0:00:02 > 0:00:05Today, the heir hunters are in a race to contact relatives.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07It's a matter of hours that they'll be followed up
0:00:07 > 0:00:09by someone from another firm.
0:00:09 > 0:00:10And there's no let-up.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13He said that he has already been contacted by
0:00:13 > 0:00:15five other companies today.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Another team uncover a family secret.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Yes, he's born in the surname Gray, but there's no father stated
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and therefore his is an illegitimate birth.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27For the heirs they find...
0:00:27 > 0:00:29It's brought the family together a little bit now.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31..lost relatives are seldom forgotten.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35He was one of the good people in this world,
0:00:35 > 0:00:36that's for sure.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Every day, the Government Legal Department
0:00:52 > 0:00:56publish the names of people who have died with no known next of kin.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59If an estate remains unclaimed on this list,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02the proceeds from the sale of any property or possessions
0:01:02 > 0:01:03go to the state.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08We're confident it looks good, so we'll send someone over to you.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Heir hunting firms, like Finders in London,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14investigate cases on this list,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16trying to find possible blood relatives
0:01:16 > 0:01:19who would be entitled to inherit.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23- I'd be disappointed if we didn't get...- OK.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Senior case manager Ryan Gregory
0:01:25 > 0:01:27has spotted a case that's just appeared this morning
0:01:27 > 0:01:30that might be worth investigating.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32I'm having a look at the estate
0:01:32 > 0:01:35of John Leslie Simm.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36Some good information in the ads.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40It tells us that he was born on 27th July 1945
0:01:40 > 0:01:41in Warrington, in Cheshire.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46He passed away in Dorset on 26th September 2015.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51The listing also says that John had a wife called Dorothy Olivia
0:01:51 > 0:01:54who passed away in August 2006.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Ryan's searches quickly reveal that
0:01:58 > 0:02:00the area of Dorset where John Simm lived
0:02:00 > 0:02:04was the small seaside town of Highcliffe, near Christchurch.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Neighbour Reg Stones remembers him well.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12John Simm lived right opposite my house
0:02:12 > 0:02:15for some 15 years
0:02:15 > 0:02:18along with his wife Olivia,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20otherwise known as Olive.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23John was actually 20 years younger than Olivia.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26They seemed extremely happy together,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29and they were evidently well matched, is the word.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Another of the couple's friends, John Woodhouse,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37first met John 20 years ago.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39He kept himself to himself.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42He was devoted to his wife, Olivia...
0:02:43 > 0:02:45..and when she died,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49he lived a very quiet lifestyle.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52He didn't touch on his family at all.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57My name's Amy Cox, I'm calling...
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Back in the office, Ryan has enlisted the help
0:03:00 > 0:03:01of some of the research team...
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I checked, and apparently, these have been ordered.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07..who've found out that John owned his own house in Highcliffe.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Oh, I do promise it's an actual matter. We do...
0:03:10 > 0:03:14They think it could be worth over £400,000.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15But then is there any more certs
0:03:15 > 0:03:18you can get locally which should help?
0:03:18 > 0:03:21With no other family information to go on,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23the team have checked Olivia's death record
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and found her maiden name was Henss.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28If someone's lived there long enough, they should know...
0:03:28 > 0:03:32A birth search has told them she and John had no children.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33Right. That's brilliant.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34We know we're not looking for a spouse
0:03:34 > 0:03:37who would be entitled to inherit from him John's estate,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40but what I'm doing at the moment is,
0:03:40 > 0:03:46given that she was born in 1926 and she married John in 1970,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48I'm thinking she married before she married John.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51We just want to make sure that there isn't any children
0:03:51 > 0:03:54that would be entitled to inherit from John's estate.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Any children from a previous marriage
0:03:58 > 0:04:00may have been adopted by John.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Hey. That's under control, is it?
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Yeah.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06The team have found the evidence about John's wife, Olivia,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08they've been looking for.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13We assumed that the deceased's wife was married previously.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17I've found out that she was married to a Gordon James Stackhouse.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20That's been verified by finding them together
0:04:20 > 0:04:21on the London electoral roll.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26But, so far, I've managed to kind of rule out children.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32The next step is to see if John Leslie Simm had any siblings.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35If you're confident that the register is going to cooperate
0:04:35 > 0:04:36and send through,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39- we might as well put him in another place.- OK.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43From John's birth record, the team can see his parents' names -
0:04:43 > 0:04:46John Simm and Violet Mary Bridge.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Searching birth indexes in the years after their marriage,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52they discover they had no other children.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Check for her.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56I'd say that that's probably just because they thought,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58"Oh, it's Johnson, it's going to be really hard."
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Ryan and the team will have to try and find
0:05:00 > 0:05:02aunts, uncles and cousins of John's,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and to do that, they need to go back one generation,
0:05:05 > 0:05:06to John's grandparents,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09but this is all taking time.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11I'm a bit concerned, really, if I'm honest,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13how long it's taken me to get to this stage,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15but I'm going to carry on.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17I just think that it's going to be quite a competitive case.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Hopefully, that's not too far away, is it?
0:05:20 > 0:05:23When the Bona Vacantia list is updated,
0:05:23 > 0:05:24we have to assume
0:05:24 > 0:05:26that other people are going to see them
0:05:26 > 0:05:27at the same time as us
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and obviously we'll have to work as fast as we can
0:05:30 > 0:05:33to get ahead of the competition on those cases.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37- And also I ordered that one locally to get her date of birth.- OK.
0:05:37 > 0:05:38To get things moving,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Ryan decides they should look into
0:05:40 > 0:05:42John's father's side of the family first.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45His parents' names were Joseph Simm and Mary Rudd.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49By using the 1911 census,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52it looks as though the deceased's father
0:05:52 > 0:05:53may have been an only child,
0:05:53 > 0:05:59so that's good in terms of limiting the research that we need to do.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00With no aunts and uncles to inherit
0:06:00 > 0:06:02on John's father's side of the family,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05the team now move on to his mother's side.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10I've found the records quite easily on this side of the family.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13They've found that John's mother's parents
0:06:13 > 0:06:16were Ernest Bridge and Mary Kirkham.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22- Yeah, I got that, and it gave me... - OK.- ..this information.- OK.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Their searches reveal that John's mother, Violet,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30was the first of four daughters born between 1913 and 1923
0:06:30 > 0:06:32in the North West of England.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Are they meant to still be alive?
0:06:34 > 0:06:37She could...yeah, she could still be alive.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Although it's unlikely Violet's sisters are still alive,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44the team need to be sure, so they're looking for death records.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46OK. Are we good to...?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- I'll just go back and check over them to see...- Yeah.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Their next step is to look for marriages
0:06:51 > 0:06:55which would help them find any children if they had them.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57This one
0:06:57 > 0:07:00and they had found a better match
0:07:00 > 0:07:02- for a different marriage. - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I was initially slightly panicking
0:07:05 > 0:07:07given that I couldn't find any marriages and deaths
0:07:07 > 0:07:10for the maternal aunts in Warrington,
0:07:10 > 0:07:11which is where they're born.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13But had a bit of a dig around
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and found out there's a different registration district
0:07:16 > 0:07:18they have been using for their marriages,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21which is Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22It's quite near to Warrington.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25That was kind of the breakthrough I needed to descend the lines
0:07:25 > 0:07:27cos it helped me find the marriages
0:07:27 > 0:07:31and then gave me the surnames needed for the birth searches.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It's going to be better to get the one death back
0:07:33 > 0:07:35than...all the possible marriages.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- Yeah.- They might just say...
0:07:38 > 0:07:40They might just make us think he's a bachelor or something.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42At least then we'd know.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43In their searches,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45the team has found something interesting
0:07:45 > 0:07:47about Violet's youngest sister, Joyce.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51She had married a William John Spry in 1956.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55They moved from the North West to Devon because of William's job
0:07:55 > 0:07:58in the Admiralty Constabulary or naval police.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Begun by Samuel Pepys in 1686,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05the force has a long history.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10The principles of the Constabulary was to look after MOD property,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15to stop theft from the properties.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18For centuries, the Navy, Army and Air Force
0:08:18 > 0:08:21all had their own constabularies.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26At the time when Mr Spry was in the Admiralty Constabulary,
0:08:26 > 0:08:32there was around 2,000 employees, constables,
0:08:32 > 0:08:37at...I believe it was around 115 different establishments
0:08:37 > 0:08:38throughout the country.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43But unfortunately for law enforcers like William Spry,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46constabulary's days were numbered.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51There was several closing in the late '50s and early '60s,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54which meant that he had to move with the job,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57as any service personnel would have done.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01And by 1965, with the formation of the Ministry of Defence,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04the constabulary's days were over.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07The Navy, the Air Force and the Army services were brought together
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and became the Ministry of Defence Police
0:09:09 > 0:09:11we still have today.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12So, the force
0:09:12 > 0:09:16that you see today is responsible for providing
0:09:16 > 0:09:19unique specialist policing,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22protecting some of the most valuable assets of the nation,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25both in defence and in critical national infrastructure,
0:09:25 > 0:09:30such as energy installations and places like GCHQ.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35The force is very different from any other police force
0:09:35 > 0:09:38in that most police forces have a very small number of officers
0:09:38 > 0:09:40who are highly trained firearms officers.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42For us, it's very different.
0:09:42 > 0:09:4590% of our roles and responsibilities
0:09:45 > 0:09:48involve countering the counter-terrorism threat,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52so therefore 90% of our officers are armed officers.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59William Spry was with the Ministry of Defence Police
0:09:59 > 0:10:01up until he died in 1970.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07But could she have married before? Is this what we're thinking as well?
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Back in the office,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12the team have discovered that William's wife, Joyce, John's aunt,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14had passed away in 2003.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18But she had two children, who would be John's cousins
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and potential heirs to his estate.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26Given that we're a couple hours into the search,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28I'd be very surprised if the person I'm about to call
0:10:28 > 0:10:30hasn't been contacted by someone else.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31But fingers crossed.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33It's not going to be a huge family tree,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36so...it would be nice just to speak to them
0:10:36 > 0:10:38before anybody else, hopefully.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Hello, good morning, this is a message for Mr Derek Spry.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46It's Ryan Gregory.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49If you could kindly give us a call back in the office.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Like I said, it's in relation to an inheritance matter.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58So, get someone to go there and someone to go there.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00'Some of the biggest frustrations'
0:11:00 > 0:11:02in working a case when you know it's competitive
0:11:02 > 0:11:05are the little delays that happen along the way
0:11:05 > 0:11:07that are not our fault.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12For example, if we're trying to get hold of a particular person
0:11:12 > 0:11:14who we believe could be a beneficiary,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16and they're out or away or on holiday,
0:11:16 > 0:11:18it can really slow things down
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and obviously give the competition time to catch up with us.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23But it seems Ryan might be in luck.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25I have Derek on the phone for you.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27The one I just phoned? OK. Cool.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Hello, Ryan speaking. Is that Mr Spry?
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Tha...that's OK. Thanks for getting back to me. OK.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Ryan may have made contact with what could be the first heir,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45but will the team be able to stay ahead of the competition?
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Yeah, it's a matter of hours that they'll be followed up
0:11:48 > 0:11:50by someone from another firm.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Or will they lose out?
0:11:52 > 0:11:54And he said that he has already been contacted
0:11:54 > 0:11:56by five other companies today.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10The next case concerns a man called Charles Edward Gray.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14He was born on 22nd December 1943 in Glasgow,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18but spent much of his life living in Teignmouth, Devon.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24A popular character around town,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Charles, or Charlie, as he was known,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29was captain of the local bowling club.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Well, I met Charlie
0:12:31 > 0:12:36in 2004 when I joined this bowling club
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and got to know him reasonably well,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42mainly in the little place over there, the London,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47where I used to convince him it was a good idea to buy me a pint.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Unfortunately, he had the attitude where I should buy him one as well,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55so it used to be quite exciting from time to time.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01Another bowling friend, Bev Bell, knew Charlie for eight years.
0:13:01 > 0:13:02He was always first
0:13:02 > 0:13:06to buy a round, which always went down rather well.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09He was also generous with his time.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Whenever we went to an away match,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14everyone always came up to Charlie, shook his hands.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15They all knew him.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18He definitely left an impression on everyone.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22But bowling hadn't always been central to Charlie's life.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27In 1959, he joined the Army and became a Royal Engineer,
0:13:27 > 0:13:28serving in Germany and Yemen.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33He later worked as a publican and hotelier
0:13:33 > 0:13:35eventually settling in Teignmouth.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Sadly on Christmas morning in 2014, Charlie passed away.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47On that Christmas, he was coming to my house
0:13:47 > 0:13:49where we'd got a meal ready for him,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54and it was all rather traumatic, shall we say.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57And testament to Charlie's popularity,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00the whole community turned out to bid him farewell.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04You've only got to look at when we had the service for him
0:14:04 > 0:14:07in the local church.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09And that the vicar - not me - the vicar said,
0:14:09 > 0:14:14"Well, we've got 260 seats," and I had to bring in more.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19He seemed to be memorable to a lot of people
0:14:19 > 0:14:21and a lot of people made a big effort
0:14:21 > 0:14:23to make sure that they made his funeral.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Having passed away with no known next of kin,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Charlie's estate was advertised
0:14:30 > 0:14:34on the Treasury Solicitor's Bona Vacantia list.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37The gist of it is we just need to resend agreements to both of them.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40It was picked up by case manager Richard Fryer
0:14:40 > 0:14:42of London heir hunting firm Hoopers.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46The first thing we would do would be
0:14:46 > 0:14:49to check if there seems be any potential value in such an estate.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52So, the first thing we did then was to look at land registry records
0:14:52 > 0:14:53which show that Charlie Gray
0:14:53 > 0:14:56actually owned a property in Teignmouth,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58which was a guest house
0:14:58 > 0:15:01which seemed to contain a variety of self-contained flats.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07Charlie's property meant his estate had a value of around £350,000.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12Obviously, if there is a property in an estate we're researching,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15it gives the opportunity for potential beneficiaries
0:15:15 > 0:15:19to benefit in a much larger way than they would otherwise -
0:15:19 > 0:15:22in a way that could be life-changing for certain individuals.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Have we covered all the censuses and everything...?
0:15:27 > 0:15:30The first thing the team needed to establish
0:15:30 > 0:15:32was whether Charlie had been married.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34We made some enquiries in Teignmouth,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and we found out that Charlie had been predeceased
0:15:37 > 0:15:40by his partner, Wendy Valentine.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41And as the team discovered,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Wendy was something of a celebrity -
0:15:44 > 0:15:46an actress previously married to
0:15:46 > 0:15:49'50s singing sensation, Dickie Valentine,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52who was tragically killed in a car crash in 1971.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Yeah, I wrote to her on Friday.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00Case manager Abigail Rising looked into the relationship
0:16:00 > 0:16:02between Charlie and Wendy.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03We found that Charlie had been
0:16:03 > 0:16:07living with Wendy up till her death in 2001.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12We were unable to find any marriages for Charlie and Wendy,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and we were pretty confident that Charlie hadn't been married before
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and didn't have any children.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23This meant the heir hunters needed to expand the search.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26We knew that Charlie had been born in Glasgow,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29so, knowing this, we contacted our researcher in Edinburgh
0:16:29 > 0:16:32in the hope that she would be able to find a record of his birth,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and she came up with the goods and found a record of his birth in 1943
0:16:36 > 0:16:39in Campsie, which is just to the north of Glasgow.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41So, when we were able to view this,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43we found that his mother's name is listed as
0:16:43 > 0:16:46a Jean Phillips Stables Gray.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48But, interestingly, there's no father
0:16:48 > 0:16:50listed on his birth certificate.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54But the team could also see quite clearly
0:16:54 > 0:16:55on Charlie's birth certificate
0:16:55 > 0:16:59that his mother's surname, Gray, was her married name.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01Her maiden name was Michie.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03Can't think of any off...
0:17:03 > 0:17:05I saw something on the list the other day, actually.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07I'll make sure we've got it.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10They looked for a marriage and found that Charlie's mother, Jean,
0:17:10 > 0:17:15had married a Donald Gray in 1929, when she was 22.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16They didn't have any children,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and unfortunately, they divorced in 1940.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22So, with Charlie's birth certificate,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25yes, he's born in the surname Gray, but there's no father stated,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27and therefore his is an illegitimate birth.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32With Charlie born three years after his mother's divorce
0:17:32 > 0:17:33from her only husband,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36it's unlikely he was Donald Gray's son.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39So, he said we're waiting on one certificate now.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Jean herself appears to have kept the surname,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47so it was probably the most socially acceptable name to give her son.
0:17:47 > 0:17:48Let me show you this case.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53When a mother has divorced and hasn't changed their name
0:17:53 > 0:17:57but goes on to have further children with another gentleman,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02it's difficult sometimes to identify her children.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Having discounted his father's side of the family,
0:18:07 > 0:18:08the team checked to see if they could find
0:18:08 > 0:18:11any other children Jean may have had.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14It's half-blood from the paternal.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17These half-blood siblings would be the first in line
0:18:17 > 0:18:19to inherit from Charlie's estate.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25A search of the birth records using just Charlie's mother's surname Gray
0:18:25 > 0:18:27or her maiden name, which is Michie,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30revealed no other births,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34and therefore, with no siblings or father's name to work with,
0:18:34 > 0:18:35that just left research to do
0:18:35 > 0:18:38on Charlie's mother's side of the family.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41The search for heirs now had to move back a generation
0:18:41 > 0:18:45to any aunts, uncles or cousins of Charlie.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Yep, OK. Great. That's brilliant. Thanks a lot.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51But when the team looked for Charlie's mother's birth certificate,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53they couldn't find one.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Travelling researcher Jonathan Wright
0:18:57 > 0:18:59was despatched to a records office
0:18:59 > 0:19:02in the hope of finding out more from certificates.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05Jean Gray's death certificate
0:19:05 > 0:19:09was to be found in the Scottish death indexes.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Fortunately, Scottish death certificates are very detailed.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16They actually give information regarding the person's parents.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20So, although we didn't have...we weren't able to locate
0:19:20 > 0:19:22a birth certificate for Jean Gray,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24nevertheless, we did know her parents' names
0:19:24 > 0:19:26from her death certificate.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30This enabled us to locate Jean with the parents
0:19:30 > 0:19:32on the 1911 Scottish Census.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39I've anticipated your call.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41'English certificates -'
0:19:41 > 0:19:42birth, marriage, deaths -
0:19:42 > 0:19:45are pretty good as far as information is concerned,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49but Scottish certificates have a lot more information available.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51They give a lot more details of parents
0:19:51 > 0:19:53and sometimes divorce details.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Just a lot more information that we can use in our research.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04The team at Hoopers found that the Census was also useful
0:20:04 > 0:20:08in resolving the issue of Jean's missing birth certificate.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Well, a fairly revealing aspect of the 1911 Census
0:20:11 > 0:20:16that explains why we weren't able to find Jean Michie's birth entry -
0:20:16 > 0:20:20she was actually born in Cape Colony, in South Africa.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24And they also found the reason for Jean's South African birth.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26It was tied to the career of her father,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Charles' grandfather, Harry Michie.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35We were able to locate a copy of an Army recruitment form
0:20:35 > 0:20:38for Harry Michie, Jean Michie's father,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41dated 15th January 1900.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45A month later, he was fighting in the Boer War in South Africa.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51This war in South Africa was between the British Empire
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and the descendants of Dutch, German and French settlers,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56who were called the Boers.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00The Boer War was a bush conflict.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03The Boers were renowned fighters. They were, after all farmers.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05They knew how to shoot and how to run horses,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07and that proved very effective in a mobile war,
0:21:07 > 0:21:08which this was, against the British.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11The British were deeply unhappy of the guerrilla tactics
0:21:11 > 0:21:13the Boers used - this was very unsportsmanlike.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15The idea of basically hiding behind a hill
0:21:15 > 0:21:17and taking a sharp shooter shot at a British soldier
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and then hiding behind the hill again
0:21:19 > 0:21:22was something you were not trained to do in the British Army.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Military records show that Harry Michie
0:21:25 > 0:21:29was in a Scottish regiment called the Gordon Highlanders.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32The Victorians identified various populations around the world
0:21:32 > 0:21:34as being natural warriors and, for instance, in India,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36they found it was the Gurkhas in Nepal
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and in Britain, it was the Highlanders.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43I think it's very possible Harry Michie joined in January 1900
0:21:43 > 0:21:44out of a sort of patriotic zeal
0:21:44 > 0:21:46brought on by observing the fact that
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Britain was actually doing badly in the war
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and there was a need to rise to the defence of the Empire.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53It's also important to realise that he's passed as fit,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55and nine out of ten recruits
0:21:55 > 0:21:58who actually tried to enlist during the Boer War
0:21:58 > 0:22:00were found not to be physically fit.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02So, the fact he was actually a fit young man
0:22:02 > 0:22:04probably gave him an advantage.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08In May 1901, Harry headed back to the UK.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11But it wasn't the last he would see of South Africa.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13It seems reasonable to assume that
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Harry's time in the Army in South Africa
0:22:15 > 0:22:18led to his decision to go back there.
0:22:18 > 0:22:24And in 1905, he married Jane Bisset Steele there in South Africa.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Charlie's mother Jean was born two years later
0:22:26 > 0:22:30and census records show a growing family.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34By the time Jean's brother Harry was born in 1910,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37the family had moved back to Renfrew, in Scotland.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39And from these few documents -
0:22:39 > 0:22:43birth certificate, death certificate, the census entry -
0:22:43 > 0:22:47we're able to build a fuller picture of the family
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and their movements during this particular period of time.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Along with Jean and her brother Harry, Harry Sr and Jane
0:22:56 > 0:22:58had gone on to have another four children,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00making five aunts and uncles
0:23:00 > 0:23:03who we've found could be Charlie's heirs.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05But as the team delved deeper,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09it seemed another overseas war might jeopardise their chances.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Short of killing them, you've got to do something with them.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Every year in the UK, thousands of people receive a surprise
0:23:22 > 0:23:25knock on the door from the heir hunters.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27It makes me feel very sad that we didn't know
0:23:27 > 0:23:30that we had all these relatives.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Today, we have details of two unclaimed estates
0:23:33 > 0:23:35on the Treasury Solicitor's Bona Vacantia list.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42The first is that of Ernestine Georgina Agnes Burnham,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44who passed away at the age of 76
0:23:44 > 0:23:49in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, on 14th September 1990.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55She was born in Cologne, in Germany, on 23rd March 1923.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Ernestine's German mother, Katherina Walterscheidt,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03was a concert singer, and her father,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05William Ernest Spencer Burnham,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08was a jockey from Thirtleby, near Hull, in Yorkshire.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13They married on 22nd September 1920 in Cologne.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Ernestine is thought to be their only child
0:24:18 > 0:24:22and came to England in 1947, when she would have been 24.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25She lived with an aunt called Evelyn Langston,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28a professor at the Royal Academy Of Music.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Could there be links to Ernestine Burnham in your family?
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Do you now anyone of that name?
0:24:41 > 0:24:44The next unclaimed estate is that of Catherine Dovanski,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46also known as Dovancki.
0:24:46 > 0:24:52She died on 16th June 2008 in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, aged 81.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58Catherine was born on 7th December 1926, in the Irish Republic,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01and is thought to have worked in the textile industry.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05She was a widow and her husband's name was Guyla Dovancki.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09They are believed to have had one daughter
0:25:09 > 0:25:11but no other details are known about her.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Do you know anything that could be the key to solving this case?
0:25:17 > 0:25:20If you think you might be related to either of these people,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22you would need to make a claim on their estate
0:25:22 > 0:25:25through the Government Legal Department.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Once again, the names of the cases we're trying to solve
0:25:27 > 0:25:31with your help today are...
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Heir hunting firm Finders have been looking into the unclaimed estate
0:25:49 > 0:25:52of John Leslie Simm, who was well regarded by friends
0:25:52 > 0:25:55in the seaside town of Highcliffe, in Dorset, where he lived.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58I will immensely miss him.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Because of the banter we used to have.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03And the camaraderie we had.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Ryan has been struggling to get hold of one of John's cousins, Derek,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09but has finally made contact.
0:26:11 > 0:26:17He knew John, who passed away. Erm, he knew John's wife as well.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19He was able to confirm that John didn't have any children
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and that John was an only child.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24So, it looks as though there's just five maternal heirs
0:26:24 > 0:26:28and it could be that there's just five heirs in total.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Oh, right. Are you OK to talk?
0:26:31 > 0:26:35And the team also managed to make contact with Derek's sister.
0:26:35 > 0:26:36OK.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Would you prefer if we gave you a call back...later on?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Both have agreed to have visits from the travelling researchers.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51I'm after Holly. We're just going to arrange the visit that we need.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54We've got long enough to get all the paperwork drawn up,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57which is good, for the visit.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59To see one of the maternal cousins.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03The other one wants a visit in two days' time.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Which is not ideal, but you've got to work around people's schedules.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Where a probate genealogy firm
0:27:08 > 0:27:11and we look into deceased people without next of kin.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13And I believe that he may be the next of kin.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16We're first to speak to the heirs that I've spoken to
0:27:16 > 0:27:18but I know that within the next...
0:27:20 > 0:27:22It's a matter of hours that they'll be followed up
0:27:22 > 0:27:24by someone from another firm.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30So far, it's good news with John Simm's mother's family.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34The team has managed to make contact with four heirs on this side
0:27:34 > 0:27:37and travelling researcher Phil is on his way to meet with Derek.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41I think he knew him perhaps as a younger person
0:27:41 > 0:27:46and he is a maternal cousin of the deceased.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48At the office, Ryan is anxious
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Phil gets to meet Derek as quickly as he can.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54I'm expecting there to be competition.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56It's very rare. I mean...
0:27:56 > 0:27:58It doesn't happen that you don't have any competition
0:27:58 > 0:28:00on these type of cases any more.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02All he can do is wait.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04But while Ryan has some lunch,
0:28:04 > 0:28:08Amy makes a discovery that could alter everything.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12So, Ryan asked me to confirm the size of the paternal family
0:28:12 > 0:28:15because originally, he thought that the deceased father
0:28:15 > 0:28:16was an only child.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19But it turns out that the deceased father was actually
0:28:19 > 0:28:21an only child in 1911.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24His parents had actually only married in 1909.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26So, then they went on to have some more children.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31As a result of doing birth records searches after 1911,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Amy has found out that John's grandparents on his father's side
0:28:35 > 0:28:36had five more children.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41With this whole side of the family opening up, the pressure is on
0:28:41 > 0:28:44to try and contact their children, who would be potential heirs.
0:28:46 > 0:28:47I just have a few questions for him,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49just to check I've got the right person.
0:28:51 > 0:28:52Thank you.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57I managed to speak to a paternal cousin of John Leslie Simm.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00And he said that he has already been contacted
0:29:00 > 0:29:02by five other companies today.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Erm, and a company went round and visited him as well.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09But he did confirm that he knew the deceased
0:29:09 > 0:29:11and he was aware that he passed away.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14So we know that we've definitely got the right family.
0:29:14 > 0:29:15It looks like Ryan's early decision
0:29:15 > 0:29:20to focus on the mother's side of the family was probably the wrong one.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21When we work on a case
0:29:21 > 0:29:23and we find that the people we believe to be the heirs
0:29:23 > 0:29:26have already been retained by another company,
0:29:26 > 0:29:27we don't just leave it there.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30In many cases, what we'll do is just double-check over the research
0:29:30 > 0:29:32to make sure that nothing's been missed.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37I think at this point, this side has already...
0:29:37 > 0:29:41This side must have been already done by the other companies,
0:29:41 > 0:29:47whereas we decided to go for the Bridge family first. I think...
0:29:47 > 0:29:48Hopefully, there might be some people
0:29:48 > 0:29:50that we're going in there first with.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53- It's definitely worth going on. - SHE LAUGHS
0:29:53 > 0:29:55You can't... You can't just give up like that.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Ryan gets the news now he's back from lunch.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02The family tree has kind of doubled in size since I've gone.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06Erm, now we were always going to come back to the paternal side
0:30:06 > 0:30:09anyway, given that we'd only pinpointed them on the 1911 census.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12So we are playing catch-up on this side of the family
0:30:12 > 0:30:15whereas on the other side, we are the first to contact.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17So that's sometimes the way it's goes.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23In Woking, travelling researcher Phil
0:30:23 > 0:30:26is finally at the home of John's cousin, Derek Spry.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31We met Olive, John's wife,
0:30:31 > 0:30:33- when we were kids.- Yes.
0:30:33 > 0:30:34And she was quite a bit
0:30:34 > 0:30:36- older than him.- Yes.
0:30:36 > 0:30:37So, they never had children.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42Yes, and that's why this has gone back up, back up the bloodline.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44- It's brought the family together a little bit now.- Yeah.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47- They started speaking to each other a little bit.- Well, do you know?
0:30:47 > 0:30:51- Often these tragedies...- Yes. - A death in the family does that.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53But one little thing, and it's something they do
0:30:53 > 0:30:55at the end of these processes, a family tree.
0:30:55 > 0:30:56Yeah, my sister said that.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59- And it's... It's just there. It's gratis, it's nothing.- It's nice.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01And it's just for you.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04- I will make a note that you would like the family tree.- Please.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07- That's us, business concluded. - Thanks very much.
0:31:07 > 0:31:08Well, thanks very much.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11I, I knew John when I was a small child.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14He was my eldest cousin, I believe.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19And he married Olive and we had a rapport as children.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22I also remember him as tall and dressed in a suit
0:31:22 > 0:31:24and a smart-looking bloke.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Erm, that's the only memories I can really remember.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31He did visit when he was older and he was just
0:31:31 > 0:31:33a really, really nice person.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34Very polite.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38And with Derek signing up with the heir hunters,
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Phil gives Ryan the good news.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46He was really interested in the family tree side of it at the end.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48- OVER PHONE:- 'Of course. OK, that's definitely something
0:31:48 > 0:31:51- 'we can send one out to him as well.'- Excellent, that's...
0:31:51 > 0:31:52- It all went very well.- 'Good job.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55- 'Thank you very much for checking it out, mate.'- No problem at all.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- Thanks, Ryan.- 'OK, take care.' - Cheers, bye, bye.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03This is such a lovely job, working like this. Erm, so for...
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I've got nothing particularly planned now so I'll go home now
0:32:06 > 0:32:08and see what the day brings.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Back at the office, the whole team are trying to work out exactly
0:32:15 > 0:32:18how many heirs there are on the father's side
0:32:18 > 0:32:20of John Simm's family.
0:32:20 > 0:32:21Proper sleuthing at the moment.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24We're just trying to find this paternal heir.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29The 70-year-old cousin of John's is in a care home.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32But Ryan needs to find out what it's called.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35She's not married so I can't just drop down and try
0:32:35 > 0:32:38and find any children to contact. So, um...
0:32:38 > 0:32:41I feel like if I just ring around the nursing homes in the area,
0:32:41 > 0:32:43that she should be in there.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46We might find someone that can help us
0:32:46 > 0:32:48arrange a visit with her.
0:32:48 > 0:32:49We've one down, two to go.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55It's been a long day's search and by six o'clock,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58time to call it a night for now.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00It's all to... To kind of play for, if you like.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06There's one person who's signed with the competition.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11So, I mean, there's nothing we can do about that. It's...
0:33:11 > 0:33:14one of those things that happen in these types of cases.
0:33:14 > 0:33:15So, I'm not sure.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18It's going to be a matter of coming back into the office tomorrow
0:33:18 > 0:33:21and seeing what the feedback is from the representatives throughout
0:33:21 > 0:33:23visiting the various beneficiaries.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27The next day, after a late night out on the road
0:33:27 > 0:33:31for the travelling researchers, Ryan is feeling hopeful.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36So, we found out by visiting one of the paternal heirs
0:33:36 > 0:33:40that actually, there was about double the number of beneficiaries
0:33:40 > 0:33:43in that side of the family than we had thought previously.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Now, he was able to give us
0:33:45 > 0:33:47quite a lot of information on the family tree.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50The only drawback being that he'd given the same information
0:33:50 > 0:33:54to the other firm who were working the case a number of hours earlier.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57In the end, Ryan and the team found nine heirs on John Simm's
0:33:57 > 0:34:01father's side and five on his mother's side of the family.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04On reflection of the case of John Leslie Simm,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07it would be potentially easy for us to be disappointed
0:34:07 > 0:34:11that whilst we firstly focused our research on the maternal side,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13the competition focused their research
0:34:13 > 0:34:15on the paternal side of the family.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17So, it was just fate, the way that it happens.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20Another case that won't remain with the Crown
0:34:20 > 0:34:23and we're very happy with the way it went.
0:34:23 > 0:34:24But for heir Derek Spry,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28he's still coming to terms with the sad news about his cousin John.
0:34:28 > 0:34:29I said that, actually.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I'm shocked that there was no-one for him to leave it to.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36And I find it sad that the estate's been left like this.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39Because obviously, there's no-one to carry it on.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55In London, heir hunting firm Hoopers is investigating
0:34:55 > 0:34:59the £350,000 estate of Charlie Gray.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03I spoke to him around Thursday, I think, didn't I?
0:35:03 > 0:35:07A former military man and keen bowls player, Charlie had passed away
0:35:07 > 0:35:12at home on Christmas Day 2014 and was sorely missed by friends.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14He was...
0:35:14 > 0:35:18the sort of bloke who would do anything for anyone.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22I think the classic Charlie would be generous,
0:35:22 > 0:35:27both of spirit and of money.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31With no known father of Charlie's to look into,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34the team had moved back through the generations
0:35:34 > 0:35:37of Charlie's mother's family in their search for heirs.
0:35:37 > 0:35:38What's going on? Anything?
0:35:38 > 0:35:43I suppose if you're eliminating one side of the family,
0:35:43 > 0:35:47ie the paternal family, then there's more chance
0:35:47 > 0:35:51that you're going to end up with no relatives at all
0:35:51 > 0:35:54because you're immediately halving your chances.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57The team have found that Charlie's mother, Jean Michie,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00was born in South Africa in 1907
0:36:00 > 0:36:03after her father had fought there in the Boer War.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Well, from that point on, our work was much more straightforward
0:36:06 > 0:36:11because, as we'd ascertained that the family had returned to Scotland,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Harry and Jane went on to have a further five children in the area.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17And as the families of the five aunts
0:36:17 > 0:36:21and uncles were uncovered, so too were the Army connections.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24So, Charlie's uncle, Charles Edward Michie,
0:36:24 > 0:36:26was born in 1912,
0:36:26 > 0:36:31meaning he would be in his late 20s at the outbreak of World War II,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34making it highly likely he would have seen service.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40The team's searches found that uncle Charles had gone to Malaya
0:36:40 > 0:36:44as a mechanical engineer for a tin dredging company in the 1930s.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49Someone who came from Scotland, specifically Renfrew,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51would have come from a place
0:36:51 > 0:36:54with very strong links to Southeast Asia.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57The Clyde was strong on shipbuilding
0:36:57 > 0:37:01and that included dredges, for dredging rivers
0:37:01 > 0:37:05and also for dredging alluvial deposits of tin.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09But on the eve of World War II in 1938,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12he was enlisted into the Allied Volunteer Forces.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19By February 1942, Charles had been captured by the Japanese
0:37:19 > 0:37:20and became a prisoner of war.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25The Japanese didn't have any choice taking prisoners.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27They had defeated a large British force,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30they had in excess of 110,000 men.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34Short of killing them, you've got to do something with them.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39And the Japanese approach was to put them in huge holding camps
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and then distribute them to places where they could put them
0:37:42 > 0:37:44to work in a way that would help the war effort.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49The Allied prisoners of war were sent to many types of camp.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52The main one being Changi, in Singapore.
0:37:52 > 0:37:58Changi ranged from about 50,000 peak prisoners to 5,000 at its minimum.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Prisoners were sent out either to working parties to build
0:38:02 > 0:38:05the Thai Burma railway, or to elsewhere in Singapore
0:38:05 > 0:38:09to build monuments, to help with aerodromes.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12By the end of the war, more than 30,000 prisoners,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16almost a quarter of those captured, had died.
0:38:16 > 0:38:21As the Japanese got more desperate, they speeded up the work
0:38:21 > 0:38:25until people might be working 12, 18 hours under severe pressure.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31The most common causes of death would have been things
0:38:31 > 0:38:36such as dysentery or cholera, possibly malaria.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41But all of this contributed to by severe state of malnourishment
0:38:41 > 0:38:42as the war went on.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46So that people just wouldn't have had the resistance
0:38:46 > 0:38:48and the ability to fight off these diseases.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54In the office, the team have discovered
0:38:54 > 0:38:57that Charlie's uncle Charles was one of the lucky ones.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03He survived being a prisoner of war and on his return to Scotland,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07went on to marry Elizabeth Bannatyne Dickson in 1946.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11They had their only child in 1950.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13I think that one's tied up now, isn't it, more or less?
0:39:13 > 0:39:15I believe it is, yeah.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17The team had found their first heir.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22And from Charlie's remaining aunts and uncles, there could be more.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27So, I'll let you know if there are any developments in that regard.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32The team had found that Margaret Michie died aged two,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35but Harry, James and Mary had all gone on to have children.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45One of Mary Michie's three children is Pat Hall,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48a cousin of Charlie's who was shocked to hear of his death.
0:39:49 > 0:39:50Well, it was...
0:39:50 > 0:39:52It was devastating.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Because we'd been trying to get in touch with him.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56You know, because it was his birthday
0:39:56 > 0:39:58and it was Christmas and everything.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01And we were going to go down and see him after the New Year.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03But we hadn't been able to make arrangements
0:40:03 > 0:40:05because we hadn't been able to get a hold of him.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10We'd phoned but we hadn't heard from him.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12And then to hear that news.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Well, it was just so shocking, it was terrible.
0:40:16 > 0:40:22And to think that he was on his own. That was what was the horrible part.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25You know, that he was on his own when it happened.
0:40:25 > 0:40:26I know it happened quick.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31But...it...
0:40:31 > 0:40:34It just seemed so sad. We were sad, really sad.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38There's Charlie.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Pat is less than a year younger than her cousin Charlie,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44who was godfather to her children.
0:40:44 > 0:40:45Charlie and I were close.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49I mean, we didn't see each other for years in between
0:40:49 > 0:40:53but...you know, when you are close to someone,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56it doesn't matter if you don't see them for years, does it?
0:40:56 > 0:41:01You know, you... You're just there, it's like yesterday.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04We'd see Charlie maybe once, twice a year.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09Erm, we went down to Devon as a family.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11We had a lovely time when we saw him.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16There we are. No more.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Back at the office in London, the team are making contact
0:41:24 > 0:41:27with the rest of the heirs to Charlie's estate.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Our business is to trace the beneficiaries
0:41:30 > 0:41:32in the estates where...
0:41:32 > 0:41:35In the end, it was a good result for Richard and his team.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36Well, this was a very interesting,
0:41:36 > 0:41:37satisfying case.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Although, in theory, we only had half a case to research
0:41:40 > 0:41:43because Charlie's father wasn't stated on his birth certificate,
0:41:43 > 0:41:46there was still some challenging research
0:41:46 > 0:41:49and we found 12 heirs in all, two of whom had emigrated to Australia.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52And I'm pleased to say that the family will be inheriting
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Charlie's estate rather than it eventually passing to the Crown.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00But for Charlie's friends and family, it had been a time
0:42:00 > 0:42:05to reflect and remember the man who had been a big part of their lives.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07He knew a lot of people in this village
0:42:07 > 0:42:10and a lot of people knew him.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15Erm, and he was respected by all.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19I will always remember Charlie with a certain amount of affection, yes.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24I miss him tremendously, and the club misses him tremendously.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28He's been a terrible loss to the club.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32He was a glue which held the three sections of the club together.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38He was one of the good people in this world. That's for sure.
0:42:38 > 0:42:39He was very kind.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43He was happy-go-lucky as well.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Also quite serious about things too.
0:42:47 > 0:42:48But he was a lovely person.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53One you would really call the salt of the earth, Charlie was.