0:00:02 > 0:00:05Today, our heir hunters cross the water and travel to foreign shores.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07So this is what I've got so far.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10This is from the information that we've been given.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14The first case is riddled with unanswered questions.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Has anything in your searches so far indicated the name Shearer?
0:00:16 > 0:00:18- I didn't find one.- OK.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24And the second sees a transatlantic race to trace heirs.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Suddenly, this had become an international competition
0:00:27 > 0:00:30that had moved from the west coast of the United States
0:00:30 > 0:00:32to the northwest coast of England.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35It's all about getting to the root of the problem for the heir hunters.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39We'll have to work on this and unravel the whole mystery behind it.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Sometimes, a case comes in that takes an heir hunt overseas
0:00:54 > 0:00:58in search of crucial records that can only be discovered in person.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Today, Daniel Curran, MD of London-based heir-hunting firm Finders
0:01:06 > 0:01:09has travelled to Guernsey on the trail of the case
0:01:09 > 0:01:11of retired clerk Joan Mary Wootton.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Joan was born on the Channel island on the 18th of February, 1927,
0:01:18 > 0:01:24and died aged 88 of lung disease in the spring of 2015 in Norfolk.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31She was a really nice lady, very quiet and she liked company
0:01:31 > 0:01:36and she liked to chat and we always used to stop and speak to her.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Leaving no will
0:01:38 > 0:01:41and featuring a few weeks previously on the Government's Bona Vacantia,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46or unclaimed estate list, Daniel has limited information regarding Joan's life.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Our first stop is really to try and identify her birth record.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54The records for Guernsey are not online,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57they're only held locally in Guernsey, so we have to get in touch
0:01:57 > 0:02:01with our researcher here and then try and work on the family tree from there.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Research is still done the old-fashioned way on the island,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08which means thumbing through birth, marriage, and death records.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Daniel's on his way to meet Susan Illey,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15a local researcher, who's working on Joan's case for him.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17It's not going to be an easy one to crack.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19It could be a long haul
0:02:19 > 0:02:23to find any members of her family that could still be alive.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27In London, senior case manager Ryan Gregory has also been
0:02:27 > 0:02:29looking into the case.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Can you help me with the... Just one stem.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33I think there's only...
0:02:33 > 0:02:36But with very limited research that can be done online
0:02:36 > 0:02:39for records in Guernsey, he doesn't have much to go on.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43But there have been enough clues to get the team going.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48So I've got the advert from the Bona Vacantia list from the day that we opened the case.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Now, there was quite a bit more information there
0:02:50 > 0:02:53than there usually is in a lot of the cases they advertise.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56She was a widow, so obviously we knew we were looking for a different
0:02:56 > 0:03:00surname rather than Wootton for any records going further back.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Ryan hoped that Joan's maiden name might provide clues to her
0:03:04 > 0:03:07life story and lead to her heirs.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12On the advert we were told that the deceased's maiden name was Le Tissier-Shearer.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Now, when that sort of information comes in to us in the office,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17we're wondering, is this an hyphenated surname?
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Where has the actual surname come from?
0:03:21 > 0:03:24The initial government advert for Joan's next of kin to step forward
0:03:24 > 0:03:27to claim her estate threw up some more interesting
0:03:27 > 0:03:29details about her life.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33I found out that she was living with a gentleman called Roland Wootton.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Now, using that information
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and going onto the Marriage Index we have available in the office,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40we could find their marriage and
0:03:40 > 0:03:44we found out that Joan married under the surname Shearer.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50With the heir hunters' search covering so much ground,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54it makes sense to kick things off on the island where Joan was born
0:03:54 > 0:03:55to learn about her early life.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59And with three surnames listed for her,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02there are already a lot of question marks.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Well, we've got to consider here that there could be an adoption maybe.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10She's got a hyphenated name,
0:04:10 > 0:04:15previous marriage...? Maybe she's even informally
0:04:15 > 0:04:17used the name Shearer, so we'll have to work on this and see
0:04:17 > 0:04:22whether there is any meaning behind this hyphenated surname
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and unravel the whole mystery behind it.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29So we'll have to get down to the record office and see if there's
0:04:29 > 0:04:32a copy of Joan's birth certificate here that we can work on.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Guernsey's a tricky place to conduct research in,
0:04:37 > 0:04:42mainly because they hold all their records separately to the rest of the UK
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and none of their records are online.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Daniel's arrived at the Greffe, the central records office
0:04:49 > 0:04:53at the Royal Court of Guernsey, to meet researcher Susan.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Located here since the early 1800s,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00the Greffe is home to all of the island's birth, marriage and death records
0:05:00 > 0:05:03and Susan has found Joan's birth record.
0:05:04 > 0:05:10- So we know she was born in 1927 and here we have her, Joan M...- Ah, OK.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13..Le Tissier. Which is a good Guernsey name.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Born on February the 13th, so now we need to look in the register.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22- 18.- Number 18.
0:05:22 > 0:05:28So now we can see her parents were Walter Le Tissier and Florence Lydia Quentin
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and they lived at the north side, in the Vale
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and her father's occupation was coal heaver.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37With Joan's parents' names,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40the next step is to find details about their marriage.
0:05:40 > 0:05:46- We'll look for a marriage in the indexes, prior to 1927...- OK.
0:05:46 > 0:05:47..when Joan was born.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52- Careful as you go.- A rickety, rickety spiral staircase.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- So, what do we have here?- This is the Marriage Index...
0:05:58 > 0:06:02- Right.- ..from 1919, when registration, civil registration began.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06This manual searching is like a treasure hunt.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10One clue leads to another and having found Walter and Florence's
0:06:10 > 0:06:14marriage listing, Susan can quickly find their marriage certificate.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18This will be the key to unlocking her past
0:06:18 > 0:06:22and to starting her family tree in the hope of finding her heirs.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26So we can see they got married on Boxing Day in 1925
0:06:26 > 0:06:29- in the parish church at St Sampson. - Right.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Water was 32 and Lydia 24.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37With confirmation that Le Tissier was Joan Wootton's maiden name,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41there's still the question of the other name she had listed, Shearer.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45So, has anything in your search so far indicated the name Shearer?
0:06:45 > 0:06:51I did look for a marriage for Joan, but I didn't find one.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54The trail leading to answers about Joan Wootton's former name
0:06:54 > 0:06:56may have come to a dead end,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59but with Walter and Florence's marriage certificate found,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Ryan had more fuel to fire his search in the London office.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Using the names of the parents that our agent was able to provide us,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10we could then go back and look at the census records for Guernsey.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13That is one of the few sections of information
0:07:13 > 0:07:16we have available to us in the office.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20So we were able to identify the fact that Joan's father,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Walter Le Tissier, was one of four children
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and Joan's mother was actually one of five.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29So we were researching as much as we could with
0:07:29 > 0:07:32the information on the 1911 census for both the maternal
0:07:32 > 0:07:36and paternal families, when Susan in Guernsey managed to get some
0:07:36 > 0:07:38very important information over to us.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Susan had news which would lead them
0:07:41 > 0:07:45one step closer to tracing Joan's heirs.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50- I've found three siblings, all girls.- Mm-hm.- Sisters of Joan.
0:07:50 > 0:07:51Here we are.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56- So, Doreen May, born on the 25th of September...- OK.- ..in 1932.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58- Same parents.- Yep.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Daniel and Susan found Joan's second sister in another
0:08:02 > 0:08:04record book upstairs.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09Ruby Rose, she was born on May the 6th, 1936.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14There was one further child, she was born in 1941, Valerie. Valerie M.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20So Walter and Florence Le Tissier had four daughters over a 14-year period.
0:08:20 > 0:08:27Joan Mary was the eldest, followed by Doreen May, Ruby Rose and Valerie Maud.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31With three siblings discovered, this could mean potential heirs
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and Susan has homed in on one of them.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Well, I picked up on Ruby because Roselle is her married name.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43It's quite a Guernsey name and I do know several people with that surname.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48So I spoke to one of my colleagues, who actually knew her.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50- She was his auntie.- Oh!
0:08:50 > 0:08:54And he told me that she'd died in the UK, in hospital,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58and he was able to share with me her children's names,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02so that then allows you to do the contact.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05- And they would be heirs to this... - Potential beneficiaries, yes.- OK.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11The benefits of a small island have provided Ryan
0:09:11 > 0:09:16back in London with his first invaluable lead in Joan Wootton's case.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20So, with the information that Susan was able to provide us from her
0:09:20 > 0:09:23research in Guernsey, we were actually able to make a contact,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26initial contact with one of the family members
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and the entitled heirs to the estate,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33so they are one of the children of Ruby Roselle and really,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36that was the key conversation to unlocking the rest of the case.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38We found out that there was seven heirs in total,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42five of whom were still living on the island of Guernsey.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45The intricate pieces of the puzzle that made up Joan Wootton's life
0:09:45 > 0:09:47were beginning to assemble.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50But there was one vital piece of information still absent.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53There was always a question that was making us a bit wary,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and that was, where exactly did the surname Shearer fit in?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Was there going to be an adoption that would make all our heirs
0:10:00 > 0:10:03no longer entitled?
0:10:03 > 0:10:07With the worry that all their hard work so far might have been in vain,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10the team were keen to get to the bottom of the mysterious surname.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Those five years...
0:10:12 > 0:10:15For children who went away as slightly older children,
0:10:15 > 0:10:16it changed their lives.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Because they came back... Either they didn't come back, or they came back
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and they didn't... Some of them didn't even recognise their family.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31The length and breadth of the country,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34heir hunters are turning detective, creating family trees
0:10:34 > 0:10:38of people who have died with no next of kin and leaving no will...
0:10:38 > 0:10:40KNOCK ON DOOR
0:10:40 > 0:10:42..in a quest to track down heirs of their estate.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Hello?
0:10:46 > 0:10:51The case of Susan Watson is a particularly sad and interesting one.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Susan was raised in the quiet village of Leasowe,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58on the northern coast of the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02After graduating from Edinburgh University in 1973
0:11:02 > 0:11:06with a first-class Honours degree in biological sciences,
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Susan emigrated 5,000 miles away to Oakland in California,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14where she worked as a biological scientist.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17She had a real sense of fun and adventure,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20was an intrepid traveller and a keen cyclist.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Tragedy struck when Susan was cycling home from the office,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28just before Christmas 2013.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31She was knocked off her bike and killed by a truck.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Susan was just 62 years old.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39The dreadful accident was covered by a local news station.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Susan was doing everything right,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44she was she obeying all the laws,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48she was riding a bike, wearing a helmet, she probably had, like,
0:11:48 > 0:11:5414 lights on her bike because... She was an amazing person.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58A memorial bike and ferry ride was held in Susan's honour
0:11:58 > 0:12:01by her friends in the Oakland cycling community.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05But since she was British, her case came back across the pond
0:12:05 > 0:12:09and was taken by Saul Marks, case manager at heir-hunting firm
0:12:09 > 0:12:10Celtic Research.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14This case came to us from an associate company
0:12:14 > 0:12:16who we work with in the United States.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19They referred it to us in the hope that we could find heirs here in the UK.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27The American firm had told us that Susan seemed to be an only child,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31she didn't have any children of her own and they found her parents
0:12:31 > 0:12:33and grandparents on the maternal side.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37She had been living with a man in the United States, but they didn't appear to be married and as such,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39he didn't appear to have a claim to her estate,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42so it was up to us to go and find cousins who were
0:12:42 > 0:12:46living in the UK or elsewhere who would be the rightful heirs.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49We couldn't find a birth listing for the deceased,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52and when we've got information to suggest who the parents are
0:12:52 > 0:12:54but there's no birth listing,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57it usually suggests that the person is adopted and we did
0:12:57 > 0:13:01a search of the adoption register and sure enough, there she was.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04And we obtained a copy of the adoption certificate
0:13:04 > 0:13:09and it proved that she was the adopted daughter of Isabelle Davie and George William Watson.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Although Saul discovered that Susan had been adopted, the news didn't
0:13:15 > 0:13:18change the heir hunter's job when searching for her beneficiaries.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24After the Adoption of Children Act, which came into force in 1927,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27everything changed for adopted children.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Well, what this means is, that once a person is formally adopted
0:13:30 > 0:13:35after 1927, is that they gain all the legal
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and inheritance rights of the family which they are adopted into.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44Records revealed that Susan's father, George, passed away in 1966,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46when Susan was in her mid-teens,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49leaving her mother, Isabelle, to raise her on her own.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Isabelle never remarried and passed away in 1998.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57So with no siblings or children for Susan,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Saul knew he had to search for aunts, uncles and cousins.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03All potentially her heirs.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06The next step for me was to go to Liverpool Register Office
0:14:06 > 0:14:11and get a copy of the marriage certificate of Susan's parents.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16This gave us their ages at marriage, which allowed us to find them
0:14:16 > 0:14:19both in the 1911 census.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23The census is invaluable for genealogists,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27as it records each person living in a UK household
0:14:27 > 0:14:30including their ages, jobs and relationships to one another.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37The 1911 census showed us that Isabelle had an older brother
0:14:37 > 0:14:39named Gordon Davie who was Susan's adoptive uncle.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43So if he had any children, they would be heirs to the estate.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44Sure enough, he had two children.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47They were both alive, so we were really happy
0:14:47 > 0:14:49that things were starting nicely.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Things may have been off to a good start for the first two heirs traced.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58But unfortunately, they weren't in the bag for Saul.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00It transpired that Gordon's two children,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02who were Susan's first cousins,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05had actually been approached by a rival firm of ours
0:15:05 > 0:15:10here in the UK, which meant that our American associates
0:15:10 > 0:15:15had obviously got rivals there who had referred it our rivals here.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18So suddenly, this had become an international competition
0:15:18 > 0:15:23that had moved from the west coast of the United States to the northwest coast of England.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Susan's two cousins were the only heirs
0:15:25 > 0:15:27on her mother's side of the family.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31So the race was now on for Saul to track down and secure any heirs
0:15:31 > 0:15:36on her father's side, before his competitors got there first.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39In order to start our work on the paternal side of Susan's family,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41we went back to her parents' marriage certificate.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46We were then able to use the 1911 census to establish that
0:15:46 > 0:15:49George William Watson had actually had two younger sisters.
0:15:49 > 0:15:56And the parents of those people were Jane Watson and George Watson, a stonemason.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01Records also showed that Susan's great-great grandfather,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03John Watson, was also a stonemason
0:16:03 > 0:16:08and further research into census records between 1841 and 1871
0:16:08 > 0:16:12uncovered that her father's two brothers were also in the trade.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18In the 19th century, stone masonry often ran in families.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23Stonemasons at that time would have been probably working as families,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27like, father and son would more than likely work together,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31possibly even grandfather, father and son could have been a combination.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37The Watson family would have done jobs such as work on buildings,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40works on churches, memorials...
0:16:42 > 0:16:46A master stonemason would have also done carving work as well
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and would have been very well respected in his time.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52The craft was a very skilled one
0:16:52 > 0:16:54and would have taken many years to master.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57He would have left school as early as 14
0:16:57 > 0:17:01and gone straight into the family business and, yeah,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04you would have done the very menial jobs and then they'd let you
0:17:04 > 0:17:07on the tools to do very basic sort of jobs...
0:17:07 > 0:17:08..to do with masonry.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11And over the years, you get more familiar
0:17:11 > 0:17:13and your skills would develop over time.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20What a master stonemason will have done,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23after his stone has been prepped by the apprentice,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27all the detailed stuff. So, like, when you were carving flowers,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30for instance, the form around the globe would have been removed,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34ready for the master stonemason to go in and carve the flower.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40The job was expert and creative, and definitely not easy.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45We are now at a stage where it is getting a really good shape to it.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48It won't be long until I get on to the decorative sort of phase
0:17:48 > 0:17:52of this, but a bit more work to do on all the drapes.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57I do think that being a stonemason back in 1880 would have been
0:17:57 > 0:18:00a very difficult job, hard labour.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03You would have calluses on your hands, definitely.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06And it would have been hard graft.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Today, power tools make the physical part of the job easier, although
0:18:11 > 0:18:16Simon still uses traditional tools in his artful work as a stonemason.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25So the Watsons appeared to be a close-knit and hard-working family.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27And the next step for Saul was to work his way up
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Susan's father's family tree.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34A search of the marriage register showed that John Watson's son,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37George, Susan's grandfather, married Jane Parsons
0:18:37 > 0:18:40in Chester, in 1898.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42They had three children.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Susan's father, George William, and his sisters, Olive Jean
0:18:46 > 0:18:50and Queenie Elizabeth. All born in Peckforton, in Cheshire.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54If Susan's aunts had had children,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56this would potentially lead Saul to her heirs.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01The first line we looked at was that of Olive Jean Watson.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04She married Arthur Green in 1922, in Nantwich.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07And they went on to have six children.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10She had her first child when she was just 20.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13She had her last child when she was very nearly 42.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17We then delved into the family of Olive Watson and Arthur Green,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20in the hope that we might be able to find some heirs on this branch.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Their eldest child was also named Olive, but she was known as Betty.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29And she had three children, who we visited and they signed with us.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34The next child of the Green family was George, and he was known as Ike.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And he had quite a number of children, from whom there were
0:19:37 > 0:19:41seven heirs, who, again, we were able to visit and write to and we signed.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Having had a bad start to this case, where the first two heirs who
0:19:44 > 0:19:47we spoke to had actually been contacted by a rival firm,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52it was a great relief for us to actually find heirs who hadn't been
0:19:52 > 0:19:56contacted by the competition yet, and who were very willing to sign with us.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02This change of fortune had led to ten heirs of Susan's estate,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05but this was only the beginning.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Basically, it was a complete surprise,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11because I didn't know of her existence...
0:20:13 > 0:20:14..prior to the phone call.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Each year in Britain, thousands of people are taken by surprise
0:20:26 > 0:20:29when they receive an unexpected visit from the Heir Hunters.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31You tend to sort of think to yourself, "Well,
0:20:31 > 0:20:36"I'm not sure if this is real or not, so it was quite a surprise."
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Today, we've got details of two estates on the Government Legal Department's
0:20:39 > 0:20:42unclaimed estates list.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46The first case is Ernest Walker,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49born on 15 March 1913 in London.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55He died on 2 November 1992, aged 78, also in London.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Ernest's father, Ernest Jones,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02worked as an electric bus driver in 1913.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Next, it's the case of Robert David Twigg.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14He was born on 23 May 1943 in Selly Oak, Birmingham
0:21:14 > 0:21:20and died on 24 January 2011, when he was 67 years old,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23in Solihull, in the West Midlands.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27On his birth certificate, he was named as Robert David Zweig,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29but it is not known when his name was Anglicised.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35If you think you may be related to either of these people, you would
0:21:35 > 0:21:39need to make a claim on their estate via the Government Legal Department.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And if you ARE their next of kin,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Heir hunters firm Finders in London are searching
0:21:55 > 0:21:59for beneficiaries of the late Joan Wootton's estate.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03She was born on the Channel Island of Guernsey in 1927,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07and sadly passed away in Norfolk, aged 88, in 2015.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13I will miss Joan terribly because I used to see her every single day.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16And when I walk down the road, I miss her, you know,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19miss going into her bungalow, because I did it every day.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24And she was a really kind, lovely lady.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26With extremely limited online records
0:22:26 > 0:22:29available for the islanders, Daniel Curran has travelled
0:22:29 > 0:22:31to Guernsey to meet researcher Susan Illey,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34who has been looking into Joan's case.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37So far, she's come up with some strong leads, which have given
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Ryan in the office a springboard to create Joan's family tree.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44But there's still a vital question unanswered.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Why was Joan Wootton, whose maiden name was Le Tissier,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52- also known as Joan Le Tissier Shearer?- We still had a massive question mark
0:22:52 > 0:22:54over the surname Shearer.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57If this was due to an adoption or a form of marriage,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00we could be looking at completely the wrong family,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03or there may have even been children from another marriage that we
0:23:03 > 0:23:07weren't picking up on. So, optimistic, but very wary.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Joan's name certainly became a sticking point in her case.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15But as time moved on, new evidence did come to light.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18It transpired that Joan had to tragically flee her home,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20and her family.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24As World War II engulfed Europe, German forces occupying France
0:23:24 > 0:23:26set their sights on the Channel Islands.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29And in 1940,
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Joan's family made a life-changing decision for their eldest daughter.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Joan was just 13 years old.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39We understand that Joan was actually evacuated from Guernsey
0:23:39 > 0:23:41on the eve of the Nazi invasion of World War II.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50In June 1940, a year into World War II, the Channel Islands became
0:23:50 > 0:23:53the only British territories to be occupied by the Germans.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58Almost half of Guernsey's population of 40,000 were evacuated to
0:23:58 > 0:24:01England, Scotland and Wales.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05They were mainly young children, some mothers and teachers.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Molly Bihet was one of the few to stay on her island home.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13When the Germans came in 1940, I was almost nine.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I remember that very, very well, of course.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20At the evacuation time, I can remember my mother being
0:24:20 > 0:24:23so worried sick. We were crossed with the
0:24:23 > 0:24:26so many people wanting to get away.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29It was a really horrid time.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33So we came back eventually, and my father said, "Well, we will stay."
0:24:33 > 0:24:37He said, "If the Germans came, the Jerrys came, then I'm not moving
0:24:37 > 0:24:41"for them. I was born in this house, and I'm staying in this house."
0:24:41 > 0:24:42And he did.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Some children stayed here, young children stayed with their parents.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49We were farming, so we stayed as children here,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51here in the occupation.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55But it wasn't an easy decision when the schools were going
0:24:55 > 0:24:57and urging their children to go.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Not long after the last boat taking evacuees to the
0:25:01 > 0:25:05safety of the mainland set sail, the island was bombed.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11The Germans wrongly believed lorries laden with Guernsey tomatoes
0:25:11 > 0:25:14ready for export were military vehicles,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17and dropped their bombs, which killed 33 islanders
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and injured 67 more.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21We were terrified.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25My mother just grabbed us and ran into the house opposite
0:25:25 > 0:25:28where we lived, where they had a cellar.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32We were just sat there, huddled up, just frightened.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35- We could hear the noise, the shouts. - With that bombing,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39we knew an occupation was imminent.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43And it was on Sunday, June 30, two days later, that the
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Germans arrived here at the airport by plane.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53For the next five years, everything changed for the islanders.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Most of their children were gone, including young Joan Wootton,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01and they were living side-by-side with German soldiers under fear,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05- rations and curfews. - Well, the Germans were everywhere.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07They were in the streets, they were shopping,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09they were taking most of our food.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12And the Germans requisitioned properties.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16You had 24 hours to move out and take whatever you had with you.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25After Joan left, her family, too, had to leave their home.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Well, we know from the records, from the registration records,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33that they were moved from where they were, St Sampson's,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35to 8 Summerfield Road,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and that was obviously because the Germans needed St Pete...
0:26:38 > 0:26:42St Sampson's harbour as their defensive harbour,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44to bring in supplies.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Joan's sisters, Doreen and Ruby Rose,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51were too young to be evacuated, and the sister she never knew,
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Valerie, was born almost a year after she left.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57For Joan's father, Walter,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01life was tough looking after his family under German occupation.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05He was only a humble coalman. He had to work very hard.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08There was less of everything. Rations went down.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12You had to improvise with substitute foods.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17We used to use carrageen moss from the sea to make a sort of jelly.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Acorns to make coffee, parsnips to make tea.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29The end of the war finally came in 1945.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32It was a jubilant day for the islanders.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Since six o'clock in the morning, we could see these boats
0:27:36 > 0:27:39in front of Herm, just by the harbour.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44So my mother, my sister and I, we dashed off and we ran
0:27:44 > 0:27:46as fast as we could.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50And we got down to these 22 soldiers, marching,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53bayonets, tin hats.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58All smart, rifles, and we just loved them, kissed them,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00cried with them.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04We just had to just love them and cuddle them,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06and they were crying with us.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Soon after the war, the evacuees began returning to Guernsey,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and the Queen and King visited the island.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19But there are no records of Joan coming home.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22And if she ever did, she didn't stay.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27And by the time the war finished in 1945, she was then 18
0:28:27 > 0:28:31and she would have perhaps have adopted parents,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35where she was evacuated to, who looked after her,
0:28:35 > 0:28:40and she probably took a job and went on from there.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44So, Joan's life continued away from her family in Guernsey,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47and it was perhaps the family who took her in as a 13-year-old evacuee
0:28:47 > 0:28:52who would provide the answer to the puzzle of her surname, Shearer.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55It is possible that she took the name of the family that she
0:28:55 > 0:28:58stayed with. I've seen that quite a few times.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01OK, well, that's something we'll definitely have a look into, then.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04And in the office in London, Ryan received a document which
0:29:04 > 0:29:06seemed to confirm this.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09One of the few certificates we were actually able to
0:29:09 > 0:29:12order from the office, being an English record,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15was actually Joan's marriage to Roland Leonard Wootton.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19Now, as soon as this came into the office, we were actually able to see
0:29:19 > 0:29:23that Joan had listed her father as Francis Linden Shearer.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28Now, this really went a long way to solving the riddle of where
0:29:28 > 0:29:29the Shearer name came from.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32With just the information on the marriage certificate to go on,
0:29:32 > 0:29:34it wasn't enough for us to say either way
0:29:34 > 0:29:37whether Joan was actually just
0:29:37 > 0:29:40fostered by Francis Linden Shearer, or whether she was fully adopted.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43If we had found that the surname Shearer was relevant,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45perhaps by an adoption, then it would have meant we would
0:29:45 > 0:29:48have been looking at...
0:29:48 > 0:29:50tracing members of the Shearer family.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52And that, in turn, would mean that everything
0:29:52 > 0:29:54we had done in Guernsey, all the family members
0:29:54 > 0:29:59we had traced there, they would no longer be relevant to this intestacy.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02Further information suggested that
0:30:02 > 0:30:04although Joan did name Francis Shearer as her
0:30:04 > 0:30:09father on her marriage certificate, there was no formal adoption, so her
0:30:09 > 0:30:13seven blood relatives from Guernsey were still her beneficiaries.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18With this confirmation in place, Daniel is on his way to meet
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Joan Wootton's niece, Kay Leslie,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23daughter of her sister, Ruby Rose.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28- Kay was born in 1960...- Hi.- Hello, Kay.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32..20 years after her aunt, Joan, fled her home of Guernsey.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36- So, your mother was Le Tissier at birth?- Yes.- OK.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39I can remember my grandparents vaguely, her parents.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42And if we can... We work, we have an online system...
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Kay may have distant memories of her grandparents,
0:30:45 > 0:30:49her Aunt Joan's parents, and although she wasn't born when Guernsey was under
0:30:49 > 0:30:54German occupation, she does have a knowledge of those turbulent years.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58As a writer, she's covered those bleak times.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Those five years, for children who went away as slightly older
0:31:01 > 0:31:04children, it changed their lives, because they came back.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07Either they came back, or they came back and some of them
0:31:07 > 0:31:09didn't even recognise their family after five years.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12You know, growing up without any contact at all.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15And I always thought that was really poignant.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18- And, of course, the big shock was I'd written those pieces...- Mm.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23..completely unaware that I had an aunt, who went through exactly that.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27- Exactly the same thing. - I wouldn't judge Joan at all.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30She didn't have that tie with Guernsey, through her childhood.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34The family had been through really hard times for those five years and,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38- hopefully, she had found something that was comfortable and secure.- Mm.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40And to think that somebody who was such a close relative
0:31:40 > 0:31:44had survived for a long period and had died only recently
0:31:44 > 0:31:45and we didn't know about her.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48This might be nice for you, actually,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51we've got some photographs. This is from friends of Joan.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55And, apparently, this is the lady herself, this is your Auntie Joan,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- as a young lady.- That's making me go a bit shivery, actually.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Because it suddenly becomes very real, doesn't it?
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Oh, she looks like Doreen, my mother's older sister.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06- She looks really like her. - Definitely one of the family, then?
0:32:06 > 0:32:09- Yeah, very much so. Yeah, I can definitely see that.- Yeah.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13It's fantastic to be able to put a face to the name.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17My personal reaction to hearing that there was an aunt,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20who I'd never known, was a sadness.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23To think that, until fairly recently,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26there was a direct relative, a close relative,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30who I didn't know anything about and who was living in the UK,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34made me feel sad and curious, actually, at the same time.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Because I thought, "Why does this woman not want to have
0:32:37 > 0:32:40"any contact with her family in Guernsey?"
0:32:40 > 0:32:42But, you know, life is complicated sometimes.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47This case has been, certainly,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50one of the more pleasant ones to deal with.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53It's a nice story of a family being reunited, at least in name,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56with the person they never knew about.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02Daniel's firm signed up all seven heirs to Joan Wootton's estate,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06which is estimated at around £150,000.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Joan may be sadly gone, but she's definitely not forgotten.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14All the neighbours all think of her very fondly.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18She's got loads of friends in the village that, you know,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20will miss her greatly.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23To think that for 30-odd years there was someone
0:33:23 > 0:33:27living across the English Channel who was such a close relative,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32we all felt sad that the contact hadn't been made.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41One month later, Joan Wootton's story takes another twist.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43We were notified by our firm's
0:33:43 > 0:33:46solicitors in Norfolk that they held a will.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50If the will is valid, then she's left £180,000 to be
0:33:50 > 0:33:54divided between the RNLI and local youth centre.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56So, it does seem as though the heirs that we contacted
0:33:56 > 0:33:59won't actually stand to benefit, after all.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01Although Jane Wootton's relatives
0:34:01 > 0:34:03may no longer be entitled to her estate,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06they have been given the gift of a missing piece
0:34:06 > 0:34:07of their family history.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20In Liverpool, heir hunting firm Celtic Research are overseeing
0:34:20 > 0:34:26the case of biological scientist and avid cyclist Susan Watson.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Originally from Cheshire, Susan died in a tragic cycling accident
0:34:30 > 0:34:36in her hometown of Oakland in California, in December 2013.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41Susan passed away with no next of kin and she left no will.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46She was an amazing person and lived brightly.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49After learning that a rival firm had signed the sole two heirs
0:34:49 > 0:34:51on Susan's mother's side of the family,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55Saul Marks, the case manager, had worked round the clock to find
0:34:55 > 0:34:59and sign up ten heirs on her father's side.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03But it was still a race against time to stay one step ahead
0:35:03 > 0:35:06of his competitors and trace more.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11Susan's aunt, Olive Jean, her father's sister, had six children,
0:35:11 > 0:35:15Susan's first cousins, four of whom had passed away.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19But it was their children, her first cousins once removed,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23along with her two surviving uncles, who would make up the majority
0:35:23 > 0:35:26of her beneficiaries on her father's side.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28On top of the ten heirs already signed up
0:35:28 > 0:35:32were another nine on this branch of Joan's family tree.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36One of her first cousins once removed is Angela Lang.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Her mother was Susan's first cousin, Molly.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43And her grandmother was Susan's aunt, Olive Jean.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46She received a phone call from Saul with the news that she was
0:35:46 > 0:35:49an heir to Susan Watson's estate.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54It was a complete surprise, because I didn't know of her existence
0:35:54 > 0:35:58prior to the phone call.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02But Angela was glad to be given the chance to reconnect with her past.
0:36:02 > 0:36:08This is a connection that's been lost, as far as my side
0:36:08 > 0:36:11and Molly Green, my mother,
0:36:11 > 0:36:16because my father moved us away from the Cheshire area.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It is a very strange feeling to inherit from somebody
0:36:19 > 0:36:24whom I, actually, had no knowledge of, before Saul contact me.
0:36:24 > 0:36:30It's a shame that she didn't have family of her own to leave it to,
0:36:30 > 0:36:35but, from my point of view, it's a very nice present to enable
0:36:35 > 0:36:40an extra holiday or something of that nature.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46Now the history books have been opened for Angela, she's
0:36:46 > 0:36:49travelled to the Cheshire village where her family hailed from.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52And it's stirred up both emotions and memories.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55My mother was brought up in Peckforton.
0:36:55 > 0:37:02She was very, very attached to this place and used to visit frequently.
0:37:02 > 0:37:03She had very close contacts,
0:37:03 > 0:37:07which she kind of imbued on me a little.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13Angela's come to Peckforton Castle, where her
0:37:13 > 0:37:17great-great-great-grandfather, the stonemason John Watson,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19helped carve and create this magnificent
0:37:19 > 0:37:21architectural masterpiece.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It was commissioned by Lord John Tollemache, a landowner
0:37:26 > 0:37:28and member of Parliament.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32So he purchased this estate in 1840.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36And in 1842 he set about building this castle.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41All the stone as we see now, which your ancestor would have had
0:37:41 > 0:37:46- a hand in creating, was all bought from the local quarry.- Mm, yes.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50The architect Anthony Salvin, who designed the castle,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52had a rather impressive CV.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55He'd previously worked on both the Tower of London and Windsor Castle.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Would you like to take a look inside the castle? And I can
0:37:58 > 0:38:01show you some of the rooms that your ancestor had a hand in building.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03- That would be lovely, thank you. - Great.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07The castle, built from red sandstone,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11took nine years to complete. It's Grade I listed.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15- So, welcome to the Great Hall. - Right.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19This is my favourite room in the whole of Peckforton Castle.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24- Right.- And if you look around, you will see that it is exactly
0:38:24 > 0:38:29- what a medieval great hall should look like.- A baronial hall.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34- Yeah.- It's a very impressive room, in a very impressive holding,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36- I must admit.- Yeah.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Having seen the spectacular castle,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Angela's come to visit somewhere s little closer to home
0:38:43 > 0:38:45in the village.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48My mother was born here, the Elephant and Castle house,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52- Peckforton.- Yeah.- And that's what on her birth certificate.- Yeah.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56The house gets its name from the carved statue of an elephant
0:38:56 > 0:39:00with a castle on its back, which is currently sitting in the garden.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02It dates back to around 1859
0:39:02 > 0:39:06and the image originally formed part of a crest.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10One of Angela's ancestors may have played a part in carving
0:39:10 > 0:39:13the striking sculpture and her great-grandfather,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17George Watson, was also thought to have lived in this cottage
0:39:17 > 0:39:19at the turn of the 20th century.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21That really is all I know,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25that it is here and was here when my mother was a child here.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Well, maybe I can help you out with just a bit of information
0:39:28 > 0:39:30- about the Elephant and Castle.- Yeah.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34- So, it was carved by George Watson's father, John Watson.- Mm.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38And this was actually in his garden, believe it or not.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41He sculpted it and he had it on display and I think it was
0:39:41 > 0:39:44meant as a bit of a showmanship, sort of, "Look what I can do."
0:39:44 > 0:39:47So, it was removed from its original position, we think,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51somewhere in the early, sort of, 1900s and was placed here.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55I haven't been back here for 30 years, or thereabouts,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59and it's lovely to come back, see that it hasn't changed.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02- Thank you very much.- No problem. Let's go and grab a coffee.
0:40:02 > 0:40:03It's absolutely fascinating.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06For Angela, who visit has been a worthwhile one.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10Susan Watson, who's made this possible, this trip,
0:40:10 > 0:40:15this visit, for me, because I'm one of her distant relatives.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20It's very sad that perhaps she's never been back here and,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22maybe, I kind of wish she could have.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32In Liverpool, Saul was at the final stages of tying up the Watson
0:40:32 > 0:40:34family tree.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39He'd now managed to trace and sign up 23 of Susan Watson's heirs.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43His competitors had signed two, but one remained missing.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46There was actually one of the paternal heirs who we were
0:40:46 > 0:40:48unable to trace at all.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52This gentleman had disappeared from the family fold a long time ago
0:40:52 > 0:40:56and had, actually, been found to be living rough in his sister's
0:40:56 > 0:40:59caravan in a field in North Wales in the 1980s.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04So, for the time being, his share of the estate remains unclaimed,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07but if he were to come forward, he would be entitled to claim it.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12So, after an unpromising start to Susan Watson's case,
0:41:12 > 0:41:16Saul had all the pieces in place to close the book on it.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21Once all the heirs on the estate were found, we could send all
0:41:21 > 0:41:24the relevant paperwork to our attorney in California,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27who could submit a claim to the relevant court.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31This was all going perfectly well, until he was made aware that
0:41:31 > 0:41:36Susan's partner was actually also making a claim against the estate.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38It turns out that Susan
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and her partner had been living together as common-law man and wife.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46What this meant, in this instance, was that Susan's partner did
0:41:46 > 0:41:50actually have a reasonably legitimate claim to this estate.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54So, with an approximate value of around half a million pounds,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58there are now 27 heirs who would inherit the estate between them,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01now that Susan's partner had stepped forward.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06There is a better the distinction in the legal term,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08"common-law spouses,"
0:42:08 > 0:42:13between the United Kingdom and some states in the United States.
0:42:13 > 0:42:19Whereby, in the US, some states recognise common-law spouses
0:42:19 > 0:42:24as having the same rights as if they were legally married.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28And this stands in complete contrast with the United Kingdom.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33US law was on Susan's partner's side and he was a rightful heir.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35And, for Angela,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38not only was she going to inherit a piece of her cousin's fortune,
0:42:38 > 0:42:43she'd also been given an invaluable insight into her family's ancestry.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48The death of Susan, intestate, without family, is very sad.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Especially the way she died.
0:42:50 > 0:42:58However, for me, it's been a chance to reconnect with this area,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02with Peckforton, with my mother's family.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06But it is bittersweet. It is bittersweet.