0:00:03 > 0:00:07Today, two cases that could potentially be worth a fortune.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Found a NatWest account.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11We're talking a considerable sum of money.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Life-changing.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17When you work a case and it turns out to suddenly have value,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19it's always a bit of a shock.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22But that leads to every heir hunter's worst nightmare.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26We had to really make sure that we had the correct family,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29because his names weren't matching up.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32This potentially could disinherit all of the people we had previously
0:00:32 > 0:00:37contacted and render possibly months' worth of work useless.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39It's all in a day's work for the heir hunters.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50In central London, case managers Ryan Gregory and Amy Moyes
0:00:50 > 0:00:52from heir hunting firm Finders
0:00:52 > 0:00:56are on their way to visit a flat which belonged to Victor Hubbuck,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00who passed away in May 2016.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Today's visit is crucial because they are looking for information
0:01:03 > 0:01:07that could have a dramatic effect on Victor's case.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11It's twofold really, partly to build up an idea of the estate value,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13but it's also to look for a will.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16All of the work we do up until this point,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19it's all completely at our own risk.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23If we go into Victor's home now and we come across a will,
0:01:23 > 0:01:28all that we'll be taking out of this is the benefit of being able to
0:01:28 > 0:01:30- provide relatives with a bit of family history.- Yeah.
0:01:36 > 0:01:42Victor Jonathan Albert Hubbuck passed away on 20th May, 2016,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46in a nursing home in London, aged 83.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49There are no known photographs of Victor and his neighbours say
0:01:49 > 0:01:51he kept himself to himself.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Ryan and Amy are hoping the search of Victor's flat
0:01:54 > 0:01:58will also give them an insight into his life.
0:01:58 > 0:02:04In visiting a house clearance, you come across all sorts of items that,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07here in the office, we just wouldn't have access to.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10What they're interested in, hobbies they might have had,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14all the sorts of bits and pieces of information that relatives might ask
0:02:14 > 0:02:16when we're making contact with them.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24- This is the one, isn't it? - This is it.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26KNOCK ON DOOR
0:02:27 > 0:02:29- Hi, Michael.- Hi.- After you.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34How long have you guys been here?
0:02:34 > 0:02:36About ten minutes.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37OK.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Ryan and Amy have joined probate lawyers Michael and Christopher
0:02:41 > 0:02:44who are assisting with the search.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Have you found anything since you've been in here?
0:02:46 > 0:02:48No. We've just started.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51OK. Getting the opportunity to visit the last known address
0:02:51 > 0:02:54of a deceased person is not something, as a case manager,
0:02:54 > 0:02:55we get to do very often.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00It opens up the possibilities for us to find out some information about
0:03:00 > 0:03:02someone who's passed away,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05hopefully glean a bit of information that otherwise may be lost.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07He was obviously a table tennis player.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11And also chess.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Victor owned this flat, thought to be worth around £400,000.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19As well as a will,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23the team are also looking for signs of any further value to this estate.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Do we know what was his profession?
0:03:27 > 0:03:29A key indication being Victor's line of work.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Yeah, here we are. He was getting a pension from Royal Mail.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Oh, so, he worked for the Royal Mail.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41But so far, there's no sign of any will.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42If a will does turn up, I mean,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46this potentially could render possibly months of work useless.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Just this guy, really, who is the hardest for us to do.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55The house visit is just the latest stage in a case the team
0:03:55 > 0:03:58have been working on for just over a month.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00As Victor passed away with no known will,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03the heir hunters were called in.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06This case was referred to us privately.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08There was a limited amount of information
0:04:08 > 0:04:09in the original e-mail to us.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18With Victor leaving a property worth around £400,000,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Ryan was concerned the case
0:04:20 > 0:04:23may have also caught the attention of rival firms.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Just because the case has been referred to us,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29doesn't necessarily mean that the case hasn't already been passed
0:04:29 > 0:04:32to another firm, which means we have to always be aware
0:04:32 > 0:04:35that this information could be in the hands of someone else.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37- No...- Wow.
0:04:37 > 0:04:38No dates, no area.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Without a second to waste, Ryan began searching for Victor's heirs.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46So, the first thing for us to do when we're researching
0:04:46 > 0:04:49the family tree is to find out whether someone was married.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51This is always the first course of action,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54because a spouse would take the entire estate.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59With no marriage listing for Victor,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Ryan was then quickly able to establish
0:05:01 > 0:05:03he didn't have any children.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06We need to move on to knowing who his parents were.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08We need to know the names we're working with in order to conduct
0:05:08 > 0:05:11a birth search to find any of Victor's siblings.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16But with the records indicating Victor was an only child,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19the race was now on for Ryan to search for Victor's wider family.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24So, we have to treat the case with a high priority.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26But Ryan knew he may not be alone.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29It's a kind of double-edged sword, really. As much as
0:05:29 > 0:05:32we're finding the research quite easy into the Hubbuck family,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37if this case is being looked into by another firm, it's...
0:05:37 > 0:05:39They're dealing with the same surnames,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42they're going to be finding it as straightforward.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45To stand a chance of pipping any rival firms to the post,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Ryan decided to divide and conquer.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Did you ever get Gladys's middle name, Ryan?
0:05:52 > 0:05:54He recruited fellow case manager Amy Moyes
0:05:54 > 0:05:56to tackle the maternal side of the family...
0:05:58 > 0:06:00..whilst Ryan attempted to crack the paternal side.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06We found out that Victor's father, Stanley, passed away in 1980.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Victor's mother, Gladys, passed away quite some time ago, actually,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13- in 1949.- Did you have a chance to look at the research
0:06:13 > 0:06:14I've done on this one?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18With Victor's mum having died young,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20the team wanted to know if Stanley had remarried.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25We conducted a marriage search for Stanley V Hubbuck.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29We found out there was another marriage in 1950.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33The marriage was between Stanley Victor Hubbuck
0:06:33 > 0:06:36and Eileen Ernestine Hubbuck.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42The critical thing now was to establish whether Stanley
0:06:42 > 0:06:44had children from his second marriage,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46as they would be Victor's half-siblings
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and sole heirs to his estate.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50Hello, it's Ryan Gregory in London.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52We're a firm of heir hunters.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54But unfortunately,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57the search for births from that marriage would prove to be tricky.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Eileen had already changed her name to Hubbuck
0:07:00 > 0:07:02prior to marrying Stanley.
0:07:03 > 0:07:09So we really needed to know what her other surnames were.
0:07:09 > 0:07:10It could cause a delay.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13We always just want to get results as quickly as possible
0:07:13 > 0:07:14in these kind of cases.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17A hold-up was the last thing Ryan needed.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21As he was working a valuable and potentially competitive case,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25the team took a punt and started looking into the wider family,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27knowing that if a half-blood sibling was found,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30it would render all their work useless.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It's looking like quite a small family.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I've only found the one stem.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Amy took the maternal side and made good early progress.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44I've located the birth record for Gladys, Victor's mother.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46And we can see that her mother's maiden name is Hagget,
0:07:46 > 0:07:47spelt with a single T.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52But Amy soon hit a problem.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57Then gone on to take a look for Gladys's parents' marriage record
0:07:57 > 0:08:02and we have Albert Henry Longman, marrying an Annie Florence Hagget,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06but this time Hagget is spelt with two Ts.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10I can see four possible variant spellings,
0:08:10 > 0:08:16so you're having to check each potential record four times
0:08:16 > 0:08:19instead of just once. So it's obviously making...
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Making the work a little bit more time-consuming.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Annie Longman was a Hagget.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31After some painstaking research, Amy had established
0:08:31 > 0:08:35that Victor's maternal grandparents only had two children -
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Victor's mum, Gladys Longman,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40and her brother, Frederick William Longman.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46A search of the birth indexes indicated that Frederick had
0:08:46 > 0:08:48had just the one child...
0:08:49 > 0:08:55..who would have been a direct cousin, a first cousin of Victor's.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59But with only one living heir on the maternal side,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03had the delays in researching the name Hagget left the door open
0:09:03 > 0:09:06for a rival firm to sign her up first?
0:09:06 > 0:09:08We knew that we had just the one heir,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12so just the one chance at signature.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16With no time to waste, Amy got in contact with the sole maternal heir,
0:09:16 > 0:09:17but was she too late?
0:09:20 > 0:09:24It was really satisfying once we'd heard it was a successful visit
0:09:24 > 0:09:25and she agreed to retain us.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29But the good news was short-lived.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35On the paternal side, Ryan was still unable to establish whether or not
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Victor had a half-sibling,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40so there was still a chance the sole maternal heir
0:09:40 > 0:09:42would not be entitled to inherit.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45You know, no-one ever wants to get to a position
0:09:45 > 0:09:47where they've found a number of heirs
0:09:47 > 0:09:50of the wider family and then you come back and realise there's a step
0:09:50 > 0:09:54that's been missed or someone that wasn't jumping out at you,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58who would then disinherit your other family members.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03But as the team desperately try to find the rightful heirs to Victor's
0:10:03 > 0:10:08estate, they discover something that takes the case to a whole new level,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and ups the ante with their competitors.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Found a Natwest account.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15That's just to start with.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17We're talking a considerable sum of money.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Life-changing.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Massive problem with George.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31In central London,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34heir hunters at firm Fraser & Fraser have reached a critical point
0:10:34 > 0:10:37in a big case and the clock is ticking.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Bet these could just stretch out so big, as well,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43you never know what's going to happen.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Case assistant Shannon Freeman,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49along with researcher Katie Peacock, is frantically trying to find
0:10:49 > 0:10:54beneficiaries to the estate of John Theodoridi, who died in 2016
0:10:54 > 0:10:56without leaving a will.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59It's just a bit of a challenge, really.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It's one of those jobs that you keep going back to and you know you need
0:11:02 > 0:11:06to crack it and it's just a matter of time before you get there.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14John Frederick Theodoridi passed away in hospital in London
0:11:14 > 0:11:17on 16th July, 2016.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22He'd worked as a porter in the rag trade,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25and since the age of ten lived in a council flat in Tooting
0:11:25 > 0:11:27in South London.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29He was a character. That's all I can say.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33A character. He had a fantastic sense of humour.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Mike was John's neighbour for 40 years and he remembers him fondly.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I first met John 1976...
0:11:44 > 0:11:46..and I thought he looked sophisticated.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50And then later became friends with him
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and he was like an older brother.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58For his entire life, John had shared a flat with his mum and dad,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01becoming their carer in their final years.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04When they passed away, it took its toll on John.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11The year after his mum died, he had a breakdown.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13He was in a local hospital, Springfield,
0:12:13 > 0:12:14for about two, two months.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18It did affect him somewhat.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20It's lovely, that.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22That is good, yeah.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- Sort of innocent little face. - I know.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29With no family to care for John,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32he was befriended by neighbours Jane and Susan,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34who helped him with his weekly shop.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38When we came back, he would check the prices.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41You know? Sell-by dates.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43"This was two pence cheaper last week."
0:12:43 > 0:12:45You know, have the money exactly.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Completely on the ball.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50I think he was the archetypal grumpy old man...
0:12:51 > 0:12:52..in a lovely way!
0:12:54 > 0:12:58When John died, it was these friends who gave him a good send-off.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02She got quite a few people to come to his funeral, which was wonderful,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and they came here, to the Wheatsheaf, afterwards for a wake.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09As there were no family members to speak of.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13It isn't about family and I think of his mum, he said once,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16"Oh, they died a long time ago."
0:13:18 > 0:13:20He only talked about his parents.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23I didn't think there were any other family members.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31We're not going to have anyone on this generation.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34This will all be down another level.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36With no known family or a will,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40John's estate was advertised on the government's Bona Vacantia list.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43It came from the government legal department,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47so we knew instantly the risk is that we could have other competitor
0:13:47 > 0:13:51companies that may well also be working the same case.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57But competition from rival firms wasn't Shannon's only concern.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59The team needed to try and establish
0:13:59 > 0:14:02if there was any value in John's estate.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06We knew that it was a small flat, and it was a council flat.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10It was quite a risk going on with the case.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13The heir hunters work on commission,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16making a pre-agreed percentage of the estate.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19We could start work and it could get bigger and bigger and bigger
0:14:19 > 0:14:22and then at the end of the day we could have 50 beneficiaries
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and no money to distribute.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27If the estate turned out to be worthless
0:14:27 > 0:14:29it would spell disaster for the team.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Nonetheless, they decided to take the risk,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36hoping later down the line they would discover assets
0:14:36 > 0:14:39that would make this case more worthwhile.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44First, Shannon had to establish some basic facts.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47John hadn't married or had any children,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49so the search focused on his parents.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55His father was Frederick Theodoridi and the team were confident about
0:14:55 > 0:14:58working his side of the family.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Theodoridi is an amazingly unique name.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04From the beginning we knew it would be a great name to work.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Things were less positive on the maternal side,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13as John's mother Bessie had the most common surname of all - Smith.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16But Shannon soon made a significant discovery.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Our enquiries told us from a long-standing neighbour
0:15:21 > 0:15:25that the deceased's mum was... She was raised in an orphanage.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28This was crucial information.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30If someone's raised in an orphanage it could mean perhaps
0:15:30 > 0:15:34that they were born illegit, so they may not have a father.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36That works in a good way,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39in the sense that we wouldn't have a whole side of the tree to do,
0:15:39 > 0:15:40and where her surname was Smith,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42that would have helped us quite a bit.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45But Shannon couldn't get her hopes up just yet.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47We're not entirely sure if
0:15:47 > 0:15:50what the neighbour said in regards to the orphanage was true.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53It could just be hearsay and she could maybe have just said that
0:15:53 > 0:15:54to someone along the way.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59So far we've signed four people. Four of his cousins.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03If Shannon discovers she has to research the tricky maternal
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Smith side of John's family, the workload would be monumental.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10In the meantime, Shannon began to research
0:16:10 > 0:16:14the paternal Theodoridi side, starting with John's grandfather,
0:16:14 > 0:16:18but straight away, she ran into problems.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22His grandfather was known as Theodore Gabriel John Theodoridi,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25as well as being known as Gabriel Theodoridi
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and John Frederick Theodoridi.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32The fact that he went by so many names was a concern for the team.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35He's Gabriel in the 1911 census, and that was one of our worries.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39We had to really make sure that we had the correct family
0:16:39 > 0:16:41because his names weren't matching up.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Concerned she may be researching the wrong family,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Shannon ordered a copy of the birth certificate
0:16:47 > 0:16:49for John's grandfather Frederick
0:16:49 > 0:16:53in the hope it would shine some light on the discrepancy in names.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58The birth certificate of the grandfather...
0:16:58 > 0:17:02So he's born as Theodore Gabriel Theodoridi, and that's in 1869.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06But it was the information the certificate contained
0:17:06 > 0:17:10about John's great-grandfather that could have a huge bearing
0:17:10 > 0:17:11on this case.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12John Theodoridi,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16the great grandfather of the deceased, was a tobacco merchant.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19It's a discovery that could open the case up
0:17:19 > 0:17:21and lead to a high-value estate.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25We were quickly able to establish that with the unique name,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29there was someone who was a tobacco merchant who was quite well known
0:17:29 > 0:17:31for opening a tobacco shop in London.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40John's career in the valuable tobacco industry
0:17:40 > 0:17:45was forged in the 1850s, during the Crimean War.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50The British saw their Turkish allies and their Russian enemies
0:17:50 > 0:17:51smoking these cigarettes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00From its introduction in the 16th century,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03tobacco had been smoked using pipes
0:18:03 > 0:18:06and then, from the early 1800s, cigars as well.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10That began to change after the Napoleonic wars,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14after the British troops shared cigars,
0:18:14 > 0:18:19ie smoking tobacco leaves in kind of leaves themselves.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25But in southern Europe, cigarettes were not really heard of yet
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and after meeting British soldiers in the Crimean War,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33enterprising Theodoridi saw the craze for tobacco had the potential
0:18:33 > 0:18:37to grow, and with it the opportunity to make a lot of money.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Cigarettes - the idea that you could smoke tobacco
0:18:43 > 0:18:45in sort of thinly rolled-up bits of paper,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48that hadn't really caught on in England.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50So, in the late 19th century,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55Theodoridi had picked a good racket to get involved with.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59In 1861, John opened his first cigarette shop,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02similar to this one in Leicester Square, in London.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05It was a good business proposition
0:19:05 > 0:19:09because London then was the biggest city on the face of the earth.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13It was a centre of empire and where he had a shop - Leicester Square -
0:19:13 > 0:19:16that was one of the most commercial places you could find.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24When John moved to England to open his shop in Leicester Square,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28it was the beginning of what would become a multimillion-pound industry
0:19:28 > 0:19:30in the UK alone.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33By just opening that shop and coming over from another country
0:19:33 > 0:19:35and starting his life over here,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38he's massively influenced what's happened so far in the world.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44For the heir hunt, it meant not only was their potential for John's
0:19:44 > 0:19:47unclaimed estate to be worth a small fortune,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50but Shannon had now managed to confirm she was researching
0:19:50 > 0:19:51the correct family.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Dad's listed as John Theodore Theodoridi, rather than Gabriel,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59which is what we have on other records.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02So we're able to kind of work out that
0:20:02 > 0:20:07straight off the top the grandfather was messing around with his name.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09He used a lot of different names during his life,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12so we just had to kind of keep that aware when we were looking for
0:20:12 > 0:20:15things like census records and especially death records
0:20:15 > 0:20:17and marriage records.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Shannon was now able to start building the Theodoridi family tree.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25John's father Frederick had four siblings -
0:20:25 > 0:20:29John, Reginald, Arthur and Jessie.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31But when they began looking for their descendants,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34they hit another problem.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37The further we started researching, we realised these families,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39they weren't going on to have children.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Having ruled out Reginald, Arthur and Jessie from their search,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46options for finding heirs were looking limited.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50We only have descendants of one aunt and uncle.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55But things were looking even worse on the Smith side of the family,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58which Shannon had been hoping they'd be able to avoid.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I've got the marriage certificate of the parents of the deceased
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and it had a dad's name on it.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04And we wanted it to not have Dad's name on it.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07We wanted her to be raised in an orphanage and not have any family.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12But instead we got a census which was absolutely full of names
0:21:12 > 0:21:15and they were stretching back to like 1883,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17so it's a lot of hard work now.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It was the news the team had been dreading.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24They were facing a huge family with the worst possible name.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Isn't her maiden name Smith?
0:21:27 > 0:21:31We've got possibly eight top-liners who are all going to have children
0:21:31 > 0:21:34and all going to carry on whittling down and we're going to have
0:21:34 > 0:21:37so many beneficiaries. It's going to be a huge tree.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39I'm absolutely dreading it already.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43And with still no idea how much the estate was worth,
0:21:43 > 0:21:48was the case of John Theodoridi about to turn into a major loss?
0:21:48 > 0:21:50It felt like everything was against us.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58Every year in Britain,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02thousands of people get a surprise knock on the door from heir hunters.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07A little bit shocked to find out that I had a long-lost relative.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11As well as handing over life-changing sums of money,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14the heir hunters can bring long-lost relatives back together.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19I was quite shocked because I didn't realise there was anybody
0:22:19 > 0:22:22in the family that we could inherit from any more.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Thousands of estates have eluded the heir hunters
0:22:27 > 0:22:28and remain unsolved.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33Today, we've got details of two estates yet to be claimed.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Could you be the person the heir hunters are looking for,
0:22:36 > 0:22:37or know someone that is?
0:22:40 > 0:22:46The first case is Meade Grigg. She was born on 11th December, 1903,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48in Wales, possibly in Pembrokeshire...
0:22:51 > 0:22:55..and died on 6th December, 1987 in Bournemouth.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00It's unknown whether Meade ever married,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02but it's thought she had two nephews
0:23:02 > 0:23:04and may have used the middle name Josephine.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Is there a chance you could be related
0:23:08 > 0:23:11or know someone that could be?
0:23:11 > 0:23:14The second case is Leslie James Swann,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17who was born on 28th March, 1923,
0:23:17 > 0:23:24in England, and died on 31st March, 2008, in Tooting, South London.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Leslie never married,
0:23:25 > 0:23:30but it's possible he was adopted and his birth name may have been Cowen.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Do you know a Grigg or a Swann?
0:23:32 > 0:23:36If so, you could be in line for a surprise windfall.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49It's looking like quite a small family.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52I've only found the one stem.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56At heir-hunting firm Finders, case managers Ryan and Amy
0:23:56 > 0:23:59have been desperately trying to find heirs to the estate
0:23:59 > 0:24:02of Victor Hubbuck before rival firms.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05So we have to treat the case with a high priority.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Victor owned a flat in West London,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10estimated to be worth around £400,000.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12- Very good.- That's quite interesting.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17But having found a potential cousin through Victor's mother,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20the team ran into trouble when they discovered there was a chance Victor
0:24:20 > 0:24:22had a potential half-sibling.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Half-blood siblings would also have a prior entitlement to any potential
0:24:27 > 0:24:29maternal and paternal beneficiaries.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Knowing a half-sibling could make or break the case,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Ryan faced an anxious wait for the birth records to come through.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41We again found out that Stanley didn't have any other children
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and Victor didn't have any other brothers and sisters.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Having ruled out half-siblings,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51the team could now focus their efforts on the wider family.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Ryan looked into Victor's father, Stanley,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58to see if he had brothers or sisters.
0:24:59 > 0:25:00But there was a problem.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05For some reason, we couldn't find Stanley Victor Hubbuck
0:25:05 > 0:25:10on the 1911 census. He was coming up on 1939 register, but again,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12he wasn't with his family at that time.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Frustratingly, the case had stalled.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21And with the possibility of rival firms moving in on the estate,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Ryan had to think on his feet.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28The only way around it was to order the birth certificate
0:25:28 > 0:25:32of Stanley Victor to find out the answer to that question -
0:25:32 > 0:25:34who were Stanley's parents?
0:25:37 > 0:25:39On a highly competitive case like this,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Ryan faced an agonising wait for the birth certificate to arrive.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46But would it contain the information Ryan needed
0:25:46 > 0:25:48to kick-start this search?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52We now have the names of his parents.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Now we've located the family on the 1911 census,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58the search can properly begin into any family members
0:25:58 > 0:26:00on the paternal side.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05With that information, Ryan could now check key documents
0:26:05 > 0:26:07to look for siblings of Victor's father.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11From the 1911 census,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Ryan was able to establish that Victor's paternal grandparents,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19John Lee Hubbuck and Annie Tall, had three children -
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Ivy, William and Stanley.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27The census records are incredibly important.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30They will also tell us how many children they've had,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32how many are still living and how many have passed away.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36So that's an incredibly useful starting point
0:26:36 > 0:26:39to know how many top lines we've got.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Another key bits of information which is useful for when we go back
0:26:42 > 0:26:47to the 1911 census records is that Stanley's father John
0:26:47 > 0:26:48was a master hairdresser.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53HORSE NEIGHS
0:26:55 > 0:26:58By the mid-1800s, wigs,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00which had previously been the head garment of choice
0:27:00 > 0:27:04amongst the well-heeled, were falling out of fashion
0:27:04 > 0:27:07and a desire to have one's own hair styled instead
0:27:07 > 0:27:09swept across London and the UK.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16By the 1900s, hairdressing had become a profession
0:27:16 > 0:27:17that was in demand.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22In 1884, here in London, the Guild of Hairdressers,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Wig-makers and Perfumers was established.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28And we can make out that John Hubbuck would have been a member
0:27:28 > 0:27:32of one of these guilds, because he was called a master hairdresser.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38For Victor's grandfather John, to become a master hairdresser,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40he would have first undergone rigorous training.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Hairdressing apprentices would have to learn the different hairstyles,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47how to shave properly,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52how to sell and make different creams and lotions and potions.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55And it was also a fairly formal affair.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00As well as the skills and knowledge needed to ply their trade,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03the training also taught the aspiring hairdressers
0:28:03 > 0:28:06how to converse with their clients.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09There were to avoid controversial topics,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12unless invited by the clients.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Such topics included personal relationships -
0:28:15 > 0:28:16well, I can understand that one -
0:28:16 > 0:28:20politics - that's fairly standard - or the weather.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Now, if only fewer hairdressers talked to me about the weather,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25I'd be one happy customer.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30With the title of master hairdresser under his belt, in the early 1900s,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33John left Gateshead in north-east England and travelled south
0:28:33 > 0:28:35to London with his wife, Annie.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40There would have been many more opportunities for him here
0:28:40 > 0:28:42in order to make a name for himself
0:28:42 > 0:28:44and cut the hair of many well-to-do clients
0:28:44 > 0:28:49and no doubt sell them many of his own hair-styling products as well.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Yeah, if you can get a couple of addresses.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02Having travelled to London for work,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06the team discovered grandfather John stayed there to have a family.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Upon checking the 1939 register,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Ryan revealed that John Hubbuck and his wife Annie had a fourth child
0:29:15 > 0:29:19in 1923, called Sidney Ernest Hubbuck.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23With Victor's one aunt and two uncles to look into,
0:29:23 > 0:29:28the race was on to find a cousin who could be an heir.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32So, given that we've had to wait for the lead into the paternal family,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35we were really anxious to get to talk to someone,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38you know, to speak to beneficiaries.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Finally, Ryan was making progress on the paternal stems
0:29:41 > 0:29:43and began to build a family tree.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50Victor's aunt - Ivy Hubbuck - married William Thomas in 1924.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56They had six children, one of whom was Grace Annie Thomas.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05But just when Ryan thought he was closing in on a paternal heir,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08he received some bad news.
0:30:08 > 0:30:13Here we have Grace Anne Thomas, she married Howard Etherington in 1966.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Grace subsequently passed away in 2004.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19The trail had run cold.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22Ryan's only hope of finally finding a paternal heir
0:30:22 > 0:30:27was all resting on Grace having children that were still alive.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31We have Grace Anne Thomas, she was survived by three children,
0:30:31 > 0:30:32one of whom was Nigel.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40The team had finally struck gold and found an heir.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43Nigel is Victor's cousin once removed.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47I'd never heard of Victor before.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51My aunties had never mentioned anything about him...
0:30:53 > 0:30:57..so it did come as a bit of a surprise, yes.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Nigel's father was a diplomat,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04so he spent most of his life between boarding school in the UK
0:31:04 > 0:31:06and living overseas.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Growing up as a diplomat's son, it was quite good fun...
0:31:11 > 0:31:17..as we were able to go to the ambassador's residence quite often
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and meet any British dignitaries.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Nigel's father's jetsetting career took its toll on the traditional
0:31:26 > 0:31:30family life, and as a result, Nigel had never met his cousin, Victor.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33We've lost touch, I guess.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37Or didn't really explore a lot of our extended family that perhaps,
0:31:37 > 0:31:41had we stayed in the same place, then maybe we would have done.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44Since finding out he is an heir,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48Nigel has dug out some old family photographs.
0:31:48 > 0:31:49This chap's my dad.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52And this is my mum...
0:31:54 > 0:31:58..with her dad. My grandads on either side, I think.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03They both died either when I was young or before I was born.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08There's a lot of people in here who I just have no clue who they are.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13But there was about to be another twist to this tale.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Hi, Michael, nice to see you.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Ryan and Amy, along with probate lawyers Michael and Christopher,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28are conducting a search of Victor's flat in Paddington in West London,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32which could have a huge bearing on Nigel's inheritance.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37They're looking for details of any savings or investments
0:32:37 > 0:32:42Victor may have had. But also, any sign he may have left a will.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44If a will does turn up, I mean,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47this could potentially disinherit all of the people we've previously
0:32:47 > 0:32:51contacted and render possibly months' worth of work useless.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Have you found anything since you've been in here?
0:32:54 > 0:32:57No. We've just started.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58Little is known about Victor.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02But the search has already revealed that he worked for the Royal Mail
0:33:02 > 0:33:05and appeared to live a very humble lifestyle.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12These look like bills.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14But the team are completely unprepared
0:33:14 > 0:33:16for what they discover next.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Yep. Found a NatWest account.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24220,000 in it.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32And a Nationwide account with 320,000 in it.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34No way.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Well, that's just to start with.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39We found the two bank statements.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43To be there when something like that happens is very memorable.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46We are talking a considerable sum of money.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Life-changing.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50- Fairly recent statements.- 2016.
0:33:50 > 0:33:522016.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55It's truly astonishing discovery.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58This kind of takes the case into another dimension.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03The bank statements indicate the estate is worth a staggering
0:34:03 > 0:34:07half a million pounds more than they initially thought.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13And crucially for the heir hunters, there's no sign of any will.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15It's just mind-blowing.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18You know, now to know that somebody had that much money and then...
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Nigel, along with 15 other heirs,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28will share Victor's impressive £900,000 estate.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32For Ryan and Amy,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35having pipped rival heir-hunting firms to the post,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38it's not a search they'll be forgetting any time soon.
0:34:39 > 0:34:40As a case manager, I mean,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43we go through a case and it starts off and it's just a name
0:34:43 > 0:34:46on a file, and we don't really know anything about the person.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49So then we have to go in and have a look through Victor's property
0:34:49 > 0:34:51and know a bit about him.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53It is touching and it's quite moving.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55It's quite nice to be able to give them not only the financial rewards
0:34:55 > 0:34:59that are available, but also to give them something more personal.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Since discovering he's an heir to Victor's substantial estate,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06it has kick-started Nigel's own quest to discover
0:35:06 > 0:35:08more about his family history.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12It would be an idea for me to try and find out who the rest
0:35:12 > 0:35:15of these people are. It could fill in a few blanks.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23We're not going to have anyone on this generation,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26it's all going to be down another level.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29In London, heir hunters at Fraser & Fraser have spent
0:35:29 > 0:35:33the last fortnight trying to crack the case of John Theodoridi,
0:35:33 > 0:35:38a quiet, private man who died in 2016 without leaving a will.
0:35:41 > 0:35:42The team had already discovered
0:35:42 > 0:35:47John's great-grandfather was a tobacco entrepreneur.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49But despite having a wealthy relative,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51they still hadn't found any sign of any money.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56OK, so, someone who doesn't own a property is always a bit risky,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59cos you're purely reliant on any assets that they've had
0:35:59 > 0:36:01during their life. So any savings that they've had,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05any cars that they've owned, you are really reliant on that.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12Having committed time and money into research, Shannon feared the worst.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16What we didn't want to do was go out to locate all of these people
0:36:16 > 0:36:20and spend a lot of resources and a lot of money on a case to find out
0:36:20 > 0:36:24that the deceased was insolvent or didn't have any money at all.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27As the search for finding heirs was under way,
0:36:27 > 0:36:31establishing the value of this estate was more pressing than ever.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34We knew that the mother and the father didn't leave any money to him
0:36:34 > 0:36:35at the time of passing away.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40So not even the neighbours knew that he had savings or money.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Having exhausted most lines of inquiry,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44things were not looking good.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46But just when Shannon needed it,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49a bit of good luck was about to come her way.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53We were able to establish with some inquires that the deceased did have
0:36:53 > 0:36:56some savings and it was in the region of around £80,000
0:36:56 > 0:36:58in one of his bank accounts.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01It was just what the team needed to hear.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04And then when we got the knowledge that there was money in the case,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07we then pursued the Smith side with a bit more aggression
0:37:07 > 0:37:11and kind of got a lot more people to start research.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12OK, thank you. Goodbye.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Shannon and the research team quickly sprung into action.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21But there was a major stumbling block that would slow them down.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24The deceased's mother's maiden name.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28At first, having a Smith job is really... It's almost worrying,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31because you know that you're going to have to spend the time and money
0:37:31 > 0:37:34getting the certificates and doing the research.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Eventually, Shannon managed to confirm that Bessie's parents
0:37:41 > 0:37:43were Thomas Smith and Elizabeth Mills
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and they had a total of ten children, including Bessie.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50Two had died as infants,
0:37:50 > 0:37:54but that still left a daunting seven Smith stems to research.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58We realised we were dealing with not only a Smith family,
0:37:58 > 0:38:01but a very large family.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05And everything about the family made the hunt for heirs near impossible.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09We had names that were just first name, surname, Smith.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11We didn't have dates of birth, we didn't know where they were born,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13people were chopping and changing names
0:38:13 > 0:38:16and it was just so disheartening.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20With the Smith side hitting a brick wall,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23the team began to wonder whether they'd ever crack this case.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28On the Theodoridi side, however, there was more positive news.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33The team had established that one of John's uncles,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36who was called John Frank Theodoridi,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39married Eva Moore in 1924.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41But the vital information for the heir hunt
0:38:41 > 0:38:45was they went on to have five children. One of them was Valerie.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50I got on the telephone to her and she recognised the name,
0:38:50 > 0:38:52but she couldn't pinpoint it
0:38:52 > 0:38:55and she didn't recognise the name of the deceased,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57which obviously made me worry a bit
0:38:57 > 0:38:59whilst I was on the phone to her, thinking,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02have we gone off on a tangent?
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Was Shannon closing in on her first heir?
0:39:06 > 0:39:09Or had the team just made a huge error?
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Valerie's reaction to the name John Theodoridi was not the one
0:39:16 > 0:39:17the team had hoped for.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20I'd never heard of this...
0:39:21 > 0:39:25..chap who was my cousin, so they were telling me.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31And I was a little bit excited,
0:39:31 > 0:39:33but I was a little bit...
0:39:33 > 0:39:35I don't... ..flummoxed by it all.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40After the phone call, Valerie contacted her family
0:39:40 > 0:39:43to see if anyone else had heard of a cousin called John.
0:39:43 > 0:39:50My nephews and my great-nephew said, oh, we will investigate this.
0:39:50 > 0:39:56I've found out I'm related to John Frederick Theodoridi
0:39:56 > 0:39:58and that he's my cousin.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01I found that amazing,
0:40:01 > 0:40:06that I had that side of the family that I didn't know existed.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10And I just couldn't believe it, really.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Although she had no knowledge of the cousin John,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18or his father Frederick, she has fond memories of the time she spent
0:40:18 > 0:40:21with her grandfather, Theodore Theodoridi.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24I sort of remember him very well.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29He lived in London and I remember him coming to see us regularly.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31Very gentlemanly
0:40:31 > 0:40:33and always beautifully dressed.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39As well as finding out about the inheritance,
0:40:39 > 0:40:44Valerie has received a photograph of the cousin she never knew she had.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46Oh, good gracious.
0:40:49 > 0:40:50Would you believe it?
0:40:50 > 0:40:53And instantly, Valerie can see the family resemblance.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59I can see my brother Derek here, you know?
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Big family likeness.
0:41:02 > 0:41:03Oh, how wonderful.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09But the question remained - how did Valerie go through the last 80 years
0:41:09 > 0:41:11without knowing about John or John's father?
0:41:13 > 0:41:17I'm quite surprised really that I've got these relatives
0:41:17 > 0:41:19that I didn't know existed.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25My father was a very busy businessman.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Some people, they live very much, don't they,
0:41:28 > 0:41:31with all their cousins and they are always seeing their cousins
0:41:31 > 0:41:36and all that sort of thing - my family was not like that.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38Very good to their immediate family,
0:41:38 > 0:41:42but they don't seem to need to keep in contact
0:41:42 > 0:41:44with other members of the family.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54As well as having made contact with an heir on the Theodoridi side,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56the team had also made a breakthrough
0:41:56 > 0:41:58on the nightmare Smith side.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02And when we realised that one of the addresses was consistent
0:42:02 > 0:42:06on all of the records, that was the only thing we began looking out for.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08We stopped looking for Smiths.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11We started looking for connections to the one property
0:42:11 > 0:42:14and the moment we found that connection,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17we were finding marriages where people state that they were born
0:42:17 > 0:42:20and married in that one property,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23it meant that we could pretty much...
0:42:23 > 0:42:26We just stopped thinking of it as a Smith case and just started to think
0:42:26 > 0:42:30"Hang on, we'll just look for everyone that was at this house."
0:42:34 > 0:42:39The team discovered 19 heirs who will share John's £80,000 estate,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41along with the seven heirs
0:42:41 > 0:42:45the team had already found on the paternal side.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48You finally get that last person that can say what happened
0:42:48 > 0:42:51on the tree and you know exactly where everyone is
0:42:51 > 0:42:54and you're confident that that's all correct, it's the best feeling,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58because you know, at the end of the day, you can all sit down
0:42:58 > 0:42:59and you can have a chat
0:42:59 > 0:43:02and you've actually really achieved something today.