0:00:02 > 0:00:06Heir hunters track down families of people who've died without leaving a will.
0:00:06 > 0:00:12They hand over thousands to long-lost relatives who had no idea they were in line for a windfall.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:28 > 0:00:36On today's show - the heir hunters' confidence is shaken with one of their hardest cases yet.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40It's like a flea biting away at the back of your neck all the time.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45And a woman discovers an astonishing truth about her father's past.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48My parents never told us he'd been married before. I didn't know.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53Plus, a list of unclaimed estates worth nearly £300,000.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Could you be entitled and have thousands of pounds coming your way?
0:01:04 > 0:01:10Every year, over 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14When no family is found, their money goes to the Government.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17That's when the heir hunting companies step in.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23They race against each other to be the first to track down any long lost relatives entitled to inherit.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Fraser and Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunters in Britain.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Nicki's the half sister.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35In its 33-year history, the company has tracked down over 50,000 heirs
0:01:35 > 0:01:40entitled to a wapping sum of over £100 million.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48It's 7.00am Thursday in Fraser and Fraser's central London office.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52It's a crucial time for the heir hunters as the Government has
0:01:52 > 0:01:56released the weekly list of those who've died with no known heirs.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Running the operation today is case manager Marcus Herbert,
0:02:02 > 0:02:07assisted by another case manager, Simon Grosvenor.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Marcus has looked down the Government's list and chosen a case to investigate.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19This is a case of Barbara Joyce Higgins, who died in Exeter in 2007, December.
0:02:19 > 0:02:26At the start of the case, everything about Barbara Higgins is a mystery, including the value of her estate.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35To start the ball rolling, Marcus looks on the electoral roll and finds out Barbara Higgins' last address.
0:02:35 > 0:02:42From this, he finds a phone number for a neighbour. It's old-fashioned detective work.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48Maybe this person knew Barbara Higgins and can give Marcus his first clue about her life.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51It may be 7.30 in the morning, but when Marcus
0:02:51 > 0:02:54has the bit between his teeth, there's no time like the present.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59I'm so sorry to catch you this time in the morning.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Well, no... What it is, I start at half seven.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05We actually start at seven, or just before.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10It's a stroke of luck for Marcus. He's managed to get hold of the only neighbour who knew
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Barbara Higgins well and she gives Marcus his first facts of the day.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18For us, we come across this sort of thing all the time really.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24You never know why somebody has decided to live their life as they do.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32Barbara Higgins spent her final years at this caravan site in Exeter.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37She was an only child and married Wilfred Higgins, a prop master at Borehamwood Studios.
0:03:37 > 0:03:45The couple had no children and were married for 25 years, until Wilfred's death in 1990.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Barbara spent the last 18 years of her life as a widow.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54But thank you ever so much for your time.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01- She's 86.- 86. All right.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Finding out Barbara Higgins' age is a real breakthrough for the team.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Simon will now be able to use this to help him find her birth record,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14and it's not the only piece of tantalising news that the neighbour has given Marcus.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Stock and shares and money in the bank.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Possibly worth between 50 to 100,000.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25We're going to fling ourselves with wild abandon at it cos it's worth doing.
0:04:29 > 0:04:35In order to find any heirs, the team will have to find Barbara Higgins' living blood relatives.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37To do this, they will have to
0:04:37 > 0:04:39flesh out her family tree,
0:04:39 > 0:04:44working out, generation by generation, who's in line to inherit.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47There will be other heir hunting companies working on this
0:04:47 > 0:04:50so Frasers need to get a move on if they want to be first to crack it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:58But by knowing Barbara Higgins' age, the team may be one step ahead of the competition.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Using this, along with the maiden name on the Government website,
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Simon searches Fraser and Fraser's vast database of birth records.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13For a Barbara Draper, born in 1921.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14But there's a problem.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21We were told that she was about 86 when she died.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26So, ought to have been born in about 1921.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30We had a quick look, there are no births in 1921.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35There is a birth in 1920 in Ormskirk, which is not London, obviously.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39There is, however, one in Hemel Hampstead, in 1928,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42which would make her younger than everyone thought she was.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Then Hemel Hempstead is quite near Borehamwood.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49It's a toss-up between the wrong year in the right part
0:05:49 > 0:05:53of the country and the right year in the wrong part of the country.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Her husband worked at Borehamwood film studios.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02The team have a hunch it's more likely to be Hemel Hempstead.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08But hunches aren't good enough in this business, especially with the competition hot on your heels.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13Simon looks up marriage records to see if he can find another clue, and he's in luck.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18She got married in Barnet as Barbara J B Draper,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22which tied up with the birth of Barbara J B in Ormskirk.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25So the team were right to dig deeper.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Their hunch was actually wrong.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Because they can identify the right birth record for Barbara,
0:06:31 > 0:06:37the team now know she is the child of an Alice Forbes and Henry O Draper.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41The name Henry O is easy for Simon to trace.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47Between 1865 and 1920, there are only two births for Henry O,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and the other one died aged 32, so it's not that one.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55From their records, the team work out Henry Draper married Barbara's
0:06:55 > 0:06:59mother, Alice Forbes, in 1916, when he was 35-years-old.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04This would have been quite a late marriage for that era,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08so Marcus asks Simon to check to see if Henry had married before.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Henry O appears to get married for the first time
0:07:17 > 0:07:20in September, 1910, in Ormskirk.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25To Sarah J Wilde.
0:07:25 > 0:07:31Marcus was right, Henry had been married before, to a Sarah Wilde in 1910.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Sarah died a year later.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Now the real problem for the team is that
0:07:37 > 0:07:43it's going to be nearly impossible for them to work out whether Sarah and Henry had any children.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47That's because the birth records from this era don't give enough information.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53Could well be that soon after the marriage, there was a birth, or it could well
0:07:53 > 0:07:56be that she died in childbirth.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57Did the kid survive?
0:07:59 > 0:08:02If there were any children from Henry's first marriage,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07as half siblings, they would be entitled to all of Barbara Higgins' estate.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12The team will have to speak to a family member to find out more.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15But in the meantime they take a punt.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18It's a risky one but they have no other option.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24They assume Barbara Higgins has no half siblings, and they continue to search for more distant relations.
0:08:31 > 0:08:37Simon looks up the name Henry Oliver in the national population survey taken in 1891.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40And he strikes gold.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Father, Henry.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47Had one, two, three, four, had five siblings.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52The tree now shows that Barbara Higgins' father, Henry,
0:08:52 > 0:08:58had five brothers and sisters Albert, Dinah, Ada, Maud and Ethel.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01These siblings would be Barbara Higgins' aunts and uncles.
0:09:01 > 0:09:07But as all of them were born before 1900, they're not likely to be alive.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10If the team can find their descendants, they'll be the heirs.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14So Barbara's paternal side of the family tree is becoming clear.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17But Barbara's mother side is still a mystery.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It was lucky that the father is Henry O - it meant
0:09:24 > 0:09:27we could find him on the census and identify his birth.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30The other side, Forbes, the mother's Alice, don't know her age,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34don't know when she's born, she doesn't appear to be born in Ormskirk.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Can't do much with that until we can get her age and her father's name.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43To get more information about Alice Forbes, the team need to get
0:09:43 > 0:09:47her marriage certificate and her daughter's birth certificate,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51both of which will be held at the nearest register office to Ormskirk,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55220 miles away from the Frasers' office.
0:09:57 > 0:10:03But as well as its research team, Fraser and Fraser employs a squadron of travelling heir hunters...
0:10:03 > 0:10:04Thanks a lot, mate.
0:10:04 > 0:10:10..who spend their Thursdays at the wheel of their cars ready to go wherever the search takes them.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Their job is to follow up new leads and sniff out fresh clues.
0:10:13 > 0:10:20It's highly competitive, as they need to get to any heirs and make a deal before their rivals.
0:10:20 > 0:10:28Marcus calls up Manchester-based Dave Mansell and asks him to find certificates on the Higgins case.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32OK, so that birth to start with.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36- I'll head off for the if you want.- OK, mate, yeah, it'd be nice to.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44Whilst Dave embarks on his paper trail, Marcus and Simon set to work
0:10:44 > 0:10:49trying to find any living relatives from Barbara Higgins' father's side.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52They start by investigating Henry's brother, Albert
0:10:52 > 0:10:55and work out that he had two children.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58He had a daughter, Phyllis, and a son, Kenneth.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02She was born in 1912, he was born in 1913 - they're almost certainly dead now.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Phyllis and Kenneth may be dead, but Marcus is hoping they'll have
0:11:06 > 0:11:10children who, if alive, will be the team's first heirs.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15It looks like the electoral roll has come up trumps.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20- The team are closing in.- Brilliant. We checked the old address that Kenneth Draper,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23the first cousin, deceased, was there when he died in 1986.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28And you've got there the name of a wife and a son, by the looks of it.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- Stephen Draper.- Stephen Draper is the son of Kenneth.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And therefore, Barbara Higgins' first cousin once removed.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And the team's first heir.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Feeling quite enthusiastic now!
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Things might be going well in the office,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48but they're not going so well for Dave Mansell out on the road.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50It shows up there, look,
0:11:50 > 0:11:55- on the site.- Oh yes.- And yet, Preston, Liverpool, Southport and Wigan, can't find it.- Can't find it!
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Right, neither certificate is here.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06They've done some ringing round and the birth certificate is held at the Southport Registry Office.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09But the marriage, just can't find it anywhere.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14Without Barbara Higgins' birth certificate, or her parents' marriage certificate,
0:12:14 > 0:12:20the team can get no further with their research on the maternal side of Barbara's family tree.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Dave informs the office of his bad news.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- Neither are here.- Oh.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31And whilst he waits for his next instruction, he uses his spare time wisely.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35- Do you know where there is a cafe? Do you know where there is a cafe?- Er...
0:12:37 > 0:12:42As Dave enjoys his cuppa, in the office, Marcus's good mood is fading fast.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48He's found a current phone number for Stephen, but it's bringing him no joy.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54No answer. He was born in 1955, he's at work, isn't he?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Even if they do find a family member to speak to,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Marcus has now got a nagging doubt in the back of his mind.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04What if Henry's father did have another child?
0:13:04 > 0:13:07The other problem that we've got is the fact
0:13:07 > 0:13:11that the father, the deceased, was married before he married the mother.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13So it's entirely possible that there
0:13:13 > 0:13:15were issue off of that.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20So everything that we were doing this morning would come to nothing if that were the case.
0:13:20 > 0:13:26Though the day started on a roll, the research has now reached a standstill.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34Coming up - the heir hunters track down a possible heir, but will she be the person they're looking for?
0:13:34 > 0:13:39Was your mother the daughter of George Robert Brown and Dinah Draper?
0:13:39 > 0:13:43And who is the mysterious man entitled to the fortune of a GI bride?
0:13:45 > 0:13:49And he actually gets 33% of the total estate.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52And I've absolutely no idea who he is.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01There are cases that the professional heir hunters find impossible to solve and
0:14:01 > 0:14:05sometimes it takes a member of the public to provide a crucial clue.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Chung Chim So died in Hackney, London, in 2004.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Chung was 77 years old and left an estate worth £75,000.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Are you related to Chung?
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Do you know someone who is?
0:14:21 > 0:14:27Elizabeth Stickley died in Hampshire in 2004 at the good old age of 96.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32Elizabeth left no will and her £37,000 was taken by the Treasury.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Are you part of her family?
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Could you claim back her cash?
0:14:37 > 0:14:44Reginald Stroud died in Woolwich, London, aged 84, leaving an estate worth £30,000.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Did you know Reginald? Are you entitled to his money?
0:14:47 > 0:14:50If you have any information that could solve these cases,
0:14:50 > 0:14:56then take a look at our website:
0:15:05 > 0:15:11In central London, the team of following the case of Barbara Higgins, who died in Exeter,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16leaving an estate worth an estimated £75,000.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19After failing to get hold of one heir...
0:15:19 > 0:15:26My attempts to speak to any heirs on his case this morning are pretty dismal, really.
0:15:26 > 0:15:32..the team have gone back to the drawing board and have started searching for fresh leads.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44Using their birth records, they work out that Henry's sister, Dinah, had a daughter called Freda Brown,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48who would be Barbara Higgins' first cousin.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Simon looks up Freda Brown in the electoral roll, but can't find her.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56He then checks the marriage records and could be in luck.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59I've got a marriage on Freda.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03To a Harold C Birch.
0:16:04 > 0:16:091942 in Southport.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13And I found Freda and Harold living in Norfolk.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16They're there until 2005 and then they disappear.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Neither of them appear to have died. I think they've gone into a home.
0:16:20 > 0:16:27With the possibility of 88-year-old Freda being in a home, but no idea where that might be,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Marcus looks to see if Freda and Harold had any children.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36And the news is good. He finds a birth record for her daughter, Nadine.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39And her phone number.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Hello, is that Miss Birch?
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Hello, Miss Birch. I'm so sorry to trouble you.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47I'm ringing from a company in London called Fraser and Fraser.
0:16:47 > 0:16:54We're probate researchers. Was your mother the daughter of George Robert Brown and Dinah Draper?
0:16:54 > 0:16:59She was? Great. OK, well it concerns your grandmother's family.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Now Marcus knows for sure he's got a family member on the phone, he's
0:17:03 > 0:17:07hoping he can get contact details and information about other heirs.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12Has your mother kept in contact over the years with any of her cousins at all?
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Or their children, perhaps?
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Nadine remembers her great aunt Ada, who married a Thomas Parkinson.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24They had a son, Arthur, who is now dead.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26But he had a son, Peter, who is alive.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And therefore, a potential heir.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Nadine then tells Marcus about her Aunty Dorothea, her mother's sister,
0:17:35 > 0:17:40who had three daughters, Brenda, Sheila, and Celia.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Have you got addresses for them?
0:17:44 > 0:17:48I'm only thinking, I've got a colleague of mine in Southport today.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52The call is going brilliantly for Marcus, with heirs Celia and
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Sheila just a short trip away from travelling heir hunter Dave Mansell.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02I think that's just about it, really.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Nadine throws a spanner in the works.
0:18:04 > 0:18:10She mentions an Aunt Hilda, from the same generation as her grandparents.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15Auntie Hilda. Oooh. Haven't got her.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Marcus thinks the team know all the family members from that generation.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24He decides that Nadine may have got Auntie Hilda confused with an old family friend.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27It's what you said before, people in those days were
0:18:27 > 0:18:33a bit older than you, you always referred to them sort of in that kind of way.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Marcus presses for no more information about Auntie Hilda
0:18:37 > 0:18:41and concentrates on the heirs he's found.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46This is brilliant. She sorted out most of that side of the family, which is great for me.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49It saved us a lot of work. That's one side.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53And the great thing about it is, as well, that we've got Dave Mansell
0:18:53 > 0:18:59in the Southport area and there's at least three people that he can be going to see.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04Marcus should be feeling happy, but he's still got nagging doubts.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09There is still the problem, were there any children from the father's
0:19:09 > 0:19:13first wife, who died very young, about a year after they were married.
0:19:13 > 0:19:21It's possible that they had a child very quickly, or she died in childbirth and the child survived.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Probably, there's not going to be anything.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30But it's one of these things, it's like a sort of flea biting away at the back of your neck all the time.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Coming up -
0:19:31 > 0:19:34the heir hunters' hard work finally pays off.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37You, Sheila,
0:19:37 > 0:19:43- and Brenda, are three of those heirs. - Good grief!
0:19:43 > 0:19:44Have I?
0:19:44 > 0:19:47But was Marcus' right to worry.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Strange turn of events.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00Sometimes it only takes a couple of calls to get to the bottom of an unsolved case.
0:20:02 > 0:20:08But sometimes a case is so difficult, it takes years of research before clues come to light.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13A particularly difficult case was the estate of Norah Brinkerhoff,
0:20:13 > 0:20:18who died in 2001, leaving approximately £200,000.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Norah's estate was not dealt with by Fraser and Fraser but
0:20:23 > 0:20:28by a company called Census Searches, that is altogether different.
0:20:28 > 0:20:34Census Searches is run from a family home in the leafy suburbs of Burgess Hill.
0:20:35 > 0:20:41In charge is Mary Teviet, who is often assisted by her husband, Charles.
0:20:41 > 0:20:47I know, about ringing up West Yorkshire to find out where the Newby Hall archives have gone to.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- I'll do that.- Today.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51- Yes.- Thank you very much.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56We share things, we share the microfuse readers, we share the computers,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59and sometimes we get cross with each other!
0:20:59 > 0:21:04Also try and start sorting me out a bridge partner tomorrow night now she's gone sick.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08- OK.- Please.- Yes.- Have you been watching the telly when you talked to me?
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Well, I might! Not really, out of the window, actually!
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Charles and Mary are not your average Joe Public.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21In fact, they're a lord and lady, although they don't stand on ceremony.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23If you're not "gorblimey",
0:21:23 > 0:21:29it might help a little bit, but then, very often, one wouldn't say one was Lord or Lady Teviet.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33Charles and Mary share an interest in genealogy,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37and for the past 30 years have been making a living from heir hunting.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42It's like a form of detective work without having any hassle with criminals.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47Whether it's cos we're both only children and we are interested in other people's families, and
0:21:47 > 0:21:50that other people's lives are always interesting.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52- Well, they are.- So, that's...
0:21:52 > 0:21:56I mean, they can be boring, but basically they're interesting!
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Mary Teviet was delighted to land the case of Norah Brinkerhoff.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08I was contacted about three or four years ago from a trust
0:22:08 > 0:22:14in America, I think it was Arizona, and they wanted me to find anyone who's related to somebody called
0:22:14 > 0:22:19Norah Brinkerhoff who'd gone out there and married an American serviceman just after the war.
0:22:19 > 0:22:27All that Mary knew about Norah Brinkerhoff was that she was born in 1910 in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31In her early 30s, Norah had met an American GI
0:22:31 > 0:22:35who'd been based near her home in the Second World War.
0:22:35 > 0:22:42Norah left her family and country in 1946 and went to America to marry him.
0:22:42 > 0:22:49Norah never had any children and died many years after her husband without leaving a will.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55In the early 1940s, over 1 million American GIs were
0:22:55 > 0:23:02stationed in Britain and over 70,000 British women sailed to America to marry their GI boyfriends.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07'British wives, eager to join GI husbands in America, demand space on boats.'
0:23:09 > 0:23:13We don't want to go for America for all the glamour that we see on the movies.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15We want to go to be with them, we love them.
0:23:17 > 0:23:24Alden Ferguson, from the RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre, explains the appeal of the GIs.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27The GI was the colloquial name given to American servicemen because
0:23:27 > 0:23:32all their kit had GI written on it, standing for "Government Issue".
0:23:32 > 0:23:38They were young, they all knew how to dance, they were great at jitterbugging.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It was the first time they'd left home and they were a group of guys together,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44they were out to have a good time
0:23:44 > 0:23:52and the girls were attracted to them big-time and a lot of romances came from that.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Mary was impressed by the courage of Norah
0:23:54 > 0:23:59who must have left behind everyone she knew to start a new life in America.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03I think that she might have been slightly dazzled by it and obviously
0:24:03 > 0:24:10decided that it was really worthwhile making that very long journey across the Atlantic to get back and find...
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Whatever he was, Sergeant Brinkerhoff!
0:24:12 > 0:24:16There are few details about what happened to Norah once she arrived
0:24:16 > 0:24:22in America and it is thought she never came back to the UK.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27When she died, Norah's estate was worth around £200,000.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33As she hadn't left a will, Mary was asked to track down any relatives in the UK.
0:24:35 > 0:24:41First thing that I did was to get her birth certificate to find out when she was born, and the names of
0:24:41 > 0:24:47her parents, and also found out that she had no brothers and sisters, and from that I then had to go
0:24:47 > 0:24:52back to her, the brothers and sisters of her father and mother, of which there were quite a few.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Mary plotted out Norah's family tree,
0:24:56 > 0:25:01working out that her parents were Ellen Houghton and John Porter.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06Ellen had six brothers and sisters and John had five brothers.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09The children of these aunts and uncles and their children
0:25:09 > 0:25:15would be Norah's blood relatives and entitled heirs, if only she could find them.
0:25:15 > 0:25:2118 months ago, Mary managed to track down Bob Porter in Telford, Shropshire.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24My father was Norah's first cousin,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28and my father actually died in 1990.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Bob is one of seven children and Bob's father is also one of seven,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38which means that Bob's entitled to only a very small percentage of Norah's estate.
0:25:38 > 0:25:45But there's a mystery man on the family tree who's entitled to a whole lot more.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49In the letter, the tracing of the family tree, there's one guy
0:25:49 > 0:25:55on there called Cyril, and he actually gets 33% of the total estate.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57And I have absolutely no idea who he is.
0:25:57 > 0:26:04Cyril is entitled to a much larger sum than Bob because he is the only child of an only child.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06If only Mary can find him.
0:26:06 > 0:26:13He would however by now be in his, well in his mid-80s, because his mother was married in 1923 and he was
0:26:13 > 0:26:19born within the next couple of years, but all the records that one actually pulled up on the computer
0:26:19 > 0:26:23and on other methods have so far failed to find him.
0:26:23 > 0:26:29And of course once you fail to find a missing link, it does rather hold up the distribution of the estate,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33which is rather irritating for all the other people who are entitled to their share.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38If Cyril can't be found after every possible lead has been exhausted, then his share of the estate
0:26:38 > 0:26:45will go back into the pot, and Bob and his sisters will be entitled to a larger share.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49But before this can happen, Mary still has one avenue to chase.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Whilst Mary continues her hunt for Cyril, Bob and his sister Pam try to
0:26:56 > 0:27:02find out more about the GI brides and what life must have been like for their father's cousin, Norah.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05The trip to the RAF Museum in Cosford
0:27:05 > 0:27:12gives them the opportunity of seeing fighter planes and a reconstruction of a typical 1940s family home.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15It's the kind of thing Norah would have lived in.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Sort of radio she would have heard the news on.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Yeah, you could just them imagine, can't you? Just huddled down there.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25Medicated toilet roll!
0:27:27 > 0:27:28Say no more!
0:27:30 > 0:27:34Back at Mary's house, a new search through old copies of the electoral roll
0:27:34 > 0:27:38has given Mary a number she had previously overlooked.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42It's for a man called Cyril Abbott living in London.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45I'm going to ask him if his middle name is Howard.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Oh, good afternoon.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49I don't know if you could help me.
0:27:49 > 0:27:56Am I telephoning a number where a Mr Cyril H Abbott lives?
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Oh, you're his carer? I see.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01The carer goes to get Cyril.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05But will he be the missing Cyril that Mary has been looking for?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Norah, she was originally...
0:28:07 > 0:28:12She was originally Norah Porter.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Is that ringing a bell now? It does ring a bell.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Cos I believe that you were the...
0:28:17 > 0:28:21You are the son of Louise Howard-Abbott, is that right?
0:28:21 > 0:28:23That's correct.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28That means that you are related to Norah Porter. You were a cousin...
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Cyril's answers convince Mary that he is the cousin of Norah.
0:28:33 > 0:28:34Bye-bye.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38What a bonus!
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Cyril is actually still alive.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43He is the right man.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48He did... His job, or his work, was in Brussels.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52And he does remember, he remembers more things
0:28:52 > 0:29:00perhaps in the past now than he does, cos obviously he was born in 1924, so he will be coming up to 84 this year.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05But he is, shall I say, alive and kicking, perhaps?
0:29:05 > 0:29:10But I really am very thrilled that one's actually found him and that he's still with us.
0:29:11 > 0:29:17It's a massive stroke of luck for Mary. She's found another of Norah Brinkerhoff's heirs.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20But it's bad news for Bob and his sisters.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24Their share of the estate will not be topped up by Cyril's.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26It will remain as small as ever.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31But, for Bob and his sisters, the whole experience was never about the money.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34No, I think it's been a very interesting experience, actually.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36I mean, the money's been secondary.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40It's been nice to find out some details about Norah.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43It's brought all the family a lot closer together because we've all
0:29:43 > 0:29:48had lots of discussions about it, so it's been a very interesting saga.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51Nice to have all the sisters together.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55We must do this more often, so let's just say cheers to Nora.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57Cheers!
0:29:58 > 0:30:03Thanks to Mary's detective work, the £200,000 estate
0:30:03 > 0:30:08of Nora Brinkerhoff will be divided between over 30 heirs.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23In London, Heir Hunters Marcus Herbert and Simon Grosvenor
0:30:23 > 0:30:28are trying to track down the rightful beneficiaries of the £75,000 estate
0:30:28 > 0:30:31of the late Barbara Higgins.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37It is now 2:00pm, and travelling Heir Hunter Dave Mansell has just reached the home of his first heir.
0:30:43 > 0:30:49Peter Parkinson is the son of the late Arthur Parkinson who was Barbara Higgins' first cousin.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54Peter wants to know how he's related to the person whose money he's in line to inherit.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Henry Oliver Draper.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00He was married twice
0:31:00 > 0:31:06and there was a child of one of those marriages, and it's the child from one of those marriages of Henry.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08So you've never heard of this person?
0:31:08 > 0:31:10No, not at all.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The unexpected visit is a great excuse for Peter to
0:31:13 > 0:31:17take a trip down memory lane with some old family photos.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23These are a while ago - my father and great-grandparents, people born in 1860,
0:31:23 > 0:31:28my sister, my father driving a speedboat...
0:31:28 > 0:31:32Dave is interested in the photos, but he can't stop long.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34He's got Peter's cousins to visit.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38- I'm going to go and see Sheila and Celia after...- Are you?
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Yes, like you, they're heirs.
0:31:42 > 0:31:48Peter is in touch with his cousin, Celia, and shows Dave a photograph.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50That's Celia's mother and father.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54That's the mother on there, and although I have never seen this, that's my sister.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57Right.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Dave decides to take a photo with him.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04It may be helpful in convincing Celia to let him speak to her.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09The family history lesson over, Dave asks Peter to sign a contract with Frasers',
0:32:09 > 0:32:15enabling them to help him put in his claim for his share of Barbara Higgins' estate.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Dave heads off in high spirits and puts in a call to the office.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26- Hello.- Hi, are you all right? - Hello, mate, all right?
0:32:26 > 0:32:31I've seen Mr Parkinson, he signed up and I got documents of identification from him.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36- Good stuff.- We're off to see Celia and Sheila now.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39And Peter's feeling rather pleased, too.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44The money is almost irrelevant because there's only going to be £1,000-£2,000.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46I just find it very interesting.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50It's now 3pm and Dave has reached the house of his second heir.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55We're now going to see Celia Dale. She's a cousin
0:32:55 > 0:32:58of Mr Parkinson that we've just been to see.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05Celia is the daughter of the late Dorothea Brown who was a first cousin of Barbara Higgins.
0:33:05 > 0:33:11Celia is ex-directory, so Dave has not been able to call her in advance.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15But he's hoping the photograph from her cousin, Peter, will open doors.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19- You Celia?- I am.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23I was told, if I show you that photograph, you would let me in.
0:33:23 > 0:33:24I'd just been to see
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Peter Parkinson.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Yes, that's all right, come in.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33With the photograph working its magic, Dave's in from the cold.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35He now explains the reason for his visit.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40You, Sheila and Brenda are
0:33:40 > 0:33:42three of those heirs.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44So, who was it?
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I'll come to it all in due course and see if you know who it is.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49It's purely and simply...
0:33:49 > 0:33:51fascination, isn't it?
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Although Celia is more intrigued by the family history,
0:33:54 > 0:33:59she also wants to know how much she's going to be inheriting.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01Well, it's very nice if you only get...
0:34:01 > 0:34:04- Tuppence.- Precisely.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Plus the fact that I do find it very interesting.
0:34:07 > 0:34:14Dave goes through the inheritance paperwork with Celia and wends his merry way.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16Well, thank you very much.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20Very nice to have that knock on the door, I have to say.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23- Good, good.- Dave updates the office.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25I just signed Celia
0:34:25 > 0:34:27and I'm off to see Sheila now.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31- OK, mate. - Then that'll be it for the day.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36But the end of the day comes early for Dave, as Sheila isn't in.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Despite this, case manager Marcus is chuffed to bits.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42I think it's been a cracker today.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48We've got two signatures, we found most of the people we needed to find.
0:34:48 > 0:34:55As Marcus leaves the office on a high, an outstanding development is about to change everything.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00- I've never had contact. I mean, I've never met her.- You've never met her? - Never met her, no.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07Now it's your turn to play Heir Hunter.
0:35:07 > 0:35:13Do you have any clues that could solve any of these cases?
0:35:13 > 0:35:21Peter Evans died in Coventry in 2004, aged 62, leaving an estate worth £60,000.
0:35:21 > 0:35:22Are you related to Peter?
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Do you know anyone who is?
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Peggy Bateman died in London in 2006, aged 91.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33Leaving an estate worth £50,000.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37Is Peggy part of your family? Could you be entitled to Peggy's money?
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Gerald Ford died in Portsmouth and 2006, aged 78,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44leaving an estate worth £20,000.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Was Gerald one of your relatives?
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Do you know anyone who could claim his cash?
0:35:49 > 0:35:53If you have any information on any of these unsolved cases
0:35:53 > 0:35:56then take a look at our website for details of what to do next.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08In central London, it's one week after Fraser and Fraser started
0:36:08 > 0:36:14tracking down heirs to the estimated £75,000 estate of Barbara Higgins.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19The team were quick to work out Barbara Higgins' aunts and uncles,
0:36:19 > 0:36:24and this research led travelling Heir Hunter Dave Mansell to sign up two heirs.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29But there's always been a question mark over the number of children
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Barbara Higgins' father actually had.
0:36:35 > 0:36:42And today, Marcus has received a phone call from a family member that is planting more seeds of doubt.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47Yes, thanks, Mrs Hurd. I will contact Diana and see what she says.
0:36:47 > 0:36:48OK? Bye-bye.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55Very strange turn of events. I have just been phoned up by a lady called Sheila Hurd.
0:36:55 > 0:37:01She's a cousin once removed on the paternal side of Barbara Higgins' estate.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04She told me that she's run into a cousin of hers whilst out shopping in
0:37:04 > 0:37:10Southport and that the cousin is the daughter of her uncle, Harry.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14Marcus knows that Harry is often used as a nickname for Henry,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18and this leads him to an astonishing conclusion.
0:37:18 > 0:37:25The only Uncle Harry or Henry that I can see that she had, unless she's getting a bit confused,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29is a great-uncle, Henry Oliver Draper,
0:37:29 > 0:37:31who would be the father of the deceased.
0:37:31 > 0:37:38So, is this new cousin actually the daughter of Henry Draper and his first wife, Sara Wilde?
0:37:38 > 0:37:43This would make her Barbara Higgins' half-sister, and would mean she's the only one from
0:37:43 > 0:37:47Barbara's father's side of the family, entitled to any money.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Marcus needs to find out more.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54He digs out all the documents he has on Henry Draper and notices
0:37:54 > 0:37:58something on the death certificates that had slipped past him before.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01The mother was Alice Forbes,
0:38:01 > 0:38:06and the informant on the certificate is something Draper, the widow of the deceased.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11Looking at it, it's really badly written, so we thought
0:38:11 > 0:38:15it was possibly an A but badly written, but it could be a W or a H.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20The person who informed the authorities about Henry's death,
0:38:20 > 0:38:28is possibly not Barbara Higgins' mother, Alice Forbes, and definitely not his first wife, Sarah Wilde.
0:38:28 > 0:38:35But now, Marcus is wondering if Barbara Higgins' father, Henry Draper, actually had a third wife.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Spurred on, Marcus looks up marriage records for Henry Draper.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48And he finds out that he did indeed marry a third time, to a woman called Hilda.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55The name Hilda sounds vaguely familiar.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00Then Marcus remembers his conversation a week ago with Nadine.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04..Haven't got her...
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Things are now beginning to fall into place.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12Marcus had always been worried about the existence of a half sibling but
0:39:12 > 0:39:16he thought this would be the child of Henry's first wife, Sarah Wilde.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20Now it appears he was right to be concerned.
0:39:20 > 0:39:26Two half siblings do exist, Diana and Peter, but they're the children of Henry's third wife, Hilda.
0:39:26 > 0:39:32Travelling Heir Hunter Dave Mansell is called into action once again.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35He thought his work in Southport was done and dusted
0:39:35 > 0:39:39when he signed up two heirs, Peter Parkinson and Celia Dale.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44But now he's heading back to the same area, this time to meet
0:39:44 > 0:39:49another family member, Diana Draper, the half-sister of Barbara Higgins.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Unfortunately, the people that we saw last week are no longer
0:39:55 > 0:39:59heirs to the estate because these people are priority, being half blood to the deceased.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04Diana is 22 years younger than Barbara and will be entitled to
0:40:04 > 0:40:07share the entire estate with her brother, Peter.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11Good morning, I'm David Mansell, you've been expecting me.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Good morning. Hello. Nice to meet you.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19Dave starts by explaining the twists and turns of the hunt for Barbara's heirs.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24We discovered that there was a third marriage to the deceased's father,
0:40:24 > 0:40:27to Hilda Chesney, of course, that being your mum.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30What is the name of the person who's died?
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Who do you think it would be?
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- Well, I've wondered if it was my half-sister, Barbara.- Correct.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38- Is that who it is?- That's who it is.
0:40:38 > 0:40:45Amazingly, Diana has gone through her entire life without ever meeting her half-sister.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48We only discovered her existence after my father died.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53We found some papers which referred to his second marriage and there was a daughter, Barbara.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I mean, I've never had contact with her. I've never met her.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59- You'd never met her? - No, never met her.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04My parents never told us he'd been married before. Neither Peter or I knew.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09Which is probably why we never had any money because he was probably keeping...having to pay...
0:41:11 > 0:41:14This is probably why we were always so poor!
0:41:17 > 0:41:19Sad, isn't it?!
0:41:22 > 0:41:27Now Barbara's money can help make Diana's later life a little more comfortable.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Diana signs the Frasers' contract.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33- All the best.- Thank you very much. - Pleasure.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37And Dave makes his way home in a reflective mood.
0:41:37 > 0:41:42Make you wonder about life, in many ways. Their father had been married
0:41:42 > 0:41:49three times altogether and had this child, the deceased, with his second wife,
0:41:49 > 0:41:57and the lady I saw today was the result of a third marriage of the deceased's father...
0:41:57 > 0:42:00and they never met.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05But they were all born in the Southport area.
0:42:06 > 0:42:12So, it's a good result for Barbara's half siblings, Diana and Peter, but not so good for Barbara's cousins.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16All the cousins that we saw, we're going to have to contact them
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and say, "Sorry but we have found closer kin." It does happen.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Three weeks later, Diana finds out some even better news.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27About the amount she's going to inherit.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30I thought, how much it will be, there might be 20,000,
0:42:30 > 0:42:34might be 50,000, and you go into amounts that it might be.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39So when I heard that it would be about £93,000,
0:42:39 > 0:42:40I was amazed, you know.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45But the visit from the Heir Hunters has also made Diana wish she had
0:42:45 > 0:42:47had a chance to meet her half-sister, Barbara.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52When you're going to inherit something from her, it seems a shame that we never, ever met her.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54We can't do anything about that now,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57it was something that just didn't happen.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Maybe it's one of the regrets you would have,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01but life's too short for regrets, I think.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:23 > 0:43:26E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk