0:00:03 > 0:00:06Today, heir hunters race to find heirs
0:00:06 > 0:00:08on one of their biggest ever cases.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Look for him because we can't find a family member 1911 census.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14- Yeah, I've done that.- Maybe just stick to marriages 1911 up.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18A family receive a surprise inheritance from a long-lost relative...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22I've never heard of her, so I hadn't...
0:00:22 > 0:00:24I couldn't tell them anything about her.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26So I thought it was a hoax, actually.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- Are you Pamela Cousins?- I am.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32..while others appreciate their unexpected windfall.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I wouldn't waste it, that's for sure...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37not when someone's, you know, worked hard for it,
0:00:37 > 0:00:38perhaps all her life.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52It's 10am and, in London,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56heir hunting firm Finders are working on a new case.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00So, this case has just come in to us from the Bona Vacantia list.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03It's the estate of Gladys Joan Dawe.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05She was born in 1928.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Gladys worked most of her life as a chambermaid in hotels
0:01:08 > 0:01:13and lived for over four decades in the Bristol suburb of Bedminster.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Gladys lived with her sister Doris for many, many years until she died.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20They were like...a package, really.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22They came together, you know.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Gladys never married or had children
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and passed away in April 2015
0:01:28 > 0:01:30without leaving a will.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34So, Ryan and the team need to investigate Gladys' parents
0:01:34 > 0:01:37in order to see if she has any other surviving siblings.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41The parents are James Dawe and Mabel Dawe nee Drinkwater.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45We found another five siblings to the two sisters,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48so there's seven children in total,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51which is a bit unusual, seeming that...
0:01:51 > 0:01:53it remains unclaimed at the moment.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55And the initial guess would be that
0:01:55 > 0:01:58these five other siblings have passed away.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03We were quite surprised to see that she is one of seven,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06just because the cases that usually come in to us
0:02:06 > 0:02:08from the Bona Vacantia list...
0:02:08 > 0:02:11the person that passed away is usually an only child
0:02:11 > 0:02:12or part of a very small family.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15It says James O Dawe. He came up in this one.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The dad's called James.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20- So, it might be a D or something. - Yeah, it could be a D.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22With so many potential siblings of Gladys' to check,
0:02:22 > 0:02:27Ryan needs help from fellow case manager Amy Moyes.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30- Well, there's a death for James E... - Right.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32..in '59.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34But then, when you look at the record,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36I think it's a James G rather than a James O,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38- so I don't think that's him.- OK.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40- I'll keep looking.- So, where is he?
0:02:40 > 0:02:43- What was the mum's name? Mabel? - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46- OK, he's a... Well, he died aged 27.- OK.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49He died 22nd of March, 1943.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Son of James and Mabel, so I assume he's a bachelor.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Yeah, it should indicate that, yeah.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55With Gladys' six siblings appearing
0:02:55 > 0:02:58to have passed away without any children,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Amy and Ryan need to go back a generation
0:03:00 > 0:03:03further and look for her grandparents.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05How's your search going?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Um...
0:03:07 > 0:03:08one stem looks quite large.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I'm just having a look at how big the other stems are before I...
0:03:12 > 0:03:14get stuck into it.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Amy has found Gladys' grandparents on her father's side,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21William Dawe and Susan Harry, on the 1901 census.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23She can see they'd had six children,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Gladys' aunts and uncles, by 1901,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29but she's missing a crucial document.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34It's proving really difficult to track the Dawe family
0:03:34 > 0:03:36any further than 1901.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40I am trying to find the 1911 census for the paternal family
0:03:40 > 0:03:45so we can know for certain just how big it is.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49While Amy can see the Dawe family have had seven children by 1901,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51without the 1911 census,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54they don't know if William and Susan had any more.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59I'm playing around with the various children's names,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02individually, and the parents, separately.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05It's probably going to turn up that they were recorded with a misspelling.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08The 1911 census is really good for us
0:04:08 > 0:04:13because it has some extra information that gives us how many
0:04:13 > 0:04:17children the couple have had and how many have subsequently passed away.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19So, it's a snapshot of the family, but, for us,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22we can go and fill in some of the gaps on the family tree.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27While Amy tries to locate the Dawe family on the 1911 census records,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Ryan pulls in more staff to help research
0:04:29 > 0:04:34an aunt of Gladys' they do know about from the 1901 census.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37So, if you can maybe start with... Let's go with the youngest,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39because we'll be more likely to find cousins,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41so if you can do Caroline Dawe.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44So, she was ten in 1901.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47You can hold on to this for now.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50- Just let us know if you find anyone. - Caroline?- Yeah. Start with Caroline.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54- I'll just work on that one for now, OK?- Yeah, just that one. Thanks.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Ryan's handed me the 1901 census for the family.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02He's asked me to work on the line of Caroline Dawe,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05who would be an aunt of the deceased.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08So, she's one of the younger people on the census,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11so it's more likely to find living relatives from her.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16As Amy continues her search, Amy Moyes may have solved the
0:05:16 > 0:05:18mystery of why the Dawe family
0:05:18 > 0:05:21appear to be missing from the 1911 census.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25I think I've finally found the paternal Dawes,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27or Dawe family...
0:05:28 > 0:05:29..in 1881.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34They are listed as Davises rather than Dawes,
0:05:34 > 0:05:35it's a mistranscription.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38When you look on the actual record,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42it's Dawe within an "S", so Dawes,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44but the link is that they're still living
0:05:44 > 0:05:46along the same street -
0:05:46 > 0:05:48they've just moved a few houses down.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52With this breakthrough, Amy Breton finds that Caroline
0:05:52 > 0:05:55married a Henry Reynolds in November, 1911,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57in Bedminster, just outside Bristol.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01On their marriage certificate, Henry lists himself as a printer,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04a boom industry in Bristol before World War I.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06There could have been up to...
0:06:06 > 0:06:1120,000 or 25,000 people working in printing of this type -
0:06:11 > 0:06:15newspapers - and, actually, packaging was a big thing in Bristol
0:06:15 > 0:06:19because we had a big tobacco industry and also chocolate...
0:06:19 > 0:06:23A lot of chocolate produced around these parts.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Whereas today, most printing is automated,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30in Henry's day, almost all printed material was produced by hand.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Within letterpress printing,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35there would have been two jobs that Henry would have done.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38One would have been a compositor, who sets the type,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40and the other one would have been
0:06:40 > 0:06:43actually being with the press and printing.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Just around the turn of the century, there were machines that
0:06:48 > 0:06:51arrived called linotype machines, and also monotype casters,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54and they actually put a lot of the hand compositors
0:06:54 > 0:06:57out of work, so probably about...
0:06:57 > 0:07:01over about 15 years from the turn of century to 1915,
0:07:01 > 0:07:06I think probably 50% of compositors lost their jobs.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Despite Henry's job being made obsolete by machines,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14the skills he had have been kept alive by passionate printers like Nick.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Yeah, well, this is case of type
0:07:16 > 0:07:21and this is what Henry would have worked with in...
0:07:21 > 0:07:23you know, the early 1900s.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Yeah, so type is laid out.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27This is lower case. This is upper case.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31This is where upper and lower case comes from.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33He would have been super-quick at this.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36So, I'm just going to roll the ink on here.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Some presses would have been, you know, would have been
0:07:39 > 0:07:42self-inking, but this is, this is hand rolling, really,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44putting the ink on.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Not my best bit of printing, that.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Yeah, he wouldn't have been impressed.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57It would have headed for the bin, this one.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00HE LAUGHS
0:08:02 > 0:08:05He would have been happy with that one.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Much better.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Amy, where was your...?
0:08:16 > 0:08:18- Where was the mum born?- Bedminster.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Bedminster. OK.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Ryan has found Gladys' maternal grandparents,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27George Drinkwater and Eliza Tucker, had four children.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33George and Laura Drinkwater both married, but never had any children.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36But Rhoda Drinkwater married a William Godbeer
0:08:36 > 0:08:41and had five children between 1910 and 1921.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42One of those children dies as a child,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45but then, from the other four...
0:08:45 > 0:08:47three of those stems and
0:08:47 > 0:08:51there's, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...
0:08:51 > 0:08:54potentially...
0:08:54 > 0:08:56ten first cousins, once removed.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It's going to be a big tree.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02One of Rhoda's children, Ada Godbeer,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04married Reginald in 1937
0:09:04 > 0:09:06and had two children,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10and Ryan thinks he may have found one of them living in Bristol.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Hello, good morning. Is Pamela there, please?
0:09:12 > 0:09:16We're researching the Drinkwater family tree,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19but it's a cousin of your mother's whose passed away.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23And you will be due to inherit from her estate.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25We'll be in touch.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27Cheers. Thanks a lot, bye-bye.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29It appears as though they haven't
0:09:29 > 0:09:31been contacted by any other firm at the moment -
0:09:31 > 0:09:32that's good for us.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Our research would suggest that you are due to benefit from this estate.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41On this line, I'm aware that there's a lot of other research going
0:09:41 > 0:09:43on into other bits and pieces of the family,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45so it's still going to be...
0:09:45 > 0:09:46It's going to at least be a few days
0:09:46 > 0:09:49before we can get a good idea of who everybody is, I suspect.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51That's great. Thank you very much.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52I look forward to hearing from you.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Thanks, then. Bye.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57With the team close to finding heirs,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59it's time to get the travellers dispatched.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Just send a warning to the reps that we'll probably need visits -
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset...
0:10:05 > 0:10:06kind of area.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14We send out a representative to visit the person.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16If someone is on holiday, we can know straightaway.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19If they've recently moved again, we can know straightaway
0:10:19 > 0:10:21and we can just amend our searches in the office and
0:10:21 > 0:10:25try and pinpoint exactly where that person is.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Travelling researcher Terry is on standby to visit heirs
0:10:29 > 0:10:32and he knows it could involve breaking some painful news.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36The work involved here is quite varied insofar as
0:10:36 > 0:10:40it can be a close relative, who they don't know has died,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42or it can be somebody they've never even met.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Are you good with Sellotape?
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Back in the office, Ryan and Suzanne start
0:10:52 > 0:10:55physically building the family tree.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58They look like they're cousins at the minute, but they're not.
0:11:02 > 0:11:03This, at the end of the day.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05This isn't an end of the day job, is it?
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Oh, wait. Oh, this one as well.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09So far...
0:11:09 > 0:11:12we are looking at about
0:11:12 > 0:11:1462 heirs that we've found so far.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I think this might be the biggest stem...
0:11:18 > 0:11:19- Ever, ever.- ..ever.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26We need a bigger desk.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Out in Bristol, travelling researcher Terry Nixon
0:11:30 > 0:11:33is about to visit heir Pamela Cousins.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35- Oh, good morning. Are you Pamela Cousins?- I am, yes.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Oh, good morning. My name's Terry Nixon.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41How well did you actually know the deceased?
0:11:41 > 0:11:42I didn't know her at all.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46No. These things are...it's very common not to know somebody
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and you might feel slightly strange that you're named as a beneficiary
0:11:49 > 0:11:51without knowing the person,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53but it happens purely because of bloodlines.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Well, very surprised to receive such a call.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I mean, it's interesting.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03I do see one of my cousins.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05We send Christmas cards
0:12:05 > 0:12:09and that's all I know about that side of the family.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12- OK. Thanks.- Lovely to meet you.- Bye-bye, then.- Bye-bye.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Back in London, Ryan still had some doubts at the back
0:12:16 > 0:12:19of his mind about the outcome of the case.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21We still don't necessarily know if all of these people
0:12:21 > 0:12:23will definitely be entitled.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I mean, this is the nature of the work, really.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31And three weeks later, Ryan's worst nightmare became reality.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34We received the bombshell from the government legal department
0:12:34 > 0:12:37that, actually, they had admitted the claim
0:12:37 > 0:12:40on behalf of a closer entitled relative.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42After all that research,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46it appeared that one of Gladys' siblings was still alive after all
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and would inherit the estate ahead
0:12:48 > 0:12:51of the cousins Ryan and the team had found.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Good news for me, as the case manager of this estate,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57was that the family have been very understanding.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58What we were able to do for them
0:12:58 > 0:13:00is to send them a very large family tree.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02The response have been very positive.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05This is...
0:13:05 > 0:13:07grandpa Godbeer.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Despite the lack of inheritance, Pamela and her husband were
0:13:10 > 0:13:13still keen to get to grips with Pamela's ancestors.
0:13:13 > 0:13:14We know him.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16That would be my mum's dad.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18I see. Well, we know him, don't we?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21That is my mum, who was a twin,
0:13:21 > 0:13:22Ada Godbeer.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Looking back into family history is a very interesting thing,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30but my sister and myself would be
0:13:30 > 0:13:33very interested in finding out more.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36And the reconnection with her past has got Pamela
0:13:36 > 0:13:39thinking about what's important in life.
0:13:40 > 0:13:46Gladys' passing has made us more aware of our family around us.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48As...
0:13:48 > 0:13:50I'm getting older,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54it just leaves our children to know more about
0:13:54 > 0:13:57the side of families that are around us.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02All the family, I believe, that I keep in contact with,
0:14:02 > 0:14:03is appreciative of it.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Sometimes, complexities in cases can leave heir hunters struggling
0:14:16 > 0:14:21until new research tools suddenly unlock previously closed doors.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24One such estate was that of Mary Margaret Williams,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28born on 11 September 1914 in Cardiff,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31but who spent much of her adult life living in Cheshire
0:14:31 > 0:14:33with her husband and son.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37When Mary came, I was only,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40approximately eight or nine.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Jean Benson remembers Mary
0:14:42 > 0:14:44from when she came to live with Jean's family
0:14:44 > 0:14:47after fleeing the Cardiff Blitz in the 1940s.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51There were only two bedrooms, so I was the one who had to give
0:14:51 > 0:14:55up the bedroom and sleep on the couch in the sitting room.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59I think that was the reflection of the war spirit.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02People did tend to do the best they could.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05If there was something they could do that was helpful,
0:15:05 > 0:15:06they did it.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Mary passed away on 8 December 2005 in a nursing home in Crewe,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14but it wasn't until 2009
0:15:14 > 0:15:17that heir hunting firm Celtic came across the case.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Right, can you check something on the electronic file?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Case manager Saul Marks led the research.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29At that time, the information on the Treasury's list was
0:15:29 > 0:15:30still fairly basic.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33We had the deceased name, Mary Margaret Williams,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35we had her date of death and place of death.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37We knew also that she was a widow, but we didn't know anything
0:15:37 > 0:15:40about her husband, her husband's name, anything like that.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45And due to the age of the case, Saul had extra tantalising information.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50This particular case had first been advertised by the Treasury
0:15:50 > 0:15:53in 2006 and that was in the era when they were still
0:15:53 > 0:15:57including values and they actually assigned a value to this of
0:15:57 > 0:16:01£40,000, so it was definitely going to be worth our looking into it.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03If we don't find the rightful kin to
0:16:03 > 0:16:06a deceased person's estate, the government seizes the assets.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12During his initial inquiries, Saul uncovered Mary had an interesting
0:16:12 > 0:16:13early career in Cardiff,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16which she continued when she moved to Cheshire
0:16:16 > 0:16:17and met Jean's aunt Peggy.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Mary and Peggy appeared to have been part of the golden age of
0:16:21 > 0:16:24chorus girls in the 1930s.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Large troops of young women would perform dazzling
0:16:27 > 0:16:29synchronised dance routines in theatres across Britain,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34including those in Crewe, influenced by dance crazes from America.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Being a chorus girl was an escape from everyday life, really.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41You have the glitz, the glamour, the showbiz,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and you have an audience.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Mary may not have been selected to be
0:16:45 > 0:16:48a chorus girl for her skill on the dance floor.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52If people wanted to join a theatre and become a chorus girl,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55if they had any dance ability at all,
0:16:55 > 0:16:57they could go along and audition for shows.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00But sometimes, if they saw somebody who looked pretty
0:17:00 > 0:17:02and who would look good on stage,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05that was half the battle, because, prewar days,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07it was more quantity than quality,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11they would pack a lot of dancers on the stage in very pretty costumes.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15But behind the scenes, life as a showgirl could also be hard work.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17She would be rehearsing in the daytime,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20she would have possibly two shows an evening.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24And then it would be back home, feeling quite tired, and then
0:17:24 > 0:17:27starting to do the same thing all over again the following day.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30You would have had possibly a sort of minimum wage.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32But it was probably better than working in
0:17:32 > 0:17:36a factory or an office, and there was the thrill of being in
0:17:36 > 0:17:40a dressing room with your friends, having nice costumes to dress up in.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Offstage, Mary would also have found real support
0:17:43 > 0:17:45from her fellow dancers.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48She would have relished the fact that she had
0:17:48 > 0:17:51a built-in family in the dressing room and I think there was
0:17:51 > 0:17:54a lot of camaraderie, and I think the girls would have all
0:17:54 > 0:17:57supported each other, and I'm sure she would have loved that life.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01But her dancing friends weren't Mary's only family.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Knowing Mary had a husband and son,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Saul's first job was to verify their names.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10We were able to use the electoral rolls to find the exact
0:18:10 > 0:18:15address where Mary and her husband and her son were living in Crewe.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19And that obviously gave us the husband's name and the son's name,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21which was John Williams and Brian Williams.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Jean Benson remembers Brian.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29I only understood that Mary came from Cardiff
0:18:29 > 0:18:32because of the Blitz in Cardiff,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36and the fact that particularly had frightened her son.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40That Mary had a son Brian was potentially crucial for Saul.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Brian had died in 1999, but if he'd had any children,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46they'd be entitled to Mary's estate.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51We had it on authority from the care home where she had lived
0:18:51 > 0:18:55at the end of her life that her son was actually
0:18:55 > 0:18:57a bachelor so there were going to be no grandchildren
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and we were able to corroborate that with the evidence.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04Records showed that Mary's husband had also died before her.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07It transpired that Mary had actually registered both their deaths.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11They'd died within a month of each other in 1999.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14With no close family to inherit Mary's estate,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Saul now needed to look at her wider family.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19What we really needed to find more about Mary's family
0:19:19 > 0:19:22was her maiden name, and there were two ways of doing this.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26We could find her son's birth listing,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29or her and John's marriage listing.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30And for some strange reason,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32we couldn't find either of them anywhere.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36So, it really was quite a head scratcher.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Without these vital certificates, Saul had no way of finding Mary's
0:19:40 > 0:19:43maiden name, which would allow him to find Mary's birth record.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46There are a number of different events that can occur
0:19:46 > 0:19:49that will help us to solve a case.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Sometimes, it will be new census information.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Sometimes, it will be a new database.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57At other times, maybe, we can look with greater clarity at a case,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01and maybe look somewhere where you hadn't thought of looking before.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Saul decided to dig deeper into Mary's history
0:20:04 > 0:20:06to see if there was a clue as to why
0:20:06 > 0:20:10no records seemed to exist for her marriage or for her son's birth.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12We spoke to the group of ladies
0:20:12 > 0:20:15who all came from an area of Crewe called Sydney.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19One of the ladies who we spoke to, who knew John and Mary,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23had said that John had actually served in the Army in World War II.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25When we applied to the Army Records Centre,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28we provided John's date of birth.
0:20:28 > 0:20:29When they came back to us,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33they said that they did have a John Alexander
0:20:33 > 0:20:35with that date of birth
0:20:35 > 0:20:39but his name wasn't Williams, it was Manzaris.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And that was the breakthrough,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44because we could now establish
0:20:44 > 0:20:48that Manzaris and Williams were the same person.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50And we could look for the marriage, not under Williams,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52but under Manzaris.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Most of the time,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59illiteracy and ignorance changes a person's surname.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02And that's not uncommon.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Sometimes, there can be cultural reasons.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08People are Anglicising their name, if they came to the United Kingdom.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Right, I've been advised to speak to you...
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Saul had his fingers crossed that any marriage records would
0:21:13 > 0:21:17have all the info he needed to start finding Mary's heirs.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20OK, well, whatever you can do will be great.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23We were hoping that the marriage certificate would give Mary's
0:21:23 > 0:21:27father's name and we could then use that to find her birth
0:21:27 > 0:21:30more easily and start to put together a family tree.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34However, having spent so long to find the marriage certificate,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37it turned out the father's name was left blank.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Thankfully, at least the marriage certificate gave us
0:21:39 > 0:21:44Mary's maiden name, which was Brien or O'Brien.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46This meant they could find Mary's birth record
0:21:46 > 0:21:50and begin to look for heirs on her mother's side of the family.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53When we got hold of the birth certificate, it corroborated
0:21:53 > 0:21:56the marriage certificate in that there was no father's name.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01It did give us her mother's name which was Beatrice Brien or O'Brien,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05so at least we had some lead on the mother's side of the family.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08And we did find a Beatrice Bryan,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10born in Cardiff in 1897,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and that would have made her only 17 when Mary was born.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Beatrice died very young.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20She died in 1920 and Mary was only five at that time.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Beatrice had no other children, meaning Mary would have no
0:22:24 > 0:22:28siblings or nephews or nieces to inherit her estate,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32so Saul needed to go back further on Mary's family.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35From Beatrice's birth certificate, Saul established that Mary's
0:22:35 > 0:22:39father was Patrick Bryan and her mother, Mary Driscoll.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Saul then discovered they'd had another daughter.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Beatrice did have a sister named Elizabeth,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50but she seemed to die under her maiden name as well in 1924
0:22:50 > 0:22:52and she didn't have any children.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54So, we started to think,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58"Well, maybe there aren't any heirs to this case at all."
0:22:59 > 0:23:03When the death certificates for Mary's mother and aunt arrived,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Saul discovered a horrible coincidence.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08We realised that both of them had died of TB.
0:23:08 > 0:23:1280, 90 years ago, it really was a major killer
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and this family had been terribly badly affected by it.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22But with both Mary's mother and aunt dying without further children,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Saul was struggling to find any living family.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29But Saul then discovered Mary had an older uncle, John,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32but he couldn't immediately find any of John's descendents.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39However, a family tree posted online included John's mother,
0:23:39 > 0:23:40Mary's grandmother,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44and, amazingly, it included details of John's family.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47This tree was quite extensive, which was a great relief to us
0:23:47 > 0:23:49because we had something to then crosscheck.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51It did show that there were
0:23:51 > 0:23:54a number of descendents of John
0:23:54 > 0:23:55and he had quite a number of children,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57who had quite a number of grandchildren.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01So, at last, we were able to establish that there were
0:24:01 > 0:24:04going to be cousin heirs on this case.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06From John Bryan's marriage to his first wife,
0:24:06 > 0:24:11the team found four children - Joan, Raymond, Louisa and Cyril...
0:24:11 > 0:24:15who between them, produced a total of 12 heirs.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21One of those cousins once removed is Christine Pugh,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24who remembers the moment Celtic called her.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28I was sat watching TV and the telephone rang, and this lady
0:24:28 > 0:24:30rang up and said...
0:24:30 > 0:24:31They asked, first of all,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34my father's name and my grandfather,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36and then they asked if I knew anybody by
0:24:36 > 0:24:38the name of Mary Margaret Williams.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43I had never heard of her, so I hadn't.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45I couldn't tell them anything about her.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Well, I thought it was a hoax, actually.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Keen to learn more about Mary's early life as a dancer,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Christine is visiting a dance school to learn more about the types of
0:24:56 > 0:25:01dances Mary would have entertained audiences with over 80 years ago.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03- Hello!- Hello!
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- This is Christine.- Got some...- Hey!
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Can you tell us what sort of dance you're going to be doing today?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10We're going to show you our Charleston dance.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Oh, good. And would the Charleston have been around in Mary's time?
0:25:14 > 0:25:15Would they have been doing that?
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Yes. The popular dances that they did were often
0:25:17 > 0:25:19danced on the stage as well.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24The Charleston was a fast-tempo dance craze from America,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28which hit the shores of the UK in the 1920s
0:25:28 > 0:25:31and would have been a popular choice for dancers like Mary to perform.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41I wish I had been around in their days to be able to do that.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49If Mary was doing that type of dancing in her day,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51she must have been a very vibrant young lady and
0:25:51 > 0:25:54it must have been really exciting to have known her.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Well, it must have been good fun in the '20s.
0:25:57 > 0:25:58- We know there was a lot going on... - Yes.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00..after the war, and then the depression...
0:26:00 > 0:26:02There was a lot of poverty.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05..but I'm sure this must have lifted people's spirits,
0:26:05 > 0:26:06doing dances like that.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Really enjoyed it and the girls were fabulous.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Yes, I wish I had taken up dancing when I was younger.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20But for Saul and the Celtic team,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22even after finding 12 heirs
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and submitting their claim to the government, there was one final
0:26:25 > 0:26:28hurdle over Mary's husband's name change
0:26:28 > 0:26:31from Manzaris to Williams.
0:26:31 > 0:26:32The Treasury came back to us.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34They wanted definite proof
0:26:34 > 0:26:37that Manzaris and Williams were the same family.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40The Army Records Centre were not prepared to release
0:26:40 > 0:26:42the page of John's Army records
0:26:42 > 0:26:45that included the proof that
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Manzaris and Williams were one and the same.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49They asked us to apply through
0:26:49 > 0:26:53their usual channels and follow their regular procedures
0:26:53 > 0:26:57in order to obtain John's full military service records.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00But to get the records would take eight months for them
0:27:00 > 0:27:01to be delivered to Saul,
0:27:01 > 0:27:06so he had to wait...until a bit of luck finally came his way.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11I was able to find Mary and her husband and her son,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14on a 1939 register, living on the south coast.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17The 1939 register records subsequent changes of name,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19through marriage or any other reason,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22and it had them down as Manzaris.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And it had it crossed out and it had Williams above it, and you could
0:27:26 > 0:27:30clearly see Manzaris and Williams together on the same record.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33So, we were able to then submit this record to the Treasury and say,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35"Look, here's the proof you wanted.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37"Manzaris and Williams are the same."
0:27:37 > 0:27:40With the case cracked and money winging its way to the heirs,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Saul could finally relax.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46To finally crack it open, and find heirs,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and the heirs were thrilled,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52honestly, satisfaction factor puts it right up there.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Oh, what shall I do with the money?
0:27:53 > 0:27:55It's such a lot, I don't know.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58No, I haven't got any plans of what to do with the money.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59I'll raise a glass and say,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02"Thank you very much, Mary, that's very nice of you."
0:28:03 > 0:28:05I appreciate it, even though you didn't know me.