0:00:03 > 0:00:05Today, the heir hunters are investigating a case
0:00:05 > 0:00:07when it suddenly goes cold...
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Both marry in Dartford, all coming out fine,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13but after that, they both disappear.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15..and the very large family tree they discover...
0:00:15 > 0:00:19- 51, 52, 53...- ..reaches out across the globe.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23On your stem alone, we have the US, Australia and Canada.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Another team are working hard on a case but it could all be in vain.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31The firm of solicitors who were appointed actually found
0:00:31 > 0:00:32a will on this case.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34- Take a seat.- But for the families...
0:00:34 > 0:00:35It's crazy!
0:00:35 > 0:00:37I think this is my favourite.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..a transatlantic love story is uncovered.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'British wives demand space on boats!'
0:00:57 > 0:01:01In the UK, when a person with no known relatives dies without
0:01:01 > 0:01:04making a will, any proceeds from the sale of their home
0:01:04 > 0:01:08and possessions can end up going to the state.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10- Have you got her death certificate yet?- No.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Probate genealogists Finders have taken on the case
0:01:14 > 0:01:18of a 90-year-old lady who passed away just four days ago.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Her name is Doreen May Priddy
0:01:20 > 0:01:22and her details aren't yet on the government list
0:01:22 > 0:01:24of unclaimed estates.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Researcher Suzanne Rowley has been working on it for about an hour
0:01:28 > 0:01:31and has already made some progress.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35I found that Doreen was married to a Priddy.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39So her maiden name was actually Lowen.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43She was born in Leicester but she passed away in the Barnet area
0:01:43 > 0:01:46and her parents both passed away in Hendon,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50so they all seemed to move down to sort of the Hendon-Barnet area.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53The case was referred privately to the heir hunters.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56We're hopeful that there's no competition but,
0:01:56 > 0:01:57of course, you can't be too sure.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01It's one of those ones where we hope it's privately referred
0:02:01 > 0:02:04but we don't know if anyone else may have come across the information,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06so we're going to work on it very quickly.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Spending her final years in a nursing home in Mill Hill,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14north London, Doreen spent most of her life in this leafy suburb.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19There were few people locally who knew her well.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Doreen's house is situated up quite a steep hill.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26We're about a ten-minute walk to shops. It's not far.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30It's a lovely suburb of London cos it's very green
0:02:30 > 0:02:35and leafy, horses and fields, and it's very village-like.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38It's within easy reach of London
0:02:38 > 0:02:40but you feel as if you're in the countryside.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46It's going to take a little bit more digging.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48With limited information to go on,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52the office have to work step by step through the tree.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55If her husband is still alive, he would be the first to inherit
0:02:55 > 0:02:59then any children they may have had.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03I checked and it looks as though there's no issue
0:03:03 > 0:03:08and her husband, Kenneth, actually passed away back in 1987.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12The next heirs entitled would be any siblings that Doreen may have had
0:03:12 > 0:03:14or their descendants.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Doreen's birth certificate gives the team her parents' names -
0:03:18 > 0:03:22James MacDonald Lowen and Doris Ada Hammersley.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25With these, they are able to do a birth index search to see
0:03:25 > 0:03:27if they had any other children.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30She actually had one brother named James.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Um... Looking into James,
0:03:32 > 0:03:37it looks as though he passed away as an infant in the same year.
0:03:37 > 0:03:38I did another check
0:03:38 > 0:03:41and it just looked like it was the two of them, so it looks as
0:03:41 > 0:03:45though Doreen was sort of an only child after her brother passed away.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48This means the team will have to enlarge their search to find
0:03:48 > 0:03:52any cousins of Doreen who may still be alive
0:03:52 > 0:03:55or, if they've passed away, any of their descendants.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00To do this, they need to go back one generation to Doreen's grandparents
0:04:00 > 0:04:02and they begin with her mother's side.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05- I can now focus on this one. I just wanted to check.- Yes.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Doreen's mother was Doris Hammersley
0:04:08 > 0:04:12and the census records gave the team her parents' names.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15A search of the birth index records with both their names
0:04:15 > 0:04:18will tell them if Doris had any siblings.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24Now, it looks as though Doris was actually an only child, so
0:04:24 > 0:04:28there'll be no further research into the maternal side of the family.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31So then, our entire focus will now be on the paternal family
0:04:31 > 0:04:33in the hope that we can find some next of kin there.
0:04:33 > 0:04:39The deceased's father was a James MacDonald Lowen,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42the surname, quite an unusual surname, and he was
0:04:42 > 0:04:47the son of James and Dorothy, who married in 1892 in Leicester.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53The 1881 and 1891 census records show that Doris' mother,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Dorothy, was working as a cigar maker in Leicester.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01At that time, Leicester was a thriving industrial town.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Records show around the 1800...end of the 1800s,
0:05:06 > 0:05:11almost 500 cigar factories across the whole of the UK,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and in 1893, we can see
0:05:13 > 0:05:18records of around 19 factories in Leicester alone.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23Almost exclusively, you'd find women working in the cigar factories.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27There's no machinery involved at any stage of this process.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30So right from the initial processing of the tobacco
0:05:30 > 0:05:32through to the final finishing of the cigar,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34everything's done by hand.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40What seems extraordinary, in terms of production levels, is that
0:05:40 > 0:05:43they produced a huge number of cigars.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48In Havana today, a roller would be expecting to
0:05:48 > 0:05:50produce 100 cigars a day -
0:05:50 > 0:05:54a good roller, maybe slightly more, but generally around 100.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59At that time, from the records I've seen, women could produce
0:05:59 > 0:06:02up to 1,000 cigars a day.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06But, yeah. Certainly working very dextrously and very fast.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11This cigar museum in London was once the tobacco store
0:06:11 > 0:06:13used by Winston Churchill.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16It houses some of the world's oldest cigars.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22They were manufactured in around 1851 for the Great Exhibition.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25These would be the sort of cigars that would have been
0:06:25 > 0:06:27manufactured in Leicester back in that time,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29a very small traditional shape,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and it is extraordinary that there are two whole cabinets
0:06:32 > 0:06:34of these cigars that survive.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Back at the office, Suzanne is checking the census records
0:06:41 > 0:06:43to see if Doreen's grandparents,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47cigar maker Dorothy and her husband, James, had any other children.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52The deceased's grandparents married in 1892,
0:06:52 > 0:06:57so the next census available was the 1901 census,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00where we can see that they had five children.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05And to check if they had any more children after 1901,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09the team's next port of call is the 1911 census,
0:07:09 > 0:07:14but this record can't always be relied on for complete accuracy.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16On the census records prior to 1911,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20the information was input by a professional enumerator.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23This information was provided by the family
0:07:23 > 0:07:25and they could make sure that it was correct
0:07:25 > 0:07:27when they presented it to the Crown.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Now, the 1911 census was actually completed by
0:07:30 > 0:07:33the head of the household and that does open us up
0:07:33 > 0:07:39to many more mistakes in the details that have been input.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43The 1911 census showed that Doreen's grandparent's brood had
0:07:43 > 0:07:46grown from five children in those ten years.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49There was actually 12 in total.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Um... Nine of them were still living in 1911,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57so three of them had actually passed away as infants.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Suzanne noticed that, along with the 12 children, there was
0:08:00 > 0:08:01another child living with them
0:08:01 > 0:08:05who had been born before Doreen's grandparents married.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08It looks like she was born as Eva A Matthews.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12On the 1901 census, it lists her as a daughter,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15but in 1911, I think it lists her as a stepdaughter.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19The intestacy law for England
0:08:19 > 0:08:23and Wales gives precedence to full-blood aunts and uncles.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27If there are any full-blood aunts and uncles or survivors thereof,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30then any half-blood aunts and uncles and their survivors
0:08:30 > 0:08:33won't be due to inherit anything from the estate.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37So the descendants of half-sister Eva will only be looked at
0:08:37 > 0:08:42if all the full-blood sibling lines of James Lowen have died out.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44That still leaves eight to investigate.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Suzanne decides to enlist some help.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52So, if you look into the two stems of Nelly and Kenneth Lowen.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Yep.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59They are siblings of the deceased's father.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01- Is that James?- So James.- Yeah.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I need you to look at Donald and Eric Lowen.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Amy Cox is given the task of looking into Donald Lowen,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12who appears on one of the census records, but not all.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15And he's not proving easy to track down.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18There's June quarter 1900, there's James MacDonald Lowen, and
0:09:18 > 0:09:25then there's Eric, born in December 1901, so when is Donald born?
0:09:25 > 0:09:27There's meant to be a Donald Lowen being born
0:09:27 > 0:09:30but there isn't a record for it, so...
0:09:32 > 0:09:35There's James being born in June quarter 1900,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37which is the deceased's father,
0:09:37 > 0:09:43and then there's Eric Lowen born December 1901,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45and there's meant to be another son in between there
0:09:45 > 0:09:47and I can't find him.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50So I think it's probably been transcribed incorrectly somewhere.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Camilla's hoping to have more luck with Doreen's aunt, Vera.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00- This stem has completely died out. Can't find any issue.- OK.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03She passed away after him, so she left a will.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07So we've ordered that to see who she left it to.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Amy seems to have worked out the mystery of the possible
0:10:10 > 0:10:12eighth uncle, Donald Lowen.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Now I've looked at the actual census, there isn't...
0:10:15 > 0:10:18The deceased father isn't actually listed on this one,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22so we're going to assume that because he's James MacDonald, he's
0:10:22 > 0:10:26down as Donald because that would put him at the right age as well.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I can't see a James on there so I think that...
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Cos there's meant to be 12?
0:10:31 > 0:10:32And there's only...
0:10:34 > 0:10:37- Oh, yeah.- So I think it may be missing someone.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- Cos I think James would...- Donald... Yeah, Donald would probably...
0:10:42 > 0:10:44- James MacDonald, yeah. - Cos MacDonald...
0:10:44 > 0:10:48- Yeah.- Yeah.- So I think you're just missing a stem.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Yeah, that would make sense as well.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Yeah, but there wouldn't be enough time for another kid to be born.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56- No.- OK, there we go. I'll carry on with Eric, then.- OK.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The change on one census from a James MacDonald to just a Donald
0:11:02 > 0:11:05is something you'd have to go with your gut instinct on.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09But one would assume that it was probably just a familiar name
0:11:09 > 0:11:11for him or a nickname that his family gave him
0:11:11 > 0:11:16but can easily be missed for somebody who isn't prepared
0:11:16 > 0:11:19to consider that as an option.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21With the confusion cleared up,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Suzanne still has seven siblings to find
0:11:24 > 0:11:26and work out if they had children.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29She couldn't seem to find addresses for any of the three children.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33And coming up, it might not be that easy to speak with them.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34Hello, is that Michael?
0:11:36 > 0:11:37He hung up on me.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46When someone dies and leaves a property behind,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48the sale of a house and its contents will become
0:11:48 > 0:11:52part of their estate that will be distributed among any heirs.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58In Chatham, Kent, professional house clearer Rufus Hirsch has just
0:11:58 > 0:12:03arrived at a property that needs to be cleared before being sold.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05You do get a very good idea of the type of person
0:12:05 > 0:12:07when you're clearing their house.
0:12:07 > 0:12:08Obviously, it's a very intimate space
0:12:08 > 0:12:11with all their personal possessions.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13You just tell from the sort of books they read
0:12:13 > 0:12:16and the things they collected.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18The house belonged to a William Arthur Groombridge,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22a retired lathe engineer, known to his friends as Bill.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24In this case, there are lots of tools.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28There seems to be tinkering about with watches and clocks.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30But he obviously liked working with his hands
0:12:30 > 0:12:33and was quite talented at it,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and you start building the picture up from there.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Neighbour Patricia Hughes knew Bill for almost 30 years.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46I used to see Bill on a Wednesday morning at the bus stop.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50He was going to the SavaCentre to have a hot meal for the day.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52I found him a gentleman.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Always lifted his hat when he spoke to you.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58You don't see that very often nowadays.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Bill lived in this house for most of his life
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and Glenys Barker was a neighbour for 60 years.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Most of the time that I would have seen Bill
0:13:09 > 0:13:14was when he was in the garden. And even up until he was in his 90s,
0:13:14 > 0:13:19he still had a push lawnmower, not an electric one, a hand push,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and his garden was always immaculate.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27Sadly, on 2nd November 2014, Bill passed away.
0:13:29 > 0:13:36OK, so this is the clock making its way to auction and, hopefully,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39it will sell and generate a bit of revenue for the estate.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Without a will or next of kin,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Bill's estate was placed on the government's bona vacantia list.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52In London, heir-hunting firm Fraser & Fraser has taken it on...
0:13:52 > 0:13:54They're not any part of this family, are they?
0:13:54 > 0:13:58..and Ben Cornish is the case manager.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00So when we initially looked at the sort of case,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04we realised quite quickly that Mr Groombridge owned his own property.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Groombridge is a good name to work, so we knew it was going to be
0:14:07 > 0:14:10competitive and we knew we had to start the case quickly.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14The purpose of the house clearance really is
0:14:14 > 0:14:17to find out as much as can about the deceased, so we're looking for
0:14:17 > 0:14:20any financial documents, any personal documents, letters that
0:14:20 > 0:14:22may give us some clue about family
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and also, most importantly, to see if there's a will there.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30So I've just found some paperwork
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and in amongst it there's a copy of an old will.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Doesn't seem to be anything to do with the deceased in this case,
0:14:39 > 0:14:40but you never know.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44All the paperwork and photographs will be taken to the office
0:14:44 > 0:14:46for the heir hunters to sort through.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51The property's now nice and clear and ready to go on the market.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Back in the office, the team had made some progress with the case.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03We found a marriage for William in 1944 and that obviously means
0:15:03 > 0:15:06that he could have had children. Even though he lived alone for many
0:15:06 > 0:15:09years, it may be the fact that they would be the next of kin
0:15:09 > 0:15:11and they've just sort of lost contact,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14but we later confirmed that he was divorced from his wife
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and that there were no issue.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20The next in line to inherit Bill's estate would be any siblings
0:15:20 > 0:15:22that may still be alive.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Neighbours remember he had a sister, Joan.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29She was always dressed to the height of fashion.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Always immaculately turned out
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and I think she was the envy of all the women along here.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39He did miss his sister, who did an awful lot for him apparently,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42and she had died the previous November.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I know he missed her dreadfully.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47To confirm this information,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51the team look at Bill's birth record which gives his parents' names -
0:15:51 > 0:15:57Arthur George Groombridge and Emma Groombridge, formerly Williams.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00We conducted a search of Groombridge's mother's maiden name Williams
0:16:00 > 0:16:04and found one sister, a Joan Emma Groombridge, being born in 1927.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07She later married, but died in 2013 without children.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11With no more close relatives,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15the team needed to look for cousins of Bill and their descendants.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Research manager Isha Adams kicks off this line of inquiry with
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Bill's parents' marriage certificate.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Because Groombridge is a good name, it's not that bad,
0:16:24 > 0:16:30so on the whole, from 1906 to 2005, Groombridge to Williams marriages,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34there's only six, although none of them are ours,
0:16:34 > 0:16:40so we knew there might be something tricky going on here.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43The heir hunters' system only covers marriages in England and Wales,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47so Isha decides to broaden the search and starts in Scotland.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Right. So there's only one match, so if we look at that.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59Yeah, so we've got an Arthur George Groombridge,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04although she's calling herself Mary Emma Williams.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07But what we'll have to do is get that certificate
0:17:07 > 0:17:11in order to see whether or not it matches up with the other stuff that
0:17:11 > 0:17:15we've found, so we can prove it or disprove it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17If we can't find the marriage record,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20it does cause a bit of a problem, because there's so much information
0:17:20 > 0:17:24tied up with the marriage record, it gives both parties' names,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27which really is crucial for our investigations.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32So I've got the marriage certificate and we have...
0:17:32 > 0:17:37They married on 13th December 1916 in Greenock.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41The marriage certificate gave the ages of both parents,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44so the team could now look for their births.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47So starting off with Emma,
0:17:47 > 0:17:53we need to look for a birth of an Emma Williams about 1892, 1893.
0:17:54 > 0:18:00Well, there's quite a few, because Williams is a very common name,
0:18:00 > 0:18:06but I don't like any of them, they don't seem to be in area.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09It's a bit of a mystery, because we couldn't really find a good birth
0:18:09 > 0:18:13for an Emma Williams, so what we've done is we've done the trick of any
0:18:13 > 0:18:18Emmas born that year, living in the area and we've come up with one,
0:18:18 > 0:18:19which is an Emma Bacon.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22With Arthur's mother appearing to be using two surnames,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Bacon and Williams, the team check the census records to see
0:18:26 > 0:18:29if they had in fact found the right Emma.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35We found her mother living with David Henry Bacon and then
0:18:35 > 0:18:38through the later census records, she assumed the name Williams
0:18:38 > 0:18:40from her mother's partner.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43She was actually born under the name of Bacon.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Emma's mother was called Emma Hunter.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51During her marriage to David Henry Bacon, she had nine children,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53but only six of them had David Bacon
0:18:53 > 0:18:56listed on their birth certificates as their father.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Three - Ellen, Lily and James - had no father listed,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03so although they took the Bacon name,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07as half-blood relations they were not entitled to Bill's estate.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Sometimes we have to think outside the box to try and find
0:19:11 > 0:19:14the right family and this is particularly tricky,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16because obviously we're looking at Williams.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20But the two youngest children, Emma and Elizabeth Rose,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23have the surname Williams on the census.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Well, I've got both their birth certificates. David Bacon, Dad.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Emma Bacon, formerly Hunter, Mum. So the father, the mother,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35the father's occupation are all the same.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39So we know that they are full-blood with the rest of the siblings.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Williams is the name that they took on after their mum got together
0:19:42 > 0:19:46with George Williams, but they were born as Bacon.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49It was just the one fluke that there was a Bacon on there that we were
0:19:49 > 0:19:52able to search for that, otherwise, we'd probably still be searching now.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56So when we discovered that her name was Bacon and not Williams,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59it was a big breakthrough for us, because A, it was an easier
0:19:59 > 0:20:02name to research and B, we were on the right track.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05To find out what happened to their father,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09the team ordered David Henry Bacon's death certificate.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Now, he died in a workhouse.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16It's on age, it looks good, in the area,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and the informant is somebody from the workhouse,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22which then tells us that he did die alone.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24So from the family fallout, we don't know whether the children
0:20:24 > 0:20:26had contact with David Bacon any more,
0:20:26 > 0:20:31but this confirms that they were definitely separated
0:20:31 > 0:20:32and he died alone.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37The team began to research the five siblings of Bill's mother to see
0:20:37 > 0:20:41if any of them had children who would inherit.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44When they looked into his uncle David Bacon,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46another mystery emerged.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50David's marriage to Nora Sawyer had produced five children,
0:20:50 > 0:20:55but the records for two of them, Joan and Vera, seemed to be missing.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Both born in Dartford, both marry in Dartford - all coming out fine.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02But after that, they both disappear
0:21:02 > 0:21:04so we don't know what's happened to them.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07On some cases, people just disappear
0:21:07 > 0:21:09and we have to really approach those with quite an open mind
0:21:09 > 0:21:11and start thinking outside the box.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15The first thing that comes to mind is maybe they've gone overseas,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18so, you know, our first question is where did they go?
0:21:18 > 0:21:21So when they disappear, one of the best things to do is get
0:21:21 > 0:21:24the marriage certificate, because they might be in the Army,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27or the Navy, so then, we can extend our search from there.
0:21:27 > 0:21:33Now, on Joan's marriage certificate to John Darling,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36actually we've got some good news here,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40because his profession is a gunman in the Canadian army.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42We know this is definitely correct,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44because her father is David Henry Bacon
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and now we need to extend our search to Canada
0:21:48 > 0:21:50to try and find some heirs.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55And it turns out that the man Vera married was a GI.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59The lack of records for both Joan and Vera after their marriages
0:21:59 > 0:22:02pointed to the fact that, as war brides, they left the UK
0:22:02 > 0:22:05at the end of the war to begin a new life with their husbands
0:22:05 > 0:22:07in Canada and the United States.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Vera and Lewis married in 1945 and for Vera, really,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14going over to America after the war,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16it would've been a difficult transition.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20She went to Michigan, which was an area of the States that most
0:22:20 > 0:22:23British people had probably never heard of and didn't know much about.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Really a lot of British girls,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27their perception of America was limited to Hollywood movies.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30They'd seen New York, they'd seen the beaches in California,
0:22:30 > 0:22:32they'd maybe seen Gone With The Wind,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35so they had a kind of vague sense of the Deep South,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37but everything else was a bit of a muddle.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40In total, 70,000 brides left these shores
0:22:40 > 0:22:44for the three-week boat trip across the Atlantic.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48For Joan, who was already pregnant when her Canadian husband
0:22:48 > 0:22:50John Darling was sent home at the end of the war,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54it was a long and difficult wait before she could join him.
0:22:54 > 0:22:55Their men had gone back home
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and were settling back in with their families,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01and yet they were still waiting for passage to go and join them,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and for many months it wasn't really clear what was going to happen.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08The US administration started saying it could be 10 or 12 months
0:23:08 > 0:23:09before anything happened
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and for a lot of these women, they were getting desperate.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16British wives eager to join GI husbands in America
0:23:16 > 0:23:17demand space on boats.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21They began to stage demonstrations.
0:23:21 > 0:23:22WOMEN CHANT
0:23:22 > 0:23:26They would picket the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, in London,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30with women carrying placards that read, "We want our ships"
0:23:30 > 0:23:32and little children on their shoulders with smaller
0:23:32 > 0:23:34placards saying, "We want our dads".
0:23:34 > 0:23:38My husband is Lieutenant Ned Cole from Santa Monica, California.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39We don't want to go to America
0:23:39 > 0:23:41for all the glamour that we see on the movies,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44we want to go to be with them because we love them.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48When Eleanor Roosevelt came to London in 1945, her hotel was
0:23:48 > 0:23:52besieged by angry war brides picketing and demanding
0:23:52 > 0:23:56that she help them in their quest to get the US authorities to
0:23:56 > 0:23:59arrange passage for them and she agreed to do what she could.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03And then in December of 1945, finally the US Congress passed
0:24:03 > 0:24:06the War Brides Act acknowledging their responsibility to deal
0:24:06 > 0:24:10with these women, offering them non-quota immigration status
0:24:10 > 0:24:12and agreeing that they would be transported
0:24:12 > 0:24:15at the US military's expense.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Joan settled well into her new life in Canada
0:24:18 > 0:24:20and went on to expand her brood,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22but her great-granddaughter Caitlyn
0:24:22 > 0:24:25is about to discover the size of her family.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31On your stem alone, we have US, Australia and Canada.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33It's crazy, absolutely crazy.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Every year in Britain, thousands of people get a surprise
0:24:42 > 0:24:45knock on the door from the heir hunters.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48It just seems a big miracle, so, you know,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51nobody ever thinks this sort of thing happens.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Today, we've got details of two estates on the Treasury Solicitor's
0:24:55 > 0:24:58bona vacantia list that are yet to be claimed.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04The first case is Malcolm McDonald, who died aged 70
0:25:04 > 0:25:07on the 24th November 2007.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10He was born where he died,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14in Halifax, West Yorkshire, on the 9th August 1937.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Malcolm's father was George Archibald McDonald,
0:25:21 > 0:25:26and mother Emma Louise Gill, both born in 1905.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Emma sadly lost her mother shortly after she was born,
0:25:30 > 0:25:35and after being fostered, was given the surname Barber.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39At the time of her death in 2002, she was known as Emma Shooter.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Could there still be family links to Malcolm in Halifax?
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Do you know anyone of that name?
0:25:51 > 0:25:55The next case is that of Hilda Gladys Martin,
0:25:55 > 0:26:00born on the 5th November 1905 in Hednesford, Staffordshire.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03She died on the 8th July 1988
0:26:03 > 0:26:06in Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, aged 82.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Her mother was Phoebe Florence Martin,
0:26:11 > 0:26:16born in Birmingham in 1886 with the surname Ball.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20She lived to 1980 and changed her surname by deed poll from Ball
0:26:20 > 0:26:23to Martin in 1975.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29The surname Ball may be of early medieval English origin,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33derived from a nickname for a short, rounded person.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36It also may be used to identify someone who lived by a knoll
0:26:36 > 0:26:38or rounded hill.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Someone wishing to make a claim to us
0:26:40 > 0:26:43will need to supply us with documentary evidence
0:26:43 > 0:26:44to support that claim.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47That would usually be birth, marriage and death certificates.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Do you know anything that could be the key to solving this case?
0:26:51 > 0:26:54If you think you might be related to either of these people,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56you would need to make a claim on their estate through
0:26:56 > 0:26:59the Government Legal Department.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Once again, the names of the cases we're trying to solve
0:27:02 > 0:27:06with your help today are Malcolm McDonald and Hilda Gladys Martin.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23London heir hunting firm Finders are on the case of Doreen Priddy
0:27:23 > 0:27:29who passed away in November 2015 in Mill Hill, north London, aged 90.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Any chance we could get that information?
0:27:31 > 0:27:34I said I'd get back to him as soon as possible, if I could.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37In the office, Suzanne has found that as Doreen had no obvious
0:27:37 > 0:27:42close kin and with no maternal side to work, all their hopes are
0:27:42 > 0:27:45pinned on finding heirs on Doreen's father's side of the family.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51- I might have some more on this stem in Leicester.- OK.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55They've found Doreen's father was one of 12 children.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Eight of James' siblings survived to adulthood.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00If they are still alive or had children,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03they could inherit a portion of Doreen's estate.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Holly's looking at one of Doreen's aunts, Monica.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12I found that she was married to a John Wordel in 1935 and
0:28:12 > 0:28:15I found two potential children as well, so I'm just drawing it up at
0:28:15 > 0:28:19the moment and then I'm going to have a look to see if I can find her sons.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And Camilla thinks she's found the descendants of another aunt, Nellie.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I can't find these two. At all.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Shall I just keep looking?
0:28:31 > 0:28:34- Er...yeah, maybe move on to the next stem.- OK.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38- Just so we can start speaking to some people and confirm.- OK.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43- And then they might know where they are.- Yeah.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48She'd found three cousins, once removed, of the deceased.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53She couldn't seem to find addresses for any of the three children.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57The team have found that Doreen's Uncle Eric died
0:28:57 > 0:29:00when he was 42, but they need to check thoroughly that
0:29:00 > 0:29:04he didn't have any children who could inherit.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07It looks as though he's a bachelor, never married
0:29:07 > 0:29:10and most likely never had any children,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14so what we'll do for that one is, we had a look and there was no will.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17So we'll probably order his death certificate to see who the informant
0:29:17 > 0:29:21is on that one, and then again speak to family members
0:29:21 > 0:29:25to see if they remember Eric and can confirm that for us.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Family information, you know, is as important if not more important than
0:29:28 > 0:29:32the indexes we have access to. For instance, if someone's born overseas
0:29:32 > 0:29:36or someone's adopted into the family, someone's adopted out of the family,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38there's all of these changes that could take place.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41If someone's changed their name, there's a whole host of reasons why
0:29:41 > 0:29:44people may not be picked up in the searches we can only do
0:29:44 > 0:29:47in the office. The only way we would locate them is by,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49like I say, speaking to everyone.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53But understandably some people don't like being cold called.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Hello, is that Michael...?
0:29:56 > 0:29:58He hung up on me.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04So I'm going to leave it and try and speak to his brother later on today
0:30:04 > 0:30:06and hope that that's got some more luck there.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Suzanne is busy striking the dead ends
0:30:09 > 0:30:11from her list of possible heirs.
0:30:11 > 0:30:17So we've started with 11 potential siblings of the deceased's father.
0:30:17 > 0:30:18We're actually now down to five
0:30:18 > 0:30:20that will have potential beneficiaries on.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24With five stems to go and only a few hours in the day left,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Suzanne's team are keen to get this wrapped up today.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31Three possible beneficiaries, um...
0:30:32 > 0:30:34..but I can't find addresses for them.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I'll keep looking now that I know this one's completely died out.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41There comes to a point on everyone's family tree
0:30:41 > 0:30:43where you have to swap hats from being a genealogist
0:30:43 > 0:30:45to being a detective, if you like.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48We may know that someone was born and we have their birth index,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51we may even know that they've got married during adulthood.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53But then trying to find someone living
0:30:53 > 0:30:56and to find out what their address is is a whole other job.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58I've left a message with both of them now,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01so hopefully one of them will get back to me later on today.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Now it's just a matter of getting the representatives
0:31:05 > 0:31:06round to the people's houses,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10and to double check everything we've done and make sure it's all correct.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Travelling researcher Palmjit has been on the road,
0:31:15 > 0:31:19hoping to speak to some of the beneficiaries the team has found.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21This is a follow-up visit to what we did yesterday,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24when we came to the house and we found nobody in.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26We managed to make contact with them
0:31:26 > 0:31:29and they asked us to come back today to see them.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32He's meeting one of the descendants of Doreen's Aunt Elsie,
0:31:32 > 0:31:33Valerie Sharp.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37- Hello.- Hello, is it Valerie Sharp? - That's right.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Related to the matter that I spoke to you about yesterday.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44- Can I come in, please?- Yeah, certainly.- Thank you very much.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46'Doreen is my cousin, once removed -
0:31:46 > 0:31:49'she was my mother's cousin.'
0:31:49 > 0:31:51So the name was always familiar,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53but I don't remember ever meeting her.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Valerie signed up that day
0:31:55 > 0:31:58as one of the beneficiaries with the heir hunters.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00What was really interesting at this address
0:32:00 > 0:32:03was that she was able to help us with our family tree,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07as they've already researched a lot of the background.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09And she was able to fill in a lot of the details
0:32:09 > 0:32:12that we were missing, which is really helpful.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18My grandmother, Elsie, died... Well, my mum was only 12.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22So therefore their contact lost at that level years ago.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26So I know nothing of what went on when they got married,
0:32:26 > 0:32:28or even when Doreen got married -
0:32:28 > 0:32:30the link had been lost by that point.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32It's quite a weird feeling to know
0:32:32 > 0:32:34that you're a beneficiary to an estate that...
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Somebody that you've got no contact with over time.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40It does feel quite weird, and almost a bit of a cheat, really.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43But it'll be quite nice. Any funds...
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Cos my son's hopefully going to university next year,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49so the thought of being able to give him a bit extra to go through
0:32:49 > 0:32:52university with would actually be quite a nice benefit.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55In total, the heir hunters found 14 heirs
0:32:55 > 0:32:59who would be entitled to Doreen Priddy's estate.
0:32:59 > 0:33:00But, a month later,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Suzanne has some news that could change everything.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06The firm of solicitors who were appointed
0:33:06 > 0:33:08actually found a will on this case.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11We're just in the process of receiving a copy of the will
0:33:11 > 0:33:14to find out exactly what the will says.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Whether it still goes to some of the heirs or whether it's invalid,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20um, we're not sure.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23One of the most rewarding parts
0:33:23 > 0:33:26is to be able to provide them with a family tree
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and maybe some personal mementoes connected to the deceased
0:33:29 > 0:33:32and therefore connected to their family as well.
0:33:32 > 0:33:33And it can sometimes inspire them
0:33:33 > 0:33:36to look further into their family history.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38The financial side is a benefit,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41but actually finding all this family
0:33:41 > 0:33:44would actually be equally beneficial to me.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48I was aware that my grandma, Elsie, had a large...
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Well, there was a lot of brothers and sisters.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52So this was quite nice, actually, to be able to see.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Cos we did the family tree
0:33:54 > 0:33:57and saw all these names that just mean nothing to me at all.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01So it was nice to be able to put them all together again.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12In London, heir-hunting firm Fraser & Fraser
0:34:12 > 0:34:15have been looking for heirs to the estate of William Groombridge.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21Bill, a lathe engineer, died in Chatham, Kent, in November 2014.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23I think we all used to see him
0:34:23 > 0:34:25go over to catch the bus every morning,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28and they're the sort of things that you miss.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31In their search for heirs, the team had discovered that
0:34:31 > 0:34:35two of Bill's cousins had married Canadian and American servicemen,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and had emigrated across the Atlantic at the end of World War II.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42Every case is different,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45and you can never predict what's going to happen with the family.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47You know, there's obviously the birth record,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50but we have no idea, after that point, where they're going to go.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53One of the biggest factors that influenced families at the time
0:34:53 > 0:34:55was obviously the war.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00Joan, who married a Canadian serviceman, passed away in 2011,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03so her three children will become heirs to Bill's estate.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Joan's great granddaughter, Caitlyn,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07on a work placement in London,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10is keen to find out more about her English roots.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Take a seat, I can go through the family with you.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18Great - I'm looking forward to it.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22As you can see, the tree is very large.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25So large, in fact, that I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to...
0:35:25 > 0:35:28get it all on the table at once, but we'll give it a go.
0:35:29 > 0:35:30Wow.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33And this is the stem
0:35:33 > 0:35:36where your particular branch of the family descends from.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41David Henry Bacon was a maternal uncle of the deceased.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44He married Nora Sawyer in 1905 in Sevenoaks.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47A number of children, one of them being your great-grandmother,
0:35:47 > 0:35:52Joan Nora Bacon, who married John William Darling.
0:35:52 > 0:35:53It's really interesting.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56I can't believe how big the family tree is,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58because my family, as I know it, is tiny.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Like, just me and my grandparents and a few distant cousins.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03On your stem alone, we have, you know...
0:36:03 > 0:36:07US, Australia and Canada.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10I didn't think that it would be this big of a family tree.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12I think I was expecting, like, a piece of paper -
0:36:12 > 0:36:15like, "Here's your grandmother, there's you."
0:36:15 > 0:36:17It's crazy, absolutely crazy.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22The team found that another sister of the GI brides, Miriam,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26had married Archie Jordan in 1932.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29They'd gone on to have two daughters, Diane and Christine.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34These cousins once removed of Bill's are both heirs.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38When I first heard from the heir hunters,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42I was really shocked hearing about William Groombridge,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44because I'd never heard of him before.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49You do feel a certain type of sadness
0:36:49 > 0:36:53that this person has not been in your life,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57and I must be honest, it would have been nice to have known him.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Although Christine was born after the war ended,
0:37:02 > 0:37:07her sister Diane's early childhood in Dartford was marked by the war.
0:37:07 > 0:37:14I was three years old when war broke out, and my dad went into the RAF
0:37:14 > 0:37:18and my mum went to work on the munitions,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21so I didn't see an awful lot of them.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25I was really always with my gran and grandad, and Joan and Vera.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28EXPLOSIONS
0:37:28 > 0:37:30It was horrific sometimes, cos...
0:37:30 > 0:37:32when the bombs used to go off,
0:37:32 > 0:37:37it was like a really bad storm, you know, with thunder.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40But it was the real thing, it wasn't thunder.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44But, us children, we lived through it and we got used to it
0:37:44 > 0:37:46and sometimes we didn't take any notice.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50As the war progressed,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Diane became one of the four to six million children
0:37:53 > 0:37:54that were evacuated to safety,
0:37:54 > 0:37:59away from the dangers of their home close to cities.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02The morning I woke up, I saw my bag was packed
0:38:02 > 0:38:08and we went to Dartford station, and we all had labels with our names on
0:38:08 > 0:38:11and a gas mask case, and a case.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13And we got on the train and...
0:38:13 > 0:38:18I can't remember waving to my mum goodbye, I was... Well...
0:38:18 > 0:38:21so shocked.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25I went on my own, but I'd teamed up with three other children,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30and we went to a place called Millom in Cumberland,
0:38:30 > 0:38:32as it was known in them days.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34But it was a great shock,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37cos I thought I was just going out for the day
0:38:37 > 0:38:40and coming back at night.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45I didn't... I mean, at my age, I didn't know what an evacuee was.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48With the developments in weaponry since World War I,
0:38:48 > 0:38:51the government were prepared for mass civilian deaths
0:38:51 > 0:38:54and had made an advance plan.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59By evacuees, I have to say, anybody could evacuate themselves.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03You could move out of the... Called "bomb dodgers", basically.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07You could move out of the danger areas into safer places,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11but the government also had the Government Evacuation Scheme.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17For those people who the government thought were important,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20they'd be moved, such as children.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22The government would arrange it, the government would pay for it.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25So it didn't matter how poor you were,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27your children could be evacuated.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Many of these working-class children
0:39:30 > 0:39:32had never been away from their parents,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35and this was happening for the first time in their lives
0:39:35 > 0:39:37and it was heart-rending on both sides.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42Mother is feeling she's doing what she has to do to help her children,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45but hating it and the children themselves are thinking,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49"Why am I being sent away? What have I done to deserve this?"
0:39:54 > 0:39:59Diane still has strong memories of her childhood experience.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03It was very sad. When I first got there, I couldn't stop crying.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06I didn't know anybody, and I was only young.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08It was a different way of life,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11it wasn't a bit like what I was used to.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15But, once I got used to it, I loved it,
0:40:15 > 0:40:17and I think it did me the world of good.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21It made me grow up probably quicker than what I would have done.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Evacuee Diane and her younger sister, Christine,
0:40:26 > 0:40:29enjoy reminiscing about their childhood.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34- Doesn't seem true that it was 51 years ago, does it?- No, it doesn't.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Look at that ugly little...!
0:40:37 > 0:40:38Thank you(!)
0:40:38 > 0:40:42I'm afraid we didn't know anything about that side of the family.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45We didn't even know that my grandfather had a sister.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46But we do now.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49It's so unfortunate that...
0:40:49 > 0:40:52they didn't know us, because perhaps they might have enjoyed
0:40:52 > 0:40:54being part of a bigger family.
0:40:54 > 0:40:55SHE CHUCKLES
0:40:55 > 0:40:59- There's Nan and Grandad.- Ahh. - They are lovely.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01It makes me feel very sad
0:41:01 > 0:41:04that we didn't know that we had all these relatives,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07because it would have been nice to have known
0:41:07 > 0:41:12that there was some other family, other than just my immediate family.
0:41:21 > 0:41:27We've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...
0:41:27 > 0:41:30The team in London have managed to track down
0:41:30 > 0:41:32all the heirs on the maternal side.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37..50, 51, 52, 53...
0:41:37 > 0:41:3854.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40As you can see, it's a very big tree this side.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46But there were still more to uncover on Bill's father's side.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49So, on the paternal side, um...
0:41:49 > 0:41:54we know that his parents are Arthur Samuel Groombridge
0:41:54 > 0:41:56and Elizabeth Huckstep.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00They married on the 3rd of February, 1889, in Strood.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04From this, we had to see whether or not Arthur had any siblings.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The team found out that Bill's father had just one brother,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13William, who married and went on to have three daughters.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15All three had passed away,
0:42:15 > 0:42:17but all seven grandchildren were traced,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20and became heirs to Bill's estate.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23It was quite a challenging case, which makes it enjoyable to work.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26It's quite nice to sometimes have a case
0:42:26 > 0:42:28that's not quite as it seems.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30So it was quite good.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33And that's my special favourite.
0:42:33 > 0:42:38In total, on both sides of Bill's family, the team found 61 heirs.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Well, it is a surprise and I don't expect too much
0:42:42 > 0:42:46because I'd have rather have known the person.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48It's sad that he hasn't got any children
0:42:48 > 0:42:50who he could have left it to.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55I'd like a nice recliner chair.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59And, if there is the money there for a recliner chair,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03I could sit in it and recline and think, "Thank you, William."