0:00:02 > 0:00:06Heir hunters track down the families of people who died without leaving a will.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09They hand over thousands of pounds to long lost relatives
0:00:09 > 0:00:12who had no idea they were in line for a windfall.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:32 > 0:00:38On today's programme, have the heir hunters met their match chasing leads all over the world?
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Can Frasers get a crucial breakthrough on a £300,000 case
0:00:42 > 0:00:45that has already taken two years' worth of research?
0:00:45 > 0:00:50One of these cases which I so much want to solve, just to say, "Yeah, I've done it."
0:00:50 > 0:00:53And we reveal the story of a millionairess
0:00:53 > 0:00:59who lived an intriguing double life that kept all the heir hunters guessing about who she really was.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04It was all a lie, but I suppose the more lies you tell,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07the more lies you need to tell to keep the whole lie going.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Plus, a list of unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Could you be on the list?
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Could you have thousands of pounds heading your way?
0:01:21 > 0:01:24More than two thirds of people die without leaving a will.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29If they have no obvious relatives, their money goes to the Government,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32who last year made a staggering £18 million from unclaimed estates.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35That's where the heir hunters step in.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38There are more than 30 heir-hunting companies in the UK
0:01:38 > 0:01:42who make it their business to track down the rightful kin.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47Last year alone, they claimed back over £6.5 million
0:01:47 > 0:01:50for heirs who would otherwise have gone empty-handed.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58Fraser and Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunter in Britain.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01It's run by Andrew, Charles and Neil Fraser.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06We really are the Robin Hood of the modern world, the fairy godfather who comes around.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10We take money off the Crown and we give it to the rightful beneficiaries,
0:02:10 > 0:02:15so giving it back out to the poorer population, compared to obviously the Crown.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Even Robin Hoods need to make a profit nowadays,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21and the heir-hunting companies earn their money
0:02:21 > 0:02:25by taking a cut of the inheritance they unite with the relatives.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29In its 30-year history, it's tracked down over 50,000 heirs
0:02:29 > 0:02:33entitled to a whopping sum of over £100 million.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47At Fraser and Fraser, it's the morning case review meeting.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Yeah, all of them, I think, should have gone through.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54The team are going over their outstanding cases,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58reviewing the evidence to see if they can brainstorm their way forward.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02We didn't get the probate till late, we showed the brother...
0:03:02 > 0:03:06While a large number of cases come from the Treasury's list of unclaimed estates,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09many others are referred.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15These cases come from solicitors, or even other firms, when they can't take a case any further.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Often when a case is referred, we're expecting some sort of difficulty
0:03:19 > 0:03:23which has caused the problem which the person referring the case to us
0:03:23 > 0:03:27has encountered which has stopped them from moving it forwards.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32So, yes, we're anticipating a challenge of some sort, and it's being able
0:03:32 > 0:03:38to deal with that and bring it to a successful conclusion. That's one of the thrills of the job, really.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42In 2006, the company were referred the Lee case.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Elfie Lee died in 2005, aged 92.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50She left no will and her estate went unclaimed.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56She'd worked for most of her life in London, but since the late '60s,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59she lived in the leafy suburb of Cheam, Surrey.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04With no known relatives, her property was sold and developed into flats.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09Her estate, worth around £300,000, was then transferred to the Treasury.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Right from the start, this case proved tricky.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20On Elfie's maternal side, the researchers found themselves investigating a family
0:04:20 > 0:04:22with a long colonial history,
0:04:22 > 0:04:28while on the paternal side, records for her father seem to have disappeared.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32After searching all of their usual lines of investigation, no birth,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36death of marriage certificates for Frank Wynford could be found.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40At the moment, we think he died between 1911 and 1932.
0:04:40 > 0:04:46We don't know where in the world he died, we don't know where he married the mother of the deceased.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49It could well be overseas.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53So we don't know anything about him.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59If Elfie's father did live abroad, it might explain why he's proving so difficult to track down.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02But the company have done a huge amount of research
0:05:02 > 0:05:06into foreign records and are still drawing a blank.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11In most cases, we would expect to find the first beneficiary within the first 48 hours of research.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16So 48 hours to two-and-a-half years is considerably longer than we would like to.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18We certainly need a break.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24To track down any heirs, the team need to piece together
0:05:24 > 0:05:27a family tree, working out generation by generation
0:05:27 > 0:05:32who the relatives are, and if any are still alive.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Tracking down heirs can be a painstaking process,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41and the team know that the slightest fragment of information can sometimes be the key.
0:05:41 > 0:05:47And with £300,000 at stake, any avenue is worth looking at.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51For the last year of her life, Elfie lived in a nursing home.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54With no new leads, Neil has asked the home
0:05:54 > 0:05:58to make one further check to see if Elfie had any special visitors.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02We've asked the home, the home where Elfie lived for the last year of her life,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05if they could look back through their visitors' book,
0:06:05 > 0:06:10and most homes keep fairly substantial records of everyone who comes to visit the deceased.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14If they could look through their visitors' book and see if she had any visitors
0:06:14 > 0:06:18and who they are and how they're put down as associated to them. They've come up with three names.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22They say these three names are Elfie's best friends.
0:06:24 > 0:06:30Talking to friends of the deceased is one of the best ways of mining valuable family information.
0:06:30 > 0:06:36With this fresh lead, Neil wastes no time in sending someone out to talk to Elfie's friends.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45Frasers employs travelling heir hunters who are ready to go wherever the hunt takes them.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Their job is to sniff out new clues and follow new leads.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Ex-police officer Bob Barrett is used to investigating difficult cases.
0:06:58 > 0:07:05His detective skills come in handy when trying to ferret out any clues in heir-hunting puzzles.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11Today he's arranged to meet Elfie's friend Catherine McGeehan, who knew her for almost 40 years.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15He hopes she may be able to shed some light on the family.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Most people know something about their friends
0:07:20 > 0:07:25and about where their friends' families have come from, etc.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30So it's a matter of trying to prize a bit of information out of them that they may not think relevant.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36So what I often try and do is just get them to talk about...
0:07:36 > 0:07:38their friend without being too specific,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and then perhaps
0:07:41 > 0:07:46if in a conversation, something crops up, I can sort of hone in on it
0:07:46 > 0:07:48and be a bit more specific.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52The pressure's on for Bob to unearth something to help this case,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54as the team desperately need a breakthrough.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Although there's a large estate at stake, Neil knew from day one
0:08:00 > 0:08:04that he was going to have his work cut out finding the heirs to Elfie's fortune.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Having ended her days in Cheam, she started her life abroad.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14We haven't got a birth certificate cos she was born in Egypt.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Now, whereas in England and Wales, we have a central bureau for...
0:08:19 > 0:08:24the registration of births, deaths and marriages, it means it doesn't matter if you were born
0:08:24 > 0:08:29in Swansea, Cardiff, Liverpool, London, Plymouth,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31we can look in the same book and we can find out your birth.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35We can index that and apply for your birth certificate.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Egypt is a different story again.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41In fact, quite a lot of the stuff is not recorded,
0:08:41 > 0:08:49particularly if you're a colonial birth in an Arab society, why should you?
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Foreign births are problematic, but the researchers don't give up easily.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56The team's persistence paid off with a breakthrough
0:08:56 > 0:09:02with the maternal family name that Elfie carried in the form of a middle name, Uniacke.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07Although the surname on the maternal side is Coxen, they have a hyphenated surname,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and the first part of that is Uniacke.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14That's come down through the grandfather, and he used the surname Uniacke-Coxen,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18and all of his births, which we've been able to find out, are indexed under that.
0:09:18 > 0:09:25Making a link between her middle name and her mother's maiden name is a brilliant piece of research.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29It takes them straight to the grandfather, John Uniacke-Coxen,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and opens up the whole of the mother's side of the family.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Unlike on the paternal side, where they couldn't take it anywhere,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39on the maternal side, they have a great name and can make quick progress.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43We can't find the birth for the deceased, but we were able to find
0:09:43 > 0:09:46some information on her mother, and indeed,
0:09:46 > 0:09:51from her mother, we've expanded out quite a lot through the aunts and uncles.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56And I think we've found eight or nine aunts and uncles born throughout the world.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03With these new records in hand, Neil could start building the crucial family tree.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Stemming from Elfie's maternal grandfather, John Uniacke-Coxen,
0:10:06 > 0:10:12they have managed to find eight children, including Elfie's mother Florence.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17The birth certificates of Elfie's aunts and uncles show that they were born in exotic places,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21from Algeria to Sudan, and Neil thinks he knows the reason why.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24It's quite interesting when we look at the ages of the aunts and uncles
0:10:24 > 0:10:29and where they were born. It follows the spread of the Eastern Telegraph Company,
0:10:29 > 0:10:34and how they turned into Cable and Wireless, which is a global company now
0:10:34 > 0:10:37and occupies pretty much all of the telegraph,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40telegram and telecommunications throughout the world.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Originally founded from part of the Eastern Telegraph Company,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46of which the grandfather was one of the pioneers.
0:10:48 > 0:10:55The telegraph system revolutionised the world of communications in the middle of the 19th century.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Electrical messages sent along wires using Morse Code meant that information
0:10:59 > 0:11:04could suddenly travel vast distances in a very short amount of time.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07It was a huge leap forward from written letters,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11spending weeks or even months on ships, trains and horse carts.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Despite the vast expense involved, the advance in this technology
0:11:15 > 0:11:23was prolific, and within just a few decades, cables were laid across the world, often on sea beds.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28The focal point for all this technology,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33and the busiest centre in the world, was Porthcurno in Cornwall.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37It ran 14 cables in total, including both the transatlantic cable to Europe,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41and also the eastern cable running to Bombay.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45It was this last cable that John Uniacke-Coxen worked on,
0:11:45 > 0:11:51an absolutely crucial communications system for the running of the British Empire.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Here at Porthcurno, after the first cable in 1870
0:11:54 > 0:11:59which connected with Gibraltar and made the final link to Bombay,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03a number of cables were also brought in, and at its peak,
0:12:03 > 0:12:08around about 1900, there were about 14 major cables coming into Porthcurno.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12It was probably the most important communications centre in the world.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16It was certainly the biggest telegraph station in the world.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Whilst this new means of communication was vastly quicker
0:12:20 > 0:12:26than the postal system, it was still quite a time-consuming operation.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29It was a very laborious process and it took a long time
0:12:29 > 0:12:32because somebody actually had to unscramble it at each end.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35You'd probably have half a dozen at each station,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38so to send that message, we're talking about nearly 50 people.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43Born in 1855, John Uniacke-Coxen began working
0:12:43 > 0:12:47for the Eastern Telegraph Company in 1871 at the age of 16.
0:12:47 > 0:12:54OK, this is the staff records of the Eastern Telegraph Company,
0:12:54 > 0:13:00and the earliest ones date from the 1870s, where we should find John Coxen.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05The Eastern Telegraph Company kept records of all of their employees,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09and Alan has been able to dig out John Uniacke-Coxen's unique employment record.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14John Coxen.
0:13:17 > 0:13:24We can see from his salary that he makes considerable progress through promotions,
0:13:24 > 0:13:30and each promotion is usually by means of moving to a new posting.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33He takes a massive pay rise when he moves to Suez.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35You can see that your career would advance
0:13:35 > 0:13:39by taking these postings in other locations. This was the way to get promoted.
0:13:39 > 0:13:46By the time he is actually at Suakin here, he's appointed superintendent and he's on £400 a year.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50By moving from post to post, John Uniacke-Coxen was able
0:13:50 > 0:13:54to earn a salary equivalent to almost £40,000 a year today.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58It's hardly surprising they became such a globe-trotting family.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04Unfortunately, the staff records from the early period are fairly rudimentary.
0:14:04 > 0:14:10It gives indications of the stations he was posted to and his salary, but nothing more
0:14:10 > 0:14:14about the reasons why he may have moved, or any indication that his family's moved.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Unfortunately, his staff record gives no indication of the birth of the children.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25But the lack of family records at the museum hasn't held the heir hunters back.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30Neil's team of experienced researchers have scoured the foreign records office
0:14:30 > 0:14:36and amazingly have tracked down all the births from around the world of John Uniacke-Coxen's children,
0:14:36 > 0:14:42but despite having completed the mammoth task of building a worldwide family tree,
0:14:42 > 0:14:47the team have discovered that each branch except for one has died without living children.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50For such a large family, this is extremely uncommon,
0:14:50 > 0:14:55and after all the painstaking research is exasperating for the team.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59The frustrating bit now is where we haven't been able to take it any further.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02We've killed them all off, all but one.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Finding out what happened to Edward could break this case,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11and crucially, if he has any descendants, they would be rightful heirs to Elfie Lee's estate.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17For Frasers, all hope now rests with Bob Barrett.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Will his detective skills unearth the missing clues
0:15:21 > 0:15:25to stop the Treasury keeping her £300,000 fortune?
0:15:32 > 0:15:37That one vital clue which suddenly reveals family history
0:15:37 > 0:15:42is what heir hunters work tirelessly to find, over months and sometimes years.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Many cases uncover unknown family stories,
0:15:45 > 0:15:52but it's not often that these cases involve a high society millionairess with an intriguing double life.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55When Dorothea Allen's name appeared in the Bona Vacantia list
0:15:55 > 0:15:59of unclaimed estates on the 21st of June 1990,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03all the probate firms in the country were hot on the case.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06It was immediately clear that her fortune was in the millions,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10so the race was on to find any rightful heirs.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15Suffolk solicitor Tony Mitchell from Mitchell and Co became involved with the case.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Working alongside an amateur genealogist he took up the challenge
0:16:18 > 0:16:24of trying to solve the mystery, but very soon after beginning, Tony ran into difficulties.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27In the case of most deaths there is a will, or if there's not a will
0:16:27 > 0:16:32there are relatives, and therefore it's easy to trace everybody.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35This case was totally different.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42Initial investigations with those who knew the deceased led to a believed maiden name of Farquharson,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and a birth date in Scotland of 1901.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48But after scouring the Scottish records,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52no birth certificate for a Dorothea Farquharson could be found.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56A search of records in England and in Wales also drew a blank.
0:16:56 > 0:17:02Every single birth in the UK is registered, so to not find any record at all was extremely odd,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and the first sign that all was not as it appeared.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13There clearly was intrigue. It was an unusual case and one of the first that I handled of this nature.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21High society millionairess Dorothea Allen died in 1990 at the age of 95.
0:17:21 > 0:17:27For the last 20 years of her life she'd lived as a semi recluse at her home, Sutton Brailes.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33This 28-roomed manor house, set in the sleepy Warwickshire countryside,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35was to form the bulk of her unclaimed estate.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Finding rightful heirs to this vast fortune was vital, and the
0:17:40 > 0:17:44starting place for Heir Hunters is often neighbours of the deceased.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Alfred Woodward, now in his 80s, has first hand recollections of Dorothea.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55As a boy he lived only three miles away from the Allen manor.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Well, the first time I saw Dorothea Allen she stood absolutely out,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03she was like a film actress.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08The most expensive clothes that money could buy,
0:18:08 > 0:18:15and Rolls Royce cars to ride in, it was absolutely breathtaking really.
0:18:17 > 0:18:25Then when I was about 12 years of age, standing on the footpath in Brailes.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30At that time in the 1930s cars were very few and far between.
0:18:30 > 0:18:37To see a magnificent Rolls Royce just come through the village several times a day
0:18:37 > 0:18:41was really something out of the ordinary.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44And Dorothea's achievements were out of the ordinary too.
0:18:44 > 0:18:50This glamorous wealthy lady amassed her million pound fortune from a hugely successful business.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Dorothea founded Spencer Corsets in Britain in 1926,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06with her business partner and husband Robert Allen.
0:19:06 > 0:19:12Getting into the corsetry business was an extremely shrewd move, as these garments
0:19:12 > 0:19:15would have been an essential part of every woman's wardrobe.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18It would have been unthinkable not to own a corset.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24They supported the figure, hid the bulges, created a flattering figureline under your clothes,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and most importantly, held up your stockings.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32To get the Spencer message across, Dorothea employed an army of corseteers,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35who were trained to measure, fit and persuade ladies that you
0:19:35 > 0:19:41simply weren't properly dressed if you didn't wear a Spencer, although ironically, Dorothea never did.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46The best selling model was the Spen-All, and by 1931,
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Dorothea and Robert's business was employing over 3,000 factory workers.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54NEWSREEL: And the RAF kept on firing.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57These two men with wings, alone in the sky...
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Even during the war years, business boomed, as Spencers
0:20:01 > 0:20:05turned their hand to making a special type of corset for the RAF.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09The G Suit was a body belt designed to relieve the effects of gravity
0:20:09 > 0:20:11on airmen travelling at high speeds.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18- Any planes, Johnny? - A 109 destroyed, yes.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Glen Murphy became interested in Dorothea's life in the late 1990s.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26He started researching her remarkable past.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30It helped to build a lifestyle for her at that time,
0:20:30 > 0:20:35during the 1920s and '30s, that was beyond most people's dreams.
0:20:35 > 0:20:41She had several homes, she dined at the best restaurants, she knew
0:20:41 > 0:20:46all the most famous people on both sides of the Atlantic at the time,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50and she had a very good time.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53One would assume that such a wealthy lady and smart business woman would
0:20:53 > 0:20:58have made a will, particularly as she possessed such a large estate.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04The fact that she'd made quite a name for herself in industry
0:21:04 > 0:21:10and she didn't make a will, it didn't seem to gel, I mean why?
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Lots of questions came out, why did she do that?
0:21:16 > 0:21:21Every inch of Sutton Brailes Manor was searched, but nothing was found.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29Government officials trying to wind up her estate admitted they hadn't found a single relative,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33her place of birth, or even when she was married.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Nine months later, despite the lack of heirs,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Dorothea's manor house and all her possessions were put up for sale at auction.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50The Treasury Solicitor was in control, and quite properly they have a duty to sell all assets that
0:21:50 > 0:21:54were owned in this case by Dorothea Allen, to turn everything into cash,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and then hold it until beneficiaries come forward.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05Everything from 17th century furniture to her collection of classic cars were up for grabs.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08The house sale raised over half a million pounds.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Dorothea's vast collection of jewellery sold for almost £400,000,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16and her black 1972 Rolls Royce Corniche convertible
0:22:16 > 0:22:19sold for a further £66,000.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23The cash being held by the Treasury was mounting,
0:22:23 > 0:22:28but the most intriguing information was found when the house was cleared after the sale.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34The passport and photo documentation had been mutilated,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39so it's impossible really, to positively identify who she was.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Throughout her lifetime she'd gone to great trouble
0:22:44 > 0:22:48not to be photographed, leaving very few remaining images.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52But the discovery of mutilated photographs now pointed to something else -
0:22:52 > 0:22:56a deliberate attempt to conceal her identity.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01It suddenly became clear why they were having so much trouble finding Dorothea's relatives.
0:23:01 > 0:23:08Part of the problem was that she didn't want anybody to know where she'd come from.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11She didn't want anybody to know her true background,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15because it didn't fit in with her lifestyle at the time.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19It appeared that Dorothea Allen had covered her tracks extremely well.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23It was now down to the heir hunters to do some real detective work
0:23:23 > 0:23:26if they were ever to unravel her secrets.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39For every case that is solved, there are still those that stubbornly remain a mystery.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Currently over 3,000 names drawn from across the country
0:23:44 > 0:23:46are on the Treasury's unsolved case list.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Their assets will be kept for up to 30 years,
0:23:53 > 0:23:58in the hope that eventually someone will remember and come forward to claim their inheritance.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05With estates valued at anything from £5000 to millions of pounds,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08the rightful heirs are out there somewhere.
0:24:09 > 0:24:15Anthony Clarke of Peterlee, County Durham, died in September 2006.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Does his name stir any memories?
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Perhaps you lived in the same town.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Could you even be in line to inherit his estate?
0:24:24 > 0:24:30Anthony John Evans of Paddington in London died in December 2007.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Does his name ring a bell?
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Could you be his closest relative, and entitled to his unclaimed estate?
0:24:43 > 0:24:47The ongoing unsolved case of Elfie Lee is one that heir hunting firm,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Fraser and Fraser are desperate to solve.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55They've been chasing leads for almost three years, since her death in 2005.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57They need to find living heirs to inherit,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02otherwise the Treasury will take all of Elfie's £300,000 fortune.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09The team have traced all but one uncle on the maternal side,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11uncovering births all around the world,
0:25:11 > 0:25:16just to find out that seven of his siblings have no living heirs.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18The aunts and uncles which we have been able to find
0:25:18 > 0:25:24on the maternal side are spread throughout the colonial world, in Africa, in India, in Malta.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29I've never seen a family like it, and normally when you're dealing with quite a large family of eight
0:25:29 > 0:25:34children you would expect there to be a second generation also quite large
0:25:34 > 0:25:40of maybe 15, 20, and then if we can't find any of them, take them down to 30 odd.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44In this case we've got two cousins, one of them's the deceased,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46and they both died without having any children.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Only Elfie's uncle Edward hasn't been found, and if he has any living
0:25:52 > 0:25:56descendants, they would be in line for a share of the fortune.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01With heirs so thin on the ground, finding out what happened to Elfie's uncle Edward is crucial.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09The team's persistence has uncovered a global family tree.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15Elfie's grandfather spent most of his life abroad, working in undersea telegraphy.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20Further investigation into the records of the Eastern Telegraph Company in Porthcurno, Cornwall,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24revealed that Edward followed in his father's footsteps.
0:26:24 > 0:26:31His son's record is also quite brief and there's not really enough
0:26:31 > 0:26:35evidence from that to speculate about why he would have left the service.
0:26:35 > 0:26:41He may have actually gone to work for another company, I mean, that was quite a usual thing to happen.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45This was about 1909.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49It's difficult to guess where he might have gone, we haven't got any records
0:26:49 > 0:26:54so whether he remained in undersea telegraphy or not is unclear.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01The records may be brief, but they do at least confirm that Edward didn't die in infancy,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04and that leaves the real possibility of descendants.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09What happens to Elfie's £300,000 estate
0:27:09 > 0:27:14now depends on what Bob Barrett can uncover from a face to face inquiry.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17The office have found an old friend of Elfie's.
0:27:17 > 0:27:23I'd be interested in finding out anything that Catherine knows about Elfie and her life,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26because sometimes little things that seem insignificant
0:27:26 > 0:27:30can actually give you just the clue you're looking for.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33There's one uncle we've not killed off, as we say,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37we don't know, we know he was born, we know nothing else about him.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Bob has arranged to meet Catherine McGeehan, Elfie's friend for over 40 years.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54He's looking for any clues about Elfie's uncle Edward.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00I understand that you were good friends with Elfie.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Very good friend. I know her from 1963.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07- Did you?- Yes.- Oh, good heavens, that is a long while, isn't it? - It was a long while.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11There was an uncle. She never spoke of an uncle Edward to your knowledge?
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Not to my knowledge, no, I would have remembered that because...
0:28:14 > 0:28:17- Oh, she mentioned two cousins in Rhodesia.- Right.
0:28:17 > 0:28:23One of the people was a relative, the mother of those children was some relative.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26- Right.- She did tell me that, but she used to post parcels to
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Rhodesia to those children and to her friend, and she told me she had died.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33- So she never, she never mentioned any names?- Unfortunately, no.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Or what the relationship was?
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Well, because the mother of the boys was a cousin.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41- So that's...- What side that was from I have no idea.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44So could well mean that...
0:28:44 > 0:28:46it was from her mother's side.
0:28:46 > 0:28:52Well, let's hope we can find some relatives so the government doesn't get all her money anyway.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55You know, it really is sad when you think about it.
0:28:55 > 0:29:01Bob has managed to tease out a potentially useful clue with the discovery of family in Zimbabwe.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06But will it be enough to lead the team back in London to Elfie's heirs in fortune?
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- CAR PHONE BEEPS Hello, mate.- Hi, Neil.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16- Just to let you know, I've been to see Mrs McGeehan.- Yeah.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20She is fairly convinced that there was a couple of cousins in Rhodesia,
0:29:20 > 0:29:25and two sons from one of the cousins, so...
0:29:25 > 0:29:27But they don't know which side of the family?
0:29:27 > 0:29:32We don't know which side of the family, yeah, and they've got no names, I'm afraid.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Don't know whereabouts in Rhodesia, or...?
0:29:34 > 0:29:36No, no, she didn't know a town.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43- OK.- So, sorry not to ring you with more than that.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47That's not a problem, it's more than we had before, so...
0:29:47 > 0:29:48OK.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51We'll have another attack on it. OK.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53- Cheers now.- Speak to you soon.- Bye.
0:29:57 > 0:30:04The discovery of two potential relatives in Zimbabwe is certainly another clue to work on.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09But will it be enough to crack the case that has floored Neil for over two years?
0:30:09 > 0:30:13At the moment, I'm struggling to see where the cousin's going to fit in,
0:30:13 > 0:30:20if it's a Uniacke-Coxen, which means it could come off Edward, the most missing uncle,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23or if it's on a Wynford, and along if it's a male stem of Wynford then
0:30:23 > 0:30:28we may be able to follow that through the directories or some of the books.
0:30:28 > 0:30:34I don't know what the records are going to be like in Zimbabwe.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37It probably was quite good when it was still a colony,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39but I don't think it'll be very good any more.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42It will be incredibly hard to track these relatives down,
0:30:42 > 0:30:48but with over £300,000 at stake, for Neil, it's worth a shot.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50I've just sent it over to South Africa.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53The good thing that's going with it, we've got very good names,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Wynford, Uniacke and Coxen, they're all very good names.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01But I'm asking for someone to search for a needle in a haystack.
0:31:01 > 0:31:07Just trying to find a name from the whole population to see if we can find where those cousins are.
0:31:07 > 0:31:13This could be the last throw of the dice for Neil in the search for the missing heir.
0:31:13 > 0:31:19I've got my fingers crossed, I'm hoping that it may come to something,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22but it really is last chance saloon.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25The case of Elfie Lee has been a tough one for Frasers.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29They've been working on it for over three years.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32The hunt has taken them from London to Cornwall,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36and now through Egypt, Sudan and Algeria to Southern Africa.
0:31:37 > 0:31:43Sadly the extreme difficulty in searching for records in Zimbabwe means that the investigations
0:31:43 > 0:31:49have so far not revealed any heirs, and the case of Elfie Lee remains unsolved.
0:31:51 > 0:31:57Someone out there may know something which could be the vital key to unlocking Elfie's fortune,
0:31:57 > 0:32:03but if a breakthrough doesn't come soon, only the Treasury will benefit from her £300,000.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Unsolved cases are the bane of Heir Hunters' lives,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17especially when there are millions of pounds at stake,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19and a healthy commission to be earned.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23The case of Dorothea Allen was particularly frustrating.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27The Dorothea Allen case is probably the most involved
0:32:27 > 0:32:29that I've ever handled.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34The corsetry millionairess was not who she claimed to be, and unlocking the mystery
0:32:34 > 0:32:39of her true identity was stumping every probate firm in the country.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Almost four years had gone by since her million pound fortune had been
0:32:45 > 0:32:48advertised on the Treasury's list of unclaimed estates.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52It seemed Dorothea was going to succeed in taking her secrets to the grave.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57But it didn't stop a rush of claims coming in to solicitor, Tony Mitchell.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00I would think we've had probably 40 or 50 false claims
0:33:00 > 0:33:02throughout the period of the administration.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06A lot of people with similar names or some connection with the corset
0:33:06 > 0:33:08industry or things like this,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12claimed that they were entitled to some or all of the money.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Particularly from America, various people would write to me.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21There were articles in probably six or seven English newspapers,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24and that in itself prompted people to write to me
0:33:24 > 0:33:28who thought they might have a case to claim against the estate.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35Each claim was a potential lead, and was investigated fully.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40The press coverage intended to help the case in fact added hundreds of hours of unnecessary work.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47With so many dead ends and false leads, it seemed that they would never solve the case.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Tony Mitchell felt sure that Dorothea was living
0:33:53 > 0:33:56under a false identity, but he still couldn't prove it.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00He needed to find someone who knew her from her younger days,
0:34:00 > 0:34:05and the huge publicity created by the case was to do just that.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09On seeing a picture, a former suitor was in no doubt
0:34:09 > 0:34:14as to her true identity, and contacted Tony Mitchell.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19Cedric Bowell recognised Dorothea from a photograph
0:34:19 > 0:34:23which had been found in her possessions at her home.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26He recognised her as somebody he used to go out with,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30in the sense of going for picnics primarily.
0:34:30 > 0:34:35When he came forward to us he recognised the person
0:34:35 > 0:34:38as Dora Brammer, not Dorothea Allen.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Of course, that's the name that he knew her under.
0:34:41 > 0:34:47Finding Dorothea's true maiden name, Brammer, was the breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
0:34:47 > 0:34:53It began to unravel the real identity of Dorothea Allen, one she had tried to conceal all her life.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55And while Cedric's evidence regarding
0:34:55 > 0:34:59her name was being verified, another piece of the jigsaw fell into place.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05There is a photograph of couple standing outside a church
0:35:05 > 0:35:10found amongst her possessions after she died, and it wasn't known, it wasn't apparent who they were,
0:35:10 > 0:35:14though it's thought they may have been her parents.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17And so it was advertised in the local press in Yorkshire,
0:35:17 > 0:35:22and it's through the photograph that people recognised who they were,
0:35:22 > 0:35:27they identified them as the Brammers, and they said
0:35:27 > 0:35:31that they were the parents of Dora Brammer,
0:35:31 > 0:35:36and that helped to link Dora Brammer to Dorothea Allen, and it's one of
0:35:36 > 0:35:41the clinching things that helped to put the whole jigsaw together.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45A link had been unearthed between Dora Brammer and Dorothea Allen,
0:35:45 > 0:35:50but it was still not enough to convince the Treasury that they were one and the same.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57It was to be Dorothea's lifelong love of Rolls Royces that was to give the final clue,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00and prove beyond doubt that she really was Dora Brammer.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03I think that was one of the critical pieces of evidence that convinced
0:36:03 > 0:36:08the Treasury's solicitor that Dora Brammer was Dorothea Allen.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10Dorothea Allen had a Rolls Royce,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13we contacted the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts' Club,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17who confirmed its registration number and also its chassis number.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Its registration number was also found in one of the beneficiaries'
0:36:21 > 0:36:26mother's address book with a note that it was Dora Brammer's car.
0:36:26 > 0:36:31It was during a rare family visit that Dorothea made in her Rolls Royce that the note had been made.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Years later we were able to match the registration number
0:36:36 > 0:36:44to an actual car she owned through her driving license, which were all found in her house after her death.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47That little note, made over 40 years ago
0:36:47 > 0:36:53in a personal address book, was the final proof of Dorothea's deception.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57If one put all of this evidence together it's quite clear
0:36:57 > 0:37:00that Dora Brammer and Dorothea Allen are one and the same.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Her double identity was revealed at last.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09Finally, Dorothea or Dora's genuine relatives could be identified.
0:37:09 > 0:37:16Her parents were Amos and Emily Brammer, and Dora had two brothers, Clement and Lawrence.
0:37:16 > 0:37:22The family originally were from a terraced house in Sheffield, where Amos worked as a steel forgeman.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24But why had she lied about this upbringing?
0:37:24 > 0:37:29She came from Sheffield in the 1920s, which was quite a grim place.
0:37:29 > 0:37:34It was full of steelworks and steel cutlery firms.
0:37:34 > 0:37:41It's a very dirty industrial city, and she went to live in a very different life,
0:37:41 > 0:37:46with a manor house in the country and homes in New York and London,
0:37:46 > 0:37:51and it was she had to build up a whole pretence around that lifestyle
0:37:51 > 0:37:55to make it seem that she was born into that lifestyle and she'd not
0:37:55 > 0:37:59achieved it through her own hard work and industry.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01This information proved that Dorothea
0:38:01 > 0:38:08had not only lied about her name, age, and maiden name, but there was one final twist to her charade.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12It now turned out that her 40 year marriage was also a sham.
0:38:14 > 0:38:21Robert Allen, the love of her life, was already married to Gladys Hudson when he met Dorothea.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26He left Gladys and their young daughter to live with her and to start the business.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30But he never divorced Gladys, and he never married Dorothea.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35For four decades Dorothea and Robert fooled everyone with their pretence.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39They had to set up a new life for themselves as Mr and Mrs Allen,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42which was a complete lie.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46So I suppose if you tell one enormous lie in your life it's
0:38:46 > 0:38:50quite easy to go ahead and start telling other lies as well.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54Then came the lie about her, the fact that her parents were quite
0:38:54 > 0:39:00well off, and her father had been in the army, quite a
0:39:00 > 0:39:03high ranking officer in the army.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08It was all a lie, but I suppose the more lies you tell,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11the more lies you need to tell to keep the whole lie going.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17It had taken eight years to finally unmask Dorothea as Sheffield-born
0:39:17 > 0:39:22Dora Brammer, but it was now possible for Tony Mitchell to find Dora's genuine heirs.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28As her brothers had both died young with no offspring, the net was cast
0:39:28 > 0:39:33wider to the brothers and sisters of Dora's parents, Amos and Emily.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38The trail would continue through Dora's aunts and uncles and their descendants.
0:39:39 > 0:39:46Finding and tracking down all the heirs however was no mean feat, in fact it took a further three years.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51It was extremely difficult, particularly as there were 104 beneficiaries,
0:39:51 > 0:39:55most of them were in England, there were one or two in Australia,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58and it took a long time to trace everybody.
0:39:58 > 0:40:04Her cousin in Sheffield and 104 other relatives were traced,
0:40:04 > 0:40:09and Glen Murphy as a first cousin twice removed was one of them.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13When I was first contacted, it was through a phone call,
0:40:13 > 0:40:17and my first initial reaction was disbelief.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21I found it hard to believe that anybody within the family would have
0:40:21 > 0:40:27left anything of note, certainly not an intestate estate worth quite a lot of money.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32It was only after making one or two inquiries within the family
0:40:32 > 0:40:37when I found out the true extent of the inheritance,
0:40:37 > 0:40:44it was over a million pounds initially that had been released, that I began to believe it.
0:40:44 > 0:40:50I felt surprised and incredulous about it all because it was complete shock.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55The numerous beneficiaries received different amounts depending
0:40:55 > 0:40:59on how closely related they were to Dorothea.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03At the bottom end, we're talking about £1,000 a beneficiary.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08Probably the greatest one was £37,000, which was payable to
0:41:08 > 0:41:14somebody who was almost of the same age as Dorothea Allen.
0:41:15 > 0:41:21The money side of it was secondary I have to say, because what was better was to find out
0:41:21 > 0:41:27about the family history and to meet members of the family who we probably wouldn't have met otherwise.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32That was the real legacy I think that Dorothea left us all.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36But Glen did hold onto one little memento of the great lady.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41One of the more personal items amongst her possessions
0:41:41 > 0:41:48was a driving license which I kept, and it was quite nice to have that, because it was, it was her license
0:41:48 > 0:41:55which she kept for many years, it dates from the late 1930s to the mid 1940s, and she signed it.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58So that's a little personal reminder of her, which I've kept.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03And it's that fake ID that the heirs still have to be thankful for.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Because who knows, without the success of the
0:42:06 > 0:42:10bogus Dorothea Allen, Dora Brammer may never have made her fortune.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17If you would like advice about building a family tree
0:42:17 > 0:42:20or making a will, go to bbc.co.uk.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd