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 > 0:00:11They hand over thousands of pounds to long lost relatives
0:00:11 > 0:00:13who had no idea they were in line for a windfall.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:32 > 0:00:37On today's programme, the heir hunters uncover a salacious case of a man jailed for bigamy
0:00:37 > 0:00:43and in the process four sisters meet each other for the first time.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46You are nothing like I imagined you to be!
0:00:46 > 0:00:53And after losing touch with his younger brother for four years an heir has to say a poignant goodbye.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56He got bullied a little bit, but still... But there we are.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58I mean, I used to sort that out.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04And we will have details of some of the hundreds of unclaimed estates.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Could you be in line for a windfall?
0:01:08 > 0:01:11More than two thirds of people die without leaving a will.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14If no obvious relatives are found their money goes to the Government
0:01:14 > 0:01:20and last year, they made a staggering £18 million from unclaimed estates.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22That's where the heir hunters step in.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25We couldn't find a marriage for your parents.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32Over 30 companies make it their business to try and find heirs to inherit this money.
0:01:32 > 0:01:39Last year alone, they claimed back over £6.5 million for unsuspecting relatives.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Sometimes we are the link.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47We are the actual people who put people back in touch with each other
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and that is just so rewarding.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54It's 7am on Thursday morning
0:01:54 > 0:01:59at the London office of Fraser and Fraser,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01a family-run genealogy company.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05The Government list of people who have died without a will has been announced.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08The first task of the day is to scan through the names
0:02:08 > 0:02:13and try to work out whether any of the people listed owned their own properties.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18Any more addresses need checking?
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Seven look like it needs to be checked.
0:02:20 > 0:02:26Heir hunters work on commission, so they need to ensure their costs will be covered by the estate.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30When a person dies leaving a house it is likely to be worth
0:02:30 > 0:02:35anything from tens of thousands to millions of pounds depending on the property.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40But this morning the researchers are struggling to find out
0:02:40 > 0:02:44whether any of today's possible cases have a big estate attached to them.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48It's one of those days when they will be flitting around
0:02:48 > 0:02:52doing lots of cases I think, until we can get something to get our teeth into.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Case manager Tony Pledger is not optimistic about the day ahead.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59So far, it's been a waste of time getting up.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I think I would have been better off staying in bed.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Of the listings put out by the authorities
0:03:06 > 0:03:12we are looking very initially at 14, but clearly we won't be looking at all the 14.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16We might whittle it down to about one and a half in an hour or so, I would hope.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Tony's one case may have just been found.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23The team's enquiries have singled out Vincent McGarry,
0:03:23 > 0:03:29who died leaving a flat in East London worth an estimated £150,000.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Partner Neil Fraser has given the team the go ahead to work the case.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37So, what we are looking at is a case of Vincent George McGarry.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42He dies in January of 2007, so it has actually taken two years for it to get to us.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47He is from Stoke Newington, Hackney sort of area, E5.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50It's an area which has been greatly affected by the Olympics
0:03:50 > 0:03:56and the property prices have increased dramatically in that. So, that's good from our point of view.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00I don't really know where it's going to go.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03McGarry is not an English name, it's more of a Scottish name.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Vincent McGarry lived in Hackney, London, and worked as a telecommunications engineer.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12He was just 64 when he died.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16His friend and colleague Cliff Parker read the eulogy at his funeral.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22If you've got to know Vince, you've got to know his character, got to understand him
0:04:22 > 0:04:28and knew how he worked then you were one of his friends for life, which, you know, I think I was one of them.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33But some people took him a different way because of his Scottish harshness sometimes.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36They didn't really understand him, but he was...
0:04:36 > 0:04:41He just worked 24/7 and he was just such a dedicated individual.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47Before he worked with Cliff, Vincent spent 22 years of his life in the Army.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50He was promoted to the rank of sergeant, but over and above this,
0:04:50 > 0:04:55he pushed himself to achieve in all the areas he could.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57He liked a challenge.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02All the projects that he ever worked on, he loved them. He loved the buzz, the challenge.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06And I think the Army when he joined at the age of 22.
0:05:06 > 0:05:12It was a challenge for him and seeing his service record, the medals that he got and, you know,
0:05:12 > 0:05:19the courses that he went through that he was a very, very good Army sergeant,
0:05:19 > 0:05:21as it was. So, yeah.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Vincent's Army service was exemplary.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30He was awarded three medals, the most prestigious of which was the British Empire Medal
0:05:30 > 0:05:34for meritorious service, which was an outstanding achievement.
0:05:34 > 0:05:40Not content to rest on his laurels, Vincent also passed a myriad of courses, physical and academic.
0:05:40 > 0:05:47After the camaraderie of the Army, Vincent left and forged new relationships in his civilian life.
0:05:47 > 0:05:55Work and friends became Vincent's family and that was it, basically.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Because whether he didn't want to know or he didn't know who his other family were,
0:06:00 > 0:06:05which I suspect the latter is probably, you know, the more likely, it was just work
0:06:05 > 0:06:10and family and his passions in life which was his bike and his skiing.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Vincent died without a will leaving an estate
0:06:13 > 0:06:20which is estimated to be worth £150,000, which will all go to the Treasury unless heirs can be found.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Genealogists start their research by looking for birth,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31death and marriage records of the person who's died
0:06:31 > 0:06:36so that they can use the dates and names to start building up layers of a family tree
0:06:36 > 0:06:37which can lead to heirs.
0:06:37 > 0:06:43So, the first thing the office is looking for
0:06:43 > 0:06:47a birth record for Vincent to find out his parents' names.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52Senior researcher Gareth has already made a discovery, but not necessarily a good one.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57Yeah, we've just discovered that McGarry is Scottish, so probably not much we can do here.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Finding Vincent is Scottish is yet another hindrance for the team.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07The records for anything that isn't in England and Wales are a little bit more difficult for us
0:07:07 > 0:07:12because we don't have the same indexes, although we do have some of the indexes,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14and so it slows us down a little bit.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17We just have to look at it in a slightly different way.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21As the office doesn't have a comprehensive set of records for Scottish births,
0:07:21 > 0:07:26deaths and marriages they are calling in reinforcements in Edinburgh.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33There's a job down here called Vincent George and the surname is McGarry. M-C-G-A-R-R-Y.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Born on 24 December 1943
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and there is a corresponding birth in Edinburgh, St Andrews, in 1944.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42So, there we go.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49Although their office is based in London the firm have a network of agents
0:07:49 > 0:07:52around the world who can help with finding local records.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58On top of this, they have a fleet of travelling heir hunters who can be sent wherever they're needed
0:07:58 > 0:08:01to chase up clues, collect evidence and when heirs have been found,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04speed over to sign them up and get their commission.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15As the office have been having a slow morning, travelling researcher,
0:08:15 > 0:08:20Ewart Lindsay is still waiting to be sent out on the road from his hometown
0:08:20 > 0:08:22and he's hoping for an easy day.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27What I can actually hear from the office right now in terms of where I will be going
0:08:27 > 0:08:31would be to be going to Watford, to be working in Watford today.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34That would be good news.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Hello, Tone. Where do you want me to go?
0:08:38 > 0:08:43He's of London E5 when he dies.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45He's born in Edinburgh in 1943
0:08:45 > 0:08:49and Neil thinks it would be a good idea for you to go up there, all right?
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Because obviously if it's going to come out, it's going to come out in Scotland.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Are you serious? I have got to go to Edinburgh?
0:08:55 > 0:09:01We definitely want you to get on the next available plane to Edinburgh, right?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04And then let us know... Let us know when you get the flight booked,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07what flight you're on and when it gets there, right?
0:09:07 > 0:09:09So we know what we are aiming at.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11OK, mate? Ta-ra. Bye.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Ewart's hopes for an easy day have been dashed and things are about to get worse.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26EWART SIGHS
0:09:27 > 0:09:30The battery's dead.
0:09:30 > 0:09:37Fortunately for the company, making progress doesn't hinge on Ewart being in Scotland.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39They have contacts in Edinburgh who can work
0:09:39 > 0:09:42from the General Register Office in the heart of the town.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47Scottish records are often easier to cross reference than English ones because, unlike records in England,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52both the mother and father's names are recorded on marriage and death certificates.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58To help matters further, when it comes to official records women keep their birth surname
0:09:58 > 0:10:01throughout their life, even if they marry,
0:10:01 > 0:10:06which makes it easier for genealogists to ensure they are tracking the right person.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11The agent in Scotland has already made the leap that Frasers couldn't from London.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16We have the birth of the deceased in Scotland.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21Now, the birth of the deceased shows that he was in fact illegitimate.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26He was the son of a George Francis McGarry and an Evelyn Miller Davidson.
0:10:26 > 0:10:32Now, they hadn't married, but then looking for their marriage subsequent to the birth
0:10:32 > 0:10:37we find another marriage. We find the marriage for George Francis McGarry to somebody else.
0:10:37 > 0:10:44Now, George Francis McGarry married a Catherine Faulkner Eggo in 1948 in Stirling in the January.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47It's a massive breakthrough for the team.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49From finding Vincent's birth certificate
0:10:49 > 0:10:52the Scottish agents have found his parents' names
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and discovered that they were not married.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59They also know that his father married another woman
0:10:59 > 0:11:05after Vincent's birth, which means that there may be half-brothers and sisters from another marriage.
0:11:05 > 0:11:11If Vincent has no full-blood siblings, his half-blood siblings could inherit.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16The present thing is to identify the deaths of the parents, but the father obviously could have been
0:11:16 > 0:11:21anywhere between Scotland, here or Ireland and the mother probably stayed in Scotland.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24So, the first priority is to identify the death of the mother.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30The researchers are hunting for the death certificate
0:11:30 > 0:11:35because whoever provided the information may have been related to Vincent's parents.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40But while the office may be going at full speed, what about Ewart?
0:11:40 > 0:11:41I'm happy.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43It only took seconds.
0:11:43 > 0:11:49But I've got to drive it continuously for at least half an hour, so that's all right.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55That works in perfect because I will be going to Heathrow, to Terminal Five.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58While Ewart sets off for Scotland, Tony has just had a phone call
0:11:58 > 0:12:03from the Edinburgh agent about a tragic event in Vincent's family.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07Our Scottish agent has found the death of the mother of the deceased
0:12:07 > 0:12:12and it would appear that she committed suicide in 1946. And she was single.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Vincent had a rough start to life.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21He was just two and a half when his mother committed suicide and he spent his childhood in care.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It's not clear whether he ever knew his father, George,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29but as the office know his mother had no more children,
0:12:29 > 0:12:34they'll need to concentrate their search on his father to see if Vincent had any other siblings.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Ewart's arrived at the airport ready to fly to Scotland,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48but will there be any heirs for him when he arrives?
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And there's some shock news in store for a member of Vincent's family.
0:12:52 > 0:12:59The office seem to think that when he married your mum in January 1948, that it was bigamous.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03The case of Vincent McGarry is far from solved.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16The sweeping hills and valleys of Powys in mid Wales are an unlikely place
0:13:16 > 0:13:19to find one part of an international heir-hunting company,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24but this is where Peter Birchwood of Celtic Research is based.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Peter's 30 years in the genealogy business
0:13:29 > 0:13:34have taught him that heir hunting requires great tact and empathy.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39It's not just money. It's the matter of maybe having somebody
0:13:39 > 0:13:41who they were close to,
0:13:41 > 0:13:46lost touch with and now you have to tell them they're no longer with us.
0:13:47 > 0:13:54One case investigated by Peter was that of Peter Sharpe who died in Nottingham aged just 57.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57He was single and had no children.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01As he never got round to writing a will, his £10,000 estate
0:14:01 > 0:14:06went unclaimed for four years before Peter Birchwood found his details.
0:14:06 > 0:14:12It was a case where he was born in the 1940s,
0:14:12 > 0:14:17so we started looking for any close relatives that he might have had.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23On Peter Sharpe's death certificate it showed that he was born in Nottingham in 1940.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27This record is the starting point for any genealogist.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30From that it's looking through the records
0:14:30 > 0:14:36to find, firstly, if the deceased ever married and then to see if there are any brothers and sisters.
0:14:36 > 0:14:43But failing those things then we are going to have to start looking back into the parents' families
0:14:43 > 0:14:46to look for cousins on both sides of the family.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Peter began looking for the parents
0:14:49 > 0:14:55and found that Middleton and Lucy Sharpe had married in March 1938.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Through them he discovered that Peter had an older brother, Patrick,
0:14:59 > 0:15:00who was still alive.
0:15:02 > 0:15:10Patrick himself had married and had some children and with a case like this it's always a little bit tricky
0:15:10 > 0:15:17because you are going to have to tell someone that a close relative of theirs has died
0:15:17 > 0:15:23and because Patrick Sharpe was himself an older man
0:15:23 > 0:15:28I got in touch with his daughter first who introduced me to him.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34As Patrick only lived 10 miles away from where his brother had died,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Peter was cautious about breaking the news to him.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40He had no idea how close the brothers had been
0:15:40 > 0:15:44or what impact it would have on Patrick to know the truth.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Oh, it was a hell of a shock.
0:15:46 > 0:15:54I couldn't believe that. The first thing I knew, Peter Birchwood had found my youngest daughter
0:15:54 > 0:15:59and contacted her and then I had a phone call from Josephine
0:15:59 > 0:16:04telling me, you know, Uncle Peter had passed away and they were trying to find me.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08I didn't believe it to start with. I thought it was a wind-up, you know?
0:16:08 > 0:16:12I thought Josephine had got the wrong end of the stick, as usual, but she hadn't, no.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Patrick called Peter Birchwood to find out what had happened to his brother.
0:16:16 > 0:16:23The news was a major shock because he had been unable to track down his brother, Peter, himself
0:16:23 > 0:16:27and for four years had had no idea what had happened to him.
0:16:27 > 0:16:34Unfortunately it seems to have been that Peter moved his apartment,
0:16:34 > 0:16:41but he had died almost immediately after moving and that was a clean break.
0:16:41 > 0:16:49There was really no way easily for his brother to find him
0:16:49 > 0:16:53because there wasn't, unfortunately, a brother to find any more.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59Although they were a close family, this simple change of address caused the brothers to lose touch.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03So, as a result, Peter died without his family knowing.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Well, at the time you don't realise you're losing contact.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10You don't realise that time is moving on, you know?
0:17:10 > 0:17:15You might think it's only a few weeks or a few days, but then it comes to months
0:17:15 > 0:17:19and suddenly you think, "I haven't heard from our Pete lately", you know?
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Or "He has not been round to see me lately, I wonder why?"
0:17:22 > 0:17:26And you start thinking, you know, "Where is he?", like, you know?
0:17:26 > 0:17:29So, you start searching then and then you come up against a brick wall
0:17:29 > 0:17:34because nobody wants to tell you anything, "That's confidential", or things like that.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37They push you out. "We can't tell you things like that."
0:17:37 > 0:17:41I said, "Well, it's my brother! I want to find him." But, no, they wouldn't help you.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46Because the authorities were unwilling to give out confidential information,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Patrick began to despair.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51He had always kept an eye out for his younger brother
0:17:51 > 0:17:55from the day he was born because Peter had been a vulnerable child.
0:17:55 > 0:18:01He was born three months premature and for many years into his childhood was plagued by ill health.
0:18:01 > 0:18:07Most of his childhood, even before he started school, was mainly spent in and out of hospital.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09In fact, when I was...
0:18:09 > 0:18:12When it was summertime I often went to live with my Aunt Mildred
0:18:12 > 0:18:16at Ruddington, I did, because our Peter was so very ill, you see?
0:18:16 > 0:18:20And they couldn't be looking after Peter and me at the same time,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22so I went to live with my Auntie at Ruddington.
0:18:22 > 0:18:28Having been a premature baby, Peter was in and out of hospital up until his early teens,
0:18:28 > 0:18:33but time apart from his brother didn't stop the two being close.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Well, I was just like a big brother to him, you see?
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Big brother and best friend, I suppose,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43because he knew if he wanted any help, he either come to me or his dad or his mam.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46It would usually be Pat. "Oh, Pat will take you there",
0:18:46 > 0:18:48or, you know, "Ask our Pat."
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Patrick took Peter under his wing and despite their five-year age gap
0:18:53 > 0:19:00they spent many happy hours at the railway line during their childhood in the '50s and '60s.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Well, we always came here as kids, you know?
0:19:03 > 0:19:06My brother and me spent hours up here
0:19:06 > 0:19:10watching the trains go through, like, you know? Train spotting and things like that.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14When I was working, like, you know, when I left school, working,
0:19:14 > 0:19:19I used to take him and his two mates to places like Grantham, Peterborough,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Derby, Crewe, all over the place.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27I worked on the railway, you see, so I got passes and took him round the sheds.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29I always wanted to protect Peter.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32As a young boy his health was frail.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Very weak.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39So, he needed a bit of protection, the lad did.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45When Patrick finally found out what had happened to Peter it was a great shock.
0:19:45 > 0:19:51He had to come to terms with the fact that the younger brother he had protected throughout his life
0:19:51 > 0:19:56had died and, even worse, that it had happened four years ago.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02I would understand it if it had been a few months or a few weeks, but four years, no.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05That takes a bit of swallowing, that does.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10Once he had found Patrick, Peter Birchwood was able to give him the news
0:20:10 > 0:20:14that he would be in line to inherit his brother's £10,000 estate.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18He wasn't really worried about how much his brother had left.
0:20:18 > 0:20:25In fact, he said at the time, and I believe it's still his intention,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29that he would just like to be able to put some sort of memorial to his brother
0:20:29 > 0:20:36and as long as there's enough money in the estate to do that then he will be content.
0:20:37 > 0:20:43Thanks to Peter Birchwood, Patrick has been able to put his worries about Peter's whereabouts to rest
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and he can concentrate on happier memories,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49many of which were from their childhood in Gotham near Nottingham.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Today, he is visiting their old haunts, starting with their school.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00This was, like, middle school here, when you were about 11 or 12, here.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08Peter and Patrick went to school at Gotham Primary during the 1950s.
0:21:08 > 0:21:14The school has since relocated, but as Patrick walks around the old building, the memories flood back
0:21:14 > 0:21:20of watching out for his vulnerable younger brother on the days that he actually made it to school.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24He'd be here for a fortnight, three weeks, then back in hospital, you see, for more treatments.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27That's how he went on until he was about, what?
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Nine, ten years of age.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35But he had his friends here.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40People understood him, like, understood what he was going through.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45He got bullied a little bit, but still...
0:21:45 > 0:21:49There we are. I mean, I used to sort that out.
0:21:51 > 0:21:57Patrick has been invited to the school's new premises by head teacher Sue Lymn-Brewin.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00She has some photos that she thinks will interest him.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05Now, we think that your brother may be on the front row here.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07- Right, where's Peter?- We think...
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Yes, that's Peter. That's Peter.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11- It is.- That's Peter.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14The school have kept an archive of old class photos,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17including some taken from when Patrick and Peter were pupils.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21- So, where is he on that one? - He's there, look.- That one there?
0:22:21 > 0:22:22Yeah. That's Peter.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25And how would he have been there, it was 1957?
0:22:25 > 0:22:27'57... He'd be just ten.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Just ten.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35Patrick hadn't seen the collection of photos since he was at school over 50 years ago.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37It's been lovely to see them, you know?
0:22:37 > 0:22:42It really has been wonderful to see them. And it's been nice to be invited here.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45I am very grateful to the people to invite me back, you know,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and see it all because I probably shan't see it again.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53It's... Yeah, it has been well worth coming.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00If visiting his old school in Gotham has brought back childhood memories,
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Patrick's final stop is even more rich in nostalgia.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08He is visiting the house where he and Peter grew up.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13It may have changed over the years, but the memories are still vivid.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15This was number 10.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18It doesn't say so, but it is.
0:23:21 > 0:23:2550 years since I left this house.
0:23:25 > 0:23:2717 years of age.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Cor blimey!
0:23:35 > 0:23:40Turn the clock back to how it was, please, because it were better then.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44It was a happy street.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47All the laughter, with kids.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Yeah, beautiful. Yeah.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51It really was nice.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Pete were 14 then, I think.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Or was he 13? I can't remember now.
0:23:56 > 0:23:5813 or 14.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02It doesn't seem five minutes.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I think it's time to go home.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15Time to go.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37For every case that is solved there are still thousands that stubbornly remain a mystery.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43Currently over 3,000 names drawn from across the country are on the Treasury's unsolved case list.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Their assets will be kept for up to 30 years in the hope that eventually
0:24:51 > 0:24:55someone will remember and come forward to claim their inheritance.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02With estates valued at anything from 5,000 to millions of pounds,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05the rightful heirs are out there somewhere.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Klaudusz Umanski died in May 2008.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Do you recognise that unusual name?
0:25:14 > 0:25:20If so, your memories could prove vital in seeking out Mr Umanski's rightful heir.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Could that heir even be you?
0:25:22 > 0:25:27Iris Ann Webb of Upper Holloway in London died in 2008.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Do you recall that name?
0:25:29 > 0:25:35Even the slightest memory could be the missing clue needed in the search for heirs to her estate.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40These and hundreds more estates are still lying unclaimed.
0:25:40 > 0:25:46Only new information from you can help millions of pounds get to the rightful heirs.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Vincent McGarry died leaving an estate worth over £150,000.
0:25:58 > 0:26:06Despite his 22 years in the Army, Vincent had a soft side, as his work colleague Cliff Parker remembers.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11The ladies, as I said, all come down, bring him cakes and chocolate bars.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13All he'd ever eat for lunch was a chocolate bar
0:26:13 > 0:26:15and, you know, a drink from the fridge,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17but they would always come down.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22They knew that if there was anything that they wanted done urgently, they'd bring Vince a chocolate bar
0:26:22 > 0:26:24and a cup of tea and give him, like,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27a little cuddle and within 10 minutes the job would be done.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31That's how they got round it and Vince loved all the attention.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33He just lapped it up.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Although he loved the attention at work,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Vincent had no close family to lavish the same attention on him at home
0:26:40 > 0:26:42and he died without leaving a will.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47Fraser and Fraser are trying to track down his heirs by using their contacts in Scotland.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51They know Vincent's mother committed suicide when he was two
0:26:51 > 0:26:56and Vincent's father, George, subsequently married.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00So, Vincent may have half-brothers and sisters who could inherit.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05But the Scottish agents have a bombshell to drop.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11But then there's also a note on the Scottish marriage record that says that in June of 1948 that marriage
0:27:11 > 0:27:18was found to be bigamous because George Francis McGarry was already married to a Gwendolyn May Griffiths.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22OK. So, if George Francis McGarry, the father of the deceased,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24had children from that marriage,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28then again they would be half-bloods, brothers and sisters of the deceased.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Bigamy is a surprise find, even for a seasoned heir hunter.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37There was a large increase in bigamy convictions during the Second World War
0:27:37 > 0:27:40as everyone's ordinary lives were turned upside down.
0:27:42 > 0:27:49Vincent's father, George McGarry, married his first wife, Gwenda, in 1936.
0:27:49 > 0:27:55He then met Vincent's mother, Evelyn, and fathered Vincent out of wedlock in 1943.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00But George moved on and married again in 1948,
0:28:00 > 0:28:05but as he was still technically married to his first wife, Gwenda, the marriage was bigamous.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10George was convicted and jailed just six months later.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Could Vincent ever have known about his father's rakish past
0:28:14 > 0:28:19and did he have brothers and sisters from his father's other marriages?
0:28:19 > 0:28:22The researchers now have two possible branches
0:28:22 > 0:28:24of the family they need to look into,
0:28:24 > 0:28:29Gwenda's and Catherine's, both of whom married George McGarry.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33If they can trace any children these would be Vincent's half-siblings.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37But doing any research on the name McGarry is not easy.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40You have got Mcs, Macs
0:28:40 > 0:28:45and when they indexed the Mcs and the Macs they decided to chop and change
0:28:45 > 0:28:47how they were going to do it every few years.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51So, one moment it's the Mcs are in a certain place and then they move
0:28:51 > 0:28:54and the Mcs are in another place, so they are just harder to find.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57So I hate doing Mcs.
0:28:57 > 0:29:03The Mcs may be difficult, but the researcher's persistence has paid off.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Now, with regards to the bigamous marriage,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09it would now seem that the wife that,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14in theory his bigamous wife, Catherine, died in 1994
0:29:14 > 0:29:19and from that death there is an informant, a daughter, who in theory
0:29:19 > 0:29:21would be a half-sibling of the deceased,
0:29:21 > 0:29:25but they can't readily identify that birth in any obvious location.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31They may have found their first heir to Vincent's estimated £150,000.
0:29:31 > 0:29:37Vincent's father's bigamous second marriage resulted in a daughter, Christine.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Should this be correct we'll have a half-blood sister of the deceased.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46We also have several other areas where we could get more half-blood siblings.
0:29:46 > 0:29:53Now, in our order of entitlement we go from our full-blood siblings to half-blood siblings before
0:29:53 > 0:29:58we go to full-blood cousins, so they fit in before cousins so it's quite important we find them.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03We are going to have near kin instead of going back on to the cousins.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08The team found that Christine is alive and married.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Now, they just need to get hold of her.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13Unfortunately she is not on the phone.
0:30:13 > 0:30:14We would like to talk to her,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18so I'm now going to see if we can get in contact with any of her neighbours
0:30:18 > 0:30:21and then maybe they will be kind enough to get in contact for us.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26As Vincent's half-sister and the one and only potential heir so far,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Christine could be the key to the team cracking the entire case.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33She's based in the Midlands and so they are sending senior researcher
0:30:33 > 0:30:38Paul Matthews who is based there to go and knock on her door.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43The office has spent a bit of time researching this
0:30:43 > 0:30:47and now think that there is value to the estate.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51They have now located a half-sister in Telford...
0:30:52 > 0:30:54..so I'm on my way up there now.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59We haven't got an appointment, so it's very much go up there and hope that she's at home.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Paul's travels are just beginning, but Ewart's are well underway.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05It's late afternoon and having arrived in Edinburgh
0:31:05 > 0:31:09he is touching base with the office to find out where he's needed.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14Unfortunately, the only heir they've found is in the Midlands.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18I just knew it. There's nothing happening on this case of McGarry.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20I knew it. Nothing's happening.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Ewart may have had a pointless journey, but in the office
0:31:23 > 0:31:28they're not wasting any time looking for more half-siblings of Vincent's.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31This is the deceased father's, George...
0:31:33 > 0:31:35George McGarry, his first marriage.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Well, we're assuming it's his first marriage.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41It might actually be his second or third for all we know,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46but it looks like his first marriage which was in Pembroke, so he certainly got around, this chap.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49In more senses than one!
0:31:51 > 0:31:57The half-sister the office have already found is about to receive a visit from Paul Matthews.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01It's your wife, Christine, that we need to speak to.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06We believe her mum was Catherine and her dad was George Francis McGarry, was that right?
0:32:06 > 0:32:08That's right, yes.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Could you spare us a few minutes?
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Well, she's not in, she's at work.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Yeah, if we can just spend a bit of time,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18just find a few things off yourself. OK, thank you.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24I shall put you onto the gentleman from Fraser and Fraser, OK?
0:32:24 > 0:32:30Because I don't want to be uncertain about, you know, answers I'm giving him.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34I don't know whether it's a scam yet or not, no. I don't know.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36No, it's not.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41- OK?- No, it's not a scam. Paul Matthews, pleased to speak to you.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44What time do you get home from work?
0:32:46 > 0:32:48Five-ish. Well, I'll speak to the office.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52If they want me to come back later on then I'll do that as well.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55But I'll let your husband know either way.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01Christine is still at work so the team will have to wait until they sign up their first beneficiary
0:33:01 > 0:33:06but in the meantime, the researchers have made an exciting discovery.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08There's a new heir.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12Ann is another half-sister of Vincent from his father's first marriage,
0:33:12 > 0:33:17but with the day drawing to a close will they be able to speak to her in time?
0:33:17 > 0:33:19I've found Ann McGarry. She's married an Alcock.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22She married him at age 17. We've got the address.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24She's on the phone, so we're going to give her a call.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Tony is ready for home, but this call is too important to put off.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38If Ann is an heir, she might be able to put him in touch with more.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40You've got two sisters?
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Well, right. OK.
0:33:42 > 0:33:48Well, that's of interest because clearly they might well be involved in all this as well, then.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53Ann has two older sisters, Margaret and Nesta.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56In just one call the number of heirs has doubled.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Vincent had four half-sisters.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Could I ask you what Nesta's family name is now?
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Yeah, OK. Yeah, OK. Thanks ever so much, indeed.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Thank you.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14Tony may have been half-way out the door, but staying for that extra call paid off.
0:34:14 > 0:34:21Now it's up to the travelling heir hunters to sign up the heirs and earn the company's commission.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Vincent's half-sister Christine is back from work.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27Paul is trying to tactfully find out
0:34:27 > 0:34:31if she knew anything about her father's unorthodox wedding to her mother.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34They married at home.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39- Oh, right. - You can do that, or you could do that, in Scotland, apparently.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43If it was all a bit dodgy, the minister would come to the house and do it.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47- Well, it was a bit dodgy. - Well, it seems to have been. I was certainly...
0:34:47 > 0:34:52I was born four months later, so that in itself would be dodgy.
0:34:52 > 0:34:59But the office seem to think that when he married your mum in January 1948 that it was bigamous.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05Well, I had come to that conclusion from something my mother once said
0:35:05 > 0:35:08because I had been asking her, "Why don't I have a father?"
0:35:08 > 0:35:12And she said, "Well, he was married before,"
0:35:12 > 0:35:15but she never actually said any more than that.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19He had another relationship where he didn't get married
0:35:19 > 0:35:21and produced another child.
0:35:21 > 0:35:26- My mother did say he could charm the birds out of the trees. - Well, yes.- You can see that he did.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30It sounds like that. So, you have got half-blood relatives out there.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33Well, I always thought that I probably did.
0:35:33 > 0:35:38I had this suspicion that there were other children somewhere.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42In one meeting, Christine has gone from being an only child
0:35:42 > 0:35:45to discovering that she had a half-brother
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and still has three half-sisters she never knew about.
0:35:48 > 0:35:53It would be good to know a bit more about this family tree of ours.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55It's just a blank on that side.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00I've got the names of my father, his parents,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04a village in Ireland and that's it.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06That's all I know.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09But obviously there are a lot more people around.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14So, actually from being orphan Annie with no family,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18then suddenly I've got family who I'd love to meet.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21The meeting has been a success all round.
0:36:21 > 0:36:27Paul has signed up an heir so will get a percentage of her claim, and Christine has found a new family
0:36:27 > 0:36:29who she's keen to get to know,
0:36:29 > 0:36:33something her half-brother Vincent never got the chance to do before he died.
0:36:41 > 0:36:42It's a new day in Portsmouth.
0:36:42 > 0:36:48Senior researcher David Hadley has arrived at Vincent's half-sister Margaret's house.
0:36:48 > 0:36:54Margaret is the eldest of the three sisters from Vincent's father's first marriage.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Your father also, after he left your mother,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01- had a bigamous marriage.- Yes.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Yes, I did know about that.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08That was to a Catherine Faulkner Eggo
0:37:08 > 0:37:11and that also produced a child, as well.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14- Which is this Christine. - Which is Christine.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19- Yeah, so you've got Christine who is a half-sister.- Yeah.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22And you had the deceased, Vincent.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Who was a half-brother. How nice.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27David signs Margaret up.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31She is overwhelmed by the news of the last 24 hours.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32It's a bit of a shock, really.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37Something that you think only happens to someone else.
0:37:38 > 0:37:46No idea whatsoever about anything ever like that happening in my life and...
0:37:46 > 0:37:51Well, we'll just wait and see what all the conclusion will be.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54The heir hunters come across the whole gamut of human behaviour
0:37:54 > 0:37:59in their job, but even for them this one has been an unusual case.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02It looks like we have got four beneficiaries on this,
0:38:02 > 0:38:08all of them half-blood relations to the deceased, half-blood siblings, and all of them through the father.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12And the father's lived... It sounds like he's lived quite a life, really.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15His children are all over the place, from three different women.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Two weeks later, the grown-up children
0:38:23 > 0:38:27of two of these different women are preparing to meet for the first time.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32Christine, who was the child of Vincent's father's second marriage, is on her way to see
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Margaret, Nesta and Ann, who are sisters from his first.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40I don't know how I feel today.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44Part of me is very, very nervous, part of me is very excited
0:38:44 > 0:38:48and part of me just doesn't believe any of this is happening.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53Margaret, Nesta and Ann are trying to predict what their new half-sister will be like.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56I'm curious to know if she looks like us.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00- I bet she does. Because I suspect she's got... - It might be her mother's side.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04There must be a bit of that Irish blood in her, let's put it that way.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06She'll be feisty like us!
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Well, we've got a bit of Welsh and Irish, I mean, so...
0:39:11 > 0:39:12She has got Scots and Irish.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16- Oh. We're all Celts.- Yeah.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27You're nothing like I imagined you to be!
0:39:27 > 0:39:29- I can't even guess which of you is which.- I'm Nesta.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Yes, I recognise your voice.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Good. Oh, it's nice to see... This is Margaret, she's the eldest.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39- Margaret from Portsmouth?- Yes.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44- Don't be nervous.- Nervous? That doesn't begin to describe it.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47I was... I'm Ann.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51- I was...- The youngest.- The baby.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55- This kind of makes me the baby!- Oh, she got dressed up and we didn't.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56Yes. It must be very daunting.
0:39:56 > 0:40:01Well, the whole thing was such a surprise, but yes, I think it's lovely.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06- It is. It is. Come sit down.- I am so excited by the whole thing.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08You get to a point in your life
0:40:08 > 0:40:13- where you don't think that anything like this would ever happen to you.- Well, no.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16I had absolutely no idea that...
0:40:16 > 0:40:19I had thought occasionally over the years,
0:40:19 > 0:40:23"I'm sure there might be some family somewhere."
0:40:23 > 0:40:24I've never gave it a thought.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Well, having a family I suppose you don't.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29We've just been talking about that.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33We knew of you, but over the last, what 10, 20 years?
0:40:33 > 0:40:38- It goes out of your mind. - Although the family are happy to have found each other,
0:40:38 > 0:40:43sadly they'll never meet their half-brother Vincent who is the reason they are here.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47But I am sorry for Vincent that nobody ever seems to have known anything about him.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52I wonder if he knew anything about his background though, really.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56I mean, with his mother having committed suicide.
0:40:56 > 0:41:03And this is from his friends that he served with in the Army and it said,
0:41:03 > 0:41:11"Vince was a selfless man who went through his life with all his challenges,
0:41:11 > 0:41:16"helping others and committing fully to whatever job he was engaged in.
0:41:16 > 0:41:22"He was chivalrous with an afflatus attitude and a true gentleman.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27"He was a great man, a crazy wonderful genius.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29"Vince, God rest your soul.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32"A decent night's sleep at last, my friend.
0:41:32 > 0:41:38"Enjoy, as I hear the skiing and cycling is pretty good up there,
0:41:38 > 0:41:43"as this, I'm sure you know, is not the end. Thank you."
0:41:45 > 0:41:48That's it. That's quite sad that.
0:41:48 > 0:41:53- It's really... It's even more sad that we didn't know such a nice-sounding person.- Yes.
0:41:53 > 0:41:59The sisters have made a good start on the lifetime of news they have got to catch up with.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01And I don't know why I was nervous.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04A really stupid thing to have felt.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08But now I am really pleased that I came and met them.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11- I'm definitely going to keep in touch.- It has been very nice.
0:42:11 > 0:42:18I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's nice to get together as three sisters, as we don't very often,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22and to have the fourth one join is an extra bonus,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25and I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, thank you.
0:42:25 > 0:42:31I didn't expect her to look like she looked, or how she looks I should say, but brilliant!
0:42:31 > 0:42:35I still think she's part of the family.
0:42:35 > 0:42:41Sadly, Vincent, a man who made the Army his family, will never know about his four half-sisters.
0:42:41 > 0:42:48However, his legacy has not only provided them with a windfall, but has also brought them together.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57If you would like advice about building a family tree or making a will go to...
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:24 > 0:43:27E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk