0:00:02 > 0:00:05Today, our heir hunters cross the water and travel to foreign shores.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07So this is what I've got so far.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10This is from the information that we've been given.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14The first case is riddled with unanswered questions.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Has anything in your searches so far indicated the name Shearer?
0:00:17 > 0:00:19- I didn't find one.- OK.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24And the second sees a transatlantic race to trace heirs.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Suddenly, this had become an international competition
0:00:27 > 0:00:29that had moved from the west coast of the United States
0:00:29 > 0:00:31to the north-west coast of England.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35It's all about getting to the root of the problem for the heir hunters.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39We'll have to work on this and unravel the whole mystery behind it.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Sometimes, a case comes in that takes an heir hunt overseas
0:00:54 > 0:00:58in search of crucial records that can only be discovered in person.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Today, Daniel Curran, MD of London-based heir-hunting firm Finders
0:01:06 > 0:01:09has travelled to Guernsey on the trail of the case
0:01:09 > 0:01:11of retired clerk Joan Mary Wootton.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Joan was born on the Channel island on the 18th of February, 1927,
0:01:18 > 0:01:24and died aged 88 of lung disease in the spring of 2015 in Norfolk.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31She was a really nice lady, very quiet and she liked company
0:01:31 > 0:01:35and she liked to chat and we always used to stop and speak to her.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Leaving no will
0:01:37 > 0:01:41and featuring a few weeks previously on the Government's Bona Vacantia,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43or unclaimed estate list,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Daniel has limited information regarding Joan's life.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Our first stop is really to try and identify her birth record.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54The records for Guernsey are not online,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57they're only held locally in Guernsey, so we have to get in touch
0:01:57 > 0:02:01with our researcher here and then try and work on the family tree from there.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Research is still done the old-fashioned way on the island,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08which means thumbing through birth, marriage, and death records.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Daniel's on his way to meet Susan Illey,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15a local researcher, who's working on Joan's case for him.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17It's not going to be an easy one to crack.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23In London, senior case manager Ryan Gregory has also been
0:02:23 > 0:02:25looking into the case.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Can you help me with the... Just one stem.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30So I've got the advert from the Bona Vacantia list
0:02:30 > 0:02:32from the day that we opened the case.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Now, there was quite a bit more information there
0:02:35 > 0:02:38than there usually is in a lot of the cases they advertise.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41She was a widow, so obviously we knew we were looking for
0:02:41 > 0:02:43a different surname other than Wootton
0:02:43 > 0:02:45for any records going further back.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Ryan hoped that Joan's maiden name might provide clues
0:02:49 > 0:02:52to her life story and lead to her heirs.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56On the advert we were told that the deceased's maiden name was Le Tissier-Shearer.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Now, when that sort of information comes in to us in the office,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02we're wondering, is this an hyphenated surname?
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Where has the actual surname come from?
0:03:07 > 0:03:09With the heir hunters' search covering so much ground,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13it makes sense to kick things off on the island where Joan was born
0:03:13 > 0:03:15to learn about her early life.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Daniel's arrived at the Greffe, the central records office
0:03:20 > 0:03:23at the Royal Court of Guernsey, to meet researcher Susan.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Located here since the early 1800s,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31the Greffe is home to all the island's birth, marriage and death records
0:03:31 > 0:03:34and Susan has found Joan's birth record.
0:03:34 > 0:03:40- So we know she was born in 1927 and here we have her, Joan M...- Ah, OK.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43..Le Tissier. Which is a good Guernsey name.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Born on February the 13th, so now we need to look in the register.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54- 18.- Number 18. - So now we can see her parents were
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Walter Le Tissier and Florence Lydia Quentin
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and they lived at the north side, in the Vale
0:04:01 > 0:04:03and her father's occupation was coal heaver.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07With Joan's parents' names,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10the next step is to find details about their marriage.
0:04:10 > 0:04:16- We'll look for a marriage in the indexes, prior to 1927...- OK.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17..when Joan was born.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22- Careful as you go.- A rickety, rickety spiral staircase.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28- So, what do we have here? - This is the Marriage Index...- Right.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32..from 1919, when registration, civil registration began.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36This manual searching is like a treasure hunt.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40One clue leads to another, and having found Walter and Florence's
0:04:40 > 0:04:44marriage listing, Susan can quickly find their marriage certificate.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48This will be the key to unlocking her past
0:04:48 > 0:04:52and to starting her family tree in the hope of finding her heirs.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56So we can see they got married on Boxing Day in 1925
0:04:56 > 0:04:59- in the parish church at St Sampson. - Right.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Water was 32 and Lydia 24.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07With confirmation that Le Tissier was Joan Wootton's maiden name,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11there's still the question of the other name she had listed, Shearer.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15So, has anything in your search so far indicated the name Shearer?
0:05:15 > 0:05:20I did look for a marriage for Joan, but I didn't find one.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24The trail leading to answers about Joan Wootton's former name
0:05:24 > 0:05:26may have come to a dead end,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29but with Walter and Florence's marriage certificate found,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Ryan had more fuel to fire his search in the London office.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Using the names of the parents that our agent was able to provide us,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40we could then go back and look at the census records for Guernsey.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43That is one of the few sections of information
0:05:43 > 0:05:46we have available to us in the office.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50So we were able to identify the fact that Joan's father,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Walter Le Tissier, was one of four children
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and Joan's mother was actually one of five.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59So we were researching as much as we could
0:05:59 > 0:06:01with the information on the 1911 census
0:06:01 > 0:06:03for both the maternal and paternal families,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05when Susan in Guernsey managed to get
0:06:05 > 0:06:08some very important information over to us.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Susan had news which would lead them
0:06:11 > 0:06:14one step closer to tracing Joan's heirs.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19- I've found three siblings, all girls.- Mm-hm.- Sisters of Joan.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Here we are.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26- So, Doreen May, born on the 25th of September...- OK.- ..in 1932.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28- Same parents.- Yep.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Daniel and Susan found Joan's second sister
0:06:31 > 0:06:33in another record book upstairs.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38Ruby Rose, she was born on May the 6th, 1936.
0:06:38 > 0:06:44There was one further child, she was born in 1941, Valerie. Valerie M.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48So Walter and Florence Le Tissier had four daughters
0:06:48 > 0:06:50over a 14-year period.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Joan Mary was the eldest,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54followed by Doreen May,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Ruby Rose and Valerie Maud.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01With three siblings discovered, this could mean potential heirs
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and Susan has homed in on one of them.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Well, I picked up on Ruby because Roselle is her married name.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10It's quite a Guernsey name
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and I do know several people with that surname.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18So I spoke to one of my colleagues, who actually knew her.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20- She was his auntie.- Oh!
0:07:20 > 0:07:24And he told me that she'd died in the UK, in hospital,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28and he was able to share with me her children's names,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32so that then allows you to do the contact.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35- And they would be heirs to this... - Potential beneficiaries, yes.- OK.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39But there's still a vital question unanswered.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Why was Joan Wootton, whose maiden name was Le Tissier,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46also known as Joan Le Tissier Shearer?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48We still had a massive question mark over the surname Shearer.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51If this was due to an adoption or a form of marriage,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54we could be looking at completely the wrong family,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57or there may have even been children from another marriage
0:07:57 > 0:08:01that we weren't picking up on. So, optimistic, but very wary.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Joan's name certainly became a sticking point in her case.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09But as time moved on, new evidence did come to light.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13It transpired that Joan had to tragically flee her home,
0:08:13 > 0:08:14and her family.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19As World War II engulfed Europe, German forces occupying France
0:08:19 > 0:08:22set their sights on the Channel Islands.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24And in 1940,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Joan's family made a life-changing decision for their eldest daughter.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Joan was just 13 years old.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33We understand that Joan was actually evacuated from Guernsey
0:08:33 > 0:08:36on the eve of the Nazi invasion of World War II.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44In June 1940, a year into World War II,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46the Channel Islands became the only British territories
0:08:46 > 0:08:49to be occupied by the Germans.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Almost half of Guernsey's population of 40,000
0:08:52 > 0:08:55were evacuated to England, Scotland and Wales.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59They were mainly young children, some mothers and teachers.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Molly Bihet was one of the few to stay on her island home.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08When the Germans came in 1940, I was almost nine.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11I remember that very, very well, of course.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14At the evacuation time, I can remember my mother being
0:09:14 > 0:09:17so worried sick. We were crushed
0:09:17 > 0:09:20with so many people wanting to get away.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23It was a really horrid time.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Some children stayed here, young children stayed with their parents.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31We were farming, so we stayed as children here,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33here in the occupation.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36But it wasn't an easy decision when the schools were going
0:09:36 > 0:09:39and urging their children to go.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Not long after the last boat taking evacuees
0:09:43 > 0:09:47to the safety of the mainland set sail, the island was bombed.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52The Germans wrongly believed lorries laden with Guernsey tomatoes
0:09:52 > 0:09:55ready for export were military vehicles,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59and dropped their bombs, which killed 33 islanders
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and injured 67 more.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05It was on Sunday, June 30, two days later,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09that the Germans arrived here at the airport by plane.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16For the next five years, everything changed for the islanders.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Most of their children were gone, including young Joan Wootton,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and they were living side-by-side with German soldiers
0:10:23 > 0:10:25under fear, rations and curfews.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34The end of the war finally came in 1945.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37It was a jubilant day for the islanders.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Since six o'clock in the morning, we could see these boats
0:10:41 > 0:10:44in front of Herm, just by the harbour.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49So my mother, my sister and I, we dashed off
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and we ran as fast as we could.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56And we got down to these 22 soldiers, marching,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58bayonets, tin hats.
0:10:58 > 0:11:04All smart, new rifles, and we just loved them, kissed them,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06cried with them.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10We just had to just love them and cuddle them,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12and they were crying with us.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18Soon after the war, the evacuees began returning to Guernsey,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and the Queen and King visited the island.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24But there are no records of Joan coming home.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28And if she ever did, she didn't stay.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33And by the time the war finished in 1945, she was then 18
0:11:33 > 0:11:37and she would have perhaps have adopted parents,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41where she was evacuated to, who looked after her,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45and she probably took a job and went on from there.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49So, Joan's life continued away from her family in Guernsey,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53and it was perhaps the family who took her in as a 13-year-old evacuee
0:11:53 > 0:11:58who would provide the answer to the puzzle of her surname, Shearer.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02And in the office in London, Ryan received a document
0:12:02 > 0:12:04which seemed to confirm this.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06One of the few certificates we were actually able
0:12:06 > 0:12:09to order from the office, being an English record,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13was actually Joan's marriage to Roland Leonard Wootton.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17Now, as soon as this came into the office, we were actually able to see
0:12:17 > 0:12:21that Joan had listed her father as Francis Linden Shearer.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26Now, this really went a long way to solving the riddle of where
0:12:26 > 0:12:28the Shearer name came from.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33With this confirmation in place, Daniel is on his way to meet
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Joan Wootton's niece, Kay Leslie,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38daughter of her sister, Ruby Rose.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Kay was born in 1960...
0:12:42 > 0:12:43- Hi.- Hello, Kay.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47..20 years after her aunt, Joan, fled her home of Guernsey.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- So, your mother was a Le Tissier at birth?- Yes.- OK.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54I can remember my grandparents vaguely, her parents.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57And if we can... We work, we have an online system...
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Kay may have distant memories of her grandparents,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03her Aunt Joan's parents, and although she wasn't born
0:13:03 > 0:13:05when Guernsey was under German occupation,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08she does have a knowledge of those turbulent years.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12As a writer, she's covered those bleak times.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Those five years, for children who went away
0:13:15 > 0:13:17as slightly older children, it changed their lives,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19because they came back.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Either they didn't come back, or they came back and some of them
0:13:22 > 0:13:24didn't even recognise their family after five years.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27You know, growing up without any contact at all.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30And I always thought that was really poignant.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33- And, of course, the big shock was I'd written those pieces...- Mm.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38..completely unaware that I had an aunt who went through exactly that.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42- Exactly the same thing. - I wouldn't judge Joan at all.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45She didn't have that tie with Guernsey, through her childhood.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49The family had been through really hard times for those five years and,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53- hopefully, she had found something that was comfortable and secure.- Mm.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55And to think that somebody who was such a close relative
0:13:55 > 0:13:58had survived for a long period and had died only recently
0:13:58 > 0:14:00and we didn't know about her.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03This might be nice for you, actually, we've got some photographs.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06This is from friends of Joan.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10And, apparently, this is the lady herself, this is your Auntie Joan,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13- as a young lady.- That's making me go a bit shivery, actually.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Because it suddenly becomes very real, doesn't it?
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Oh, she looks like Doreen, my mother's older sister.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21- She looks really like her. - Definitely one of the family, then?
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- Yeah, very much so. Yeah, I can definitely see that.- Yeah.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28It's fantastic to be able to put a face to the name.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32My personal reaction to hearing that there was an aunt,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35who I'd never known, was a sadness.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38To think that, until fairly recently,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41there was a direct relative, a close relative,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45who I didn't know anything about and who was living in the UK,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49made me feel sad and curious, actually, at the same time,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52because I thought, "Why does this woman not want to have
0:14:52 > 0:14:54"any contact with her family in Guernsey?"
0:14:54 > 0:14:57But, you know, life is complicated sometimes.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02This case has been, certainly,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05one of the more pleasant ones to deal with.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08It's a nice story of a family being reunited, at least in name,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11with the person they never knew about.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17Daniel's firm signed up all seven heirs to Joan Wootton's estate,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20which is estimated at around £150,000.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25Joan may be sadly gone, but she's definitely not forgotten.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29All the neighbours all think of her very fondly.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32She's got loads of friends in the village
0:15:32 > 0:15:34that, you know, will miss her greatly.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38To think that, for 30-odd years, there was someone
0:15:38 > 0:15:42living across the English Channel who was such a close relative,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46we all felt sad that the contact hadn't been made.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56One month later, Joan Wootton's story takes another twist.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59We were notified by our firm's solicitors in Norfolk
0:15:59 > 0:16:01that they held a will.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05If the will is valid, then she's left £180,000
0:16:05 > 0:16:08to be divided between the RNLI and the local youth centre.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11So, it does seem as though the heirs that we contacted
0:16:11 > 0:16:13won't actually stand to benefit, after all.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Although Jane Wootton's relatives
0:16:16 > 0:16:18may no longer be entitled to her estate,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20they have been given the gift
0:16:20 > 0:16:22of a missing piece of their family history.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31The case of Susan Watson is
0:16:31 > 0:16:34a particularly sad and interesting one.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Susan was raised in the quiet village of Leasowe
0:16:37 > 0:16:41on the northern coast of the Wirral peninsula in Cheshire.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45After graduating from Edinburgh University in 1973
0:16:45 > 0:16:49with a first-class honours degree in biological sciences,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Susan emigrated 5,000 miles away
0:16:52 > 0:16:54to Oakland in California,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57where she worked as a biological scientist.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00She had a real sense of fun and adventure,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04was an intrepid traveller and a keen cyclist.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Tragedy struck when Susan was cycling home from the office
0:17:08 > 0:17:10just before Christmas 2013.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15She was knocked off her bike and killed by a truck.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Susan was just 62 years old.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22The dreadful accident was covered by a local news station.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Susan was doing everything right.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27She was obeying all the laws,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30she was riding her bike with her helmet,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32she probably had 14 lights on her bike,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35because she was an amazing person
0:17:35 > 0:17:37and lived brightly.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41A memorial bike and ferry ride was held in Susan's honour
0:17:41 > 0:17:44by her friends in the Oakland cycling community,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46but since she was British,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48her case came back across the pond
0:17:48 > 0:17:50and was taken up by Saul Marks,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53case manager at heir-hunting firm Celtic Research.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57This case came to us from an associate company
0:17:57 > 0:17:59who we work with in the United States.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02They referred it to us in the hope that we could find heirs
0:18:02 > 0:18:04here in the UK.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10The American firm had told us that Susan seemed to be an only child,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12she didn't have any children of her own,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16and they found her parents and grandparents on the maternal side.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18She had been living with a man in the United States
0:18:18 > 0:18:20but they didn't appear to be married
0:18:20 > 0:18:23and, as such, he didn't appear to have a claim to her estate.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26So, it was up to us to go and find cousins who were living in the UK
0:18:26 > 0:18:29or elsewhere who would be the rightful heirs.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32We couldn't find a birth listing for the deceased
0:18:32 > 0:18:36and when we've got information to suggest who the parents are
0:18:36 > 0:18:37but there's no birth listing,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40it usually suggests that the person is adopted
0:18:40 > 0:18:43and we did a search of the adoption register
0:18:43 > 0:18:44and, sure enough, there she was,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and we obtained a copy of the adoption certificate
0:18:47 > 0:18:50and it proved that she was the adopted daughter
0:18:50 > 0:18:52of Isabel Davie and George William Watson.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Although Saul discovered that Susan had been adopted,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59the news didn't change the heir-hunter's job
0:18:59 > 0:19:02when searching for her beneficiaries.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Records revealed that Susan's father George passed away
0:19:05 > 0:19:08in 1966, when Susan was in her mid-teens,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12leaving her mother Isabel to raise her on her own.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Isabel never remarried
0:19:14 > 0:19:17and passed away in 1998.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20So, with no siblings or children for Susan,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Saul knew he had to search for aunts, uncles and cousins,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26all potentially her heirs.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29The next step for me was to go to Liverpool Register Office
0:19:29 > 0:19:34and get a copy of the marriage certificate of Susan's parents.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36This gave us their ages at marriage,
0:19:36 > 0:19:42which allowed us to find them both in the 1911 Census.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46The census is invaluable for genealogists,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49as it records each person living in a UK household,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53including their ages, jobs and relationships to one another.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59The 1911 Census showed us that Isabel had an older brother
0:19:59 > 0:20:02named Gordon Davie, who was Susan's adoptive uncle.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04So, if he had any children,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06they would be heirs to the estate.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Sure enough, he had two children, they were both alive,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12so we were really happy that things were starting nicely.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Things may have been off to a good start for the first two heirs traced
0:20:17 > 0:20:20but, unfortunately, they weren't in the bag for Saul.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23It transpired that Gordon's two children,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25who were Susan's first cousins,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29had actually been approached by a rival firm of ours here in the UK,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32which meant that our American associates
0:20:32 > 0:20:37had obviously got rivals there who had referred it to our rivals here,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41so, suddenly, this had become an international competition
0:20:41 > 0:20:44that had moved from the west coast of the United States
0:20:44 > 0:20:46to the north-west coast of England.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Susan's two cousins were the only heirs on her mother's side of
0:20:49 > 0:20:53the family, so the race was now on for Saul to track down
0:20:53 > 0:20:56and secure any heirs on her father's side
0:20:56 > 0:20:59before his competitors got there first.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02In order to start our work on the paternal side of Susan's family,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05we went back to her parents' marriage certificate.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09We were able then to use the 1911 Census to establish that
0:21:09 > 0:21:12George William Watson actually had two younger sisters,
0:21:12 > 0:21:17and the parents of those people were Jane Watson and George Watson,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19a stonemason.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Records also showed that Susan's great-great-grandfather,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26John Watson, was also a stonemason,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30and further research into census records between 1841 and 1871
0:21:30 > 0:21:33uncovered that her father's two brothers
0:21:33 > 0:21:35were also in the trade.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41In the 19th century, stonemasonry often ran in families.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Stonemasons at that time would have been probably working as families,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50like father and son would more than likely work together,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53possibly even grandfather, father and son
0:21:53 > 0:21:55could have been a combination.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59The Watson family would have done jobs such as
0:21:59 > 0:22:03work on buildings, works on churches, memorials...
0:22:05 > 0:22:09A master stonemason would have also done carving work as well,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and would have been very well respected in his time.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15The craft was a very skilled one
0:22:15 > 0:22:18and would have taken many years to master.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20He would have left school as early as 14
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and gone straight into the family business
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and you would do the very menial jobs,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30then they'd let you on the tools to do very basic sort of jobs
0:22:30 > 0:22:33to do with masonry, and over the years,
0:22:33 > 0:22:37you'd get more familiar and your skills would develop over time.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40So the Watsons appeared to be a close-knit
0:22:40 > 0:22:44and hard-working family, and the next step for Saul
0:22:44 > 0:22:48was to work his way up Susan's father's family tree.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51A search of the marriage register showed that John Watson's
0:22:51 > 0:22:54son George, Susan's grandfather,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57married Jane Parsons in Chester in 1898.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01They had three children - Susan's father, George William,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05and his sisters Olive Jean and Queenie Elizabeth,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09all born in Peckforton in Cheshire.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11If Susan's aunts had had children,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15this would potentially lead Saul to her heirs.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18The first line we looked at was that of Olive Jean Watson.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22She married Arthur Green in 1922 in Nantwich,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and they went on to have six children.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27She had her first child when she just 20,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and she had her last child when she was very nearly 42.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34We then delved into the family of Olive Watson and Arthur Green
0:23:34 > 0:23:38in the hope that we might be able to find some heirs on this branch.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Their eldest child was also named Olive, but she was known as Betty,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and she had three children, who we visited,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and they signed with us.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51The next child of the Green family was George, and he was known as Ike,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54and he had quite a number of children, from whom
0:23:54 > 0:23:57there were seven heirs, who, again, we were able to visit
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and write to, and we signed. Having had a bad start to this case,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03where the first two heirs who we spoke to had actually been
0:24:03 > 0:24:05contacted by a rival firm,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09it was a great relief for us to actually find heirs who
0:24:09 > 0:24:11hadn't been contacted by the competition yet
0:24:11 > 0:24:14and who were very willing to sign with us.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17One of her first cousins once removed is Angela Lang.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Her mother was Susan's first cousin, Molly,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23and her grandmother was Susan's aunt, Olive Jean.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26She received a phone call from Saul with the news that she was
0:24:26 > 0:24:29an heir to Susan Watson's estate.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34It was a complete surprise, because I didn't know of her existence...
0:24:36 > 0:24:38..prior to the phone call.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43But Angela was glad to be given the chance to reconnect with her past.
0:24:43 > 0:24:49This is a connection that's been lost, as far as my side
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and Molly Green, my mother,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56because my father moved us away from the Cheshire area.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00It is a very strange feeling to inherit from somebody
0:25:00 > 0:25:05whom I actually had no knowledge of before Saul contact me.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10It's a shame that she didn't have family of her own to leave it to,
0:25:10 > 0:25:16but, from my point of view, it's a very nice present to enable
0:25:16 > 0:25:20an extra holiday or something of that nature.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Angela has come to Peckforton Castle,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29where her great-great-grandfather, the stonemason John Watson,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32helped carve and create this magnificent
0:25:32 > 0:25:34architectural masterpiece.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39It was commissioned by Lord John Tollemache, a landowner
0:25:39 > 0:25:41and Member of Parliament.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45So he purchased this estate in 1840,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and in 1842, he set about building this castle.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53All the stone as we see now, which your ancestor would have had
0:25:53 > 0:25:58a hand in creating, was all bought from the local quarry.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02The architect Anthony Salvin, who designed the castle,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05had a rather impressive CV.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09He'd previously worked on both the Tower of London and Windsor Castle.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Would you like to take a look inside the castle, and I can
0:26:11 > 0:26:14show you some of the rooms that your ancestor had a hand in building?
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- That would be lovely, thank you. - Great.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20The castle, built from red sandstone,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24took nine years to complete. It's Grade I listed.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28- So, welcome to the Great Hall. - Right.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32This is my favourite room in the whole of Peckforton Castle.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37- Right.- And if you look around, you will see that it is exactly
0:26:37 > 0:26:42- what a medieval great hall should look like.- A baronial hall.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47- Yeah.- It's a very impressive room in a very impressive building,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50I must admit.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Susan Watson, who's made this possible, this trip,
0:26:53 > 0:26:58this visit, for me, because I'm one of her distant relatives.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03It's very sad that perhaps she's never been back here and,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06maybe, I kind of wish she could have.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Once all the heirs on the estate were found, we could send all
0:27:12 > 0:27:15the relevant paperwork to our attorney in California,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18who could submit a claim to the relevant court.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22This was all going perfectly well, until he was made aware that
0:27:22 > 0:27:26Susan's partner was actually also making a claim against the estate.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29It turns out that Susan
0:27:29 > 0:27:32and her partner had been living together as common-law man and wife.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36What this meant, in this instance, was that Susan's partner did
0:27:36 > 0:27:40actually have a reasonably legitimate claim to this estate.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47US law was on Susan's partner's side and he WAS a rightful heir.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52So, with an approximate value of around £500,000,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56there were now 27 heirs who would inherit the estate between them.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58And for Angela,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02not only was she going to inherit a piece of her cousin's fortune,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06she'd also been given an invaluable insight into her family's ancestry.
0:28:06 > 0:28:12The death of Susan, intestate, without family, is very sad.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14It is bittersweet.