0:00:02 > 0:00:05Heir hunters spend their lives tracking down the families
0:00:05 > 0:00:10of people who died without leaving a will. They hand over thousands of pounds to long lost relatives
0:00:10 > 0:00:15who had no idea they were in line for a windfall. Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:32 > 0:00:34On today's programme...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38..the heir hunters come across a family
0:00:38 > 0:00:41affected by one of the greatest killers of the 20th century.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Fifty million people worldwide died
0:00:44 > 0:00:48in this pandemic and maybe perhaps as many as 100 million.
0:00:50 > 0:00:56And they delve back into football history as they uncover the estate of a local sporting hero.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59He played in front of crowds of 10,000, 15,000,
0:00:59 > 0:01:05obviously revered by the local supporters, and such, who wouldn't want that?
0:01:05 > 0:01:12Plus how you may be entitled to inherit some of the unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Less than one in three people in the UK make a will.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25For all other cases, if no obvious relatives are found, their money goes straight to the Government.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Last year, a staggering £18 million went to the Treasury in unclaimed estates,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35that's where the Heir Hunters step in.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40Over 30 companies make it their business to try and find heirs to inherit this money.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45Last year alone, they claimed back over £6.5 million for unsuspecting relatives.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Fraser & Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunters in Britain
0:01:52 > 0:01:54run by Andrew, Charles, and Neil Fraser.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57George R Galloway, who's got the marriages?
0:01:58 > 0:02:02They make their commission by solving cases and signing up heirs.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Since they began over 30 years ago, they've reunited over 50,000 heirs
0:02:07 > 0:02:10with a whopping sum of over £100 million.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20It's Thursday, the day the Treasury publishes its list of unclaimed estates,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and as they earn their money from commission, the office need
0:02:24 > 0:02:26to identify the big value cases on today's list.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Do you want to do an enquiry on this one, David?
0:02:29 > 0:02:32We're still a little bit up in the air at the moment,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36the list doesn't look especially good and until we get a bit further into it,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I don't really know where we're going to go at the moment.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Because the Treasury doesn't publish how much an estate is worth,
0:02:44 > 0:02:50the heir hunters have to weigh up how much research time they can afford to allocate to any one case.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53See if you can find him,
0:02:53 > 0:02:54dying or doing anything.
0:02:54 > 0:03:01Of the 13 cases announced, the only one that looks like it has value is the case of Brian Lloyd.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05We're looking at a few different cases, firstly Lloyd because
0:03:05 > 0:03:07it looks like he owns a property, in Birmingham,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11and there's going to be value on that. There's other smaller stuff,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14we're looking at, which don't own properties but just because
0:03:14 > 0:03:17they don't doesn't mean there's not any value in it.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21We don't know about shares and bank accounts, things like that.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26So maybe on Lloyd but some of the other researchers are going to be on different things.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31David Milchard, known in the office as Grimble, is starting work on the Lloyd case,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35with most of the researchers working to see what they can find out about
0:03:35 > 0:03:38him and his property in the West Midlands.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44But there's another case, too, that's caught their eye, the smaller case of Russell Wemyss.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50Russell died on 17 May 2008 and was 81 years old.
0:03:50 > 0:03:57His interesting surname originated from Scotland but it seems Russell spent most of his life on Tyneside.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01He didn't own his own home and lived in a council property,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05which suggests the value of the estate will not be huge,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08but to appear on the list it must be worth at least £5,000.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13If the heir hunters can solve his case quickly and cheaply, it will be worth pursuing.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Tony Pledger has been given Wemyss to investigate
0:04:19 > 0:04:25but unlike the team on the big value case, his brief is to spend almost no money in solving it.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29He's working this job with only one researcher in the office,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33a local researcher at the end of a phone, and no travellers.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38It's a good name. The staff are doing other things that are probably going to be
0:04:38 > 0:04:43a lot more productive and more value, this might only turn out to be a few thousand pounds,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46perhaps £10,000 to £15,000, I don't know. But hopefully
0:04:46 > 0:04:49if we end up with any kin on it, that'll be good enough.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54The uncommon name has meant search results have been relatively quick.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59We've found a possible sister of the deceased who is married
0:04:59 > 0:05:04and I'm looking for her child, she's had a child called Maureen Ellwood.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09As Maureen is not listed in the phone directory and Tony has no travellers at his disposal
0:05:09 > 0:05:15to send round to her address, he needs to use any resources he can, including helpful neighbours.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20We're looking into the estate of somebody who has died fairly recently
0:05:20 > 0:05:25and I'm hoping that she, Maureen, at number 28, might be an entitled heir, you see.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30Basically, can I possibly ask you if you could stick a note in the door and ask them to give me a call?
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Thank you, ta-ta.
0:05:32 > 0:05:38So far, Tony has established that Russell's father was a Wemyss and his mother, an Ayre.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42A census search of children born in the area from the Wemyss/Ayre marriage
0:05:42 > 0:05:46has thrown up around 15 potential brothers and sisters for Russell.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51It also looks like two of Russell's possible sisters,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Elizabeth and Winifred, died as infants around the end of the First World War.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00For heir hunters, this is significant and suggests that the children were victims
0:06:00 > 0:06:03of one of the biggest medical disasters of the 20th century.
0:06:10 > 0:06:17The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 was a global catastrophe which killed millions.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18It's called the Spanish Flu
0:06:18 > 0:06:24because the epidemic supposedly started in Spain, at least that's
0:06:24 > 0:06:28where the first reports that appeared in the newspapers came from.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31And because it was wartime,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35although flu was also very prevalent in Britain and France,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38the papers were censored. So the first reports
0:06:38 > 0:06:42we all had were of this epidemic disease erupting in Spain...
0:06:42 > 0:06:47one of the first casualties was the King of Spain...and before long,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52people starting referring to the disease as the Spanish Influenza,
0:06:52 > 0:06:57and it invaded every town and city in Britain in a series of waves.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03To make matters worse, the pandemic reached its peak at the end
0:07:03 > 0:07:08of the First World War, and it didn't discriminate against class.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Not only were ordinary families like the Wemyss affected,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16the Prime Minister of the day, Lloyd George, contracted the virus but survived.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21It was essentially brought back from the Front,
0:07:21 > 0:07:27so soldiers returning on furlough from northern France would typically
0:07:27 > 0:07:32alight in London or in Manchester, or other northern towns,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37and you would see the first outbreak of cases around the railway stations.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Then from the centre of cities it would rapidly spread out
0:07:40 > 0:07:45to the suburbs and then into the countryside. Typically children
0:07:45 > 0:07:49would get sick, and as one health officer described it,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53he visited a school and witnessed children...he described them as
0:07:53 > 0:07:59sitting at their desks and suddenly drooping like a plant whose roots
0:07:59 > 0:08:05had suddenly been pulled up. So he was struck by the fact that
0:08:05 > 0:08:10children seemed to be particularly affected and that it would come on very, very suddenly.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15Fifty million people worldwide died in this pandemic,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19and given that something like a quarter of the British population
0:08:19 > 0:08:23were affected by the Spanish Influenza, it's very likely that in
0:08:23 > 0:08:28most families there would be at least one or two, if not more,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31members of the family tree who would have had direct experience.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39It was an unprecedented killer, with the death toll in Britain reaching 228,000.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Children like Elizabeth and Winifred Wemyss could have
0:08:44 > 0:08:47picked up the virus anywhere, as it was found to be airborne.
0:08:49 > 0:08:55It was a pandemic that truly affected every single continent and country on the globe,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59and that is really what makes it unique in history.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03The Spanish Flu may have claimed the lives of two of Russell's
0:09:03 > 0:09:06potential siblings, but there were another 12 who survived.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Finding out if they all got married and had children is a big research job.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Obviously we have to be careful with the amount of money
0:09:16 > 0:09:19that we spend on cases, we don't have money to burn, and indeed,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23applying for loads of certificates initially doesn't really get you anywhere.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28You've got to know what you're doing because obviously, with a smaller case,
0:09:28 > 0:09:33you might not make so much of a profit, or indeed any profit at all, than you would with a bigger case.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38Tony needs to keep his research costs to an absolute minimum,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41but, luckily, David Milchard doesn't have those concerns.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44He's heading up the Lloyd investigation,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48which looks to be worth a fairly large amount of money.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56He's already established that there's a property which may be worth around £80,000.
0:09:56 > 0:10:04We're going to go full pelt on this one, I've got several researchers in the office to do the research here,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07and I've got one traveller at the moment.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10It's well worth putting a bit of resource into this one.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16Brian Lloyd died on 27 August 2007, aged just 51.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21He died suddenly from a heart attack, and hadn't written a will.
0:10:21 > 0:10:27Brian had worked all his life in a factory near his home, where he was quite a character.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Brian would do anything for you, but he would spend 20 minutes saying
0:10:30 > 0:10:35- the reason why he couldn't do it for you and then spend two minutes doing the job.- That's Brian.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40That was Brian, you know. You'd go in there and say, "look Brian, can you do this?"
0:10:40 > 0:10:43And he'd say, "I've got this to do, I've got that to do."
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Then after 20 minutes he'd say, "leave it here," and he could do it in two minutes.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49And he'd make a good job of it.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56He was a likeable character, and he was probably a jovial character,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59easy to get on with, and I think a lot of people knew Brian
0:10:59 > 0:11:05but probably never knew Brian on the inside because he was never really close to anybody.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09He was the sort of chap you could talk to anytime but I don't think
0:11:09 > 0:11:13you would ever really know what Brian would be thinking.
0:11:15 > 0:11:21We found that the deceased lived in Walsall Road in Wensbury,
0:11:21 > 0:11:27it seemed to be the family home for a long, long time, both his parents died there.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It's this property which will mean there's some value to the case.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35To check this out and to hopefully sniff out some family leads,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39he's sending senior researcher, Paul Matthews, to make some door to door enquiries.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Fraser's have a team of travelling heir hunters across the country,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54who are ready to go wherever the hunt takes them.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58They pick up records, talk to those who knew the deceased,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01and make door to door enquiries, all in the search for clues.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07And the leads they uncover on the ground are all-important in the race to find and sign up heirs.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Ex-police sergeant Paul Matthews is the Midlands-based heir hunter,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17with 23 years of detective work behind him, not much gets past Paul's keen eyes.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23I'm now on the way to the address where he lived, firstly to find out
0:12:23 > 0:12:27whether it was his property and to put a value on it,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32knock on a few neighbours' doors to try and find out if they knew about his family,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37and then afterwards we'll be on our way to Walsall Register Office.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40As Paul threads his way through the Birmingham traffic,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44back in the office research is progressing.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47We also identified a Harold Thorneycroft,
0:12:47 > 0:12:52who disappears from that address in the '80s.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Thorneycroft is the mother's maiden name
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and it turns out that that's the deceased's grandfather.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05Harold Thorneycroft and Lily Haskett were Brian's maternal grandparents.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10A birth search had revealed that Lily, Brian's mother, was their only child.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14This means that from the maternal side there is no-one alive to inherit.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20With the team now focusing on the search for paternal aunts and uncles,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Paul has made it to Birmingham.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26We'll try a few neighbours and see what's what.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31But as they now know, there is less chance of finding living heirs for Brian's family.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Any information Paul gets could be crucial.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Did you know Brian Lloyd who used to live at number 203?
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Is there anybody round here who knew him?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45That wasn't overly helpful.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47But all that effort comes to nothing.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I'll now have to go to Walsall Register Office,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54they've got a marriage that I'm to pick, up so I'm going to try one last knock on the door,
0:13:54 > 0:13:59the last house to try, while I'm here, then I'll be off to Walsall Register Office.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06That's it, failed badly.
0:14:06 > 0:14:13He's identified Brian Lloyd's property but no-one seems to know anything about his family.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17But Paul doesn't give up that easily, before going to the register office
0:14:17 > 0:14:20his keen detective eyes spot something.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Last throw of the dice, he's got to get his meat from somewhere,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27it's only a few doors down so a long shot, but worth asking.
0:14:30 > 0:14:31- Hello.- Morning.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36My name's Paul Matthews, I work for a probate research company called Fraser & Fraser.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40- What can I do for you, mate? - Brian Lloyd, a few doors down, he passed away 18 months ago.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44- That's right.- He never made a will. We're trying to find his relatives.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47- Did you know the gent at all? - Yes, we were very good friends.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53Right. I've drawn a blank knocking on neighbours' doors, but not yours!
0:14:53 > 0:14:58It's a result for Paul. It turns out Brian had been a regular customer for over 30 years.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04Brian was very methodical, and I don't know why he didn't make a will.
0:15:04 > 0:15:11Even his £1 coins were laid in line, he kept a daily accounts book,
0:15:11 > 0:15:18so it does surprise me that you're telling me that he hasn't left a will to his estate.
0:15:18 > 0:15:25And it's all the more surprising considering how large Brian's estate may actually turn out to be.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27He was never short of money.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32There was three houses which are in the past,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35and there was the money from his father,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38there was the money from his grandfather.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41I would have thought that Brian was never short.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44It wouldn't surprise me to go to £250,000.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48It turns out, over the last few years Brian had inherited
0:15:48 > 0:15:53his grandfather and his father's money and properties.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59But despite sitting on such a large fortune, Brian wasn't a man of airs and graces.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Very down to earth, if he thought you was a fool,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04he'd have told you you was a fool.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09But he was very, very social with the locals, very neighbourly.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12He only worked round the corner,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16two streets away, about 400 yards as the crow flies.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22In later life, he kept his car up the garage so he'd go up on his bike because he ended up with gout.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28I says that was a rich man's disease, and he just smiled at that one.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Right, he was a bachelor,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32no siblings known.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36The dad died here in about 1994,
0:16:36 > 0:16:44the grandparents used to live at 199, basically 199, 201, and 203 were all in the family.
0:16:44 > 0:16:51The estimated value of Brian's estate has just gone from £80,000 to potentially £250,000.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55It's now more important than ever to find at least one heir
0:16:55 > 0:17:01if there's any chance of stopping it all going to the Treasury, or a rival heir hunting company.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07The two cases under investigation today, that of Russell Wemyss
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and Brian Lloyd, still have a long way to go.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And as they hit the research hard, they're about to discover
0:17:13 > 0:17:16that all their hours of work may have been in vain.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18OK, I'm much obliged to you.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Thank you, bye-bye.
0:17:22 > 0:17:23Wrong family.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34For some heir hunters, getting the right result
0:17:34 > 0:17:36doesn't just come from searching through records.
0:17:39 > 0:17:46Bob Smith is one of Fraser's travelling senior researchers, but he's also crazy about football.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Anyone? Anyone? Yes!
0:17:50 > 0:17:55A lifelong supporter of Arsenal, he never made it onto the pitch at Highbury but has been
0:17:55 > 0:17:59a passionate player, and manager, at East Grinstead Football Club
0:17:59 > 0:18:01since he moved to the area in the late '80s.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Come on, quick, quick. Come on!
0:18:03 > 0:18:06In your pairs, let's go jogging again. Come on.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11So when he was referred the case of Trevor Haydon, he could not have been happier.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16It was to mix his skill of heir hunting with his passion for the beautiful game.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19One thing that struck me,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21having looked at the birth certificate of our deceased,
0:18:21 > 0:18:26his father's occupation is given as a professional footballer.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Now being a football-loving person myself, that struck a chord
0:18:30 > 0:18:35and I began to take a great interest in trying to find family members
0:18:35 > 0:18:39of our deceased, Trevor Haydon, and find out about his life.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Trevor Haydon died on the 9th of November 2006,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49after having lived in Bristol all his life. As he left a property,
0:18:49 > 0:18:56his legacy was worth around £140,000, but it seemed there was no-one to inherit.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02He died without making a will and no known family.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06The solicitors had employed a local tracing agency to try
0:19:06 > 0:19:12and track down family members but they were, at that point, unsuccessful.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17Tracking down heirs to this fortune would take Bob back into the Haydon family history
0:19:17 > 0:19:20to find any brothers and sisters of Trevor's parents,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and it was Trevor's famous father
0:19:22 > 0:19:25who had drawn Bob to the case in the first place.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Jimmy Haydon was a professional footballer for Bristol Rovers
0:19:35 > 0:19:37and a local superstar.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41During the 1920's, he was one of the club's longest serving players,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44making 318 appearances for the team.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49CHEERING
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Their first choice left-back for the whole of his career,
0:19:53 > 0:19:58he never played for another club, something that was extremely rare at the time.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02His reputation as a strong and determined defender
0:20:02 > 0:20:06as well as being a home-grown player meant he was hugely popular with the fans.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13But Bob was about to find out that Jimmy wasn't the only footballer in the family.
0:20:13 > 0:20:19His son, our deceased, Trevor, was also a well-known footballer in the area,
0:20:19 > 0:20:25and it transpires that he played locally for one of the semi-professional clubs,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Bath City, in fact.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32So obviously it was a family trait, being professional footballers.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37To find out more about Trevor's sporting career, Bob hits the road.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43I'm going to pop in to Bath City Football Club
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and try and talk to someone there
0:20:46 > 0:20:51who may know something about Trevor, our deceased.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Whenever I travel round the country, I always look at football grounds
0:20:55 > 0:20:57whatever city, village, town I'm in.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01If I see floodlights, I'm always, where's that?
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Go on lots of little detours just to drive past the football ground.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Sad, isn't it?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I'm here at Twerton Park, the home of Bath City Football Club.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28I've been told by members of Trevor Haydon's family
0:21:28 > 0:21:33that Trevor, at some point, played here during his career
0:21:33 > 0:21:36as a professional footballer, so I'm hoping to meet up with
0:21:36 > 0:21:40someone who might be able to tell me more about Trevor and his life.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47Bob's here to meet Bath City's current chairman, Phil Weaver.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52I've been watching Bath City since about 1955, but Trevor played,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56I think '51 or '52, just for a season, but scored quite a few goals.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Right, so he was a goal scorer, then?
0:21:58 > 0:22:01- Oh, absolutely, yeah. - Were they full-time at that point?
0:22:01 > 0:22:04They weren't full-time then, at that time there was
0:22:04 > 0:22:10the maximum wage in the Football League and so players would leave the First Division...
0:22:10 > 0:22:14- now Premier League sides... to come to Bath City.- Really?
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Yes. They could get a maximum of £25 a week in the League,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22but come down here and get 30 quid, so they did!
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Those higher wages would have been comparable to getting an extra £150 a week today.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32It's a far cry from today's Premiership contracts,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35but professional footballers of the day weren't hard done by,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37earning the equivalent of £800 a week.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Bearing in mind Trevor and his father were both local lads,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46and obviously played for big teams within the local area,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49were they sort of considered celebrities as such?
0:22:49 > 0:22:52I think in those days
0:22:52 > 0:22:55the full-time player would certainly have been if he played for
0:22:55 > 0:22:59one of the local League teams like Bristol Rovers or Bristol City.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Somebody like Trevor playing part-time in football,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07he would certainly have been looked up to by his workmates
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and also, of course, by the crowd in front of whom he played.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- Sure, yeah.- So we revere them.- Yes.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21And Trevor is even remembered in Bath City's official club history.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26Looking here, he was signed in 1951 by the manager,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28who was Eddie Hapgood, late of Arsenal,
0:23:28 > 0:23:36and 24 year old Trevor Haydon's hat trick, three goals, against lowly Hastings United,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39"set City for the big time of Barry Town".
0:23:39 > 0:23:43He'd have been popular with the crowd for scoring those goals,
0:23:43 > 0:23:468,300 came to see that game.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50So yes, we had some good crowds in those days.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57In all honesty, I would love to have had Trevor's playing career.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02You know, he played in front of crowds of 10,000 to 15,000.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06he was paid to do something that he loves,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10obviously revered by the local supporters and such.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Who wouldn't want that?
0:24:13 > 0:24:21Armed with further information about Trevor's life, it was time to track down the heirs to his £140,000.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24In an ideal world, if we're looking at both
0:24:24 > 0:24:30mother's and father's families, we'd like one sister and one brother
0:24:30 > 0:24:33so it's not a big family to research.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Unfortunately on Jimmy's side of the family,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42not only was it a large family but it was a rather fragmented family.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46They didn't really keep in contact with each other and they only really
0:24:46 > 0:24:51had sort of sketchy information about their cousins and the names of their aunts and uncles.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55What made it even more confusing was the fact that quite often
0:24:55 > 0:24:58aunts and uncles were known by nicknames.
0:24:58 > 0:25:04One prime example was a gentleman called George Haydon, who was known as Sam.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Not having correct names made it very difficult to find the right
0:25:08 > 0:25:14birth, death, and marriage records, which are the foundations of creating a family tree.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19It took the team months of record searching and many confusing
0:25:19 > 0:25:24phone calls before they finally hit upon a crucial census document.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Having found Jimmy's birth certificate, we were able
0:25:27 > 0:25:30to identify some censuses which listed children,
0:25:30 > 0:25:35these would be siblings to Jimmy, brothers and sisters to Jimmy,
0:25:35 > 0:25:40Violet, Herbert, John, Frederick,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Charles, George, Florence,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48and William, so quite a few.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53The paternal side of the family turned out to be very large.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Jimmy, Trevor's father, in fact had nine brothers and sisters.
0:25:58 > 0:26:04Having completed our research on the paternal family, we turned our attention to the maternal family.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09Now we had a copy of the birth of the mother of our deceased,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13but we've had a lot of difficulty in finding a marriage between the parents.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18The marriage certificate for Trevor's maternal grandparents would give the researchers
0:26:18 > 0:26:22a timeframe in which to look for any other children they may have had.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26These would be Trevor's aunts and uncles.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Just on an off chance, I said to the researcher,
0:26:29 > 0:26:34"have a look for the marriage after the birth of the mother of the deceased,"
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and lo and behold, the marriage took place some 15 years later,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43and in the meantime there were about five children.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48In the end, they uncovered Trevor's mother Gladys's seven brothers and sisters.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53Further searches lead them to their descendents, including John Harding,
0:26:53 > 0:26:58a first cousin to Trevor and an heir to part of his £140,000 estate.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02John still lives in the Bristol area.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Trevor was always very kind to me when I was a small boy
0:27:06 > 0:27:11and Trevor, he played football himself, I understand, to a very good standard.
0:27:11 > 0:27:18He was friendly with quite a lot of professional footballers
0:27:18 > 0:27:23and if there was ever what I would call a big game in Bristol,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26perhaps one of the clubs advanced in the FA Cup,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Trevor could always manage somehow to get me some very nice stand tickets.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Ah, right, a useful contact he was.
0:27:33 > 0:27:39He was a typical ex-footballer of his generation.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44He was always very friendly, always seemed very pleased to see me.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50This is an autograph book which Trevor gave me many, many years ago.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55As you can see, it says "Merry Xmas, John, from Trevor".
0:27:55 > 0:28:02This came to me all signed, Bristol City, the great John Atyeo.
0:28:02 > 0:28:08Now we go Bristol Rovers, '64, '65.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Then we go to the big stuff, Grimsby.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13THEY LAUGH TOGETHER
0:28:13 > 0:28:17He seems very much, I would describe someone, as a man's man.
0:28:17 > 0:28:18Very much so.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Football, book-keeping, horses, stuff like that.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Yes. I think even though he wasn't married, there was lady friends.
0:28:25 > 0:28:31I remember he came to the farm on several occasions
0:28:31 > 0:28:34with what I thought were very glamorous ladies, you know...
0:28:34 > 0:28:37as a small boy, I thought, crikey!
0:28:37 > 0:28:42- But obviously he never married. - He didn't have kids?
0:28:42 > 0:28:45No, no. He never told me, anyway.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50- That's the important thing because obviously if he did have children...- Yeah.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54they would be entitled before any cousins.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56He sounds like a very colourful character.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59He was a very nice man, Trevor, very kind.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03Like I said, I liked Trevor very, very much.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05- A kindly uncle. - That's the one, yeah!
0:29:07 > 0:29:13It's been nice to talk to the family and just ask them what they know about the family and Trevor himself.
0:29:14 > 0:29:21Just everything about Trevor himself, his life, his life as a footballer
0:29:21 > 0:29:26and how he may have been a local celebrity, revered by the locals, and what have you.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29It's been fascinating, really, really good.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36But discovering Trevor's colourful life wasn't the only result for Bob.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40After eight months investigating the case,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44he has finally tracked down over 20 heirs to the £140,000 fortune
0:29:44 > 0:29:47of his fellow footballer, Trevor Haydon.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01For every case that is solved, there are still thousands that stubbornly remain a mystery.
0:30:01 > 0:30:09Currently, over 3,000 names drawn from across the country are on the Treasury's unsolved case list.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15Their assets will be kept for up to 30 years in the hope that eventually
0:30:15 > 0:30:19someone will remember and come forward to claim their inheritance.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24With estates valued at anything from £5,000 to millions of pounds,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28the rightful heirs are out there somewhere.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Today, we've got two cases heir hunters have so far failed to solve,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35could you be the key? Could you be in line for a payout?
0:30:37 > 0:30:43Malcolm John Thomas died in Bethnal Green, in London, in March 2007.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Originally from Pontypool in Wales, his mother's maiden name was Griffiths.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Do these details ring any bells?
0:30:49 > 0:30:54Could you be Malcolm's closest relative and entitled to his unclaimed estate?
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Phyllis Woodcock, born Phyllis Brown, died in Littlehampton,
0:30:58 > 0:31:03West Sussex, in October 2007. Does her name ring any bells?
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Could she be your long lost aunt or cousin?
0:31:05 > 0:31:09Could you be the one person entitled to her estate?
0:31:15 > 0:31:21The hunt to find out who is entitled to these estates can go any number of ways.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26Estates can end up being worth millions of pounds or just a few thousand.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30They might find heirs within hours, or they may never find any.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33The team at Fraser & Fraser often work several cases
0:31:33 > 0:31:38from the Treasury's weekly list, because they just never know how things will pan out.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44Tony Pledger has been looking into a small case,
0:31:44 > 0:31:50there's not much value to it so he's trying to make headway all on his own.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Would you know if he would have had a niece or anything at all?
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Somebody mentioned there might have been one.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00What areas are we doing for marriages?
0:32:00 > 0:32:02But Grimble, and most of the rest of the office,
0:32:02 > 0:32:06has all the resources to investigate the estate of Brian Lloyd.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09It may be worth as much as £250,000.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12It started out very promising,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14it's got a bit of value to it.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18The trouble is, it looks like it's drying up.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22We can't seem to find any relatives at the moment.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26We're just having some difficulty in latching on to the family,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30so hopefully we'll get a little break in it later on in the day.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Brian died suddenly at the age of 51,
0:32:33 > 0:32:38leaving a house in the West Midlands and a substantial amount of money,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41but heirs to this fortune are looking thin on the ground.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46Brian's mother was an only child, making the maternal side a dead end,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49but they may have just had a break as they've uncovered
0:32:49 > 0:32:52a possible brother on the father's side, Alfred,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and at the moment he's looking like the only route to heirs.
0:32:55 > 0:33:02They've gone back over the births, concentrating on Knighton, and you've got to pin things right down.
0:33:02 > 0:33:09There's a possible brother of the father of the deceased, an Alfred, born in 1914,
0:33:09 > 0:33:13so we'll work that one now and see if it is a brother.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18If Alfred is an uncle of Brian Lloyd, his descendants would be
0:33:18 > 0:33:23cousins to Brian and in line for the potentially huge inheritance.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Finding out if Alfred had children is key.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28I'm looking for an Alfred M Lloyd,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31so Joe and I are both ploughing through looking for his marriage.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36We don't have any ideas with the surname Lloyd, it's all kind of, at the moment, spec.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40We could well end up with a dead job here,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43definitely nothing on mum's side,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46it's going to be 50/50 on dad's side.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51We've still got this Alfred but he's certainly got to have
0:33:51 > 0:33:55at least one kid who's living or descendants from it but...
0:33:55 > 0:33:58TELEPHONE RINGS
0:33:58 > 0:33:59Hello.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01How are we doing with our Alfred?
0:34:01 > 0:34:03It's going to be difficult, isn't it?
0:34:03 > 0:34:07As they search for Alfred's children, they must get
0:34:07 > 0:34:11the certificates to identify exactly who the paternal grandparents are.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15This will confirm if Alfred is indeed an uncle.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18It will also confirm if there are any other aunts and uncles.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24Things aren't looking very hopeful at the moment.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29We'll keep looking until we have all the certificates back and proved or disproved what we found.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Until that's come in and we finish the research then we'll keep going.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36The fact that it's hard for us, it's hard for everybody else.
0:34:36 > 0:34:43But even before Alfred can be confirmed as an uncle, they find some bad news.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Well, we've just found the uncle of the deceased,
0:34:45 > 0:34:50he dies aged 22, in Wales. So no issue.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52Do you know what his father's name was?
0:34:52 > 0:34:56Not only has this Alfred died without having children,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00but a call to one of his relatives reveals something else.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03It looks like we're on the wrong tree there. I'm much obliged to you.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Thank you, bye-bye.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Wrong family.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12Unfortunately, there is no uncle Alfred in this family and unless
0:35:12 > 0:35:16there are any other any other aunts and uncles, it's not looking good.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19It would be a shame if we can't find somebody.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22It's possible, you know, if the parents of the deceased
0:35:22 > 0:35:26were only children, there is nobody to inherit and it'll go to the Crown.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29That's the way the legislation goes in this country.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35As travelling heir hunter, Paul Matthews, arrives at the Walsall Register Office,
0:35:35 > 0:35:40the case now hinges on what information is contained in the certificates.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Unfortunately, the last certificate that I've obtained,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50which was purely a hunch by the office that this may be
0:35:50 > 0:35:54the right marriage of the deceased's grandparents.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Unfortunately by confirming that, the response from the office,
0:35:58 > 0:36:03well, now that marriage is right, they now know that all this dies out.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Basically, there are no heirs,
0:36:06 > 0:36:11so all the hard work, running round, it's come to no result.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15So it looks as though on this particular occasion that the estates
0:36:15 > 0:36:18are going to be going to the Government, I'm afraid.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20So that's life, you win some, you lose some.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26It's a disappointing end to everyone's efforts.
0:36:26 > 0:36:34Brian Lloyd's potential £250,000 fortune will now be absorbed by the Treasury.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37And for Fraser's, there's also no commission to make.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Now it's just down to Grimble to close the case down.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45So that birth...
0:36:45 > 0:36:48But there's better news for Tony.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53Against all the odds, he's single-handedly making great progress on the Wemyss' job.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57It's a far less valuable case but if Tony can solve it easily,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00it's worth Fraser's investigating it.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03Russell Wemyss died in 2008 aged 81,
0:37:03 > 0:37:10after having lived for most of his life in a council property on Tyneside.
0:37:10 > 0:37:11Russell was a pure gentleman.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15Old-fashioned type of gentleman what you don't see these days.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17He was sound.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20We used to talk about the garden, talk about the weather
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and what we're planting, and what we're doing.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I miss looking for him in a morning.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29He used to yell out, "Is he up?"
0:37:29 > 0:37:31He was great.
0:37:31 > 0:37:37Whilst he may not have left a large estate, the chance of finding heirs is good.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It's expanded out pretty quickly. It is going to be near kin
0:37:40 > 0:37:43so we more than likely will carry it to a conclusion.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46The reason I think it's going to be near kin is because the tree
0:37:46 > 0:37:51which Amy's writing out has got several names on it already.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55Earlier in the day, Tony got a neighbour to ask a potential heir
0:37:55 > 0:37:58to contact him, and Maureen has just phoned back.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03So your granny, Thomasina, would have had a sister, I think, Ellen Shaw Ayre,
0:38:03 > 0:38:08I'm assuming, therefore, that your mother had several brothers and sisters.
0:38:09 > 0:38:14They've all died now, yeah, but, you see, the problem is that we could obviously establish
0:38:14 > 0:38:18that you might be a blood relative of the deceased but whether or not
0:38:18 > 0:38:23there are other people of a nearer degree that come into it, you see what I mean.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27It turns out that Maureen is related to Russell as a first cousin once removed,
0:38:27 > 0:38:34but she may not turn out to be an heir if Tony finds closer kin, such as nephews and nieces.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Maureen does, however, know lots of family information.
0:38:37 > 0:38:43Russell was quite jovial really, so was his brothers.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48They were very good friends with my grandda and they used to drink
0:38:48 > 0:38:54in the same pub together and go on the day trips together,
0:38:54 > 0:38:59and they were very close. Russell and his brothers were very close.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Maureen was a bridesmaid at Russell's sister, Betty's wedding,
0:39:03 > 0:39:08but as they got older, the two families saw each other less and less.
0:39:08 > 0:39:16It was strange both called Wemyss, basically because Wemyss was a very uncommon name, you know.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20And, of course, Auntie Nelly had the four boys and one girl,
0:39:20 > 0:39:25and me Nana had...oh,
0:39:25 > 0:39:30three boys and three girls.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34No, and he wasn't married either? No, but we're getting a good picture now.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Finding Maureen has been a godsend for Tony.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40She's been able to confirm who out of the potential
0:39:40 > 0:39:4415 brothers and sisters are, in fact, Russell's siblings.
0:39:44 > 0:39:49She's also confirmed that as well as the sister who died as an infant,
0:39:49 > 0:39:54incredibly, all the other brothers remained bachelors and died without children.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59Russell's sister, Betty, did however have a son and two daughters.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04As nephews and nieces, they take inheritance priority over Maureen and other sole heirs.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09Hello, Mr Clark. This is Tony Pledger, from Fraser & Fraser, the probate researchers in London.
0:40:09 > 0:40:16Despite working on the tightest of budgets, Tony has finally cracked the case of Russell Wemyss.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21He's found the nephew and two nieces who will be the sole heirs to his estate.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25Still living in the Tyneside area,
0:40:25 > 0:40:30Alan Clark is the son of Russell's sister, Betty, who died over 40 years ago.
0:40:30 > 0:40:36The last time I saw Russell was just after my mother died.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41I went to stop with the brothers, me uncles,
0:40:41 > 0:40:47and I was there for about three or four weeks, and then I just went my own way.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52'65, '66. My mother died '65, so I would say about '66.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54That was the last time I seen him.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58It was Alan's mother and Russell's sister, Betty,
0:40:58 > 0:41:01who seem to be the link holding the Wemyss family together.
0:41:01 > 0:41:07When she died at the age of just 42, much of the family lost contact.
0:41:07 > 0:41:14I just would like to know a bit more about the family on her side, you know, because it is a big family.
0:41:14 > 0:41:20It's surprising. I was surprised how big it probably will be. It might be even bigger than what I think.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25As one of just three heirs, Alan and his two sisters, Joyce and Joan,
0:41:25 > 0:41:30will share in Russell's estate, which turns out to be around £14,000.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35It's nice if something could be left, but I'm not really interested.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40I'm more interested in the family name and hopefully we're going to find more out about it.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44I am honestly, the money side of it, not interested at all.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52Buried at the family plot in South Shields cemetery, Alan goes to pay his respects to his Uncle Russell.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58He's with the rest of his family, I think, I hope.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00I know his mam and dad's buried here.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04It's a lovely spot where he lies.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09It's very emotional here,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13knowing that me Mam's just further up from Russell.
0:42:13 > 0:42:14Very emotional.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18I won't see me Mam later.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Been an interesting day, actually.
0:42:24 > 0:42:25Peaceful. Very nice.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31What I'd like to do is put a cross or something
0:42:31 > 0:42:37on Russell's and me Mam's grave, just to say that they're there,
0:42:37 > 0:42:41As you see, it's just a hole in the ground at the moment.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45It'd be nice to give them something nice that people can look and say,
0:42:45 > 0:42:49"there's a Wemyss and a Clark." It'd be nice.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59If you would like to find out more about how to build a family tree,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01go to bbc.co.uk
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd