0:00:05 > 0:00:08Today, the Heir Hunters take on a case that keeps on growing.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11There were 15 brothers and sisters.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14From a little case we weren't quite sure of into a very long one.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Another team uncover a sporting celebrity in their research...
0:00:18 > 0:00:20He is now listed as being a professional footballer
0:00:20 > 0:00:22for Hull City.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25..and are left searching for a long-lost family.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27I see where we're going with this one.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31My grandmother was separated from him and she didn't want to talk about it.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36It's a day... Wow! ..full of family secrets and surprises.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38I was aware of eight cousins
0:00:38 > 0:00:41and it looks like I've got something like 70 cousins!
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Across the UK every year, thousands of people die without making
0:01:01 > 0:01:03a will and with no known relatives.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06In these cases, the deceased's name goes
0:01:06 > 0:01:10on the Government's Bona Vacantia list, which means "vacant goods".
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Estates can remain unclaimed, sometimes for years.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20It's a treasury estate that's just kind of slipped through the net.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22In London, Dave Slee,
0:01:22 > 0:01:24case manager at heir-hunting firm Fraser and Fraser,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27is working one such case that's been on the
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Government's list, unresolved, for four years.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33From our point of view, because this looks like an estate that's
0:01:33 > 0:01:37slipped through the net, the chances are, though you can never tell,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41that there are no other companies researching the matter, so we've got
0:01:41 > 0:01:46the luxury of being able to take our time a little bit on this one.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Which is just as well, as senior researcher Roger Marsh...
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And that only because it's a different name, that's Harry, not Henry...
0:01:54 > 0:01:57..is struggling to work out the correct name for the deceased.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03We've got this job of a lady called Beryl Joan, or possibly Joanna,
0:02:03 > 0:02:08and her surname is either Leonard spelled L-E-O-N-A-R-D
0:02:08 > 0:02:11or Lennard, L-E-N-N-A-R-D.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Or Leonard-Halliwell.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19The team have ordered Beryl's death certificate to glean as much
0:02:19 > 0:02:21information as possible.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24This shows she passed away in a care home in Chelmsford, Essex.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31The team need to work out her birth name before the case can progress.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34That's all the live, I should have said, up to there. Yeah.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Working various combinations of Beryl's name, the first thing
0:02:37 > 0:02:39the team do is determine
0:02:39 > 0:02:42whether she was born a Leonard or married into the family.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Looking at the births for that quarter,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48there were three or four names, double-checking them to Leonard,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50there was a Salter married to a Leonard.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53So what we had then was Beryl Joan Salter as the birth
0:02:53 > 0:02:56and she married a Leonard.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00The team now know she was born Beryl Joan Salter
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and can order her birth certificate.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08And her mum was a Winifred Mary Jane Hudson,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12who was born in Stafford, which is Manchester area,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14which is where Beryl was born.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Beryl's father's name was Charles Salter
0:03:16 > 0:03:19and both her parents had died.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22So the team needed to find out if they had any other children.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26She was an only child, so then we had to go back to cousins
0:03:26 > 0:03:28and the side I was working on was her mum's side.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33To do this, the team refer to the census,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36which lists the occupants of every household at that time.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Put a four-day order on that...
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Beryl's mother grew up in the Edwardian era, having been
0:03:41 > 0:03:45born just before the turn of the 20th century.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52So the 1911 census was the one the team turned to.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56This included much more information than previous censuses
0:03:56 > 0:03:59and also gives the Heir Hunters a good indication about
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Beryl's mother's family life at that time.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Robert Hudson, the deceased's maternal grandfather,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11initially started his working life as an engine cleaner and worked
0:04:11 > 0:04:14his way up to become an engine driver at the turn of the century.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19As the family lived in Stafford,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23it's likely Robert Hudson worked for the Midland Railway Company.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26I think Robert's career is fairly typical
0:04:26 > 0:04:29for an engine driver of the period.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31They all started as cleaners, they progressed to firemen
0:04:31 > 0:04:33and then to engine driver.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34It could take a very long time
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and the express engine drivers often didn't make it to that position
0:04:38 > 0:04:43until they were in their fifties, so they didn't do it for very long.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46I think we all know that every boy wanted to be an engine driver.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50They were almost the rock stars of their day.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56As well as his profession, the census also reveals that
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Robert and Selina had a very large family.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02There were 15 brothers and sisters.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04So it suddenly went from a little case
0:05:04 > 0:05:07we weren't quite sure of into a very long one.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09This is just the maternal side,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12because we're still waiting for the marriage of the parents to come
0:05:12 > 0:05:17back so we can work out the father's side, see how old he was
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and work out which is the correct birth for him.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25Because there's so many what we would call "top line" aunts and uncles...
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Let's just have a quick look through this top line.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31..each stem that we contact doesn't particularly know
0:05:31 > 0:05:36about the other stems, so we have to research each individual stem.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Although the team are finding potential heirs,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43the lack of family information means they have to work each aunt
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and uncle separately. They need to find someone who knows more.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50I'm trying to make contact with
0:05:50 > 0:05:54what would be a maternal first cousin once removed.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58While Dave is still calling the heir on the mother's side,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00the certificates they need to tackle
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Beryl's father's side of the family have now arrived.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08We've managed to locate the paternal side of the family
0:06:08 > 0:06:11by going through the marriage certificate.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15We managed to get the dad's name and his occupation.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19The grandfather of the deceased, Beryl Leonard,
0:06:19 > 0:06:24was actually a William Salter, who was a prison warden in 1921.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28We've actually matched it up with a family living in Stafford
0:06:28 > 0:06:29in the 1911 census,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33which does have her father on the census with them.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34So we know we have the correct family.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39And Dave's phone-bashing has helped cut down some of their research time
0:06:39 > 0:06:42on the mother's side of the family.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46That's a good example, really, of an heir being able to provide me
0:06:46 > 0:06:48with an address of their brother,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51which means that we don't have to undertake
0:06:51 > 0:06:53the research in America to find them.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55So it cuts down a lot of work.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Ewart is one of the team's senior travelling researchers
0:06:59 > 0:07:01who can carry out investigations on the ground
0:07:01 > 0:07:05and hopefully visit any potential heirs.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07But before he can go anywhere,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09he has to get to grips with the family tree.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14There's two first cousins and a cousin once removed. Okey dokey.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19While Ewart plans his investigation,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Shannon is finding the father's side may be smaller
0:07:22 > 0:07:24but is just as challenging.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30So the grandad of deceased was born in Sydney, Australia.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33So we've got an Australian grandad
0:07:33 > 0:07:36and a grandmother from Devon,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38who end up in Stafford
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and go to London on the way.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45It's kind of already slowed down before it's really begun.
0:07:46 > 0:07:47Back on Beryl's mother's side,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50the team have managed to speak to some of the descendants
0:07:50 > 0:07:52of her many siblings.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The research has revealed some fascinating history.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00One of the interesting facts is one of the deceased's aunts, Ada Hudson,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03it appears she married a chap called Arthur Cook.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Who, in the 1920s,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09was a professional footballer with West Bromwich Albion,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13The Baggies, in the year, the only time they won the league.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17So the family were understandably very proud of their grandfather.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, that's him there.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22That's him there, isn't it? Yeah.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Arthur Cook, there he is. Arthur Cook.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Research now is reaping results.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33And one of the heirs they've found
0:08:33 > 0:08:36is Beryl's first cousin once removed.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39John Cook is the grandson of the West Bromwich Albion footballer,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Arthur Cook.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46This is my grandfather's league medal.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51Division One Championship, with a presentation watch and chain that
0:08:51 > 0:08:55he was given at the presentation by West Bromwich Albion.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56You can still read all the inscription,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58but it is nice and shiny.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02The only thing I ever learned about my grandfather
0:09:02 > 0:09:04was that he was a professional footballer.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08It's been a very big talking point over the years.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Not only did he win the League Division One Championship,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15he also won the runners-up medal in the FA Cup.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19When my grandfather played in the FA Cup final,
0:09:19 > 0:09:20which was at Crystal Palace,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24the evening before the FA Cup match,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26he was on a night shift at Seamans.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29So he had to work the night shift
0:09:29 > 0:09:32prior to playing in the FA Cup final.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37Be interesting to see if Rooney would be able to perform as well.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39John knew all about his grandfather,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43but he hadn't quite realised how large his extended family was.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49From the information I've had, there are quite a number of heirs involved.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51I was surprised to find it's approaching 70.
0:09:51 > 0:09:57So it shows how large the family is, or was.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03In the office, the team are making contact with many of John's cousins.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Would you like me to come and see you?
0:10:05 > 0:10:09On Beryl's father's side, a cousin who grew up with her
0:10:09 > 0:10:13has given Ewart some idea of the type of person she was.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Perfect. Thank you. Take care now. Bye-bye. Bye.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21She said she became quite strange in her later years
0:10:21 > 0:10:22and they lost contact.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25So she hasn't seen her for about ten years.
0:10:25 > 0:10:31And she thinks she remembers her becoming, you know, quite reclusive.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Across the office, Dave thinks he's finally got to grips
0:10:35 > 0:10:38with the huge family on Beryl's mother's side.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Trying to make contact with
0:10:41 > 0:10:45the last few remaining maternal beneficiaries on Leonard.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Shannon has completed Beryl's father's side of the family
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and Dave is preparing the final tree
0:10:52 > 0:10:55that they hope will confirm all their research.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00The computer system we use congratulates me on 100 names
0:11:00 > 0:11:02being added to the family tree.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06It goes without saying that means inevitably, it's a huge family
0:11:06 > 0:11:09that we're researching and there's a lot of beneficiaries.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13So if you're doing your own family tree, you'd welcome seeing that.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15From my point of view, I hate it.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17I was aware of eight cousins
0:11:17 > 0:11:21and it looks like I've got something like 70 cousins.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And they most probably weren't aware of me either.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37In the business of probate research, finding living heirs is the goal.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41But sometimes, they uncover family stories lost for generations.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44He was born at the workhouse and left there.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47One case that revealed plenty
0:11:47 > 0:11:50is from the village of Roberttown in West Yorkshire.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Doreen Storey lived there until she was 86.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59She died on 20th February, 2012 with no known family.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Come on, let's have a look at you.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Neighbour Christine Allen knew Doreen for 42 years.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08She loved animals.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12She always sent cards with dogs on, birthdays and everything. Yeah.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15She was a lovely lady. You could tell her anything
0:12:15 > 0:12:17and she listened. You knew it wouldn't go any further.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I miss her. Yeah, I do, I miss her.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23I just miss her stood in the window and not waving, or anything.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Doreen's house remained empty for some time after she died,
0:12:28 > 0:12:33so a concerned neighbour contacted London heir-hunting firm, Finders.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37If I can find her with a family, then you know she's wrong.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Case manager Amy Moyes began
0:12:40 > 0:12:43the process of trying to find out if Doreen had any family.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48The neighbour that referred this case to us was able to tell us
0:12:48 > 0:12:51quite a bit about Doreen, which gave us a head start, really.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56For instance, she knew Doreen had lived at the property for some time.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58As far as she's concerned, she'd never married
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and she'd never heard of her having had any children either.
0:13:04 > 0:13:10The first step was to locate the names of Doreen's mother and father.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Doreen's birth certificate was again the key.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16This gave her mother's name as Esther McQuillan
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and her father, Herbert Storey.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22We can do a birth-index search.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24That threw up the possible siblings
0:13:24 > 0:13:26that the neighbour had referred to.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28We had a sister, Mary Ann,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and two bothers, an Edward and a Thomas McQuillan Storey.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36And neighbour Christine remembers they all lived together.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38All the four of them were lovely people.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40They all looked after one another.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Tommy, the oldest, he did all the gardening.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45But they were all together. Never went anywhere,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48never went shopping to Huddersfield, or anywhere like that.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50They just liked their home.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55We needed to work out what had happened to them,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59whether they might still be alive, having all been born in the 1920s,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04or if deceased, whether they'd had marriages and children of their own,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08who, if the children were alive, they would then be potential heirs.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10And, of course, when one died and the other died,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12it was very, very upsetting for them all, it really was.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16And then when Molly died and just left Doreen, um...
0:14:16 > 0:14:19she went downhill a bit, she really did.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Searches confirmed that all of Doreen's siblings had died.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31None of them had ever married or had children.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34But something on her parents' marriage certificate...
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I see where we're going with this one.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40..suggested there may be another avenue worth exploring.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It indicated that Herbert had been married previously,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45so we needed to then look into that
0:14:45 > 0:14:47to make sure there weren't any children from that marriage
0:14:47 > 0:14:49which would be half-brothers or sisters to Doreen
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and potential heirs to the estate.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56It's very important to get all the documents
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and certificates in place for the family that we're researching
0:14:59 > 0:15:02in order to prove all the entitlements correctly.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06The team found out that Doreen's father, Herbert,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09had previously married a Mary Ellen Lee.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13A search was done of the birth indexes with those parental names.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16And discovered they'd had one child together,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19who unfortunately passed away when he was about one year old or so.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23And so that terminated that line of enquiry, as well.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26So the Heir Hunters now knew for certain
0:15:26 > 0:15:30that Doreen had no living siblings and no nieces or nephews.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32It's certainly difficult.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35This meant the team would have to go back one generation...
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Do you know what the daughter's name was?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39..to look for aunts and uncles in the hope
0:15:39 > 0:15:42they might have descendants who were still alive.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46It's in connection with a cousin of your mother's.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48From the 1901 census records,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52the team found Esther McQuillan's parents.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55We've got the head of the family is Doreen's grandfather,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58James McQuillan. He is a coalminer.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01He is working at the Boldon colliery.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05With him are his children. We've got Esther, Doreen's mum,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08we've also got some other daughters
0:16:08 > 0:16:10and then the sons, Thomas is young,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14but John and Jonathan are also both working at the local mine,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16as well, along with their father.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20At the time of the 1901 census,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23like many other families who worked in the collieries,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27James and his sons were risking their lives daily deep underground.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32We're now looking across towards the Boldon colliery.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36In them days, the late 1800s, early 1900s, the main danger for them
0:16:36 > 0:16:39was falls of stone, which would come from the roof
0:16:39 > 0:16:42and falls of coal, where they were working.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Them falls would come, maybe trap them by the head.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47But a lot of the deaths wasn't killed instantly,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50they were actually what you call suffocated.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Because they couldn't breathe with the weight of the stuff on them.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57And that happened a lot.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Young John McQuillan, one of Doreen's uncles,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02was only 15 at the time
0:17:02 > 0:17:04and worked as a driver of pit ponies.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Of all the jobs underground, this was one of the worst.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12At that time, a pony driver, it was a dangerous job.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15A lad at that age shouldn't have been.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20He's in charge of a pony, who's in a seam maybe 2'6"-3' high.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22He's got no headroom, he's working in
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and he's actually riding in-between the tub and the pony
0:17:25 > 0:17:26on what we call limmers.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29That's the part which connects the pony to the tub.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31He's only got to look up at the wrong time
0:17:31 > 0:17:33and he gets his head squashed,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36which happens a lot of times to pony drivers.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39So it was a very dangerous job
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and it depended on what type of pony you had.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45It's no surprise that when young John McQuillan wasn't down the mines,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48he was doing what many young boys loved best.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50When I was 15, we used to play football.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53You couldn't wait to come out after work.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55You played until you couldn't see, it was dark.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57You could hardly see the ball.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01And can you imagine, especially in the early 1900s,
0:18:01 > 0:18:02when families were large,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06imagine the amount of kids in this back lane playing football.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09And that's what every street was like.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Back lanes, especially, in colliery villages.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16And it seems every spare moment John put in
0:18:16 > 0:18:18on the colliery football ground over the years
0:18:18 > 0:18:22paid off, as the family record on the 1911 census shows.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Interestingly, by 1911, although the majority of the family
0:18:28 > 0:18:31were still based around the coal-mining profession,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34John McQuillan had changed professions.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36And he is now listed as being
0:18:36 > 0:18:40a professional footballer for Hull City.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44At the time John McQuillan was playing,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48the clubs were just beginning to start scouting systems.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Particularly in places like mines in the north-east,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55which were well-known for producing lots of professional footballers.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59John initially played for a very short period for Jarrow Town.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01He was spotted there by Everton.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05And Everton were one of the best teams of the day.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08The year that he was spotted, Everton won the FA Cup.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11They finished in the top five almost every year.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13So this was one of the big clubs.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Although John did a month's trial at Everton, he wasn't taken on.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Instead, he signed up for Hull City
0:19:19 > 0:19:22and stayed with them for eight years.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24I think John was certainly a good player.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26To become a professional player for so long,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29John must have been a very good footballer.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Going off to the last one?
0:19:31 > 0:19:34All right, good luck with that and I'll speak to you in a bit.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37The Heir Hunters have been looking for possible heirs
0:19:37 > 0:19:39on Doreen's mother Esther's side of the family.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41The McQuillans.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43So Esther was one of seven children.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47One of them passed away in 1916 as a bachelor.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Another passed away married, but never had any children.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And then, obviously, there was the infant death.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57So there were three lines to look at.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00It looks as though they were all coalminers in the Durham area.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Doreen's mother had three brothers and sisters
0:20:04 > 0:20:06who could have had children.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09If the team can find them, they could be heirs.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12If they do a same-day service, we'll send something.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16They really need to speak to someone
0:20:16 > 0:20:19who can help shed some light on the family tree.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Unfortunately, with Doreen's family, all the first cousins have died,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27so we really have no-one of any great age that we can speak to.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31So the research went on and on, um, and became very extensive.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34The first family they had any luck with
0:20:34 > 0:20:37was that of Esther's brother, John McQuillan,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40who'd escaped the mines and become a professional footballer.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44The line of John McQuillan was a little easier as we'd already found him on the census
0:20:44 > 0:20:47with his sister, Esther, the deceased's mother.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50So we already had a bit of a head start with this stem.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52We knew he had two children.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53We did a search for any further
0:20:53 > 0:20:55and it just looked like it was the two of them.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58So we could carry on our research into that line.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02And the first heir they were able to locate
0:21:02 > 0:21:05was John McQuillan's estranged grandson, David Milne.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08I know very little about my grandfather,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11other than he was supposed to have been a footballer.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14He was supposed to have played for, I think it was Hull City at that time.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18And he was apparently earning something like ?8 a week,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20which was a lot of money in those days.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24But that's all I know. Nothing else was ever mentioned.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27My grandmother was separated from him and she didn't want to talk about him.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Ah! My grandfather.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35This is fascinating, looking at him.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Yes. I've never...
0:21:39 > 0:21:41..never seen a picture of him before.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47And David is grateful his grandfather changed professions.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Football must have saved him from the mines and I suspect
0:21:50 > 0:21:54it may have helped save him from fighting in the war as well.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59Probably saved the line of the family and, er, why I'm here today.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03And not having worked down a mine, or anything like that.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15In the end, seven heirs were found on Doreen's mother's side of the family,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17but the team still had to look into
0:22:17 > 0:22:19the side of her father, Herbert Storey.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24He had been a cloth-wringer and a greengrocer.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27And a copy of his birth certificate told us
0:22:27 > 0:22:32that he had been the son of an Edward Storey and a Rosina Rose.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Herbert Storey was born in 1893,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38so the team looked at the 1911 census
0:22:38 > 0:22:40to get an idea of the size of his family.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45There were seven children on the census, seven living.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50To double-check that, we went back to the 1901 census and 1891 census
0:22:50 > 0:22:54and in fact, we found there were actually ten.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59So this family seems to be getting larger than we originally thought.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02And the investigations were revealing that
0:23:02 > 0:23:04five of Herbert's nine siblings
0:23:04 > 0:23:06went on to have children of their own.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10These nieces and nephews of Doreen's father,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14or their descendants, would be beneficiaries to Doreen's estate.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19We have paternal uncle Ernest Storey,
0:23:19 > 0:23:24who probably had the largest family of the entire paternal side.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29He had one, two, three, four, five, six, seven children.
0:23:29 > 0:23:35Um, of those seven, five have living descendants.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38The other two passed away either in infancy,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40or without having had any issue.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43There are quite a number of heirs on this stem.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46They're all traced and they're all a couple of generations down
0:23:46 > 0:23:49from Doreen's own generation itself.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Their research found that four of Doreen's father's siblings died
0:23:54 > 0:23:56with no living descendants.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01We also had an uncle Alvin Storey, born in 1899.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05But he was sadly killed during World War I.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10The team needed to find contact numbers and addresses
0:24:10 > 0:24:13for all of the living children or grandchildren
0:24:13 > 0:24:15from Doreen's aunts and uncles.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19These would be cousins and cousins once removed of Doreen.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23With the paternal research, it turns out
0:24:23 > 0:24:27that the vast majority of the heirs were all second generation.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Aside from two, none of them were direct cousins of Doreen's.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34It's not unusual, particularly when you have a large family,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37and in this instance, Doreen is coming from a father
0:24:37 > 0:24:41who was one of the youngest of his brothers and sisters.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44So if you can imagine the ages of her cousins
0:24:44 > 0:24:47right through the family tree,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50there's probably a 20-30 year age gap.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52So the majority of her cousins have passed away.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55And the relatives we're looking at are much further down the line.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58With so many aunts and uncles on the father's side,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00there were a lot of families to trace.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02After our research was complete,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05we discovered there were 29 beneficiaries.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10And these were on six of the lines, as three of them died out
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and the last one was, of course, the deceased's father, Herbert.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17One of those heirs is Alan.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21His father Fred was Doreen's first cousin.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23My mum remembers Doreen.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26She said she was a very quiet lady, never married.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Went on to explain exactly who Doreen was,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32where she fitted into the family and everything.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36And she actually said that there was quite a bit of contact
0:25:36 > 0:25:40between our family and theirs right up to my father passing.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42My father passed when I was 18,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45so that side of the family has disappeared,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47apart from the cousins I know of.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53The inheritance has given Alan more than just financial gain.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55What a very large family I have!
0:25:57 > 0:25:58Wow!
0:25:58 > 0:26:02So there must have been 11 brothers and sisters on my grandma's side.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05I'm not surprised I don't know half of the family.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08It's like a shroud has been lifted.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10It's absolutely amazing.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15I never knew my grandma and grandad got married in 1905.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17How wonderful!
0:26:19 > 0:26:23But the detail of the death of his great uncle Alvin in World War I
0:26:23 > 0:26:25is particularly poignant for Alan.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28And here he is listed.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31"Storey, Lance Corporal, Alvin.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33"2nd and 5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37"Died of wounds on 21st April, 1918.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41"Aged 19, son of Edward and Rosina Storey
0:26:41 > 0:26:45"of Tenner House, Watergate, little town in Liversedge."
0:26:45 > 0:26:48How so sad. And only months from the end of the war.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55I've been in the military myself and I've seen some good men pass.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Well, I'm sure it must have been a great loss to the family.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04They must have felt a great bereavement and sadness.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09I think it's going to be absolutely wonderful and intriguing
0:27:09 > 0:27:11finding out about this.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14And I'm pretty sure my mum down the road, at 91,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17is also going to be intrigued.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19But I think it will also spark some memories.
0:27:19 > 0:27:25In total, 36 of Doreen's living heirs were found.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Just over ?116,000 from the sale of Doreen's house and belongings
0:27:30 > 0:27:32were split between them.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36With the Doreen Storey case, I think one of most satisfying aspects
0:27:36 > 0:27:39is to be able to complete a huge family tree in good time
0:27:39 > 0:27:42and to be able to tell the heirs a bit more about their family history
0:27:42 > 0:27:46and to leave them with this, um, quite enormous heirloom.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51I feel extremely honoured to be getting some inheritance from Doreen's estate.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54It wasn't expected.
0:27:54 > 0:27:55It's a great honour to receive it
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and I will treat it with the respect it deserves.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03I'm very grateful to Doreen because she's connected me with, er...
0:28:03 > 0:28:07with my roots, really, as a family, you know, from the family tree.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10And also connected me with my grandfather,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12whom I knew nothing about at all.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13Never mentioned in the family.