0:00:03 > 0:00:05Today, heir hunters race to find heirs
0:00:05 > 0:00:08on one of their biggest ever cases...
0:00:08 > 0:00:12- Look for him because we can't find a family member 1911 census. - Yeah, I've done that.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Maybe just stick to marriages 1911 up.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18..a family receive a surprise inheritance from a long-lost relative...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22I've never heard of her, so I hadn't...
0:00:22 > 0:00:24I couldn't tell them anything about her.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26So I thought it was a hoax, actually.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- Are you Pamela Cousins?- I am.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32..while others appreciate their unexpected windfall.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I wouldn't waste it, that's for sure...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37not when someone's, you know, worked hard for it,
0:00:37 > 0:00:38perhaps all her life.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52It's 10am and, in London,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56heir hunting firm Finders are working on a new case.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00So, this case has just come in to us from the Bona Vacantia list.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03It's the estate of Gladys Joan Dawe.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05She was born in 1928.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Gladys worked most of her life as a chambermaid in hotels
0:01:08 > 0:01:13and lived for over four decades in the Bristol suburb of Bedminster.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Gladys lived with her sister Doris for many, many years until she died.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20They were, like... A package, really.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22They came together, you know.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Gladys was trustworthy.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28When we went on holiday, they always looked after the house and
0:01:28 > 0:01:32they were always happy to look after my children, which was very nice...
0:01:32 > 0:01:35and they taught them quite a few things.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Anita and Kim have fond memories of their childhood
0:01:38 > 0:01:40spent with Gladys and her sister.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43We'd be sitting in front of the fire.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45They'd love to watch Dad's Army
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and they used to have this old-fashioned toasting fork,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52and they would let us toast bread in front of the fire.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53It was very cosy.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56- Yeah.- And they would tell us stories.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00We totally believed there was fairies at the bottom of their garden.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Gladys never married or had children
0:02:04 > 0:02:07and passed away in April 2015
0:02:07 > 0:02:09without leaving a will.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13- Confirmed all the addresses and there's no-one missing.- Excellent.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Thank you, Amy. That's good.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18So, Ryan and the team need to investigate Gladys's parents
0:02:18 > 0:02:22in order to see if she has any other surviving siblings.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26The parents are James Dawe and Mabel Dawe nee Drinkwater.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30We found another five siblings to the two sisters,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33so there's seven children in total,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35which is a bit unusual, seeming that...
0:02:35 > 0:02:38it remains unclaimed at the moment.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40And the initial guess would be that
0:02:40 > 0:02:43these five other siblings have passed away.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48We were quite surprised to see that she is one of seven,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51just because the cases that usually come in to us
0:02:51 > 0:02:53from the Bona Vacantia list...
0:02:53 > 0:02:55the person that passed away is usually an only child
0:02:55 > 0:02:57or part of a very small family.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00It says James O Dawe. He came up in this one.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01The dad's called James.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04- So, it might be a D or something.- Yeah, it could be a D.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07With so many potential siblings of Gladys' to check,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Ryan needs help from fellow case manager Amy Moyes.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14- Well, there's a death for James E... - Right.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17..in '59...
0:03:17 > 0:03:19but then, when you look at the record,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21I think it's a James G rather than a James O,
0:03:21 > 0:03:22- so I don't think that's him.- OK.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25- I'll keep looking.- So, where is he?
0:03:25 > 0:03:28- What was the mum's name? Mabel? - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30- OK, he's a... Well, he died aged 27.- OK.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34He died 22nd of March, 1943.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Son of James and Mabel, so I assume he's a bachelor.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Yeah, it should indicate that, yeah.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40With Gladys' six siblings appearing
0:03:40 > 0:03:42to have passed away without any children,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Amy and Ryan need to go back a generation
0:03:45 > 0:03:48further and look for her grandparents.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50How's your search going?
0:03:50 > 0:03:51Um...
0:03:51 > 0:03:53one stem looks quite large.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57I'm just having a look at how big the other stems are before I...
0:03:57 > 0:03:58get stuck into it.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Amy has found Gladys' grandparents on her father's side,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06William Dawe and Susan Harry, on the 1901 census.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09She can see they'd had six children,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Gladys' aunts and uncles, by 1901,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14but she's missing a crucial document.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18It's proving really difficult to track the Dawe family
0:04:18 > 0:04:21any further than 1901.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25I am trying to find the 1911 census for the paternal family
0:04:25 > 0:04:27so we can know for certain just how big it is.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34While Amy can see the Dawe family have had seven children by 1901,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36without the 1911 census,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38they don't know if William and Susan had any more.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I'm playing around with the various children's names,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47individually, and the parents, separately.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51It's probably going to turn up that they were recorded with a misspelling.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53The 1911 census is really good for us
0:04:53 > 0:04:57because it has some extra information that gives us how many
0:04:57 > 0:05:01children the couple have had and how many have subsequently passed away.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04So, it's a snapshot of the family, but, for us,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07we can go and fill in some of the gaps on the family tree.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11While Amy tries to locate the Dawe family on the 1911 census records,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Ryan pulls in more staff to help research
0:05:14 > 0:05:19an aunt of Gladys' they do know about from the 1901 census.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21So, if you can, maybe, start with...
0:05:21 > 0:05:22Let's go with the youngest
0:05:22 > 0:05:24because we'll be more likely to find cousins,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26so if you can do Caroline Dawe.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30So, she was ten in 1901.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32You can hold on to this for now.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35- Just let us know if you find anyone. - Caroline?- Yeah. Start with Caroline.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39- I'll just work on that one for now, OK?- Yeah, just that one. Thanks.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Ryan's handed me the 1901 census for the family.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47He's asked me to work on the line of Caroline Dawe,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50who would be an aunt of the deceased.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52So, she's one of the younger people on the census,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56so it's more likely to find living relatives from her.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Having scoured online records for Caroline,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Amy isn't making much progress. PHONE RINGS
0:06:03 > 0:06:06I've now done a marriage search.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08There's only one possible marriage in England
0:06:08 > 0:06:10and Wales with no middle initial.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14However, it's in Yorkshire, so I'm not too sure about this one.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19As Amy continues her search, Amy Moyes may have solved the
0:06:19 > 0:06:21mystery of why the Dawe family
0:06:21 > 0:06:23appear to be missing from the 1911 census.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27They're down as Davis, but...
0:06:27 > 0:06:29They're down as Davis?
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- When it's been transcribed?- Yeah.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Well, we never would have found that.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- How did you find that? - Same set of cottages.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40SHE MUMBLES
0:06:40 > 0:06:431 Water Place.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44Oh, and she's a laundress.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48OK, that did pop up on another one.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I think I've finally found the paternal Dawes,
0:06:51 > 0:06:52or Dawe family...
0:06:55 > 0:06:56..in 1881.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00They are listed as Davises rather than Dawes,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02so mistranscription.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05When you look on the actual record,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09it's Dawe within an s, so Dawes,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11but the link is that they're still living
0:07:11 > 0:07:13along the same street -
0:07:13 > 0:07:15they've just moved a few houses down.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Professions are correct from mum and dad as well.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21I'm picking up the mother, Susan,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24as a laundress, which we know
0:07:24 > 0:07:27can also be another name for a charwoman.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29That was her profession in 1891 and 1901,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33so that helps us to tie the family in.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Knowing the alternative spellings for the Dawe family,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Amy finds them on the 1911 census and confirms there are still
0:07:40 > 0:07:43only six aunts and uncles of Gladys' is living in 1911.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45I'm going to come and help you with that.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48To help Amy Breton locate the correct records
0:07:48 > 0:07:50for Gladys' youngest aunt Caroline,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Ryan updates her with new information.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57Yeah, Amy found her in the 1911 census, with the parents.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58Oh, Caroline?
0:07:58 > 0:08:00- Yeah, she's down as Dawes.- OK.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05There's some real complicated misspellings and mistranscriptions
0:08:05 > 0:08:06and stuff for the family.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Caroline,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12single, and working as a tailor.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17She's also using the surname Dawes with an S on,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20so now I'm going to go and try and find marriage
0:08:20 > 0:08:22using the new information.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26With this breakthrough, Amy Breton finds that Caroline
0:08:26 > 0:08:29married a Henry Reynolds in November, 1911,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31in Bedminster, just outside Bristol.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35On their marriage certificate, Henry lists himself as a printer,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38a boom industry in Bristol before World War I.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40There could have been up to...
0:08:40 > 0:08:4420,000 or 25,000 people working in printing of this type -
0:08:44 > 0:08:49newspapers - and, actually, packaging was a big thing in Bristol
0:08:49 > 0:08:53because we had a big tobacco industry and also chocolate...
0:08:53 > 0:08:57A lot of chocolate produced around these parts.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Whereas today, most printing is automated,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04in Henry's day, almost all printed material was produced by hand.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Within letterpress printing,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09there would have been two jobs that Henry would have done.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12One would have been a compositor, who sets the type,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and the other would have been
0:09:14 > 0:09:17actually being with the press and printing.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Henry would have had difficult deadlines to meet,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22which could have put him in harm's way.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Henry's day would have been a long day.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26He would have started early,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29a lot of pressure to produce material off the press.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Would have worked very hard, very physically exhausting.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35It would have been a dangerous job
0:09:35 > 0:09:39at that time because the machines were very heavy.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43For example, a press called a cropper press...
0:09:43 > 0:09:46that's where the term "come a cropper" comes from because,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48if you get your fingers caught in that press,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50you would lose a finger pretty easily.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Along with the danger of being injured at work, Henry would
0:09:54 > 0:09:58also have faced uncertainty over the future of his job.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Just around the turn of the century, there were machines that
0:10:01 > 0:10:05arrived called linotype machines, and also monotype casters,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08and they actually put a lot of the hand compositors
0:10:08 > 0:10:11out of work, so probably about...
0:10:11 > 0:10:15over about 15 years from turn of century to 1915,
0:10:15 > 0:10:20I think probably 50% of compositors lost their jobs.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Despite Henry's job being made obsolete by machines,
0:10:23 > 0:10:28the skills he had have been kept alive by passionate printers like Nick.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Yeah, well, this is case of type
0:10:30 > 0:10:35and this is what Henry would have worked with in...
0:10:35 > 0:10:37you know, the early 1900s.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Yeah, so type is laid out.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41This is lower case. This is upper case.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44This is where upper and lower case comes from.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47He would have been super-quick at this.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49So, I'm just going to roll the ink on here.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Some presses would have been, you know, would have been
0:10:52 > 0:10:56self-inking, but this is, this is hand rolling, really,
0:10:56 > 0:10:57putting the ink on.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Not my best bit of printing, that.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Yeah, he wouldn't have been impressed.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11It would have headed for the bin, this one.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13HE LAUGHS
0:11:16 > 0:11:19He would have been happy with that one.
0:11:19 > 0:11:20Much better.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Back in the office, Ryan and the team are getting closer to
0:11:23 > 0:11:27finding heirs from Gladys' numerous aunts and uncles.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Now we're kind of getting more into the...more in-depth research
0:11:32 > 0:11:34and there's a couple of big stems.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36So, now we're, kind of, just laboriously going through
0:11:36 > 0:11:39the information that we have, trying to find peoples' addresses
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and speak to people where we can.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47But as the team are about to wrap up the case,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Ryan gets some shocking news about the heirs they found.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53That was a surprise for me,
0:11:53 > 0:11:54having managed the case,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58but also it was a disaster in terms of the research.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Could all their hard work have been for nothing?
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Sometimes, complexities in cases can leave heir hunters struggling
0:12:11 > 0:12:16until new research tools suddenly unlock previously closed doors.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19One such estate was that of Mary Margaret Williams,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23born on the 11th of September, 1914, in Cardiff,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26but who spent much of her adult life living in Cheshire
0:12:26 > 0:12:27with her husband and son.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35When Mary came, I was only approximately eight or nine.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Jean Benson remembers Mary from when she came to live with
0:12:38 > 0:12:42Jean's family after fleeing the Cardiff blitz in the 1940s.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46There were only two bedrooms, so I was the one who had to
0:12:46 > 0:12:50give up the bedroom and sleep on the couch in the sitting room.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54I think that was a reflection of the war spirit.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57People did tend to do the best they could.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01If there was something they could do that was helpful, they did it.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Mary passed away on the 8th of December,
0:13:03 > 0:13:082005, in a nursing home in Crewe, but it wasn't until 2009
0:13:08 > 0:13:12that heir hunting firm Celtic came across the case.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Right. Can you check something on the electronic file?
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Case manager, Saul Marks, led the research.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24At that time, the information on the treasury's list was still
0:13:24 > 0:13:28fairly basic. We had the deceased's name, Margaret Williams.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30We had her date of death and her place of death.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32We knew also that she was a widow, but we didn't know anything
0:13:32 > 0:13:35about her husband, her husband's name, anything like that.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40And due to the age of the case, Saul had extra tantalising information.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45This particular case had first been advertised by the treasury in 2006,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50and that was in the era when they were still including values,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54and they actually assigned a value to this of £40,000,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57so it was definitely going to be worth our looking into it.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00If we don't find the rightful kin to a deceased person's estate,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03the government seizes the assets.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07During his initial inquiries, Saul uncovered Mary had an interesting
0:14:07 > 0:14:10early career in Cardiff, which she continued
0:14:10 > 0:14:13when she moved to Cheshire and met Jean's aunt Peggy.
0:14:13 > 0:14:19I only know that aunt Peggy knew Mary by being told that she had met
0:14:19 > 0:14:21when they were dancing at Crewe Theatre.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25I've got the picture I found in family albums that I have acquired.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27There's the one where Peggy...
0:14:27 > 0:14:32Peggy's in dress, that's fancy dress, which I assume was dancing
0:14:32 > 0:14:35because of the position she's got her feet.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Mary and Peggy appeared to have been part of the
0:14:38 > 0:14:40golden-age of chorus girls in the 1930s.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Large troupes of young women would perform dazzling synchronised
0:14:44 > 0:14:48dance routines in theatres across Britain, including those in Crewe,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51influenced by dance crazes from America.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56Being a chorus girl was an escape from everyday life, really.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58We had the glitz, the glamour, the showbiz
0:14:58 > 0:15:00and you have an audience.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Mary may not have been selected to be a chorus girl for her
0:15:03 > 0:15:05skill on the dance floor.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09If people wanted to join a theatre and become a chorus girl,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11if they had any dance ability at all,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14they could go along and audition for shows.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16But sometimes, if they saw somebody who looked pretty
0:15:16 > 0:15:19and would look good on stage, that was half the battle
0:15:19 > 0:15:23because, pre-war days, it was more quantity than quality.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27They would pack a lot of dancers on the stage in very pretty costumes.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32But, behind the scenes, life as a showgirl could also be hard work.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35She would be rehearsing in the daytime, she would have,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37possibly, two shows in the evening,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40and then it will be back home, feeling quite tired,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44then starting doing the same thing all over again the following day.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47You would have had, possibly, a sort of minimum wage,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49but it was probably better than working in a factory
0:15:49 > 0:15:52or in office and, you know, there was a thrill of being in a
0:15:52 > 0:15:57dressing room with your friends, having nice costumes to dress up in.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Offstage, Mary would also have found
0:15:59 > 0:16:02real support from her fellow dancers.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06She would have relished the fact that she had a built-in family
0:16:06 > 0:16:09in the dressing room and I think there was a lot of camaraderie,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and I think the girls would have all supported each other,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and I'm sure she would have loved that life.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18But her dancing friends weren't Mary's only family.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Knowing Mary had a husband and son,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Saul's first job was to verify their names.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27We were able to use the electoral rolls to find the exact
0:16:27 > 0:16:31address where Mary and her husband and her son were living in Crewe,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35and that, obviously, gave us the husband's name and the son's name,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38which was John Williams and Brian Williams.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Jean Benson remembers Brian.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46I only understood that Mary came from Cardiff
0:16:46 > 0:16:50because of the blitz in Cardiff and the fact that had,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53particularly, had frightened her son.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57That Mary had a son, Brian, was potentially crucial for Saul.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Brian had died in 1999,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03but if he'd had any children, they'd be entitled to Mary's estate.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06We had it on authority from the care home,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09where she had lived at the end of her life,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13that her son was actually a bachelor, so there were going to
0:17:13 > 0:17:17be no grandchildren, and we were able to corroborate that with the evidence.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21Records showed that Mary's husband had also died before her.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24It transpired that Mary had actually registered both their deaths.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27They died within a month of each other in 1999.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31With no close family to inherit Mary's estate,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Saul now needed to look at her wider family.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36What we really needed to find more about Mary's family was her
0:17:36 > 0:17:39maiden name and there were to ways of doing this.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43We could find her son's birth listing or
0:17:43 > 0:17:45her and John's marriage listing.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47And, for some strange reason,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49we couldn't find either of them anywhere,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52so it really was quite a head scratcher.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Without these vital certificates, Saul had no way of finding
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Mary's maiden name, which would
0:17:58 > 0:18:00allow him to find Mary's birth record.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03There are a number of different events that can occur
0:18:03 > 0:18:05that will help us to solve a case.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Sometimes it will be a new census information,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09sometimes it will be in the database.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13At other times, maybe we'll just look with greater clarity at a case
0:18:13 > 0:18:17and, maybe, look somewhere where you hadn't thought of looking before.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Saul decided to dig deeper into Mary's history to see
0:18:21 > 0:18:24if there was a clue as to why no records seem to exist for her
0:18:24 > 0:18:26marriage or for her son's birth.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29We spoke to a group of ladies who all came
0:18:29 > 0:18:32from an area of Crewe called Sydney.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36One of the ladies who we spoke to, who knew John and Mary,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40had said that John had actually served in the Army in World War II.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42When we applied to be Army record centre,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44we provided John's date of birth.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46When they came back to us,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50they said that they did have a John Alexander
0:18:50 > 0:18:52with that date of birth,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56but his name wasn't Williams, it was Manzaris...
0:18:56 > 0:18:58and that was the breakthrough
0:18:58 > 0:19:02because we could not establish that Manzaris
0:19:02 > 0:19:04and Williams were the same person, and we could
0:19:04 > 0:19:08look for the marriage, not under Williams, but under Manzaris.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Most of the time, illiteracy and ignorance
0:19:14 > 0:19:16changes a person's surname
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and that's... That's not uncommon.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Sometimes there can be cultural reasons,
0:19:21 > 0:19:22people are Anglicising their name...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24if they came to the United Kingdom.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Right. I've been advised to speak to you.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Saul had his fingers crossed that any marriage records would
0:19:30 > 0:19:34have all the info he needed to start finding Mary's heirs.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36OK, well, whatever you can do would be great.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39We were hoping that the marriage certificate would give Mary's
0:19:39 > 0:19:42father's name and we could then use that
0:19:42 > 0:19:44to find her birth more easily
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and start to put together a family tree.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51However, having spent so long to find the marriage certificate,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54it turned out the father's name was left blank.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56But Saul wasn't about to give up.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00It was a real brainteaser and it was really...
0:20:00 > 0:20:02It was a real mystery case.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04But I knew, I just knew, it could be solved.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Every year in Britain, thousands of people get a surprise
0:20:13 > 0:20:15knock on the door from the heir hunters.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17You tend to sort of thing to yourself,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20"Well, I'm not sure if this is real or not."
0:20:20 > 0:20:21So, it was quite a surprise.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24But there are still thousands of unsolved cases where
0:20:24 > 0:20:26heirs need to be found.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27Could you be one of them?
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Today we've got details of two estates on the
0:20:31 > 0:20:33government legal department's Bona Vacantia list
0:20:33 > 0:20:35that are yet to be claimed.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40The first is Raj Parmer,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43who died on the 11th of May, 2010
0:20:43 > 0:20:46in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, aged 73.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51Raj was born in India on the 15th of March, 1937.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Some information indicates Raj Parmer could have been born
0:20:55 > 0:20:57in the Indian city of Mumbai.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Raj was formerly known as Edward Joseph D'Souza,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03which could indicate he had Portuguese heritage
0:21:03 > 0:21:06or had connections to the Indian state of Goa,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08which was a former Portuguese colony.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Where exactly was Raj born
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and why did he change his name?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16The next case is that of Sycriff Joseph Nieta,
0:21:16 > 0:21:21who died in Lambeth, South London on the 28th of April, 2013
0:21:21 > 0:21:23at age 69.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Sycriff was born on the 11th June, 1943,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29in the Jamaican parish of Trelawney.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33He also married in October, 1978 in Brixton.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Do you know anything that could help solve the cases of
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Raj Parmer or Sycriff Joseph Nieta?
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Perhaps you could be next of kin.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44If so, you could have thousands of pounds coming your way.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Back in London, at heir hurting firm Finders,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Ryan and the team are trying to track the relatives of Gladys Dawe.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Camilla, do you mind just ringing Bristol Registry Office
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- and seeing what the process is with getting certs locally?- OK.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Her paternal family tree is one of the largest the office has
0:22:08 > 0:22:10ever tackled in a single day.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11Could you look for him?
0:22:11 > 0:22:14- Cos we can't find a family on the 1911 census.- Yeah, I've done that.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Maybe just stick to marriages 1911 up for him.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18Yes, massive team effort, yeah.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20I mean, we've got to do that sometimes.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23I mean, there's so many different strands of research.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25We might need to get his death
0:22:25 > 0:22:26- or at least his marriage.- OK.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29We won't have the full date of birth for that,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31but these two I do. So, if you need it, let me know.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34- OK, that's good.- Thanks.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36And they're in a race against time to find
0:22:36 > 0:22:38the heirs before the competition.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41So, yeah, do Cardiff first, then Bristol.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43It's always good to have a few people
0:22:43 > 0:22:45on board when we're researching a case.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48This is because, particularly in the Dawe case,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51when a family tree does get massively large
0:22:51 > 0:22:53and a bit out of hand,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56we can divide it amongst people in the office.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59And also, if you're stuck with a bit of research,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01there's someone else that can just cast fresh eyes.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05With the whole office helping him with Gladys' father's side,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Ryan is looking at her mother's Drinkwater part of the family.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Amy, where is your...?
0:23:12 > 0:23:14- Where was the mum born?- Bedminster.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16Bedminster. OK.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Ryan has found Gladys' maternal grandparents,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22George Drinkwater and Eliza Tucker, had four children.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29George and Laura Drinkwater both married, but never had any children.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32But Rhoda Drinkwater married a William Godbeer
0:23:32 > 0:23:37and had five children between 1910 and 1921.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38One of those children dies as a child,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40but then, from the other four...
0:23:40 > 0:23:43three of those stems and
0:23:43 > 0:23:47there's, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...
0:23:47 > 0:23:49potentially...
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Ten first cousins, once removed.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54It's going to be a big tree.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58One of Rhoda's children, Ada Godbeer,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00married Reginald in 1937
0:24:00 > 0:24:02and had two children,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and Ryan thinks he may have found one of them living in Bristol.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Hello, good morning. Is Pamela there, please?
0:24:08 > 0:24:11We're researching the Drinkwater family tree,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14but it's a cousin of your mother's whose passed away.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19And you will be due to inherit from her estate.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21We'll be in touch.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Cheers. Thanks a lot, bye-bye.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25It appears as though they haven't
0:24:25 > 0:24:27been contacted by any other firm at the moment -
0:24:27 > 0:24:28that's good for us.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Our research would suggest that you are due to benefit from this estate.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37On this line, I'm aware that there's a lot of other research going
0:24:37 > 0:24:39on into other bits and pieces of the family,
0:24:39 > 0:24:40so it's still going to be...
0:24:40 > 0:24:42It's going to at least be a few days
0:24:42 > 0:24:45before we can get a good idea of who everybody is, I suspect.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47That's great. Thank you very much.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48I look forward to hearing from you.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Thanks, then. Bye.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53With the team close to finding heirs,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55it's time to get the travellers dispatched.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Just send a warning to the reps that we'll probably need visits -
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset...
0:25:01 > 0:25:03kind of area.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10We send our representative to visit the person.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12If someone is on holiday, we can know straightaway.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16If they've recently moved again, we can know straightaway
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and we can just amend our searches in the office and
0:25:18 > 0:25:21try and pinpoint exactly where that person is.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Travelling researcher Terry is on standby to visit heirs
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and he knows it could involve breaking some painful news.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32The work involved here is quite varied insofar as
0:25:32 > 0:25:36it can be a close relative, who they don't know has died,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38or it can be somebody they've never even met.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Are you good with Sellotape?
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Back in the office, Ryan and Suzanne start
0:25:48 > 0:25:51physically building the family tree.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53They look like they're cousins at the minute, but they're not.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59This at the end of the day.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01This isn't an end of the day job, is it?
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Oh, wait. Oh, this one as well.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05So far...
0:26:05 > 0:26:08we are looking at about
0:26:08 > 0:26:1062 heirs that we've found so far.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14I think this might be the biggest stem...
0:26:14 > 0:26:15- Ever, ever.- ..ever.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22We need a bigger desk.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Nearing the end of the day, and with numerous cousins
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and cousins once removed found on both Gladys' father's
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and mother's side of the family,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Ryan realises the scale of the work ahead.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36It's a really, really big case, there's no denying it.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39They don't really come much bigger in terms of the number of
0:26:39 > 0:26:44beneficiaries and we've got to have signatures back from everyone.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47You know, there so far is this huge family tree,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50but then probably a ream of paper in the file.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52It's only going to get bigger.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Think of the years of tree folding that you've got under your belt.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Out in Bristol, travelling researcher Terry Nixon
0:27:03 > 0:27:06is about to visit heir Pamela Cousins.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09This looks like it's in the cul-de-sac end here.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17- Oh, good morning. Are you Pamela Cousins?- I am, yes.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Oh, good morning. My name's Terry Nixon - here's my card.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Pamela is a cousin once removed of Gladys Dawe.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- Hi, nice to meet you.- Lovely.- Hello.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Look at this. Hang on, where does it stop?
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Heavens above!
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Terry can take Pamela through the tree to show her
0:27:33 > 0:27:35what a large family she has.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40- Oh!- There are a lot of people! - There are!
0:27:40 > 0:27:42You'll need a bigger house to get the tree in.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45That's very interesting though, really.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Lovely, thank you.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52How well did you actually know the deceased?
0:27:52 > 0:27:53I didn't know her at all.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57No. These things are...it's very common not to know somebody
0:27:57 > 0:28:00and you might feel slightly strange that you're named as a beneficiary
0:28:00 > 0:28:02without knowing the person,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04but it happens purely because of bloodlines.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Well, very surprised to receive such a call.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11I mean, it's interesting.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I do see one of my cousins.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16We send Christmas cards
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and that's all I know about that side of the family.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23- OK. Thanks.- Lovely to meet you.- Bye-bye, then.- Bye-bye.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Well, she was very surprised at the size of the tree.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Even though most of them live around the Bristol area,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33there didn't seem to be a huge amount of contact
0:28:33 > 0:28:35in much of the family, so she had
0:28:35 > 0:28:38no idea how much the actual numbers
0:28:38 > 0:28:40have ballooned over the decades.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Pamela has some thoughts on what she might
0:28:43 > 0:28:45do with any potential inheritance.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48If there was sufficient, it could be towards a holiday,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50it could be something for the home.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Wouldn't waste it, that's for sure.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54Not when someone's, you know...
0:28:56 > 0:28:58..worked hard for it, perhaps all her life.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Back in London, Ryan still had some doubts at the back
0:29:04 > 0:29:07of his mind about the outcome of the case.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10We still don't necessarily know if all of these people
0:29:10 > 0:29:11will definitely be entitled.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13I mean, this is the nature of the work, really.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15As it stands, we've found 62 beneficiaries,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19but we're only ever one phone call away from...
0:29:19 > 0:29:21hopefully not...
0:29:21 > 0:29:24a large number of people that maybe aren't entitled,
0:29:24 > 0:29:27so you can't count your chickens until they've hatched.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35And three weeks later, Ryan's worst nightmare became reality.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38We received the bombshell from the government legal department
0:29:38 > 0:29:42that, actually, they had admitted the claim
0:29:42 > 0:29:45on behalf of a closer entitled relative.
0:29:45 > 0:29:46After all that research,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50it appeared that one of Gladys' siblings was still alive after all
0:29:50 > 0:29:52and would inherit the estate ahead
0:29:52 > 0:29:55of the cousins Ryan and the team had found.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59When I received the letter from the government legal department,
0:29:59 > 0:30:01that a prior claimant had been accepted,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03I was hugely dissatisfied.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06The misreading of a single online birth record had meant
0:30:06 > 0:30:09the team had wasted weeks of research.
0:30:09 > 0:30:10The team put so much
0:30:10 > 0:30:13work to try to find the vast number of heirs
0:30:13 > 0:30:15that we did manage to locate.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19We had a mountain of paperwork, which was ready to go.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23It was obviously met with a lot of disappointment.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26But Ryan could still salvage something from the case.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Good news for me, as the case manager of this estate,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32was that the family have been very understanding.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34What we were able to do for them
0:30:34 > 0:30:36is to send them a very large family tree.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38The response have been very positive.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40We've had a few letters back, thanking us.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Pamela was one of the first to be contacted.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Just surprised. It was quite exciting at the time
0:30:49 > 0:30:52to know that you might have inherited something, but...
0:30:53 > 0:30:55..that wasn't the case, so fair enough.
0:30:58 > 0:30:59This is...
0:30:59 > 0:31:01grandpa Godbeer.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04Despite the lack of inheritance, Pamela and her husband were
0:31:04 > 0:31:07still keen to get to grips with Pamela's ancestors.
0:31:07 > 0:31:08We know him.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10That would be my mum's dad.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13I see. Well, we know him, don't we?
0:31:13 > 0:31:15That is my mum, who was a twin,
0:31:15 > 0:31:16Ada Godbeer.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Looking back into family history is a very interesting thing,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25but my sister and myself would be
0:31:25 > 0:31:28very interested in finding out more.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31And the reconnection with her past has got Pamela
0:31:31 > 0:31:33thinking about what's important in life.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Gladys' passing has made us more aware of our family around us.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42As...
0:31:42 > 0:31:44I'm getting older,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48it just leaves our children to know more about
0:31:48 > 0:31:52the side of families that are around us.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56All the family, I believe, that I keep in contact with,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58is appreciative of it.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11Mary Margaret Williams was born in Cardiff in 1914,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15but passed away in a care home in Crewe in 2005
0:32:15 > 0:32:17without a will or any known next of kin.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Friend Jean remembers when Mary
0:32:20 > 0:32:22moved up to crew during World War II.
0:32:22 > 0:32:23I met her because
0:32:23 > 0:32:27they came because of the blitz in Cardiff
0:32:27 > 0:32:30and came to live at our house.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34Mary's case lay unclaimed on the government's Bona Vacantia list for
0:32:34 > 0:32:36four years before Saul Marks from
0:32:36 > 0:32:38heir hunting firm Celtic took it on.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41This case has been quite a journey in itself.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45It was a real brainteaser, real mystery case.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Mary's marriage certificate had eluded the team
0:32:48 > 0:32:51because her husband John had changed their name from Manzaris
0:32:51 > 0:32:53to Williams after they had married.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58If a person changes a surname, for whatever reason,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00it presents us with a great number of problems,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03mainly because we can't find them and we wouldn't know where to look.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07But after establishing from Army records that Mary's married
0:33:07 > 0:33:09name definitely was Manzaris,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12the team were able to finally find her marriage certificate,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16but, unfortunately, that didn't have her father's name on it.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19It turned out that the father's name was left off
0:33:19 > 0:33:21and that's because she was illegitimate,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25so suddenly we had no father's line to look for either.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Thankfully, at least the marriage certificate gave us
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Mary's maiden name, which was Brien or O'Brien.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34This meant they could find Mary's birth record
0:33:34 > 0:33:38and begin to look for heirs on her mother's side of the family.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41When we got hold of the birth certificate, it corroborated
0:33:41 > 0:33:44the marriage certificate in that there was no father's name.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48It did give us her mothers name which was Beatrice Brien or O'Brien,
0:33:48 > 0:33:52so at least we had some lead on the mother's side of the family.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56And we did find a Beatrice Bryan,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58born in Cardiff in 1897,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01and that would have made her only 17 when Mary was born.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04Beatrice died very young.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08She died in 1920 and Mary was only five at that time.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12Beatrice had no other children, meaning Mary would have no
0:34:12 > 0:34:16siblings or nephews or nieces to inherit her estate,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20so Saul needed to go back further on Mary's family.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23From Beatrice's birth certificate, Saul established that Mary's
0:34:23 > 0:34:27father was Patrick Bryan and her mother, Mary Driscoll.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Saul then discovered they'd had another daughter.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Beatrice did have a sister named Elizabeth,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38but she seemed to die under her maiden name as well in 1924
0:34:38 > 0:34:40and she didn't have any children.
0:34:40 > 0:34:41So, we started to think,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45"Well, maybe there aren't any heirs to this case at all."
0:34:47 > 0:34:50When the death certificates for Mary's mother and aunt arrived,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Saul discovered a horrible coincidence.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56We realised that both of them had died of TB.
0:34:56 > 0:35:0080, 90 years ago, it really was a major killer
0:35:00 > 0:35:03and this family had been terribly badly affected by it.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:35:06 > 0:35:10TB was responsible for over 30,000 deaths every year
0:35:10 > 0:35:13and overcrowded poverty-stricken cities, like Cardiff,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15where Beatrice and Elizabeth grew up,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18were ideal breeding grounds for this deadly disease.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Tuberculosis would often affect families because
0:35:23 > 0:35:28often the family would be living in the same living conditions.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30It would certainly be a worry for people when
0:35:30 > 0:35:34a family member contracted tuberculosis, not least
0:35:34 > 0:35:36because the symptoms of the disease were pretty dramatic.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39If somebody starts coughing blood, obviously,
0:35:39 > 0:35:41there's something very seriously wrong with them.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Before the Second World War, there was no real effective cure
0:35:46 > 0:35:49and for that reason there was a lot of stigma and, certainly,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51fear associated with the
0:35:51 > 0:35:54danger of contracting tuberculosis.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58An infected person would sometimes be sent to a sanatorium, where the
0:35:58 > 0:36:01only treatment would involve getting as much fresh air as possible.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05But, for some sufferers, there was a drastic surgical option.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07With tuberculosis, they would
0:36:07 > 0:36:09typically have removed the infected lung.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Pretty grim procedure and...
0:36:14 > 0:36:15..rather ineffective.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Most sufferers would be aware that there was very little
0:36:18 > 0:36:20that could be done for them.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23The likelihood was that you would die and
0:36:23 > 0:36:26it was just question of when rather than if.
0:36:26 > 0:36:2825 years after Mary's mother's death,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31a vaccine for TB would be made available,
0:36:31 > 0:36:33almost eradicating it from the UK.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42But with both Mary's mother and aunt dying without further children,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Saul was struggling to find any living family.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48But Saul then discovered Mary had an older uncle, John,
0:36:48 > 0:36:52but he couldn't immediately find any of John's descendents.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58However, a family tree posted online included John's mother,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Mary's grandmother,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and, amazingly, it included details of John's family.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06This tree was quite extensive, which was a great relief to us
0:37:06 > 0:37:09because we have something to then crosscheck.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11It did show that there were
0:37:11 > 0:37:13a number of descendents of John
0:37:13 > 0:37:15and he had quite a number of children,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17who had quite a number of grandchildren.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21So, at last, we were able to establish that there were
0:37:21 > 0:37:23going to be cousin heirs on this case.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26From John Bryan's marriage to his first wife,
0:37:26 > 0:37:31the team found for children - Joan, Raymond, Louisa and Cyril...
0:37:31 > 0:37:34who between them, produced a total of 12 heirs.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41One of those cousins once removed is Christine Pugh,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44who remembers the moment Celtic called her.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48I was sat watching TV and the telephone rang, and this lady
0:37:48 > 0:37:49rang up and said...
0:37:49 > 0:37:51They asked, first of all,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54my father's name and my grandfather,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56and then they asked if I knew anybody by
0:37:56 > 0:37:58the name of Mary Margaret Williams.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03I had never heard of her, so I hadn't.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05I couldn't tell them anything about her.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Well, I thought it was a hoax, actually.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11But speaking to her brothers and sisters,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Christine realised it wasn't a prank
0:38:13 > 0:38:17and she would soon be due to inherit part of Mary's estate.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21It's nice to know that you are inheriting a bit of something.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24That's very nice to know, but,
0:38:24 > 0:38:26unfortunately, you feel... Well, I do anyway,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30I feel like I don't deserve it because I didn't know her.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Keen to learn more about Mary's early life as a dancer,
0:38:34 > 0:38:38Christine is visiting a dance school to learn more about the types of
0:38:38 > 0:38:42dances Mary would have entertained audiences with over 80 years ago.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45- Hello!- Hello!
0:38:45 > 0:38:47- This is Christine.- Got some...- Hey!
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Can you tell us what sort of dance you're going to be doing today?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52We're going to show you our Charleston dance.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Oh, good. And would the Charleston have been around in Mary's time?
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Would they have been doing that?
0:38:56 > 0:38:59Yes. The popular dances that they did were often
0:38:59 > 0:39:00danced on the stage as well.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06The Charleston was a fast-tempo dance craze from America,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09which hit the shores of the UK in the 1920s
0:39:09 > 0:39:12and would have been a popular choice for dancers like Mary to perform.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22I wish I had been around in their days to be able to do that.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30If Mary was doing that type of dancing in her day,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32she must have been a very vibrant young lady and
0:39:32 > 0:39:35it must have been really exciting to have known her.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Well, it must have been good fun in the '20s.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40- We know there was a lot going on... - Yes.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42..after the war, and then the depression...
0:39:42 > 0:39:43There was a lot of poverty.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46..but I'm sure this must have lifted people's spirits,
0:39:46 > 0:39:47doing dances like that.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Really enjoyed it and the girls were fabulous.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Yes, I wish I had taken up dancing when I was younger.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01But for Saul and the Celtic team,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03even after finding 12 heirs
0:40:03 > 0:40:06and submitting their claim to the government, there was one final
0:40:06 > 0:40:10hurdle over Mary's husband's name change
0:40:10 > 0:40:12from Manzaris to Williams.
0:40:12 > 0:40:13The treasury came back to us.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15They wanted definite proof
0:40:15 > 0:40:18that Manzaris and Williams were the same family.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21The Army Records Centre were not prepared to release
0:40:21 > 0:40:24the page of John's army records
0:40:24 > 0:40:26that included the proof that
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Manzaris and Williams were one and the same.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31They asked us to apply through
0:40:31 > 0:40:34their usual channels and follow their regular procedures
0:40:34 > 0:40:38in order to obtain John's full military service records.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41But to get the records would take eight months for them
0:40:41 > 0:40:43to be delivered to Saul,
0:40:43 > 0:40:47so he had to wait...until a bit of luck finally came his way.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52The national archives released the 1939 Register.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56That provided us with another opportunity to
0:40:56 > 0:40:59see if we could prove the Manzaris and Williams connection.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04The 1939 Register was a survey of
0:41:04 > 0:41:09the population that was taken on the 29th of September, 1939.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13It was taken right at the start of the war
0:41:13 > 0:41:17to list the entire civilian population.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20It was taken for three main purposes.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24First of all, it was for identity cards.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26It was also used for rationing.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28So, if you attempted to try not to register,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32you'd go very hungry because, if you didn't have a ration book,
0:41:32 > 0:41:34then you wouldn't get very much food.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38To win the war, every Britisher is on short ration
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and has been on short rations for two years.
0:41:41 > 0:41:42Everybody except the children.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47They get four times the eggs that grown-ups do.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50They get all the oranges that arrive in Britain
0:41:50 > 0:41:52and practically all of the extra milk.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56For John, Britain is thinking of after the war,
0:41:56 > 0:42:00of the new world that his children and ours will inherit.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03And the third purpose was for conscripting people
0:42:03 > 0:42:04into the armed forces.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09The release of the Register was a godsend for Saul.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12I was able to find Mary and her husband and her son,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15on a 1939 Register, living on the south coast.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18The 1939 Register records subsequent changes of name,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21through marriage or any other reason,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23and it had them down as Manzaris.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27And it had it crossed out and it had Williams above it, and you could
0:42:27 > 0:42:31clearly see Manzaris and Williams together on the same record.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34So, we were able to then submit this record to the Treasury and say,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37"Look, here's the proof you wanted.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39"Manzaris and Williams are the same."
0:42:39 > 0:42:42With the case cracked and money winging its way to the heirs,
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Saul could finally relax.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47To finally crack it open, and find heirs,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49and the heirs were thrilled,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53honestly, satisfaction factor puts it right up there.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Oh, what shall I do with the money?
0:42:55 > 0:42:56It's such a lot, I don't know.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59No, I haven't got any plans of what to do with the money.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00I'll raise a glass and say,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03"Thank you very much, Mary, that's very nice of you."
0:43:05 > 0:43:07I appreciate it, even though you didn't know me.