0:00:03 > 0:00:06Today, it's a case of deja vu for the Heir Hunters.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09The more difficult side of the family,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12the maternal side of the family, we'd already researched.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15But a family of entertainers proves hard to track down.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19When a family move around the country,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21this makes it harder for us to place marriage,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23birth and death records.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25While on the case of a seaman,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27it's all hands on deck.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Once we've established a case has value,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31we know that the competitors are onto it straight away,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33and there is that sense of a chase.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37And the hunt for relatives goes global.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41I did not find a death record for him anywhere in Scotland.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It's all in a day's work for the Heir Hunters.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Put the address in the sat nav,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55and it's brought us here.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58In Cheshire, Heir Hunter Dave Beetham
0:00:58 > 0:01:00is on his way to deliver some remarkable news.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Today's case is quite interesting,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05I've never done one like this before.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09Dave's on his way to see relatives of a lady called Pamela Smithers,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11who died in 2015.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15And incredibly, the people he's visiting are set to become heirs
0:01:15 > 0:01:18for the second time in two years.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I'm going back to all the beneficiaries
0:01:21 > 0:01:26to inform them that they're now what we call double beneficiaries,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29because they're now going to inherit from two estates
0:01:29 > 0:01:30instead of one.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36This whole Massey side who are going to be beneficiaries of Pamela's estate.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37So she's over here...
0:01:37 > 0:01:41This unusual turn of events began back in 2013,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44when the team at Finders International investigated
0:01:44 > 0:01:46the challenging case of Florence Massey,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48who had died in Southsea, Hampshire.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Now, this side of the family caused us a few problems
0:01:53 > 0:01:55with the Massey surname,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57some interchanging first names along the way.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00You know, usual case like that shouldn't take us more than
0:02:00 > 0:02:03a couple of months, but in fact it took us half a year,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07to find all the heirs entitled on the Massey side of the family.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10After months of difficult and complex research,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13case manager Ryan Gregory eventually managed to track down
0:02:13 > 0:02:16over 26 beneficiaries to the Massey estate,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19and thought his work was done.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20It was a really good case for us to crack,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22we managed to contact all the beneficiaries
0:02:22 > 0:02:24without coming across any competition.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26But in spring 2016,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29the solicitors looking after the estate contacted Ryan
0:02:29 > 0:02:31with some surprising news.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35One of Florence Massey's heirs, Pamela Smithers,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37had already passed away without leaving a will,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and now the search was on for beneficiaries
0:02:40 > 0:02:43to her £300,000 estate.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45It's not unheard of, but...
0:02:45 > 0:02:48it's a very rare situation that someone does become entitled
0:02:48 > 0:02:50through another intestacy.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Pamela Smithers died at home in Peacehaven in East Sussex
0:02:57 > 0:03:02on 22nd of February 2016, aged 89.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Her neighbour Mary had known her for over 40 years.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10We used to sort of bump into each other as we walked down the road.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11She was a great character.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Everybody seemed to like her, you know?
0:03:13 > 0:03:17But she wasn't very good at keeping up relationships,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21because there was no... after contact.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24She was extraordinary when you met her, you know,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27really cheerful and happy.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Pamela also had a passion for antiques and collectables.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34She loved going to antique markets,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39and finding all sorts of treasures of one kind or another.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43She was absolutely... chock-a-block full of stuff,
0:03:43 > 0:03:44all round, you know?
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Anywhere, wherever there was a market going, she would be there.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49SHE CHUCKLES
0:03:49 > 0:03:51And even later on in her life,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53when she wasn't able to carry things,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56she would get the driver of the community bus
0:03:56 > 0:04:00to collect them for her and pick them up, take them to her home.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05But apparently in the past she got an auctioneer to come to her house
0:04:05 > 0:04:07and look through her stuff,
0:04:07 > 0:04:12and she was actually quite surprised that she had a painting
0:04:12 > 0:04:15which was worth something like £5,000.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17And she was thrilled about it.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18SHE LAUGHS
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Her love of antiques stemmed from a jewellery shop she'd owned
0:04:21 > 0:04:23in Brighton, with her former husband.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I know that they broke up amicably, so that was OK.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And they used to write Christmas cards now and again,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35well, every Christmas, but then it sort of petered out.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37But I think she was very keen on her husband,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41because she had a little photo of him tucked in the kitchen drawer,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43you know, just sort of like that.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44SHE CHUCKLES
0:04:44 > 0:04:48So that she could whip it out, now and again, you know,
0:04:48 > 0:04:49when she felt that she missed him.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51SHE CHUCKLES
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Which was rather sweet, I thought.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54Yeah.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00When Ryan and the team got the news that Pamela had passed away
0:05:00 > 0:05:04without leaving a will, they were hopeful they had a head start.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07When it came to researching Pamela's family tree,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10we'd obviously already done the bulk of the complicated research
0:05:10 > 0:05:12into her mum's family.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16But they still had the other side of the family to research,
0:05:16 > 0:05:17and Ryan was acutely aware
0:05:17 > 0:05:21that although the case had been referred to them by solicitors,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24there was still the risk that another firm could pick it up.
0:05:24 > 0:05:25They had to work fast.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29We were way ahead of anyone else that may look at it
0:05:29 > 0:05:31because we'd researched one half of the family anyway,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and we were in a kind of key position,
0:05:33 > 0:05:34given that we had a close relationship
0:05:34 > 0:05:36with the administrating solicitors.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40But we always have to push it through just in case, you know,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42there's any other people that would pick up on it via other means.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47First, Ryan needed to do some basic checks,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50to see if Pamela had any immediate family.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52- The old Massey case we did...- OK.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55I've spoken to Pamela's ex-husband, confirmed no issue.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57I mean, I'm going to go over everything
0:05:57 > 0:05:59and just make sure that no-one's moved.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Knowing that Pamela had been divorced,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05the team were able to confirm that she'd never had any children.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08They also needed to double check whether she'd had any brothers
0:06:08 > 0:06:09or sisters.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11In the old family tree we knew that Pamela was an only child,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13but we would want to verify that again.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16This kind of gets us to a position where we've ruled out
0:06:16 > 0:06:17any close relatives of Pamela,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20who would be entitled to inherit from her estate.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24The team now knew they would be looking to the wider family,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and with a ready-made tree for Pamela's mother Gladys,
0:06:27 > 0:06:28Ryan was feeling confident.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31The more difficult side of the family,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33the maternal side of the family,
0:06:33 > 0:06:34we'd already researched,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36and the good news for us and the office was that
0:06:36 > 0:06:39we could then just focus research on Pamela's dad's side of the family.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44But as the team began looking into Pamela's father,
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Henry James Newbold,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48would Ryan's confidence turn out to be misplaced?
0:06:49 > 0:06:51So from our initial research,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Newbold seemed like quite a nice name.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57It's not an overly common name,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00however it is more common in the north than it is in the south.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04We could place the deceased's father Henry James Newbold
0:07:04 > 0:07:06on the 1901 and 1911 census.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10The team needed to find out who Henry's parents were,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and whether they'd had any other children.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14But they soon hit a stumbling block.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17The initial stages of our research were delayed a little
0:07:17 > 0:07:21just by the fact that the family did move around a lot.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26It soon became clear why the family were moving around.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Pamela's grandfather was Henry Julius Newbold.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32He'd been born in 1868,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36but by the 1880s he was performing in travelling circuses
0:07:36 > 0:07:38as Bon Bon, a comedic gymnast.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42The idea of the acrobat is actually centuries-old.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Way before the advent of the actual circus itself,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49which was popularised by Astley in 1768.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52But the acrobat has been around for much, much longer than that.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57The notion of a circus is that it's run by families,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01so they were very much closed environments,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03and the people that actually worked in the circus
0:08:03 > 0:08:04were family members.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08But the life of an acrobat was extremely tough.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11With respect to actually the physical demands on the body,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13it was pretty tough,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15because they did all of the rigging.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19They did all of the putting up of a tent which weighs 20 tonnes.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22There was just a lot of work for them to do.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27In modern circus, there are technicians that do all of that.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30It also wasn't a very well-paid career.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33In general, they didn't earn a great living.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36If you're a superstar, or if you're really good at what you did,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39then actually there was a living to be made, a much better living.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42And more importantly, a better status.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46But Bon Bon had a show stopping speciality.
0:08:46 > 0:08:47Walking the tightrope.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50The characteristics, say, for a tightwire walker,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53but actually for a lot of acrobatics disciplines,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56is an immense amount of focus.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Coupled with that is a huge amount of core strength,
0:08:59 > 0:09:00and actually quite a lot of nerve.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Any audience members who would see a tightwire walker
0:09:02 > 0:09:04for the first time,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07would actually think that this guy was walking on water,
0:09:07 > 0:09:08almost, you know?
0:09:08 > 0:09:11How can he be balancing on something so narrow?
0:09:11 > 0:09:15But tightrope walking was one of the most dangerous acts in the circus.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18And on 15th of November in 1881,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Henry Julius Newbold hit the headlines after a horrifying fall.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Both the rope and the safety net had broken,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30and Henry was lucky to escape with just a broken leg.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Kinds of tricks that they actually learned
0:09:33 > 0:09:37were very much designed to stupefy,
0:09:37 > 0:09:38it was very grand,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43very much kind of like heart in your throat sort of moment.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46It seems Henry's thirst for danger may have been inherited
0:09:46 > 0:09:51from his own father, Henry Bellini, Pamela's great-grandfather.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Henry Bellini was also a tightrope walker,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and in 1873 he'd taken his skill to new extremes,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02by walking across Niagara Falls in a breathtaking stunt.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06The health and safety aspect back then was almost zero.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08And they had to rely on each other.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11So actually, there was quite a lot of danger involved
0:10:11 > 0:10:12in being a circus acrobat.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Tragically, Henry Bellini's exploits would catch up with him,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20and in 1888, he fell to his death during a stunt in London.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26For the Heir Hunters,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29the discovery that the Newbolds were travelling performers
0:10:29 > 0:10:31meant the search for relatives of Pamela Smithers
0:10:31 > 0:10:34was going to be much harder than anticipated.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37When a family move around the country,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41this makes it harder for us to place marriage, birth and death records.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44With a £300,000 inheritance at stake,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47were the team going to be able to track down all the heirs?
0:10:52 > 0:10:54- PHONE RINGS - Hello?
0:10:54 > 0:10:57The search for heirs often reveals remarkable stories
0:10:57 > 0:10:59about the person who has passed away.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05We start with knowing sometimes literally a name
0:11:05 > 0:11:06and a date of death,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and so you know absolutely nothing about what you're getting into.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12And that was the case in 2015,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15when London-based research firm Fraser and Fraser
0:11:15 > 0:11:17took on the case of Peter Dippie.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Peter had died in Kelty, near Edinburgh.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23So the case landed on the desk of Karen Johannesson,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26who runs the company's Scottish office.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28When you come across a surname like Dippie
0:11:28 > 0:11:30on the list of unclaimed estates,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33it's immediately interesting because you think well,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35that's going to be quick to start.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38The case had been advertised
0:11:38 > 0:11:40by the Queen and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44which is Scotland's equivalent of the Bona Vacantia department.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47With just some basic information about the deceased,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Karen had to try and establish the value of the estate.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54It gave his address as being in Kelty,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58and immediately I knew this was going to be worth pursuing
0:11:58 > 0:12:00because...
0:12:00 > 0:12:03even in an area like Kelty with relatively low property values,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05it was a cottage standing on its own,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08and it was definitely worth getting involved with.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11A search of records showed that Peter owned his property,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15which gave the estate an estimated value of £150,000.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18With such a high value case to work,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21and rival firms also likely to be interested,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Karen knew she'd have to move fast.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Once we've established a case has value,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29we know that the competitors are onto it straight away
0:12:29 > 0:12:32and there is that sense of a chase involved
0:12:32 > 0:12:33to try to find the heirs,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36and I must admit I really enjoy that part of the job.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39That's what spurs us into doing the research quite quickly,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42and it gives the job a real edge.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Peter Dippie was born on 21st of June 1937
0:12:56 > 0:12:59in Dunfermline in Scotland,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and died just 15 miles away in Kirkcaldy in 2015.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- A bit eccentric.- Mm.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08Definitely a bit eccentric.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11But likeable, I would say a likeable rogue, actually.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Alan and Bob met Peter seven years ago
0:13:14 > 0:13:16when helping him restore his boat.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18The three of them then became equal owners.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Got a skill set that allows us to do all the maintenance on the boat,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24woodwork and engineering wise,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26which Peter didn't have.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Once the boat was restored,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31the three of them used to go out on weekend sailing adventures.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I think we brought a bit of happiness into his life, actually.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Aye. I think the last five or six years of his life
0:13:36 > 0:13:39that he had that outlet, that he could come and...
0:13:39 > 0:13:41know that he could go for a sail any time he wanted
0:13:41 > 0:13:43without any worry about how am I going to cope,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45how am I going to manage?
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Peter was a former sailor, and loved every moment on his boat.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51We'd go away on Friday nights, go down the river,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54sit off of an island called Inchcombe Island,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57and on nice nights you would just sit out on the deck,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01and we'd sit and have a talk, and talk about his Navy days,
0:14:01 > 0:14:02and talk about what we'd done with boats
0:14:02 > 0:14:05and have a few drams, and they were great times,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07- really good.- Yeah. - Really good times.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10He was also renowned for tinkering in the garage.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Sometimes with questionable success.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- He would do things which were just downright dangerous.- Yeah.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19He converted his fire in his house to run on diesel.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21He set it all up and he didn't really try it
0:14:21 > 0:14:23and he left his mother in the house,
0:14:23 > 0:14:24and the first time she went to light it,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26she actually burned all her hair off,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28all her eyebrows and front half of her hair got burnt off
0:14:28 > 0:14:30when she tried to light the thing.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Yeah, he was a bit of a tinkerer.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33Peter lived alone,
0:14:33 > 0:14:37and along with Alan and Bob there was someone else he saw regularly.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Monday was haggis and egg.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday it was flame grilled chicken
0:14:43 > 0:14:45with a chilli relish...
0:14:45 > 0:14:48that I bought in specially for him because he liked it, so...!
0:14:48 > 0:14:50You know. I made sure he was fed, anyway.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51SHE CHUCKLES
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Shona remembers Peter as someone she could always have a laugh with,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and enjoyed the banter as much as him.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01He used to get on about the cups of tea.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03"Oh, you're getting expensive for a cup of tea."
0:15:03 > 0:15:06He would come out with all this twos, fives and ones,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09you know? And he did it to wind me up.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11You know, that was his cheeky nature.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13For the last six years of his life,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17he visited Shona daily, and she got to know him well.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20When everybody was away, when I had finished serving,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22he would come round and have a chat with me.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25A lot of his stories were really good.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27He took a lot of interest in engineering.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29He was a really clever man.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Peter had suffered with health issues later in life,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35but news of his death still came as a shock.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I was on holiday when he died,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40but the day before I went on holiday,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43he had just bought a brand-new car.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45And he actually brought it up to let me see it,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49and then he took ill just a couple of days after that and it never...
0:15:49 > 0:15:51He never got it back out of the drive,
0:15:51 > 0:15:53because he died in hospital after that.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00Got the Dippie family in Kelty, but I think they've moved overseas.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02As Peter hadn't left a will,
0:16:02 > 0:16:04it was now up to the Heir Hunters
0:16:04 > 0:16:07to try and trace heirs to his estate,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09and Karen needed to start with the basics.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13The first thing that I need to do, of course,
0:16:13 > 0:16:14is to find Mr Dippie's birth certificate
0:16:14 > 0:16:16and find out who his parents are.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I order up his death certificate and it said that he was a bachelor,
0:16:19 > 0:16:20so that's fine.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22I knew I didn't have to pursue that line.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Having ruled out a marriage or children,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Karen knew she might have to look to Peter's wider family,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31in the hope of finding aunts, uncles or cousins.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34But first, there was one more avenue to rule out.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I did want to find out if he had siblings,
0:16:37 > 0:16:39so that's the first thing that I'm going to look at,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41so from his parents' marriage certificate,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45I can find out how old his parents were when they married,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47how long do I need to search to find any brothers or sisters,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49which areas should I be looking in?
0:16:49 > 0:16:51And Peter's parents' marriage certificate
0:16:51 > 0:16:55proved to be every bit as revealing as Karen had hoped.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59William Dippie, aged 24, who lived at Admiralty Road in Rosyth,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01so obviously involved in the Navy,
0:17:01 > 0:17:02that's naval work.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04And he married Peterina Davidson,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06who was aged only 17 years old...
0:17:07 > 0:17:11..and she was the daughter of Peter Davidson.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14This is quite interesting, cos the name Peterina is...
0:17:15 > 0:17:18It might sound unusual, to an English person.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20In Scotland this is really common,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23to give girls a boy's name with -ina on the end of it.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28As Karen continued her research into Peter's parents,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30she made the sad discovery that their married life
0:17:30 > 0:17:32had been suddenly cut short.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35William Dippie's death certificate was of some interest,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37because...
0:17:37 > 0:17:39tragically, it seems that he's died quite young.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Actually in HM dockyard at Rosyth,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45so presumably whilst at work,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49he appears to have dropped down, aged only 48 years old.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52The death certificate revealed another tragic detail.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56The informant was his son, Peter Dippie who,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59if we go by the ages on here,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02he's only 16 years old when he's informing on this.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05My understanding is that legally you have to be 16 or over
0:18:05 > 0:18:07to inform on any certificate,
0:18:07 > 0:18:08so he's just old enough to be
0:18:08 > 0:18:10a legal informant on his father's death.
0:18:10 > 0:18:11It's rather sad.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Despite this tragedy in his young life,
0:18:17 > 0:18:18in his early 20s,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Peter decided to follow in his father's footsteps,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23and joined the Royal Navy.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26He started his career as a stoker,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28working out of the dockyards in Rosyth.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33Peter Dippie was serving as a Petty Officer,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37looking after the Marine engineering
0:18:37 > 0:18:40in 1973 on Her Majesty's Ship Abdiel.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42The following year,
0:18:42 > 0:18:47we find that that ship and a small flotilla of French,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52British and Navy ships are then assigned to the Suez Canal
0:18:52 > 0:18:56to start clearing mines and unspent munitions,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58plus the wrecks of ships, aircraft,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01even tanks that had been put into the canal,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04not only from the 1973 Yom Kippur War,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07but actually commercial shipping had been limited
0:19:07 > 0:19:10since the 1967 Six Day War,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13so this was a major operation,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17to clear one of the most important man-made waterways in the world.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20And Peter had an integral role on board.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23His work would have included boiler room maintenance,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25which would have involved the removal and replacement
0:19:25 > 0:19:27of pipe insulation.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31In terms of maritime engineering,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Peter's role was servicing the ship,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37and having specialist knowledge about the ability to lag pipes,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40make sure that there's the integrity of heating systems,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43making sure that energy is transferred
0:19:43 > 0:19:45from one part of the ship to another,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47so there's an element of technical skills there.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52But it's also working with crews to maintain the ship,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55perhaps a small group of men under his command
0:19:55 > 0:19:59on specific tasks to make sure that repairs are done
0:19:59 > 0:20:00in a good and orderly manner.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Having established that Peter had followed in the naval footsteps
0:20:08 > 0:20:09of his father,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Karen needed to know what had happened to his mother, Peterina,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15and if she had remarried, or had any other children.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18On Peterina's certificate,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21we established that she hadn't remarried,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23so we were quite happy that there were no half blood issue
0:20:23 > 0:20:25in this case.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26But as Karen dug deeper,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29the case of Peter Dippie would reveal the story of
0:20:29 > 0:20:32an industrial tragedy that no-one had foreseen.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35It was recognised that it could not be used safely,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37and so by the end of the century,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41it was outlawed completely in this country.
0:20:45 > 0:20:46In the UK,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48thousands of people each year
0:20:48 > 0:20:51receive a surprising knock on their door from the Heir Hunters.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I found that amazing,
0:20:53 > 0:20:58that I had that side of the family that they didn't know existed.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02The Heir Hunters can fill in the gaps on a family tree,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04reunite long lost relatives,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06and hand over unexpected sums of money.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09That's good news for you. You can order the Ferrari.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Well, hang on a minute, we haven't found the will yet!
0:21:12 > 0:21:13LAUGHTER
0:21:15 > 0:21:17But there are still many cases
0:21:17 > 0:21:20that have eluded the Heir Hunters, and remain unsolved.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Today we have details of two estates that have yet to be claimed.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Are you the person the Heir Hunters have been looking for?
0:21:28 > 0:21:31First is Ellen Kranitzky,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35who passed away on 3rd of May 1992 in Basildon in Essex.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37Her maiden name was Cooper,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41and she married Herman Kranitzky in Old Street, London.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Does this sound familiar to you?
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Second is the case of George Nelson Finneran.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53He died on 13th of June, 1987 in Islington, north London.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Both estates were advertised on the Treasury's Bona Vacantia list,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00but so far, no-one has been linked to either family.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Can you help?
0:22:02 > 0:22:04There's a surprise windfall waiting for someone.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12So, it's back on that side of the family that we'd been looking into.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16In London, the team at heir hunting firm Finders International
0:22:16 > 0:22:19were experiencing a major case of deja vu.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23They'd completed the case of Florence Massey in 2013,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27but now one of Florence's heirs, Pamela Smithers,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29had also died without leaving a will.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34So she'd received some money already from an intestate relative,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and then for it to be happening again through the same family,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39it's not unheard of, but it is a very rare situation.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43The team had a head start in the search for heirs
0:22:43 > 0:22:45to Pamela's £300,000 estate,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48as they had a ready-made family tree for her mother, Grace.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52But finding relatives through her father, Henry James Newbold,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54was proving far trickier.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Have you got date of birth and date of death?
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Henry had come from a long line of circus performers,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02but the family's nomadic lifestyle
0:23:02 > 0:23:05was making life difficult for the Heir Hunters.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08They've managed to establish that Henry had four siblings,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10but finding them to trace their descendants
0:23:10 > 0:23:12was becoming a nightmare.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16His brothers and sisters were born all over the UK,
0:23:16 > 0:23:21from areas such as Leeds down to Lambeth in London,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24so although we had the census,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28and that's quite good for detailing where people are born,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30it does become quite complicated...
0:23:31 > 0:23:33..when people obviously move around a lot.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37And Camilla's worst fears were realised
0:23:37 > 0:23:40when she started looking into Henry's oldest sister Henrietta,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Pamela's aunt.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Henrietta Martha Newbold was born in 1889 in Leeds,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and we had her birth record.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51However we were struggling to descend her line any further.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54We couldn't find a marriage or a death
0:23:54 > 0:23:56which would match Henrietta,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00so we were considering that maybe she'd moved abroad.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02It was a frustrating setback for the team,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06who had no idea where to look for the elusive Henrietta.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09So, it was important for us to speak to family members
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and just confirm what happened to Henrietta
0:24:11 > 0:24:14or any children that she may have had.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16Undeterred, they turned their attention
0:24:16 > 0:24:18to Henry's only brother, Edward,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and they finally managed to make a breakthrough.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Edward had married Lydia McMeeking in 1929,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26and records revealed they'd had a son.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Armed with a number for this potential heir,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33the team were ready to make the crucial call.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35So, once we get to a stage on any case
0:24:35 > 0:24:36where we get to speak to the first heir,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39it's kind of a mixed bag of emotions, I think.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41This is Camilla Price calling from a firm of heir hunters.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45You know that that first conversation
0:24:45 > 0:24:49could be the gateway to finding out a lot of information on the family.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52It's a kind of key, pivotal moment in any case really.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55OK, that's great, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00We spoke to someone on Edward Julius Newbold's line,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03who was a beneficiary to this estate.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06It was great news for the team, and crucially,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10the heir was able to give Camilla some valuable information.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14He was able to tell us that he did have a cousin from Henrietta,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18and that was someone that we now needed to look into.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22We were unsure what marriage that was from, or who they could be,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25but it was really important for us to now locate them.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Armed with this new knowledge,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32the team were now able to work out what had happened to Henrietta,
0:25:32 > 0:25:33and, true to family tradition,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36she had travelled far and wide.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39The first marriage was in South Africa
0:25:39 > 0:25:43to a man called Richard Goetcher.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47There was a first child from that marriage, who was born in the UK.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49However, without knowing of that marriage,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51we would never have found that child.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55But that wasn't the only discovery Camilla made.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56Henrietta moved back to the UK,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59remarried under her married name,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01rather than her maiden name,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03and had another child.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05The team were finally making progress,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10and soon found a further three heirs from the stem of Pamela's aunt Emma.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13That just left one aunt, Lillian, to trace,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and her stem would reveal another tale of daring and adventure.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21We ordered the marriage certificate for a Lillian Newbold.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Lillian's son Kenneth was born in 1928,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30and, after training as a design engineer in an aircraft factory,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34he went to work on the record-breaking Bluebird jet-propelled car
0:26:34 > 0:26:37that broke the world land speed record in 1964.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42The fastest man on wheels sets a new world record.
0:26:42 > 0:26:43Donald Campbell readies his Bluebird
0:26:43 > 0:26:45on the sands of Lake Eyre in Australia
0:26:45 > 0:26:48that is smoothed out for his assault on the speed mark.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Sadly, Kenneth died in an accident aged just 38,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56but not before he had married and had children.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58One of those children was Mallory,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and she wasn't expecting the call from the Heir Hunters.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05I had been contacted by my niece, that's my sister's daughter.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Something about an inheritance and needing to speak to my sister.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11And I thought I have no idea what this is,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14we haven't got any, you know, surviving family
0:27:14 > 0:27:15who could be leaving an inheritance.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Although Mallory never knew Pamela,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21she has very fond memories of the family.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24My grandmother was a very flamboyant person.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26She dressed very brightly...
0:27:27 > 0:27:30..and had an extremely loud voice.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32She was very extrovert.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34She always used to talk about...
0:27:35 > 0:27:38..how good the ladies of the family, the girls of the family,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43were at dancing, what wonderful legs we all had,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45because of having been on the stage.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Being able to piece everything together,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50and learn more about her family
0:27:50 > 0:27:52has made Mallory determined to make sure
0:27:52 > 0:27:54the information doesn't get lost again.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02I think it's quite important for the next generation as well,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05so my children who are in their 20s
0:28:05 > 0:28:07and not particularly interested in family history.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10But the thing is, by the time they are,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13it may be too late to have these conversations,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16and to find out about the past.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21It would be really, really... enlightening for them,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24and, of course, for their children in the future.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33In the office, Ryan and Camilla had now managed to track down
0:28:33 > 0:28:37all of the paternal heirs to Pamela's estate.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40But there was still the maternal side of the family to wrap up.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Their previous research indicated there would be 26 heirs
0:28:43 > 0:28:45on the Massey side.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47It's quite unusual for us to be contacting
0:28:47 > 0:28:48the same set of beneficiaries twice
0:28:48 > 0:28:51from two separate estates within the space of a couple of years,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53and in terms of contacting the beneficiaries,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55it was really nice for us to be able to speak to them again
0:28:55 > 0:28:57to tell them of this second windfall.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Ryan hasn't yet contacted all these double beneficiaries,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04and today, he's dispatched travelling researcher Dave Beetham
0:29:04 > 0:29:06to deliver the good news.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09It will be interesting to see the reaction that we get.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12Ryan has lined up seven visits for Dave in the area,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15and one by one, he delivers the information
0:29:15 > 0:29:16about their windfall.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Pamela Smithers?
0:29:18 > 0:29:19Does that name ring a bell?
0:29:19 > 0:29:22The final visit of the day is to Carol,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23a cousin once removed.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26The thing about this information is
0:29:26 > 0:29:30you are not just a beneficiary from the estate of Florence Massey,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33you're also a beneficiary from the estate of Pamela Smithers.
0:29:33 > 0:29:34Gosh.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38So, you're actually a beneficiary twice.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41It's been a successful day for Dave.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44It just shows you that the work that we do in one case,
0:29:44 > 0:29:48that, the work, can be used again in another case.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Another of the double heirs to receive the surprise news
0:29:56 > 0:29:59is Carol's brother, Peter, who lives in Cheshire.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04Well, when I became an heir the first time, it was a bit of a shock.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07And to have a second call was quite...
0:30:08 > 0:30:09..outstanding, really.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13The name Pamela Smithers didn't ring a bell straight away,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16but I asked my wife, I mentioned the name to her,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19and she recognised the name straight away.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22We got the family tree out and we found,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24or she went to read and found the name straight away,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28and pointed to Gladys Beatrice Armstrong,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and Henry James Newbold.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33They...were her mother and father.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Gladys Beatrice Armstrong was the younger sister
0:30:39 > 0:30:43of my paternal grandfather James Foulkes Lowe,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46and that's how the connection comes about.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48It hasn't changed things a great deal, really.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51It is not just the money that counts...
0:30:51 > 0:30:55but it is the thrill, if you like, of actually...
0:30:55 > 0:30:57being...an heir.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01It's not like winning the lottery,
0:31:01 > 0:31:06but it's just a good, satisfying experience.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08It is a shame that you never know these people,
0:31:08 > 0:31:10but that's the way it goes, that's life.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17For Ryan and the team, it's been a successful case,
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and they found a total of 30 heirs,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23who'll each inherit a share of Pamela's £300,000 estate.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27But for Mallory, the call from the Heir Hunters
0:31:27 > 0:31:29has yielded more than just money.
0:31:30 > 0:31:35It really sort of sets my life in that history,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37and I'd forgotten all of this.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42I haven't looked at these photos for 25, 30 years.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And it was only sort of searching through, you know,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48a drawer of odd photos that I came across them,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50and I thought, yes, I do remember all of this,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54I do remember the family history about music halls
0:31:54 > 0:31:56and the stage and performing.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01And it sort of connects us... back in time, really,
0:32:01 > 0:32:05to history that would be forgotten, if this hadn't happened.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13In Edinburgh, Fraser and Fraser were on the hunt for beneficiaries to
0:32:13 > 0:32:17the £156,000 estate of Peter Dippie,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20who had died in Scotland in 2015.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22I've got some photographs to give you of the family,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24I don't know if you'd be able to help us to find out
0:32:24 > 0:32:25who any of the people are?
0:32:25 > 0:32:27Case manager Karen Johannesson
0:32:27 > 0:32:31had discovered that Peter had been born in Dunfermline in 1937,
0:32:31 > 0:32:34and followed in the footsteps of his father, William,
0:32:34 > 0:32:36by joining the Royal Navy.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39In later life, Peter's job also became his hobby
0:32:39 > 0:32:43as he bought and restored a boat with friends, Alan and Bob.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47I think we was very grateful, the fact that we took the boat on.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50And he was able to get out and get a lot of use out of it.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54When Peter's health began to deteriorate in later life,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57his boating buddies did their best to look out for him.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01You worried about him because at times you wouldn't see him for two
0:33:01 > 0:33:03or three weeks. He'd never answer his phone.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06We actually bought him a mobile phone...
0:33:06 > 0:33:07but he just kept losing it.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11The cause of Peter's ill health
0:33:11 > 0:33:13seemed to go back to his time in the Navy.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Peter was part of a team responsible for refitting ships
0:33:16 > 0:33:19when they were in the dockyard.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21And in the late 1950s and early '60s,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25his work put him in contact with an extremely dangerous material.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Asbestos, which was known for a long time
0:33:29 > 0:33:31as the magic mineral,
0:33:31 > 0:33:34has been known for many years
0:33:34 > 0:33:37for its qualities of fire resistance.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40So it's introduced around the end of the 19th century,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44increasingly used during the 20th century for insulation purposes.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48It's only really in the second half of the 20th century
0:33:48 > 0:33:52that the full health impact of asbestos becomes apparent.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56The Royal Navy started using asbestos for fireproofing
0:33:56 > 0:33:58and thermal insulation.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01It was really in the early 1940s
0:34:01 > 0:34:04that it became very widely used.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06In the late 1930s,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09a process called limpet spraying was introduced,
0:34:09 > 0:34:14where asbestos mixed with concrete and water was sprayed,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17and so the levels of exposure in those circumstances
0:34:17 > 0:34:19were really very high.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21When Peter joined the Navy,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23the dangers of asbestos weren't known,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25but by the 1960s,
0:34:25 > 0:34:27the full extent of the risks began to emerge.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32The consequence of asbestosis is that the lungs,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34as they become increasingly scarred,
0:34:34 > 0:34:36become increasingly stiff,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39and that makes it increasingly difficult for him to breathe.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41With the demonstration of lung cancer,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43and particularly mesothelioma,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46it was recognised that it could not be used safely
0:34:46 > 0:34:47and so, by the end of the century,
0:34:47 > 0:34:51it was outlawed completely in this country.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53But that was all too late for Peter,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56who went on to contract asbestosis.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59It was a painful and debilitating illness,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02and sadly, Peter died in hospital aged 78.
0:35:05 > 0:35:06In the office,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Karen was searching for living relatives
0:35:08 > 0:35:10who could inherit Peter's estate.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14And she was trying to establish whether he'd had any siblings.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Looking at the marriage certificate, William Dippie is 24,
0:35:17 > 0:35:19and Peterina is 17.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21They've obviously got married when she was very young.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24And so, from that, I'm going to guess that they had
0:35:24 > 0:35:25more than one child,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28and it's really important to do an issue search
0:35:28 > 0:35:31to find out who Mr Dippie's brothers and sisters were.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35And Peter's unusual surname made Karen's life relatively easy.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38So, a birth search in Scotland,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40we can go directly to the indexes,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43and we would just simply look every year
0:35:43 > 0:35:46for everyone with the surname Dippie.
0:35:46 > 0:35:47And with that surname,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50I don't need to restrict my area because it's so unusual,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53and I knew that anybody that I picked up would be almost certainly
0:35:53 > 0:35:54part of this family.
0:35:54 > 0:35:55And, sure enough,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59a search through the birth indexes quickly paid off.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03That's what led me to the birth of Peter's brother, William.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Karen was able to confirm that William was Peter's only brother.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13He was born in 1930, and, like his father and brother,
0:36:13 > 0:36:14he joined the military,
0:36:14 > 0:36:16and became a Sergeant in the Army.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19But while Karen had found a record of William's birth,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23she couldn't find any record of marriages, or his death.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25Given that he was born in 1930,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28I thought it was unlikely he was still alive.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30But I did not find a death record for him
0:36:30 > 0:36:31anywhere in Scotland.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33With a career in the Army,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Karen suspected William may have been stationed abroad,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39which might explain why he wasn't showing up in any searches.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43As we found on this case, people may be born in Scotland,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46and then leave, and go we don't know where.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48They may emigrate to anywhere in the world,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50and then we have to use other ways of finding them,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53particularly when they've got married surnames.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55With William potentially anywhere in the world,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57Karen needed a stroke of luck,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00and fortunately, she got one.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03I had a look to see if he had married,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05and he actually married in Hong Kong,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07but luckily for my research,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09it was registered as a consular record here in Scotland,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13so I was able to see that he had married
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Simone Ledig in Hong Kong in 1957.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21The next big question was whether William and Simone had children,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25as if they had, they would be sole heirs to Peter's estate.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30I was able to do an issue search for children of William Dippie,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33and I found, again, another consular record,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Corinne was born in 1958 in Hong Kong.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39It was a major breakthrough.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42If Corinne was still alive, she'd be an heir.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44And that wasn't the only good news.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47PHONE RINGS
0:37:47 > 0:37:48Hello?
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Karen's colleagues in the firm's London office
0:37:51 > 0:37:53had managed to establish that Corinne had a sister
0:37:53 > 0:37:55called Michelle.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57And they were able to trace her to South Africa.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00It was time for the team to contact their first heir.
0:38:02 > 0:38:03Have you?!
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Right, right.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08It's always a big moment for any heir hunter.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11When I first started in this career,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13I was really nervous about phoning heirs
0:38:13 > 0:38:17because I felt it was very personal, and very intrusive.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20I quickly realised that people like talking about their families.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22You have taken time to get in touch with them.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Take care, cheers now.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Bye.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29For Peter's niece, Michelle, the call was a bolt out of the blue.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33I was shocked. Completely shocked.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Because I thought he'd died at least a decade or two previously,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41so I found out from the company through mail.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43I thought, what's this?
0:38:43 > 0:38:44And then I opened it up,
0:38:44 > 0:38:50and it was informing me that Uncle Peter had passed away,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53and that they were trying to trace the family members.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Michelle and her sister Corinne grew up in South Africa,
0:38:57 > 0:38:58before settling in Britain,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01and now they were able to help Karen fill in the gaps
0:39:01 > 0:39:02in the family story,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05including what had happened to their father, William.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10We moved out to Zambia, and we lived there for many years.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13And unfortunately...
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Daddy was killed in a shooting accident when he was out hunting.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Then my mother remarried a South African
0:39:20 > 0:39:21and we ended up going to South Africa.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23With the paternal side,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27there was no contact at all because they were estranged,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31and my father never ever spoke about his family at all,
0:39:31 > 0:39:32and neither did my mother.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36In fact, it was only when we got to South Africa
0:39:36 > 0:39:42- that she wrote to...- Peterina.- Yes, and said, you know, to tell her.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44Then she started up the correspondence with us,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47and she used to send us birthday cards and Christmas cards
0:39:47 > 0:39:51- and what have you.- Yes.- So we got to know her a very little bit, then.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54And it was like, ooh, this secret side about this family, you know,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57the more people clam up about it, the more you want to know.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Michelle and Corinne had always been interested in finding out
0:40:02 > 0:40:03more about their family history,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06and had tried looking for Peter before.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08I had the address,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12and I kept going on the internet and trying all these various sites,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14you know, trying to track him down and what have you.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18And I had a phone number at one stage that was on some...
0:40:18 > 0:40:19directory listing.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22But there was no answer.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24There was nothing, it was like a disconnected number,
0:40:24 > 0:40:26so that was a dead end.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30And everything came to just that house in Kelty,
0:40:30 > 0:40:32and I couldn't get any further than that,
0:40:32 > 0:40:37and then of course Mum had said to me that he'd moved from there.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40But it turned out the sisters had been tantalisingly close
0:40:40 > 0:40:43to finding their uncle, as they'd the right address all along.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46- Definitely a shock.- A relief, yes.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49When we heard he was at the same address, I couldn't believe that.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52He was here the whole time, we could have contacted him!
0:40:52 > 0:40:55I thought, why didn't I pursue it further?
0:40:55 > 0:40:58But it was because I was so convinced that he wasn't there
0:40:58 > 0:40:59any more.
0:40:59 > 0:41:00I was relieved as well,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03because it wasn't that I was always thinking of him every day,
0:41:03 > 0:41:05but every now and again, I thought, "Mm, I wonder..."
0:41:05 > 0:41:07- ..what happened? Yeah.- Yeah.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Today, Corinne and Michelle are looking through items of Peter's
0:41:12 > 0:41:13that came from his house.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16I feel like a child at Christmas.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20I just want to rip it open and have a look and see.
0:41:20 > 0:41:21This is our parents.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25- See how handsome he looks in his dress uniform.- A very handsome man.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28I think I'm more curious than anything else.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29I just want to devour everything.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31- It is exciting, isn't it?- Very.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35- That's you! - Yeah.- I was a year old there.- Yeah.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Having a bath in the sink.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39In the kitchen sink, along with the milk bottles.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41LAUGHTER
0:41:41 > 0:41:43But Peter's collection of photos
0:41:43 > 0:41:45isn't quite what the sisters were expecting to see.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48It was very surprising to find
0:41:48 > 0:41:52that Peter had so many pictures of my sister and I,
0:41:52 > 0:41:54and also my parents.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57We had no idea that my mother had sent him those pictures.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01With Corinne and Michelle the sole beneficiaries
0:42:01 > 0:42:05to their Uncle Peter's estate, Karen's research was complete.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08There's a value of knowing about the person passing away
0:42:08 > 0:42:10and they get a bit of closure from it,
0:42:10 > 0:42:12and hopefully find out some background about them,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14but of course, it's satisfying,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17to know that somebody is going to get a substantial sum of money,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19and sometimes a life-changing sum of money.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22And who wouldn't be satisfied by giving somebody that news?
0:42:22 > 0:42:25Spurred on by the discovery of their long-lost uncle,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28Corinne and Michelle are now determined to find out more
0:42:28 > 0:42:29about their family.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32We are going to see how far back we can go!
0:42:32 > 0:42:35I mean, it would be really interesting to see,
0:42:35 > 0:42:37have we always been from Scotland?
0:42:37 > 0:42:40It's just nice to know, and also to pass on.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42Like, knowing our children are interested,
0:42:42 > 0:42:44and that their children will know.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48It just gives you a real good sense of who you are, I think.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52And, on the waterways of Scotland, Peter will always be remembered.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55You sort of miss the banter and...
0:42:56 > 0:42:57..some of the silly things he'd done,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59or some of the things he would say.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02And you think well... Yeah, you do miss him a bit.