0:00:02 > 0:00:06Heir hunters trace families of people who die without a will.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09They hand over thousands of pounds to unsuspecting relatives
0:00:09 > 0:00:12which would otherwise go to the Government.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:30 > 0:00:32On today's programme,
0:00:32 > 0:00:37the heir hunters struggle to trace a family with the most common surname in the country...
0:00:37 > 0:00:38I don't believe this.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40We've got the complete wrong family.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Everyone on Smith, stop.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47..and in their search for heirs,
0:00:47 > 0:00:52discover a brilliant economist whose grasp of money was far from usual.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Johnny had a theory that he could beat the roulette wheel
0:00:55 > 0:00:58so he took a group of his students to the Playboy Club
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and he took the bank to the cleaners.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Plus, how you may be entitled to a share in unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Every year in Britain, thousands of people die without leaving a will.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21If no obvious family can be found, their money goes straight to the Government.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29Last year, over £18 million went directly to the Treasury in unclaimed estates.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31That's where the heir hunting companies come in.
0:01:31 > 0:01:37Fraser & Fraser are one of the oldest heir hunting companies in the world.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40They trace rightful heirs to unclaimed estates.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44We're tracing family trees, delving back into people's history,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48looking at the hidden mysteries around people's families.
0:01:48 > 0:01:54The company is run by Neil, Charles and Andrew Fraser.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02Over the years, they have reunited thousands of heirs with millions of pounds.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11It's early Thursday morning and while the City of London is just waking up,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15the researchers at Fraser & Fraser are already hard at work.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17What about this one?
0:02:17 > 0:02:23Just after midnight, the Treasury publish their weekly list of unclaimed estates.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28Andrew Fraser is poring over the details with case manager David Pacifico,
0:02:28 > 0:02:33trying to determine which estates might be of value.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Herbert Smith, died in a nursing home.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- But that's the previous address? - Yes, it's that one.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43The case of Harold Herbert Smith might have potential.
0:02:43 > 0:02:49Previous to the nursing home she was in, she owned a property, or he owned a property.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51So I want to try to speak to some neighbours.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Neighbours are sometimes the key to unlocking a case,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59often revealing the deceased's wealth, age and even their relatives' names.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04For the heir hunting companies, their information can make the difference
0:03:04 > 0:03:09between solving a case or losing it to the competition.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12OK, cheers, thank you.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19Harold Herbert Smith died on 22nd December 2008.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24He was known to his friends as Bert and worked as an accountant's clerk in London.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Although he spent his last year in a nursing home,
0:03:26 > 0:03:34Harold had lived on his own for over 30 years in a bungalow on a leafy street in Epsom, Surrey.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39A good description of him is a suit and waistcoat.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Terribly smart. Very clean.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44And always very gentlemanly.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49It's still early and case manager David Pacifico
0:03:49 > 0:03:54has so far had little luck in finding any useful information on Harold.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Smith is the last name people would want to start researching.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Mainly working it because of the value.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02We know he owns his own property.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06It's a nice home - fingers crossed we're dealing with £200,000.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11To begin the search for heirs, the team need Harold Smith's exact birth details
0:04:11 > 0:04:15which can be found on certificates held by the register offices.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18But they won't be open for a couple of hours.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21David cannot afford to wait.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Not sure about this.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28We've got a possible birth of the deceased, Harold H Smith.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33The search for Harold Smith begins but it is like looking for one particular piece of hay
0:04:33 > 0:04:35in a haystack.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37There are Smiths everywhere they look.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39And a lot of them are called Harold.
0:04:39 > 0:04:441910, that would make him about nearly 98.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49David Pacifico has asked researcher Dominic Hendry to scan the records for Harold Smiths
0:04:49 > 0:04:52who were born between 70 and 90 years ago.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57Not only are we talking about the most common name that we can possibly get,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00which becomes the most difficult search we can get.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05I mean, every quarter, we're getting at least 20 or so Harolds and at least two or three Harold Hs.
0:05:05 > 0:05:12What the team desperately need is some more concrete information so they can narrow down the search.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Time for David to call out the travelling researchers.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Fraser & Fraser employ regional heir hunters who are on standby
0:05:23 > 0:05:27from 7am every morning, ready to go wherever the search takes them.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34They make door-to-door inquiries, all in the race to find and sign up heirs.
0:05:34 > 0:05:41Senior researcher, Bob Smith, is not too optimistic about this particular case.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44We are looking for 10 branches of a family called Smith.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46It's going to be hard work.
0:05:46 > 0:05:52Bob Barrett lives in the south of England and is already heading to check out Harold's property in Epsom
0:05:52 > 0:05:56to more accurately estimate its value.
0:05:56 > 0:05:57Bob, hi.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01- You're on the way to Epsom? - That's right. I'll be there in five or 10 minutes.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- Thanks, Bob.- Cheers.- Bye.
0:06:07 > 0:06:13After checking out the bungalow, Bob knocks on doors, hoping to find a neighbour of Harold Smith's
0:06:13 > 0:06:18to speak to and help the office discover Harold's correct date of birth.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22But can he succeed where David failed earlier?
0:06:22 > 0:06:27It's still only just past eight o'clock and the street is deserted.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30There is a bedroom curtain still drawn.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35People are obviously still in bed, I'm loath to disturb too many of them unnecessarily.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39While Bob waits for Harold Smith's neighbours to wake up,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43it's all hands on deck in the office to try to make a break on the case.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47We've got staff working on different bits of family trees.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52We'll have to work several different births until we're able to focus in on a single family tree.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58All the other family trees will be ripped up and thrown away and we'll concentrate on one family tree.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00There's a Herbert H, Harold Herbert.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02He could be born as Herbert H.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04- Wandsworth, 1912. - Let's look at that one.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Can you work on that one? Can you two work on that one?
0:07:07 > 0:07:10The atmosphere in the research room is one of frustration.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13This is wrong, all this.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17The Smith name is just throwing up too many possible Harolds.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21We need that birth...
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Andrew, there are several Harold Hs round about 1911, 1912.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33- Doesn't make it easy, does it?- It's not easy. We're stymied on that. I think this is going to be wrong.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36While they try everything they can to narrow the search,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40over in Epsom, Bob has finally found people to talk to.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43He must have been 90 something.
0:07:43 > 0:07:4594, 95, I think.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48He had one sister in Kent.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Oh, right, no, we didn't know that.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52- So a sister in Kent? - That's as far as I know.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55I'm not 100% sure.
0:07:59 > 0:08:05It was worth the wait. Bob rings the office with what he hopes is a good lead for the team.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10- Hello, Bob.- Hello, David. I've just been knocking on a few more doors, talking to a few more people.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14The question is, we've got several potential births for him.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19- I think you'd mention to Andrew that one neighbour said he was 96, yes? - He's certainly...
0:08:19 > 0:08:24Another neighbour's talking about 94, 95, so... They used to be a sister in Kent,
0:08:24 > 0:08:29and possibly nieces and nephews somewhere in Kent.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32That's interesting. Well, I presume she'd be dead by now.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- I should think so.- There's also...
0:08:35 > 0:08:41- Competition have been knocking on the same doors or ringing the same bells.- Well, I'm not surprised.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45- And it's a nice little detached bungalow.- Mm-hm.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50I would imagine £400,000, that sort of amount.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54- If it's that valuable, we'll be working on it hard. - Not in very good condition.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59- The registry office doesn't open till when?- 9am, and I'm en route to it now.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I might get the date of birth beforehand,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- so I'll leave that with you and see what happens.- Okey-doke. Speak to you later.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13£400,000. This is more than they had originally hoped for.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15It may be just 8.30, but now thanks to Bob,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20the team can focus in on Harold Smiths born at least 90 years ago.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25Right, let's have a look at these. Do you know what I fancy? I fancy that Edmonton.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29- Yep.- Yep.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35David has finally been able to narrow it down to two births of Harold Herbert Smith.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38One is born in 1912 in Godstone in Surrey.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43The other possible birth is in Edmonton North London in 1910.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The Godstone birth seems much more likely to the team
0:09:46 > 0:09:50as it is only 15 miles from Epsom where Harold was living.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54That family is now the priority. And they've made an early breakthrough.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00On the basis, and it is speculative, if the birth we've got four Harold Smith is right in Godstone,
0:10:00 > 0:10:05he had several siblings including a sister, Ellen EJ Smith,
0:10:05 > 0:10:10who, if this is right, married a Leonard Theobald.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12And of that marriage, there's a son, James.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16So, in theory, we could have a nephew of the deceased.
0:10:16 > 0:10:22The team could be getting closer to their first potential heir and it's only 9.30.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26All they're waiting for is confirmation that they are on to the correct family.
0:10:26 > 0:10:33Bob Barrett has arrived at the Leatherhead register office to pick up the corresponding certificate.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36You'll be wanting it today, presumably?
0:10:36 > 0:10:40If I've got it, it will be £12.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Unfortunately, he's going to have to wait.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Meanwhile, researcher Debbie Howe has jumped in a cab to Haringey register office.
0:10:50 > 0:10:56Her job is to make sure that they can confidently rule out the Harold born in Edmonton
0:10:56 > 0:10:57and she's just got the news.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01I don't believe this.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Right, we've got the wrong family here.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Right, hang on.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Neil, Neil!
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Dom, stop it. Hang on. Is Neil there?
0:11:15 > 0:11:17The complete wrong family we've got.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Right, we're going to hang fire, then, a minute, Debbie.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24- Wrong census, is it? - Yes. ..Thank you, bye.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29The Godstone family where the research was almost complete is the wrong one.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37- Actually, Bob Barrett, I can tell him to stop now.- Everyone on Smith, stop.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43Harold Smith, born in Edmonton, matches the information in the office exactly.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45So this is the birth certificate.
0:11:45 > 0:11:53He's born 4th December 1910 and he was born 10 Eastfield Road, Hornsey.
0:11:53 > 0:11:59It confirms the date of birth of the deceased but also proves that we were working the wrong family...
0:12:00 > 0:12:04..and without the certificate, it's very easy to make mistakes.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09It's not really a mistake or an error or something, it's just when you're working Smith families,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12it's one of the things which happens.
0:12:12 > 0:12:20It's now 11.05 and the team have now finally been able to confirm which is the correct family.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25Harold Herbert Smith was born 4th December 1910 in Edmonton.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30He was the son of Harold Herbert Snr and Adelaide Caspell.
0:12:30 > 0:12:36The good news is that identifying Harold's mother gives the team another surname to work with.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Adelaide Lillian Louise Caspell.
0:12:40 > 0:12:4325, she's a spinster.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Neil regroups the researchers.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51Dominic, can you go for a 1911 census, please?
0:12:51 > 0:12:57One team is working on the Smith side, while the other focuses on Harold's mother's name of Caspell.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58At least it's not Smith.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03It's almost lunchtime and the real work of tracking down the heirs
0:13:03 > 0:13:07to Harold Smith's £400,000 estate can finally began.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17Coming up, progress is frustratingly slow in the search for a heirs on the Smith case.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20You make one leap forward only to hit another brick wall.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Researching cases advertised by the Treasury is only one part of Fraser & Fraser's business.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Some estates are referred to them directly by members of the public
0:13:35 > 0:13:38with a relative who has died leaving no will.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Investigating this type of case is Simon Grosvenor's speciality.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50He is one of the firm's case managers and has over 20 years of heir hunting experience.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54We do get quite a lot of members
0:13:54 > 0:13:57of the public who ring in and approach us.
0:13:57 > 0:14:03Whether they're inquiries that we can actually do something with is a different matter.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07In this case, Simon was looking at the estate of John Wise,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11which had been referred to him by a cousin of the deceased.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Although he didn't own his own home, he had over £300,000 in the bank.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23John Wise had died without leaving a will and without family of his own.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27And the members of the family who knew about that
0:14:27 > 0:14:31didn't know enough about the others to get the process sorted,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34so it was something we could assist with.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41John Wise had died from a heart attack in February 2008 at the age of 78.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46It was his cousin, Brian Sanders, who first contacted Fraser & Fraser.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48He knew he was potentially an heir,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51but had few details about the rest of his family,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53so needed help tracking them down.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58The last time I saw Johnny was at my wedding, 1968.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01He came with his father Arnold.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07He was wearing a wonderful suit, shirt and tie.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09But sandals with no socks on.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14He was very eccentric. After that, I never saw him again.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19John was a classic case of a working-class boy made good.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Born to Jewish parents in the East End,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25John studied at the London School of Economics,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30and was a brilliant academic, with an all-consuming passion for his subject.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Friend and former colleague Professor Marcus Miller remembers him well.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38He was treated as something of a genius at LSE which was,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and is, the top economics department in this country.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44When quite young,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49published with top statisticians.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Was taken by a Nobel prizewinner to California.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53So he was walking with these giants.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58John Wise's mother was born in the East End of London,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01just after her family had settled there from Poland.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08At the age of 21, she married John's father Arnold,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12a tailor's cutter who had only been in the country for five years.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Brian remembers his aunt and uncle.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Chalk and cheese. It must have been an arranged marriage.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21I don't think it could have been anything else.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It wasn't a meeting of minds, I can tell you.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28He was just a nice man. He never learned to speak English properly.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31He used to follow her about.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Jenny was the genius.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Jenny got pregnant soon after they married in 1926,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43but their first son died an infant, the day he was born.
0:16:43 > 0:16:50Their second boy, John, was born in 1930 and was the apple of his mother's eye.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I think that was the one thing that drove her.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57She had somebody there who could be somebody. She was right.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02How had John turned out so differently from the rest of the family?
0:17:02 > 0:17:06His cousin Brian believes it was thanks to his mother.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08I always remember her as being very kind,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11always very intelligent. She always had time for me.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14She didn't used to throw her intelligence about.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17But she saw something in Johnny.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21She encouraged it, she nurtured it and she made sure
0:17:21 > 0:17:24that he actually became somebody.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Otherwise, he'd have finished up a tailor...with brains.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30And she wasn't going to have that.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Brian passed all the information he knew about the family to Simon at Frasers,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38and asked him to find John's next of kin.
0:17:41 > 0:17:47The father of the deceased, Arnold Wise, was Polish.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51The death certificate for Arnold, on which his son informed, said Poland.
0:17:51 > 0:17:58We've got no place in Poland and without an area, we can't do any work in Poland.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00So it was a dead end.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02We're completely stumped.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06While there could be heirs to John Wise in Poland,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10they cannot be found without a place of birth for Arnold.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16On the mother's side of the family tree, there were Polish ancestors too.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18But this time, the research was more fruitful.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23We did find Jenny on the 1911 census,
0:18:23 > 0:18:28which, in fact, told us that her father was Barnett.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31It told us that her mother's name was Eva,
0:18:31 > 0:18:38and that she had siblings Samuel, Annie, Lasareth and Yeta.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41The census is a fantastic research tool for the heir hunters.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46Produced in the UK every 10 years, it lists all members of a household,
0:18:46 > 0:18:52and in the case of the Sanders family, has useful clues about their history.
0:18:52 > 0:18:59Also indicated on the 1911 census is the ages of the various people concerned.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04And it tells you where they're born, or at least roughly where they're born.
0:19:04 > 0:19:10Barnett and Eva are both born in Poland when it was part of Russia,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15as, indeed, is the eldest son, Samuel.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19The others, Annie and Jenny herself and Lasareth and Yeta,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24are all born in Commercial Road in London, in Shoreditch.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29The census records suggest that Barnett and Eva moved to London
0:19:29 > 0:19:34some time between the birth of Samuel in 1895 and Annie in 1902,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38and that the family were part of the mass emigration of Jews
0:19:38 > 0:19:41from the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44From 1850,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47mass immigration of Jews started.
0:19:47 > 0:19:55They were coming from what we now call Poland, and from that area that bordered Poland and Russia.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58That was where the persecution was at its worst.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02When John Wise's grandparents, Barnett and Eva, first came to London,
0:20:02 > 0:20:08they lived in Hessel Street, just off Commercial Road, in the heart of Jewish London.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13It was a poor neighbourhood with terrible living conditions by today's standards,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17but it was still the safe haven they'd been longing for.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20They came here for a better way of life.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22They couldn't wait to get here.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27You couldn't give them anything better than that. They had freedom.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29And for them, that's where their life started.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Eva and Barnett were a hard-working couple.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37To supplement the family's income, Eva ran a fruit stall on Hessel Street,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40where there was a bustling market.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Barnett, as the main breadwinner, worked in tailoring,
0:20:44 > 0:20:49an industry which employed around 60% of Jewish men in London at that time.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52If you want to carry the tools of your trade with you,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57what could be simpler than a piece of chalk in your pocket
0:20:57 > 0:21:01and a couple of needles in your lapel of your jacket
0:21:01 > 0:21:04and a thimble in your waistcoat pocket?
0:21:04 > 0:21:07That's all you need.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12Tailors like Barnett, and also John's father Arnold, had a thriving business in the East End
0:21:12 > 0:21:16and would have worked hard to support their families.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Having now found records for John Wise's mother's brother and sisters,
0:21:23 > 0:21:28Simon Grosvenor was beginning to make good progress with the Sanders family tree.
0:21:30 > 0:21:37We identified marriages for all of the children of Barnett and Eva.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41They all seem to have got married in the East End, and, we think,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44well, with two exceptions, they all had children
0:21:44 > 0:21:47including, of course, Hyman, who was the father of Mr Sanders.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52We then had to determine whether any of the other aunts' and uncles' children
0:21:52 > 0:21:56were still alive and locate what happened to them.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01According to Brian, who was one of these cousins, the deceased, John Wise,
0:22:01 > 0:22:08a bookish, academic type, stood out like a sore thumb in the family.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11As a talented economist with £300,000 in the bank,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15one thing about this case really didn't add up.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21It was a surprise that John Wise didn't leave a will.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25You'd have thought that he'd have done that.
0:22:25 > 0:22:31It may just be it wasn't the sort of practical, everyday thing he spent time thinking about.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37Still to come - John's life outside the academic world reveals his secrets.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Johnny had a theory but, like all mathematicians,
0:22:41 > 0:22:47from theory, we have to put it into fact. And he took the bank to the cleaners.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03For every case that is cracked, there are still many thousands which remain a mystery.
0:23:05 > 0:23:12These cases sit on the Treasury's unsolved list, and can remain there for up to 30 years.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21The estates can range wildly in value, from £5,000 to many millions,
0:23:21 > 0:23:26with the rightful heirs completely unaware of the windfall they could claim.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Today, we've got two cases heir hunters have so far failed to solve.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Could you have the answer?
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Could you be in line to inherit?
0:23:37 > 0:23:43Stasys Narbutas died in Denmark Hill, London, on 12th January 2008.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Was Stasys a neighbour of yours?
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Perhaps you remember relatives who came to visit.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52If his heirs aren't found, his money will go to the Government.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02Kathleen Nixon died a spinster in Sheffield on 25th June, 2008.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Was Kathleen a relative of yours?
0:24:05 > 0:24:09So far, all effort to trace her relatives have drawn a blank.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Could either of these two estates be meant for you?
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Fraser & Fraser don't just investigate cases advertised by the Treasury.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Sometimes a case of someone who has died without a will comes to them.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Simon Grosvenor has been asked by a family member to track down the
0:24:36 > 0:24:40heirs to academic John Wise's £300,000 estate.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Brian gave me quite a lot of information about the various
0:24:47 > 0:24:53uncles and aunts, which enabled us to start looking into the family.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The first steps seem to be to check whether anyone other than Mr
0:24:57 > 0:25:04Saunders who contacted us, was also aware that Mr Wise had died and see if they had done anything about it.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09In fact, Mr Saunders cousin, Eric, had been aware.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13He had handled all the initial
0:25:13 > 0:25:19work involved with the funeral and finding out what Mr Wise's assets were.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22He had in fact put the money in the bank where it has been earning interest
0:25:22 > 0:25:26and he then didn't really know what to do with it.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33Searching out John's cousins, the potential heirs, was proving quite simple on his mother's side
0:25:33 > 0:25:37but it was John himself who was the enigma in this case.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40I first got to know John Wise
0:25:40 > 0:25:43when I was a young lecturer at the London School of Economics.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48He was quite noticeable because he sat near the front
0:25:48 > 0:25:53and was one of the pack who tried to ask
0:25:53 > 0:25:59the most devastating questions of the speaker.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03He was described by his peers as a genius and had studied at LSE
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and all over the world but he had never taken the next step.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15Most academics like to pass on what they have to students, that
0:26:15 > 0:26:18is the next generation and you feel that is your job.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23For some reason, John didn't have this desire.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26I think he liked to talk but not to teach.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30In that sense he was a pretty odd academic.
0:26:31 > 0:26:38John had offers from universities all over the globe to research and teach and countless invitations to
0:26:38 > 0:26:42publish in major journals, but he didn't want to.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46He felt like someone has come from somewhere else,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51this wandering scholar and was unsettling and wanted to
0:26:51 > 0:26:54somehow disrupt things.
0:26:54 > 0:27:01John didn't play the academic game by the rulebook and it seems he treated his family the same way.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03He was hard work.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08I was eight years younger than him and every time he
0:27:08 > 0:27:16would say hello to me, he would ask me some silly question like, do I know the ratio of people in Rwanda?
0:27:16 > 0:27:19What do I know about things like that?
0:27:19 > 0:27:25When I couldn't answer the question, it was finished, it was over and he would go away.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28He only knew about his own subject, mathematics and economics.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35Even though he was an economist, money it seems was a mystery to him.
0:27:35 > 0:27:43I think he'd rationally allocate what money he had earned, but as far as I could see, the money
0:27:43 > 0:27:46went into some bank account, earned no interest and didn't get spent.
0:27:46 > 0:27:52When we went to cafes to talk, I would always pay the bill, I never saw him
0:27:52 > 0:27:53handle much money.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59He was just like a schoolboy really, wandering round a plastic bag.
0:27:59 > 0:28:07Money wasn't an important part of his life, nor was it something he has studied too much intellectually.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11He looked at markets but that is often to do with prices and incomes,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14not with money and how to spend it directly.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Even though he never bought a house or invested any of his money,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23it seems John did use his intellect and cash in other ways.
0:28:25 > 0:28:32Unlike pure mathematicians, he was interested in the real world but he tried to see patterns and
0:28:32 > 0:28:40see explanations and he would try to use his mathematical insight to give you some way of understanding it.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45I very much enjoyed spending time with him in which he would do this.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Johnny has a theory that he could beat the roulette wheel.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Like all mathematicians,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54from theory, you have to put it into fact.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00He went down from Southampton to the Playboy Club,
0:29:00 > 0:29:05he got on the roulette table and he took the paint to the cleaners.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08He wasn't playing to win,
0:29:08 > 0:29:13he was playing to prove his theory.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16It was almost like a form of art.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21It was as if the data was out there and he was trying to fit something to it
0:29:21 > 0:29:25and when he got it fitted, you understood what was going on.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27It was actually a mathematical equation.
0:29:27 > 0:29:33But roulette, like life itself was just another game to John.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36His academic life was a simple one,
0:29:36 > 0:29:41but in the end gained him few friends and separated him from the family that he had.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Anything to do with mathematics, that was Johnny's game.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47He used to tell countries
0:29:47 > 0:29:50what to produce.
0:29:50 > 0:29:57You have to be some kind of a genius and he was obviously very well paid for it.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59What to do with your money when you don't spend it?
0:29:59 > 0:30:02What surprised me was the amount he left.
0:30:03 > 0:30:11John's final estate was valued at £340,000 and was remarkably all in hard cash.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15It was up to Simon at Fraser & Fraser to work out where this should go.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19By now he had been able to map out John's maternal
0:30:19 > 0:30:24family tree in its entirety, finding all the entitled heirs.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29I think we have found 15 cousins in total and bearing in mind how much
0:30:29 > 0:30:34we believe the estate to be worth, that is going to be quite a nice windfall for all of them.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36In particular, it is nice to know that Brian,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39who got in contact with us originally, is going to share in that.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Brian has now been put in contact with the cousins he had lost touch with,
0:30:45 > 0:30:51but the cousin he had been most interested in was the one on his mind.
0:30:51 > 0:30:57I felt very guilty and very sad because I had neglected him all these years.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02It was up to me to look for him, it wasn't up to him.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05He would never have done that.
0:31:05 > 0:31:11The family are planning to spend some of their inheritance on a memorial for John Wise.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16A tribute to a man who left very few traces of his achievements in life.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19In a way, it is symptomatic of the man.
0:31:19 > 0:31:27He gradually disappears, not wishing to leave an epitaph or any papers.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31He just lets it all drift away.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35It is sad but it is also
0:31:35 > 0:31:39true of the man and
0:31:39 > 0:31:44what you have to do is remember what gifts he gave you.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Back at Fraser & Fraser, the team are working on the case of
0:31:59 > 0:32:05Harold Smith, an estate worth £400,000 thanks to a property in Epsom.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11When we are stuck on something like Smith, we are racking our brains on everything.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14We have to make sure we read every little piece of paper and every
0:32:14 > 0:32:17little hint on something twice, three times even.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25After many wrong starts, the team have finally found the right Harold Smith.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Now the hunt begins for his brothers or sisters.
0:32:28 > 0:32:34Unfortunately they have the surname Smith too, and could be very difficult to find.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40Harold, we don't know, Adelaide, Lilian, Louise...
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Thankfully, Harold Smith's birth certificate has told the team that
0:32:47 > 0:32:53his father was in the Army and that opens up a fresh avenue of research for Neil.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58He is a sergeant in the Army Pay Corps, died aged 42 in 1917.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02It has quite a lot of information about him, more than I have seen before.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05It says here he has a long service and a good conduct medal
0:33:05 > 0:33:11and he is the son of William and Emma Smith in Southampton and the husband of
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Ms ALL Smith of Morley Avenue in Wood Green.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Served in the South Africa Corps.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Certainly our man.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23He was killed in the war aged 40.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Obviously a career army man.
0:33:27 > 0:33:33The father of the deceased, Harold Herbert Senior had joined the Army as a young man.
0:33:33 > 0:33:39He belonged to a cavalry regiment, which still exists today, the Queen's 9th Royal Lancers.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44The 9th Lancers were a prestigious regiment.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47They were formed in 1743
0:33:47 > 0:33:51and eventually they attained the name of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers.
0:33:51 > 0:33:59In 1899, the regiment travelled to South Africa to join the British Army's effort in the Boer War.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04There is one reference in the diary of the 9th Lancers at that time.
0:34:04 > 0:34:11"A patrol under Sergeant Smith on the right of the advance came under heavy fire at about 300 yards.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13"Private Croft's horse was shot.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18"Sergeant Smith got Croft up behind him and they got safely away.
0:34:18 > 0:34:24"The horse, being subsequently retrieved by RSM Grant and the party at the time."
0:34:24 > 0:34:29The fact that Sergeant Smith rescued Private Croft was one distinctive act
0:34:29 > 0:34:33of bravery, but then for them to rescue the horse as well, because
0:34:33 > 0:34:40the horse in those days was probably considered to be as valuable as the man.
0:34:40 > 0:34:46The young Sergeant Smith did well to survive the perilous battlefields in South Africa and he and his family
0:34:46 > 0:34:51went on to travel the world with his Army career until he died in the First World War.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55He left his wife alone with three children.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Harold was seven at the time.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01The team can now search for records of the Smith family overseas
0:35:01 > 0:35:05to tie them in with Harold Senior's time in the Army.
0:35:07 > 0:35:14On the case of Smith, I've just found the birth of Adelaide M in South Africa.
0:35:16 > 0:35:17It's a great discovery for the team.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21At the moment we believe there's two sisters, one of whom...we're working
0:35:21 > 0:35:25on the basis that she died as a spinster in Thanet Kent and the other sister, who
0:35:25 > 0:35:30is Irene Lilian Smith, very, very common name, also in Thanet in Kent.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36It turns out that both sisters of the deceased were born in South Africa.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41The teams know that Adelaide died a spinster, so all eyes are now on Irene.
0:35:41 > 0:35:48If she had children, they would be the only heirs to Harold Smith's £400,000 estate.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53In the office, the researchers have been looking for a marriage for Irene.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56They might just have had a breakthrough.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59- Fantastic.- What?
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Well, we know her name now.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Yes, I know. No other people mentioned?
0:36:04 > 0:36:08No, just the brother Harold Herbert Smith and the sister Irene Lillian Ings.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12- Where did she get married? - Who is off...- Oh, so there's no...no near kin on this?
0:36:12 > 0:36:15We need to check the address just to see who is, when she was...
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Married in 1976.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Born in 1909.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24We've just got back with the... We've got a probate back for the sister of the deceased.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27The Smith to Ings marriage is in 1976.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33Irene is down as having the surname Smith at that time.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39If that's the case, she's a spinster getting married at the age of 65-ish.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44Which sort of puts a stop on her having any children.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48If that's true, that's all of our near kin out.
0:36:48 > 0:36:56So Irene never had children. But it seemed she was the only one of the Smith family to escape the nest.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Harold and his sister Queenie lived with their widowed mother,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03whilst Irene left home to become a missionary in China in 1940.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07Despite three years of internment by the Japanese during the war,
0:37:07 > 0:37:11she carried on her work in China until 1951.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16Then she went on to Malaysia and Singapore, before finally returning home.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23With Irene only marrying in her sixties after returning from her travels,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27both of Harold's sisters died without having had children.
0:37:29 > 0:37:35The team are going to have to trace both sides of Harold Smith's family all the way back to cousins.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It's a huge job for the researchers, but Neil has seen it coming.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45The office have been working on the cousins all morning.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50By now they are wrestling with large family trees on both the Caspell and the Smith sides of the family.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56What quarter was it, Rog?
0:37:56 > 0:37:58That's not to say the job is done.
0:37:58 > 0:38:05But working with the most common name in the country, the Smith side, unsurprisingly, is not looking good.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10Jamie Smith to an Outen. Now, that marriage would appear to be wrong.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14On the maternal side, the research is in much better shape.
0:38:14 > 0:38:21You'll see on our tree we've got one, two, three, four, five, six...
0:38:21 > 0:38:26I'm guessing we'll have in the region of 25 or 30 beneficiaries on.
0:38:26 > 0:38:33Now's a question of...taking a little step back for David and he's got to evaluate where people are,
0:38:33 > 0:38:38who he's got on the road and who he can get to hopefully visit these people and sign them up.
0:38:39 > 0:38:46Bob Smith's free, Bob Barrett's free, Debbie will stay in the registry offices.
0:38:46 > 0:38:53We may be able to bring Ewert on to this as well. We may be able to get three travellers on to it.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56Neil's strategy for cracking the Smith case has paid off.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59The team have finally got the Caspell family tree up to date,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01which is no mean feat.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08It turns out that the deceased's mother, Adelaide, was one of ten siblings.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11All of their descendants are entitled beneficiaries.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18One of Adelaide's brothers was Horace. He had a daughter, Evelyn.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21David Pacifico is hoping he has got her on the phone.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25Could she be their first heir?
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Hello, Mrs Turner? This is Fraser & Fraser here.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32We're trying to trace the members of the Caspell family.
0:39:32 > 0:39:38Evelyn has agreed to a meeting and Bob Barrett is on his way to try to obtain her signature.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Hello, Mrs Turner?
0:39:40 > 0:39:42- Yes. - Bob Barrett from Fraser & Fraser.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44Thank you for seeing me.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47First of all, Bob has to verify the information
0:39:47 > 0:39:53he has for the Caspell family, to make sure that Evelyn is indeed an heir to Harold Smith's estate.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56What I'd like to do now is record your
0:39:56 > 0:40:00brothers and sisters, please.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03I don't know whether you want to start with the youngest, eldest or whatever...
0:40:03 > 0:40:05- I'm the youngest.- Right.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- John was the eldest. - We'll start with, so that's...
0:40:08 > 0:40:15You're going to ask his birthday...and how old he was.
0:40:17 > 0:40:25Meanwhile, Bob Smith is instructed to see a second heir on the maternal side of the family.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Now, the person in Emsworth is a first cousin.
0:40:28 > 0:40:34She's a cousin and she might have some knowledge about other stems that we're still try to get on to.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Is she an only child?
0:40:36 > 0:40:38- 'I think she might be, yes.'- OK.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40- 'All right, thanks Bob.'- All right.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42- Cheers, Dave.- 'Bye.'
0:40:42 > 0:40:44Bye.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Whether Fraser & Fraser will get their commission is now in the hands of the travellers.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52In Stevenage, Bob Barrett's meeting with heir Evelyn is going well.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54So, I'll give that to you.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56That's very kind of you.
0:40:56 > 0:40:57And I'll drink my tea.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Is it still drinkable? That's the question.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01- It certainly is.- Yes.
0:41:03 > 0:41:04Oh, yes. Gosh, what a job.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08- Well, thank you very much. Very nice to meet you.- Thank you.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11I hope at the end of the day it's a nice amount that comes to you.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- Thank you very much. - Thanks very much for the tea. - Thank you.- Thank you.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18Evelyn is fortunate to be entitled to a share of Harold Smith's estate.
0:41:18 > 0:41:23But an added bonus for her is the chance to find out a bit more about the Caspell family.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27When you lose your parents, they drop off.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29You know, you lose the rest of their family off...unless,
0:41:29 > 0:41:34you know, you all move apart, move in different areas of the country.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36And contact is lost,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40which is... It's a shame.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42It's the end of a long Thursday in the office.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Neil took a huge gamble by throwing all of his team at the case of Harold Herbert Smith.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49But it seems to have paid off.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51And thanks to much painstaking research,
0:41:51 > 0:41:59the team have found at least 20 heirs so far to the £400,000 estate.
0:41:59 > 0:42:00We're just finishing up, really.
0:42:00 > 0:42:06We've got a couple of letters being produced to go out to beneficiaries we haven't been able to see today.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09It looks like we're about to get onto the Smith side.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13We've got some certs coming back on that. That'll be coming in tomorrow.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Altogether, it was quite a good day.
0:42:16 > 0:42:22Although they have yet to find the Smith cousins, the heirs they have found are definitely entitled.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25Which means that Harold's money will not be going to the Treasury.
0:42:25 > 0:42:32Knowing Bert, I am absolutely certain he will be thrilled to bits,
0:42:32 > 0:42:40that we had managed to find close relatives and to not see that it just
0:42:40 > 0:42:42went to a Government department
0:42:42 > 0:42:48to be sorted out, willy-nilly by a faceless mandarin who had nothing to do with him.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58If you would like advice about building your family tree
0:42:58 > 0:43:01or making a will, go to...
0:43:03 > 0:43:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:06 > 0:43:10E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk