0:00:02 > 0:00:05Welcome to Heir Hunters. We follow investigators as they search for living family
0:00:05 > 0:00:07of people who've died without leaving a will.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Today the team are hoping to find heirs who could be in line for thousands of pounds.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19The heir hunters are working on a tricky case worth an estimated £80,000.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24'Change of plan. We need you to go towards the Northeast of England.'
0:00:24 > 0:00:30They're in a race against time to find relatives who have no idea they're in line for a windfall.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Coming up on today's programme...
0:00:52 > 0:00:54On today's show...
0:00:54 > 0:00:55This is all wrong.
0:00:55 > 0:01:01..a surprisingly common surname in one postcode has the heir hunters baffled.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Walton is just... There's ten a penny of them,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06so we're struggling, basically.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Will they be able to find the rightful heirs to the estate?
0:01:10 > 0:01:16The heir hunters help uncover the secret of a German PoW.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Anybody asked about the war, he wouldn't talk about it.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23He practically went through hell.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26And I'll be finding out more about the German PoWs
0:01:26 > 0:01:29who were held captive in Britain during the Second World War.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31The British in particular
0:01:31 > 0:01:35wanted to keep the German PoWs in the UK as a valuable source of labour.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Plus, how you could be entitled to unclaimed estates
0:01:38 > 0:01:40where beneficiaries still need to be found.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:01:49 > 0:01:55Every year in the UK, an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:55 > 0:02:01If no relatives are found, any money that's left behind will go to the Government.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Last year, they made £14 million in unclaimed estates.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12But there are over 30 specialist firms competing to stop this happening.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16They're called heir hunters and they make it their business to track down
0:02:16 > 0:02:21missing relatives and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26I love the fact that I can put families back together, I can reunite people.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31I can tell them secret histories about their own family which they don't know about themselves.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38In our first case today,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41the team investigate the case of a man who died in Durham.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But things don't start out as planned for the heir hunters.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Can the team get back on track?
0:02:49 > 0:02:54In London, it's action stations at Britain's largest heir-hunting firm.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Last night, the Treasury issued a new list of unclaimed estates,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01and the team at Fraser & Fraser are raring to go.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04- Walton...- Here.
0:03:04 > 0:03:11One entry named Cecil Walton looks promising, but this morning there's a spanner in the works.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Hello, phone's not working...
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Our internet's gone down.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21With the phone lines down, other heir-hunting companies will have got a head start.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23This could cost them business.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Awful start to the morning.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Because we're now probably about...
0:03:27 > 0:03:2920 minutes...
0:03:29 > 0:03:31at least, behind the competition.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Phones should be up and running, and so should the internet.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41After a frustrating delay, the phone lines are finally up and running,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45and now it's a race to find a case they can work.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Cecil James Walton.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51I found a marriage in June '78, in Maidstone.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55The Treasury's list is a major source of work for heir hunters.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00It shows the names of people who've died without leaving a will and have no known relatives.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05But it doesn't show any other details, or how much money they've left.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Good morning. I do apologise for troubling you.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13I'm making some inquiries about a gentleman who I believe was your neighbour, Mr Cecil Walton.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16But now the team's found a possible address for Cecil Walton.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Can a neighbour shed some light?
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Was that his own property? We think he owned...
0:04:21 > 0:04:23It was his own property, yeah.
0:04:23 > 0:04:29Did he ever mention to you about having brothers or sisters or any family members?
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Bye-bye, now. Bye-bye.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37OK, that's good news. It would appear the deceased
0:04:37 > 0:04:41had no children from his marriage to Violet,
0:04:41 > 0:04:42who passed away in 2000.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45It's the lead they need.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50They've confirmed Cecil's address is in a village called Waterhouses, near Durham.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56They know he owned his own home and have estimated it's worth £80,000.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The team now know they have an estate worth pursuing.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05We're working the case of Cecil James Walton...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08who died on 30th December 2009.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12We know that he owned the property,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16we know there's a mortgage on it, might be an equity release, not sure.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19But it looks like there's some value there,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23so we're attempting to find the beneficiaries at the moment.
0:05:25 > 0:05:31Cecil James Walton died in Durham, where he'd lived for over 20 years.
0:05:31 > 0:05:38Cecil was a widower and was a popular local figure, as pub landlord Barry Sims remembers.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40He used to come in
0:05:40 > 0:05:44and he was always very tidy, well shaven...
0:05:44 > 0:05:47never saw him without a shave.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Suit, a tie or a blazer.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Even in his spare time,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57he always was immaculately dressed.
0:05:57 > 0:06:0181-year-old Cecil was an avid cricket fan.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06He'd often be found watching a match at his local ground, Chester-le-Street.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11He also spent his spare time at the village pub, and as a retired accountant,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15he was happy to share his financial know-how with friends and regulars.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18He was my mentor,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22always keeping me right on different issues.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25He was very good to listen to and talk to.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Back at the office,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31the team's trying to build a family tree through Cecil's parents,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34as he didn't have any children of his own.
0:06:34 > 0:06:41All efforts are now focused on this case, as partner Charles Fraser believes it's the only one of value.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47We're looking at cousins already, having established that there's no close family.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52We've a lot of people working on this case, so research is going quickly.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55They've found his birth details,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57which show the names of his parents
0:06:57 > 0:07:00are Mary Annie Robson and Edwin Walton.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02On the basis the deceased was an only child,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06you have two sides to the family, and both are pretty common names.
0:07:06 > 0:07:12An initial search is showing a surprisingly large number of Waltons married to Robsons.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13Sedgefield...
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Teesside's ours, Durham...
0:07:16 > 0:07:22There's another one, Durham. Could be that one. Um...
0:07:22 > 0:07:27And the team starts to realise they've hit a stumbling block.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Walton - I thought it was going to be a relatively straightforward name.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33But it turns out it's quite an area name...
0:07:35 > 0:07:38..which is going to possibly cause some problems.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43There are literally dozens of Waltons on the database in Durham.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46All these are Waltons to Robsons?
0:07:46 > 0:07:50Yep, and all those are marriages.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Walton, there's ten a penny of them.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55So...
0:07:55 > 0:07:57We're struggling, basically.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03In fact, the name Walton is five times more common in County Durham than the rest of the country.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10To make progress, they're going to have to run with names that look likely,
0:08:10 > 0:08:16and researcher Gareth has found some possible options for Cecil's father, Edwin Walton.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21One born 1891, in Teesdale... which is the right area,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25but we don't, as yet, have a death for him. And the other one...
0:08:25 > 0:08:27is born in 1903...
0:08:27 > 0:08:32born Tynemouth, but we do have a death for him.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35So, which one's right, at this stage, is hard to know.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38The team begins exploring the two possibilities.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Will either give the breakthrough they need?
0:08:41 > 0:08:46I've detached this tree from the first page. This is all wrong.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51But it's soon looking like any line of research is a stab in the dark.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56We know the 1891 birth of Edwin, the deceased's father, is wrong.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Then we've got the 1903 one.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Now I'm having doubts about that too, so we're back to the drawing board.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07With most of the office working this case,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11they're desperate to confirm the right details for Cecil's parents.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14It's time to ask for help.
0:09:20 > 0:09:26The company employs a team of regional heir hunters, who are on standby up and down the country.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33These researchers provide a vital role collecting birth,
0:09:33 > 0:09:39marriage and death certificates from local register offices, all in the race to find and sign up heirs.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47David Pacifico phones Colin, the company's Northeast researcher, with a crucial request.
0:09:49 > 0:09:55What we need to do is get the parents' marriage certificate from Bishop Auckland.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01We've spoken to the register office - they will be happy to do it if somebody calls,
0:10:01 > 0:10:08because we really are struggling on this, we need to identify the births for the parents.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14But with so many threads for this difficult case, David's still concerned.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20Because this is of value and we now have two sides of the family, we need two people.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25He decides to take Watford-based Ewart Lindsay off another case in Leicester
0:10:25 > 0:10:28to help inquiries on the ground.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30- 'Ewart?'- Dave!
0:10:30 > 0:10:37'Change of plan. We need you to go towards the Northeast of England, around Durham.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- 'The one case which has value.'- OK.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42'You're just south of Leicester?'
0:10:42 > 0:10:47- I am, yeah.- 'Thanks, Ewart. I'll catch up with you later.'- Bye.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48'Bye.'
0:10:49 > 0:10:51I love this job!
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Don't you just love this job?
0:10:53 > 0:11:00Been diverted from Leicester to Durham.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02That's no mean feat, I tell you.
0:11:04 > 0:11:10Now it's all hands on deck, trying to solve the case of Cecil Walton.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13I'm starting to doubt our own research now.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18But until they get a marriage certificate for Cecil's parents
0:11:18 > 0:11:23to confirm names of grandparents and hopefully lead to cousins, the office is in limbo.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Without that, we're really getting a bit stuck.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31It's too common a name to know which is the right births.
0:11:31 > 0:11:32It's not going very well.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39So, the name Walton
0:11:39 > 0:11:42is hampering the heir hunters' investigation
0:11:42 > 0:11:44as it's a common regional name.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Is this a common problem for the probate researchers?
0:11:50 > 0:11:53In order to find out, I've come to have a chat with Neil,
0:11:53 > 0:11:58who's going to fill me in about the spread of surnames around the country
0:11:58 > 0:12:01and how this affects their research.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03So, why is it that some surnames are regional?
0:12:03 > 0:12:07There's lots of different theories about regional surnames
0:12:07 > 0:12:11and what actually makes a regional surname.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14On a larger scale, we have English surnames,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17so they are regional, but they're regional to England or the UK.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22We also have regional surnames for Wales, obviously with the Jones and the Edwards.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26But on the scale of what we're talking about
0:12:26 > 0:12:28are names which are...
0:12:28 > 0:12:32We're more interested in actual places,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37and why they're about is sometimes because of an occupation which comes from an area,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41sometimes because of a geographical feature.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45It's very hard to say why a name comes from a particular area,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49but they do and it makes our job hard.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53And are there any examples of names that come from a particular area?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56There's one name which springs to mind, and that surname's Rimmer.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Now, Rimmer is not a common name in the United Kingdom
0:13:00 > 0:13:02until we look at Southport.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05In Southport it is an incredibly common name.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- And why is that? - HE SIGHS
0:13:08 > 0:13:13There's two theories on it, really. The first is that the Rimmer stands for "Rymer",
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and there was a lot of Rymers coming from the area.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21The other theory is that Southport was next to a mere, an area of marshland,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25and the population lived on the rim of that, hence Rimmer.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30But if we look at that on a map, it really does highlight
0:13:30 > 0:13:33just how common the surname Rimmer is in Southport.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Regional surnames like Walton or Rimmer
0:13:37 > 0:13:41can either help or hinder an heir hunt, as Neil's about to demonstrate.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46What we can see here is a map of the United Kingdom from 1881.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48The date is taken off the census.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50We can see that the Rimmer surname
0:13:50 > 0:13:54is confined just to the area of Lancashire and Cheshire.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58There's hardly anyone else in the rest of the country with the surname Rimmer.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00That's amazing,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03to see that Rimmer really is specific to that area.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Is this a problem for trying to find heirs?
0:14:07 > 0:14:12Yes. If we're doing research and we're looking at the surname of Rimmer,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15it's generally quite a good surname to research.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19We would hope to be able to get onto the family fairly quickly.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24However, if the family we're looking at is from Southport
0:14:24 > 0:14:27then it's not a unique surname any more, it's not a unique event,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30and therefore it's hard to find that unique person.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34There are more than likely going to be two people with the same name.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Unfortunately, the only way around this problem
0:14:37 > 0:14:40is to check and double check their research.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44They must find the correct birth, death and marriage certificates
0:14:44 > 0:14:48in order to have concrete proof they're dealing with the right people.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51It's a laborious and expensive process.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54I wonder what type of challenge Faulkner would be on an heir hunt.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58- So, can we look up my name? - Of course.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03So, what we have here is a map from 1881,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07and we can see that you're not really a Celt.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10- No!- There's not very much from Wales or the Southwest or Scotland.
0:15:10 > 0:15:17It's really confined to the area between London and Birmingham.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18That's really strange.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I thought Faulkner was originally a Scottish name.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25"Falcon hunter", somebody told me, so I thought that
0:15:25 > 0:15:28when you were going to show me 1881, it'd all be up the top.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32All up in Scotland, but not in Scotland at all.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35- And if we move that forward, we can have a look in 1998.- Oh, wow!
0:15:35 > 0:15:40You can see the surname has spread slightly out throughout the country,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43so no longer are you just confined to the corridor
0:15:43 > 0:15:45between London and Birmingham.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49You've got a bit now in the Southwest and it's covering much more of the Midlands.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52- But still not very common up in Scotland.- So, that's amazing.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58I just think it is mad because I really thought
0:15:58 > 0:16:01you would have a lot of Faulkners up in Scotland.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Well, it's definitely confined to this corridor around the Midlands
0:16:05 > 0:16:07and you're a Midlander. If we look at Fraser...
0:16:07 > 0:16:13- Yeah.- ..Fraser really is a surname which is up in Scotland.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16So, here's in 1881.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19- You can see there's nothing in England at all.- None. Yeah.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23- Everything's north of the border. - That's amazing, isn't it?
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Sometimes you don't realise where names are from
0:16:25 > 0:16:28and it can make what you think is a very easy job,
0:16:28 > 0:16:31very easy piece of research, incredibly hard...
0:16:31 > 0:16:34- Yeah.- ..when we suddenly come across a regional name.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Does it make a difference how it's spelt?
0:16:36 > 0:16:38If you take Faulkner,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41which can be spelt F-A-U-L-K or F-A-L-C-O-N-E-R,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45like a falconer, would that change the region as to where it was?
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Yeah, particular names which are spelt different ways,
0:16:50 > 0:16:55although people think they may originate from the same place and the same...
0:16:55 > 0:16:57often we find it's a totally different surname.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00- Oh, right, OK.- And the history has brought them together
0:17:00 > 0:17:03because they are such similar names.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06And then, through people being unable to read and write,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08as those names have been recorded by other people,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12- they just have spelt them as they sound.- Yeah.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14That's why we get variations on the names.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18It's been a fascinating insight
0:17:18 > 0:17:22into the sometimes confusing world of regional surnames,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and a revelatory one for me.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26No longer do I claim Scottish roots!
0:17:31 > 0:17:36Coming up, the case of Cecil Walton continues in its confusion.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40- Is Anne still alive?- But the chase for heirs carries on regardless.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43There is one still alive.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Um... Which I'm going round to see her now.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Next, a case that starts in Germany
0:17:53 > 0:17:57has the heir hunters searching for living relatives here in the UK.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Heir hunters never know where a case may lead,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03or the family secrets they'll uncover.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07And when they were called to trace the relatives of a former soldier,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11they revealed a story that had lain secret for 60 years.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16It would amaze his children, who knew nothing of their father's past.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25Heir-hunting firm Celtic Research is run by father-and-son team Peter and Hector Birchwood.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30Peter's based in Wales, and in 2008 he was approached by a German bank
0:18:30 > 0:18:34about an estate that ran into six figures.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I got a letter from them
0:18:36 > 0:18:41some time ago now, saying that they had this particular case,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46it was a German case worth about 100,000 euros,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49give or take a bit...and the...
0:18:49 > 0:18:56bit of the family they wanted information about was one of the members who'd come over to England
0:18:56 > 0:19:00just after the last war in the 1940s.
0:19:01 > 0:19:07Peter's task was to find the relatives of a Gustav Sturm, believed to be in the UK.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11His cousin Frida had died in Germany.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Frida was married, her husband had died before her,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18she had no children and she never left a will.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21So, when she died intestate,
0:19:21 > 0:19:27her estate should be divided amongst her living relatives -
0:19:27 > 0:19:29in this case, cousins.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Frida was the only child of Gustav and Anna Brandt.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Her father had 11 brothers and sisters,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39but few of them left descendants.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43However, Frida's Aunt Whilhelmine did have a child,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45also called Gustav.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50The bank had got an idea of when he came to England,
0:19:50 > 0:19:56and, from that, it was just a matter of trying to find out
0:19:56 > 0:19:58if he'd died here, which he had.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05Gustav Sturm passed away in January 1994, at the age of 78.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11Born to German farmers in East Prussia, Gustav had lived the last 46 years in Britain.
0:20:11 > 0:20:17He had spent much of his life farming in the village of East Garston, where he had four children.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22He was a widely-known and respected man.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27Gus was a very quiet, very hard-working man.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Not frightened of anything,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33would talk to anybody, but didn't need other people's company.
0:20:33 > 0:20:40For 20 years, Roger's father had employed Gustav to run his dairy farm.
0:20:40 > 0:20:47Gus never talked about his past at all. I never knew where he came from or what he did during the war.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Or about his...
0:20:49 > 0:20:53own family back home in Germany. We never knew.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00But it was clear to the heir hunters what had happened to Gustav after the war.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07The most likely explanation as to why Gustav came to Britain in 1944
0:21:07 > 0:21:10was that he'd been a German prisoner of war -
0:21:10 > 0:21:15one of a vast number who were captured and held in Britain.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18At peak time, there were over 400,000 prisoners of war
0:21:18 > 0:21:21in British camps, distributed all over the country.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26There, they were first of all politically screened, interrogated,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30to separate out the Nazis from the non-Nazis.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35They were actually categorised in three different groups -
0:21:35 > 0:21:37the Blacks, the Greys, the Whites -
0:21:37 > 0:21:42with the Whites being those who had very little to do with the Nazis, the moderates.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46And the most ardent Nazis were put up in the North,
0:21:46 > 0:21:53often in rural areas, to be isolated from local villages and the population.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58There were 600 camps holding German prisoners like Gustav, with the aim
0:21:58 > 0:22:02of steering them from Nazi ideology, and using their labour.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06There was a lot of war damage, which the prisoners helped to repair.
0:22:06 > 0:22:13Housing stock was damaged quite badly by the war.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Rubble needed to be cleared away.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21The general population felt that this was a fair contribution
0:22:21 > 0:22:25of the prisoners towards what was damaged by Germans during the war.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32But the policy of holding the men captive indefinitely was against the Geneva Convention.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35In 1948, the German prisoners were freed.
0:22:35 > 0:22:41Many were given the option to stay, and when Peter found Gustav's death certificate,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44it gave a clue to his reasons for remaining in Britain.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48And it named a possible heir.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51I saw that on the death certificate it showed he'd been married,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56he'd got at least one daughter and I noted that the informant
0:22:56 > 0:22:59was his daughter, Mary Selwood.
0:22:59 > 0:23:07A pictured was emerging that Gustav had married an English girl, Dorothy McLean, just after the war in 1948.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12And they'd had four children - Mary, Timothy, Nigel and Thomas.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Peter was able to find contact details for Gustav's children,
0:23:18 > 0:23:24and today he's making the 200-mile journey from Wales to Berkshire to meet them.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30We're on our way to see Mrs Selwood and her brother, Tim.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33They're two of the heirs in this case.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37We'll give them the family tree, take a look at it,
0:23:37 > 0:23:42and see where they fit in and where their cousins in Germany fit in.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51He's brought a family tree with names of the heirs' German relatives, to confirm their lineage.
0:23:53 > 0:24:00He also has the paperwork for a claim which may entitle them to a share of a 100,000-euro inheritance.
0:24:00 > 0:24:07This case is all about a lady who died in Germany a couple of years ago, called Frida Furich.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Right.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11And...
0:24:11 > 0:24:17- she would have been a first cousin of your late father.- Right.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22This whole thing is that her estate has to go to her nearest living next of kin,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26who are going to be her cousins, and this is where your father comes in.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30The estate is worth around about 100,000 euros.
0:24:30 > 0:24:37That will be divided amongst your father's family - that's you and your other brother -
0:24:37 > 0:24:42and amongst the family of...
0:24:42 > 0:24:45of his Uncle Albert's children.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Tim and Mary have signed an agreement that the company will act on their behalf.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53But for them, the most exciting thing
0:24:53 > 0:24:57is they have an opportunity to learn more about their long-lost relatives.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02What part of Germany do the cousins live?
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Your cousin Klaus lives in Siegburg...
0:25:08 > 0:25:13- Dirk Hohmeister lives in Bonn. - Right.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15- It would be nice to get their address.- Yes.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20It's been a worthwhile visit for Peter, who has signed heirs on behalf of the German bank,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24but for the heirs, it's re-awoken a curiosity
0:25:24 > 0:25:26about their own German ancestry,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29about which their father never spoke.
0:25:29 > 0:25:36It was a surprise to hear that we were heirs to a lady in Germany that we hadn't...
0:25:36 > 0:25:39known about or heard anything from.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44We knew our dad was German, we didn't know how much family
0:25:44 > 0:25:47he had in Germany, or anything about his life there.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53As their father had passed away 16 years earlier, Tim and Mary believed
0:25:53 > 0:25:57all links to their German family had died with him.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01I personally didn't know anything about my grandparents in Germany.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04I've always wanted to know more about them.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Dad himself didn't like to talk much about it,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11so information was very...
0:26:11 > 0:26:13- Limited.- Very limited.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Trying to find things out is not easy.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21We always thought he just wanted to leave the past behind.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28We've just seen how Gustav Sturm was a prisoner of war in England
0:26:28 > 0:26:29in the 1940s.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32But how did he end up living here as a free man?
0:26:34 > 0:26:39In order to find out, I've come to meet Professor Kent Fedorowich,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41who can hopefully explain.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- Hello, Kent.- Hi. Pleased to meet you.- Nice to meet you.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Why weren't German prisoners like Gustav released
0:26:47 > 0:26:49as soon as World War Two was over?
0:26:49 > 0:26:53I think one of the basic reasons is although there are legal obligations
0:26:53 > 0:26:57for the Allied powers to release German prisoners of war immediately,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01the legal niceties of the Geneva Convention do not match
0:27:01 > 0:27:04the economic and political realities of post-war Europe.
0:27:04 > 0:27:10So, in many cases what happens is that the priorities of the Allies
0:27:10 > 0:27:13are to rebuild northwestern Europe,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16they are to resupply food into the civilian population.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20And Japan is still at war with the Allies, so there's a great mobilisation
0:27:20 > 0:27:25to send more troops to the Far East, and as a result, there's a severe shortage of shipping.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28But also, from a political point of view,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32the British in particular want to keep the German PoWs in the UK
0:27:32 > 0:27:33as a valuable source of labour
0:27:33 > 0:27:36because there's so many British soldiers
0:27:36 > 0:27:40still in the British Army, they haven't been demobilised, and as a result,
0:27:40 > 0:27:45there's a great shortage in key industries like agriculture and forestry.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Despite it being illegal under the Geneva Convention
0:27:48 > 0:27:51to keep PoWs after the war had ended,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Germany at the time was no place to be sent back to.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Devastated physically and economically, it was viewed
0:28:00 > 0:28:04that the German PoWs would actually be better cared for in the UK.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07When were they officially allowed to go back?
0:28:07 > 0:28:11What happens is that between 1945 and 1948,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15there's a staged repatriation of these German PoWs,
0:28:15 > 0:28:20and a lot of it has to do with very simple logistical issues.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Are there enough ships to take them back?
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Is the territory that they're going back to now West Germany?
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Is it safe for them to go back to?
0:28:29 > 0:28:33There's a lot of reconstruction that needs to be done in these countries
0:28:33 > 0:28:35before these men can go back anyway.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40The other thing too, the immediate issue after the ending of the war in Europe,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43is the fact that there's still a war in the Far East,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47so a lot of the logistical issues with regards to transport in particular
0:28:47 > 0:28:51are now being geared up to send more and more troops to the Far East.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54So, the priority is to finish the war off in the Far East.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57So, PoWs are on the low end of the totem pole
0:28:57 > 0:28:59when it comes to prioritising them
0:28:59 > 0:29:01to ship them back to their home countries.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06With the Allies still at war with Japan,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08the PoWs like Gustav stayed put.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12In his case, permanently. But were they made welcome?
0:29:12 > 0:29:17Public opinion, primarily, for most of the war, was that the Germans were the aggressors,
0:29:17 > 0:29:22they were the pariahs with regards to international relations.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27But once the D-Day invasion began to take hold in Europe,
0:29:27 > 0:29:32British public opinion began to change its attitudes towards the German PoWs -
0:29:32 > 0:29:34at least those that were not hardline Nazis
0:29:34 > 0:29:39or worked with the Gestapo or the SS or other organisations like that.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43So, over the course of the war and then into the post-war period,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47there's a normalisation of relations, particularly with those German PoWs
0:29:47 > 0:29:51who are billeted to local farmers and their families.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53And was Gustav's story a common one?
0:29:53 > 0:29:56What sort of German stayed in the UK?
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Well, it's interesting, because a lot of the stories about German PoWs
0:30:00 > 0:30:03who stay in the UK and were not repatriated
0:30:03 > 0:30:05is not necessarily an uncommon event,
0:30:05 > 0:30:10but most of the stories are usually handed down through family members,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13through the local press, et cetera.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17So, of the 15,000 who stayed in this country...
0:30:17 > 0:30:21Which is quite a large number, but considering that in May of 1945
0:30:21 > 0:30:24there were 381,000 German PoWs in this country at that time.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29- Wow.- So, as a result, many of the men who probably stayed
0:30:29 > 0:30:32- obviously had struck up relationships with local women.- Yep.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37They may have also had children by those relationships.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40And if they had come from eastern Germany,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42which was now under Soviet control,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46the chances are that they would have been...
0:30:46 > 0:30:50retaken by Soviet authorities and may have shipped out
0:30:50 > 0:30:55to eastern Russia or western Russia, to Siberia, to work in the Gulags.
0:30:58 > 0:31:03Not a pleasant prospect for an East German PoW like Gustav.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Life behind the Iron Curtain versus a new life here in the UK,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Gustav chose to stay.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Despite the grim prospect of returning home,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16it must have been an extremely painful decision to have to make,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20to leave everything you've known, your family, your home, for ever.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year,
0:31:35 > 0:31:40and millions of pounds are paid out to rightful heirs, but not every case can be cracked.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44The Treasury has a database of over 2,000 names
0:31:44 > 0:31:47which have baffled the heir hunters, and remain unsolved.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50This is known as the bona vacantia list.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Bona vacantia is the Latin term for ownerless property.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56We deal with two types.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00We deal with the property of now-dissolved companies, but we also deal with
0:32:00 > 0:32:05the estates of those who die without a valid will or anyone entitled to inherit.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08This is money that could have your name on it.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13Money raised through bona vacantia ultimately goes to the General Exchequer,
0:32:13 > 0:32:14to benefit the country as a whole.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18But the Crown doesn't want to grab all the estates it possibly can.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21It's keen for kin to be found and for people to make wills.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24That's how to stop property becoming bona vacantia. Make a will.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28So, are today's featured cases relatives of yours?
0:32:28 > 0:32:32Could you be about to receive a lump sum of thousands or even million of pounds?
0:32:34 > 0:32:40James Judge died in Notting Hill, London, in July 2001, aged 81.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45James was born on the 13th of February 1920.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50Was there a James Judge in your family with that date of birth?
0:32:52 > 0:32:55Did you know George McGlade from Hoylake in the Wirral?
0:32:55 > 0:32:59He died in October 2003, and may have come from Scotland.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04So far, no-one has come forward to claim his estate.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Are you a relative of George's entitled to his cash?
0:33:10 > 0:33:15Leonard Frederick Nye died back in November 2004 in Southampton.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19The name Nye is common in parts of the south coast of England
0:33:19 > 0:33:22and derives from the meaning, "the inhabitants of an island".
0:33:24 > 0:33:25Do you share the surname Nye?
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Could Frederick be a member of your family?
0:33:28 > 0:33:32Dealing with estates where there is no will or no known kin
0:33:32 > 0:33:36- is carried out by the Treasury Solicitor's Department. - Oddly enough,
0:33:36 > 0:33:40the Treasury Solicitor isn't part of Her Majesty's Treasury.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45There is some confusion, but we do work for all Government departments, not just the Treasury.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48A reminder of those names again.
0:33:48 > 0:33:49James Judge.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52George McGlade.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54And Frederick Nye.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57If any of the names today ring a bell with you,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06Still to come,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08the heirs embark on a journey of discovery.
0:34:08 > 0:34:14Trenches and barbed wire and pillar boxes 250 kilometres deep.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20The revelations are going to be an eye-opener.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Dad was always our hero and he'll always be our hero.
0:34:29 > 0:34:30But first,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34let's return to the hunt for heirs to the estate of Cecil Walton.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39The heir hunters are pulling out all the stops
0:34:39 > 0:34:41to find the heirs to Cecil's estate.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46The marriage is the clue... is the key to this.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52He was a widower who died in Durham in December 2009, without any children.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56He was always very...tidy.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00Well-shaven. Never saw him without a shave or nothing.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02A lovely old fella.
0:35:02 > 0:35:08They know the case has value, but it's proving more difficult than anyone imagined.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10How's it going?
0:35:10 > 0:35:14One in ten Waltons in the UK live in County Durham.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16We're struggling.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18But has the decision to send a traveller
0:35:18 > 0:35:23- to pick up a marriage certificate in the Northeast paid off?- Yeah.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Brilliant.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32We've got the marriage in 1927. It shows that...
0:35:32 > 0:35:36the birth we were thinking could be correct...is right.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41He's the son of Thomas Walton, and that's what we've been working on.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45The mother is the daughter of William James Robson.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49They'll check if they can identify her birth from census records.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51It's a massive breakthrough.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57Without the right marriage details for Cecil's parents, the research had ground to a halt.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02Now they've got two concrete stems to trace.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06They know Cecil's father, Edwin Walton, came from East Ward,
0:36:06 > 0:36:10and his mother, Mary Robson, came from Great Ousebourne.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13A lead soon materialises for the mother's side of the family.
0:36:13 > 0:36:20On the maternal side of the family, Mary Robson we think had a brother, Walter Robson.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25Um... So...they're working on that at the moment.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Researcher Jo is on the case, trying to track down
0:36:28 > 0:36:32a birth certificate for Mary Robson's brother, Walter.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Good morning, I was wondering if you could help.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38I'm trying to get hold of some birth certificates
0:36:38 > 0:36:43of people who were born in the early 1900s in Great Ousebourne.
0:36:43 > 0:36:50But it looks like it's going to take hours for the register office to fax through the document.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53OK, after two. That will be brilliant.
0:36:53 > 0:36:54Thanks. Cheers, bye.
0:36:57 > 0:37:03And when other companies could be looking at the same case, time is of the essence.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09One of the travelling researchers, Ewart, is almost in the Durham area
0:37:09 > 0:37:12after two and a half hours on the motorway.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15- The office has an urgent task for him.- Hi, Ewart.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18- 'Can you go over to York Register Office?'- Right.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20'Not a million miles away from you.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24- 'We've ordered a couple of certs, which have been paid for.'- Right.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27We were told to come back after two, or phone them back,
0:37:27 > 0:37:31but if you go now, you might get it sooner. That's what I'm hoping for.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35Okey-dokey, Dave, I'll try and oblige.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37Thanks, Ewart.
0:37:37 > 0:37:38'Bye.'
0:37:40 > 0:37:4115 miles.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44That's not bad.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49For the moment, we don't know if we're going to find any heirs.
0:37:49 > 0:37:55If it's not easy for us, it's not easy, I hope, for other companies.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00While the team's doing everything they can to crack a case which could be worth
0:38:00 > 0:38:04up to £80,000, Ewart arrives at York Register Office
0:38:04 > 0:38:09to try to speed up the search for birth certificates for Cecil's mother and uncle.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16- Well done. Thank you very much. - The two certificates that you asked for - 1901 and 1903.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20- Wonderful. Thank you very much. - And your receipt.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24- Thank you.- Thank you. Bye-bye. - You take care, thanks a lot.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30Once he's got them, he relays back the crucial information the office has been waiting for.
0:38:30 > 0:38:36Walter... born 29th of June 1901...
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Father's William James Robson.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Mother is Martha Robson, formerly Pearson.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44Do you want to see if you can get that death?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46Of course.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51A death certificate for Walter should give them the name of his wife or close kin.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54This will help them find Cecil's cousins, if he has any.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59- I want to pick up a death if I can, in 1967.- In York?- Yes.
0:38:59 > 0:39:05The information on the document means the team can expand the Robson family tree.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09Walter Robson, Elizabeth Elsie Robson, formerly Lee.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12So, mother is Elizabeth Elsie.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Well, basically, Elsie...
0:39:14 > 0:39:17I don't have the details.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20..we think is going to be this birth, here.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24So, Walter marries a Lee.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Cecil Walton's aunt and uncle
0:39:27 > 0:39:30were Walter Robson and Elizabeth Elsie Robson.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34Records soon produce the name of a daughter, another Elsie Robson,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38who the team learns lives in York.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Elsie will be Cecil's cousin,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42which makes her an heir
0:39:42 > 0:39:44to his estimated £80,000 estate.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47I'm going to head over to that address, yes.
0:39:47 > 0:39:48All right.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50Cheers, bye.
0:39:54 > 0:40:00But for a traveller who's not on his own patch, Ewart's struggling to find the address.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03Have I passed Melton Avenue, mate?
0:40:03 > 0:40:06And when, eventually, he tracks down the location...
0:40:06 > 0:40:09- 10...8...- ..it's bad news.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13No-one's in and Elsie's house is on the market.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17When heir hunters draw a blank, talking to neighbours
0:40:17 > 0:40:20can sometimes give them a new line of inquiry.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25Just found out that Elsie's passed away, about three months ago, apparently.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29- Elsie, yes in that detached bungalow.- Across the road, yes.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34Ewart's able to confirm that Elsie had sadly died, but there could be another heir.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37- She's got two sisters.- Anne.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40- She's got two sisters, Anne and Audrey.- Audrey's died now.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Audrey has died. OK, fine.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45- Not Anne.- Is Ann still alive?
0:40:45 > 0:40:49- Yes.- Anne Robson is another of Walter and Elsie's children.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53She'd be Cecil's cousin, and therefore an heir.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00Back at the office, the news about Anne backed up a lead that the team has been working on.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03- That's right.- It's right. - Yeah.- We're up-to-date.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08And now they urgently need to find Anne's address.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Right, David. We've got Anne's address.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18- You want a copy of this, don't you? - Is Ewart going to go there now?
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Once I've given it to him.
0:41:20 > 0:41:27If she's nearby, Ewart may be able to pay her a visit and sign up an heir ahead of the competition.
0:41:27 > 0:41:33- Ewart.- Yep.- Okey-dokey. I've got this address for you.- Yep.
0:41:34 > 0:41:39- It shouldn't be too far away.- She's Anne, A-N-N-E, Robson. Now Page.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42- 'OK?'- Good stuff. Cheers, mate.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Cheers, bye.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52Now Ewart's off to try and meet an heir for the second time today.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56Elsie has two sisters, one also has died.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58There is one still alive.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Um... Which I'm going round to see her now.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06He's hoping this time, the team's combined efforts
0:42:06 > 0:42:09that have taken him across the country will produce results.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13- Hello.- Hello. - May I speak to Anne Page, please?
0:42:16 > 0:42:18What about?
0:42:18 > 0:42:20Are you Anne Page? Ah.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23I'm from a company called Fraser & Fraser.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25We're probate researchers.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27It's good news.
0:42:27 > 0:42:32Ann Page is happy to meet Ewart and to sign the paperwork.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36The heir hunters now have their first heir to Cecil Walton's unclaimed estate.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41But for Anne, news that she's due to receive
0:42:41 > 0:42:46an inheritance from an unknown cousin is tinged with sadness.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49For somebody to leave something that doesn't know them.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54I mean, people leave something that you know and you're that pleased.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57I feel so sad that we didn't know him.
0:42:57 > 0:43:04In fact, Anne's aunt, pictured here with her father Walter, died before she was born.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09You can see by the look of their faces how much they thought about each other.
0:43:09 > 0:43:15All I know that my father had a sister called Mary, and she had a son,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17and...
0:43:17 > 0:43:24he thought an awful lot about her and unfortunately, we were all too young to remember.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28So, it's really sad to think there's people in the past
0:43:28 > 0:43:30that we'll never know.
0:43:31 > 0:43:38The following day, the heir hunters in London are wrapping up what's been a particularly tricky case.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43After working blind, they know they've cracked it by finding just one thing.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48Finally, we got the marriage of Walter and Elizabeth
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and that confirmed everything was right, so...
0:43:52 > 0:43:54what I originally thought was going to be wrong,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57and we were trying for trying's sake, turns out to right.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Quite a good result, from our point of view.
0:44:01 > 0:44:07But Cecil Walton's estate turns out to be worth less than the £80,000 they'd hoped for.
0:44:07 > 0:44:13They found eight heirs in total, who will get a share of his £28,000 inheritance.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17We've now identified and have contacted a number of cousins,
0:44:17 > 0:44:21both on the paternal side as well as the maternal side.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26Bearing in mind the names we had, common Northeastern names,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29I think we did very well to get where we did.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39Now it's back to the Treasury's list of unclaimed estates.
0:44:39 > 0:44:44Here are some more unsolved cases where heirs still need to be found.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47The Government's database has over 2,000 names on it,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50and this is money that is owed to members of the public.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53New cases are added all the time.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57Cases get on our unclaim list after a little while.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59The procedure is that initially,
0:44:59 > 0:45:03the case will come in, we will make some enquiries ourselves
0:45:03 > 0:45:06to see whether we can trace relatives or a will.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10If those initial enquiries don't bring forth anything,
0:45:10 > 0:45:12we will then advertise.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16Let's have one last go at finding some rightful heirs
0:45:16 > 0:45:18to the estates on the list.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22Do these names mean anything to you? Are they relatives of yours?
0:45:23 > 0:45:28Alfreda Gwendoline Barry died on the 17th of March 2011,
0:45:28 > 0:45:29in Newbury, Berkshire.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33Does Alfreda's unusual first name ring a bell with you?
0:45:33 > 0:45:37Are you a relative entitled to her estate?
0:45:38 > 0:45:42Ivy Mellish died back in May 2005, in Hammersmith, in London.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Mellish is a rare surname,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48found most commonly in southeast London and Hampshire.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53Do you share the surname Mellish? Was Ivy a member of your family?
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Chung Chim So died in July 2004,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02in Homerton Hospital, in Hackney, east London.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05I've got Chung's death certificate here.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10It shows he was born on the 8th of May 1927, in China.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14The death certificate also shows that he lived in Stoke Newington, in London.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Was he a neighbour of yours? Did he ever speak to you about any family?
0:46:20 > 0:46:21And don't forget -
0:46:21 > 0:46:25distant relatives aren't entitled to money from unclaimed estates.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27The people that are entitled
0:46:27 > 0:46:31are those that trace their relationship in a direct line
0:46:31 > 0:46:33from the deceased person's grandparents.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37So, spouse would be entitled, children would be entitled,
0:46:37 > 0:46:42aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, first cousins.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44A reminder of those names again.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47Alfreda Barry.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Ivy Mellish.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53And Chung Chim So.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55If today's names are relatives of yours,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05Now back to the story of Gustav Sturm,
0:47:05 > 0:47:09who never spoke to his family about his wartime experiences.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13His case was being investigated by heir hunter Peter Birchwood.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15As the story unravelled,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19it became apparent his early life was a mystery to everyone.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Gus was a very quiet,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24very hard-working man.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Not frightened of anything.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32Would talk to anybody, but didn't need other people's company.
0:47:32 > 0:47:40Gustav Sturm died in Berkshire, back in 1994, but now a long-lost cousin has passed away
0:47:40 > 0:47:44and the heir hunters have found his children, who will inherit his share of the estate.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48The sudden connection with the past has been a shock for Tim and Mary.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52- I'd still like to know about his brothers and sisters.- Yeah.
0:47:52 > 0:47:57But the news brought with it fresh details about their father's early life.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01As soon as Peter from Celtic Research got involved,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05he's brought a lot of information to the table.
0:48:06 > 0:48:11Now the heirs have applied for Gustav's German military records through specialist historians.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17Today, they're about to open the document which reveals
0:48:17 > 0:48:20their father's wartime experience for the very first time.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26"Military service record, Gustav Sturm.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29"3rd of September 1939."
0:48:33 > 0:48:38I didn't realise he'd been to Russia, fighting on the Russian front.
0:48:38 > 0:48:45"Gustav joined the frontline Grenadier Regiment 348, five days into the Battle of Kursk."
0:48:48 > 0:48:54Tim and Mary are learning how, in 1943, Germany was amassing
0:48:54 > 0:48:58a huge offensive against Russia on the Eastern Front.
0:48:58 > 0:49:05Fresh troops were needed to replace casualties, and Gustav was called up from his farm
0:49:05 > 0:49:08to fight in one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11The Battle of Kursk was the last major German
0:49:11 > 0:49:16strategic offensive in the Second World War, against the Red Army.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20However, it certainly didn't go to plan.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25In fact, Soviets took the initiative during the course of the battle,
0:49:25 > 0:49:28which was the largest tank battle in history.
0:49:28 > 0:49:34Tanks are large and make a lot of noise and they have an effect on the enemy's morale,
0:49:34 > 0:49:40but it took soldiers such as Gustav to take the ground and to hold it,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and that would decide whether a battle would be won or lost.
0:49:47 > 0:49:52Trenches and barbed wire and pillar boxes, 250 kilometres deep.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59The revelations of what their father endured are proving difficult to read.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09We know that Dad didn't like talking about anything to do with the war
0:50:09 > 0:50:12or even his life back in Germany,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16but to read that, you know it's just...
0:50:16 > 0:50:18You can understand it.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23He went through hell.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30The Germans were outnumbered two to one in the Battle of Kursk, and suffered massive losses.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34Gustav was incredibly lucky to escape with his life.
0:50:34 > 0:50:40But in 1943, Gustav was severely injured by shrapnel in his leg,
0:50:40 > 0:50:42which left him hospitalised for months.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47Gustav would've had a journey of over 800 miles to reach the front line.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50You'd think they'd be worn out before they even started!
0:50:51 > 0:50:56The records reveal that Gustav was sent back to the front line in 1944
0:50:56 > 0:50:59to defend the northern coast of France.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02His was one of just 14 German divisions sent to try and take on
0:51:02 > 0:51:07326,000 Allied soldiers.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10Gustav's unit would've found itself...
0:51:10 > 0:51:15rapidly outpaced by the Allied advance, particularly as his unit was an infantry division.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22Hitler forbade the German forces to withdraw
0:51:22 > 0:51:28once the Normandy beachhead had been pierced, and that caused a fatal delay in moving troops back
0:51:28 > 0:51:31to counter the Allied forces that were encircling them.
0:51:31 > 0:51:37"His unit was not a specialist or elite fighting corps,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41"but when he met the Allies, it was fought with distinction,
0:51:41 > 0:51:48"holding the Allies on the beaches and jeopardising the success of the entire Normandy landings.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53"However, the unit was eventually encircled by Polish and American forces."
0:51:54 > 0:51:58"While the German army was being shelled and bombed
0:51:58 > 0:52:05"by Allied artillery and planes, he must've escaped along one road which the Germans kept open."
0:52:05 > 0:52:12The result was the Falaise Pocket, which was a slaughterhouse for the German army in Normandy.
0:52:12 > 0:52:19It caused massive casualties, and Gustav again, remarkably, seems to have come through unscathed.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25It's been an emotional journey into Gustav's once-secret history.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27You wouldn't put a face like your dad's to this.
0:52:31 > 0:52:38You can relate to the way he felt when anybody asked him about the war
0:52:38 > 0:52:42or his family, and he just wouldn't talk about it.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45You can now see why.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52Having filled in one gaping hole in their father's life,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56his children are now curious to know about the next stage.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58Gustav's life as a prisoner of war.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05Today, Tim and Mary are off to meet someone who can help them understand
0:53:05 > 0:53:11what it was like to be a German prisoner and their father's possible reasons for staying in the UK.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17We know nothing about his life as a prisoner of war,
0:53:17 > 0:53:22or how he got over here or how long he was a prisoner of war.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24He wouldn't speak about it.
0:53:30 > 0:53:35Former infantry soldier Gotthard Liebich was held in a prisoner of war camp for four years.
0:53:35 > 0:53:40It was similar to this one that's still standing in Hertfordshire.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45Mary and Tim are anxious to know how their father would have fared as a captive.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Was you treated OK
0:53:48 > 0:53:51by the commanders of the camps?
0:53:51 > 0:53:53- By the guards?- Yes.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57The commanders were very strict and if we did anything wrong,
0:53:57 > 0:54:04we'd get punished by having a week or two in the glasshouse, I think they call it.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Otherwise, there was no cruelty or anything like this.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11That's good.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17Sleeping 40 to a hut, the prisoners were allowed out only to work
0:54:17 > 0:54:22and just like Gustav, Gotthard was made to do farm work.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25Potato picking was a long, dreary job. We didn't like it.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30Your back hurts like mad after the first day...
0:54:30 > 0:54:32And hoeing beetroot...
0:54:32 > 0:54:38- Not beetroot, sugar beet, whatever...- Sugar beet.
0:54:38 > 0:54:46..from here to the end of the hedge there, rows and rows, and we were just hoeing away.
0:54:46 > 0:54:52You'd chat to your mates next to you, you know. That was very boring too.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56When the PoWs were given their freedom in 1948,
0:54:56 > 0:55:00the British Government gave many the option to stay in the UK.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05Just like Tim and Mary's father, Gotthard had a new British girlfriend
0:55:05 > 0:55:09and now faced a difficult decision.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12You never went back home?
0:55:12 > 0:55:16I never went back home because I didn't have a home to go back to.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20My actual home, to tell you the truth,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23was burned down by the Russians when they came into Eastern Europe.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30When I got back, my girlfriend wanted me to stay in England.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33I said, "No, I must find my people first."
0:55:33 > 0:55:36I...
0:55:38 > 0:55:42I... I couldn't find a job, couldn't find anywhere to live
0:55:42 > 0:55:46and it was so difficult, so I tried to get back to England again,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49and that's what I did in 1948.
0:55:49 > 0:55:56In post-war Germany, life was all but unrecognisable, especially for those like Gustav,
0:55:56 > 0:56:02who originally came from the East and whose land had fallen under the Iron Curtain.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06Villages changed their names, streets changed their names
0:56:06 > 0:56:11and it would've been very difficult for Gustav to actually go back.
0:56:11 > 0:56:16Gustav must have also been quite confused about the outcome of the war,
0:56:16 > 0:56:20with the collapse of the Nazi system
0:56:20 > 0:56:23and the revelations about war crimes committed by the Germans
0:56:23 > 0:56:28and he had to come to terms with this and also all the death around him.
0:56:29 > 0:56:35Around 10,000 former German soldiers relocated permanently to the UK.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40Just like Gustav, Gotthard married his British girlfriend and lived in England.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42I've never had any problems at all.
0:56:42 > 0:56:50I can't think of one single case where anybody was antagonistic in any way.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52We have had no bother from anybody,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55except when we moved to East Garston,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59and we moved there with a big family,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02because we had an extended family,
0:57:02 > 0:57:06and somebody decided they'd paint some swastikas on the walls.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08Really?
0:57:08 > 0:57:13It didn't faze Dad. He got them cleaned off and people in the village just...
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Ignored it.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21The parallels between Gotthard's life and their father's experience
0:57:21 > 0:57:24have given Tim and Mary a new understanding.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28To think all the times I spoke to him and he never mentioned it.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33I was very close to my dad, but no mention of the war.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36I knew he didn't like to speak about the war,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39didn't like to speak German.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41My dad loved this country, I must admit.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44He loved staying here, he wouldn't want to go back.
0:57:44 > 0:57:50For the heirs, it's been an emotional journey into the hardships their father endured.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54Dad was always our hero and he'll always be our hero.
0:57:54 > 0:57:59It's changed nothing like that. It's just proved what a man he was.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04In Wales, with the paperwork for a 100,000-euro estate wrapped up,
0:58:04 > 0:58:09the case has been a satisfying one for heir hunter Peter Birchwood.
0:58:09 > 0:58:15He's connected heirs to their long-lost German cousins and to their father's hidden history.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19One of the good, fun bits about this business
0:58:19 > 0:58:22is putting them in touch with members of the family
0:58:22 > 0:58:25that they'd have no idea of their existence,
0:58:25 > 0:58:27and in this instance,
0:58:27 > 0:58:33it's reuniting people from thousands of miles away.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37If you would like advice about building your family tree
0:58:37 > 0:58:39or making a will, go to:
0:59:01 > 0:59:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:05 > 0:59:08E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk