Hicks Heir Hunters

On today's programme, the Frasers' team tackle two very different cases.

A monster of a family spread across the globe...

Six, seven, eight, nine kids there, plus five off his first marriage.

-He's a busy boy.

-There's 14 children. It's not bad for a butcher, is it?

..with the consequences of that scattered clan.

She cried her eyes out for two days.

Also, a story that showed that being unique...

What's it say...? Struebig?

Struebig. Struebig.

..doesn't mean you're easy to find.

Some years ago, we did make some efforts to find out where he was, but we got nowhere.

And I rather think that we thought that he'd died.

Plus a list of estates worth over £300,000.

Could you be in line for some cash?

Every year in Britain, over 300,000 people

die without leaving a will.

When no family is found, their money goes to the government.

That's when the heir hunting companies step in.

Using birth, death and marriage records,

they race against each other to be first to track down any long-lost relatives entitled to inherit.

Fraser and Fraser is one of the oldest firms of Heir Hunters in the country.

In its 30-year history, the company has tracked down over 50,000 heirs,

entitled to a whopping sum of over £100 million.

It's 7am in Fraser and Fraser's central London office.

It's Valentine's Day but romance will have to wait, as Thursday

is the day the Government publishes the list of unclaimed estates.

Partner Neil Fraser has got his eye on the estate of Reginald Hicks as he thinks it may be worth a lot.

The reason I've picked this case is because I think they own the property.

I say they because I think the deceased was married at one time

and his wife only recently died just before him.

Reginald Hicks worked as a machine engine fitter at the Plymouth Shipyard.

He and his wife, Dorothy Holman,

who has also passed away, lived in this property and had no children.

What we know is that a house next door

sold in 2007 for about £190,000.

So we think the value of the estate is going to be in the region of £200,000.

That's a huge sum and the competition will be fierce, so they need to move fast.

With over 28 years at Frasers', senior case manager Tony Pledger is at the helm.

-Reginald John Blake.

-From the government's bona vacantia list, the Heir Hunters know that Reginald

died in December 2007, but just 20 minutes into the investigation, they've hit a brick wall.

This next one...

as far as I can see, he's not born...

or he's Scottish.

It seems that the researchers can't find a record of Reginald's birth anywhere in England.

If they can't find the details of his birth,

then they won't be able to track his parents and so build a family tree.

Like all good prospectors, the Heir Hunters spend their days mapping out their claim.

They build family trees generation by generation, so that they can see

who is related to the deceased, and who is in line to inherit.

All our enquiries are sort of indicating that he may be Irish and

we only have access to the English and Welsh records in this office.

We have some Scottish records but they're a bit piecemeal really, so

we're really reliant on one of our researchers in Ireland trying to pick up the birth certificate.

To give them a head start in the race to gather intelligence, Frasers employ a crack team of mobile agents

who spend their Thursdays at the wheel ready to follow every clue in pursuit of the heirs.

Thanks a lot, mate.

Tony contacts his Irish agent to see if they can trace a Hicks birth over there.

Hopefully, Reginald John Blake Hicks, you can find something.

And at the same time, Tony sends travelling heir hunter Ewart Lyndsey to Plymouth

to collect the death certificate, as this will list Reginald Hicks' date and place of birth.

But as Plymouth is a five-hour drive from London, it could be a long wait.

Fingers in three pies, all at the same time.

Hopefully, we'll be able to pull out a plum.

Tony may not have any details on Reginald's family, but he does have a lead.

The researchers have already done a family tree for Reginald's late wife, Dorothy Holman

and through this, they have found relatives still living in Plymouth.

-By checking the electoral roll, Tony has tracked down Dorothy's sister in law.

-Oh, I see. Right.

That would be lovely then, yeah.

Because she is not a blood relative, she is not an heir, but she may be able to provide vital clues.

Right. Bear with me.

So you knew Reggie's dad then.

Oh, you didn't know... knew of him. Right.

So this lead isn't really going anywhere.

Tony still has no clue where Reginald was born or who his parents were.

-They desperately need that death certificate but Ewart's still got miles of tarmac ahead of him.

-Hello.

-Hello, Tone?

-Yes, Ewart. What's up?

Yeah. Just to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic on the M25, Tony.

There's a surprise. Thank you for sharing that with me.

-Fine.

-That was Ewart.

Ringing me up to tell me he's stuck in traffic. So what?

But not every call gets on Tony's wick.

That conversation with Reginald's distant relative really paid off.

He got a number for a niece of Reginald's wife, Dorothy.

Hello. Is that Mrs Winter?

I'm ringing you about your uncle, Reginald Hicks.

She is not an heir, either, but Tony is hoping she'll be able to give him the crucial information he needs.

Where was Reginald born?

Well, you see, the problem that we're having though is

initially identifying Reginald Hicks' birth.

Oh, I see.

It looks like this conversation could be the break they need.

But thanks ever so much for your help. Thank you. Bye.

She thinks that he might be born in Scotland.

And she's fairly confident that he's an only child.

What a fantastic result.

The phone call has saved precious hours. They found out that Reginald was born in Dunfermline in Scotland.

Luckily, Frasers have these records and the researchers head straight for them.

They found him. And along with Reginald's birth, they are able

to find his parents' names, as well.

And from there, their marriage in Tunbridge Wells.

As the information comes flying in, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place.

So Reginald Hicks' father is John Hicks and he married Dorothy Mabel Carey.

Because Reginald was an only child and he had no offspring,

the Heir Hunters meet to investigate the aunts and uncles.

If any of them had children, they'll be Reginald's cousins and heirs to his estate.

Tony will have to do two family trees.

One looking at John Hicks' side of the family and one looking at Dorothy Carey's siblings.

So, now my colleague's just told me that we have

a birth for John Blake Hicks in St Columb which is in Cornwall, in 1892.

Why a bloke born in Cornwall gets married

in Tunbridge Wells and had a child born in Dunfermline is beyond me.

Dock workers often move from port to port and that could explain the Hicks' scattered existence.

As there's so much to research, another case manager, Frances Brett,

is helping out with the Carey family tree.

I'm looking at the censuses for the Carey family and so far I've looked

at the 1901 and the 1891 censuses.

It's a clever way of finding out

everyone in the family in one fell swoop.

The census is a national population survey which is conducted by the government every ten years.

They are only released for public use 100 years after they were taken

and the latest census Frasers has is from 1901.

The beauty of this document is that it lists every individual

within a household so the team will be able to see who was living in the Carey family home in that year.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

OK, looks like the mother might have eight brothers and sisters.

Right. That'll keep you busy, won't it?

The census has been invaluable.

So far, they've uncovered eight siblings for Dorothy Carey, Reginald's mum.

All children of David and Henrietta Carey.

And it looks like the Careys are not the only large family.

On the Hicks' side of it, there's probably half a dozen uncles and aunts,

as well. But the problem is, one family is in Kent and the other family's down in Cornwall...

so, we've got Ewart going down to Cornwall and we might then get somebody to go

down to Tunbridge Wells, but Tunbridge Wells is the sort of place that's easy to move from.

You know, it's only a train ride and you're into London

and then from London you meet some bird that comes from Darlington, so you end up in Darlington.

Looks like Tony is staggering under the weight of all these

stems on the family tree and he's not the only one in need of a break.

Oh, dear.

Only another 100 miles to go, Ewart.

Coming up, they couldn't find his birth place.

Now they can't find his death certificate.

Why can't they find it?

I am personally puzzled.

Reginald Hicks is proving elusive.

I'm not having a good day today, actually.

And an unusual name keeps Marcus on his toes.

Never even heard of it before.

It's not Welsh. I would say it's Dutch. Something like that.

But what do I know?

Nothing actually, not this time of the morning.

The Heir Hunters use all their skills and cunning to find heirs

to millions of pounds' worth of unclaimed cash.

But sometimes the trail goes cold.

Perhaps you could be due a fortune and not even know it.

Robin Slaney died on March 22nd 2004, in Weston Super Mare.

He was 64 years old and he left a huge sum of £125,000.

Are you related to him? If you are, his money could go to you.

Ruth Queenie Stanton passed away in Camden, North London, when she was 93 years old, leaving £24,000.

Have you heard of Ruth or are you one of her family?

If you are related, you could be in line to get her cash.

Edward William Simpkins died at Westcliff on Sea, in Essex.

He was 84 years old and left a bank account with £20,000.

If you are a family member and can prove it, you could claim this money.

If you think you may know any of these people or know someone who may be entitled to their money,

please look at our website for details of what to do next.

The Heir Hunters have been following the case of Reginald Hicks,

who died in Plymouth, leaving this house, valued at around £200,000.

Given the size of both sides of the family, Frasers have made quick work of building the trees.

It looks like the paternal side, the Hicks family, has half a dozen uncles and aunts.

And the maternal side, the Careys, have at least eight.

Partner Neil Fraser thinks that they're facing a challenge.

So, there's a potential once this has all come down and

we're coming down two generations of maybe 50 to 60 beneficiaries.

We may quickly cut them all down as we find some dying in the war

and stuff, but there's potential for there to be a huge, huge family.

They really need a break here.

Tony is hoping the informant on Reginald Hicks' death certificate

will be able to tell them more about his family.

And after a five-hour drive, Ewart's finally arrived at the Register Office in Plymouth.

What a disaster.

Unfortunately, not able to pick up any certificates at Plymouth Register Office.

They're not producing certificates within five days...

but not only that, they can't find the death of the deceased.

It's a major blow...

and also, a bit of a mystery,

as the bona vacantia confirms that Reginald Hicks died in Plymouth.

It seems the file's missing.

You know, it's been registered.

Why can't they find it? You know, I am personally puzzled.

But there's no point dwelling on it.

With rival firms breathing down their necks,

they'll have to concentrate on other areas of investigation.

I'm not having a good day today, actually.

Trying to make the most of a bad situation, Tony sends Ewart on the one-hour

drive to St Austell to collect certificates for aunts and uncles on the Hicks side of the family.

He hopes they'll contain vital clues to push the case on.

Back in the office, Tony is looking at one of the stems of the Carey family tree.

He's trying to trace Arthur C Carey, Reginald's uncle.

One of the uncles of the deceased, Arthur Charles Carey, might have married in Christchurch, in 1918.

He'd been born in Tunbridge Wells in 1897.

We can't find him over here but we have found an Arthur C Carey with the

right wife and a child on the 1930 census from New Jersey in America.

The early 1900s saw a huge swathe

of emigration to the New World,

and the Heir Hunters will often do a search across the pond if they have lost the trail in the UK.

It could be that one stem has gone to America.

This inspired piece of research has netted another Carey, as well.

We've now managed to track two of them over to America.

Now, what we've been able to find is their immigration records into

America, so these are the shipping records into America.

Shipping lines kept records of their employees and passengers.

They even list obscure information such as eye colour and height.

The Heir Hunters can use these to trace people's movements.

Not only have they found Arthur, but they found his brother Frederick's cross into the US.

This is very very important for us because instead of looking through all our records

in here, in England and Wales, we now have to look in America.

By cross referencing American Social Security files and American census,

on one of the genealogical websites, Neil's found a current address

for the descendants of Arthur Carey... Reginald's uncle.

I've got a phone number for him.

What's the time in New Jersey?

-8.30 in the morning.

-At 1.30, Tony's lunch will have to wait.

'Hello.'

Hello. Sorry to trouble you. Is that Mrs Carey?

Hello. You don't know me at all.

I'm ringing from London, in England. Hopefully, you can help.

It's an enquiry about the late Peter Carey.

Oh, you don't know him at all.

You sounded a lot younger than I thought you were going to be.

It looks like Tony has got straight through to a potential heir.

Arthur Carey's granddaughter, Barbara.

As your dad's dead, his entitlement, if it does turn out to be correct,

wouldn't go to your mum because she's not a blood relative of your father.

But it would pass down to yourself as a child.

So, can I ask you, do you have any other brothers or sisters?

It's just what the Heir Hunters were hoping for.

Barbara ties up the stem for Tony.

She confirms her surviving brother Peter and the children

of her late brother Paul will also be beneficiaries.

It's too early to say how much they will inherit

because the Heir Hunters are still unpicking the family tree.

It's just on two o'clock, and even the difficult to please Tony is chuffed.

So it looks fairly positive on the face of it.

But there's no time to waste.

With so many possible heirs, a rival company could easily

have found most of them already.

So Tony needs to keep up the pace.

He puts in a call to Massachusetts to contact Reginald's uncle Frederick's family.

-'Hello.'

-Oh, hello. Sorry to trouble you. Mrs Carey?

Would you be a relative?

"Just" his mother-in-law? That's more than enough. Hello.

Tony hits the jackpot.

He's got through to the mother in law of Warren Carey.

He is the grandson of Frederick, who was Reginald's uncle.

She confirms that Warren has two brothers...

Ronald and David, who are still living and therefore, heirs.

That makes seven living heirs on the Carey side. There may be more.

Thank you very much, indeed.

Bye.

That's Warren's mother-in-law.

Okey dokey.

It's late afternoon and the investigation into the Reginald Hicks' case is still in full flow.

They may have cracked a few heirs on the Carey side of the family but the

Hicks side is still wide open to the competition.

They need one last push to find a Hicks heir.

The research team are running the microfiches ragged,

searching through birth records when suddenly, just before 4.30pm...

there's a breakthrough.

Just through persistence and more and more research,

they've been able to find some beneficiaries actually in England.

Reginald had six uncles and aunts on the Hicks side of the family.

Tony has tracked down Ivy, the granddaughter of Arthur Hicks.

Jolly good. Well, that's all right.

-Hopefully, we'll make your week when we see you.

-It's great news.

Ivy is based in Cornwall, just over the border with Plymouth.

Tony arranges for travelling heir hunter Ewart to call on her

in the morning, but for some reason, Ewart's not that happy at having to overnight in Plymouth.

It's Valentine's Day, thanks, Tone.

Oh, yes, so it is. Well, I'm sorry about that, Ewart.

If you want, I'll ring up and apologise for you.

It's been a busy day for the team at Frasers and they've found

at least nine heirs before competing Heir Hunters.

But Neil thinks they've barely scratched the surface of the sprawling Carey-Hicks families.

Maternal side is still

early stages.

We've solved two stems in America

but they're not complete yet.

The race to track down all the heirs will continue in the morning, but

right now, Ewart's feeling a little resentful about the call of duty.

This is what I've resorted to on Valentine's Day.

Spending the night by myself on Valentine's Day in a hotel in Plymouth.

Every day, people pass away having lost touch with family.

Often they leave a legacy, but with no relatives on hand,

the money sits in the bank until someone can claim the cash.

Could you be due an inheritance?

John Goring passed away in Welwyn Garden City

in Hertfordshire in 2006.

He was just 55 when he died, leaving the huge sum of £85,000.

Are you related to John?

Do you someone who is?

Robert Hayes Moore died in Derby on 19th October 2005, at the age of 73,

leaving a small fortune of £25,000.

Are you a member of Robert's family?

Could you be in line to inherit his cash?

Albinas Dulinskas passed away in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

He was 81 when he died, leaving a tidy sum of £25,000.

Are you a relative? If so, you could be entitled to his money.

If you do know any of these people, please look at our website.

When the chase is on, the Frasers team are never sure where the hunt will take them. While some families

prove to be far flung and prolific, needing days of research, others

have a tree drawn up and heirs signed before the morning is out.

One thing every case has in common, though, is the amount of energy the Heir Hunters throw at it.

-Morning, John.

-Hello.

This was certainly what happened when the team took on

the investigation of the estate of Norman Struebig three months ago.

What's it say? Struebig?

Struebig. Struebig.

Norman Struebig was 79 when he died in 2006.

He had lived in this sheltered accommodation in Haywards Heath.

Quirky or strange names are always popular with the Heir Hunters

because the more unique a name, the easier it is to trace.

It makes the research much easier for us, much quicker, but it also invites in a lot of competition

and we may find on this estate that we have a lot of competition working against us.

So they need to get researchers on to this as soon as possible.

Do you want to take that case?

Partner Charles Fraser gives the job to case manager Marcus Herbert.

Struebig - never even heard of it before.

It's not Welsh.

I would say it's Dutch. Something like that, but what do I know?

Nothing actually, not at this time of the morning. But there you go.

Partner Neil Fraser can think of several good reasons for looking into the Struebig estate.

There's a probate for the mother.

Now, the mother didn't die too long ago, but when she died,

she left an estate of £165,000,

but as we think Norman is an only child,

we're fairly confident that this £165,000 would pass down to him.

So the Heir Hunters know that Norman had some money at some point,

but the question is... did he keep hold of it?

The team start targeting the name

Struebig in the basic birth and marriage records they have on file.

In the peace and quiet of a Sussex village, another Fraser employee.

Travelling heir hunter Bob Smith is ready to get in on the action.

-Hello, Bob.

-Hello, Charles.

-How are you?

-I'm OK. Yeah.

-Fighting fit and raring to go.

-Good.

Actually, you're close to Haywards Heath.

Yeah. I'm very close.

-So is Paul Barratt.

-No, no, no, no.

-So you're closer?

-Paul Barratt lives in Surrey, up in Leatherhead.

He's twice the distance.

OK. I'll send you to Haywards Heath.

Yes. Yes.

We're going to somewhere in Sussex.

Bob Smith's job is to collect Norman Struebig's death certificate.

Frasers are hoping that the informant and addresses listed on

the document will reveal vital clues in the hunt for Norman's family.

He is one of a group of satellite agents working for Frasers throughout the UK.

They spend each Thursday hunting down clues.

With Bob Smith collecting the death certificate, Charles rings Bob Barratt

-to get him to collect the birth certificate.

-Hi, Bob.

-It's Charles again.

-Hello, Charles.

-I'm going to send you to get the birth on Struebig.

-Right.

And I think it's more likely to be actually in the Harrowgate Register Office,

-which is Wood Green.

-OK.

Back in the office, Marcus is already feeling the pressure.

Oh, God, I want to go home.

He knows that competing firms will be hot on his heels and when it comes to creating the family tree

he can't find the wood for all the Struebigs.

Struebig is more common than you think.

There's loads of them in the London area.

We don't know what families they're attached to at the moment.

Our lot are born in Holborn/Islington.

-There's a load of others born in Holborn/Islington.

-It's 8.15am.

Marcus decides to sit down with colleague John to create

a huge family tree of the Struebigs they found and then eliminate them one by one.

Sorry. Let's just get it down so we know what we're doing.

There's an Edna.

Stick Edna down somewhere.

In a bid to cut down the number of Struebigs, Marcus sends a researcher

to Islington Register Office.

This is where the majority of the births and marriages in the Struebig name are registered.

The Register's databases are more detailed and he's hoping it will speed the process of elimination.

If I can do that and knock some of them off and attach to other families. Yeah?

Whilst John and Marcus get down to eliminating Struebigs, the team have already traced

Norman's birth and can now confirm that his parents were

Albert and Elsie Young and that they were married in Islington in 1924.

On the maternal side, they have found that although Elsie

had a brother and a sister, they died with no children.

Having eliminated the Youngs, it's all up to the Struebigs.

It's bang on nine o'clock.

Travelling heir hunter Bob Smith

arrives at the Haywards Heath Register Office to order up Norman's death certificate.

The Fraser team is hoping the person who registered the death is a relative, but they'll have

to wait for the bureaucratic wheels to turn before they find that out.

In London, Marcus is still eliminating Struebigs.

Hello, mate. Right. Well, Rose and Lilian is wrong.

Yeah. And also,

William George, born in Holborn in 1900.

And he has something to smile about.

On the maternal side, the Struebig side of the family,

I've identified an aunt and identified a marriage for her.

Hopefully there'll be children off of it and hopefully it'll be up to date within half an hour.

I'm positive of it.

So Marcus may have found an heir.

It seems that Norman had an aunt Florence who married Thomas Stanes.

They had a daughter. Doris Florence Stanes, born in 1923.

If she's still alive, she'll be Norman's cousin and heir.

So, we're on it. We've got somebody we're looking for who could quite conceivably still be alive.

So the office team are relieved to have found a possible heir and in Haringey, travelling heir hunter

-Bob Barratt has some news.

-Hello.

-Hello, Marcus.

-Hello, mate. All right.

Yep. Right. I'm really impressed with Haringey.

-It's a busy place and yet they manage to produce certificates in about ten minutes.

-Oh, right.

-I wish they were all like that.

-Yeah.

It seems, however, their worst fears have been realised.

I don't know whether you're aware, there might be competition.

-Apparently this is the second request for the certificate this morning.

-Ah, right.

I'll speak to you later.

Cheers. Bye.

Well, the competition might have to run to catch the Fraser boys.

Stanes spelt without an "I" is another unusual name.

Researcher Derek Curwin has managed to track down

Norman's cousin Doris Stanes by doing a search on the internet.

Ireland.

My good friend here has found that the cousin of the deceased is now in Portrush in Northern Ireland.

It seems Marcus has found his first heir.

So, she's quite elderly but she sounds like an educated person.

She was a lecturer at a university in Ulster, or something.

So I'm going to give her a call now.

Hello. Is that Doris Stanes?

Oh, hello there. I'm so sorry to trouble you.

My name is Marcus Herbert.

It concerns the family name of Struebig.

Struebig, that's it.

In just one phone call, Marcus has found out a wealth of information

from Norman's cousin Doris Stanes.

What looked like a huge family of possibly 30 or 40 beneficiaries

just on this one side of the family, Marcus has now managed

to eliminate off quite a few and it's down to just two beneficiaries.

It's quite good news for us, really.

It seems that Albert, Norman's uncle,

had five brothers and sisters, but only three of them had offspring.

Albert had Norman. His sister Florence had Doris,

and another sister, Doris, had a daughter called Jennifer.

Bye-bye.

Yes.

How about that?

With all of the aunts and uncles confirmed deceased, it appears that

Doris and Jennifer are now the sole heirs to Norman's estate.

That's what we want,

so I'm chuffed.

So I can sit back and relax for ten minutes now.

But Marcus doesn't have time to crow too loudly.

The competition is still on the case so they need to get to the final heir fast.

In Haywards Heath, Bob Smith has collected the death certificate.

Thank you very much, indeed. Thank you. Bye-bye.

He phones it into Marcus.

-How are you, mate?

-I'm OK. And you?

-Yeah. I'm all right. It's up to date.

-Oh, is it? Where?

We've got a cousin in Reading, who's married to a doctor.

And we've got a first cousin who's about 84

and she's living in Portrush.

I'll give you the details anyway.

He had Down's Syndrome.

Oh. Right.

So, obviously, maybe his parents died, he ended up in a home.

If Norman was living in a care home for a long time, most of his fortune will have been eaten up by the fees.

This will affect the value of this case.

But because the case has made quick progress, the team decide to let the investigation run its course.

Researcher Derek has got the contact for Jennifer...

-Norman's cousin and the final heir.

-Thank you.

Marcus is on the phone to her now, but will he have got there before any rival Heir Hunters?

The reason I'm ringing is I've just been speaking to your cousin Doris Stanes in Ireland.

We're trying to find members of the Struebig family.

I have a colleague of mine who is out on the road at the moment and I wonder

whether it would be at all possible to make an appointment with yourself to come and see you regarding this?

It's Marcus' lucky day.

They agree to see Bob Barratt.

It's only 10.15am and not only has the case been solved,

but Marcus has spoken to both heirs.

He has every reason to be pleased with the result.

We've got the area here anyway.

Take it from there.

I'm going to see Mrs Peabody.

It's just after lunch and Bob Barratt's arrived

at the home of Jennifer Peabody, Norman Struebig's cousin and heir.

-Mr Peabody.

-Mr Barratt. Hi.

Nice to meet you. Thanks very much.

-I'm a few minutes early.

-That's fine.

-Excellent.

-OK. Hello.

-Hello, Mrs Peabody. Thanks very much.

-Come in.

-Please come in.

-Thank you.

In the end, Bob Barratt did get there before the competition.

For Jennifer Peabody, it seems the inheritance was a surprise,

but Norman wasn't unknown to her.

I probably haven't seen Norman since I was about 15.

He was quite a tall young man and slim with quite a narrow head.

He wasn't at all like a...

his physique wasn't at all like a typical Down's person.

Yes, I can visualise him quite well.

Despite all the Heir Hunters' hard work, Jennifer decided

she would put in her own claim for her cousin Norman Struebig's estate.

Marcus is philosophical.

Brilliant case.

The research went extremely well.

Unfortunately, the family really decided to go it alone, I think.

But at least the Peabodys know what happened to cousin Norman.

Some years ago, we did make some efforts to find out where he was but we got nowhere...

and I rather think that we thought that he had died.

Yes. That's it.

I think we're both quite astonished.

Yes. It's sad.

-Feel sad.

-That no relatives or apparent next of kin and you know,

sort of dying on your own in a hospital or nursing home.

No visitors...presumably.

So it's a bit sad, really. Yeah.

The Heir Hunters have been following the case of Reginald Hicks who lived in this house in Plymouth.

He died leaving an estate which the Heir Hunters have valued at around £200,000.

They've already contacted nine heirs, mainly in America, but it's just the tip of the iceberg.

They are investigating both the mother and the father's sides of the family and this is no small task.

Seven, eight, nine kids there.

-Plus five off his first marriage.

-He's a busy boy.

14 children. That's not bad for a butcher, is it?

It's 9am on day two of the hunt and senior researcher Gareth Langford

has just received the death certificate for one of Reginald's uncles, also named Reginald.

This was Reginald Carey, which is correct.

It appears to be a witness, R A Carey, son, which we didn't know about.

So Reginald Carey had a son called R A Carey,

who is Reginald Hicks' cousin.

If R A Carey had any children, they could be potential heirs.

The Fraser team have already found seven heirs

on the Carey side of the family -

all distant cousins of Reginald Hicks living in the US.

If R A Carey did have offspring,

they could be the first UK-based heirs on the Carey side.

But Gareth needs to find them first.

And while he's on a roll...

Neil.

..others are eating them.

Having a little mothers' meeting in the corner there.

This is serious business we're talking here, Gareth!

In Plymouth, morning tea couldn't be further from the mind of travelling heir hunter Ewart.

I'm gutted. Absolutely gutted.

He's supposed to be on his way to sign Ivy Wayers,

Reginald Hicks' cousin and an heir, but he's going nowhere fast.

Malfunction in the system.

What does that mean?

Instead, he's off to get a hire car.

Let's hope any rivals don't pip him to the post.

At least I got a new car.

10.40. The appointment was set for ten o'clock.

40 minutes late at this precise moment.

And I've probably got about another 20 minutes' drive so I'll probably be about an hour late.

I've notified the client anyway.

Back in the office, Gareth's hard work has paid off.

Reginald's cousin R A Carey

was called Robert, and Gareth has found he did have children.

He's even found the contact for the youngest son, Christopher Carey.

As the son of a cousin,

Christopher is a cousin once removed and that makes him an heir.

But will he be home and has the competition got there before him?

Hello, Mr Carey?

Hello, Mr Carey.

Sorry to trouble you. Hopefully you can help.

I'm ringing from central London.

I'm representing a company of probate researchers.

We trace missing heirs and beneficiaries.

I'm hoping that you'd be Christopher R Carey, son of the late Robert Anthony Carey.

-Oh, good. Well, how is that?

-In Cornwall,

Ewart has arrived at Ivy's house.

Her grandfather was Arthur Hicks, Reginald's uncle, making Ivy his cousin once removed.

Hello. Mrs Wayers? Hello.

My name's Ewart Lynsey from Fraser and Fraser.

The estate is worth £200,000 and there are nine heirs already found.

Her share could be in the region of 20,000.

It looks like Ewart's long two days have been worth it.

-Thank you very much. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Ivy agrees to sign to Frasers,

but there's a sad note to the legacy.

My brother said that a gentleman was coming about our lost grandfather.

And I...

couldn't understand, not really, because we've never heard anything

about him, except for he went off to America.

It seems that Arthur Hicks abandoned Ivy's grandmother and her children for a new life in the US.

My mother was always crying that she could not find her daddy.

And that always hurt us...very much.

And I said to the gentleman...

if my mother was living, if there is anything, I would give it all to her.

There's my mum.

Very pretty woman.

She had such a heartache at not finding her dad.

For Ivy, the news of the inheritance is obviously bittersweet.

Back in the office, the team are confident they found

all the heirs on Reginald's father's side of the family.

I don't think there's going to be anybody else on the paternal side

of the family, for Ewart to be dealing with.

I think the rest of it is going to be up here in Ashford in Kent.

While Ewart's been with Ivy, 275 miles away,

in Ashford, Kent, another travelling heir hunter, Dave Hadley,

is on his way to see an heir from the Carey side of the family.

Hello. Mr Christopher Carey?

David Hadley from Fraser and Fraser.

There's my card for you.

How do you do?

I'm very well, thank you. And you?

-Fine. Fine.

-Christopher Carey's grandfather was Reginald Carey,

Reginald Hicks' uncle, making him a cousin once removed.

Can he fill in any more blanks on the Carey family tree?

-I know absolutely nothing about my father.

-Really?

Absolutely nothing. I never knew him.

How old were you then when he left?

Four or five.

I just didn't know him.

Oh, he was an electrician.

-Right.

-That's it.

Do you know when he died?

Yeah. I didn't actually,

until your man on the phone reminded me.

-Oh, right.

-'71. My mum was in America visiting my sister and I was

opening the letters to make sure there was nothing there

cos she was over there for three months or four months or something,

and it came through that he had died.

I told her

when she got home...

He'd been out of our lives for, I don't know,

30 years, 20-something years, and she cried her eyes out for two days.

I've never seen anything like it.

Yeah. Yeah. It's not unusual.

-It's not unusual.

-Cor, dear.

That's what love does to you, you see.

I think it must have been.

It seems that Christopher's story

tragically mirrors that of the other heir, Ivy.

One may be a Carey and the other a Hicks,

but both of them are first cousins once removed of Reginald Hicks.

And both of them came from a family abandoned by an itinerant father.

Dave Hadley leaves Christopher the paperwork to think it all over.

He's a very nice man.

He is the gentleman that we were looking for and I've got all the information from him that I require.

He wants to consider his position as to whether

he wants to become a client of ours,

which is fine with us, and I hope that he'll contact us very shortly.

It's been a satisfying result for Frasers but it's not over yet.

I think we've probably found 50% to 75% of the beneficiaries at the moment, after two days of research.

We hope to have it tied up but it's going to take us maybe another week or two.

Although the case could be in the region of £200,000, there are so many heirs

that each share of the estate is likely to be small.

Christopher Carey is not complaining, though.

He can think of a few uses for the cash.

At least one ice-cream.

Possibly a pair of socks.

Or I'll go really wild and buy a new hat.

But further than that, my ambitions are a bit limited, I'm afraid.

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