age and she's probably about four

or five years older than me, but I remember that she was very

She was tallish, longish hair, I think, and wore glasses,

but she kept herself very much to herself.

Valerie died at a nursing home in Birmingham on 17th February 2014.

Her details were advertised on the Treasury's Bona

They were picked up by assistant case manager Holly Jones of London

We found from the Land Registry that Valerie owned her own property and

The first thing they needed was to find Valerie's birth,

and senior research manager Amy Littlechild started the hunt.

Looking for a birth certificate, we put in all the names that we can

Is it OK if you can answer a few of my inquiries at all?

We also have an exact date of birth from the death, so obviously we need

Mainly as she was born in March, it will be around the March/June

A search of the birth index records came up with a match

that looked promising, so the certificate was ordered.

The team now have Valerie's parents' names, Horace Henry Nash

and Linda Lillian Nash, formerly Berry.

Having established that Valerie was an only child,

had never married or had children of her own, the team now need to go

back a generation and look for Valerie's grandparents.

They focused on Valerie's mother's family first.

On the 1911 census, we were able to locate Valerie's mother

Linda living with her parents in Birmingham.

We now had Valerie's grandmother's name on her maternal side and also

living at the address at the time in 1911 is listed a brother

so this would be a maternal uncle to Valerie.

Valerie's mother's family tree was starting to take shape.

Her mother was Agnes Berry, formerly Stanton.

Linda's brother, also called Arthur, had been born

The 1911 census tells us that Arthur, Linda's

The family were living in the Brookfields

area of Birmingham - again, this is tying

At the time of the 1911 census, the family were living within a mile

of Birmingham's thriving industry of jewellery production.

Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter is roughly a square mile of the city

just north-north-west of the city centre.

For the last 150 years, it's been the main centre

of jewellery and silverware production in Britain.

It overtook other centres such as Edinburgh and London

in the mid-19th century and it grew to become the largest single centre

of jewellery and silverware production on the planet in 1913.

And in that bustle of people he may have met his future wife,

as Arthur wasn't the only ancestor of Valerie's who worked

When the team looked at the 1901 census, Valerie's grandmother,

Agnes, was working as a silver burnisher in the same district.

Agnes would have been working on various polishing processes

involving mild abrasives, such as using a substance called

It's a mild abrasive and it basically brings the full sheen out

Having taken the family tree back to Valerie's grandparents,

the team can now search to see if her mother had any other siblings

After we found the 1911 census, we looked for further births

We found out that they had four other children.

However, we sadly found out that Arthur, mentioned on the 1911

Linda's three youngest sisters have also died, but they had all married.

Any children of these siblings would be the heirs the team

Valerie's youngest aunt, Eileen Berry, married William Jones

When we located the family from that stem, they informed us

of an interesting story about Valerie's aunt.

She'd actually been involved in the Women's Land Army.

To keep up food production while the farmers had gone to war,

the Women's Land Army was set up in 1917 and then reformed in 1939.

It forms part of the voluntary work which women could undertake

to support the war effort, alongside that of munitions...

nursing and women's military services.

In no country are women so thoroughly organised for war.

However, from December 1941, all unmarried single women, widows,

were conscripted to join the war effort between the ages

Eileen joined the Women's Land Army in August 1942.

She was based in Birmingham and was unusual in the fact

that she actually worked in Warwickshire, so her home county.

So, as part of her work, she would have undertaken a whole

variety of farm work, for example dairy farming,

Before joining the Women's Land Army, Eileen worked as an invoice

clerk, so you couldn't really get a more stark change in occupation.

It was very strenuous, hard manual labour.

They were doing digging, they were carrying heavy

farm equipment, things which they were unused to before,

and some suffered from long-lasting back and joint injuries as a result

At the beginning of World War II, 70% of Britain's food was imported.

By the end of the war, 70% was home-grown.

After the Women's Land Army disbanded, recognition

Recognition really culminated in the unveiling of the Women's Land

Army and Timber Corps memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum

In the office, the team are looking into Valerie's other three aunts

on her mother's side - one of them appeared to marry

in 1939, but the team could find no other records for her.

It still does not feel real, that all this has happened,

It's not something that you get someone knocking on your door,

telling you that someone has died and they've left you inheritance.

It's a nice feeling, but it's a sad feeling

I wish that I'd got the chance to know this Valerie.

I'd love to see the pictures of her and what she

you know, the sort of job that she did.

It would have been nice to have known her.

We know our cousins, but we're not really in touch with them.

In the office, the team are looking into Valerie's other three aunts

on her mother's side - one of them appeared to marry

in 1939, but the team could find no other records for her.

I've managed to trace one of the aunts of Valerie

and she was still alive at the ripe old age of 100.

It's quite an incredible discovery for us - it doesn't

Valerie's other two aunts - Constance and Joyce -

both passed away, but their three children have been found

and are heirs to Valerie's estate, bringing the total on her

But the call from the heir hunters has meant more than just

For Nicola and her sister Donna, it's also an opportunity to find out

more about the family's trade, so they've come to

This is where your great-grandmother Agnes would be working.

She was a silver finisher, so she would be applying the finish

And what these devices here are...polishing machines, basically.

You would have a different grade of abrasiveness of this thing here,

which you could fit on the end, called a polishing mop.

And you would also use this substance here...

to be polishing the precious metal with.

How long would she have been sitting here working for?

Basically, eight in the morning to quarter to six at night.

It would be...a particularly horrible job.

To protect their clothing, all they would have on top would be

And that would be expected to catch the precious metal

Right, so over here is the bench, or the peg, where your great-grandad

He would be using tools and techniques that had been

in the trade literally thousands of years.

Now, this particular tool he'd be using...

It's called the drill stock - it's more commonly called the bow

drill or Archimedes drill - and this is a tool that was

developed by the ancient Egyptians, so 3,000-plus years ago.

I can't imagine what you'd use it for.

Here we go, I'll give you a little demonstration.

For Nicola and Donna, it's been a journey of discovery

It definitely makes you realise that history is valuable.

You know, there's just so much, isn't there?

100 years ago, but this is all still here, although lots

It does make you realise that you do leave a legacy, I suppose.

You know, everybody leaves a footprint...

and...I think it does make you value that,

In total, the team found 27 heirs to Valerie's estate.

It means that all the money will go to the family,

But for Valerie's friends and family, it isn't

The experience has been a reflective one.

I think it's important that you do keep in touch with your

family and I'm just sad that Valerie didn't...

or we didn't keep in touch with Valerie.

..and emotional to think that there's some relation that you...

you never knew...you've never met,

Yeah, it's really nice and it is a journey, and...

one that you sort of want to find more out about.