0:00:03 > 0:00:07Today, the heir hunters are struggling to find a family...
0:00:07 > 0:00:10The Rixons actually seem to be quite difficult to find.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12They're keeping themselves well-hidden.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14..but the clock is ticking.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18With the competitive nature, I need some information from somebody.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It's one of these ones here.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22KNOCK ON DOOR
0:00:22 > 0:00:23Hello. Mr England?
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Another team discover a sailor stopped at nothing
0:00:28 > 0:00:30to fight for his country.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34From what we know, a lot of young men lied about their age back then
0:00:34 > 0:00:37just to get into the Army or the Navy.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Could long-lost family have been living round the corner all along?
0:00:41 > 0:00:45It's a really weird feeling to think that she lived here all of her life
0:00:45 > 0:00:49and what secrets that house would hold and what memories.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Up and down the country, heir hunters search
0:01:02 > 0:01:05for long-lost family members who may be about to receive
0:01:05 > 0:01:08a surprise windfall.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Hello?
0:01:10 > 0:01:12One of these searches involved Patricia Hall,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16who died in January 2015 aged 84.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21She lived alone in the leafy London suburb of Golders Green.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25I've known Pat ever since I was a baby.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26She and her family
0:01:26 > 0:01:29lived nextdoor to my grandmother.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32She was very pleasant, very nice, but she was very quiet
0:01:32 > 0:01:33and quite reserved.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Living across the road from Patricia,
0:01:35 > 0:01:40I found her to be a very nice, elegant lady.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42In her younger years she was always about
0:01:42 > 0:01:45and she always knew a lot of what was happening in the area
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and stuff like that and very, very good to the elderly people
0:01:48 > 0:01:49in the area.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54Pat was very close to her parents and she looked after them,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57she was very good to them and she worked hard
0:01:57 > 0:02:00and kept them when they were older.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02When her mother died, sort of lived in the house,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04continued living in the house.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Was a bit of a recluse, kept herself to herself.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10I think she worked at John Lewis, then retired.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14I never saw any friends or family visiting her over a period of
0:02:14 > 0:02:16the time I was here.
0:02:16 > 0:02:17She kept mainly to herself.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22She did have a friend for a while she used to go out with
0:02:22 > 0:02:26but he died, I think, quite suddenly,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30so from that time on I didn't really know her
0:02:30 > 0:02:33to have any other, sort of, partner.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37With no known family and without leaving a will,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40it's up to case manager Ben Cornish and his team
0:02:40 > 0:02:43at London-based heir hunting firm Fraser and Fraser
0:02:43 > 0:02:45to track down heirs to her estate.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Just draw a little tree up of that, will you?
0:02:50 > 0:02:53The first thing on this case, what we do is search for a birth
0:02:53 > 0:02:58for our deceased, so Patricia Louise Rose Hall.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03Having a look at that, I've found one which is a Patricia RL Hall,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06mother's maiden name, Kerridge.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09She's born in the correct quarter, in the December quarter, in 1930,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11in Hendon.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15As there's always the potential for a rival firm to be on the trail,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17the heir hunters need to work quickly...
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Right, let me take some notes of these.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22..especially as the estate is valuable.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25So, after doing some digging, we found that this estate was worth
0:03:25 > 0:03:27just under half a million.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28It's quite a big estate,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31which meant there was going to be some competition on it,
0:03:31 > 0:03:32so we really have to work fast.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Although we know that Patricia never married
0:03:35 > 0:03:37we weren't sure if she ever had any children,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39so that's something that we had to verify straightaway.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Obviously, they would have a prior claim than any brothers and sisters
0:03:42 > 0:03:44or nieces and nephews.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47So, we had to make some enquiries and we soon discovered quite quickly
0:03:47 > 0:03:49that she had no children.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53The team then need to look for any brothers and sisters,
0:03:53 > 0:03:55but finding records proves a challenge
0:03:55 > 0:03:59because of her father's name, Alfred William Hall.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Her mother was Edith Rose Kerridge.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06The name Hall is quite a common surname,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10it's not just set in one area, like you get area names.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12Hall can be across the country,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15so it can be quite difficult to research.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18So, when we come across a surname, a common surname,
0:04:18 > 0:04:19it means the research is a lot harder.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22But it's not just harder for us, it's harder for the competition,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24so we don't mind, it just means a bit more research.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Their research tracks down Patricia's parents
0:04:28 > 0:04:31who were born at the turn of the century.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33So, I've got the marriage certificate for the parents
0:04:33 > 0:04:37for an Alfred William Hall, aged 22, he was a bachelor,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40he was a general labourer, marrying an Edith Rose Kerridge,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43who's 21, she's a spinster and she's a laundress.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46They're both living on the same road.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Alfred, it looks like he lives at 142
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and Edith lives at 148.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58So, it's quite sweet that they sort of met on the same road
0:04:58 > 0:04:59and fell in love.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Records establish that early in Patricia's father's life,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05he had a military career.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Alfred William Hall joined the Navy in 1916,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14two years after the outbreak of World War I,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16when the age of conscription was 18.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21And the heir hunter's research found he'd gone to quite some lengths
0:05:21 > 0:05:23to ensure he served his country.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27I've found a naval record for an Alfred William Hall.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32He's born in 1898, he's born on 16th of April
0:05:32 > 0:05:37and our Alfred William Hall is born 16th of October in Hendon
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and this gentleman is also born in Hendon.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44From what we know, a lot of young men lied about their age back then
0:05:44 > 0:05:46just to get into the army or the navy,
0:05:46 > 0:05:50so he could have put his birth back a few months
0:05:50 > 0:05:53to make himself seem older than what he was.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58But it gives us a description of Alfred at this time.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01We know that he's 5'1", he has a 32-inch chest,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05he's got brown hair, hazel eyes and has a fresh complexion
0:06:05 > 0:06:09and a scar on his foot.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11With Patricia's parents dying in the '70s,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15the team continued their search for any brothers and sisters
0:06:15 > 0:06:16who could be potential heirs.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I would rely more on the maternal side now.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24We're just going to look in the area of Hendon first
0:06:24 > 0:06:26because that is where she's born.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28And I can see that she's got two brothers -
0:06:28 > 0:06:31one called Leonard and one called Alfred.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34So, when we looked into the deceased's two brothers,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39we found out that Alfred, the elder of the two brothers,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43was born in 1922 and he died in 2007 without any children.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46I did a basic general search for a death for Leonard
0:06:46 > 0:06:49from 1916 to 2007,
0:06:49 > 0:06:55nothing came up so my next search was the Commonwealth War Graves.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59I have come across a Leonard John Albert Hall,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02who died on 6 June 1944,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05which obviously coincides with the D-Day landings
0:07:05 > 0:07:10and he is in fact a Royal Marine at this point
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and he is buried in France.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16So, it would be safe to assume that he probably was one of those killed
0:07:16 > 0:07:17on the beaches that day.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27The D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 were the largest combined naval,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30air and land assault in history.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33With allies arriving on the beaches of Normandy to overthrow
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Nazi-occupied northern France.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39D-Day is significant historically
0:07:39 > 0:07:42as the invasion of northwest Europe.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Within the context of the Second World War,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47it was the invasion that gave hope to Western Europe.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52This marked, potentially, the end of the war for them and as such,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56D-Day and Leonard's small part in it, is very significant.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Leonard was 21 when the marines stormed the beach.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10Men had to carry water, rations, a gas mask, their rifle,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14ammunition and grenades - it was a frightening experience.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17The commando would have experienced its first casualties
0:08:17 > 0:08:20from indirect fire and direct fire from the Germans.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24So, you had shellfire and mortar fire hitting craft as they ran in.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28You had machine-gunners engaging the landing craft
0:08:28 > 0:08:30from positions on the coast.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35Things went very wrong and there were casualties amongst the men,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37even before they'd got off the landing craft.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Some of the casualties would have been amongst men who simply drowned.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43They'd fallen in the water, the weight of their equipment
0:08:43 > 0:08:46had held them down and they drowned.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50That's simply not from any kind of enemy action.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54At the end of the day, the commandos suffered huge casualties,
0:08:54 > 0:08:59tragically losing over 50% of their men, including Leonard.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Significantly, his body was found, he was buried
0:09:02 > 0:09:04and he's now buried at Bayeux Cemetery,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08which is a place of pilgrimage for anybody visiting Normandy.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16With Leonard's life sadly cut short without having children,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20the heir hunters were still to find any heirs to Patricia's estate.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24If anyone's free to trace any of those people...
0:09:25 > 0:09:27..that'd be great.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29They would now have their work cut out
0:09:29 > 0:09:31investigating Patricia's wider family,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35so the search moved back a generation to her father's parents.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Patricia's grandfather on her father's side was George Alfred Hall
0:09:41 > 0:09:45and grandmother Mary Ann Parker.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48They married in 1896 in Hendon, north London
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and between them had four children
0:09:50 > 0:09:55including Patricia's aunts Alice and Emily and uncle John.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57So, when we were looking into the aunts and uncles
0:09:57 > 0:10:00on the paternal side of the family,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03we discovered that the youngest aunt, Emily, had one son, Graham,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05but sadly he passed away in infancy.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10We soon discovered that Alice and John both had families.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13So, when we completed research on the paternal side,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17in total we had five beneficiaries descending from two stems.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The team had found potential heirs but had yet to meet them
0:10:20 > 0:10:25and their research into the family trees still had surprises in store.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Quite a waste of a life and quite a horrific way to die, to be honest.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41It's Tuesday morning in the London office of heir hunters Finders.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Both those certificates have been ordered,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45they'll phone in about an hour with the rest of the information.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48OK. Yeah, cos I might need those. Thank you very much.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Case managers Amy Moyes and Ryan Gregory
0:10:50 > 0:10:53are working on new cases that have appeared
0:10:53 > 0:10:56on the Treasury Solicitor's unclaimed estates list.
0:10:56 > 0:11:02Today, I'm looking at the estate of David Arthur John Rixon.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06It appears that David had been living with his only brother,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Gordon, until Gordon passed away in 2012.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Neither of them appear to have married or had children,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14so there's no close kin involved.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17What I'm trying to do now is to take a look
0:11:17 > 0:11:22at who David's parents were and go straight into
0:11:22 > 0:11:24maternal and paternal families.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29They need to build a family tree and hopefully find living relatives.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Could you ask your rep to go to this address
0:11:31 > 0:11:33and make some door-to-door enquiries?
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Rixon is a surname that you don't come across too often.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39It's neither rare nor common.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44David Arthur John Rixon died on 5th September 2015,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47a month after his 80th birthday.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51He was a retired printer and lived in West London.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54He was a reclusive character and none of his neighbours knew him
0:11:54 > 0:11:58but did say he adored dogs - they were the love of his life.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06The biggest part of someone's inheritance is normally their home
0:12:06 > 0:12:08but heir hunters often don't know the value
0:12:08 > 0:12:11when they take on the case.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13I haven't valued this one yet
0:12:13 > 0:12:17but it looks as though David and his brother, Gordon,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20owned probably the family home together, it was probably inherited
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and so it should be a sizeable estate.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28On any single BV case that we work, we never know
0:12:28 > 0:12:30what the value of the estate is.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34We estimate that the estate value may be X or Y amount,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38but really the only way we ever find out is when the solicitors begin
0:12:38 > 0:12:41the administration of the estate.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44In the office, Amy has located David's parents
0:12:44 > 0:12:46from his birth certificate.
0:12:46 > 0:12:53He was the son of Leonard Rixon and Claudine Lillian Kevan,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55or 'Kevin'.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57So, they're quite good names to work with.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02David's father, Leonard Rixon, died when he was just 40 years old
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and when David was only 13.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08His mother, Claudine Kevan, didn't marry again,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11so would have brought up David and his younger brother, Gordon,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14as a single mother - a rarity in the '50s.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- Ooh, that's good news. - SHE SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY
0:13:18 > 0:13:20While Amy gets to grips with the family,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Ryan is working on another of the Treasury Solicitor's cases
0:13:23 > 0:13:24that came in today.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29By taking on multiple cases, they increase the chances
0:13:29 > 0:13:32of finding heirs, but Amy doesn't have much time to help him.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38I just need to try and figure out whether he has any children.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40- Oh, is he married?- I'm not sure.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42SHE CHUCKLES
0:13:42 > 0:13:45- Great start(!)- It's just there's one which looks like I need
0:13:45 > 0:13:47to rule it out before steaming ahead.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52- Have you taken a look...see how big it is?- Not yet.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Amy has been using a genealogist's most valuable tool
0:13:57 > 0:14:00to research David Rixon's father's side of the family tree -
0:14:00 > 0:14:01the census.
0:14:03 > 0:14:09And I've located the paternal grandparents on the 1911 census
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and I've established that there are probably five paternal stems
0:14:13 > 0:14:15to look into.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18The census revealed that William Charles Rixon
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and Emily Sarah Harris had five children,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24including David's father, Leonard.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Amy's challenge is to see which of these aunts and uncles
0:14:26 > 0:14:31and their children may be alive and could be beneficiaries.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Ryan's case is developing quickly.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37He thinks the search for potential heirs could be swift.
0:14:37 > 0:14:38The deceased was married,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41he lived with his mother by the looks of it for quite a long time
0:14:41 > 0:14:45since the early 1980s but there is a possible marriage in Surrey,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48which is the area that I've had to restrict the searches to.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50There is two children to the marriage.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53We could be looking at two potential children to the deceased,
0:14:53 > 0:14:54we need to speak to one of them.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58He's engaged.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01The first brother that I tried is on the phone.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06If Ryan has cracked his case that quickly, so will other firms.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10On the Rixon investigation, Amy has had success in tracking down
0:15:10 > 0:15:13some of David's aunts and uncles on his father's side.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17- I'll give you the rest of the tree when....- Sure.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21So far I've looked at the stem of Albert Rixon.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25He married a lady called Katherine and had two children -
0:15:25 > 0:15:27June, who would be a paternal cousin.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31I'm having trouble finding either an address or a death for her.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34She had a brother, Brian, but he passed away in infancy.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38So far, I haven't located any actual heirs
0:15:38 > 0:15:42and the research is a little bit trickier than I thought it would be.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46The names involved are still good, the family itself aren't...
0:15:48 > 0:15:49..particularly easy to find.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53While Amy is still struggling with David Rixon's case,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55Ryan has found the heirs on the other case
0:15:55 > 0:15:57and it all hangs on this call.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Hello there, we're a firm of heir hunters.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Look... No, it's in relation to an inheritance matter.
0:16:03 > 0:16:04Hello?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09OK. Well, that does happen sometimes. She's not interested.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11I know we're ahead of the competition,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13so I'm going to have to try again.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15One of the main problems we face when we try to contact
0:16:15 > 0:16:20potential beneficiaries is a fear people have of receiving a scam call
0:16:20 > 0:16:24or a cold call and that's something that we learn to deal with,
0:16:24 > 0:16:25with experience.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28You know, sometimes we do have the phone put down on us
0:16:28 > 0:16:30and that's something we have to deal with,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but if we get the chance to have more than a few minute conversation
0:16:33 > 0:16:36with someone, quite often we're able to confirm the validity
0:16:36 > 0:16:38of the reason that we're ringing.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41I'm not trying to sell anything, it's in relation to your family tree
0:16:41 > 0:16:44and a relative who's passed away.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Right.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50OK. OK, thank you, bye-bye.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55OK. So, she knows that it's in relation to someone
0:16:55 > 0:16:56who's passed away.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59She said she's not interested and she's very busy.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01So...
0:17:01 > 0:17:03It's quite frustrating.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Ryan can do no more and abandons the case.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11It turns out that the estate had already been looked into
0:17:11 > 0:17:14by another company prior to it being advertised,
0:17:14 > 0:17:19so the good thing is we didn't get too, too far with our work.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23With Ryan's work finished, he now joins forces with Amy
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and looks into David Rixon's maternal side.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- Shall we take one each? - Yeah, I'll give you...
0:17:29 > 0:17:31This is the maternal census.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36The 1911 census shows that David Rixon's maternal grandparents
0:17:36 > 0:17:40were Donald Thomas Kevan and Florence Mabel Bunney.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44They married in 1900 and lived in Stoke Newington, London...
0:17:45 > 0:17:48..where Florence was employed as a dressmaker.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52At the start of the 20th century,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54dressmaking was an incredibly popular profession
0:17:54 > 0:17:58for women, it was predominantly a women's profession.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02As young girls, sewing formed part of the school curriculum
0:18:02 > 0:18:04and so it was a skill that many women had
0:18:04 > 0:18:06and then when they went to work in the industry
0:18:06 > 0:18:10they tended to start at the bottom serving a three-year apprenticeship
0:18:10 > 0:18:12and then working their way up through the industry,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14some going on to becoming proprietresses
0:18:14 > 0:18:15of their own business.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Whereas men's clothes were mass-produced,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19certainly from the 19th century,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22because of the complexity of fit of women's fashionable clothing,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24it tended to be made on a much smaller scale
0:18:24 > 0:18:26and often it was bespoke for the individual woman,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30so it required a perfect body-moulding fit.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It's not known how long Florence was a dressmaker for
0:18:33 > 0:18:36but by the time of the next census in 1911,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39she's no longer listed as working.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43A lot of women stopped working when they got married,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45or certainly when they had children.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48There was a social expectation that if your husband could afford
0:18:48 > 0:18:50to keep the family, you didn't work.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Florence had four children
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and the team now turn their attention to them.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01- SHE SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY - OK.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- You've got one, two, three.- OK.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05- You can pick.- I'm picking that one.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10Marcelle and maiden name Bunney. Yeah, looks good, I'll take that.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Oh, could you actually double-check that I checked
0:19:13 > 0:19:16because she adds an E to Bunney sometimes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- Yeah, shall I just check the variations?- Yeah, please.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Another researcher joins the team.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Suzanne, who takes on one of David Rixon's uncles.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30So, I'm looking at a maternal stem of Archibald Edward Kevan
0:19:30 > 0:19:32or 'Keevan.'
0:19:32 > 0:19:35The key question - are any of his children alive?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38It looks as though there's quite a few births in the London area
0:19:38 > 0:19:40where he was born and where he married.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42So, I'm just having a look at that now.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Ryan next tackles David's maternal aunt, Marcelle Kevan...
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Bye-bye.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53..but can't find any children after her marriage.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56That was easy, no-one dies out for Marcelle.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01I didn't see any other issue as well with the variations of Bunney.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Amy is still plugging away at the paternal side
0:20:04 > 0:20:05but it doesn't look hopeful.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Is there any other lines to do?
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Why, have you... Has it all died down?
0:20:11 > 0:20:13I'm leaving that one with Suzanne.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17You can try and find June, I can't find her.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Her parents end up in Norwich but they're originally from Essex.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27- I would start again. - Start afresh? OK.- Yeah.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29So far, the research has not turned up any good leads
0:20:29 > 0:20:31to living relatives.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33It looks as though most of that side of the family
0:20:33 > 0:20:36has completely died out now.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Suzanne is just checking one final stem.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44So, Ryan has now come back to help me finish up with the paternal tree.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51The paternal cousin, June, that I was looking for and couldn't find,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Ryan's actually found a spinster death for her.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56- OK.- Rosalie, that's them.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Why did I miss that?
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I don't know but I didn't want to say anything.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02SHE LAUGHS
0:21:02 > 0:21:06It's not looking like a good day for the research team.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09The Rixons actually seem to be quite difficult to find,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12they're keeping themselves well-hidden.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15So far, the team have found no heirs on either the maternal
0:21:15 > 0:21:16or paternal side.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Is this case one that they won't be able to crack?
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Every year in Britain, there are thousands of unsolved
0:21:30 > 0:21:33inheritance cases where heirs need to be found.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34Could you be one of them?
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Today, we've got details of two estates on the Treasury Solicitor's
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Bona Vacantia list that are yet to be claimed.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52The first case is that of Zofia Zuk, who died on the 15th September 2002
0:21:52 > 0:21:54in Newton Abbot, Devon.
0:21:55 > 0:22:02She was born over 100 years ago in Debno, Poland, on the 15th May 1915
0:22:02 > 0:22:03and lived to be 87.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Her maiden name was Zielinska and she was married to Waclaw Zuk.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Zofia is believed to have had two sisters,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18her mother was Franciszka and her father was a farmer.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Next, the case of Mohammed Yunas, who was born in Pakistan
0:22:26 > 0:22:29on New Year's Day, 1934.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37He died in Eye, Suffolk, aged 76, on the 22nd December 2010.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Mohammed came to the UK in 1947, working for a military family
0:22:44 > 0:22:47and continued with them till he retired.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Do either of these names strike a chord with you?
0:22:53 > 0:22:56If you think you might be related to either of these people,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58you would need to make a claim on their estate
0:22:58 > 0:23:00through the government legal department.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04If so, you could have thousands of pounds coming your way.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15The heir hunters at Fraser and Fraser in London
0:23:15 > 0:23:18have been investigating the case of Patricia Hall,
0:23:18 > 0:23:22who died in January 2015 in north London.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25So, let's recap then, just hand me that list.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29With her estate estimated at just under £500,000,
0:23:29 > 0:23:30they had to act quickly -
0:23:30 > 0:23:34tracing family members before other firms beat them to it.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37- Only one way to find out. - Give it a call.- Yeah.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41So, when we had established that there were five heirs
0:23:41 > 0:23:45on the paternal side, we then had to look into the maternal family.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Edith Rose Kerridge was the name that we had to look into.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52The deceased mother was born in 1900 in Kensington.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54We found her on the 1901 census
0:23:54 > 0:23:56but couldn't find any records for her parents.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00We knew who they were, they were George Isaac John Kerridge
0:24:00 > 0:24:01and Elizabeth Louisa Kerridge.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06The problem was is that Kerridge is spelt two ways,
0:24:06 > 0:24:11one way is spelling it with a D and the other is spelling with an A.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14They managed to find the right one - Patricia's grandparents,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16George Kerridge and Elizabeth Morrill
0:24:16 > 0:24:19were married in 1893
0:24:19 > 0:24:23and nine months later, a wedding baby was born, George Jr.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26They went on to have seven further children,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28including Patricia's mother, Edith.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32With so many children, there were potentially even more heirs to find
0:24:32 > 0:24:34on this side of the family.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37It's quite common for large families,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40the further back you go, the larger the families tended to be
0:24:40 > 0:24:44and you often come across cases where there's ten, 11, 12 children.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46All of those stems need to be worked out,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49we need to find out what happened to all the heirs.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51As they looked into the aunts and uncles,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55they discovered a death peculiar to the 1920s.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Looking at the family, we found that one of the siblings of Edith,
0:24:59 > 0:25:05her sister, Eliza, died in quite a horrific way.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Looking at her death certificate I have here,
0:25:07 > 0:25:08she died at the age of 22 of,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10"Shock and extensive burns to the body
0:25:10 > 0:25:13"after her clothing caught fire in the kitchen."
0:25:13 > 0:25:16It was ruled an accidental death but...
0:25:17 > 0:25:21..at 22, it's quite a waste of a life
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and quite a horrific way to die, to be honest.
0:25:24 > 0:25:30Next was William Francis Kerridge, born in 1896 in Kensington.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34He later married a Violet Elsie Fisher in 1921.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36They went on to have two children.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42The youngest son, George Kerridge, actually passed away in 1949
0:25:42 > 0:25:45of tuberculosis, which was quite common back then,
0:25:45 > 0:25:50quite a killer for young people.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Their other son was William Kerridge Jr,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56who was 16 when World War II broke out.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00William Arthur Kerridge married Catherine Fitzgerald
0:26:00 > 0:26:03in September 1949, in Hendon.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07From his marriage certificate, we know that he was an aircraft fitter.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15William worked during the war for an aircraft manufacturer
0:26:15 > 0:26:17that pioneered the making of bombers.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23I suspect that when war broke out, William was already an apprentice.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25He'd probably have left school at 14,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28so he was probably three years into his apprenticeship at Handley Page
0:26:28 > 0:26:30and that's probably the reason why,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32with all those skills already acquired,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34they were not going to have him go off to war.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36He might have preferred to go off and fight
0:26:36 > 0:26:38but that wouldn't actually have been an option for him.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41His skills would have been seen as far too important
0:26:41 > 0:26:42to lose in wartime.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46William would have done skilled supervisory work
0:26:46 > 0:26:49with accelerated responsibilities due to the pressing needs
0:26:49 > 0:26:51of the war.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Due to the demand for planes, he would've worked 12 hours a day
0:26:55 > 0:26:58often on one of the most notable bombers of the war effort.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Handley Page are particularly known for producing the Halifax,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06which is both a bomber and a transport plane and at times,
0:27:06 > 0:27:07an ambulance plane.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10There were over 6,000 of them produced and in operation
0:27:10 > 0:27:11during the war.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16Nearly 300,000 tonnes of bombs were delivered onto Germany
0:27:16 > 0:27:19by the Halifax and very much part of the British war effort.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23The loss from planes in the air was absolutely huge.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25When they were bombing, for instance, over Germany,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27about a third of the planes would be lost.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31So, production was absolutely huge in that.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Because the government was keen to prevent the enemy
0:27:33 > 0:27:36knowing the location of production sites,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40William may have worked even longer shifts guarding the site.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42There was always the danger that the factory itself
0:27:42 > 0:27:45would be a target for bombing and that was a worry for people
0:27:45 > 0:27:47and there was such a need for people at night,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50maybe after he had done his ten or 12 hours work in the factory,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52he would have been expected to be a night firefighter
0:27:52 > 0:27:55looking out to see if there were, you know, bombers coming over
0:27:55 > 0:27:57and prevent the factory actually being bombed
0:27:57 > 0:27:59and stopping its production.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08The heir hunters search showed that after the war,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10William and his wife went on to have three children,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13two of whom are living heirs.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15One of their grandchildren, also an heir,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19is Sasha Kerriage, who lives in Daventry.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21At first I thought it was a little bit,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23"Oh, is this a genuine phone call
0:28:23 > 0:28:25"or is it somebody trying to catch me out?"
0:28:25 > 0:28:29But we had a good chat on the phone and it was actually quite a surprise
0:28:29 > 0:28:35to think that I'd had a relative that I'd never even heard of before
0:28:35 > 0:28:39and I was actually quite excited to find out more.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43My father never told me much about his side of the family
0:28:43 > 0:28:47and I think that might be due to my father and my mother being separated
0:28:47 > 0:28:50and us not seeing him very often.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54The chance to inherit unexpectedly is welcome news.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59Knowing that we've got a sum of money coming
0:28:59 > 0:29:01certainly will help us out.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05There's a few things that we'd like to do with it.
0:29:05 > 0:29:11We don't get to go on fancy holidays very much, they can be quite pricey,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14so we're perhaps looking at going on a family holiday.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18So, yeah, just sort of spoiling my little family.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22The inheritance offers Sasha more than just a financial reward,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25it gives her the chance to find out more about her extended family.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I've travelled down to north London today
0:29:29 > 0:29:33to come and meet one of Patricia's neighbours and friends.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Find a little bit more about where she lived
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and I'm actually quite surprised to realise that it's so close
0:29:40 > 0:29:43to where my existing family live just round the corner.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46It's really strange to think that she was so close
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and we never really knew.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52Patricia's semidetached home now has new owners.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Sasha can see beyond the bricks and mortar.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58This was Patricia's house, that's amazing.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02It's a really weird feeling to think that she lived here all of her life
0:30:02 > 0:30:06and what secrets that house would hold and what memories,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08it's really exciting to look at.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11KNOCK ON DOOR
0:30:11 > 0:30:15- Hello, you must be Sasha.- Hi. Yes. Vicky?- Nice to meet you.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17- Yes, thank you.- Come in.
0:30:17 > 0:30:18What can you tell me about Patricia?
0:30:18 > 0:30:21- I'd just love to know a little bit more about her.- Yeah.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24- She was a very, very private person. - Right, OK.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29- She was friendly but she didn't get too friendly, you know?- No.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32And she lived with her parents and I remember when she was younger,
0:30:32 > 0:30:39in her 20s and 30s, they used to go to the cinema every Friday night,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- the three of them - the mum and dad and Patricia.- She never married?
0:30:42 > 0:30:44- She never married, no.- OK.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46- I'd never known her have a boyfriend...- Oh, right.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49..until she was quite late in life
0:30:49 > 0:30:52and she became very friendly with a chap called Tom.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54- I think they used to work together. - Oh, right, OK.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58But then he died and she was quite, you know, quite upset about that.
0:30:58 > 0:30:59I can imagine, yeah.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02She would have loved to have known all this family, wouldn't she?
0:31:02 > 0:31:04I think she would have done, yeah.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07- Cos I think she felt quite lonely at the end of her life.- Yeah.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11All the years that I knew her, I never went into her house,
0:31:11 > 0:31:13- she was that private, you know? - OK, yeah.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15As I say, she was very friendly
0:31:15 > 0:31:18and she would chat if I saw her at the gate, you know,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21if I was going shopping or... I often saw her in Brent Cross
0:31:21 > 0:31:23or on the bus to the shops.
0:31:23 > 0:31:30Now that I know where she was and where we have been all this time...
0:31:30 > 0:31:34- Yes.- ..it does make me feel a little bit sad that we didn't know sooner.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Yes, she had relatives much closer to her than she probably knew.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Than she knew, yeah.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43Thank you so much for letting me know what you know.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45It's been absolutely fascinating, it really is.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47I'm just so glad that I can pass the memories,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49- the few memories that I have got... - Yeah.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54- Thank you for everything and we'll be in contact.- We'll be in touch.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56- All right, then, take care, bye. - Bye.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Meeting Vicky today was amazing.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03It's made me quite excited about what I can find out next.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I think it's wonderful to be able to pass on
0:32:06 > 0:32:08whatever I've learnt over the years
0:32:08 > 0:32:14because knowledge goes when people go and if you pass it on,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16it doesn't go, it just carries on.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19The heir hunters went on to complete the search
0:32:19 > 0:32:22with Patricia's other aunts and uncles and their descendants.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25We have 19 heirs on the maternal side...
0:32:26 > 0:32:31..which compared to the paternal side of only five, is a lot bigger.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36In total, 24 of Patricia's living heirs were found.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38The case of Patricia Hall was fascinating
0:32:38 > 0:32:41and the estate in the end was worth 480,000.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45I do miss Pat and she was one of the few people around
0:32:45 > 0:32:49that remembered my family, she was a link with my past.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53You cannot not think of Patricia and maybe what she's been through,
0:32:53 > 0:32:54what her life entailed.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57I definitely will be raising a glass of the fizz to Patricia.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Finders heir hunters are looking into the case of David Rixon,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17a printer who passed away aged 85.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20He was a bachelor and lived in London.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23If you want to give her a call and see if she knows...
0:33:23 > 0:33:26So far, they've discovered several aunts and uncles,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29none of whom are alive, but they've reached a brick wall
0:33:29 > 0:33:31trying to find any cousins,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35so the search for any living heirs isn't looking positive.
0:33:35 > 0:33:36So, I'll start with this, I think,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39- and then if you can just figure out who he was.- So, I'll start trying...
0:33:39 > 0:33:43- Thanks.- Amy has a breakthrough and discovers another uncle,
0:33:43 > 0:33:47Harry Rixon, had a rather large family.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49I have a potential paternal cousin.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54There was a telephone number for him but the number just rings,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56there's no machine, I can't leave a message.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58So, I'm going to try and send a rep
0:33:58 > 0:34:00just to make sure he is who I think he is
0:34:00 > 0:34:04and hopefully ask some questions about the rest of the family tree.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Ideally, I'd like to speak to him first over the phone.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12With the competitive nature, I need some information from somebody.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15One of the firm's travelling researchers is on standby.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19Phil James used to work as a policeman.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21It's only ever a positive experience
0:34:21 > 0:34:23unless you get that very odd occasion
0:34:23 > 0:34:25when you are actually telling someone
0:34:25 > 0:34:27that someone they are very close to has died,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30but generally with this type of work
0:34:30 > 0:34:32and people appearing on a Bona Vacantia list,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34that doesn't often happen.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39In the office, Amy puts in a call to one of David's uncle Harry Rixon's
0:34:39 > 0:34:42grandchildren to see what she can find out.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47Often, it's not just records that provide missing clues,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49it's information given from family members.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Hello, am I speaking with a relative?
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Oh, it's her partner? We're working on a Rixon family tree
0:34:56 > 0:34:59and it looks as though his brothers and sisters,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02and I believe he still has two uncles that are living,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06would be entitled to part of this estate.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Thank you for your help, bye-bye.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11She doesn't know too much about the family
0:35:11 > 0:35:14and it sounds as though she's probably not in touch
0:35:14 > 0:35:17with all of the brothers and sisters that we're looking for.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20I do have some numbers for a couple of the other siblings
0:35:20 > 0:35:23of this beneficiary, so I'll see if I can catch any of them.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25The problem we've got is that they're prime working age,
0:35:25 > 0:35:30so it's probably going to be hard to actually speak to many of them.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33But another one of the grandchildren, who is one of six,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35then calls Amy.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Oh, thank you for calling back.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40Would you like me to return your call to save your phone bill?
0:35:40 > 0:35:43Yeah, OK, I'll call you straight back. Bye-bye.
0:35:43 > 0:35:44Hello.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46David hasn't left a will,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50his estate's now going to be split up amongst relatives.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53So, amongst those it will be any Rixon relatives that we can find.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00This side of the family still haven't been contacted
0:36:00 > 0:36:04by anybody else, so we're ahead of the competition, which is good.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06On David's mother's side of the family,
0:36:06 > 0:36:08there are three aunts and uncles -
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Archibald, Frederick and Marcelle Kevan.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Ryan discovers that Frederick has no children
0:36:14 > 0:36:17and Archibald has three, two still alive.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21But what's puzzling him is whether David's aunt, Marcelle,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24has any children who could be beneficiaries.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26He calls one of the cousins.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Hello, is that Patricia England?
0:36:28 > 0:36:30So, we're researching the Kevan family tree
0:36:30 > 0:36:33in relation to a relative of yours who's passed away.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37Right, OK. Who had a son called Clifford?
0:36:37 > 0:36:39Yeah. Marcelle? Oh, OK.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45Oh, really? OK. Well, I might have to go back to that then
0:36:45 > 0:36:47having said I've looked at it.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49So, if you have any questions, otherwise we'll probably be with you
0:36:49 > 0:36:52within a couple of hours anyway. OK, thanks very much.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Good phone call with one of the maternal cousins.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01She's definitely entitled, she's confirmed some details
0:37:01 > 0:37:03on the family tree, which her sister was unable to.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08We're going to see her later on this afternoon.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12She mentioned her father had a sister called Marcelle
0:37:12 > 0:37:14and I was quite proud that I'd looked into that line
0:37:14 > 0:37:16but she said that Marcelle had a son called Clifford
0:37:16 > 0:37:20who I don't think I did find, so I'm going to have a look at that again.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Clifford Williams is the missing and only child of Marcelle Kevan.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Clifford took the surname of his mother's partner,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29who Marcelle didn't marry.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32The reason that we couldn't find Clifford Williams in the searches
0:37:32 > 0:37:36we were undertaking on the Rixon case was simply because -
0:37:36 > 0:37:38one, he was born illegitimately
0:37:38 > 0:37:42but he wasn't even born using the mother's maiden name.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46She'd actually changed her name via deed poll from Kevan to Williams
0:37:46 > 0:37:49and there was actually no way we would have found that birth
0:37:49 > 0:37:52unless someone else in the family had told us about it
0:37:52 > 0:37:58or unless we'd received her death certificate back into the office.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Clifford Williams lives in Herne Bay, Kent.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07He's married with two children and is one of David Rixon's heirs.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13I would say David was a very good-looking man...
0:38:14 > 0:38:17..and I was very surprised that he never married
0:38:17 > 0:38:22because he was that good-looking but he never seemed to.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25Clifford has fond memories of time spent with David
0:38:25 > 0:38:26when he was younger.
0:38:26 > 0:38:32We grew up more or less together, even though they lived in London
0:38:32 > 0:38:36they used to spend their holidays with us in the summer
0:38:36 > 0:38:39because we lived by the seaside and they used to love the seaside,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41they came down every year.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45Clifford wants to now find out more about his family tree.
0:38:45 > 0:38:52What I had hoped to achieve with this would be a history of my family
0:38:52 > 0:38:56because I know very little about the family
0:38:56 > 0:39:00because when you're young, you just don't seem to ask the questions
0:39:00 > 0:39:03and then in later life when everyone's gone, you know,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06it's too late to ask.
0:39:06 > 0:39:07Across the country,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Phil James is hotfooting it to Chesham, Buckinghamshire,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13to meet Patricia England.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Ryan has learnt another heir hunting firm had spoken to her,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19so time is of the essence.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21The staff in the office have identified this lady
0:39:21 > 0:39:24as a potential beneficiary, so if all goes well,
0:39:24 > 0:39:29we should have a new client within the next half an hour.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Phil is close to Chesham but has somehow got lost.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37This is a big problem with this job is driving on sat nav
0:39:37 > 0:39:40cos you don't know where you are. It is an absolute pain in the neck.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Hemel Hempstead it looks like we're going to.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Oh, it's through here.
0:39:46 > 0:39:47No, I've lost it now.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50I've lost where I was supposed to be going there.
0:39:50 > 0:39:51We're on the wrong road.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53It should be here somewhere.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56It's one of these ones here.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59Phil finally makes his 3pm appointment,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02arriving at the home of David's cousin Patricia England
0:40:02 > 0:40:04and her husband.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06KNOCK ON DOOR
0:40:06 > 0:40:09- Hello. Mr England?- Yes. - Hi, Phil James.- Come in.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11Thanks very much indeed, thank you.
0:40:11 > 0:40:12- OK, Patricia...- Yeah.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15- ..I know you were contacted by lovely Amy.- Mm-hm.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19I need to just confirm a few things with you before we move on.
0:40:19 > 0:40:25- The person who died...that person is David Arthur John Rixon...- Mm-hm.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28..and he was your cousin.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31- Do you remember him at all? - No, I don't remember him at all.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33- Do you think you ever met him? - No.- No?
0:40:33 > 0:40:37- And his mother was a lady called Claudine.- Claudine, yeah...
0:40:37 > 0:40:41- Do you remember her?- ..which was my dad's sister.- That's it.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44- There's your pack that I promised to give you.- OK, fine, thank you.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Everything's signed, sealed there, so that's all good
0:40:47 > 0:40:51and as far as we're concerned, we'll be in contact with you very shortly
0:40:51 > 0:40:53- about what the next... - What the next step is.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55- ..part of the process is going to be.- Oh, I see, right.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57OK, that's fine.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00And for Patricia, learning she had a cousin
0:41:00 > 0:41:01has come as a bit of a surprise.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Well, I was quite shocked actually, yeah.
0:41:05 > 0:41:11I didn't know I had a cousin, what's the name...?
0:41:11 > 0:41:15Er...what his name was, David Rixon.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18The couple find it strange to be receiving a windfall
0:41:18 > 0:41:22from someone they didn't know, but any money could come in useful.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24- Have a nice holiday, I think.- Yeah.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26A nice holiday, we haven't had one for a few years.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29That would be nice.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31Where will we go?
0:41:31 > 0:41:34- Er...- Madeira was nice, wasn't it? - Yeah, Madeira or...
0:41:34 > 0:41:37We went to Madeira a few years back. Yeah, that would be nice.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41- Or Cyprus and Malta. - Or Cyprus, Malta, hm.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43- Lovely to have met you.- Thank you very much. OK, bye.- Cheerio now.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48Phil thinks it must be hard for long-lost relatives to digest
0:41:48 > 0:41:52that they are suddenly going to inherit money out of the blue.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56Almost like the beneficiaries feel almost guilty.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00You do get a sense of, perhaps guilt's the wrong word,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03but something akin to guilt that, "Oh, my goodness.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05"We're inheriting money from someone we didn't even know
0:42:05 > 0:42:07"and should we have been closer?"
0:42:07 > 0:42:08That sort of thing to it.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Where, of course, it was never in their gift to be closer,
0:42:11 > 0:42:12that's how life is.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16At the end of the research into David Rixon,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19the heir hunters are pleased they found several heirs
0:42:19 > 0:42:22and can pass on what is entitled to them.
0:42:22 > 0:42:27It looks likely that the estate may be in the region of around £400,000.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Now, given that there's only 11 beneficiaries to the estate,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34then it's a nice feeling to think that hopefully
0:42:34 > 0:42:36there's some life-changing sums of money due to the people
0:42:36 > 0:42:38that we've been dealing with.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41There was an inheritance.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43We're not one for going on holidays.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47We don't want for anything,
0:42:47 > 0:42:52we'd just probably put it aside for our children
0:42:52 > 0:42:54and hopefully do some good that way.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57I can't believe this is happening, you know?
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Amazing.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02But there you go, there you are.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Life's full of surprises, isn't it?