0:00:02 > 0:00:04Today, our heir hunts travel far and wide
0:00:04 > 0:00:07in a bid to discover long-forgotten families.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09On there and you might be able to find a death.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12In London, a family home goes up for auction...
0:00:13 > 0:00:17£170,500. Sold.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20..but have the team found anyone to inherit the cash?
0:00:22 > 0:00:24While another team are working on a case
0:00:24 > 0:00:28which reveals a story of true love born out of war.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31It was a romance that lived a long time
0:00:31 > 0:00:35and I believe that they were still happily married
0:00:35 > 0:00:36when she passed away.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39With cases pulling at both heart and purse strings,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42it's rarely a smooth ride for the heir hunters.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Today is an important day for case manager Mike Pow
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and the team of heir hunters
0:01:00 > 0:01:04at London-based probate genealogist firm Fraser & Fraser.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07- Go on and find...- Shall we have a look?- Yeah, we could check.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11They're bringing to a close a case they began some months ago -
0:01:11 > 0:01:16that of Enid Sykes, a retired department store worker from Leeds.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18I'll let you know if I hear anything.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Enid was born on the 4th of June 1928
0:01:21 > 0:01:27and died from pneumonia aged 86 on the 5th of December 2014.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31With no known next of kin and leaving no will,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35it's Mike and the team's job to track down her beneficiaries,
0:01:35 > 0:01:37or her assets will go to the state.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42So, I wasn't 100% certain.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Enid's estate included her house,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47which is going under the hammer today.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51We are offering you a vacant three-bedroom semidetached house.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54This has a guide price of £135,000.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57£136,000. Thank you.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Enid had lived in her home for several decades
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and lovingly tended to her roses.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07It was shared passions which drew her to her neighbours.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10When I said, "I'm a keen gardener,"
0:02:10 > 0:02:13she was delighted and we just became friends from there.
0:02:13 > 0:02:14She absolutely loved animals.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- She loved animals and gardening, especially dogs...- Yeah.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20..and...and politics.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25She was a very petite, very frail-looking woman.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29However, her strength of character shone through enormously, didn't it?
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Enid's case was brought to the attention of the heir hunters
0:02:34 > 0:02:36via a private referral.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Even though it came to them directly without being advertised
0:02:40 > 0:02:42on the government's unclaimed estates list,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Mike and the team have to act quickly
0:02:44 > 0:02:48as there could still be competitors hot on their heels.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50The first thing that we did, as we do with any case,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53is to see if she owned the property that she was residing in,
0:02:53 > 0:02:54which it turned out she did.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58And then from then, we'd obviously try and find the next of kin
0:02:58 > 0:03:00as quickly as possible.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Travelling researchers hitting the road is a great place to start.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08On every estate that we look at, it's imperative that we get
0:03:08 > 0:03:11as much information about the deceased as early as possible.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14The best way that we can achieve that is by sending
0:03:14 > 0:03:16one of our travellers to make enquiries at the property
0:03:16 > 0:03:18of the deceased.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20We can get an awful lot of information
0:03:20 > 0:03:23that may help with our research from that.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26She was fabulous. As I say, she was a very interesting woman.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30She very, very rarely said anything about herself.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33She talked about animals, she talked about television
0:03:33 > 0:03:34and the programmes she'd watch.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38- She'd talk about politics and she'd talk about gardening.- Yeah.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Other than that, she was a woman of mystery.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45From the traveller's enquiries, he didn't really find out much,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48although she was a single woman that was living on her own.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50It turns out, in this case, that she'd never married,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54and she was born Enid Sykes on the 4th of June 1925
0:03:54 > 0:03:56in the Leeds registration district.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59It was because Enid's surname was the same
0:03:59 > 0:04:01on both her birth and death records
0:04:01 > 0:04:03the team were able to confirm she had never married.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07The next step was to order her birth certificate
0:04:07 > 0:04:10to find out who her parents were.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13From Enid's birth certificate, she's Enid Sykes
0:04:13 > 0:04:19born to Bertie Henry Sykes and Edith Sykes, formerly Dixon.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22The next step is to identify her parents' marriage
0:04:22 > 0:04:26and then also see if she's got any siblings, as well.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32When searching for children of Bertie and Edith, only Enid came up.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Our next step is to go back a generation
0:04:35 > 0:04:37to see if we can find any aunts and uncles
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and also cousins of the deceased.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44As an only child with no siblings
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and an unmarried woman with no children,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Enid's family tree would need to broaden in the search for her heirs.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- In that quarter. I mean, that age. - Well, that's...
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Any living aunts or uncles would be entitled to inherit her estate
0:04:59 > 0:05:00and if they had passed away,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03it would go to their children - her cousins.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08The next job was to locate Enid's parents' marriage certificate.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13They married on August the 18th, 1923.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Edith Dixon was 22 and a spinster at the time of marriage
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and her father was John William Dixon.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Bertie, on the other hand, he was 27 at the time of marriage.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28He was a grocer and his father was John William Sykes
0:05:28 > 0:05:29who happened to be a motorman.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34With this information in their grasp,
0:05:34 > 0:05:35the team continued their search
0:05:35 > 0:05:38with Enid's father Bertie's side of the family.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43It turns out that his surname was quite common at the time
0:05:43 > 0:05:44in the North of England,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48but luckily, the combination of his first and middle names
0:05:48 > 0:05:49were rather more unusual.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53The fact that he was called Bertie Henry
0:05:53 > 0:05:55is quite a good combination of names,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59which led us onto his birth record relatively easily.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00From Enid's father Bertie
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and mother Edith's marriage certificate,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07the heir hunters establish that Bertie was born in 1896.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11With this information, they were able to locate his birth record,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14which led them to his parents, Enid's grandparents -
0:06:14 > 0:06:17John William Sykes, a domestic coachman,
0:06:17 > 0:06:18and Mary Tryphena Sykes.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Having found Enid's grandparents,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25the heir hunters could then start branching out
0:06:25 > 0:06:27to find her aunts and uncles.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32This is the marriage certificate of the paternal grandparents.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36They married on the 12th of December 1895.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39John William Sykes was 23 and a bachelor.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40His rank was a groom.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Mary Tryphena Leach was 20 years old at the time of marriage.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45She was a spinster.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47The certificates that were being uncovered
0:06:47 > 0:06:51revealed more than just Enid's relatives' names.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55They also showed the steady rise of her paternal grandfather's career.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Living in or near the countryside, as John did,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04working with horses was a popular choice of profession.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08John, when he was a groom, would be responsible for grooming the horses,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10turning them out, making sure their feet were picked out,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13that they got the shoes on...
0:07:13 > 0:07:15If they lost a shoe, they wouldn't be going to work
0:07:15 > 0:07:17and as they say, "No foot, no horse."
0:07:17 > 0:07:20..and preparing it in that way.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24And then harnessing up and getting yourself ready to go.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29In 1896, just one year after John William Sykes' marriage,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33his son Bertie, Enid's father, was born.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35His birth certificate gives more insight
0:07:35 > 0:07:38into John's career progression.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Here is Bertie's birth certificate.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46John William Sykes is the father and the occupation is coachman domestic.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49So, after much hard graft in tough conditions,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51John was rising through the ranks.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59A coachman then is actually driving, is in control of the horses.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Whether he is a professional coachman
0:08:01 > 0:08:03working for a private family...
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Like the Duke of Devonshire
0:08:05 > 0:08:07or the Duke of Northumberland or anybody
0:08:07 > 0:08:09would have their own professional coachman
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and that was quite a high status symbol.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Coachmen may have been respected, but their job wasn't an easy one.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22In John's era, it would be a hard life
0:08:22 > 0:08:24because you're out in all the elements.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27As a rule of thumb, really, for thinking how long
0:08:27 > 0:08:29he might have been driving in a day,
0:08:29 > 0:08:3240 miles was a good day's work for him.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Very long hours cos when you got in at night-time,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37you've still got the horses to see to.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Undo the rein and work your way up.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44But the hard workers would have reaped the rewards of their efforts
0:08:44 > 0:08:46in a valued profession.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50If they were a professional coachman working for a big establishment,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53they were very well looked after and he would have a really nice house,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55good livery, good food.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56His pay would be good.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05Not only did Enid's family's birth and marriage certificates
0:09:05 > 0:09:09give an intriguing insight into her grandfather's career,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11but with her grandparents' names both confirmed,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14the team could now check if they had any other children
0:09:14 > 0:09:17in addition to Enid's father Bertie.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20We tried to locate them on the 1911 census,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23which we then discovered as John being the head of the household
0:09:23 > 0:09:25with his wife and also living with Bertie,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28the father of the deceased, and he had two sisters -
0:09:28 > 0:09:30a Florence Ethel Sykes and a Hilda Sykes.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34The heir hunters were slowly moving in
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and Enid's heirs were now in striking distance
0:09:36 > 0:09:38with two aunts found.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41And as they advanced further,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43another fascinating fact about her grandfather
0:09:43 > 0:09:46John William Sykes came to light.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50On his son Bertie's marriage certificate, dated 1921,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53his profession is down as motorman.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57And by 1927, on his daughter Hilda's marriage certificate,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59he'd risen to chauffeur.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04John William Sykes evidently worked hard and moved with the times.
0:10:04 > 0:10:05We'd seen that the father of the deceased
0:10:05 > 0:10:07had gone from working with horses
0:10:07 > 0:10:09all the way up until working with cars,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11which shows the transition in that period of time.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18At the auction, Enid's Leeds home is up for sale
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and causing quite a stir.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24The guide price is £135,000
0:10:24 > 0:10:27and the latest bid is already considerably higher.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Third and final time, then, are we all done at £155,000?
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Ooh! That was late, wasn't it, sir?
0:10:33 > 0:10:35It's against you at the far back of the room. It's here at 161.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38- I'm looking to you, sir, for 162.- 161,500.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39162, sir.
0:10:39 > 0:10:40162 and a half then?
0:10:40 > 0:10:42- 163.- Good.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45It's fine. It's here, then, at 164,000 for the first time.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- 164,000 for the second time.- 166.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50166.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52169 now, sir.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53170, may I say?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55And a half.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57It's £170,500, then, at the very back of the seating.
0:10:57 > 0:10:58For the first time.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00170,500 for the second time. This is it, sir.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02You're going to lose it. It's going to go.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06For the third and final time at £170,500.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Sold... Well done, sir. ..at £170,500.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16That's over £35,000 more than Enid's house's guide price,
0:11:16 > 0:11:18gone to the highest bidder in the room.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23With a sale in the bag and more cash than expected,
0:11:23 > 0:11:28all the team need now are heirs to inherit Enid's estate.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30He fought everyone else off and he won it
0:11:30 > 0:11:32and that went for a good price, I think.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42Up and down the country,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45heir hunters are on the trail of beneficiaries of people
0:11:45 > 0:11:49who have passed away with no known next of kin and leaving no will.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54By gathering clues, they can grow family trees
0:11:54 > 0:11:57and be led to living heirs.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58Hello?
0:12:00 > 0:12:04In London, heir hunting firm Finders have taken on the case
0:12:04 > 0:12:07of retired store manager Cyril Desborough.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10I think it might have been that one that I printed out.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Cyril was born on the 22nd of June 1923
0:12:13 > 0:12:15in South London
0:12:15 > 0:12:21and died in Bognor Regis on the 31st of October 2013 aged 90.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23His last years were spent in a care home
0:12:23 > 0:12:26where he was much loved.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Cyril had a very dry sense of humour.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33He was a very private person...
0:12:34 > 0:12:38..but there was a little twinkle there
0:12:38 > 0:12:41that he would really sort of get you going
0:12:41 > 0:12:45and you'd realise that he was having a joke with you.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Yeah, he was quite a little character in his own way.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Cyril lived in a bungalow in Bognor Regis
0:12:53 > 0:12:54before he moved to the care home
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and his neighbour Roger remembers him fondly.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I only came to know Cyril when we bought the bungalow
0:13:02 > 0:13:05next door to him in 2002.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11And even then, we didn't get to meet him straightaway.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17And it wasn't until his garden was very overgrown in the front
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and I went out and cut the grass down
0:13:20 > 0:13:24and pruned his roses for him, which he was very pleased with.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And then we started getting talking to him
0:13:28 > 0:13:33and at that moment, he said he'd like us to call him Des
0:13:33 > 0:13:36rather than Cyril, which is what we did.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And then he started to...
0:13:39 > 0:13:42In payment for doing the gardening,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46he used to leave big bags of bananas and tubs of ice cream
0:13:46 > 0:13:48on the back doorstep after he'd been shopping,
0:13:48 > 0:13:49so I used to thank him.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52It was up to Ryan and the team
0:13:52 > 0:13:55to find the missing pieces of the jigsaw
0:13:55 > 0:13:57that made up Cyril's past,
0:13:57 > 0:13:58create his family tree
0:13:58 > 0:14:03and begin the search for any living beneficiaries to inherit his estate.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07His case arrived by private referral,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11but as it also appeared on the government's unclaimed estates list,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14other heir hunting firms could also be on the trail,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18so the race was on for Ryan and the team to find heirs.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22The main job of an heir hunter once we have a new estate in
0:14:22 > 0:14:23is really just to get cracking
0:14:23 > 0:14:25on finding the correct links
0:14:25 > 0:14:28between people and tracing the beneficiaries.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Ultimately, if we can't find any surviving heirs,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34the estate would pass to the government.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36In the information that was provided to us,
0:14:36 > 0:14:37we knew that the approximate value
0:14:37 > 0:14:40of the estate was £100,000.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Because the case was a referral,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Ryan was fortunate to have a head start
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and a relatively unusual name to aid his research.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54So, with a gift of a name on his side,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58it didn't take long for Ryan to locate the first vital record.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01So, we consulted the marriage indexes
0:15:01 > 0:15:04that we have access to in the office.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07We didn't see anything that really jumped out at us.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13We did see a possible marriage entry for a Cyril S Desborough
0:15:13 > 0:15:14marrying in Italy.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18The information that we got from Cyril's marriage certificate
0:15:18 > 0:15:21was that he had been in World War II in Italy.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Cyril spent eight years representing his country
0:15:26 > 0:15:28on more than one continent.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34On the 16th of February 1942, in the middle of World War II,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Cyril enlisted in the army, and two months later,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps
0:15:39 > 0:15:43and was posted to North Africa the following year.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Here, the Allied forces were regaining territory
0:15:45 > 0:15:48captured by Germany and their allies.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53This is actually one of the critical and pivotal battles
0:15:53 > 0:15:55of the Second World War.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59It's the first substantial British victory against the German army
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and by depriving Hitler's forces
0:16:02 > 0:16:05of access to North African oil,
0:16:05 > 0:16:11it had a long-term impact on the final outcome of the war itself.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Although Cyril wasn't a fighting soldier,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16his job was a crucial one.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21The Royal Army Ordnance Corps really does deal with the logistical issues
0:16:21 > 0:16:24of getting supplies to the front line.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27So, we're looking about division of the army
0:16:27 > 0:16:30that is going to deliver everything
0:16:30 > 0:16:33from the individual bullets all the way through to tanks.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35So, it's a critical support role
0:16:35 > 0:16:37that Cyril would have been involved with.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41After little more than a year serving in North Africa
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and enjoying Allied success,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48the troops moved across land and sea to Italy, one of Germany's allies.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Cyril and his colleagues would have been involved
0:16:52 > 0:16:55in the land invasion of Italy.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Based from North Africa, there was engagements with Sicily
0:16:59 > 0:17:01and then onto the toe of Italy itself.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Mustering an army to take on the Italians from North Africa
0:17:06 > 0:17:08took a great deal of planning
0:17:08 > 0:17:12and it meant that the execution at every level
0:17:12 > 0:17:14had to be done precisely.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Getting the supplies where they were needed was critical
0:17:17 > 0:17:20as part of that process.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23And at this time, Italy made an about turn.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26What has happened is that Italy has agreed
0:17:26 > 0:17:29to actually surrender to the Allies...
0:17:30 > 0:17:32..meaning that, to a certain degree,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36German forces are now in a "hostile nation."
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Although embroiled in the heart of the war,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Cyril did manage to have some breathing space
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and socialise with the locals.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Cyril and his colleagues in the ordnance supply
0:17:50 > 0:17:52would have had one advantage -
0:17:52 > 0:17:55they would have been sufficiently distant from the front lines
0:17:55 > 0:17:58to actually have time away from camp
0:17:58 > 0:18:02to actually participate in the communities a little more freely
0:18:02 > 0:18:04than might otherwise be the case.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And I think the interesting thing from Cyril's records
0:18:07 > 0:18:12is that he's been able to pick up Italian in three years.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Being able to interact with those you are working with
0:18:15 > 0:18:20outside of an army environment, you know, it makes it home for you.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Italy had turned its back on Germany and its fascist regime tumbled.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Cyril met his Italian sweetheart Anna,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and remained in the country for some years.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37It's quite common to see armies stationed overseas
0:18:37 > 0:18:42developing relationships with the locals.
0:18:42 > 0:18:48Anna may well have found Cyril an interesting prospect
0:18:48 > 0:18:54as a Brit who, by that time, spoke Italian reasonably well.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Someone who had the prospect of taking her away
0:18:57 > 0:18:59from a war-torn country
0:18:59 > 0:19:04and the opportunities of starting anew back in London.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10Cyril and Anna were wed on the 2nd of August 1947 in Italy.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13It says that he was in the army and was a bachelor
0:19:13 > 0:19:15before he got married at 24.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19His wife Anna was 17 and she was also a spinster.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21This marriage certificate was useful for our research
0:19:21 > 0:19:24as we were able to then check whether or not Anna and Cyril
0:19:24 > 0:19:26had any children from this marriage.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30After they married, the happy couple moved to England together
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and Cyril left the army later that year,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35but enlisted as a reserve some years later.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Although his army records gave clues to his whereabouts
0:19:39 > 0:19:41during the war years,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43there was no hint as to whether he and Anna
0:19:43 > 0:19:46had gone on to have children after they wed.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Given that we didn't really know anything about Cyril
0:19:48 > 0:19:50before this case came into us
0:19:50 > 0:19:54and accompanied by the fact that he married an Italian lady,
0:19:54 > 0:19:55there's always a strong chance
0:19:55 > 0:19:58that he may have had children over in Italy.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Now, having children in Italy is not something
0:20:00 > 0:20:03that we would have been able to search from the office quickly
0:20:03 > 0:20:06during the initial investigations, so we'd have to come back to it,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10carry on with whatever we could do from the offices in London
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and that meant, when we were coming back
0:20:12 > 0:20:14to search the indexes here in England,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17we had two rather unusual surnames to be working with.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18We had the surname Desborough
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and then the mother's maiden name of Mattiello.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Now, we didn't actually come across any children
0:20:24 > 0:20:26in the searches that we undertook
0:20:26 > 0:20:28and therefore that meant we were going back
0:20:28 > 0:20:30to look at Cyril's birth family.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34- See if you can get this.- Yeah.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36And while the team in London
0:20:36 > 0:20:38were continuing to look into Cyril's past,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41they handed over the search in Italy to an Italian agent
0:20:41 > 0:20:44to delve into Anna's early life.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48So, the Italian researcher was able to tell us
0:20:48 > 0:20:51that Anna was born in Naples in 1930.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54It appears that she moved to Orsenigo in 1945,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56just after the war.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Unfortunately, she was actually not living with family in Orsenigo,
0:20:59 > 0:21:00so therefore we couldn't find out
0:21:00 > 0:21:03whether or not they had had any children there.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07However, it appears that this is where she would have met Cyril.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10It turned out Cyril and Anna had no children in Italy
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and the search for heirs returned to the UK,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17where the team had to confirm Anna was no longer alive.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21We found out, actually, that Anna passed away in 1999.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25She passed away in Chichester, which isn't too far away from Bognor Regis
0:21:25 > 0:21:26where Cyril was living,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29so we were pretty sure that this was going to be Anna's death record
0:21:29 > 0:21:32and therefore there wasn't any spouse or any children
0:21:32 > 0:21:34that would inherit from the estate.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37With close next of kin ruled out,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41plus confirmation that Cyril hadn't remarried after Anna's death,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44the team now had to widen the net on their search for his family.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48That's too old, that's too late, that's too late...
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- So, I think we have to just... - ..that's too old.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53And when they threw the net out, they didn't expect to catch
0:21:53 > 0:21:56the surprising information that came back.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00In reality, we almost missed out on half of the heirs because of this.
0:22:07 > 0:22:08Every year in Britain,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10thousands of people are taken by surprise
0:22:10 > 0:22:14when they receive an unexpected visit from the heir hunters.
0:22:14 > 0:22:15You tend to sort of think to yourself,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18"Well, I'm not sure if this is real or not."
0:22:18 > 0:22:20So, it was quite a surprise.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Today, we've got details of two estates
0:22:22 > 0:22:26on the Government Legal Department's unclaimed estates list.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32The first case is McDonald Best,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35born on the 25th of August 1925,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38possibly in Georgetown, British Guiana.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44He was 85 when he died on the 7th of April 2011
0:22:44 > 0:22:48in London in the NW8 postcode area.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53McDonald Best was also known as St Clair McDonald Best.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Next, it's the case of Kamal Bhan.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04She was born on the 20th of August 1934
0:23:04 > 0:23:06in India, possibly in Goa,
0:23:06 > 0:23:11and died on the 26th of April 2011 in Barnet, Hertfordshire
0:23:11 > 0:23:13when she was 76 years old.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17It is believed that Kamal was divorced
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and may have a brother living in India.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25If you think you may be related to either of these people,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28you would need to make a claim on their estate
0:23:28 > 0:23:30via the Government Legal Department.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34And if you ARE their next of kin,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50In London, heir hunters from Fraser & Fraser
0:23:50 > 0:23:52are investigating the case of Enid Sykes,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55a retired department store worker from Leeds.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Enid passed away aged 86 in December 2014
0:24:01 > 0:24:05and so far, no heirs to her estate have been found.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09She was a really intriguing person.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14For her absolute starkness and forthrightness,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16she had a real warmth about her.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19We loved her, I've got to be honest. We really, really cared about her.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Enid's home went under the hammer at auction today
0:24:24 > 0:24:26and it was rather a hot property.
0:24:26 > 0:24:32So, Stainbeck sold, in the end, for £170,500 - well over its guide.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35In fact, we smashed its guide into smithereens.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38With cash in the bank, the team were now more determined than ever
0:24:38 > 0:24:41to find Enid's beneficiaries to inherit her estate.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45After researching her father's family tree,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47two aunts had been discovered,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49one of whom - Hilda - had married.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53If she'd had any children, they would be Enid's heirs.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56And while research continued,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58the heir hunters were now also looking into
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Enid's mother's side of the family.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03The maternal side of the family was slightly more difficult,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07due to the fact that she had a relatively common surname in Dixon.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09We had to do the same as we did on the paternal side
0:25:09 > 0:25:12and try and locate any brothers and sisters that she may have had.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Mike and his colleagues followed the same path as they had
0:25:16 > 0:25:19when researching Enid's father's side of the family
0:25:19 > 0:25:21and they discovered a sprawling family tree.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27- Check under these addresses... - Yeah.- ..to see if it pops up.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Enid's mother, Edith Dixon's parents,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34were John William Dixon and Jane Elizabeth Cockcroft.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36They'd had six children, including Edith.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40And see if we can fit a pattern together there...
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Once we'd established the siblings,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45the next stage is to try and locate marriages for those siblings.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47And once that's done, hopefully try and locate
0:25:47 > 0:25:49what would be cousins of the deceased.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54And by doing so, the heir hunters finally manage
0:25:54 > 0:25:56to trace heirs of Enid's on her mother's side.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Her aunt Emily had two children, Gordon and Norma,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Enid's first cousins.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05And from this branch of the family tree,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08the team found six heirs.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11John Henson, from Redcar in North Yorkshire,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15is Gordon's son and Enid's first cousin once removed.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20I do remember the road that she lived on
0:26:20 > 0:26:23and her name was mentioned,
0:26:23 > 0:26:28but as far as seeing Enid Sykes, I cannot recall.
0:26:30 > 0:26:36John's parents and his four siblings emigrated to Australia in 1973
0:26:36 > 0:26:38when he was a young man of 20.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43He became estranged from his wider family,
0:26:43 > 0:26:45who remained in England,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49so the call from the heir hunters came as a big surprise.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Then the inheritance that's involved,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I feel as though it's a bit of a shock.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Not speaking to Enid and not knowing her at all,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04I'm a bit confused what to do with the inheritance.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06If I get the money,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09it will probably go to charity and some of my family
0:27:09 > 0:27:12and it will be mentioned to the family where it's come from.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15With John confirmed as one of six heirs
0:27:15 > 0:27:17on Enid's mother's family tree,
0:27:17 > 0:27:21news came in about her father's side of the family and his two sisters.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26After locating the paternal aunts of the deceased,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30we established that Florence died a spinster without issue,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32but Hilda obviously married a Thomas Alfred Hamer,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35had children who led to the first beneficiaries on that side.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Hilda and Thomas had two children, Derek and Sheila,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41and from this branch of the family tree,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43three more heirs had been found.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46After concluding the research,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48it appears that, on the maternal side,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50we have quite a few beneficiaries.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53It looks like there's going to be one, two,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56three, four, five, six, seven,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59eight, nine, ten, 11, 12 in total.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01On the paternal side, we know there's three,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04so it looks like there's going to be 15 heirs to share the estate.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06OK, we're allowed to get someone to do that
0:28:06 > 0:28:08if there's no-one to do anything today.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12It's been a tough case to crack, but the team have done it
0:28:12 > 0:28:14and found Enid's rightful next of kin.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17It's quite a successful case in the end.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Obviously, we've located all the beneficiaries to Enid's estate
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and also, at the end of the day, the auction went very well
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and the property sold for about £170,000.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33So, John Henson will be one of 15 to inherit a share of Enid's estate.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Since he received the call from the heir hunters,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39childhood memories are slowly beginning to trickle back.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Today, he's decided to take an emotional trip down memory lane.
0:28:45 > 0:28:51I'm now on my way to Stainbeck Lane, Enid Sykes' house...
0:28:52 > 0:28:55..that she's lived there for many years.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58I'm 62 now, so I can remember visiting
0:28:58 > 0:29:02when I was about eight, nine, ten, 11,
0:29:02 > 0:29:04but I'm sure it's down here somewhere.
0:29:04 > 0:29:10It's definitely on a hill, which I remember on the right-hand side.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16And there it is, 172.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19I do remember, yeah. Definitely.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Yeah, I can remember knocking on that door as a child.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Here we are.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30The sad event of Enid's passing
0:29:30 > 0:29:33has reunited John with his long-lost cousin.
0:29:33 > 0:29:34That's the one.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Nice to be back after all that time.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41It must be 50 years, 54 years ago probably.
0:29:41 > 0:29:4252 years ago.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Aha. Here we are. I remember the rose bushes.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54I always seem to remember there was roses on the right-hand side
0:29:54 > 0:29:56as you go through into the back.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59So, it'll be lovely to just have a look
0:29:59 > 0:30:01and see if the roses are still there all this time.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04I'm sure they will be cos there's roses everywhere, yeah.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09I'd hoped...
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Yes, we're getting in the back here.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14A year after Enid died,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18her garden sadly isn't as spectacular as it once was.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Yeah, the roses were along here, you can see.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Yeah, they're still here but they're everywhere.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Now John's early memories have come flooding back,
0:30:29 > 0:30:33he wants to find out more about Enid in her later years.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39- Hello.- Hello.- I'm John Henson. Here to talk about Enid.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41- I'm Stephanie.- Hello, Stephanie. - Hello. And I'm Sarah.- Hello.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44- A very petite woman.- Yes, yeah. - She was very robust.
0:30:44 > 0:30:45She used to walk up this hill,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48- which is a killer of a hill sometimes.- Yes.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50But she used to walk with her little dog.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54- And she lost the dog - it died - and she really missed it.- Oh, yeah.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56And we had a Rottweiler at the time,
0:30:56 > 0:30:58and she used to want to look after it,
0:30:58 > 0:31:00so we'd take the Rottweiler down,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02- and it used to sit in the house with her.- Yeah.
0:31:02 > 0:31:03But she'd walk up and down the hill.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07Very robust, very independent. Didn't ever want help from anybody.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09- So, she was on her own for a long time?- A very long time.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12She once mentioned that she'd had a sweetheart.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14- That's the only thing she ever...- Yeah?
0:31:14 > 0:31:16Enid never really talked about herself,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18but every now and then, she'd give you a little snippet,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20and that was Enid.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24The thing is it seems as though she's had a happy life.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28That's nice to know. Nice to meet up with her neighbours.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31All the best, John. Take care. Safe travels.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34'Amazing to find out a lot more about Enid,'
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and was a really happy lady till the end, from what I can make out.
0:31:38 > 0:31:43So, meeting them two lovely ladies today has been very interesting,
0:31:43 > 0:31:44and hope to meet them again
0:31:44 > 0:31:47cos they were pretty special in Enid's life, by the sounds of it.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02In London, heir hunters from Finders are working on
0:32:02 > 0:32:06the case of retired store manager Cyril Desborough from Bognor Regis.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08I might give them a call.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Yeah, do you want to give them a call?
0:32:10 > 0:32:16Cyril was living in a care home, and he was 90 when he died in 2013.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19He left no will and had no apparent next of kin.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24So far, clues to Cyril's past are thin on the ground,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26but the team do know that he met an Italian girl
0:32:26 > 0:32:29when he was stationed in Italy during the war.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35There was a girl that used to run messages in between the camps,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39and he was saying she was very fit and she used to run for miles.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41She was only a teenager,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44and it turned out she later became his wife.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48But despite a marriage spanning over half a century,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Cyril and his wife Anna never grew their family,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53and she passed away 14 years before him.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57So, with no spouse or children to inherit his estate,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59the team had to move on.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03So, the next step for us would be to go up from Cyril,
0:33:03 > 0:33:04find out more about his parents,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07find out, particularly, what their names were,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10when they married and then conduct a birth search
0:33:10 > 0:33:13for any siblings of Cyril from that date of marriage onwards.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16And Cyril's birth certificate gave researcher Camilla
0:33:16 > 0:33:18the information she needed.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22We are able to see that he was born on the 22nd of June 1923.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24His father was George Desborough,
0:33:24 > 0:33:26his mother was Ethel Helen Desborough,
0:33:26 > 0:33:27formally Judd.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30So, at the moment, I'm looking to see if I can find a marriage
0:33:30 > 0:33:33between a Desborough and a Judd in Lambeth
0:33:33 > 0:33:36as this was where Cyril was born.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39This confirms that George and Ethel were Cyril's parents,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42and therefore the marriage between a Desborough and a Judd,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44which we found in Lambeth, was the correct one.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48Having obtained a copy of Cyril's parent's marriage certificate,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51we knew that they were married on the 30th of June 1912.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55Now, there's nothing really unusual about the details given to us
0:33:55 > 0:33:57on the marriage certificate,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00but one interesting point to note was both of the parents
0:34:00 > 0:34:04were living in a Peabody Trust property in 1912,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07and this was an early form of social housing.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Peabody Buildings was founded in 1862
0:34:14 > 0:34:17by George Peabody, an American banker,
0:34:17 > 0:34:19diplomat and philanthropist.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22His mission, which still stands today,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25was to provide a good home, a real sense of purpose
0:34:25 > 0:34:28and a strong feeling of belonging to Londoners.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30He'd been born in Massachusetts
0:34:30 > 0:34:32in 1795,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35but came to London to further his business career,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39settled in the city of London in 1837
0:34:39 > 0:34:41and made a great fortune.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43He decided to give money to good causes
0:34:43 > 0:34:45in both Britain and America,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49and in London, the money he gave to his first five trustees,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51which eventually amounted to £500,000,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55was used to build model dwellings for working Londoners.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57The estates the trustees built
0:34:57 > 0:35:02consisted of blocks of flats with shared facilities.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05The flats were cleaner and healthier than the slum dwellings
0:35:05 > 0:35:08in which many of the people had previously lived.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10It was widely regarded as a privilege
0:35:10 > 0:35:12to be living on a Peabody estate
0:35:12 > 0:35:16and to have better accommodation and better prospects in life
0:35:16 > 0:35:19than many of their contemporaries living in the surrounding streets.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Residents were working people on low incomes
0:35:22 > 0:35:24being offered affordable housing,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27but they had to be respectable tenants
0:35:27 > 0:35:29and abide by the estate's rule book.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33There was quite a long list of rules which had to be strictly obeyed.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35The tenants had to take it in turns every morning
0:35:35 > 0:35:38to sweep the steps and the entrance halls.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40They had to take it in turns also
0:35:40 > 0:35:45to clean the windows of the laundry room and the bathhouse.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47It was on a Peabody estate in Stamford Street
0:35:47 > 0:35:49near Waterloo in South London
0:35:49 > 0:35:52that Cyril's parents Ethel and George's paths
0:35:52 > 0:35:54most probably first crossed.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57They both lived there with their respective families.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02In 1911, Ethel was 22 and George, 21.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05By 1911, when we know that Ethel and her family
0:36:05 > 0:36:07were living at the estate,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10although many of the older generation
0:36:10 > 0:36:13were still following the manual occupations
0:36:13 > 0:36:16that we find in the early tenants from the 1870s,
0:36:16 > 0:36:22the adult children were in, perhaps, slightly more elevated occupations.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26They were working as shorthand typists,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29bank clerks, pupil teachers
0:36:29 > 0:36:32or, like Ethel, a pianoforte teacher.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35George worked as a labourer. He probably worked long hours,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37but the fact that they both had occupations
0:36:37 > 0:36:40meant they were well able to afford the rent for a flat on the estate.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46And their details can be seen in the original record book.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51This is the tenant register for the Stamford Street estate,
0:36:51 > 0:36:57which shows all the tenants living in each flat from 1875 onwards.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01And it's open at the page for Flat 10 in Block M,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03which consisted of two rooms.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06The rent was four shillings per week.
0:37:07 > 0:37:13And on the 13th of March 1911, George Desborough became the tenant.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15His occupation is shown as labourer.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20George Desborough's weekly wage was 27 shillings,
0:37:20 > 0:37:27and the family consisted of himself, aged 26, and his wife, aged 24.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32By the time Cyril was born in 1923,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34his parents had left the estate
0:37:34 > 0:37:37and had moved further south to Herne Hill.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43In the heir hunters' office, now Cyril's parents had been found,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46the search for any siblings of his could begin.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49When looking up births for a Desborough
0:37:49 > 0:37:52with the mother's maiden name Judd,
0:37:52 > 0:37:53we are able to see...
0:37:54 > 0:37:57..that there were three possible births.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59First of all, Cyril,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01then he perhaps has a brother called Kenneth
0:38:01 > 0:38:04and also another brother called Leslie.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Next was the search for death records for the brothers,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12and when they were traced, there were marriage certificates to find.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15These, in turn, would lead to Cyril's nieces and nephews -
0:38:15 > 0:38:16his heirs.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Leslie passed away in the Lambeth area in 1976.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27He married a Hilda in 1945, and they had one son called David.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Therefore, we had found our first heir to the estate of Cyril.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Well, when they said that
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Cyril Desborough had passed away,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42it immediately came to mind that I knew who he was -
0:38:42 > 0:38:43my uncle Cyril.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48My first feeling was, "Oh, what a shame,"
0:38:48 > 0:38:51because I hadn't known the guy for so many years.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56My memories were of a very nice chap and his wife.
0:38:57 > 0:39:02And for this to come out of the blue was quite a bit of a surprise.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05David also remembers Cyril's wife.
0:39:05 > 0:39:11Anna, when I first met her, she didn't speak hardly any English.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15I think she was only about 15 when they met.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20But it was a romance that lived a long time,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22and I believe, as far as I'm aware,
0:39:22 > 0:39:26that they were still happily married when she passed away.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28So, when we found David, we were able to give him a call
0:39:28 > 0:39:32and just really speak to him about the family tree.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34In this case in particular,
0:39:34 > 0:39:37it was very useful for us to have done that.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38Without speaking to David,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41we wouldn't have found the extent of the family
0:39:41 > 0:39:43that, eventually, we did.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46Next for the team was to research Cyril's other brother
0:39:46 > 0:39:49to see if he had any surviving descendants
0:39:49 > 0:39:51who would also be Cyril's heirs.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54We then started to look into Kenneth.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59He passed away in 2002 and married an Irene in 1942.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01He had four heirs to his estate.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05So, Cyril's family tree had now come alive
0:40:05 > 0:40:09and sprouted new branches providing a total of five heirs.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13But after speaking to the heirs,
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Ryan and the team discovered that this wasn't the end of the story.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Having spoken to the family, they actually informed us that
0:40:20 > 0:40:22there was a further three siblings that we'd missed
0:40:22 > 0:40:24during the initial research.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28So, the names of the three siblings was Alice, Alfred and Ruby.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Now, we were initially using the surnames Desborough and Judd,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34which were the surnames of Cyril's parents when they married.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Now, the reason that we didn't pick up on
0:40:37 > 0:40:39these three birth records initially
0:40:39 > 0:40:42was because Cyril's mother was actually registering them
0:40:42 > 0:40:44as her maiden name being Payne,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48and this left us wondering, "Why Payne and not Judd?"
0:40:48 > 0:40:51I think the Desborough case highlighted the importance
0:40:51 > 0:40:54of speaking to and questioning thoroughly the beneficiaries
0:40:54 > 0:41:00because having established there were nephews and nieces,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03we really had to be sure that they were either the only ones entitled
0:41:03 > 0:41:06or that something hadn't been missed.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09It seemed that Cyril's maternal grandmother,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13whose married name was Judd, may have remarried a Mr Payne.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15So, it looked as though Cyril's mother Ethel
0:41:15 > 0:41:20had switched between both maiden names when registering her children.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23The key information we use along with dates
0:41:23 > 0:41:25when we do the research is surnames,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29so, you know, there was no reason for us to suppose
0:41:29 > 0:41:32that we should be checking for Desborough Payne
0:41:32 > 0:41:34as well as Desborough Judd.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36The team had all of the information they needed
0:41:36 > 0:41:40to complete Cyril's family tree and locate all his heirs.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44This was a satisfying case to complete.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47We were able to identify and locate nine heirs
0:41:47 > 0:41:52who will all be due to a share of an estate worth about £100,000.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54So, you know, it's really rewarding financially,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58but also really satisfying that we managed to overcome
0:41:58 > 0:42:00the problem with the surnames and crack the case.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02And Cyril's nephew David
0:42:02 > 0:42:05is glad to have been given the chance to remember his uncle.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09It would have been nice to have met him
0:42:09 > 0:42:11and just to be able to shake his hand
0:42:11 > 0:42:13and say, "Hello, old chap.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16"I'm the son of your brother Leslie."
0:42:18 > 0:42:20But sadly, that can't happen now.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22I think he would have been happy
0:42:22 > 0:42:26that the money has gone to blood family.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27It wasn't a huge amount.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Probably worked very hard through his life to get what he got.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36And I spent what I got on a roof repair,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38so I put it to good use.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41I think Cyril was one of the residents
0:42:41 > 0:42:44that we all remember for a long time
0:42:44 > 0:42:49because it was just his own personality.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55He just shone, really, and so he really sticks in your memory.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58Cyril may be gone, but he's not forgotten.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01I think this one's my favourite,
0:43:01 > 0:43:05where he's got that twinkle in his eye,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08which he never, ever lost.