0:00:02 > 0:00:03Today...
0:00:03 > 0:00:05We need someone. It's urgent.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08Heir hunters race the competition to find beneficiaries
0:00:08 > 0:00:10to an unclaimed estate.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14It's quite a considerable sum of money, so time is of the essence.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Family members hope to be reunited...
0:00:17 > 0:00:19It would be lovely to see her again.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21That would be one of my last wishes.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Glass... I think that says bottle-maker.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27..while others are shocked to find new family.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30My first thought was, "Wow! Is this real?"
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Look for him, because we can't find the family in the 1911 census.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49- Yeah, I've done that.- Maybe just stick to marriages, 1911 up.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50It's 10.45AM
0:00:50 > 0:00:54and London heir-hunting firm Finders are working on
0:00:54 > 0:00:56a brand-new case from the government's Bona Vacantia list.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58This is a case that's just come into us.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It's the estate of Shirley Diane Street.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03There's just three ads on the list today,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06so I would anticipate this one's going to be quite competitive.
0:01:06 > 0:01:07Thank you, bye.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Shirley passed away, aged 83, on the 23rd of September, 2015,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20without leaving a will.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Born in the north-east of England, she worked in London,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27before retiring to the beautiful seaside town of Folkestone in Kent.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29A lot of people move to Folkestone,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32especially people from London are known to move to Folkestone.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Weather's always very good here and there's lots of places
0:01:34 > 0:01:37for the elderly to walk along. Some really beautiful places.
0:01:37 > 0:01:43In Shirley's 23 years of being here, she would have seen a very warm
0:01:43 > 0:01:46and friendly town. We all get on very well.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49It's a lovely, friendly, happy place to be.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54In the office, the heir hunters have some initial clues,
0:01:54 > 0:01:55which mean they need to check
0:01:55 > 0:01:58carefully, to see if Shirley had any close family.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Shirley was married to a gentleman called
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Patrick Dennis Collins-Street.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05He passed away in 1994, so they'll find that,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08when she married Patrick, whether they had any children together.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Shirley's case also has an extra level of urgency.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16We've roughly valued the estate at £200,000.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19It's quite a considerable sum of money, time is of the essence.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22- Pulling this up?- Yeah.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25With Bona Vacantia cases, we have to work very quickly.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Not only to find out whether there's any competition that maybe
0:02:28 > 0:02:30would have reached the beneficiaries before we do,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34we also find it helps generally to make initial contact with
0:02:34 > 0:02:39the beneficiaries before anybody else who may be working on the case.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Ryan needs help, to work the case fast,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44so pulls in case manager Amy Cox.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45- I've got the parents...- OK.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50- ..and I know that she's an only child.- OK.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Amy has discovered that Shirley's parents were Clarice Wintersgill
0:02:54 > 0:02:58and Herbert Charnock, who married in May 1929.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00And with no siblings of Shirley to inherit,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02the team need to now go back a generation
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and look at her grandparents on her mother's and father's side,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08to find her aunts and uncles or their children,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10who would be her heirs.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Means we've got Charnock on the paternal side
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and Wintersgill on the maternal side,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17so I'll be nice and let Coxy choose
0:03:17 > 0:03:19whichever side she wants, and then we'll see
0:03:19 > 0:03:24how big each side of the family is and then we'll devise stems.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28- Um, I'll take that.- OK.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- All right.- Thanks.- Good luck.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34With Amy researching Shirley's mother's family,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36she quickly discovers Shirley's grandparents were
0:03:36 > 0:03:38John Wintersgill and Hannah Smith.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41And when she finds them on the census with their children, it looks
0:03:41 > 0:03:45like they might have a mountain to climb, in terms of research.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49- The maternal side's quite big. - Is it? How's it looking?
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Eight... Well, seven stems.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54With a large family looming and seven maternal aunts and uncles
0:03:54 > 0:03:57of Shirley to find, Ryan steps in to help.
0:03:57 > 0:03:58OK.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03- 14...- OK, so what're we going to do, how should we split this?
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- Shall I take Suzanne and you take Camilla?- OK.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11It's always good for us in the office to have a few people
0:04:11 > 0:04:14onboard when we're researching a case, when a family tree does
0:04:14 > 0:04:18get a bit out of hand, and we can divide it amongst people in the
0:04:18 > 0:04:21office and also if you're stuck on a bit of research, there's someone
0:04:21 > 0:04:23else that can just cast fresh eyes
0:04:23 > 0:04:25over the research that you've undertaken.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28You can find this one, then, because I couldn't find her.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Everyone gets roped into researching one of the seven maternal
0:04:33 > 0:04:36aunts or uncles on Shirley's mother's side of the family.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Josh, I'm going to leave this with you.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41This is the main tree, this is the other stem.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43- Yeah, I'm thinking, leave that page up and open a new one.- Yeah.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Just started doing the first stem of the Wintersgill family, which is
0:04:49 > 0:04:53a John Wintersgill. He died in 1964. He had two children.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58John's two children were Sidney and Kathleen.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01And when they check the military records,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04the team discovered something interesting about Sidney.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09In 1941, as Britain was about to feel the full force
0:05:09 > 0:05:14of Germany on her own territory, Sidney was an RAF pilot.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18This was a very much still in the early stages of World War II.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20We'd been through the Battle of Britain,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24but the country was now coming under prolonged aerial assault
0:05:24 > 0:05:26from the Luftwaffe.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27It was the Blitz.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36As RAF crew in a bomber squadron, Sidney's role was vital.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43The Bomber Command Offensive was really the only way that we
0:05:43 > 0:05:46could strike back at the heart of Germany.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49So there would have been a real sense that Britain
0:05:49 > 0:05:50was fighting back,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53we weren't just sitting and soaking up the punishment.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Sidney was the co-pilot in a Wellington bomber.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Sidney's job would be very demanding.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Many nights, he would be getting into his aeroplane with his crew
0:06:03 > 0:06:08and flying off to raid German ports and German shipping.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12He would have been physically very tired, there would have
0:06:12 > 0:06:16been the constant threat of German anti-aircraft guns and the
0:06:16 > 0:06:17German night fighters,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21so you're constantly worrying about being shot at.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25And also, when you get back to base, every time you return,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29probably some of your squadron mates haven't come back.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Of course, over a long period of time, it is going to
0:06:33 > 0:06:36take a psychological toll.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40After facing danger so many times, one summer evening,
0:06:40 > 0:06:41Sidney's luck ran out.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46On the 12th August, 1941, his squadron set out from his RAF base
0:06:46 > 0:06:48in Suffolk to bomb German ports.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53It's very difficult to know exactly what happened that evening,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56but fundamentally, the aircraft didn't come back.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59The strong likelihood is that it was shot down by flak,
0:06:59 > 0:07:05by anti-aircraft guns, or maybe shot down by a German night fighter.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Sidney's entire crew perished that night,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11but their bravery has not been forgotten.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Sidney could be proud of the contribution he made.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21He gave his life as one of 56,000 Bomber Command aircrew
0:07:21 > 0:07:24who also died in that conflict.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29And for much of the war, Bomber Command was the only way that
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Britain could take the fight to the enemy.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Back in the office, Amy is checking if Sidney had any children
0:07:43 > 0:07:46before he was killed in action.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49This is Sidney's death record. That he was the son of the Reverend
0:07:49 > 0:07:52John Wintersgill and Ethel A Wintersgill of Lancashire,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55so we're going to take from that that he never married,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58because if he had a wife, then it would have her listed there.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02With Sidney's trail appearing to run to a dead end,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Suzanne's been working up the line of another uncle, Leonard.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10So, we found that he passed away, married,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14and that he had two children and I've just found addresses
0:08:14 > 0:08:18for them and possible telephone numbers,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20so I need to give them a call.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25- Have you found any heirs yet? - Suzanne has.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Suzanne makes a call to the first potential heirs,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31children of Leonard Wintersgill.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Yeah, he had brothers and sisters, didn't he?
0:08:33 > 0:08:37I managed to speak to one of the beneficiary's husbands,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39and he confirms that it was the correct family.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44So, I've organised for one of our representatives to go round
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and see them about 4pm today.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Meanwhile, Ryan is researching Shirley's father's
0:08:50 > 0:08:52side of the family.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Her father was Herbert Arthur Charnock,
0:08:55 > 0:09:00born in 1900, who Ryan thinks he's found on the 1911 census,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02living with his parents and siblings.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07We are left with six children on the paternal side living in 1911,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and one of those is the deceased's father, obviously.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Then, we're looking at five stems on the paternal side.
0:09:12 > 0:09:13So, it is not too bad.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17We just need to find out exactly what happened to each of them.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22The 1911 census is one of the key census records we look at.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26It has some extra information that the previous ones don't
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and also, it gives us how many children the couple have had
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and how many have subsequently passed away.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35So, it's a snapshot of the family, but, for us, we can go and fill
0:09:35 > 0:09:38in some of the gaps on the family tree just by taking a look at it.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Camilla, I might need you to just send a line for me.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45But with five potential aunts and uncles of Shirley's to find,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Ryan recruits researcher Camilla to help.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Camilla's looking into the line of Jane Charnock.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Jane is not such a common first name as John, that I'm looking into.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56But we're working around it.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Quite often for us, it's better if you have at least one middle name,
0:10:01 > 0:10:02so we know who you are!
0:10:04 > 0:10:07And something is troubling Ryan about the middle names.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09I just need to go back to what we know,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12because the dad was Herbert Arthur H Charnock.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14I need to just figure out we've got the right census.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17It would be unusual for no-one else to have middle names
0:10:17 > 0:10:20and then for him to have two middle names.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22- If you can go back to stage one...- OK.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24..just make sure you've definitely got the right census.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Ryan suspects they might have been
0:10:26 > 0:10:28looking at the wrong family entirely.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- I'll have a look as well and see if we can see anything else.- OK.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Camilla has discovered another Herbert Charnock
0:10:34 > 0:10:36on a different census.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37Have we got them in 1911?
0:10:37 > 0:10:41This Herbert Charnock matches Shirley's father perfectly
0:10:41 > 0:10:44as he has the correct two middle names.
0:10:44 > 0:10:50We just found a different census entry for the deceased's father.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52It's a much smaller family.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56The deceased's father was one of three, instead of one of six.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58We now know we're on the right track
0:10:58 > 0:11:00and it should be a lot easier for us.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01From the census,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04they can see Shirley's grandparents were actually William Charnock
0:11:04 > 0:11:06and Elizabeth Jones.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09As well as Shirley's own father, Herbert Charnock,
0:11:09 > 0:11:14they had two other children, Marion and Rhoda.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16With precious time lost on the wrong family,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Camilla and Ryan will have split the research.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- Camilla, who do you want to look into?- I like Rhoda.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Ryan makes short work of finding Marion Charnock.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29She married Horace Hall. They had a child called Horace.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34He was born in 1925, and I think he is still living.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37I found out, actually, his address is sheltered accommodation
0:11:37 > 0:11:40for senior citizens, so I can give them a call.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43The gentleman I spoke to confirmed
0:11:43 > 0:11:45that, actually, Horace has passed away.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49He couldn't confirm exactly when, but he did confirm that Horace
0:11:49 > 0:11:54has a son, so we need to now trace that son.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58And Ryan quickly tracks down Horace's son, John Hall,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01who would be Shirley's first cousin, once removed.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Hello, is that John? Hiya.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Oh, really?
0:12:07 > 0:12:11OK. There's usually a couple of companies
0:12:11 > 0:12:13that look into these things.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Essentially, it will be down to you...
0:12:15 > 0:12:20It appears another company has called John minutes before Ryan has.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Thanks, bye-bye.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25It would be the first whiff of competition we've had in this case.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27So, now it's really urgent for us
0:12:27 > 0:12:31to try and get some people out to see the beneficiaries.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34We need someone. It's urgent.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37I don't mind sending someone if they're just a couple of hours away.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Yeah, I get that, as well.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43We send out a representative to visit the person.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45If someone's on holiday, we can know straightaway.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48If they've recently moved, again, we can know straightaway.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50OK, cool.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Ryan finally gets visits booked in and he can breathe a sigh of relief.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56We had a slight panic, because we couldn't get
0:12:56 > 0:12:59anybody in Lancashire, but we're just sending someone
0:12:59 > 0:13:00from a bit further afield
0:13:00 > 0:13:03and everybody that's due a visit, will get a visit.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06And we've made first contact with everyone
0:13:06 > 0:13:08we've spoken to and we've completed
0:13:08 > 0:13:11the majority of work into the family tree.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14So, it's all been a really good team effort today.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19All in all, the team identified ten heirs
0:13:19 > 0:13:21on Shirley's mother's side of the family.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27But John Hall, Shirley's cousin once removed, is the sole heir
0:13:27 > 0:13:30to Shirley's estate on her father's side,
0:13:30 > 0:13:31and he was shocked to find out
0:13:31 > 0:13:34his small family was larger than he thought.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38The day that the heir hunters got in touch with me,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40it was an absolute, complete surprise.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45Shirley Street is a bit of a mystery to me.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Everything that I've learnt about Shirley Street
0:13:47 > 0:13:49has come from the heir hunters.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52And, indeed, I wasn't even aware
0:13:52 > 0:13:55that my grandmother Marion had a brother,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58who Shirley is descended from.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01And John is still dazed by the revelations.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03The whole experience in the last
0:14:03 > 0:14:05three weeks has been quite bizarre.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10To think I could be inheriting some money
0:14:10 > 0:14:14from someone I didn't even know existed.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17And while they didn't sign all the heirs to the estate,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Brian is happy to have helped John Hall receive his inheritance.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Given that he's the sole paternal heir,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and he's due a fifth of the estate,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28it's not too bad, and we'll now move forward with that information,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31to ensure that everybody who's entitled will receive their share.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Thank you so much for letting me know. Bye.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40In terms of research on family history,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42I've not done any, whatsoever,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46so I haven't actually quite got my head round it yet.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48So, the more that emerges,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I think, the more fascinating the whole thing will get.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02When heir hunters look into family trees,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06they can uncover distressing cases of loss and separation,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10tempered with heart-warming stories of generations united
0:15:10 > 0:15:12by a skilled but forgotten trade.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18The case of George Douglas Clarkson proved to be one such case.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24He was born on the 21st of July, 1926, in Castleford, West Yorkshire,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26but lived for many years in London
0:15:26 > 0:15:29before retiring to Honiton, in Devon.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33George Clarkson would have enjoyed living in the area.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35It's a beautiful place to be.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Devon itself has the rolling hills, and it's a lovely green area.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42His next-door neighbour would have been on hand, all the local people,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44the farmers and the community there would have been there
0:15:44 > 0:15:46to help with anything he needed.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50George passed away on the 24th of November, 2004,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52without a will.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56But it was almost a decade until his estate was advertised
0:15:56 > 0:15:59by the government as being unclaimed.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Hi, that's OK. Are you free to talk?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Case manager Richard Fryer, from heir hunting firm Hoopers,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08picked up his case.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10It's not unusual for a fair amount of time to lapse
0:16:10 > 0:16:15between the person passing away and their estate being advertised
0:16:15 > 0:16:16by the Treasury Solicitor.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18It should arrive today, hopefully. OK.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22But in George's case, there was an unusual circumstance
0:16:22 > 0:16:25which led to his estate being advertised so long after his death.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27The team discovered he'd shared his property
0:16:27 > 0:16:29with a female companion.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33There was no romantic involvement,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36they just, we think, enjoyed each other's company.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41This carried on until George's death in 2004, after which
0:16:41 > 0:16:44we understand that the lady was allowed to
0:16:44 > 0:16:48live in the property, as long as she maintained its upkeep.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And it was only upon her death some years later that the matter then
0:16:53 > 0:16:56had to be referred to the Treasury Solicitor,
0:16:56 > 0:16:57as the property was empty.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59George had fully owned the property,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04so there would be a substantial sum for potential heirs to inherit.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Richard got stuck into working out George's
0:17:06 > 0:17:09circumstances in the later years of his life.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Although we'd had indications early on that he was a bachelor,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16nevertheless, we had to check the marriage records thoroughly
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and we found no trace that the deceased had ever married.
0:17:19 > 0:17:20- Yeah.- Right, OK.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23The team couldn't find any children of George's, either.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27So with no immediate family to inherit, the team would now need
0:17:27 > 0:17:29to find George's parents from his birth certificate,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32in order to work out if he had any siblings.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36George's parents were Thomas Clarkson and Alice Gilfoyle
0:17:36 > 0:17:40who married on Christmas Eve, 1921, in Pontefract.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The team called in Jonathan Wright to help, one of their most
0:17:49 > 0:17:52experienced researchers, who's been an heir hunter most of his life.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Fairly early on, we identified in the birth records
0:17:56 > 0:17:58a brother of George Clarkson,
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Johnny Clarkson, but he didn't actually survive infancy.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07So, of course, it meant that chances are,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10we would be looking further afield, to more distant,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12extended family members.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Today, Jonathan is visiting a registry office, to pick up
0:18:17 > 0:18:19records of George's grandparents
0:18:19 > 0:18:21which will help them to find any aunts or uncles
0:18:21 > 0:18:23who would be in line to inherit.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31We found out that the maternal grandparents were
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Thomas Arthur Gilfoyle, who married an Ellen in Ireland.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38According to the census records,
0:18:38 > 0:18:43the Gilfoyle family came over to England in the early 1900s.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Quite typically, Irish families at that particular period of time
0:18:47 > 0:18:51do tend to be more likely to be on the large side.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55It turned out our original assumptions were correct.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59The family was sizeable, to say the least.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04Thomas and Ellen Gilfoyle had a total of 11 children.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07We knew at this stage that there would be a lot of work ahead of us,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10so everyone every last one, however many,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12would need to be found and accounted for.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16Case manager Abigail Rising
0:19:16 > 0:19:19was drafted in to help research the case.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24This is one of the biggest family trees that I've ever had to work on.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30This culminated in many, many hours of research for us.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- Is there anyone else outstanding? - I don't think so.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36As the team tackled the huge job of contacting heirs,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39they looked at one of George's cousins, Catherine Taylor.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Catherine Taylor herself had been married.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44She married a Denis Evans in 1936
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and, in turn, had three children of her own.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Catherine passed away in 1987,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54meaning her three daughters were now beneficiaries.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57As the team tried to locate the three potential heirs,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01their research revealed that one of them, Kathleen Evans,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03had a glamorous job in the 1960s,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05as a private chauffeur of luxury cars.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Kathleen and her sisters would be George's cousins, once removed,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and, therefore, heirs to his estate.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15But the heir hunters couldn't find any trace of Kathleen,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18and when they located her estranged sister, Marion,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22they discovered a second astonishing fact about this unusual woman.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Kathleen was about 30
0:20:25 > 0:20:27when I last saw her
0:20:27 > 0:20:31and she telephoned me to say, where did my parents live?
0:20:31 > 0:20:35I always remember because she said, "Where do YOUR parents live now?"
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Not "our parents", which seemed a funny thing at the time.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Because they moved and I told her
0:20:41 > 0:20:44and I think she stayed overnight that night
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and the next morning, I saw her at my parents' house,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51and that was the last time I ever saw her.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53When you hear from a family member that someone hasn't been
0:20:53 > 0:20:56seen for that long, then your heart does start to sink
0:20:56 > 0:20:59and you wonder how difficult it will be to find them.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01I would love to find her.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05I would love to see her. I would love to contact her.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Marion and the heir hunters are hoping someone with
0:21:11 > 0:21:14information about Kathleen will someday come forward.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Until then, her inheritance will remain in trust.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Right, and as far as we know, she's the only one.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- Yes.- Right, OK.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Other than Kathleen and her sisters,
0:21:27 > 0:21:32the team had found an incredible 74 heirs to George's £230,000 estate
0:21:32 > 0:21:35on his mother's side alone.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38The heir hunters started looking at George's
0:21:38 > 0:21:41grandparents on his father's side,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43to look for George's aunts and uncles,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45with fingers crossed for a small family.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Moving over to the deceased's paternal family,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51we identified the birth entry
0:21:51 > 0:21:55for his father, Thomas Clarkson, in 1893.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Thomas Clarkson was the son
0:21:57 > 0:22:01of Edward Israel Clarkson and Ada Smith.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04But the heir hunters' hopes were drastically misplaced.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08In total, including the deceased's father, they had nine children.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13This is one of these rare cases where all nine children, in fact,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15did live well into adulthood.
0:22:15 > 0:22:21So, it looked very likely that Thomas Clarkson's eight siblings
0:22:21 > 0:22:25potentially could all have married and had descendants.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29And when they found the census record for George's grandfather
0:22:29 > 0:22:34and uncles, the team came across a fascinating family occupation.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38The 1911 census showed us that the deceased's paternal uncle,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40John Clarkson, as well as his father, Thomas,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43all worked in the local glassworks in Castleford.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Further discoveries on the census also revealed that
0:22:47 > 0:22:51one of George's glass-making uncles had gone on to have a family.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56The deceased's paternal uncle, Richard Clarkson,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59was married to a Mary Shepherd.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02They had a son, Richard Roland Clarkson,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05who was married to an Olive Liversedge,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07and they, in turn, had four children of their own,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11who would be cousins, once removed, of the deceased.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15One of them, Richard John Clarkson, passed away in 2001,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20but he had three children, who would be heirs to George's estate.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22Oh, nice!
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Susan McAuley is George's first cousin, twice removed,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29who was shocked when she got the call from the heir hunters.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33My first thought was, "Wow! Is this real?"
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Other family members had had similar phone calls.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39The accents of the people who were down in London
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and the phone call matched with everything, so I had no doubts
0:23:42 > 0:23:46it was genuine and it was just really quite exciting.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Obviously, the first thing you tend to think of is, which you do, is,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54"Ooh, how much money am I going to get?"
0:23:54 > 0:23:57After that, your thought are that this relative was living
0:23:57 > 0:23:59so far away, that I didn't know existed.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04George Douglas was an unusual name and it got me
0:24:04 > 0:24:08really interested in tracing the ancestry of the family.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11The census 1911, where Edward Israel Clarkson was
0:24:11 > 0:24:14eight on one of those, he's now 49.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17And after some investigating,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Susan and her family have discovered a link to George's past.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Her father also worked in the glassworks of Castleford
0:24:24 > 0:24:28and appears to have been the fourth generation of Clarksons to do so.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Glass founder. So we know that comes way back into our history.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38His children. Glass... I think that says bottle maker.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42The resemblance of the family just goes... I mean, he could be him.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44- Dad could be him.- Yeah.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Castleford in West Yorkshire was one of the pioneering
0:24:49 > 0:24:53areas of glass bottle production in the late 19th century,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57which George's father, uncle and grandfather were all involved in.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Today, Susan, her sister and mother
0:25:04 > 0:25:07are visiting a glassworks run by Kate Jones...
0:25:07 > 0:25:09How are you doing? Welcome!
0:25:09 > 0:25:11..which still follows the traditional method
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Susan's great, great grandfather,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Edward Clarkson, would have recognised.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Well, we've been here 20 years
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and we've been blowing glass all that time.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21And we blow glass as it was made pretty much before
0:25:21 > 0:25:23the Industrial Revolution.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25How long does it take you to produce something like this?
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Something like this?
0:25:27 > 0:25:29About... Just over an hour.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Maybe more, maybe less, depending on how well things go.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Because glass-blowing, like any other process,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38once you've started, you can't stop and have a cup of tea.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40You've got to see it right the way through.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44And now, they can actually see a glass bowl made
0:25:44 > 0:25:46in the traditional method.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49You can feel the heat in here, can't you?
0:25:49 > 0:25:50You can feel how warm it is in here.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52The glass-makers have got to make sure
0:25:52 > 0:25:54they've got enough water on board.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56They're wearing quite light, minimal clothing,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58to keep their bodies cool.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01You get a tolerance, you know. You do get a tolerance.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Basically, if you go to a dinner party,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05the glass-makers could hand all the dishes round.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07You go to a restaurant, they say the plate's hot,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09and we're like, "Give it here!"
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Yeah, Stephen's blowing a bowl.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14This is the first stages of making a bowl.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16- He's starting again. - He's starting again.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17The colour's on the blowing iron
0:26:17 > 0:26:20and he's just gathered the glass from the furnace.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23He's blocking it and shaping it with paper, to cool the outside,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25so when he blows, there's some resistance
0:26:25 > 0:26:27and it's cooler at the bottom of the bubble.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30So when he blows, the bubble will be thicker at the bottom
0:26:30 > 0:26:31and thinner at the sides,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35which is where you want it for the structure of your bowl later on.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37And, of course, there's one way to get it right,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39and there's 1,000 ways to get it wrong.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Twiddling it round, all the time, isn't he?
0:26:46 > 0:26:47Got to turn it all the time.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49If you stop turning, gravity will do its thing.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- Make the sides go. - It will just run to earth.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Reconnecting with her family's past
0:26:54 > 0:26:57could open a new chapter in Susan's life.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01What a rewarding day, coming to see glass being made as it was made
0:27:01 > 0:27:03hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05To actually see it going into a furnace,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08coming out of the furnace, molten on the end of a rod,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11seeing it cooled and seeing them actually blowing the glass,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13it's been absolutely amazing.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16I would love to have my own furnace and blow some glass.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17You never know!
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Susan's also thankful for the inheritance
0:27:21 > 0:27:23she's receiving from George.
0:27:23 > 0:27:24I would have loved to have known
0:27:24 > 0:27:27more about George Douglas Clarkson and his life.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30We've actually found a photograph on the internet
0:27:30 > 0:27:31of the house that he lived in
0:27:31 > 0:27:34and I would love to visit that house,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37to actually try to get a feeling for the person that he was.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Back in the office, the paternal side of George Clarkson's tree
0:27:42 > 0:27:43was being wrapped up.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Upon finishing the paternal side of the family,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50we found the total beneficiaries numbered to 16.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54This meant the whole case had over 90 beneficiaries in total.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59There's still the outstanding case of Kathleen Evans,
0:27:59 > 0:28:01George's cousin, once removed.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04For now, the search for Kathleen continues.