0:00:02 > 0:00:07Heir hunters spend their lives tracking down the families of people who died without leaving a will.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11They hand over thousands of pounds to long-lost relatives
0:00:11 > 0:00:15who had no idea they were in line for a windfall.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:33 > 0:00:35On today's programme,
0:00:35 > 0:00:43one man inherits a life-changing amount of money from someone he didn't even know existed.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Your father was married before.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47So my mum was his second marriage, was she?
0:00:47 > 0:00:51- Yes.- Oh, I see.- This person that's died is your half-brother.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57And we revisit the story of two brothers separated at birth
0:00:57 > 0:01:03and expose the secret double life one of them led for over 40 years.
0:01:03 > 0:01:11I just could not believe that they were talking about my dad on the TV, a man I hadn't seen for 50 years.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13It was utter shock.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Plus, the unclaimed estate sitting dormant at the Treasury.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Are you about to inherit a fortune?
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Every year in Britain, over two thirds of people die without leaving a will.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31When no heir can be found, their money goes to the government.
0:01:31 > 0:01:37Last year, it made a whopping £18 million from unclaimed assets.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Of that, only £6.5 million was ever claimed back by heirs.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Hoping to earn a share of the payout,
0:01:43 > 0:01:50more than 30 probate research companies compete to track down and sign up long-lost relatives.
0:01:51 > 0:01:52- Mr Galloway?- Yes.- David Hadleigh.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53Hello.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59Fraser and Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunters in Britain
0:01:59 > 0:02:03and is run by Andrew, Charles and Neil Fraser.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07You see the smile on the beneficiary's face as they receive sometimes tens,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09possibly even hundreds of thousands of pounds.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15In its 30-year history, the company has clawed back over £100 million
0:02:15 > 0:02:21from the government and handed it back to more than 50,000 fortunate heirs.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29It's early Thursday morning.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34The Treasury have just released a list of people who have died without leaving a will
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and partner, Charles Fraser, is checking it thoroughly.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42It's still only 7.00am but the office isn't usually this quiet.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Gareth's come and joined me, which is nice.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50We'll see if anybody else turns up this morning.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52For now, they have to crack on alone.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56But at this point it's too early to say which case they're going to work.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Harlow in Essex.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Harlow. Harlow. It's got to be Dave, hasn't it?
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Dave Hadleigh.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09They're looking for people who may have left property.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12But it soon becomes clear why they're so down on staff.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16The team have been struck down with a bout of flu.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Morning, Dave. How are you?
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Not so great. Better than I was.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26- There's a lot of people off sick this morning.- Oh man, I feel rough.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31But they need to set to work regardless and Gareth's itching to get started.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Go on, give me a job.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37- Harman.- Thank you.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43William Douglas Harman, it looks like he left about £80,000 in his flat
0:03:43 > 0:03:45in Hull.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Sculcoates.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52So we'll just get Dave Mansell up into the area and start working on that one.
0:03:52 > 0:04:00Bachelor William Douglas Harman died in August 2008.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04The 75-year-old had spent almost 30 years of his adult life
0:04:04 > 0:04:08living with his father in Sculcoates, Yorkshire.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Whilst he was a quiet sort, life-long friends like Ian Shand remember him fondly.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15As a person, Bill was a very likeable guy.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21I have never known him do a wrong thing for anybody.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24A genuine person, a generous person.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27A private individual.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31He was a godfather to the children. We always brought him in.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Every party we had here, Bill was always there.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Every time he had a party at his house, we were there.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44I mean, we always used to pull his leg about his moustache,
0:04:44 > 0:04:50but he was a happy looking, roguish looking guy, a strong lad.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54He got a boat from the Norfolk Broads which he kept on the River Hull.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58He spent a lot of time on there. He got a lot of pleasure out of fishing.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02The people around there on the boats were all similar types.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06They used to meet up and discuss the boats and such. It was great fun.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Great fun.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Though William Harman's life wasn't lacking in fun and friends,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19he doesn't appear to have had any family.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22His next of kin would be entitled to his house in Sculcoates
0:05:22 > 0:05:26which Frasers believe to be worth £80,000 to £90,000.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30I'm just trying to get hold of Dave Mansell to go to Sculcoates.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32It looks like it's got a bit of value.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Can we get you over to Sculcoates?
0:05:34 > 0:05:36See you later, bye.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Frasers employ a team of travelling heir hunters based all over the country
0:05:42 > 0:05:46who await the call to be sent wherever the search takes them.
0:05:46 > 0:05:53They follow up leads and hunches and glean as much information as they can about the deceased
0:05:53 > 0:05:55- by knocking on doors. - Thanks very much.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Hoping to track down an heir before the competition beats them to it.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08With only a last-known address in Hull to go on,
0:06:08 > 0:06:15Manchester-based senior researcher, Dave Mansell, hits the road for some door-to-door investigations.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Yeah. I hope they get it up to date before we get there
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and we can go straight to addresses and see possible heirs.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23But I've not heard anything yet so I don't know what's going on.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Marcus is one step ahead.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33It's only 7.50am and he's already speaking to a neighbour to try and find out what he can.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Right. OK.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Thanks ever so much for your time.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40She didn't know very much about the deceased.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45She knew that he owned his house. It definitely wasn't council, they're all privately owned.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49So they've confirmed William owned a house.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54But in order to find more about him they need his date of birth.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58From this, their office records will give them his parents' names,
0:06:58 > 0:07:03helping them to map out the family tree, generation by generation, until they find his heirs.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07We've done a quick heir search.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10He's certainly the only one born in the area.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Harman, mother's maiden name is Harrison, there are other people
0:07:12 > 0:07:17with that combination, but they're all out of the area.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19Harrison's not a very good name.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Not looking forward to Harrison.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Gareth, it's right.
0:07:23 > 0:07:31Common names are problematic but William's father has an intriguing one, John William Wordsworth Harman.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35It doesn't take long to make their first breakthrough on this case
0:07:35 > 0:07:39and unfurl the paternal side of the family tree.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42We found the grandparents' marriage.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49The deceased father, we think his name is John William Wordsworth,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52and we found a marriage of potential grandparents,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55John William Harman and he married a Sarah Lily Wordsworth.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04The William Wordsworth middle name is a real godsend for the team and Marcus wastes no time
0:08:04 > 0:08:08in cross referencing the name with the company's greatest asset,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Frasers' library of historical directories.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18So it looks like we might have found
0:08:18 > 0:08:24the name of the paternal grandfather in the directories, speculatively. And going based on the fact that
0:08:24 > 0:08:30if it's right his name is virtually identical to the father of the deceased, who would be his son.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32The directories are brilliant.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34When they work for us they're really good.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42William Harman was born to Gertrude Harrison and John William Wordsworth Harman.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48His paternal grandparents were John Harman and Sarah Wordsworth.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50The team will hope that descended from them will be
0:08:50 > 0:08:56further children and grandchildren, who will lead them to cousins and heirs of the deceased William.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02You write it in. You have much neater writing than I have.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08Having found William's paternal family, they're now trying to get rid of them again.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13At the moment, I'm trying to kill the paternal grandparents off on Harman.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Hopefully, if we kill the grandparents off, one or another will have left a will
0:09:17 > 0:09:19and it will get us on to the next generation.
0:09:19 > 0:09:26A will could hold key personal information that may lead them to more relatives.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29I'm looking to see if the grandmother, Sarah Lily Harman, left a will.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31And she did leave a will.
0:09:31 > 0:09:32Look at that. Brilliant.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34In the calendar book,
0:09:34 > 0:09:40it shows that the person who was executor for her estate was her husband.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42The paternal grandfather of the deceased.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44We need to see this will
0:09:44 > 0:09:47because we don't know what children there are going to be on that side of the family,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52whether they'll be mentioned, it might mention the deceased. It's definitely right.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56It may be some time before they can get a copy from the Probate Office,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00but luckily the paternal branch of William's family tree is falling into place.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05However, it's not so straightforward on the mother's side.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10I'm still trying to work out what's happened to the mother of the deceased, Gertrude.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Her maiden name was Harrison, so without her death or an idea of when she's born
0:10:14 > 0:10:17it's almost impossible to get to the Harrison side.
0:10:17 > 0:10:23Do you want to look at Gertrude Harrisons just in Sculcoates, around that time,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26and check the deaths again?
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Yeah.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33While the curse of the common name is causing its problems on the mother's side, they're buoyed up
0:10:33 > 0:10:38by the fact that his father's side has been so easy so trace but suddenly...
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Who's working Harman?
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- Me.- Stop what you're doing for now, we've got the wrong date of birth.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51The unthinkable has happened, there's been a mix-up over birth dates
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and an hour's worth of work has been wasted.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59I was nearly up to date. Just a matter of minutes and I was going to have this case cracked.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It's a potentially costly mistake.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Frasers are right back at square one.
0:11:04 > 0:11:10Will it mean they've already lost the race to find heirs to the £90,000 house?
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Heir hunting doesn't just take the form of fast-pace searches and heavy competition.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Deep in the heart of the Sussex countryside in the town of Burgess Hill
0:11:29 > 0:11:32are heir hunting duo Lord and Lady Teviot.
0:11:33 > 0:11:39Charles Kerr, the Lord Teviot, is a hereditary peer and works alongside his wife, Mary,
0:11:39 > 0:11:45under their individual company names of Censors Searches and Elliot and Whitney.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46You've got it.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48- You've found the thing? - I've found it.
0:11:48 > 0:11:55Charles and Mary prefer to work the less competitive cases, thought too small to take on by other companies.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59One is almost doing a service, because you will probably find
0:11:59 > 0:12:05that genealogists won't go after the smaller cases but quite a lot of them, you do get letters from them.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10So they are grateful you have taken the trouble to discover them after all this time.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17Last year, Charles unravelled the case of Cecil Higham, a man who had tragically been
0:12:17 > 0:12:22separated from his brother at birth and died with no known relatives.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27Charles successfully found Cecil's nephews and nieces and reunited the two brothers' families.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31He was in the forces there, wasn't he?
0:12:31 > 0:12:36- Yes.- Which seemed a fitting ending to Cecil's sad start in life.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38It's been so lovely to meet you.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Thank you so much. It's a real pleasure.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43We're ever so pleased to see you all.
0:12:43 > 0:12:50But after the programme was broadcast, shocking new secrets about Cecil's life came to light
0:12:50 > 0:12:54which would turn the case on its head and even bring his very name into question.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Cecil Ellis Higham died in 2000 aged 88,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07leaving an estate of over £10,000.
0:13:07 > 0:13:14Charles initially found it difficult to make progress due to the sad events surrounding Cecil's birth.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16His mother died
0:13:16 > 0:13:18when he was born.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21One doesn't quite know what happened then.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It must have been very difficult for the father
0:13:24 > 0:13:29in those days, because I don't think his own relations were anywhere near.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33So presumably, the local authorities were brought in.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36There seems to be no surviving records.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41Following the death of their mother, Cecil and his older brother Herbert were fostered out.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46Sadly, the two lived completely separate lives, miles away from one another.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52I don't think they were aware as far as one knows, aware of each other's existence.
0:13:52 > 0:13:59Cecil joined the Royal West Kents in Orpington during the war.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05He preferred to go by the name of Tony and married Alice Joyce Ruskin in 1941.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07But they never had children.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12The only family they were close to was Alice's twin sister, Daisy.
0:14:12 > 0:14:19You could tell he had gone through, you know, a hard life because Cecil never spoke about his family at all.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24It was a closed shop. We didn't know whether he was the only child or what.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26It seemed such a shame.
0:14:26 > 0:14:33After Cecil was demobbed from the Army, he wanted to go back to London.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35But wife Alice chose to stay in Nottingham.
0:14:35 > 0:14:42Cecil eventually found a job in Leeds and they were reunited again until Alice died in 1998.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46This is the last letter I wrote to Tony when my sister died.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50I wrote, "I'm so very sorry you have lost Joyce.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55"What a dreadful shock to you and all concerned who knew her."
0:14:57 > 0:15:03Charles Teviot took up the case eight years on and needed to trace blood relatives.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08He started digging into the family tree of Cecil's long-lost brother, Herbert,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11and found four children from Herbert's marriage.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Edward, Elizabeth, Peter and Margaret.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21As Cecil's nephews and nieces, they were entitled to his £10,000 estate.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Well, it was a surprise.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27We never knew of Cecil and we never knew
0:15:27 > 0:15:31that we would inherit anything from Cecil.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34I didn't know I had an uncle at all.
0:15:34 > 0:15:40Much like his brother, Herbert had been secretive about his early years.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43My dad was very reticent about his background.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Very intriguing, isn't it?
0:15:46 > 0:15:51You suddenly find the relatives that you never knew anything about.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57The Highams then went to meet Cecil's sister-in-law, Daisy,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59to piece together their family stories.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Look.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- You've got lots of photographs. - He was a grand lad.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Yeah.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Was your sister an identical twin?
0:16:07 > 0:16:09- No.- No.- Look there.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11She's there on wedding photograph.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15- He was in the forces there, wasn't he?- Yes.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Yes, yes.
0:16:19 > 0:16:26Little did Charles know that watching the programme was another of Cecil's long-lost relatives.
0:16:26 > 0:16:33I just could not believe that they were talking about my dad on the TV, a man I hadn't seen for 50 years,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and why were they saying he had no children? I'm sat here.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38I am his daughter!
0:16:38 > 0:16:46Cecil had been concealing a double life with another wife and a secret daughter.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50He'd committed bigamy. But where had he been hiding the second family?
0:16:50 > 0:16:52And how had he got away with it?
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Research into Cecil Higham had to start again.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10For every case that is solved, there are still thousands that stubbornly remain a mystery.
0:17:10 > 0:17:17Currently, over 3,000 names drawn from across the country are on the Treasury's unsolved case list.
0:17:17 > 0:17:23Their assets will be kept for up to 30 years in the hope that eventually
0:17:23 > 0:17:26someone will remember and come forward to claim their inheritance.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33With estates valued at anything from £5,000 to millions of pounds,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36the rightful heirs are out there somewhere.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45Edward S Benson from Liverpool died on the 27th January, 2008.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Was he a friend, colleague or neighbour of yours?
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Could you even be related to him and entitled to his legacy?
0:17:52 > 0:18:00Betty Hutchins, a spinster from Edmonton in London, passed away in December 2007.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05So far, every attempt to find her rightful heir has failed.
0:18:05 > 0:18:12If no relatives can be found, her money will go to the Government, but could it be meant for you?
0:18:16 > 0:18:22Back in London, the Fraser and Fraser team are working the case of William Harman,
0:18:22 > 0:18:29who died in Sculcoates, Hull, leaving a property worth an estimated £90,000.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34But just as the family tree was coming together, the inconceivable happened.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Stop what you're doing for now.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40We got the wrong date of birth.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45The search for beneficiaries to William Harman's estate has been halted.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49We've done really well, basically. The research has gone excellently.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51But unfortunately we've been doing the wrong family.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56This calamity was only discovered when a researcher double-checked birth dates
0:18:56 > 0:19:00and realised they'd been tracing the wrong William Harman.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Their senior researcher, Dave Mansell, is stuck on the road between Manchester and Hull
0:19:07 > 0:19:09and the team are now way behind the competition.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13It makes me feel slightly annoyed!
0:19:13 > 0:19:17But it happens. You know, we took a chance on the wrong birth.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24So I shall go and find out when the right birth is.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30It's only 8.45am but with speed of the essence, there's no time for head scratching.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32So, William Douglas Harman.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34We've got a William D in Hull.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39The team need to check and recheck dates and get back on track fast.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41But could the panic be unnecessary?
0:19:41 > 0:19:44- Right, it is 33.- Great.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46- Thanks for that.- Sorry.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51We've now double-checked the double-check and it turns out that the 1933 birth
0:19:51 > 0:19:56we had in the first place is right, so I can go and have a lay down in a dark room now!
0:19:56 > 0:20:00So they've been tracing the right family all along.
0:20:00 > 0:20:06This mix-up may be behind them but there's no time for lying down.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11Right, what I was actually in the middle of doing was having a look at Gertrude Harrisons in Sculcoates.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Do you want to do that?
0:20:15 > 0:20:20Gertrude, William's mother, is proving difficult to find due to her common surname.
0:20:20 > 0:20:27Conversely, William's father, John William Wordsworth Harman, has been no trouble at all.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31His unusual name has enabled them to trace his paternal grandparents
0:20:31 > 0:20:36and an uncle Thomas, which they hope will lead them to a cousin pretty quickly.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44We think we might have just picked up on Thomas going to South Africa,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47with a family as well. He's got a couple of kids that were born in the '50s.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50We might be able to track them down if they're still in South Africa.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52We're not sure yet.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57Despite the distance, the South African connection is no disadvantage to the team,
0:20:57 > 0:20:58who have an agent out there.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Freda who was married to Thomas Harman, we're trying to see if we can do anything with her family.
0:21:03 > 0:21:09If we can get them up to date easily, then we can ask them what happened to Thomas. That's the plan.
0:21:09 > 0:21:15While the search for paternal heirs moves abroad there's a relation much closer to home niggling the team.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19I'm starting to get a bit worried about the deceased mother.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21We need to work out what's happened to her.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25It could be that she remarried and had children with somebody else.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27In which case we'd be looking at half-blood.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29If I find her death then I'll be happy.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31But at the moment, I haven't found it.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38If William's mother has married again and had other children, as half-blood siblings they would
0:21:38 > 0:21:44be entitled to William's estate, ahead of any cousin he may have in South Africa.
0:21:44 > 0:21:50They need a breakthrough on the maternal side, but Gertrude's surname is hampering their search.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Gertrude Harrison is very common but even in that area,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57we've got a lot more than just one or two.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03So what we're trying to do now, we've got a list of births for Gertrude Harrison in those areas.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08So we're now looking again to see if we can find deaths for any of them, died in infancy,
0:22:08 > 0:22:14that way we can eliminate those ones and we're hoping to narrow down to get to whichever one is right.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It's a time consuming process
0:22:16 > 0:22:22that could be resolved more quickly with a marriage certificate.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27The marriage of the parents would give us the age of the mother. We could get right birth from that.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31But Dave Mansell is still 68 miles from the register office in Hull.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37We're currently on the M62 at Brighouse in Yorkshire,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40in first gear, doing about two miles an hour trying to get Hull,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43but we're not making much progress at the moment.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47The traffic is just chock-a-block.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55Certificates are the absolute proof to a person's identity and they will need them.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01But for now, they're forced to fall back on their own records.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05It's time consuming but after much whittling down and trawling of the indexes
0:23:05 > 0:23:08they eventually strike lucky.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13They find only one likely death for a Gertrude Harrison.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It must be William's mother. But it's a gloomy discovery.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19The deceased was born in 1933.
0:23:19 > 0:23:25We think his mother died in December of '33, so he would be less than six months old.
0:23:25 > 0:23:32Like we think, at that sort of time in the 1930s, it's quite rare
0:23:32 > 0:23:36for an infant child to be brought up by a single man, a single father.
0:23:36 > 0:23:44In 1933, a widowed man would not have been expected to bring up a baby alone.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47It would have been quite acceptable to give his child up for adoption or
0:23:47 > 0:23:50to relations or friends for fostering.
0:23:50 > 0:23:56This may have been fate of William Harman and could explain why he's died with no known family.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Gertrude's premature death at just 24 is a breakthrough
0:24:03 > 0:24:10and means they're no longer looking for children or a second marriage on the maternal side.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15But they have found evidence William's widowed father did marry again.
0:24:15 > 0:24:1821.12.09.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Died 6, 2002.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25It's actually before the marriage.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30We think we have a remarriage for the father of the deceased on Harman.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34We have a possible birth of a child from that marriage.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37In which case there will be a half-brother of the deceased.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Eight years after he lost his wife,
0:24:40 > 0:24:45William's father John met Myrtle Brooks and had a son called Barry.
0:24:45 > 0:24:53Unusually for the times, he didn't make Barry's birth legitimate until he married Myrtle three years later.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Nevertheless, it means Barry is William's half-brother
0:24:56 > 0:25:00and the team start tracing his branch of the family tree.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03We are trying to track down Barry's old address.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Hopefully he's married. I don't think he's going to be.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11I think he was living with his mother and then when he died she went into a home.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13But if he was married and had children,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17then obviously there would be half-blood nephews and nieces to the deceased.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19So we need to check that out quite quickly.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23No marriage or children are found.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27It becomes clear that half-brother Barry Harman was a bachelor who has already died.
0:25:27 > 0:25:35But during their search that unusual family name crops up again, Basil Montague Wordsworth Harman.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Neil has found a second brother.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Oh, Basil.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46- Right.- Same address. Phone number.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49We found the birth of a Basil Harman.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Born in 1949.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57It looks like he could be a child of the second marriage of the father of the deceased,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59therefore a half-brother to the deceased.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01And still alive.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05William's father, John, had two more sons,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Barry and Basil, with his second wife Myrtle,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14but Basil was born 16 years after William.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18The deceased was born in 1933. We think his mother died in December of '33.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20So he would be less than six months old.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26It's possible that the brother Basil knows nothing about the deceased William.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Good stuff. Cheers, mate.
0:26:29 > 0:26:30It's 10.00am.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35It's only taken three hours but the team think they've found their heir.
0:26:35 > 0:26:42With only one beneficiary to the £90,000 estate it's crucial Frasers make contact first and sign him up
0:26:42 > 0:26:44before the competition beat them to it.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50It's the only way they'll get their commission and ensure they get paid for the work they've already put in.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Not a good sign. No answer. No answer.
0:26:55 > 0:27:01Unable to get through on the phone, Marcus calls travelling heir hunter Dave Mansell.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Hello, mate. It's me. Whereabouts are you at the moment, mate?
0:27:04 > 0:27:09I'm about 20 minutes from the register office. It's just been a nightmare this morning.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Can you go to Scarborough instead? It looks like we've got a half-brother of the deceased.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I'll need to look on the map. I'm almost in the middle of Hull.
0:27:18 > 0:27:25Everything now rests on Dave being able to get to Basil Harman before any other heir hunters.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30It means the office researchers have no choice but to sit and wait.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32It's probably quite sad in a lot of ways.
0:27:32 > 0:27:38The deceased, it's unlikely that he was brought up by his father.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41His mother died two quarters after he was born.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43His father, he would have been widowed at that point
0:27:43 > 0:27:47and he didn't marry until 11 years after the death of his first wife.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50So it would be quite unusual for him to bring up his son.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53We won't know until we've spoken to someone.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Hopefully Basil will fill in these details.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00As long as all of the certificates are correct, we're home and dry, I think.
0:28:03 > 0:28:09After a lengthy four-and a half hour journey, Dave Mansell arrives at Basil Harman's house at midday.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12He's hoping to sign him as the sole heir.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Have you any other brothers and sisters?
0:28:16 > 0:28:19- No.- That you're aware of?
0:28:19 > 0:28:23No other brothers or sisters, only Barry that died before my mother.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26How many times was your father married?
0:28:26 > 0:28:27That's very vague.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29I don't really know my father.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32My mother didn't talk about him much, really.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37Well, I've got some news for you. Your father was married before he married your mum.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42- Oh right.- That child has died and has no relatives other than you.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Because he's died intestate, without leaving a will,
0:28:46 > 0:28:47you benefit from the estate.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49That's amazing.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53It was worth the journey. We've done nearly 200 miles to come and see you today.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56So my mum was his second marriage, was she?
0:28:56 > 0:29:00- Yes.- Oh, I see.- So this person that's died is your half-brother.
0:29:00 > 0:29:01Good Lord.
0:29:02 > 0:29:08William Harman's legacy of £90,000 will go to the sole heir, his half-brother.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16But more movingly, Basil's discovered a little too late that he had a sibling he never knew about.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21Yeah, I'm just trying to take it in that there was somebody else.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24I knew about Barry, my brother and myself.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26And I knew about my father.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I did not know he was married before my mother.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I did not know that there was somebody else.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Although Basil didn't know William existed, his father never forgot him.
0:29:42 > 0:29:47He returned to live with William for the last 30 years of his life, as his friend Ian remembers.
0:29:47 > 0:29:53Bill's relationship with his father was quite mixed actually. They were two very different people.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57Bill was a real person's person, whereas his dad was more or less
0:29:57 > 0:30:00would go through and do anything and bulldoze anything.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03But they were very close in a way that blood's thicker than water.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Basil and William's father was buried with his first wife,
0:30:09 > 0:30:16who died when William was only six months old and William's ashes were scattered on their grave.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20I really miss him because I can no longer just knock on the door and he answers the door
0:30:20 > 0:30:24and I have a cup of tea with him and just talk about things in general.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37Back on the case of widower Cecil Higham.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Heir hunter Lord Teviot thought he'd closed the door on the story when last year
0:30:41 > 0:30:46he found nieces and nephews with a claim to Cecil's £10,000 estate.
0:30:46 > 0:30:53It was a surprise, we never knew of Cecil and we never knew
0:30:53 > 0:30:57that we would inherit anything from Cecil.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00I didn't know I had an uncle at all.
0:31:00 > 0:31:06But Charles was shocked to receive information claiming that Cecil had been leading a double life.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10If a person, which in this case of Cecil Ellis Higham,
0:31:10 > 0:31:16he chose two other names, Charles instead of Cecil,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19and Edward instead of Ellis.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Without having been told, the chance of finding it was...
0:31:23 > 0:31:25..almost nil.
0:31:25 > 0:31:32While Cecil's wife Alice thought he was working in London, he was actually going by another name,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36concealing another wife and had a daughter, Jennifer, in Canterbury.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Though Jennifer hadn't seen her father since she was ten,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46replaying the programme over and over on BBC iPlayer
0:31:46 > 0:31:49she was under no illusion about what she was watching.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54Obviously he'd aged a few years, more than a few.
0:31:54 > 0:32:01His hair was not brushed back any more, it was sort of coming forward on to his head.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04But he hadn't really changed at all.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09There was just that little bit of age.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Jennifer was understandably distressed by what she was hearing.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16It was utter shock. I was in utter shock.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21I just could not believe that they were talking about my dad on the TV,
0:32:21 > 0:32:27a man I hadn't seen for 50 years, and I just needed to find out more.
0:32:30 > 0:32:36And why were they saying he had no issue, no children? I'm sat here.
0:32:36 > 0:32:37I am his daughter.
0:32:37 > 0:32:42I was screaming that the silly computer, that was taking no notice of me!
0:32:45 > 0:32:50Hardly knowing what to do next, Jennifer tried to take on board the information.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55She'd grown up with a man she and her mother knew as "Tony".
0:32:55 > 0:33:00But officially he was called Charles Edward, not Cecil Ellis.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Jennifer has little more than a couple of photos and documents
0:33:05 > 0:33:08to remind her of her father.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12I have their marriage certificate.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15I mean, his name's changed.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19He's a bachelor, his age is wrong.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23I think the only thing that's true on here are my mother's details
0:33:23 > 0:33:26and that his father's name is Herbert.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29It's about the only thing that's...
0:33:29 > 0:33:33The rest of what's down about him is total nonsense.
0:33:36 > 0:33:41As well as going by a pseudonym, Cecil often disappeared.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44I think the first time he left I was a toddler.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I knew he was back in my life by the time I was four.
0:33:47 > 0:33:53During the next sort of five or six years he used to vanish occasionally.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55He used to be gone two or three weeks.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Then he was working, he used to work away.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00He used to go away for two or three days,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03two days a week. He wouldn't be at home two nights a week.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08Mum used to say, "He'll turn up, he'll come back."
0:34:08 > 0:34:10And he did.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15But in 1958, the lies finally caught up with Cecil.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19His first wife, Alice, was very ill.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21And the National Assistance,
0:34:21 > 0:34:27forerunner to the social services of today, was asked to track down her husband.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31There was a knock on the door and there was a man at the door, wanted to speak to my dad.
0:34:31 > 0:34:37He wasn't in. My mum went to the door.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41She sort of said, "What do you want?"
0:34:41 > 0:34:48He said he'd come to see Tony about maintenance for his wife.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51As far as my mother was concerned, she was his wife.
0:34:51 > 0:34:58It turned out he'd been married before and he was married at the time he married my mother.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00It was a shock.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05But I don't think the man at the door knew that my parents were married.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07I think he thought they were just living together.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12If he thought they were married he would have had to call the police. Because it's against the law.
0:35:16 > 0:35:22In the 1950s, bigamy cases were a scandal and some even made the national news.
0:35:22 > 0:35:30Of course, bigamy was a felony and desperate to avoid prosecution and being stigmatised for years,
0:35:30 > 0:35:34Jennifer's mother understandably kept it very quiet.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39It was one hot topic of gossip she was desperate to avoid.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43I don't think she talked about it.
0:35:43 > 0:35:48I think she kept it to herself for a long time.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52I was virtually shipped off to be with my grandparents.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57I don't think a lot of the family knew what had happened, other than my father had gone.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59And they never spoke about him.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01He was a taboo subject.
0:36:03 > 0:36:09Jennifer's family successfully dodged humiliation by not declaring the marriage as bigamous.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Cecil stayed with Jennifer and her mother for two more months
0:36:14 > 0:36:18before finally returning to his first wife, Alice.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22She never got over losing her father.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26Later on in the '70s, I think about 1973,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29I first tried to find him.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32So I wrote to the Army pensions people.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36They told me if I wrote a letter to him, if they could
0:36:36 > 0:36:38find them from their records, they would send the letter on.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42That created a problem.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Because I didn't know what name to write a letter to.
0:36:45 > 0:36:51I wrote three, one to Tony Higham, one to Charles Edward, and one to Cecil Ellis.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53He never got in touch.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56They don't tell you whether they've passed the letters on.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01So I don't know whether one of those letters got to him.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04In '83,
0:37:04 > 0:37:08I tried again. I tried with the Salvation Army.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11But the difficulty there is not knowing the name.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15You can't ask people to look for people if you don't know what name they're using.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20Whether Cecil ever received Jennifer's letters remains a mystery.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25He died in a nursing home in 2000, taking his secrets with him.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Cecil's death brought mixed feelings of upset and anger.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38But Jennifer felt a strong need to revisit her childhood home in Canterbury.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40It just doesn't look like anywhere I know.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42It's all so different.
0:37:42 > 0:37:441959 I was last here.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49In the '50s, this was a smart new housing estate.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Coming here has brought back painful memories of her mother's struggle to hide their secret.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57She didn't like the fact
0:37:57 > 0:38:03that if the bigamy came out it would leave a slur on me.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06I lost my childhood.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09I don't want to carry on.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20With painful memories so close to the surface, getting in touch with Lord Teviot
0:38:20 > 0:38:27was the only way Jennifer could understand some of the missing pieces in her dad's puzzling jigsaw.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Today, she's come to talk to him about what happened.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33- It must have been difficult for you both.- I found it very hard.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36My mother found it very difficult.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42But it's so long ago that, you know, you've got to...
0:38:42 > 0:38:47I just wish I could have found him before he died. That's...
0:38:47 > 0:38:52Because he's the only one that can really answer the questions that I want answered.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54- Oh right.- It's not going to happen.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Yes, I've got your father's death certificate here.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Of course, he was at that time at a home in Twickenham.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02- Pneumonia.- Yes.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05That doesn't surprise me.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08- He was cremated. - There can't have been anyone with him
0:39:08 > 0:39:13because it was someone from the home who had the body cremated.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Yes, it's very sad really.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Yes.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23Aside from the questions surrounding Cecil's actions,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27there is also the question of his £10,000 legacy.
0:39:27 > 0:39:33Charles had already put in a claim on behalf of Jennifer's cousins, so what happens now?
0:39:34 > 0:39:37I just think if they've started sorting out everything before
0:39:37 > 0:39:40and you have to put somebody else in place, it must make it very difficult?
0:39:40 > 0:39:45Well, I think so but yes, the Treasury solicitor, I've informed them
0:39:45 > 0:39:51and they say all right, they granted the thing, you know, to the other people.
0:39:51 > 0:39:58But you have a better claim, being a daughter rather than a nephew or niece or that sort of thing.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01You've got your mother's marriage certificate?
0:40:01 > 0:40:03- Yes, I have.- And your birth?
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Yes. That's their marriage certificate.
0:40:06 > 0:40:07That one.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12Right, yes. That will certainly hit all of the right boxes with the Treasury.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17I don't think the Treasury want to come into it, but the solicitors will do it, yes, indeed.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24Jennifer will become the sole heir to her father's estate, but it's not about the money.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27She's at last able to face her loss.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Meeting Charles has helped me to come to terms with things that have
0:40:32 > 0:40:39been said, things I remember, he's been able confirm things that I remember.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44So that has helped to settle my mind,
0:40:44 > 0:40:49and to come to terms with my father's death.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57Finally unburdened and able to say goodbye, Jennifer has one more important visit to make.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01She's come to Mortlake cemetery in West London with her daughter
0:41:01 > 0:41:05and grandson to see where her father's ashes were scattered.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09A nice strong tree.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13I want a plaque. I want something with his name on to mark it.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15I don't know what name I'm going put on the plaque!
0:41:20 > 0:41:25Cecil, or Tony, as Jennifer knew him, is at last settled in one place.
0:41:25 > 0:41:26It brings...
0:41:26 > 0:41:34..an end to all the wondering, the thoughts, whatever happened to him, I know where he is now.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36It makes life easier to know.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40Now able to shed the secrecy surrounding her childhood,
0:41:40 > 0:41:46Jennifer and her new-found cousin, Peter are making plans to meet.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48We're going up to meet in Chester.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51The money wasn't important.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54It would have been nice, of course.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56But it's about getting the family together.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58We look forward to seeing her,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01a cousin we didn't know we had.
0:42:01 > 0:42:08With the case of Cecil Higham finally resolved, this has been an exceptional story for Charles.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Well, because Cecil Ellis Higham had changed his name,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14it was impossible to find him.
0:42:14 > 0:42:21The absolute confirmation was the name of his father, which he had to give on his marriage certificate.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23It was the same as his other marriage certificate.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29It's been an extraordinary journey for everyone involved.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33But goes to show that heir hunting is not just about legacies,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37but about piecing together real lives and remarkable stories.
0:42:42 > 0:42:48If you would like advice about building a family tree or making a will, go to bbc.co.uk.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd