0:00:04 > 0:00:08Gillian Carter lived a quiet life in rural Wales.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11And her case is proving a difficult one for the heir hunters.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14The maternal family is looking quite tricky.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16It's a long shot, I think.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Just check.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21And a second case begins with a tragic accident.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It was quite a shock.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I don't actually dwell on it because what had happened to him,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28it was pretty serious stuff.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32It was something that none of us had really thought would happen.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34It's all in a day's work for the heir hunters.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50In the London offices of heir hunting firm Finders,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52case manager Amy Moyes and the team
0:00:52 > 0:00:55are starting work on a new case just in.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I am working on today's BB ad.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05It's one of the ads from today's list.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08It's the estate of the late Gillian Margaret Carter.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12We are just looking for information about relatives and family.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Gillian died unexpectedly of a heart attack aged 72
0:01:16 > 0:01:19on the 7th December 2014
0:01:19 > 0:01:22in the small Welsh village of Llanddewi-Brefi.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25She called Wales home for 15 years
0:01:25 > 0:01:28after moving from her hometown in Warwickshire.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Here, the residents of the village are proud
0:01:31 > 0:01:33of their rural way of life.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38It's a very different pace of life to city life.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39It is slower.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41It's friendlier.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Living in a village, people need connections with other people
0:01:46 > 0:01:48because otherwise life can be isolated.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52I think we have still got quite a good community spirit.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Although Gillian had friends in the village,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57nobody knew of her family.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59It is the heir hunters' role to find any living relatives.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04I have been taking a look at close family.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07She was probably married, but may well be divorced,
0:02:07 > 0:02:13and we can see that she appears to have bought property on her own
0:02:13 > 0:02:15rather than with a partner or husband.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Gillian owned her property in Wales when she died.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21This will make up part of the estate
0:02:21 > 0:02:23that Amy is hoping to pass on to her family.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Gillian Carter was in fact married and later divorced.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31She had no children.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36It looks as though she is probably an only child,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40so I have moved on to maternal and paternal family trees.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43One thing that has struck Amy as unusual
0:02:43 > 0:02:48is that both of Gillian's parents appear to have died on the same day.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Amy's ordered more certificates to help complete the picture
0:02:50 > 0:02:54of the maternal side of the family tree.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Initially, the maternal family is looking quite tricky,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02so I'm going to leave that side for now and focus on the paternal side.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07The surname on this side is looking quite interesting.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09It's the surname of Boycott.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12So that would appear to be Gillian's maiden name.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Searching for people called "Boycott" in the area,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Amy has found someone she hopes could be a first cousin -
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Hello. This is a message for Mr David P Ratcliffe.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26My name is Amy Moyes.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29It would just be ideal if I could speak to someone
0:03:29 > 0:03:32who is of the same generation as the deceased
0:03:32 > 0:03:37and fill in the family tree pretty quickly by speaking to them.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Amy has a team of travelling researchers on standby
0:03:40 > 0:03:41all over Britain,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43waiting to meet potential heirs face-to-face
0:03:43 > 0:03:45to gather more evidence.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47A lot of times,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50people don't know who the deceased is or know very little,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53why they actually knew the deceased
0:03:53 > 0:03:55and knew the whole family background.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57But until she knows where to send them,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00she has to wait for someone to call back.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02It could be the one you found.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06If I can find her with a family, then you know she is wrong.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10She has now enlisted the help of fellow heir hunter Ryan Gregory.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13They want to reach potential heirs as quickly as possible
0:04:13 > 0:04:18before a competing heir hunting firm has the chance to sign them up.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Ryan has been looking into another stem,
0:04:20 > 0:04:26another paternal aunt - a lady named Dina,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29who actually appears to still be alive.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33She would be 100 or 101 years of age.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37So what we're trying to do is Ryan is trying to see
0:04:37 > 0:04:39if she's got any children we can speak to first
0:04:39 > 0:04:41rather than make direct contact with her and upset her
0:04:41 > 0:04:43or cause her any distress.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46We are actually looking into the Boycott family tree today.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Do you recognise that as your mother's maiden name?
0:04:50 > 0:04:54And it looks like Ryan has finally got through to a potential heir.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Right, OK.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59It is actually in relation to a cousin of yours
0:04:59 > 0:05:01who has sadly passed away.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Her name was Gillian Margaret Carter.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06I tell you what we would like to do
0:05:06 > 0:05:08is ask one of our local representatives
0:05:08 > 0:05:11to maybe come and see yourself and Dina
0:05:11 > 0:05:13so we can take her through the paperwork.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Ryan's call has brought some interesting news.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20As it stands, we've had a chat with a few potential heirs
0:05:20 > 0:05:22or their children.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27It's sounding as though the paternal family at least
0:05:27 > 0:05:31were certainly aware that the deceased had passed away
0:05:31 > 0:05:35and that they were taking steps to deal with her estate themselves.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40So it may turn out that services of companies like ours
0:05:40 > 0:05:42might not be necessary here
0:05:42 > 0:05:45and there could have been just a slight delay in them
0:05:45 > 0:05:47dealing with the estate,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50which is why it has ended up with the government legal department.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54So what we're going to do is keep going with the research
0:05:54 > 0:05:56until we've spoken to everybody involved,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59get a full picture of what the actual situation is
0:05:59 > 0:06:01and take it from there.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Amy's company can only help any heirs they find
0:06:04 > 0:06:06if Gillian Carter left no will.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08And now, this is in question.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12One week later,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15there's been a development in Gillian Carter's case.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Since I last took a look at the Carter case,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22we've made a bit of progress with finding out about
0:06:22 > 0:06:27the potential will from speaking to some more of the paternal heirs.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31It sounds as though there certainly was a will
0:06:31 > 0:06:36and that the Carter estate was almost certainly left to a charity,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38but for one reason or another,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40the will has been proven to be invalid,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and that's why it's ended up on the Bona Vacantia list.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46So what all of that means
0:06:46 > 0:06:48is that we're now back at dealing with an intestacy
0:06:48 > 0:06:52and we're looking at the maternal and paternal trees as we were.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Since we left off,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57I've managed to speak to most of the paternal heirs now,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01and if I hadn't spoken to them, they've all had some paperwork.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05The majority of those paternal heirs have signed up with us,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09so, really, the paternal side is quite safe now,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11just one or two outstanding issues.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And we need to then take a look
0:07:14 > 0:07:17at the maternal family tree, the Franklins.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18We don't have as many signatures
0:07:18 > 0:07:20on that side of the family tree as of yet.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24With the green light to continue
0:07:24 > 0:07:26the search for heirs to Gillian Carter's estate,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Amy's sent out travelling researcher Parmjit
0:07:29 > 0:07:33to meet a potential heir face-to-face.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36He's heading to Gloucestershire to visit Nora Boycott,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Gillian's aunt, who goes by her middle name, Joan.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44She's the sister of the deceased's father,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46who's nearly 100 years old, I think.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I believe she's 99 years old.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51And we're going to see her, together with her son
0:07:51 > 0:07:53in relation to this matter.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55What I'm doing today is,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58I want to research the full family tree with her.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I've got the details as far as we've got,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03so it's a question of really going through with them
0:08:03 > 0:08:06to make sure we've got all the details of all the relatives
0:08:06 > 0:08:08and go through the family tree.
0:08:11 > 0:08:12Good morning. Good morning, John.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14I was very surprised,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18because I'd spoken to Gillian on the phone
0:08:18 > 0:08:21on the Saturday evening of 6th December
0:08:21 > 0:08:26and then on the Sunday, another cousin of mine rang up
0:08:26 > 0:08:29to say that Gillian Carter had died
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and I sort of said, "That's... I'm really shocked,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34"because I've just spoken to her last night",
0:08:34 > 0:08:36and he said, "You're probably" - she lived on her own -
0:08:36 > 0:08:40"the last person to have spoken to her."
0:08:40 > 0:08:43And I had to sort of sit down for a few minutes, because,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46I said, well, I'd only just spoken to her the night before,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48so it was a surprise.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50This is my mother. Hello.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Joan Butler. Nora Joan Butler. Hello, Joan.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56I've come just to discuss the family tree,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58to make sure we've got all the details that we need
0:08:58 > 0:09:00for the relatives. OK?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03I've got too many! Too many. Too many.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07So, we'll start... That's Gillian.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Who's passed away. Yes.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16Then we've got another sister called Marion Beryl Boycott. Yes.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17As far as... We are happy.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Otherwise, that side of the family tree is fine.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21As far as I can see, yes, it is.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Parmjit's visit to Joan and John has proved successful,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29and has provided more clues to Gillian's life.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30It's also solved the mystery
0:09:30 > 0:09:33of the joint date of her parents' death.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Gillian's parents were going in early December...
0:09:37 > 0:09:40They were going off to buy Christmas presents and a van driver
0:09:40 > 0:09:44came on the wrong side of the road and just hit them head-on.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50He was badly injured, but they were both killed pretty well outright.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55So that was a real blow for Gillian and her husband.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Sharing such sad news, John's not only been able to paint
0:10:00 > 0:10:04a fuller picture of Gillian's past, but the visit has also proved
0:10:04 > 0:10:08crucial in helping to complete her paternal family tree.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14In the Birmingham area, Keith, another travelling researcher,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17is on his way to visit one of Gillian Carter's cousins
0:10:17 > 0:10:19on her mother's side.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22The heir hunters have had no luck tracking him down on the phone,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24so Keith's hoping to catch him at his home.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29This is not looking particularly hopeful.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31There doesn't appear to be any vehicles on the drive
0:10:31 > 0:10:34and it looks a little bit locked up and secure.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36But we'll make some enquires.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40On closer inspection, it appears no-one is home.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45You say he's deaf, is he? Yeah. Does he live on his own? Yeah.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47As a result of a visit to the neighbours,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50they can confirm that our gentleman does live at this address.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Unfortunately, he's in his late eighties and he's deaf
0:10:54 > 0:10:58and he probably is in, but will not hear us.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02He has relatives that call on a Saturday who live in Shrewsbury,
0:11:02 > 0:11:03so what I'm going to do is,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05with the permission of the neighbour,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07leave them the visiting letter
0:11:07 > 0:11:09so that when they see the relatives at the weekend,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12they'll get the relatives to contact the office.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14So things are beginning to take shape,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16but there's still work to do.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Slowly, Gillian Carter's family tree is beginning to grow.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28The 1911 census reveals that Gillian's grandfather,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Edward Henry Franklin, enlisted with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36one of the elite regiments of the British Army, in 1884.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40This was during the Anglo-Egyptian War
0:11:40 > 0:11:42between Egyptian and Sudanese forces.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48The British Army moved into the Sudan
0:11:48 > 0:11:50following threats to Khartoum.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Only the capital remained in Egyptian hands,
0:11:54 > 0:11:59with about 15,000 European and Egyptian citizens.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Gillian's grandfather, Edward Franklin, would most
0:12:01 > 0:12:05likely have been amongst the troops deployed to a troubled region.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10In fact, that relief force arrived two days too late.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14The city had been... The siege had been successful,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17and the whole town had been laid waste.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20After this tragic event, Edward Franklin would most possibly
0:12:20 > 0:12:22have remained with his regiment.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27The Camerons complete a tour of duty on the frontier until 1887.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32They return to Britain for several years,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36and then are sent to Gibraltar and Malta.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40And it is from Malta that they are called back to Egypt
0:12:40 > 0:12:42at the end of 1897.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46By this time, Edward Franklin had married Mary Morrison,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49and they had started a family together.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Gillian Carter's mother, Margaret,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53was the youngest of their nine children
0:12:53 > 0:12:58and was born in 1912 in Birmingham, after her father had retired.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Back at the office, there have been further developments.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09After much in-depth research on the case,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13news has arrived which changes everything.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Since we put the claim in with the Government Legal Department,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20we've heard back from them, and unfortunately,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24they have written to say that a subsequent will has come forward.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26This one does appear to be valid.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29A situation like this is obviously very disappointing for us,
0:13:29 > 0:13:35we've spent a lot of time and effort and also, um...money,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37in doing the research, contacting heirs that are
0:13:37 > 0:13:41probably not now entitled, but we work on all sorts
0:13:41 > 0:13:42of different types of cases,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44and this does happen from time to time.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47For the cousins, however,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49it's not the money that was important,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52but their fond memories of Gillian.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I got on quite well with her,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56she was quite a pleasant person, you know?
0:14:04 > 0:14:06The search is on for unknown heirs
0:14:06 > 0:14:09of 68-year-old Robert Joseph Bradley,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13who spent most of his life living in the seaside town of Margate.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17A pillar of the community, bachelor Robert, known as Bob,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20ran a local pet shop, served as a beach warden
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and was later curator of Margate Museum.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27But he was best known for his hobby, judo.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31We never quite understood Bob.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33He was a friendly guy,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36but he stayed and lived with his mother as long as I knew him.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39He was very focused on judo when he came out,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42but all the time he was down in Margate,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45he was focused on the beach and his pet shop.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47He was a great, great fellow.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51You had to take him for what he was and by his own admission,
0:14:51 > 0:14:56he was only interested in what he wanted to achieve.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01He wouldn't consider being married or settling down
0:15:01 > 0:15:04or compromising his outlook on life.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11With judo, he decided that he wanted to go as far as he could with it.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13He was very good at throwing people
0:15:13 > 0:15:17who were not only his own weight, but above it.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18He was European Champion,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21he was National Champion for year after year.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27Bob was very close to qualifying for part of the Olympic team
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and had there been enough finance
0:15:29 > 0:15:33to send both the openweight and a heavyweight,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35I think Bob would have been in the team there
0:15:35 > 0:15:38and he would have contested for medals in the Olympics.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45But after a hugely successful sporting career,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Bob Bradley met an untimely death.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52In a shocking accident in his home on 6th May 2014,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54he fell through rotten floorboards.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I heard about Bob's death.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01A mutual friend phoned me up and told me.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04But it was on the news as well.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07It was quite a shock. I don't actually dwell on it,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10because what had happened to him was pretty serious stuff.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Bob's friends shared their pain at his loss,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16but Bob had no relatives that they knew of.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Whenever we talked about family things, as you do when
0:16:19 > 0:16:22you're going away, he just simply said, "Oh, I never see anyone."
0:16:22 > 0:16:24And that was it.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30As Bob died with no known family, his case was referred
0:16:30 > 0:16:35to London probate genealogists Fraser and Fraser.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40She can do a marriage search, same as we can. We might be lucky.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44There are only two Robert Bradleys born in 1945.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45One of them was in the March quarter
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and we can kind of disprove that immediately,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51because our deceased was born in November.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53So we've got one in the December quarter,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57which then gives us the mother's maiden name as Swift.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59So we can then follow that up,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01follow it onto finding the parents' marriage
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and perhaps double-checking whether or not he had any siblings.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Bob Bradley's family tree was beginning to come alive.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15We found a Joseph R Bradley marrying a Rose Swift
0:17:15 > 0:17:18in December quarter 1932 in Willesden.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21We thought the "R" would be for Robert, the deceased's name,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23which later turned out to be true,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25so from that point of when that marriage occurred,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29we would then look for siblings of the deceased.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Bob did have an older brother, Michael, who sadly died in infancy.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36He had also lost both of his parents many years ago.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39So with no living immediate family,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42the team had to widen the net on their search.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46This would point them towards aunts, uncles and cousins.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Yeah, 19 on the '11 census.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Ben's starting point was Bob's grandparents on his mother's side,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Lily James and Richard Charles Swift.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00They married in 1902 in Camberwell.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Next, to find further details of Bob's family, the search turned
0:18:06 > 0:18:10to the 1911 census, which revealed his grandfather's profession.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13We located the family and the father,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Richard Charles Swift's occupation, is listed as fruiterer.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Life in London in 1911 was tough,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23and the Swift family at that time was listed as a large one.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Records show that Lily James and Richard Charles Swift
0:18:28 > 0:18:33had six children, born between 1901 and 1914.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Lily Swift, the aunt of the deceased,
0:18:36 > 0:18:42she married a Charles Periton in 1922 in Willesden.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45They, shortly after having their first child,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48they emigrated to Canada.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50In the '20s, aren't they? Yeah.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54With part of the family scattered as far away as Canada,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58the team still hadn't found any heirs in the UK.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Bob's uncle, Charles Swift, was the key.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04He had married a Rosina Elizabeth May
0:19:04 > 0:19:08in 1929 in Paddington, London,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and records revealed that Charles, like his father, was a greengrocer.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Rosina and Charles Swift had one son,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20John Richard Charles Swift, born in 1935 -
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Bob Bradley's first cousin.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Alive and well and living in Oxfordshire,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28the team had found their first heir.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33I never knew Bob Bradley because he lived in Margate.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36He never really kept in touch with the family
0:19:36 > 0:19:38and they never kept in touch with him.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40So he was just a mystery,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42he was just a complete and utter mystery to me.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Although John didn't have a relationship with Bob
0:19:46 > 0:19:47when he was alive,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51family ties have left him feeling inextricably linked to him,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55and news of his death came as a dreadful shock.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Surprised, because he was a lot younger than me.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00I wish now that I'd known him,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03because he seemed like quite an interesting guy,
0:20:03 > 0:20:04one way or another.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I might have seen him when he was a babe in arms,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08but that's all I can remember.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12Bob and John may have been first cousins,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15but their life paths couldn't be more different.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17While Bob was running a pet shop,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21John Swift had begun his working life in the family business.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24I was working in a greengrocer's shop when I was ten.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27And I worked with my father...
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Then and as far as I can make out,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32my father, my grandfather
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and most of the Swifts were all in business one way or another.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Basically, they were in the fruit and veg business,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43but...if a little deal came up for something else,
0:20:43 > 0:20:44it wouldn't be sniffed away.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Of his uncles and aunts, it was John's father's brother,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Uncle Jack, who was the most successful.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Jack was a sort who'd have a crack at anything.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01He was a gambler.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04When I say a gambler, not necessarily with money,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06but he would take chances with things,
0:21:06 > 0:21:07you know what I mean?
0:21:07 > 0:21:10And do anything to get a few bob.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13I know he had a friend who was a bookmaker's son or something
0:21:13 > 0:21:18and Jack said he went to help them at the racecourse one day.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21And when he saw the money that could be made making a book,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23he decided that's what he wanted to do.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29That's what Jack did and he did it well,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31when he opened one of the country's first betting shops
0:21:31 > 0:21:36in London's Mayfair when they became legal in 1961.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Swift would've identified somewhere like Piccadilly
0:21:40 > 0:21:42as being a central area
0:21:42 > 0:21:43amongst a lot of working class,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46because the working class worked in these areas,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48they didn't live in these areas,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and he would've identified that as a good central area
0:21:51 > 0:21:54to have a shop to attract business.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Jack Swift's empire flourished
0:21:56 > 0:21:58until he had about 20 bookies around London.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03But as his star was rising and the money rolled in,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05he never forgot his family.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Jack was very good to me.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12He gave me a lot of work when I was a cab driver doing different things,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14running him about, you know, all over the place.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16When my dad died,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20I had three kids and I was struggling a bit,
0:22:20 > 0:22:21you know, mortgage and all that,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and he was talking to me and he said, "Are you managing?"
0:22:24 > 0:22:26And he gave me 50 quid.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30And that 50 quid, in those days, got me out of trouble.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32I never, ever forgot it.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Jack had one son himself, Brian Charles Swift.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42We found a marriage to a Loretta Breasley.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45They have a total of three children.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Loretta Breasley was the daughter
0:22:47 > 0:22:51of legendary Australian jockey Scobie Breasley.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54The union of bookie's son and the daughter of racing royalty
0:22:54 > 0:22:57raised more than a few eyebrows.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Jack Swift, his son's profession as a jockey
0:23:01 > 0:23:03and the marriages that his family made,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07which actually elevated him into a racing set,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10which was much more middle-class than working-class.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14With his business booming, Jack's friend William Hill,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17who had not been so bold as to take his bookmaking business
0:23:17 > 0:23:21out on to the high street, made an offer to buy Jack's shops.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23It was an offer that Jack couldn't refuse.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Swift was the pioneer and took the risk.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30He felt that the bookmaking industry,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32licensed bookmaking was going to be successful,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35and it took a long time for William Hill
0:23:35 > 0:23:38to make the decision that he was going to go the same way.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43By 1966, his 20 shops and his business
0:23:43 > 0:23:49was sold to William Hill in its entirety for ?850,000,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53which, in today's money, equates to close to 15 million.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57But it wasn't all good news for Jack Swift and his family.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02In 1985, his only son Brian died suddenly of a heart attack
0:24:02 > 0:24:04aged just 48,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07leaving three children, all potential heirs,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10who at first couldn't be traced.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14One of them had quite a unique name and once we followed that up,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17we found all three children living in Australia.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19When we located the three Australian heirs,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22it took the number of heirs on the maternal side to 12.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26With all living heirs on Bob Bradley's mother's side
0:24:26 > 0:24:28of the family now accounted for,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32it was time to turn to the paternal family tree.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33This is a bigger challenge
0:24:33 > 0:24:38simply because there were more aunts and uncles to descend on this side.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Bob's grandfather, Charles Bradley, had married Bob's grandmother,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Mary Ann Hopkins, in 1888.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48They had nine children over a 24-year period,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51including Joseph Robert Bradley.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54So when we had completed our research into Charles Bradley,
0:24:54 > 0:24:56the paternal uncle of the deceased,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58um...it had almost doubled the amount of heirs
0:24:58 > 0:25:02that we already had from the maternal side of the family.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06But as Bob's paternal family tree continued to reveal itself,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10a further ten first cousins came to light.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12We were just finding heirs left right and centre.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15And these heirs were spread all over the globe.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Let's just have a look on another system,
0:25:17 > 0:25:18just to make sure.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20With Ben's team hard at work,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23an heir closer to home had been found.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Bob Bradley's uncle Harry had six children.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30His son, Peter Bradley, Bob's first cousin,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33was alive and well and living in Kent.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36My memories of Bob are very small cameos.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40We used to take holidays, we had a couple of holidays in Westgate.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43On one occasion, we stayed with Aunt Rose
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and we played in the garden.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48And then I saw him on another occasion on the seafront
0:25:48 > 0:25:50and we played in the sand together.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53And that was really the last time.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Um, that was it, really, basically.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01And then they just disappear, you know, you go from your memory
0:26:01 > 0:26:04and you get on with your own life.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07With so many years having passed since they last met,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Peter was surprised to hear he was entitled to a part
0:26:10 > 0:26:13of his late cousin's estate.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15When I heard of the circumstances of his death,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18it was tinged with a bit, quite a lot of sadness,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21because, you know, all right, you're going to inherit some money,
0:26:21 > 0:26:26but it would've been much nicer to think that I'd come across him
0:26:26 > 0:26:30in passing and met up with him and spoke to him...
0:26:31 > 0:26:33..that type of thing.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34With the final piece of the puzzle
0:26:34 > 0:26:37that makes up Bob Bradley's family tree in place,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Ben and his team's job is done.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42So the case of Robert Joseph Bradley was really interesting.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45There were many heirs all around the world which we had to trace.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47We found 35 people entitled to benefit
0:26:47 > 0:26:51and the estate at the end was worth ?125,000.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52So, this is where it is...
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Today, Peter and his son, Matthew,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57have travelled to Bob's hometown of Margate,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59to his beloved judo club,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03to meet his friends and find out more about their long-lost cousin.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Certificates, trophies. Oh, I bet you've got a few of those.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Yeah... Where is he there? There he is.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12That was at the Ramsgate club...
0:27:12 > 0:27:15The ethos of our sport, and he took on board so strongly,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18was that you could compete with anyone of any standard
0:27:18 > 0:27:20and if you behaved yourself properly,
0:27:20 > 0:27:21you looked after them.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23You see he's wearing a black belt there, don't you? Yeah.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Well, he got higher than that.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27He got to 7th dan eventually. Seven dans...
0:27:27 > 0:27:30When you're refereeing, you don't expect the referee
0:27:30 > 0:27:33to be cracking jokes, but he was always...
0:27:33 > 0:27:35He got into trouble with the authorities
0:27:35 > 0:27:38quite a number of times, cos he wouldn't stop cracking jokes.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42It was lovely to see how loved he was...
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Yeah. ..and how well-liked and how many friends he had...
0:27:44 > 0:27:47That was one of the most important things,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49discovering his humour.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56It brings our family back together again,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00even though we were separated through just...life, really.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03You suddenly realise that family is important
0:28:03 > 0:28:06and everybody should look to their family.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10It's always nice to remember them and know what they did,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13because there's a lot of missing links out there.