0:00:02 > 0:00:05Today, the pressure's on as one team search for heirs
0:00:05 > 0:00:07to a high-value estate...
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Bye-bye.
0:00:09 > 0:00:10It's frustrating.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12She's not at home so we can't determine
0:00:12 > 0:00:15if we've got the right heir or not.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19..and the estate of a man from Essex proves fiercely competitive...
0:00:19 > 0:00:21We knew that every second,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24every minute would count in terms of finding the beneficiaries before
0:00:24 > 0:00:26anybody else.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30..leaving a £250,000 estate hanging in the balance.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Obviously, we'd spent a day researching into a family
0:00:32 > 0:00:35which were no longer entitled.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38It's all in a day's work for the Heir Hunters.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46As I'm sure you're aware,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49his estate's now been referred to the Government Legal Department
0:00:49 > 0:00:51on behalf of the Crown.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54In the offices of Fraser and Fraser in Central London,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57the team are working a major new case.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Oh, no.
0:01:00 > 0:01:01Case manager Dave Slee...
0:01:01 > 0:01:04I have one, two, three, four...
0:01:04 > 0:01:06five children.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09..along with research manager Isha Adams,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11is desperately trying to find heirs
0:01:11 > 0:01:15to an estate thought to be worth around £140,000.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18The case of Edith Florence Smith.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22She died October this year, in Leicester.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27In Britain, almost 750,000 people share the surname Smith,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30so the team know they'll have their work cut out.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34I do not enjoy the challenge of a Smith search!
0:01:34 > 0:01:37It'll be a complete nightmare to try and find him.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40You're faced with numerous people
0:01:40 > 0:01:44being born at the same time
0:01:44 > 0:01:46in the same district with the same names.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Edith Florence Smith passed away
0:01:58 > 0:02:02on the 7th of October, 2016, age 95.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05She'd lived in this semidetached house in Leicester
0:02:05 > 0:02:09since it was built in 1932,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12having moved there with her parents when she was just 12 years old.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Her neighbour, Tom, still remembers the day he first met Edith.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Come on, Luce.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21We got married and bought this place, moved in.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Edie was living next door.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30She was a nice neighbour. Bit eccentric.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33When we walked past the window,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35you know, taking the dogs to the park,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37she'd always... She'd always wave.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Although Edith was quite a private lady,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44she was an active member of her local church,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48where she played the piano for the choir.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51She'd start playing church music.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53She liked going to church.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54She had no television.
0:02:54 > 0:02:55Would never have one.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59She liked the radio, liked classical music.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03She liked playing the piano, which is still in the back room.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Tom never recalls Edith having any contact with family members,
0:03:10 > 0:03:11but in her latter years,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15he remembers she grew close to a gentleman called John.
0:03:16 > 0:03:17They met in Littlewoods...
0:03:18 > 0:03:20..every Saturday.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25When they'd finished, they used to walk down Haymarket,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27go into Argos,
0:03:27 > 0:03:28and sit on their settees.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32They idolised each other, absolutely...
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I mean, she was in her... Nearly her 90s.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38John was quite poorly.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40He passed away a few years ago.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42She was absolutely devastated.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44She never forgot the man at all.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50She said to me once, if she'd been younger,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52she would have got married.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01What children have we got there?
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Although Edith owned the house,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06worth an estimated £140,000,
0:04:06 > 0:04:07she didn't leave a will.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Whilst many estates are advertised
0:04:11 > 0:04:13by the Government's Legal Department,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15this came from an unusual source.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17A few days ago,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Dave received a phone call from a gentleman
0:04:19 > 0:04:22who claimed he was a distant relative of Edith's.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Now, what was unusual was that
0:04:28 > 0:04:31this gentleman said that he was related to
0:04:31 > 0:04:33the lady, but he didn't know how.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Now, that is strange, in the first instance.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40With a valuable property at stake,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42the team got straight to work.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47As well as establishing whether the man who'd called in was a relative,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50they'd also need to search for any other heirs to the estate.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Caroline, that would make sense,
0:04:54 > 0:04:55and Thomas.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Yep.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01As with most cases, Dave began by searching for Edith's close family.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05The gentleman referred to the deceased as a spinster.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Now, of course, we also made a search
0:05:07 > 0:05:10just to make sure that, you know,
0:05:10 > 0:05:11she hadn't married during her lifetime.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The team were quickly able to confirm that Edith hadn't married
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and didn't have any children.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22So Dave's next task was to see if she had any siblings.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25We needed to obtain a copy of
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Edith's birth certificate in 1920,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30which led us then to find that
0:05:30 > 0:05:32her parents had married in 1911.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33So it was a big gap.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37And to see if there's any children post-1911 to 1920
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and, of course, any children after 1920
0:05:41 > 0:05:44that would be siblings to the deceased.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Dave quickly established that Edith's parents,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Thomas Owen Smith and Florence Edith Cooke,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52married in December 1911,
0:05:52 > 0:05:53but only had the one daughter.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59This was bad news for Dave.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Not only did it mean he'd now have to search the wider family
0:06:02 > 0:06:03for heirs, it was clear Smith
0:06:03 > 0:06:06wouldn't be the only difficult surname to research.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10In this instance,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the deceased's mother maiden name was Cooke with an E but,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17unfortunately, of course, families tend to drop the E or put the E on.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21So what you're doing, in fact, is duplicating your research.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25You're undertaking the research under Cooke with an E
0:06:25 > 0:06:26and without the E.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31With no easy place to start,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Dave and the team had bitten the bullet and begun work
0:06:34 > 0:06:36on the Smith side of the family.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39And they were given a head start,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43because Dave's mystery caller had been able to give them a copy
0:06:43 > 0:06:45of Edith's parents' marriage certificate.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51The information in that marriage
0:06:51 > 0:06:54gives us the mother's father's name -
0:06:54 > 0:06:55ie the grandfather's name -
0:06:55 > 0:06:56on the mother's side,
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and the same on the father's side.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02With this vital information,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Dave was able to work out that Edith's grandparents,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Thomas Smith and Elizabeth Owen,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09married in Leicester in 1871.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And, as well as Edith's father, Thomas,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15they had a further three children -
0:07:15 > 0:07:16Sarah, George and Ellen.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Dave has recruited research manager Isha Adams
0:07:23 > 0:07:25to help tackle the daunting search for Smiths...
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Right, I think I've found it.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32..and, today, she's focusing her attention
0:07:32 > 0:07:33on Edith's uncle, George Smith.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37So I have got a marriage...
0:07:38 > 0:07:42..of a George Smith to a Emma Jinks.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43So I've got the '11 census.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I've got four definite daughters of the marriage.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51George's daughters - Florence, Ida, Alice and Winifred -
0:07:51 > 0:07:53are all likely to have passed away.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59So Isha needs to find out if they had any children who are still alive
0:07:59 > 0:08:01and heirs to the estate.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04And then I'll probably work Ida first,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06cos she's got the better name.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09She's born June 1903.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14But, frustratingly, Ida died without having any children.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17So, next, she turns her attention to Alice.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24And Alice Elizabeth is born the 4th of July...
0:08:25 > 0:08:27..1905.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28She's 97 when she died.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Isha's hoping that, unlike her sister Ida,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Alice went on to have children.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38I'm just going to check anyway.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45It doesn't look like Alice had any children.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46It's disappointing news.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50And Isha soon discovers that the third sister, Winifred,
0:08:50 > 0:08:51also died a spinster.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56All hopes now rest with George's final daughter, Florence.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00So I'm going to just look for Florence Edith,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02born 1899,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04dying in Leicester.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08See if any come up.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12From looking at the deaths,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16there is a Florence Edith Pawley,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18spelt P-A-W-L-E-Y.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23She's born 14th of February, 1900.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Dies...
0:09:25 > 0:09:27August 1984, Leicester.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31So, hopefully, she has at least one
0:09:31 > 0:09:34child that we can work with.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37And Isha soon discovers that Florence married
0:09:37 > 0:09:40and seems to have had a child.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44So there's only one daughter off of this marriage.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48But Isha has reason to be cautious.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It's a bit odd, because it's 18 years after the marriage
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and there only seems to be one...
0:09:53 > 0:09:54child.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57But as Isha receives the birth certificate
0:09:57 > 0:09:59for her suspected heir...
0:09:59 > 0:10:01No, this is all wrong.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03..the team face some bad news.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08The indexes suggested that there was a child from this marriage,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11but subsequent research has now eliminated that.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14In fact, that's a stem that dies out.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16With no heirs,
0:10:16 > 0:10:17and absolutely no link to the man
0:10:17 > 0:10:20who brought the case to their attention,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23there is an awful lot to do before this case is cracked.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35How's everything going on the Dennis side of the family?
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Whenever the Government releases the Bona Vacantia list
0:10:40 > 0:10:43of unclaimed estates, there's a flurry of activity
0:10:43 > 0:10:46at heir hunting firms up and down the country.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50It's always a bit exciting when the new Bona Vacantia list comes out for
0:10:50 > 0:10:54that day. Obviously, we have no idea what's going to be on the list,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57how many adverts will be there, how many high-value cases.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Generally, we have no idea what's coming.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04So it can go from maybe 10, 20, 30, 40 cases
0:11:04 > 0:11:08one day to just having one estate on the list the next day.
0:11:13 > 0:11:14Case manager Ryan Gregory
0:11:14 > 0:11:17at London-based firm Finders International
0:11:17 > 0:11:20recently had a particularly busy day.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23We knew straightaway this case was going to be highly competitive.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25If there's only one advert on the list,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27this obviously puts the pressure on.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31And this estate was worth around £250,000,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33but Ryan had no idea it would push
0:11:33 > 0:11:35him and the team to the limit.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38We knew that every second,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41every minute would count in terms of finding the beneficiaries before
0:11:41 > 0:11:42anybody else.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56Edmund Arthur Dennis passed away on the 10th of November, 2015,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58in Broomhill Hospital in Essex,
0:11:58 > 0:11:59aged 85.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Edmund was born and bred in Essex and,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08although he kept himself to himself,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12he was befriended by neighbours Kathleen and Alan,
0:12:12 > 0:12:13who knew him as Eddie.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Oh, Eddie was lovely.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18He was just...
0:12:19 > 0:12:22..a very private person - very private -
0:12:22 > 0:12:26but he did like to have people to have a chat to.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30And he was always a very pleasant - what's the word? -
0:12:30 > 0:12:32equable sort of character,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34and...
0:12:35 > 0:12:37..quite approachable once you knew him.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Very little is known about Edmund's life,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45but he did have one big passion that he shared with Kathleen and Alan.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49He was very keen on gardening and, since I retired,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51I was doing more of it myself,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53so we used to chat quite a lot...
0:12:54 > 0:12:56..about garden matters.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59He used to give us little plants and shoots.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00Whatever time of year it was,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03he used to put the different flowers
0:13:03 > 0:13:06in and looked after it really well.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07He used to love his garden.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Edmund had always been a very active man but, unexpectedly,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17his health took a sharp turn for the worse.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20He suddenly developed...
0:13:22 > 0:13:26..symptoms, shall we say, of lack of energy, which wasn't his thing.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29He was always quite energetic for an 80-year-old and more.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Eddie died...
0:13:32 > 0:13:34fairly suddenly.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38It was very, very sad and fairly sudden and, to some extent,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41unexpected, in the end, yes. Yes.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45But despite living next door to Edmund for over 35 years,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47his friends didn't know of any family.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Ever since we've been here - Alan's been here since the '70s -
0:13:51 > 0:13:55he's never had any family, we never saw anyone.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56No.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07Yeah, it did get a bit bigger.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09There's quite a lot of cousins!
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Yeah, a lot of cousins, yeah.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Edmund hadn't left a will,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15and it was down to the team
0:14:15 > 0:14:17to try and find heirs to his high-value estate.
0:14:19 > 0:14:20They began by trying to establish
0:14:20 > 0:14:23if Edmund had ever married or had children.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Interestingly for us,
0:14:25 > 0:14:27there's a Maud B Dennis
0:14:27 > 0:14:30who appears to have lived at the address
0:14:30 > 0:14:32until about 1989.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Maud could be someone that Edmund was married to.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39If Maud was Edmund's wife,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41it could give Ryan an early break
0:14:41 > 0:14:43and the edge on his competitors.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48But you can see straightaway, the top entry is a Maud Bessie Dennis,
0:14:48 > 0:14:53who died in 1989 in the correct area of Essex.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55But Ryan's excitement was short lived.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00We can see from her date of birth, she was born in 1903.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Therefore, she would have been too old to be Edmund's spouse,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06and more likely fitting in of the...
0:15:07 > 0:15:10..scenario that she was Edmund's mother.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Further searches revealed that Edmund had been a bachelor
0:15:13 > 0:15:15and hadn't had any children,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17so the team needed to look to his wider family.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24They decided to divide and conquer,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27with researcher Camilla Price focusing on the maternal side
0:15:27 > 0:15:31whilst case manager Ryan looked into Edmund's father's family.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36We want to work via the quickest channel possible in order to just,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38hopefully, get the quickest results.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Yeah, if there's anything we can use to narrow down the search,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45it's obviously beneficial to us when we are racing against the clock.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49With every firm up and down the country also
0:15:49 > 0:15:52potentially searching for beneficiaries,
0:15:52 > 0:15:53the team had to work fast.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56With any case when...
0:15:57 > 0:16:00..there's a new advert out that day,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03we have to go as quickly as we can.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06But working fast can have its disadvantages.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10There's no time to wait for all of the certificates
0:16:10 > 0:16:11to come into the office.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13It's a tactic that carries risk.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It's really hard to know
0:16:17 > 0:16:21that family tree is 100% correct until those certificates
0:16:21 > 0:16:24are in the office and can confirm that you are dealing with
0:16:24 > 0:16:26the right family and the right people.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29It can be very hard to know that you are on the right track.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Camilla got straight on it, searching for Edmund's mother,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Maud Bessie Carlick, on the 1911 census.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40We were able to see that Maud had two older brothers
0:16:40 > 0:16:42called Edward and William.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Just had two stems to work with.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46I took one.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Despite the heavy workload, within a matter of hours,
0:16:50 > 0:16:51Camilla was storming ahead,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55working the stems of Edmund's maternal aunts and uncles,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58hoping to find Edmund's cousins or their descendants.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04The ideal scenario for us when we're looking into any intestacy case
0:17:04 > 0:17:06would be to be conducting the research,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09to be getting results within the first hours of the research.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11To then find people.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Hopefully, to have a phone number, we can speak to them
0:17:14 > 0:17:16and arrange a visit.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18And Camilla didn't disappoint.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Located a cousin, was able to speak to them,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and we got a representative out quite quickly.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Camilla was closing in on potential maternal heirs.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35With the clock ticking, Ryan was making progress
0:17:35 > 0:17:36on the paternal side
0:17:36 > 0:17:39and had established that Edmund's grandparents,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Ebenezer John Dennis and Beatrice Jane Coulter,
0:17:43 > 0:17:44had married in 1894.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49But as he searched the Census records for Edmund's siblings...
0:17:50 > 0:17:52..he ran into a problem.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55So on the 1901 and 1911 census records,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Ebenezer is listed as a brewers employee.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01But, then, when we ordered his marriage certificate
0:18:01 > 0:18:03to Beatrice Jane Quilter,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08we saw that his profession was actually down as a baker.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Had Ryan taken a wrong turn,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13or had Ebenezer simply changed professions?
0:18:17 > 0:18:21So Ebenezer Dennis was a baker in the 1890s,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23right at the end of the Victorian period.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27The Victorian era had seen a massive change in the baking industry.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Since as far back as the Roman times,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36bread had been gracing dinner tables all over Britain.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39By the Victorian age,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42the average family of six would eat the equivalent
0:18:42 > 0:18:44of 31 loaves of bread each week.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48So it's no wonder the local baker was at the heart of
0:18:48 > 0:18:49every rural community.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54This is indicative what a bakery in a small working town
0:18:54 > 0:18:56in a rural part of the country
0:18:56 > 0:18:58would have looked like around 1890.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03So, by then, bread production was still mostly done by hand
0:19:03 > 0:19:06by a team of staff of three or four people,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and manually kneading the dough in a dough trough
0:19:08 > 0:19:10like we have beneath the counter.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15As a baker in the late 1800s,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Ebenezer would have been providing a vital service for the
0:19:18 > 0:19:21local community. But all that was about to change
0:19:21 > 0:19:25as the Industrial Revolution swept across England.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28The population in England in general had doubled,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32so they were forced into trying to compete with mass production,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34and by doing it by hand,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37it's pretty much impossible to keep up with demand.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39As traditional bakers struggled,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42larger, industrialised bakeries took over.
0:19:43 > 0:19:49A bread machine working in a factory could produce 400 loaves of bread
0:19:49 > 0:19:52from two 20st bags of flour
0:19:52 > 0:19:54in under 40 minutes.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Man making dough manually in a dough trough would have to knead it for
0:19:59 > 0:20:01an hour and a half, and could take up to six hours
0:20:01 > 0:20:03to produce that amount of bread.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07So the consequence of that meant that many small bakers
0:20:07 > 0:20:09were put out of business.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Records suggest Ebenezer was working as a baker right in the middle of
0:20:13 > 0:20:16these transitional times.
0:20:16 > 0:20:17We know that Ebenezer Dennis
0:20:17 > 0:20:21changed his profession from being a Victorian baker
0:20:21 > 0:20:23to being a brewers labourer.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27So it may have been as a result of industrialisation, the introduction
0:20:27 > 0:20:29of machines that they could no longer compete against,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31that they went out of business
0:20:31 > 0:20:33and he had to seek alternative employment.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42We could still, obviously, be letting them know
0:20:42 > 0:20:44a bit about this section of the family tree.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47After he switched professions from a baker to a brewer,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Ebenezer and his wife Beatrice had five children,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53including Edmund's father, Arthur.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56One of these children, James,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00died in infancy, and another, Ronald, died as a bachelor.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03There was good news on the line of Beatrice,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05as she appeared to have married and had children.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09But when they looked into the final sibling, Harry,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11they hit another snag.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16One main delaying factor for us
0:21:16 > 0:21:18was the fact that the eldest born,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Harry John Dennis, actually emigrated to Australia.
0:21:22 > 0:21:23He married in Australia.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27They're not records we freely have access to here.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30It was a frustrating setback.
0:21:30 > 0:21:31But, across the office,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Camilla was making good progress on the maternal side
0:21:34 > 0:21:38and had already located a number of potential heirs.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Within those few hours, competition were already catching up,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45so we were trying to get visits out
0:21:45 > 0:21:49very quickly and speak to people as soon as we could.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51It was a triumphant result.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52In just one day,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Camilla had signed up eight potential heirs
0:21:55 > 0:21:57on the maternal side of the family.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02We had already retained a couple of signatures from a few
0:22:02 > 0:22:04beneficiaries and we were hopeful
0:22:04 > 0:22:07that everything seemed to be going quite smoothly at that stage.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14But Camilla's research was about to be derailed.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17The next day, I spoke to a beneficiary.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20She believed that she may not be part of the correct family
0:22:20 > 0:22:24and that she may potentially be a half-blood cousin once removed.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28At this stage, Ryan believed he'd found possible full blood heirs
0:22:28 > 0:22:29on the paternal side,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33so that meant any half-blood relatives would not be entitled.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Camilla now had to wait for certificates to come in
0:22:36 > 0:22:40to see if the heirs she'd found were indeed half-blood.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43After receiving her birth certificate in the office,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46we realised that, even though Maud was registered as a Carlick,
0:22:46 > 0:22:47she was actually an illegitimate birth.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Edmund's mother, Maud, was born after her father had died,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55which meant he wasn't listed on the birth certificate.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58It was disastrous news for the team.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02We no longer had any full-blood maternal heirs,
0:23:02 > 0:23:03and only half-bloods,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07so this drastically changed our research
0:23:07 > 0:23:10and meant that we now had no maternal side to our family.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14It meant none of the heirs Camilla had signed would be entitled.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19We could have spent an hour, a couple of hours,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21potentially even a day working the wrong family,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and someone else might be working the right one.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29All hopes of finding heirs to this £250,000 estate
0:23:29 > 0:23:32now rested with the paternal side of the family.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35But would the team be able to get there ahead of the competition?
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Every year in Britain, thousands of people
0:23:43 > 0:23:46get a surprise knock on the door from heir hunters.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48I found that amazing,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51that I had that side of the family
0:23:51 > 0:23:54that I didn't know existed.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57As well as handing over life-changing sums of money,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59the heir hunters can bring long-lost relatives back together.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03And I was quite shocked
0:24:03 > 0:24:07because I didn't realise that there was anybody in the family that we
0:24:07 > 0:24:08could inherit from any more.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13But thousands of estates have eluded the heir hunters
0:24:13 > 0:24:14and remain unsolved.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Today, we've got details of two estates yet to be claimed.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Could you be the person the heir hunters are looking for,
0:24:23 > 0:24:24or know someone that is?
0:24:26 > 0:24:27The first case is...
0:24:29 > 0:24:31He was born in London on...
0:24:33 > 0:24:36..and died in...
0:24:39 > 0:24:42John was married, and it's thought he may have had a sister,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45and may have also used the middle name of Edward.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Is there a chance you could be related, or know someone who is?
0:24:53 > 0:24:55This second case is...
0:24:57 > 0:24:58She was born in...
0:25:02 > 0:25:04..and died on the...
0:25:04 > 0:25:06..in...
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Do you know a Goff or a Yalden?
0:25:17 > 0:25:20If so, you could be in line for a surprise windfall.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35At Fraser and Fraser in Central London...
0:25:35 > 0:25:39We're getting further liabilities come to light and/or assets come to
0:25:39 > 0:25:40light as well.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43..heir hunters Dave and Isha are frantically
0:25:43 > 0:25:47trying to find beneficiaries for the estate of Edith Smith
0:25:47 > 0:25:49after being tipped off by a gentleman
0:25:49 > 0:25:51who thinks he might be an heir.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53So that's where it stands at the moment.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57It's incredibly rare to receive a phone call like I did,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00where the person who's phoned me,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02believes they're related to the deceased,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06but don't know to what degree they're related
0:26:06 > 0:26:09or, indeed, to what side of the family they're related.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Edith didn't leave a will,
0:26:14 > 0:26:18so the team have been trying to build a family tree
0:26:18 > 0:26:22to try to find out if there's any truth in the caller's claims
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and whether there were any other potential heirs
0:26:25 > 0:26:29to Edith's £140,000 estate.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And he asked us if we could firstly
0:26:32 > 0:26:36establish if he was, indeed, related, and to what degree.
0:26:36 > 0:26:37PHONE RINGS
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Hello?
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Isha thought she'd found a potential heir
0:26:41 > 0:26:42through one of Edith's paternal uncles,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46but she discovered she'd been researching the wrong family.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50It was just pure fluke that there were two families in the same area,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54at the same time, with the same surnames, having children.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56No, that's no good to you, to use that.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03While Isha continues the search for Smith relatives,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Dave has been able to make some progress
0:27:05 > 0:27:09on the maternal Cooke side of the family.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12What we want to now establish -
0:27:12 > 0:27:16are there other brothers and sisters to the deceased's mother
0:27:16 > 0:27:18who would have descendants alive,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21who would, of course, be entitled parties in this estate?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29To do this, Dave has had to look into the maternal grandparents,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Benjamin Cooke and Mary Dovaston,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and search for their children.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36And, immediately, something caught his eye.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Unusually, the father had this great profession -
0:27:41 > 0:27:42he was a master hatter...
0:27:43 > 0:27:45..based in Oxford Street in Leicester.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53In the late 19th and early 20th century,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56hats were at the peak of their popularity in England,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00with hat manufacturing one of the busiest industries of the era.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Everyone wore a hat - man, woman and child.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06You wouldn't leave the house without a hat.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08But not just any old hat would do.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13Your choice of headwear was governed by stringent rules.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The hat etiquette at this time was very strict.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19What kind of hat you wore depended on your status and your role in
0:28:19 > 0:28:24society. The foreman of a factory would wear one kind of hat,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27whereas the workers would wear another.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Men like Edith's grandfather,
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Benjamin Cooke, who made hats for a living,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34were referred to as hatters.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Benjamin Cooke would have mainly been making silk top hats.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42It was all done by hand in the time we're thinking about,
0:28:42 > 0:28:46so you'd have to spend many years training to get it exactly right.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49It was quite a lonely job, because you'd be in a room all by yourself.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54It may have been hard work for very little pay,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57but hatters did get some perks.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Bosses would insist on their staff drinking a large quantity of beer
0:29:00 > 0:29:02each day, and for good reason.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Then the urine, at the end of the day, would be put into a bucket,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12and then the urea from that would be used for the felting process with
0:29:12 > 0:29:15wool. All the hatters would live along a road and, at the end of the
0:29:15 > 0:29:17night, or in the morning, you'd leave your bucket of urine
0:29:17 > 0:29:20outside and you'd get a penny for your bucket,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22hence why there are so many Penny Lanes around the country.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26However, there was one major drawback
0:29:26 > 0:29:27to this fascinating profession.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Being a hatter was not a healthy occupation.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33You were surrounded by toxic chemicals,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36with the main toxicity being mercury.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41Mercury poisoning gives you the shakes,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43it makes you hallucinate,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46and it makes you appear insane.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49This is where the phrase "mad as a hatter" originated from.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52And, eventually, it will kill you.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Not a very nice disease.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03All right, thank you very much for your time.
0:30:03 > 0:30:04Take care, bye-bye.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06From looking at his death certificate,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09it seems Benjamin died from another condition
0:30:09 > 0:30:12linked to exposure to mercury.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13Benjamin, the grandfather,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17died when he was only 51 of cirrhosis of the liver.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20The team had been trying to establish
0:30:20 > 0:30:23how many children Benjamin had before his untimely death.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30Now, the grandfather's deceased by 1906,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33but the 1911 Census shows that she had five children.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36In theory, four other aunts and uncles to the deceased
0:30:36 > 0:30:39who could have descendants alive who could be entitled.
0:30:41 > 0:30:42Dave established that,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45after Benjamin Cooke married Mary Dovaston, they had
0:30:45 > 0:30:47Edith's mother, Florence,
0:30:47 > 0:30:48and four other children -
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Caroline, Thomas, Arthur and Emily.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56But after further research into these aunts and uncles,
0:30:56 > 0:30:58things weren't looking good for the team.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Caroline, who was married to Mr Bates and died without any issue.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11Thomas, who we believe was a casualty of the First World War.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Arthur Benjamin Cooke, who died a bachelor.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19That means all hope of finding heirs on the maternal family and
0:31:19 > 0:31:22establishing whether or not the mystery caller
0:31:22 > 0:31:26is a long-lost relative rests with Edith's one remaining aunt.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Emily, the youngest, who was married to Mr Coleman,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33and that's the only stem on the maternal family
0:31:33 > 0:31:35that has a descendant alive.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40So although we started off with four maternal aunts and uncles,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43we've ended up with literally just one beneficiary
0:31:43 > 0:31:45entitled on that side of the family.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Dave has managed to make contact with the sole maternal heir,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52so it's a major breakthrough.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57Things are also looking up on the Smith side of the family.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00The team have established that there are several potential heirs from
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Edith's aunt, Ellen,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05which just leaves the stem of her other aunt, Sarah, to crack.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11Fingers crossed she's at home and I can actually get to see her.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14And, today, one of the firm's travelling researchers,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16Ewart Lindsay, is on his way
0:32:16 > 0:32:19to visit a lady they believe may be Sarah's granddaughter.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25Yeah, I'm just about to go and see a cousin once removed
0:32:25 > 0:32:26on this case of Smith.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30I'll go and see if she's at home
0:32:30 > 0:32:31and if I can get to speak to her...
0:32:33 > 0:32:35..and go through the family with her, you know?
0:32:35 > 0:32:38If the lady is in and can confirm she's an heir,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41the team could be close to wrapping up this tricky case.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47But it's not good news.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51Unfortunately she's not at home,
0:32:51 > 0:32:53still not home, so I've left her a letter...
0:32:54 > 0:32:56..and hopefully she'll get back,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58probably later on today or tomorrow.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03In the office, Dave's got wind of the bad news.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07This is typical of my luck - she's not at home,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10so we can't determine if we've got the right heir or not.
0:33:16 > 0:33:17A few days later, though,
0:33:17 > 0:33:22Dave's made a breakthrough and managed to answer a key question -
0:33:22 > 0:33:25whether the man who has referred the case to them is a relative or not.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32So the first stem that we researched was the paternal aunt of the
0:33:32 > 0:33:34deceased, Sarah Smith.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36She had just one child, called Evelyn,
0:33:36 > 0:33:38who was a first cousin to the deceased.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43But it was one of her grandsons, Richard,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45who had contacted Dave in the first place,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49and was now confirmed as an heir.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51I knew I was connected in a way,
0:33:51 > 0:33:53but I didn't know whether I was bloodline,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56or which side of the family I was connected.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00I was traced to being a first cousin twice removed.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Richard had known of Edith since he was a little boy
0:34:04 > 0:34:06and has fond memories of the times he spent with her
0:34:06 > 0:34:08when he was growing up.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10Well, I knew Edith, really, from an early age.
0:34:10 > 0:34:11She used to go...
0:34:13 > 0:34:16..to my grandma's on a Saturday afternoon.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19She used to go from her home in Anstey
0:34:19 > 0:34:21and always visit my grandma on a Saturday.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25It was always pleasant, you know, and that sort of thing.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27Liked her. She loved her tea. When you went round,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30she always liked a cup of tea.
0:34:30 > 0:34:31After Edith passed away,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Richard tried to help organise her affairs
0:34:34 > 0:34:37and found this photo album in her house.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41This first photo we've got in the album is of Edith.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45I don't know how old - not very old - looking very...
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Looking very cheerful and a good head of hair.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52This has helped him fill in the blanks about his family history.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56Edith sitting, it looks like, on holiday at the seaside,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59sitting on the beach with my grandma.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03Both smiling, enjoying themselves.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05I'm not sure how old she'd be there,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09but that's how we always remembered Edith.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13She sort of looked like that from then on, until her latter years.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18Richard will share Edith's £140,000 estate
0:35:18 > 0:35:20with seven other heirs.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26For Dave, having successfully found the right beneficiaries,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29as well as solving the mystery of Richard's long-lost family,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32it's certainly one phone call he's glad he took.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38We were very fortunate to have Mr Tebbit phone us up directly.
0:35:38 > 0:35:44And a lot of the times I take phone calls and those matters don't go
0:35:44 > 0:35:48anywhere at all. So this is one of those few that come across my desk
0:35:48 > 0:35:50which were really worth working.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01I'm struggling to find contact details for this guy.
0:36:01 > 0:36:02The team at Finders International
0:36:02 > 0:36:05had been racing to find beneficiaries
0:36:05 > 0:36:08for the £250,000 estate of Edmund Dennis,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11who passed away in 2015.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14We knew straightaway this case was going to be highly competitive.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16Edmund didn't leave a will,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20so his sizeable estate was advertised by the Government.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22But as it was the only case published that day,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25the team faced stiff competition from rival firms.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Immediately, from the offset, with only one case,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32we were kind of up against it, in terms of competition.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36The team had started finding potential heirs
0:36:36 > 0:36:37on both sides of the family,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41but they'd suffered a setback on the maternal side when they discovered
0:36:41 > 0:36:44the eight heirs they'd found were half-blood cousins,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47and therefore unlikely to be entitled.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49When we find out that we've taken a wrong step,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53we'll realise then that we're most likely behind.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56We could have spent an hour, couple of hours,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59potentially even a day working the wrong family,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02and someone else might be working the right one.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04We need to map it out. It's good that someone else told us.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08To stay ahead of rival firms,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11the team needed to work fast and complete their research
0:37:11 > 0:37:13into the paternal side of the family.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16And they were now focused on Edmund's aunt, Beatrice.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24The main problem for us was that she married a Walter Frederick Johnson.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Despite the tricky surname,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Ryan was able to find some vital information about Beatrice.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34Found out that Beatrice had seven children
0:37:34 > 0:37:37in the years between 1917 and 1929.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40For us, at this stage, we want to hopefully find one of these children
0:37:40 > 0:37:43who are still alive. They'd be a cousin of the deceased
0:37:43 > 0:37:44and a key port of information for us.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Using every resource at his disposal,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55Ryan and the team successfully traced all seven children.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57But, despite his best efforts, Ryan
0:37:57 > 0:38:00was about to receive another setback.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05What we found out, that all of the children of Beatrice actually had
0:38:05 > 0:38:06passed away.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09With a £250,000 estate at stake,
0:38:09 > 0:38:11it's the last thing he wanted to hear.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14So, again, we're dropping down another generation.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17It's quite frantic for us to try and get to a beneficiary
0:38:17 > 0:38:18before the competition.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20The pressure was mounting.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24It means that we are at the mercy
0:38:24 > 0:38:25of how good...
0:38:27 > 0:38:30..any other competitors' research is. How quick are they?
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Do they have other resources?
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Can you try and trace them through and speak to them, and find out
0:38:35 > 0:38:37whether they're related or not?
0:38:37 > 0:38:40Ryan and the team used every record they could find
0:38:40 > 0:38:43to piece together Beatrice's family.
0:38:43 > 0:38:44It is quite a big family -
0:38:44 > 0:38:47seven children now have all passed away.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50If each of those seven children had a number of children of their own,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53you can see how quickly the tree gets bigger and bigger.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57There were 24 - at least 24 - beneficiaries on the paternal side.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01It was the breakthrough the team desperately needed.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03With 24 potential heirs on the horizon,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Ryan knew their efforts were starting to pay off.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11The paternal side, it was quite easy for us to get a lead in to the
0:39:11 > 0:39:13paternal family. Everything was going well -
0:39:13 > 0:39:16we had reps out to the beneficiaries.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21But the team's excitement was short-lived.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25As they made contact with the potential paternal heirs,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27they got bad news...
0:39:27 > 0:39:31..some of them had already been spoken to by rival firms.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35I feel we could have had more luck on our side with this case.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38We faced a bit of a delay by contacting people
0:39:38 > 0:39:41who were no longer entitled on the maternal side of the family.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43When it came to the paternal side of the family,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45we were having a string of bad luck
0:39:45 > 0:39:46with getting hold of people.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50But Ryan wasn't giving up without a fight.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54He knew any hopes of signing further beneficiaries rested with the
0:39:54 > 0:39:58potentially tricky stem of Edmund's cousin, Eric.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01We knew we were looking for an Eric H Johnson
0:40:01 > 0:40:03who was born in 1920,
0:40:03 > 0:40:08and we found out that Eric actually, unfortunately, passed away in 2005.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11The thing which delayed the search for his descendants
0:40:11 > 0:40:15was the fact that he'd moved from Essex to Kent.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18It's a neighbouring county but, obviously, it threw up a lot more
0:40:18 > 0:40:20possibilities, in terms of potential marriages.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26Ryan was in luck and managed to find a marriage record for Eric
0:40:26 > 0:40:29to a Daphne Ellis in 1944.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32They had four children - one of them was Wayne,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35who Ryan believed was Edmund's cousin once removed.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Was Ryan finally closing in on an heir?
0:40:45 > 0:40:47I was quite surprised,
0:40:47 > 0:40:49a little bit shocked,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52to find out that I had a long-lost relative who's...
0:40:53 > 0:40:55..passed on.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58For Wayne, the news came like a bolt out of the blue.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01And he'd never mentioned him.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04He didn't say a lot, my father, about his family,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06so it was a bit of a surprise,
0:41:06 > 0:41:07as I'd never met him.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09I'd never met the gentleman.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14Wayne has spent much of his life working away at sea
0:41:14 > 0:41:16in the Merchant Navy.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18The first day I went to sea,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21I remember was the day that President Kennedy died.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23It's faded now...
0:41:23 > 0:41:25This is when I started off -
0:41:25 > 0:41:27the beginning of my career.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31But his seafaring career didn't leave much time for family.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34I lost all contact with them.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Travelling around the world, I never did meet many of them.
0:41:37 > 0:41:38I wish that I-I...
0:41:40 > 0:41:42..had kept in contact with them.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44It would have been interesting to...
0:41:45 > 0:41:47..see how they're getting along.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56After a tough search with plenty of pressure from the competition,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59the case had worked out well for Ryan and the team.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02They'd signed up eight of Edmund's heirs
0:42:02 > 0:42:04and were pleased with the result.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09I guess when you speak to beneficiaries,
0:42:09 > 0:42:11and they can confirm that you have
0:42:11 > 0:42:14the right family and that everything is correct,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17it makes everything so much more rewarding.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21You can never really be too content with the research that you've done
0:42:21 > 0:42:25until the case is at a stage where it's going to pay out, really.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29There's so many different scenarios that could happen which could twist
0:42:29 > 0:42:31the research on its head.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34For heir Wayne, after years at sea,
0:42:34 > 0:42:36he's now settled in the UK.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40And discovering he's an heir has given him extra motivation
0:42:40 > 0:42:43to find out more about his extended family...
0:42:43 > 0:42:47It would be interesting to find out who my relative was,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49to see what he had done with his life.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51That would be interesting to find out.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55..and not just the ones in the past.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59Now that I'm retired, maybe I would have the chance now to...
0:43:01 > 0:43:04..go up and visit them. I'd have to find out where they all live.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09But...that won't be hard to do.