0:00:02 > 0:00:04Every year, thousands die without leaving a will.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08If no relatives come forward, their estates go to the government.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Keeping this money in the family is a job for the heir hunters.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32On today's programme, the heir hunters face their toughest competition yet...
0:00:32 > 0:00:34KNOCK ON DOOR
0:00:34 > 0:00:38- Who's that?- Thank you very much. - ..as they race to be the first
0:00:38 > 0:00:43to sign up heirs to a possible £200,000 fortune.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Well, I tell you, a very close call!
0:00:45 > 0:00:51And the difficult search for the family of a man who died all alone in the world.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53None of us had any details.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56There was no contact numbers that we knew of.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59So it was just unfortunate. We just had to contact the police.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Plus, how you may be entitled to inherit some of the unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:10 > 0:01:15In the UK, two thirds of people don't have a will.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17When they die, the law states that unless the authorities
0:01:17 > 0:01:21can find an obvious heir, their money goes to the Government.
0:01:21 > 0:01:27Last year, the Treasury pocketed a staggering £18 million in unclaimed estates.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30That's where the heir hunters step in.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I'm trying to get to speak to Lillian from number 146.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36There are over 30 companies whose business it is
0:01:36 > 0:01:41to track down the rightful kin, competing against each other to solve cases,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44sign up heirs and earn their commission.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Fraser & Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunters in Britain.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50It's owned by Andrew, Charles and Neil Fraser.
0:01:50 > 0:01:56They run a team of case managers and researchers in the office as well as a squadron of travelling
0:01:56 > 0:02:02heir hunters, who are based all over the country and are ready to go wherever the hunt takes them.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12It's 7am on Thursday morning at Fraser & Fraser's London office.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17The Treasury has just released its list of unclaimed estates,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21and Neil Fraser is trying to identify the high-value cases.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25This morning, it looks like he's in luck.
0:02:25 > 0:02:31I think the main case we're going to look at today is this Ethel Climpson.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Dies in 2008, December of 2008.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Now, it doesn't look like she owned a property when she passed away,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42but the house that she was living in was sold on the 4th of December.
0:02:42 > 0:02:50Now, to me, that sort of indicates the property's been sold as she's moved into a nursing home.
0:02:50 > 0:02:57Ethel died aged 88, six months after moving into this nursing home in East London.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03The property that Neil believes she sold just before her death was in Leytonstone.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09He estimates the house could have been sold for around £200,000.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12As Ethel was only in the home for a short while,
0:03:12 > 0:03:17he hopes that'll mean there's a lot of money left over for the estate.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21I think we're going to work that quite quickly and probably get quite a lot of staff on it.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24The surname Climpson sounds very good.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27I think it's going to be quiet an easy name to work.
0:03:27 > 0:03:33Therefore I suspect that we're going to fill out the family tree very, very quickly but probably
0:03:33 > 0:03:39get an awful lot of competition, so fingers crossed we can get to everyone before the opposition does.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43If the estate is going to be worth at least £200,000,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47then the company could be in line to make good commission.
0:03:47 > 0:03:53Climpson is an unusual name, which will stand out in the records and be easy to trace.
0:03:53 > 0:03:59So Neil's going to focus all his efforts on investigating this side of the family first.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02It's a risk, but he hopes it'll pay off.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Good morning. I'm sorry to trouble you so early in the morning...
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Heir hunter David Slee immediately takes charge of the case.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14He's already found a number for a neighbour of Ethel's in Leytonstone.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Not aware of the person at all? No.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21I'm very sorry to have troubled you. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23If they don't have any joy on the phone,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27the next step is to send someone round to see what they can find out on the ground.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Dave Hadley.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34Between them, Neil and Dave assign a senior researcher out on the road to the case.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37But no joy there, either.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Dave Hadley's on answerphone.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Why do I think it's going to be one of those days?!
0:04:43 > 0:04:49David's frustrated because he knows that the first few minutes of any investigation
0:04:49 > 0:04:55can make or break a case, especially when there could be as much as £200,000 at stake.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Whether or not Ethel left a lot of money after her death,
0:05:02 > 0:05:07for the last years of her life she lived modestly in this terraced house in East London.
0:05:07 > 0:05:14Elaine was her good friend and carer until just before the end, and she always knew Ethel as Peggy.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Everybody who knew Peggy liked her.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24She was a very bright, happy, fun-loving person.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30I kept in touch with her 30-odd years, so I would say it's a lifelong friendship.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35Ethel and Elaine met in 1975 when they were both working
0:05:35 > 0:05:38in the accounts department of Heal's furniture store in London.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Heal's was a very posh place to work in. When I say to people where I'm working, they say,
0:05:42 > 0:05:47"Ooh, you're working at Heal's?" something like that, because it was a very posh place to work in.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Anybody's birthday, or anyone's getting married, or Christmas,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53there was a party, and we all enjoyed it together. And it was fun.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57And she stayed there until she retired, so she must have loved it.
0:05:57 > 0:06:05The friends that Ethel made at Heal's became like family and were a great support and comfort to her.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Although she never married, Ethel did have one great love in her life.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11We asked her about her personal life.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16She said her fiance went in the Second World War and he didn't come back.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19John was Ethel's fiance.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24But, like many women at that time, her romantic hopes were dashed by the war.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Losing him so young at what should have been the beginning
0:06:27 > 0:06:32of their lives together was something she found very hard to get over.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34We did ask her subtle questions.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"Peggy, are you going to get married again?"
0:06:36 > 0:06:40She said, "No, girls, I'm not going to get married again. I don't want to."
0:06:40 > 0:06:44She said, "John's gone, and I don't want anyone else."
0:06:44 > 0:06:50She never met another man or had a family, but that didn't stop her enjoying life.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57Ethel loved to travel, and long after her retirement,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01she was still enjoying girls' trips abroad with her friends from Heal's.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Peggy was never a sad person. No, never!
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Too much personality for that.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13It's still only 7:30am,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17but case manager David Slee and his team have already made good progress.
0:07:17 > 0:07:23They've been able to access Ethel's death certificate on-line.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28So from that, Debbie and Jo have already found her birth certificate
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and started building out her family tree.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36- So she's an only child?- Yeah. - Yeah, I thought so.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39With no siblings or children of her own, the team now know
0:07:39 > 0:07:46they will need to look further back, to her grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins to find any heirs.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51Ethel's grandparents were John Henry Climpson and Sarah Stamford.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54They had six children, Ethel's father George
0:07:54 > 0:07:59being the eldest, and five others, one of whom died in infancy.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04We're making sure that we've got top-line births done manually.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Ethel's aunts and uncles will form the top line of her family tree,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12and it's likely to be their descendants, her cousins, who are heirs.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17So Dave wants to be sure that he's got the right details for them.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21There can be gaps on these websites, and we have our own manual records that we can go through.
0:08:21 > 0:08:27And although it takes a bit longer, it allows us to be a lot more certain about our research.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32It's not long before this meticulous approach to their research pays off.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35George Frederick. It's got to be him.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40David has found a birth record for a George Frederick, son of Ethel's aunt, Bertha Climpson.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43George died in 1996.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48But they also uncover a record for his sister June, and here they hit the jackpot.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53We've got a current address for a paternal first cousin
0:08:53 > 0:08:57living in Woodford Green, so not far from where the deceased lived.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00It's absolutely falling out so easy.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01Too easy.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04This is great news for the team.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08It's still only 8am, and they have already located Ethel's first cousin
0:09:08 > 0:09:12and their first living heir, June.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16But for all they know, the competition could be there already.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20So Dave gets straight onto Dave Hadley.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Dave, it's Dave Slee.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Can you go Woodford Green?
0:09:24 > 0:09:29- OK.- We've an address for a paternal first cousin. Thanks now. Bye-bye.
0:09:34 > 0:09:40The team have found one heir in record time, but Dave can't afford to rest on his laurels.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44There are still four more of Ethel's paternal aunts and uncles to investigate.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48It's not long before the next breakthrough.
0:09:48 > 0:09:54We've just been able to identify the death of the deceased's
0:09:54 > 0:09:57paternal uncle, Frederick William Climpson.
0:09:57 > 0:10:03Frederick was Ethel's youngest uncle, who died in 1980 in Debden in Essex.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07The heir hunters need to discover if he had any children.
0:10:07 > 0:10:13- Very soon, researcher Debbie makes a very interesting discovery.- Here.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15That's not for this marriage, Frederick's?
0:10:15 > 0:10:18They get married on March 26th.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21- More paper.- More paper!
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Off the marriage of Frederick
0:10:24 > 0:10:26there is the possibility of one, two,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30three, four, five, six, seven,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35eight, nine children. Erm, yeah...!
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Nine children means nine more leads for the heir hunters to follow up.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42This search is only just getting going.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45It's been a mad half-hour, hour or so.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The tree has just ballooned out.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51I think we're finding stuff quicker than Dave could write it on the tree.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53It's too easy!
0:10:53 > 0:10:57A lot of competition on this, as we thought we were going to have,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00so fingers crossed they'll go with Fraser's.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Their rivals may be snapping at their heels,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06but for the moment, there's no stopping the heir hunters.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11They've found six more of Ethel's first cousins and heirs.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Her uncle, Frederick Climpson, had nine children.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20Three died, but the rest are alive and well and all living in the same area.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Ipswich. See there? All Suffolk addresses.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Yeah. Ipswich is coming out here as well.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30Hopefully we'll be able to contact someone. I think what we need is some phone calls on this.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Yeah, I agree with you. Now.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Heir hunter David Pacifico joins the team.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41This case is expanding so fast that they need another case manager just to keep pace with developments.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45With the competition breathing down their necks, the two Davids
0:11:45 > 0:11:48make some pre-emptive phone calls to the heirs in Ipswich.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53What I wonder if it's possible, sir, is if I can have
0:11:53 > 0:11:57one of my representatives come and see you today and explain...
0:11:57 > 0:12:03David Slee gets through to Ethel's cousin Bryan, and he's desperate to get Fraser's foot in the door.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07So if you wouldn't mind, even if another company
0:12:07 > 0:12:10does approach you, let my chap have a word with you as well.
0:12:19 > 0:12:25It's still only 8:45, and Dave Hadley has already arrived in Woodford Green...
0:12:26 > 0:12:30..at the address he's been given for Ethel's cousin June.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Sorry to trouble you so early without an appointment.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35I actually wanted to speak to your wife June, if that's possible.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39- She's in bed. - Oh, right. OK. Can I make an appointment to see her today?
0:12:39 > 0:12:41- Would that be possible?- Yes.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44That would be fantastic. Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54Hi, Dave. I've confirmed that the lady does live there. She's in bed at the moment.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58So I've made an appointment to interview her in an hour's time.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01One hour. OK. I need...
0:13:01 > 0:13:06I'm also trying to get you for some interviews in Ipswich.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08This is a setback they didn't need.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13With heirs lined up ready to be interviewed, time is of the essence.
0:13:13 > 0:13:20I'm just going to have to sit here patiently for the next hour until Mrs Brown is ready to see me.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Rather than give ground to the competition,
0:13:24 > 0:13:29David Pacifico decides he needs even more manpower on the case.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Ethel Climpson, daughter of George Charles Climpson...
0:13:31 > 0:13:35He brings senior researcher on the road Ewart Lindsay up to speed.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39- Right, do you want to head to Ipswich?- All right, Dave. - Speak to you later. Thanks, Ewart.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- Yeah. Bye.- Bye.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46It's all manic, isn't it? It's all go!
0:13:49 > 0:13:54It will be at least an hour-and-a-half before Ewart can get to Ipswich, but back in the office,
0:13:54 > 0:13:59a whole new team of heir hunters have started researching Ethel's mother's family, the Norrises.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04They're headed up by David number three, David Milchard, AKA Grimble.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Hold on.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Jo, are you still doing this side? Yeah, the big Norris side.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14They know that Ethel's mother was born in West Ham in London.
0:14:14 > 0:14:20But unlike Climpson, Norris has not been such an easy name to research.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Norris is not a bad name.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25I mean, it's not Smith or Jones or anything like that.
0:14:25 > 0:14:32But there are quite a lot of them, and we've got at least two of everything in West Ham.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35So we can't say, "Oh, it's that one," and move on.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40While the maternal team carry on their investigations in the office,
0:14:40 > 0:14:45over in Woodford Green, Dave Hadley's hour of waiting is over.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47- Hello! Is it convenient?- Come in.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Thank you very much. Thank you.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54He's finally getting to speak to June and her husband Gordon.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59Fraser's have invested a lot in this case, so Dave needs this interview to be a success.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04Well, I won't disclose who the person is that's died at the moment,
0:15:04 > 0:15:10because we have to protect our interests, and until we've got an agreement from the client
0:15:10 > 0:15:13that they're prepared for us to deal with it, then...
0:15:13 > 0:15:16But once we've got that, then we'll give full disclosure.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18- But what I can tell you... - KNOCK ON DOOR
0:15:18 > 0:15:23A knock on the door reveals the competition has finally caught up with them.
0:15:23 > 0:15:31Coming up on the show, the race is now on to sign up heirs, and Fraser & Fraser's rivals are closing in.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33KNOCK ON DOOR
0:15:33 > 0:15:38- Who's that? - But having come so far, will the heir hunters end up losing it all?
0:15:51 > 0:15:57When the heir hunters come across a deceased person who was born and died in the same area,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01it often means that their search will be focused there.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06But in the case of Howell Morgan, their investigation took them to the end of the Earth and back.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Howell died aged 77 in South Wales.
0:16:11 > 0:16:17Sadly, this water-damaged photograph is the only one that survives of him.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22He lived the last years of his life in this residential caravan park.
0:16:22 > 0:16:29Neighbour Carol Jenkins remembered him as a very private man who everyone knew as H.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34We met H about 15 years ago, when he moved in next door to my mother.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38In the evenings, you'd go past there, there would just be a small lamp on,
0:16:38 > 0:16:45he'd be at his table - because you could see through the curtains - and he'd be reading, doing a crossword.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49My husband'd come home in the night, shout, "Night, H!"
0:16:49 > 0:16:53His arm'd come up, shout, "Night!" back. And that was his whole routine.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Colwyn Evans lived a few caravans down from Howell.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00The two men saw a lot of each other.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Well, he kept himself to himself.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07He was a great fella to know, very, very, very quiet.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15Howell had lived in the Barry area all his life, so when details of his estate were released by
0:17:15 > 0:17:20the Treasury, Welsh heir-hunting company Celtic Research
0:17:20 > 0:17:22were well-placed to pick up the investigation.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Celtic Research is run by Peter Birchwood, who,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30along with his wife Maria, took on the task of tracking down Howell Morgan's heirs.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38I first got the estate of Howell Morgan around about September 2007.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43It was valued at roughly 20,000 at the time.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Morgan is a very common surname in Wales, so trying to locate
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Howell's records was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56But Peter's well used to this kind of challenge.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59He relies a lot on the local community and word of mouth,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02so the first thing they did was ask the neighbours.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07We never actually seen visitors go back and forth,
0:18:07 > 0:18:12not even over the Christmas period or holidays or anything.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19Although they drew a blank at first, slowly Celtic Research started to uncover information that revealed
0:18:19 > 0:18:24that the quiet man from Barry had in fact lived a life full of adventure, crisscrossing the globe.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Howell grew up within sight of the busy docks and the sea,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38which must have inspired him to enlist in the Royal Navy when he was 17.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42He later left due to injury and joined the Merchant Marines.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49It looks very much as if Howell saw a local company,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52the Natural Environment Research Council,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55operating two ships out of Barry docks,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59and he could very well have gone, knocked on the door and said, "Have you got a job for a sailor?"
0:19:00 > 0:19:05Howell started out on his research ships as an uncertificated deck hand.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09These were the men whose brute strength and extreme physical efforts put ships
0:19:09 > 0:19:14of this kind to sea and allowed them to carry out their duties.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19For these research ships, a lot of the work is done,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24obviously, at sea, putting stuff in the water, dredging,
0:19:24 > 0:19:29working with ropes, working on deck, what traditionally everybody thinks sailors do.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34It wasn't long before Howell moved up the ranks.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38After 18 months as a deck hand on a merchant ship, he could take his
0:19:38 > 0:19:45Efficient Deck Hand certificate, and he obviously did that, because when he went onto the Shackleton,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49he is logged on as an EDH - efficient deck hand.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58The Shackleton was named after Sir Ernest Shackleton, famous polar explorer.
0:19:58 > 0:20:04She was one of four ships that took part in the British Antarctic Survey in the '60s and early '70s,
0:20:04 > 0:20:09leaving every October and only returning home the following May or June.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Peter Barker was a scientist and principal investigator
0:20:12 > 0:20:17on board the Shackleton and remembers Howell from that time.
0:20:17 > 0:20:23I first met Howell Morgan soon after the ship left the UK, I guess.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Clearly, he'd been to sea before many times.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29He was a good, competent seaman.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Being at sea over the festive period, the crew would try to
0:20:32 > 0:20:36find somewhere suitable to anchor so they could enjoy a merry Christmas.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40But one year, it didn't go according to plan.
0:20:40 > 0:20:46We couldn't get anywhere near any shallow water on Christmas Day, so we postponed Christmas.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49So we were working on Christmas Day.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52We wanted to use the winch to do some dredging,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57and Howell came up and operated the winch
0:20:57 > 0:21:02because he was the only person sober enough to do it.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05The other seamen had decided that it was Christmas
0:21:05 > 0:21:09on the 25th of December and they were going to get drunk, so they couldn't work.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14But not Howell. He was a very pleasant sort of person, had a good personality.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22As they gathered information about Howell,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26the heir hunters had also unearthed a paper trail of certificates.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29His birth certificate showed his parents
0:21:29 > 0:21:36to be William Morgan and Olive Rees, and knowing this, they were able to search for any siblings.
0:21:36 > 0:21:42The research showed us that he'd been one of three children -
0:21:42 > 0:21:47two sisters and himself as the brother.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Howell's sisters would both be potential heirs to his estate.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Peter couldn't find any recent evidence of his older sister,
0:21:56 > 0:22:02but he traced the younger one to London, where she married in 1958.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07The sister, Sylvia - unfortunately, she'd died,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10but she had had two children.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Sylvia's two children were Stephanie and Howard,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18and they were also in line to inherit a share of Howell's £20,000 estate.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23But there the trail ran dry.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Celtic Research tried to find the girl Stephanie but couldn't find any sign of her.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31We couldn't find any marriages for her,
0:22:31 > 0:22:37and we couldn't find any trace that she was living in England or Wales.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41With his investigation at a standstill,
0:22:41 > 0:22:47Peter needed to look further afield to locate the heirs to Howell's £20,000 estate.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Little did he know his search was about to go global.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03For every case that is solved, there are still thousands that remain a mystery.
0:23:03 > 0:23:10Currently, over 3,000 names drawn from across the country are on the Treasury's unsolved case list.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Their assets will be kept for up to 30 years in the hope that eventually
0:23:17 > 0:23:21someone will remember and come forward to claim their inheritance.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27With estates valued at anything from 5,000 to millions of pounds,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30the rightful heirs are out there somewhere.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Today, we've got two cases heir hunters have so far failed to solve.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Could you be the key? Could you be in line for a payout?
0:23:41 > 0:23:47Shirley Anne Meanley died in Epsom, Surrey, on the 20th of May, 2005.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Was Shirley a friend or neighbour of yours?
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Could you even be related to her and entitled to her estate?
0:23:57 > 0:24:04Irene Middleton passed away on the 2nd of October, 2006 in Fulham, London.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07If no relatives come forward, her money will go to the Government.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09But should it be headed your way?
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Still to come on the show, the race to find Ethel Climpson's
0:24:20 > 0:24:26heirs hots up, and for one of them, life will never be the same again.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Well, that was a surprise! I mean,
0:24:28 > 0:24:33one phone call, it altered things quite dramatically.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45Back on the Howell Morgan case, Celtic Research have managed to identify all three of his heirs.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50But they couldn't find two of them, his elder sister and his niece, Stephanie.
0:24:50 > 0:24:57Luckily, Peter did find a phone number for Howell's nephew and heir Howard, who led him to Stephanie.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04The answer was, once her brother Howard had spoken to me,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08was that she had moved to Ireland and was living there.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19- Come on, girls!- Stephanie had lived in Ireland since 2002.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23She moved there with her husband and family in search of the good life
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and a peaceful rural upbringing for their three children.
0:25:27 > 0:25:34Well, out of the blue I got a letter one afternoon, opened it up and I had the shock of my life.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Basically, it was outlining my family members and that my uncle had died,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44and that was a complete shock to me. I had no idea whatsoever.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50Howell sort of lost contact with us when my mother died, really.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Everybody moves on, and we're all busy with our lives.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59You forget to write the letter or return the call, so we basically sort of left it at,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01"We're OK and we'll let you know."
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Although she grew up in London, Stephanie has happy memories
0:26:08 > 0:26:12of trips back to Wales to visit her grandmother in Barry.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17When I was younger, I spent every summer holiday there for eight weeks at a time.
0:26:17 > 0:26:25When my uncle was home from sea, we used to go out, and yeah, we were very, very close.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31It seems that Stephanie did hold a special place in her uncle's heart.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34The sea-hardened sailor may have been thousands of miles
0:26:34 > 0:26:39away in the freezing Southern Ocean, but he still spared a thought for his favourite niece.
0:26:39 > 0:26:46I was given a soft toy penguin, which I was quite surprised, because I didn't expect it from my uncle.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50He was rough and tough, and a fluffy toy was the last thing.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54But no, he sent me a penguin from the Antarctic.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Stephanie had a collection of family keepsakes.
0:26:58 > 0:27:04Sadly, much of it, including many photographs of Howell, was lost in a flood several years ago.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06But one did survive.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11This, unfortunately, is the only photograph I have of my uncle.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14It's very faded and very old.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17That's my uncle. That sums him up, actually.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20He's in the background - "Leave me alone, I'm having a cigarette."
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And that's the special one.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27I can replace all these, but I can't replace that one.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37Celtic Research had now located two of the three heirs to Howell's £20,000 estate.
0:27:37 > 0:27:43But although Stephanie had some old photographs of the third, her aunt and Howell's older sister,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46she didn't have a current address for her.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49It was then that Peter made a lucky discovery.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52He had come across a copy of Howell's mother's will,
0:27:52 > 0:28:00which gave an address for his sister and took this heir hunt 3,000 miles, from Barry to Canada.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06Although the address wasn't current, he took a chance that she was still living in the same area.
0:28:06 > 0:28:12I advertised in the local newspaper and was very fortunate
0:28:12 > 0:28:19that within a few days she had been told of the advert and contacted me.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24It was a shock to her when I told her that her brother had died.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29It was unfortunate that the sister had not managed
0:28:29 > 0:28:33to get in touch with Howell and, equally,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36he had never got in touch with her.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Although brother and sister didn't manage to speak before he died,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Stephanie did make an effort to contact her uncle a few years ago.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49I went through the phone book and I found a few Howell Morgans, and I tried every one,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54and somebody said yes, they knew him and they knew where he went at night with his friends.
0:28:54 > 0:29:00And I asked them to let him know that I was looking for him, and I left my address.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05And the next thing I know, I had a letter straight out of the blue, and I was overjoyed.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07Totally overjoyed.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12Sadly, that letter was lost in the flood that also claimed her photographs of him.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15But Stephanie does still have a couple of other letters
0:29:15 > 0:29:18that he wrote to her over the years that she holds very dear.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31Howell was clearly very fond of his niece in Ireland, but to his neighbours in the residential park,
0:29:31 > 0:29:37he was always a private man about whom they knew very little right up to the day he died.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Well, my mother had said the light had been on for two nights
0:29:40 > 0:29:44and she hadn't heard him walking round in there.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48We went in the bedroom, and he was curled up on the beds.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52I would have contacted H's family, but unfortunately
0:29:52 > 0:29:56there was no contact numbers that we knew of.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59So it was just unfortunate. We just had to contact the police.
0:29:59 > 0:30:07In the end, half of Howell's estate went to his sister and half was split between his niece and nephew.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13It turned out to be worth less than £20,000, but for Stephanie, it wasn't about the money.
0:30:14 > 0:30:20I received just under £2,000. It was nice to have, it did help.
0:30:20 > 0:30:26I would obviously prefer my uncle to be around, that meant more to me than any money.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32Money aside, Howell's greatest gift to his niece was his love of the sea.
0:30:32 > 0:30:38It's something that's stayed with her all her life, and somewhere she often goes to remember him.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43I think of my childhood, and how it was in the summer in Wales
0:30:43 > 0:30:46and times with my uncle, spent at the place he loved.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48I love it, and it feels like coming home.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52And I think he would have been proud to think I was back on the water's edge.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Amongst the boats.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11Fraser & Fraser have been investigating the case of 88-year-old Ethel Climpson
0:31:11 > 0:31:17who died intestate, leaving what Neil Fraser hopes will be a £200,000 estate.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22What I have been able to find out is the house she was living in was sold on 4th December.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27To me, that indicates the property has been sold as she's moved into a nursing home.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30If their hunch is correct, and she did own her home
0:31:30 > 0:31:35in Leytonstone before it was sold, then her estate could be worth several hundred thousand pounds.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40The possibility of a huge payout has attracted a lot of competition
0:31:40 > 0:31:45from rival companies and the hunt for heirs has been fast and furious.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50In only a couple of hours, Fraser's managed to trace the first of Ethel's many heirs.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55But just then, the competition came knocking.
0:31:55 > 0:32:01Fortunately for heir hunter Dave Hadley, June sticks to her guns and hears him out.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04You're going to get a few companies contacting you, I'll tell you now.
0:32:04 > 0:32:10- Really? - There's about four or five of us and we compete against one another.
0:32:10 > 0:32:17And that's why I was so keen to speak to your wife this morning, rather than this afternoon.
0:32:17 > 0:32:18Yes. Oh, how strange!
0:32:18 > 0:32:22So your mother was Bertha, wasn't she? Bertha Climpson?
0:32:22 > 0:32:28Dave gets on with interviewing June and at the same time, confirms some of the details of her family tree.
0:32:28 > 0:32:34And the younger brother, I can remember my mother said, he moved down into Essex.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37And of course in those days, they didn't
0:32:37 > 0:32:41have a lot of contact as there wasn't phones and things like that.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45- That's as far as my memory takes me back.- You've lost contact with them, presumably?
0:32:45 > 0:32:51I never knew him. I never knew any of her brothers.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55June's uncle, Frederick Climpson, lost contact with
0:32:55 > 0:33:01her mother Bertha when he moved away from London, so he never met June or her brother George.
0:33:01 > 0:33:07But his children and grandchildren are now living in Ipswich in Suffolk, and as they speak,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10an heir hunter is on his way to interview them.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Right, well thanks ever so much. Lovely to meet you, bye-bye.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19- I hope you get on in your quest! - Thank you.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28The money side doesn't, to be honest, bother me too much.
0:33:30 > 0:33:37But it would be interesting to see the family tree and the relatives
0:33:37 > 0:33:41and maybe have some contact with them.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Because all my life, I've never known them.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49Whilst I was there, somebody knocked on the door, left their card.
0:33:49 > 0:33:55- But I think we're pretty secure on this one. She's not going to go back on this one.- No, lovely.
0:33:55 > 0:33:56Thanks, mate.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Bye-bye.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02The competition is particularly fierce. I know of at least two other companies,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05I think there's probably a third, maybe even a fourth company working on this case as well.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09But we're certainly ahead of the majority of the competition.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13As the next hour or two hours develops, we'll be able to see exactly where we are.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20At last, Ewart arrives in Suffolk for his interview with Hazel...
0:34:20 > 0:34:24- Hello. Mrs Terry?- ..the granddaughter of Ethel's Uncle Frederick.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Just confirm your full name for me.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31With her husband Bernard looking on, the interview has only just got
0:34:31 > 0:34:34going when all of a sudden, they're interrupted.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37KNOCK AT THE DOOR Who's that?
0:34:42 > 0:34:44That's the other gentleman.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- That's the other company?- Must be.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49I had a phone call this morning.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Once again, one of their competitors is on the doorstep.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55But Heather's already made up her mind to go with Fraser's.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Nice meeting you. All the best.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01Ewart has won the day, but only just.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03I tell you, a very close call.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Luckily the heir's husband literally just told the guy to go away.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Isn't that interesting? Job well done to me.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Things are going well in Suffolk, but back in London,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21they're still having problems confirming the maternal side of Ethel's family tree.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Ethel's grandparents were John Norris and Ann McEvoy.
0:35:25 > 0:35:32Her mother, also called Ethel, was one of eight children, amongst whom was a boy called Leonard.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36The team have found records of a Leonard Norris who they think could be Ethel's youngest brother.
0:35:36 > 0:35:43Through him, they found several living relatives who could be Ethel's heirs.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47However, they need proof that this Leonard Norris has the same parents as Ethel.
0:35:47 > 0:35:53So they've sent senior researcher Bob Smith to look for his marriage certificate.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55Yep, it's right.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00Leonard Norris, son of John Norris.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Dave, hi, it's Bob. I got the marriage, it looks right.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08Bob phones in the good news to the office and they give him his new instructions.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12I now have to move on very quickly took Milton Keynes to see
0:36:12 > 0:36:17Wendy Smith, who we now know is definitely related to our deceased.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Leonard Norris and his wife Charlotte had three children.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27Their son, also called Leonard, married Elsie and had one daughter, Wendy.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Ethel's first cousin once removed.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34So Bob now becomes travelling heir hunter
0:36:34 > 0:36:42number three to hit the road in search of heirs to Ethel's estate, which could be worth up to £250,000.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46Our decision, I think, to have three travellers,
0:36:46 > 0:36:52the three Daves case-managing, and all the researchers downstairs, is starting to pay off now.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55Because we really have swamped it with resources, swamped it
0:36:55 > 0:36:58with people, and that's why we're ahead of all of our competition.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03For Dave Milchard and the team in the office, it's definitely been a good day's work.
0:37:03 > 0:37:09We're finished at the moment, no more to do until tomorrow.
0:37:13 > 0:37:18But for the travelling heir hunters on the road, the day is a long way from being over.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Ewart is still working his way through his list
0:37:20 > 0:37:24of heirs on the paternal, Climpson side of the family.
0:37:24 > 0:37:25- Hello, Mrs Smith?- Hello, yes.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27I'm Robert from Fraser & Fraser.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30While in Milton Keynes, Bob finally arrives
0:37:30 > 0:37:35at Wendy Smith's house, a cousin of Ethel's on her maternal side.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37How many children from your parents' marriage?
0:37:37 > 0:37:40- Just me.- Just you, an only child. - Yeah.- That will certainly help you.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45- You inherit your father's share, so if there were any other children, obviously...- We'd have to split them.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Exactly, yeah.
0:37:48 > 0:37:54No wonder Wendy's pleased - she could be in line to receive around £20,000.
0:38:03 > 0:38:09It's early morning on Friday and some shocking news has come through to Fraser's Central London office
0:38:09 > 0:38:12concerning Ethel's old home in Leytonstone.
0:38:12 > 0:38:20Heir hunter David Pacifico is in a sombre mood as he puts in a call to Ewart.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25- It's likely to be a low-value case now.- Oh, is it?
0:38:25 > 0:38:27- Yeah.- How much?
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Don't know, but she didn't own the property.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Oh, God!
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Unfortunately. But there you are.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38It turns out that Ethel rented, rather than owned, her home.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41So her estate didn't benefit from its sale after all.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45I'm just a bit cheesed off.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48I don't blame you. I feel the same.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51We've gone back over and checked a few things
0:38:51 > 0:38:55and it looks as though our initial estimate on the valuation
0:38:55 > 0:38:58of the case may have been slightly too high.
0:38:58 > 0:39:04It may not be the £200,000 we thought, it could be even down to £5,000, which is...
0:39:04 > 0:39:11a harsh reality for us if that is the case, because we've had so many people working on it.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13It's a massive disappointment for the heir hunters.
0:39:13 > 0:39:19But for the heirs themselves, there is definitely a silver lining to this cloud.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25Let's put it this way, we've achieved something in this case by putting people back in contact.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27We should be pleased about that.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34When she was first contacted by Fraser & Fraser,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38June wasn't even sure that she had any living relatives on her mother's side.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44A couple of weeks later, and heir hunter David Pacifico has been in touch with some exciting news.
0:39:44 > 0:39:49I said to him, "Am I the only first cousin?"
0:39:49 > 0:39:56And he said, "No, because there's this uncle up in Suffolk
0:39:56 > 0:39:59"that had nine children!"
0:39:59 > 0:40:01Well, that was a surprise!
0:40:01 > 0:40:06In one phone call, he'd altered things quite dramatically!
0:40:07 > 0:40:10June's Uncle Frederick moved from London to Suffolk
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and had nine children, of which six are still alive.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19They're all Ethel's heirs and all completely unaware that they had a cousin.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24It was a real shock because I just thought there was only my brothers and sisters.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28I never dreamt there was anybody else.
0:40:28 > 0:40:29Thank you very much.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33My dad never discussed his family with us, so we just had no idea.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35Hello.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Hello, June!
0:40:37 > 0:40:39- You're Jean?- I'm Jean, yes.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44- How lovely to meet you.- Come in.
0:40:44 > 0:40:45Wow.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50- THEY LAUGH - There's a number to meet!
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- This is my eldest brother, Ron. - How do you do, Ron?
0:40:52 > 0:40:54- My sister, Pat.- Right.
0:40:54 > 0:41:02So you were Climpsons, you were all Climpsons, that's amazing.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05You've got photographs, and so have I!
0:41:05 > 0:41:08I'll have to get all this...
0:41:08 > 0:41:11That's our dad and mum.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13- Really?- That's Fred. Frederick.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16That's Frederick. Oh, this is wonderful.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Quite elated!
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Quite elated. It's really lovely seeing all these people.
0:41:22 > 0:41:28When June walked through the door, it was excitement, trepidation, because you didn't know
0:41:28 > 0:41:30what we were going to find out about my dad's family.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32So that's your Aunt Bertha.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36- So that's dad's sister.- Yes. - You can see the likeness.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38Yes, I expect you can. I shall have to compare again.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40Oh, yes. Definitely.
0:41:40 > 0:41:47Definitely saw the resemblance in the photographs of my father and June's mother.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Very much alike, I thought.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52That was my grandma, which would have been...
0:41:52 > 0:41:57it would have been your grandma, wouldn't it? Yes, of course it would. Of course it would.
0:41:57 > 0:42:03Ethel may not have left a large estate, but her actual legacy is much more important.
0:42:03 > 0:42:10Because of her, the scattered family has been brought together. And they couldn't be more delighted.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Oh, it's been a fantastic event, really.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17Because I don't think it would have come about had this not have happened.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20We've now found out about what we never knew anything about.
0:42:20 > 0:42:27Now, this is the older brother, this is Henry, but always known as Uncle Harry.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30He was my mother's favourite!
0:42:30 > 0:42:33I'm pleased that I've been able to fill in a few gaps for them,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36because I think they've been more in the dark than I've been.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38It's amazing you've got nothing.
0:42:38 > 0:42:44- Nothing at all.- Oh, I'm quite a revelation, aren't I?!
0:42:44 > 0:42:46It's given me great pleasure.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56If you would like to find out more about how to build a family tree,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59or write a will, go to -
0:43:06 > 0:43:09Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd