0:00:02 > 0:00:06Heir Hunters spend their lives tracking down the families of people who 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?
0:00:32 > 0:00:36On today's programme - the Heir Hunters uncover
0:00:36 > 0:00:41the heart-breaking story of a family separated for over 30 years.
0:00:41 > 0:00:48If he was alive, I'd probably walk past him on the street and not even know who he was.
0:00:48 > 0:00:54And the tale of an 18th-century sea captain, who changed the lives of thousands of young children.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Walking each day to his business in London, he past dung hills along
0:00:59 > 0:01:04the way, on which he noticed there were the bodies of discarded babies.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Some of them still alive.
0:01:07 > 0:01:13Plus, how you may be entitled to inherit some of the unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:19 > 0:01:22The vast majority of people in the UK don't make a will.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25If the authorities can't find any obvious relatives,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28the money they leave behind goes straight to the Government.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34Last year, a staggering £18 million went to the Treasury in unclaimed estates.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36That's where the Heir Hunters step in.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Over 30 companies make it their job to track down the rightful heirs to this money.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46As they take a commission, it's a lucrative business.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Last year alone, they returned over £6.5 million to the rightful heirs.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Fraser and Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunters in Britain.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01It's run by Andrew, Charles and Neil Fraser.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02George R Galloway.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Who's got the marriages?
0:02:06 > 0:02:12Their team have been reuniting heirs with unexpected windfalls for over 30 years.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Since they began, they've assisted 50,000 heirs,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19who've inherited a whopping sum of over £100 million.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It's 7am. The team at Fraser and Fraser are scouring the Treasury's list of unclaimed estates,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35which was published this morning.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I'm on the ball this morning.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39We've got something in Northwood.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44One name is very unusual and has taken their interest. But they've no idea
0:02:44 > 0:02:47if there is any value to the case.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51We could have a look at this estate of Peter William Greatrex.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Based down in Norwood, and at the moment, I can't find an address for him.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02I've got no idea whether it's worth £1 million or worth £5,000.
0:03:03 > 0:03:10Peter Greatrex died in North London on 29th September, 2008 at the age of 57.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Originally from Birmingham, he'd worked for Severn Trent Water for most of his career.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22A colleague who worked with Peter for many years was Bill Scribbins.
0:03:22 > 0:03:30I always found Peter a very applicable guy to get on with.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34He was very, very...always turned out smart.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Always wanted the best of everything.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42He worked hard and with dedication to get that.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46But no, he was a generally nice guy.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50I'm sad to hear the news that he'd passed away, to be perfectly honest.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53As the authorities have been unable to find any family
0:03:53 > 0:03:58for Peter Greatrex, his estate is unclaimed and held by the Treasury.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03- Right, Northwood. - Case manager Marcus Herbert takes on the investigation.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07It's an unusual enough name. I think it could stand out.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10As they don't know whether Peter had a property, they can't estimate
0:04:10 > 0:04:14the value of the estate to know whether it's a case worth working.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Not knowing where Peter lived creates other problems too.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Without an address, we can't do inquiries with all the neighbours and things,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25which is the basic stuff that we do to start with.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29A lot of people who distance themselves from their family or don't have any family,
0:04:29 > 0:04:35the closest people to them will be neighbours who pop their head round the door and see how they are.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41The information they get from neighbours is usually what kick-starts an investigation.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45The team are currently stumped for leads. To get the address,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48they must get their hands on the death certificate.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58This is where the team of travelling Heir Hunters comes in. Across the country
0:04:58 > 0:05:02are a network of senior researchers, who are ready to go wherever the hunt takes them.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06They collect the vital birth, death and marriage certificates,
0:05:06 > 0:05:11and interview people who knew the deceased, as they hunt for clues.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15But their most important job is finding and signing up heirs.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22Ewart Lindsay has been one of Fraser's senior researchers for over 12 years.
0:05:22 > 0:05:28Based near London, he's off to the Hillingdon register office to get more leads on Peter Greatrex.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Greatrex. It's an unusual name.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36That makes our research slightly easier.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40It's just, in terms of research, it's just good, you know.
0:05:41 > 0:05:47As Ewart heads off to collect the death certificate, the office hunt for birth records.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49While the unusual name means there aren't too many
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Peter Greatrexes to search through,
0:05:52 > 0:05:57all the ones they found are coming up around Birmingham, not London, where he died.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03But if they're not to miss anything, their research must be thorough.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08I'm doing it slowly, because the name's Greatrex.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09There are variations.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13It makes sense to just quickly run through the variation names as well,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17so you're not having to do the search twice, just in case.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21As Dave and Marcus try to piece together parts of the family jigsaw,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24they still have no idea if the case is of any value.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Ewart Lindsay is on the road at the moment. He's going to get the death
0:06:29 > 0:06:33of Peter Greatrex from Hillingdon Register Office.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37From that, that will confirm the date of birth, which we know anyway.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42But that will also tell us, hopefully, where he lived.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Hopefully, in a 26 room-mansion worth about 6 million quid and then we'll be laughing.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53Not quite a mansion, but Ewart does have interesting news about where Peter lived.
0:06:53 > 0:06:59- As we know, he died on 29th September, 2008.- Yeah.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00He was a project manager.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- Yeah.- Ahh!
0:07:07 > 0:07:09He was of 26...
0:07:11 > 0:07:13- Yes?- ..Grazebrook Croft.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16That's Birmingham, West Midlands.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18How come he died in Hillingdon?
0:07:18 > 0:07:22That's very strange! Very strange.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Armed with the address, the office make quick work of establishing
0:07:27 > 0:07:30that he did not in fact own his own property.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34But whilst that usually means his estate won't be very large,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37something else has caught their eye - his occupation.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42What he project managed, I don't know. But that might explain why he was down in London,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45when on the death, his address was given as one up in Birmingham.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51But the fact he's a project manager for something indicates that he had a fairly good job.
0:07:51 > 0:07:57In fact, Peter was responsible for managing major water projects.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02One of his most important was undertaken with colleague Bill Scribbins.
0:08:02 > 0:08:08We were both selected to go out with Anneka Rice on the Romanian challenge appeal.
0:08:08 > 0:08:14I did, I think I did, four trips out to Romania with Peter.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Peter was leading the projects at the time,
0:08:18 > 0:08:19with us ably supporting him.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22In 1990, they helped to renovate
0:08:22 > 0:08:26a dilapidated orphanage, home to 600 neglected children.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Peter led the team of plumbers.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32- Where? Which way?- There! There!
0:08:32 > 0:08:34This way? OK.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40This is Raul, who's deaf and dumb. By using Raul and his knowledge,
0:08:40 > 0:08:44he's been able to show us the water system for the building outside.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Without his help, we wouldn't be able to find a lot of them.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51He really, really slung his heart and soul into that.
0:08:51 > 0:08:58He really wanted to change the conditions for the children out there.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01THEY SING
0:09:02 > 0:09:07You know, to put everything together as we did, and as Peter put together
0:09:07 > 0:09:12the organisational things that we needed was actually a massive task
0:09:12 > 0:09:14on its own, you know.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Peter's good job leads the Heir Hunters to believe that even though he may not have owned his own home,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25it's likely he was well paid,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29so may well have had savings or investments.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32But they have no way of confirming their suspicions.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Pursuing the case is a bit of a gamble.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38They don't know whether it will be profitable for the company or not.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41It's not a decision Marcus can make alone.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47The only thing I think there could be money in, he was described on the death as a project manager.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52- It's up to you. It's your call, mate. - Project manager?
0:09:52 > 0:09:56It could mean anything, couldn't it? Do you wanna go for it? We might as well.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59They won't know the actual value till they put in a claim.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04But from the little information they have, it seems like a good bet.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08He had a good job, by the sounds of it. We think there's a bit of money in it. We're going to go for it.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13The team can now really hit the research.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18I'm just going back from '51 back to see if I can find a marriage.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22One of the first things is to establish who his parents are, in order to find out
0:10:22 > 0:10:26if they had any other children, who would be brothers and sisters to the deceased.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30Bingo, I think I've got it. There we go. Here we are.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35The father's name. We know the mother's maiden name is McKenna.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38The district is Birmingham.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41This is just the reference details.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45We're gonna order the certificate and we know it's in March 1943.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48I just need to find that information.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53But not all the information they need in is their databases.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Now they have the names of the parents, Dave needs to look elsewhere for more clues.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Dave is hoping to find a will for one of Peter Greatrex's parents.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10Just round the corner is the principal probate registry, which has a record of all the wills
0:11:10 > 0:11:17and letters of administration for every estate administered in England and Wales since 1858.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20More often than not, these documents will name all the children,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24so it could be a short cut to Peter's brothers and sisters.
0:11:26 > 0:11:33Right, I've just obtained the letters of administration on the estate of William Arthur...
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Greatrex, who is the father of the deceased.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41The information is the letters of administration were taken out by both the deceased,
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Peter William Greatrex and his sister, Mrs Shirley Doris Riley.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Peter's father's will has been a great help in getting the family tree started.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Peter's parents, William Greatrex and Doreen McKenna had three other children,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Arthur, Shirley and Doreen.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Arthur died as an infant, but it seems Shirley had a son, Peter,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06who'd be a nephew to the deceased.
0:12:08 > 0:12:14But Marcus is cautious about rushing ahead and contacting him, as he may not end up being an heir.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18He may be a nephew, but the team haven't yet ruled out closer family.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22The deceased himself, Peter William Greatrex, could've had children.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25We may not be looking at his brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27We might be looking closer than that.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33Only if they find and sign up the right heirs will the case actually be worth anything to the company.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38Marcus's hunch about closer family looks like it may be well-founded.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42Possible kids before the marriage of the deceased and his wife.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46He's not sure if he's actually found some kids, or it's a coincidence.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48He's just trying to sort it out now.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Your guess is as good as mine.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53But there's a long way to go to sort this case out,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58as the children and the marriage are about to make the family tree a whole lot more complicated.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01If he didn't divorce her, we need to find her.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Piecing together separated families is the daily work of the Heir Hunters.
0:13:14 > 0:13:21But when they came across the case of Julia Dick-Larkam, they were to uncover a tragic family history.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It sounds horrendous, but he gave away four daughters
0:13:24 > 0:13:29and walked away and started another life without thinking about them.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34In June 1999, the name of Julia Dick-Larkam
0:13:34 > 0:13:37appeared on the Treasury's list of unclaimed estates.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Julia died alone in 1998, aged 83.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44She outlived her husband by 25 years.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47And they'd never had children.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50She didn't leave a will, but she did leave a house in Brent, North London
0:13:50 > 0:13:55as part of an estate worth around £180,000.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02Case manager David Pacifico took up the challenge of trying to trace any living heirs.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05We thought very much it was a very good case.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10Firstly, because of the value, which is estimated at £180,000.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Number two, the name Dick-Larkam.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Although a married name, her maiden name was shown as Marklove.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21It was a name we could research into, hopefully quite quickly.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26But for all of his 38 years of genealogical experience,
0:14:26 > 0:14:31as he began work on the case, things weren't quite as he'd anticipated.
0:14:32 > 0:14:39According to her death, her maiden name was Marklove. Therefore, we assumed, as in 99% of cases,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43that was her maiden name and the name under which she was born.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47But we, nonetheless, didn't find a birth under Marklove.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Although it was the maiden name given on her marriage certificate,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53David couldn't find a full birth certificate for a Julia Marklove,
0:14:53 > 0:14:58which was very unusual and raised his suspicions about this name.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01We searched for the birth of Julia Marklove, but couldn't find it
0:15:01 > 0:15:06and this is when we had real doubts whether or not it was the name she was born under.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Then we contacted the General Register Office, in Southport,
0:15:11 > 0:15:17who identified the birth from a special register
0:15:17 > 0:15:23and found out that she was given a new identity by the Thomas Coram Foundation.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29Julia Marklove was in fact born Grace Constance Carvell.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32But because she was illegitimate, she'd been given away at birth,
0:15:32 > 0:15:38and taken in by a charity dedicated to bringing up unwanted and abandoned babies.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44The Foundling Hospital, in London, dates back to 1739.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Horrified by the poverty on London's streets, philanthropist Thomas Coram
0:15:50 > 0:15:56set up the Thomas Coram Foundation, England's oldest children's charity.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02Our founder was a sea captain. And on retiring, or so he thought,
0:16:02 > 0:16:03to Rotherhithe
0:16:03 > 0:16:09and walking each day to his business in London, he passed dung hills along the way,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13on which he noticed there were the bodies of discarded babies.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Some of them still alive.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22There was no provision at all for discarded children, foundlings.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27He decided, as a one-man effort, to do something about it.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32It took 17 years of campaigning by Thomas Coram
0:16:32 > 0:16:35before George II granted a royal charter
0:16:35 > 0:16:41for the establishment of a foundling hospital, with the first foundlings being admitted in 1741.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46But the hospital couldn't take every child that, in desperation, was brought in.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49So they set up a harsh system of admission.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Women would line up with their infants and they would be...
0:16:52 > 0:16:57passed to one of two queues - the girl's queue, the boy's queue.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02They'd dip their hand into a bag and if they drew out a black ball,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05they were sent away.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10If they drew out a white ball, the child was admitted, subject to a medical inspection.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15If they pulled out a red ball, they were put on a provisional list,
0:17:15 > 0:17:20which, should one of the white ball babies fail the medical,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23a red ball might take its place.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25It was, quite literally, a lottery.
0:17:25 > 0:17:33Even for the lucky mothers like Amy Carvell, saying goodbye to their children was still not easy.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38Often, as a parting gesture, they'd wrap modest knick-knacks in their baby's clothes as mementos.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44These items might be little labels, little hearts.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47A padlock, a key, a coin.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51We call them tokens today, but when they're actually noted
0:17:51 > 0:17:55in the minutes, they are called "remarkable things."
0:17:57 > 0:18:02These objects were pinned in to what is called the billet, which essentially, was the admission form
0:18:02 > 0:18:08on which the child's sex, general health and the items of clothing
0:18:08 > 0:18:12that the mother had actually provided with her baby were recorded
0:18:12 > 0:18:15and we have them on display here,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and I challenge anybody to walk past them
0:18:18 > 0:18:23without thinking that each one of these represents a ruptured life.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Whilst it would have been heart-breaking to give up a child,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32in 1915, Grace's desperate mother, Amy,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35would have been grateful when her baby was accepted.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42On arrival at the foundling hospital, Grace Carvell would have been baptised.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46There was a sense that the child was literally being saved.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49A new name was given to bring a new beginning
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and extinguish their past life.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Grace's name was changed to Julia Marklove.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02In the hunt to find heirs to Julia's estate, David Pacifico
0:19:02 > 0:19:08had now uncovered her sad beginnings as a foundling and, crucially for him, her real birth name.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Now, he could move the research forward.
0:19:13 > 0:19:19Once we knew the person was taken in by the Thomas Coram Foundation
0:19:19 > 0:19:22and therefore given a new identity, we contacted
0:19:22 > 0:19:26the foundation and spoke to a very nice lady there, who went through
0:19:26 > 0:19:31the records and informed us she was born as Grace Constance Carvell,
0:19:31 > 0:19:36on 9th April 1915, which ties up exactly to the date of birth
0:19:36 > 0:19:38shown on the death certificate...
0:19:39 > 0:19:41..and where she was born as well.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47And who she was the daughter of. In this case, Amy Isabel Carvell, which looked like an illegitimate birth.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54From records kept at the foundling hospital, it seems Julia's father had disappeared, leaving her mother,
0:19:54 > 0:20:00Amy, aged 20, with a baby and no prospect of marriage.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05It was then that Julia's ties to her family were severed, as she became a foundling.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12It looks like she was admitted to the foundation on 27th May, 1915,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17which is only when she was only about a month or so old.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Julia went on to spend her whole childhood
0:20:20 > 0:20:24in the care of the hospital, not leaving until she was 14.
0:20:29 > 0:20:35Like Julia, John Caldecott also spent the first 14 years of his life at the foundling hospital.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39By the time he was admitted, in 1936, it had moved to Berkhamsted.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43He remembers what it was like to be a foundling.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46That gives you the feeling of rejection,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49which is difficult to explain,
0:20:49 > 0:20:55but it does tend to stay with you for many years.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00His mother lost her job in a laundry and couldn't face bringing up her baby in a work house,
0:21:00 > 0:21:05so just like Julia's mother, her only option was to hand her child over to the hospital.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11We have to understand that even in the 1700s, right the way to the late '40s,
0:21:11 > 0:21:16early '50s, for a girl to have a baby
0:21:16 > 0:21:20when she was not married was a dreadful thing
0:21:20 > 0:21:24and it was a stigma, not only on the mother, but also on the child.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29And it is that stigma that stuck with the children in the foundling hospital.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35We didn't know who our parents were.
0:21:35 > 0:21:42We knew that we'd been given away, and this is where part of the guilt comes from,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45that it was our fault that we were,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48as we were, in the foundling hospital.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53The regime was strict and life at the hospital was far from luxurious.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57I always feel that we were hungry. We never seemed to have enough food.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Perhaps that's no different from children in normal life.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05So... We were cared for.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09We were clothed. The clothes were of a good quality.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13What was missing, of course, was the family love.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17There was no family love, and we...
0:22:17 > 0:22:20we knew that we had no families.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25The children quite often used to dream of their parents coming,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30or their mother, in particular, coming and collecting them, but of course, it very rarely happened.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Julia's mother, sadly, never came back for her.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44But it was through Amy Carvell that David Pacifico hoped to find living heirs.
0:22:44 > 0:22:51It was necessary to try and identify whether or not her mother had any other children.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55In other words, brothers or sisters or half-brothers and sisters to the deceased.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57That was the next important step.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Do me a favour, can you find this marriage? Grace Carvell
0:23:00 > 0:23:02to a William George Dick-Larkam.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Finding out her mother's name was key to unlocking the family tree.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13The information given helped us greatly to, sort of, get on to the family, because we could then
0:23:13 > 0:23:19identify the birth and from that identify, whether the mother had any other children.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24Amy Carvell was the mother of Julia Marklove, born as Grace Carvell.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29She had had a child, Audrey, two years prior to Julia.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Six years after giving Julia up to the hospital, Amy had a relationship
0:23:34 > 0:23:37with Harry Kynman-Baker and had two further children,
0:23:37 > 0:23:42June and Kathleen, so Julia in fact had three sisters.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44June's daughter, Nina,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46a niece to Julia and a living heir,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48was tracked down. It was then a case
0:23:48 > 0:23:50of breaking the news.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54It's a case, like some others I've dealt with, where...
0:23:54 > 0:23:57you're telling somebody that their mother, or grandmother,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01had another child that they weren't aware of.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06You know, it obviously changes their whole view of the family,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08and suddenly, the history is changed.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14Nina Atkin was one of five heirs that the team eventually found.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18She not only got a share of Julia's £180,000 estate,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22but also discovered the life of an aunt she never knew she'd had.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24After visiting her aunt's home,
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Nina found an intriguing bit of paper that revealed that Julia had,
0:24:29 > 0:24:34during her life, been trying to track down her mother, Amy Carvell.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38It was interesting that in the house, just in the kitchen drawer,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41was this list, with a note from her friend, called Peggy.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44She said, "I thought you might like to have these, not too many, love Peggy."
0:24:44 > 0:24:49And a list of Carvells, with their addresses and telephone numbers.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54There is some writing next to one of them. So we don't know if she tried to phone them or contact them.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Was she trying to find her mother, or did she think she had siblings?
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Did she know she was one of four?
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Thank you.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Today, she's visiting the Coram Foundation to find out if her aunt,
0:25:07 > 0:25:13Julia, had ever managed to make contact with Amy Carvell, her birth mother, and Nina's grandmother.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18In 1987, that would be the first time she was told her original name.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22She didn't make any comment about that, that anybody could remember?
0:25:22 > 0:25:27No. By that stage, she was Julia, that was who she was.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33So that was the first time she would have been told that she was Grace Constance Carvell.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36But, obviously, she was interested in the Carvell
0:25:36 > 0:25:40and tried to find out whether there might be some Carvells she was related to.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42It looks as though she might have been in...
0:25:42 > 0:25:49Yes. She's looking in the North London area, the West London area.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54It looks like this is very different handwriting to this. So...
0:25:54 > 0:25:58- I just imagine that Grace perhaps wrote these in.- That's possible.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02But that wasn't the first time the Coram Foundation and Julia
0:26:02 > 0:26:05had been in contact regarding the identity of her mother.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10What she was told after that, I've got the letter she was sent in 1953.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14"Dear Miss Marklove," because she was Julia Marklove to us.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18"It's nearly a year since you applied for information about your mother and I'm writing to tell you the results
0:26:18 > 0:26:21"of our enquiries, which I am afraid have proved fruitless."
0:26:21 > 0:26:24"Our representative, who made enquiries, did succeed in tracing
0:26:24 > 0:26:29"the fact that your mother married in 1919, when she was 25 years old,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33"but all further enquiries to find her under her married name have, I regret to say, been unsuccessful.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38"Our representative did succeed, however, in tracing a relative of your mother,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43"but he said he'd not seen her, or heard from her, since 1928.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45"He had no idea of her present whereabouts and thought
0:26:45 > 0:26:47"she might even be abroad."
0:26:47 > 0:26:52Julia's last visit to the Coram Foundation in search of her family
0:26:52 > 0:26:57was in 1987, three years after her mother had died.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05Incredibly, Julia wasn't the only one of her family to have been sent to an institution.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Nina's mother, June,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10was one of Amy's two later daughters with Harry Kynman-Baker.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Both June and Kathleen were sent to a Barnardo's home,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17aged seven and two, when their father died.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21When we heard there were two other sisters,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25I automatically thought it was a similar scenario, something had happened
0:27:25 > 0:27:31to their father, and Amy found herself in a similar situation twice in her life.
0:27:31 > 0:27:38It seems that Julia's mother, Amy Carvell, had given up all four of her children.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44It's very difficult, when there is no benefit system, to be able to bring your children up,
0:27:44 > 0:27:45you know?
0:27:45 > 0:27:49How would she have managed?
0:27:49 > 0:27:53It sounds horrendous that you gave away four daughters
0:27:53 > 0:27:57and walked away and started another life without thinking about them.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59But we don't know that.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And I'm not going to judge.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06I can't judge.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Although Julia Marklove had been given away as a child and had had
0:28:10 > 0:28:15sad and humble beginnings, it seems her later life was very different.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20Nina visited her aunt Julia's house shortly after finding out about her death.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24It was a lovely house, backed on to a school.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28And although the house had been stripped, there are lists of
0:28:28 > 0:28:33what was in her house and things that had come from all over the world,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36from Russia, from Japan, from China.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39It would have been lovely to see the furniture.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43But there was a diary that she had hand written that I found,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47and a fur coat and little bits of some jewellery left,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51and the diary is about a cruise that leaves Southampton
0:28:51 > 0:28:56and goes to Cairo and the Bay of Biscay and Ceylon,
0:28:56 > 0:29:01and all the things that she did while she was on that cruise.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03She's having a lovely time.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05She had a great life.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08A very harrowing beginning, but what a great end.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21For every case that is solved, there are still thousands that stubbornly remain a mystery.
0:29:21 > 0:29:28Currently, over 3,000 names drawn from across the country are on the Treasury's unsolved case list.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Their assets will be kept for up to 30 years, in the hope that eventually,
0:29:35 > 0:29:39someone will remember and come forward to claim their inheritance.
0:29:41 > 0:29:47With estates valued from £5,000 to millions of pounds, the rightful heirs are out there somewhere.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Today, we've got two cases Heir Hunters have failed to solve.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Could you be the key?
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Could you be in line for a payout?
0:30:00 > 0:30:07Rita Kathleen Bartley of Selby, North Yorkshire, passed away on 15th November, 2005.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11In the search to find her heirs, all leads have come to nothing.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Do you know anything about her?
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Could you be a long-lost relation?
0:30:16 > 0:30:21Sylvia May Cherrett died in Barking, Essex, on 22nd September, 2005.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Does her name mean anything to you?
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Could she be your long-lost aunt, or cousin?
0:30:26 > 0:30:30Could you be the one person entitled to her legacy?
0:30:32 > 0:30:37With the estates of Sylvia Cherrett and Rita Bartley and hundreds of others laying unclaimed every year,
0:30:37 > 0:30:42only new information from you can help their money reach entitled family members.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Unclaimed estates, which appear on the Treasury's list, often end up
0:30:54 > 0:30:59being inherited by distant family, who didn't really know the deceased.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Usually, close family, such as wives and children, are either aware of
0:31:03 > 0:31:08the death or have been easily found by the authorities. But not always.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12Sometimes close family are, sadly, not close at all.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17- You can pick her up from '79 onwards. - Yep.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19That will sort those two out.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Since this morning, the team have been investigating the estate of
0:31:23 > 0:31:29project manager Peter Greatrex, who died on 29th September, 2008.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32My abiding memories of Peter is he was genuine,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36he wanted to help people, erm,
0:31:36 > 0:31:40genuine in all that he did. He wanted to do his best out in Romania.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45Definitely wanted to do his best for the children out there and for the poor people out there.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50And I think generally in his job, he wanted to please people, you know?
0:31:50 > 0:31:53So that will always be a lasting memory of Peter for me.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58The team don't know how much the estate is worth, but as Peter had a good job,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02they're taking a chance on pursuing the case. For most of the morning,
0:32:02 > 0:32:06they thought the family tree was straightforward, but they've just discovered
0:32:06 > 0:32:11that Peter had been married and may have had children, which will change everything.
0:32:11 > 0:32:17Possible kids before the marriage of the deceased and his wife, but he's not sure whether
0:32:17 > 0:32:21he's found some kids, or it's just a coincidence! He's just trying to sort it out now.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Your guess is as good as mine!
0:32:24 > 0:32:27My thoughts on this is...
0:32:27 > 0:32:30we don't know whether they're divorced or not.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34So we don't know what the value is. If they're not divorced,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37we'll have to sign her and that daughter up, aren't we?
0:32:37 > 0:32:42The daughter may not be entitled if it's a modest estate, then it will just be the wife.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45If there's no divorce. That's my thought. Yeah.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47They'd previously established
0:32:47 > 0:32:48that Peter had a brother,
0:32:48 > 0:32:49two sisters
0:32:49 > 0:32:51and at least one nephew,
0:32:51 > 0:32:52all of whom, if living,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55could have been potential heirs.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57But they've now discovered that
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Peter married a Shirley Hanson,
0:32:59 > 0:33:03who, it appears, is alive and living in Birmingham.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06As a spouse, she would have the greatest entitlement,
0:33:06 > 0:33:07but if they're divorced,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11she has none. If together, they had any children,
0:33:11 > 0:33:13which is now looking likely,
0:33:13 > 0:33:14they would also be heirs.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Trying to work all this out is testing their skills to the maximum.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22We're going to get Bob Barrett to go over and see if he can make contact
0:33:22 > 0:33:29with the family, the wife/ex-wife of the deceased, plus the daughter
0:33:29 > 0:33:36and two sons, brackets - possibly adopted sons. I can't be bothered with this, this is too complicated.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41As Marcus doesn't have a phone number for Shirley Greatrex,
0:33:41 > 0:33:47he asks travelling Heir Hunter and ex-police officer Bob Barrett to go to Birmingham and visit her address.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50As he heads up the motorway, Bob tries to get his head
0:33:50 > 0:33:53around the family, as everything rests on this meeting.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58The first thing I'm going to need to do when I see Mrs Greatrex
0:33:58 > 0:34:05is find out whether or not she was divorced from her husband.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10Because if she was divorced from her husband, then she won't inherit anything,
0:34:10 > 0:34:16and her daughter will be inheriting. I'm also going to need to establish
0:34:16 > 0:34:19whether or not the two children she had by a previous marriage
0:34:19 > 0:34:24were adopted by our deceased, Mr Greatrex.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29As an adopted person, you assume the same rights as a blood relative.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Peter Greatrex's wife, Shirley,
0:34:33 > 0:34:38has at least three children - Anthony, Steven and Samantha.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42The two boys, born prior to Shirley and Peter's marriage,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45have taken the name Greatrex, so may have been adopted.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Samantha, born just after the marriage,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51looks to be their only child together.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57Close-kin cases which involve wives and children aren't very common.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02Most of the time, we're dealing with far more distant relatives,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06cousins, or cousins once removed.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11It's not rare to deal with a closer relative, but it's a bit more unusual.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14You can't help wondering why...
0:35:14 > 0:35:20why people lose touch. Why would a father and daughter lose touch?
0:35:20 > 0:35:23You wonder, why doesn't she know that her father's died?
0:35:23 > 0:35:30So... It's a bit sad, really, that families lose touch.
0:35:33 > 0:35:39What Shirley can tell Bob about the family relationships will change the inheritance significantly.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43There's a possibility of four heirs,
0:35:43 > 0:35:47or three heirs, or one heir.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51So, it's a bit of suck it and see, really.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57The nephew they found earlier in the day will now not be entitled.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02But who is depends on whether there were adoptions or a divorce.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06- Hello, Mrs Greatrex?- Yes, it is.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09My name is Bob Barrett. I'm from a firm called Fraser and Fraser.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13We're probate researchers. We trace people that we think are heirs
0:36:13 > 0:36:17to money that's been left by people who've died without leaving a will.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20- Can I get a few details from you? - Certainly.- Thanks ever so much.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29The heirs to Peter Greatrex's estate are hopefully about to be revealed.
0:36:32 > 0:36:39Now I know that Mr and Mrs Greatrex divorced in 1979, 1980, thereabouts.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42I also know that...
0:36:42 > 0:36:50Mr Greatrex never adopted his wife's two children by a previous marriage.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52So there is only...
0:36:53 > 0:36:59..one heir to Mr Greatrex's estate, which is his daughter, Samantha.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04As is often the way, it just takes one visit to the right person
0:37:04 > 0:37:08to quickly solve what had seemed like quite a complicated case.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13It's a nice result. We've been running around on this one all day.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17And finally, we've got it down to the person
0:37:17 > 0:37:24that we know is entitled, which is - not blowing me own trumpet here - but it's the person I expected would be.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30But whilst it's good news to have found an heir to Peter Greatrex's estate,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34hearing about her dad's death has been difficult for Samantha.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Peter Greatrex divorced Samantha's mum when Sam was only a baby.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40Now in her 30s,
0:37:40 > 0:37:45and with a family of her own, sadly, she has only seen him twice since.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I wasn't quite sure what to feel.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52I know that he's my father, but I know nothing about him.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57So it was strange that there was a loss. I felt a loss.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01It was a loss for somebody that I've never known.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06So although you've lost somebody who was a part of you,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10you know nothing about them, and...
0:38:10 > 0:38:12that's quite difficult.
0:38:14 > 0:38:21I always thought I'd get the chance to at least say goodbye.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24That sounds a bit strange,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27saying goodbye to somebody that you don't know.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32Regardless of whatever happened, that's my father,
0:38:32 > 0:38:35and, erm...
0:38:35 > 0:38:36I'm a part of him.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43Problem is, the old pipe work...
0:38:43 > 0:38:46One of the only memories she has of him
0:38:46 > 0:38:48comes from a fluke glimpse
0:38:48 > 0:38:50on a television programme.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52I don't know whether I was reading a magazine.
0:38:52 > 0:38:57I wasn't really paying attention to the programme, and then I heard this voice,
0:38:57 > 0:39:03and something made me look up at the TV, and when I looked, my mum says, "That's your dad."
0:39:03 > 0:39:09When I looked, it was my dad, and it was like, "Well, what's he doing on the telly?"
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Then I took notice and saw what it was about.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15As a teenager, I was quite angry.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19I thought, "What's he doing over there, helping kids
0:39:19 > 0:39:24"that don't belong to him, when he couldn't be bothered to help me?"
0:39:24 > 0:39:28As an adult, I realise it was a really good thing that he was doing.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34Samantha's mother has given her the few pictures she has of Peter.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38The recent news has got Samantha thinking about
0:39:38 > 0:39:40her relationship with her dad.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46It's sad really, isn't it?
0:39:46 > 0:39:50And the fact that there's not one picture of me with him,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53not one, that's sad.
0:39:55 > 0:40:01And these are from years ago, like 30-odd years ago.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03So, you know...
0:40:08 > 0:40:15If he was alive, I'd probably walk past him on the street and not even know who he was.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18That's a sad fact.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23But Samantha will now inherit
0:40:23 > 0:40:26all the estate her dad left behind,
0:40:26 > 0:40:29which amounts to around £6,000.
0:40:33 > 0:40:39The first thing I have to do is put a memorial in place for my dad.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42I'm not sure what that will be,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46but that's the first thing that I have to do.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50And then, after that, who knows?
0:40:50 > 0:40:51I don't know.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54I haven't thought about it really.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59I just know that I need to put a memorial in place for him.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Cremated at the Lodge Hill Cemetery, near Birmingham,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Samantha goes to pay her respects to her dad.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17I just feel that it's something... I need to come here.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19I needed to come here to see.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28I just...
0:41:30 > 0:41:33It's just something I had to do.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35And I've done it now.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46Coming here, it's strengthened my beliefs in being a parent,
0:41:46 > 0:41:51that being there and seeing my kids grow is one of the most
0:41:51 > 0:41:57precious things in the world, and it also makes me thankful to my mum
0:41:57 > 0:41:59for sticking around and putting up with my behaviour
0:41:59 > 0:42:01as a child growing up.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05She, in turn, gets the joys of now being a grandmother...
0:42:07 > 0:42:11..which is something that my father not only missed out on my life,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14but he also missed out on my children's lives too.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22I'm glad that I know where he is.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26For the first time in my life, I actually know where my father is.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30I can come here when I choose to come here
0:42:30 > 0:42:35and spend as little, or as much time here, as I wish to.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38And, erm, he's there.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47If you would like advice about building a family tree,
0:42:47 > 0:42:51or making a will, go to bbc.co.uk.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:07 > 0:43:10E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk