0:00:02 > 0:00:05It's early morning and the heir hunters are looking into legacies
0:00:05 > 0:00:07across the country.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09They're trying to trace long lost relatives
0:00:09 > 0:00:12who have no idea they're in line for a windfall.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:32 > 0:00:35On today's show...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37There is something very, very peculiar going on.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42..the curious tale of two reclusive brothers has the heir hunters baffled.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44It could be that he has just gone into a home.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50But with links to a stately home, are they looking at a small fortune?
0:00:50 > 0:00:56And an heir hunt reveals a dark discovery in one family's history.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It transpires that the other two children are both in a workhouse.
0:00:58 > 0:01:05Plus, how you could be entitled to unclaimed estates where beneficiaries need to be found.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:01:13 > 0:01:19An estimated 300,000 people die every year in the UK without leaving a will.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21If no relatives can be found,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25any money that's left behind will go into the Government's coffers.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29And last year those coffers were boosted by a staggering £12 million.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34But there are over 30 specialist firms
0:01:34 > 0:01:37competing to stop this happening.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40They're called heir hunters and they make it their business to track down
0:01:40 > 0:01:45missing relatives and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:01:45 > 0:01:51I bring about a change so that the rightful assets
0:01:51 > 0:01:53go to the rightful family members.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06It's dawn on a Thursday morning. While people across Britain are slowly waking up,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11heir hunters are scrutinising today's weekly list of unclaimed estates,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13released by the Treasury in the early hours.
0:02:15 > 0:02:1725, 13th June.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21This list is known as the Bona Vacantia.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26It advertises estates worth anything from £5,000 to many millions.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31This morning the staff at Fraser and Fraser, Britain's largest
0:02:31 > 0:02:35heir hunting firm, are investigating the entries to see if they're of value.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41We're working on that one as well, so let's do this one first.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45If the heir hunters can pick the right case,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50the commission they'll earn will make the early start and complicated research worthwhile.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Gareth, we've got four.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55The team has a number of cases which look good.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58As the Treasury's list doesn't explain how much estates are worth,
0:02:58 > 0:03:03it's up to the heir hunters to find this out.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08One main indicator of value is if the deceased owned their own home.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14- That's the same address.- Right, so both were living at the same address? The two brothers?
0:03:14 > 0:03:18One entry looks very promising.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21We have a case of Drinkwater,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23George Richard Drinkwater,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27who appears to own his property.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29He appears to own it with his brother -
0:03:30 > 0:03:32an Edward John Handley Drinkwater.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36so that is good information for fairly early on.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41So they've decided to work the entry called George Drinkwater.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Early enquiries have shown George had a house with his brother
0:03:44 > 0:03:49and they've estimated the estate to be worth at least £200,000.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51It's a very good start.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55We need to establish what has happened to the brother because if he owns it with a brother,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58and the brother survived, then it will go to the brother.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05George Drinkwater died aged 82 in 2010 in Uckfield, near Brighton.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10He was something of a mystery, and no-one has any photos of him.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13But George did live in this overgrown property with his brother,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15who was known as John.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Sue Mills was their next door neighbour.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21This is the house of John and George and, over the years,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24it has become more and more overgrown.
0:04:24 > 0:04:31It has just literally become an entangled forest, you cannot see the house at all.
0:04:31 > 0:04:37The brothers had shut themselves off from the outside world and were becoming more and more housebound.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43But for a short time in 2009, their neighbour Sue managed to make George's acquaintance.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45John was taken ill
0:04:45 > 0:04:51into hospital and it became clear that George was in need of some help.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56I used to pop over every night with a glass of wine and a hot meal for George.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00It was the first time I had been in the house in all those years.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05The little impression that I got from him was that he was a very sweet man,
0:05:05 > 0:05:12that he had quite a bad stutter and in stature, he was quite small and rounded,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16with a very gentle, almost twinkly eye, I would say that he had.
0:05:16 > 0:05:23He was quite a humble man and he obviously didn't like to talk about himself very much.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Sue learnt that George Drinkwater had been a civil servant
0:05:26 > 0:05:29and had bought his house with his brother after their mother died.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35It was just the two of them, when I asked him about any other family at the time,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39he said his parents were obviously long since dead and it was just the two of them
0:05:39 > 0:05:42and that neither of them had ever been married.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50Back at the office, the team's struggling to find out more about the reclusive brothers.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54So far, they think both were bachelors and didn't have any children.
0:05:54 > 0:06:00That means if George Drinkwater died before his brother, the house and the estate would go to John.
0:06:00 > 0:06:08My initial suspicion is that the brothers died at about the same time or a bit before George,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12but obviously we need to check that out and to take it from there.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15The team need to get some information on the ground
0:06:15 > 0:06:19and specifically to find out if John is still alive.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24I'm sending Bob Barrett down to Brighton to do an inquiry
0:06:24 > 0:06:26and to see the property,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30to see if that reveals anything else that we're not aware of already.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37The company employs a network of regional heir hunters
0:06:37 > 0:06:41who are on stand by to do house visits and enquiries with neighbours every Thursday.
0:06:41 > 0:06:49These researchers can be dispatched anywhere in the country, all in a race to find and sign up heirs.
0:06:49 > 0:06:56Today case manager David Pacifico is bringing travelling researcher Bob Barrett onto the case.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Hello, Bob Barrett.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Morning, Bob. We've got several jobs out today and all of value.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Oh, right.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Someone in Brighton, Drinkwater.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Could you head towards Brighton at the moment?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16- OK, I'll speak to you later.- 'All right?'- Cheers.- 'Bye.'
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Bob is being sent 50 miles away to the south coast
0:07:21 > 0:07:25to see what he can find out from the brothers' neighbours.
0:07:25 > 0:07:31Luckily, I'm heading towards Brighton. We'll see what the day brings forth.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39In the office, a glance at the map shows it's a busy day.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45Researchers are fanning out all over the country to work a number of cases that look very valuable.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51- We got Bob Barrett going towards Brighton.- OK. - He's going towards Green.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55- Mike is going to Plymouth? Yes?- Yes.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00At the moment, our resources are a little bit tight, it is still very early in the morning.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04We've made more progress than usual at this time of the morning.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10I've got three members of staff in and I want to look at four different cases, all of which are valuable.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15If the team spreads themselves too thin, they could make mistakes
0:08:15 > 0:08:17and lose a valuable case to the competition.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22Researcher Jo has been assigned to the Drinkwater case.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27If George's brother isn't alive, heirs will come from his cousins.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32And to find these, Jo needs to dig into George's family tree. She's found some family records
0:08:32 > 0:08:37for the Drinkwaters online, and there's good and bad news.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Lot of the people involved have surnames as a middle name
0:08:42 > 0:08:44so that indicates there may be money in those
0:08:44 > 0:08:48generations whether that has been passed down, I don't know,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50but it would seem the family is quite well endowed.
0:08:50 > 0:08:56The double barrelled names on the records might mean the family was aristocratic.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59So on top of George's estimated £200,000 estate,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03family money might have been handed down through the generations.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07The bad news is the family trees all look like they're dead ends.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13Records show George was the son of Margaret Hooper and Edward Handley Drinkwater.
0:09:13 > 0:09:19But Edward had no brothers or sisters. Jo calls case manager David Pacifico
0:09:19 > 0:09:23over for an update.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25These are all about Greens and Drinkwater.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29There's no indication if they have any children?
0:09:29 > 0:09:33No, I've done the 11, there's no other children.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35- Are we saying he's an only child? - Yes.
0:09:35 > 0:09:42Jo's double checked the census records, there won't be any heirs coming from George's father's side.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44And the mother's side isn't much better.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47I found her on the '11 at a school somewhere.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52On the '01,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55she's Margaret M Hooper,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58granddaughter living with these people.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Do we reckon she might be an only child?
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Pretty much.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10It seems George's mother Margaret is an only child too.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15- So are we saying this case is going nowhere?- Pretty much.- The case doesn't look good,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19but before they rule it out completely, Jo wants double check the census records
0:10:19 > 0:10:22for George's mother's family. Jo's worked out
0:10:22 > 0:10:30George's maternal grandparents, Alfred and Eliza Hooper, got married in 1892 in Chorlton.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Working on the assumption they stayed in the Chorlton area,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36she's looking for other children with the surname Hooper.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41I haven't managed to find any other births that look any good.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So it looks like it's dead.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48So the records don't show any other children in the family.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52This means neither of George's parents had brothers or sisters
0:10:52 > 0:10:56so there's no way George could have cousins who would be heirs.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Jo needs to break the news to partner Charles Fraser.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01- It's dead?- It looks like it.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Nothing to the brother?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05He's still living at the address,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08we think he's died in the last year or so.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12But Charles isn't ready to call it quits just yet.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15They need conclusive proof that George's brother John
0:11:15 > 0:11:16isn't still alive.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Can we do neighbours...?
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Let's see if we can get... do a proper inquiry now.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28It could be that he's just gone into a home.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35All now rests on the inquiry with the neighbours producing results.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37If George's brother John IS still alive,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41he'll be the only heir to this estate, estimated at over £200,000.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44Coming up...
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Unless he reveals something miraculous, it's all over.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52..can the team pull off a miracle and find the missing heir?
0:11:52 > 0:11:56We didn't know about Charles until now because
0:11:56 > 0:11:58he didn't appear on any of the censuses.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09No-one can predict the incredible twists and turns of an heir hunt.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12And when the team looked into the estate of Winifred Neaves,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15a remarkable act of honesty
0:12:15 > 0:12:18would change the outcome of this case forever.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Winifred Neaves died in Polegate on the south coast of England
0:12:25 > 0:12:27in March 2006.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31She was single, and had lived with her mother in this bungalow.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Winifred worked at a manufacturing organisation, and former employees
0:12:37 > 0:12:40like Anthony Greenstreet remember their colleague.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44She had spectacles, she was of medium height.
0:12:44 > 0:12:50She had rather frizzy hair which stuck out a bit, grey...
0:12:50 > 0:12:53She was...I suppose you could describe her as mouse-like.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Winifred spent almost 40 years working behind
0:12:58 > 0:13:00the scenes as an accounts clerk.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Everybody liked her. There was nobody who disliked her at all.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07But most of us saw so little of her, that we
0:13:07 > 0:13:09rather forgot about her.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13She was quite willing to talk pleasantly
0:13:13 > 0:13:16to you if you came to her office,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18but she wouldn't come forward and er...
0:13:18 > 0:13:20If you passed her in a corridor,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24she would just say, "Good morning", and pass by.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Nor did Winifred seem to have much of a social life outside work.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34I think we got the impression that she was a lonely person and had no...
0:13:34 > 0:13:37We never heard that she had any family at all,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40so I think we knew that she was more or less on her own.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Winifred's mother died when Winifred was 66.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50She became increasingly reclusive, and died just 12 years later,
0:13:50 > 0:13:51aged 78.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59In London, Research Director Gareth Langford
0:13:59 > 0:14:01was assigned to the investigation.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03We first became aware of the case when it was advertised
0:14:03 > 0:14:06by the Treasury Solicitor in January 2007,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08and we started working it straight away.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Initially on the case of Neaves we had very little information,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16all we had was a date of death, and a name.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Early inquiries gave them Winifred's last
0:14:19 > 0:14:22known address, and showed she'd owned her home outright.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28At the time it was advertised, we thought the case was around £200,000.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Subsequently we believe it's actually worth a bit more than that.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32It didn't take Gareth long
0:14:32 > 0:14:37to find the next crucial step - Winifred's birth certificate.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39She was born in 1927,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43the only child of Frederick Neeves and Margaret Lunnon.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50The team began their research on her father Frederick's side of the family.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Neeves is actually quite a good name.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55So once we'd established that Frederick was born in 1901 in Lambeth,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58we started looking for his parents' marriage,
0:14:58 > 0:14:59records on them on the census
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and any brothers and sisters he may have had.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Winifred was an only child, so heirs would come from her father's
0:15:06 > 0:15:09siblings who'd had children.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Once we'd established Frederick's birth, one of the first things that
0:15:12 > 0:15:16we would want to do from that point is find his parents' marriage.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19His parents were Frederick and Bessie - Bessie Warwick -
0:15:19 > 0:15:22but we've never been able to find that marriage.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25We're not sure why we can't find it, it's vaguely possible that
0:15:25 > 0:15:27they never actually got married -
0:15:27 > 0:15:30indeed, we've struggled to find them on the census.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32So they looked for births
0:15:32 > 0:15:35for other Neeves in South London at the turn of the century.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Could THEY be Frederick's siblings?
0:15:41 > 0:15:43There were only two other births of Neeves in the area.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Lambeth, and there was another birth in Wandsworth.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50So, we worked those, which were Walter and Alfred,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53which turned out to be Frederick's brothers.
0:15:53 > 0:15:54The team struck lucky.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Winifred's father had two brothers, Walter and Alfred Neeves,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01also born to a Bessie Warwick.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03But the father's name
0:16:03 > 0:16:05which was logged on official records kept changing.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08At one point he is called Frederick Alexander,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10and another point he's plain Frederick,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and at one stage, for some reason that we really don't know,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16he is called Thomas.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19And this is all from marriage information from his children.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22It was a mystery.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Why didn't the children know their father's name?
0:16:24 > 0:16:28The heir hunters suspected it was because Frederick wasn't around.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31And when they looked at census records, they could see that
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Winifred's grandmother had been left on her own.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37We know that Bessie,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40who was living with her son Walter in 1911
0:16:40 > 0:16:44in the Lambeth area, she's a washer in a laundry -
0:16:44 > 0:16:46but she's describing herself as single.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48We weren't expecting to see that,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51we thought she'd be married, we were hoping that she would be with Frederick -
0:16:51 > 0:16:55but she's describing herself as single with three children.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58The other two children aren't living with her.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It transpires that the other two children are both in a workhouse.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05It was a sad turn in the tale.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Winifred's father and her two uncles had been sent to the workhouse
0:17:09 > 0:17:10when they were young children.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Winifred's grandmother Bessie was a single mother in Edwardian times,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18and only had the workhouse to turn to.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Sending your children to the workhouse in those days
0:17:21 > 0:17:24would really have been the last resort.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27There was a great stigma attached to going into the workhouse.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31It was a thing of failure, you would probably view it.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35You were mixing with the wrong sort of people, erm...
0:17:35 > 0:17:38you really had reached rock bottom,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42so I think to go down that route, you really had to be pretty desperate.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46It seems Bessie had been stricken with scarlet fever, and was admitted
0:17:46 > 0:17:49to the Stockwell Fever Hospital.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53When she recovered, she managed to get her youngest son Walter back,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56but her other two sons grew up in the workhouse school.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01It would have been quite a shock to be separated from their mother,
0:18:01 > 0:18:06and sent out, miles away, into this very large, strange establishment,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09full of hundreds of children.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Lots of noise, strange rooms, strange food -
0:18:13 > 0:18:16I think it would have been quite a shock to the system.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20The workhouse school at Norwood was an austere institution,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24where nurses were encouraged not to show affection.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26But it did try to teach the children skills to help them
0:18:26 > 0:18:29escape the poverty trap.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33The school, like many other workhouse schools, had a band -
0:18:33 > 0:18:36a boys' band, it was restricted to the boys.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38And the band actually gave an opportunity
0:18:38 > 0:18:41to lots of the boys for a future career.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Some went into the services and became military bandsman...
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Frederick, we know, perhaps slightly unusually,
0:18:48 > 0:18:52ended up being a player in an orchestral band.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56So in a very strange way it gave him a career in life,
0:18:56 > 0:19:02which, you know, was a nice spin-off of this rather unpleasant experience.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Back at the office, the team was investigating
0:19:05 > 0:19:08what had happened to the brothers after the workhouse.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12It was clear the youngest brother's line wasn't going to lead to heirs.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Alfred Neeves, the brother of Frederick -
0:19:16 > 0:19:19he's the uncle to the deceased, Winifred -
0:19:19 > 0:19:25he was born in 1905, and he married in 1933 to an Amy Maud Gibbons.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27They had one son, William -
0:19:27 > 0:19:29unfortunately that child died in infancy.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34The other brother's family looked more promising.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35The other sibling of Frederick is Walter.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Walter Neeves was born in 1903,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43and he married a Nellie Ward. He had two children.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46One was an Eric Frederick, who unfortunately passed away
0:19:46 > 0:19:47without having any issue.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52But Walter DID have a daughter, who would be Winifred's cousin.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58It was great news. The company had their first heir.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Winifred's cousin agreed to sign with the heir hunters,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and act as an administrator to the estate.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Now the team was making headway with the investigation
0:20:08 > 0:20:13of Winifred Neaves' estimated £200,000 estate.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16But the wheels were going to come off this heir hunt in quite
0:20:16 > 0:20:18a spectacular fashion.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year, and millions of pounds
0:20:29 > 0:20:31are paid out to rightful heirs.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34But not every case can be cracked.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41which have baffled the heir hunters and remain unsolved.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Could you be the heir they've been searching for?
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Are you in line for a windfall worth hundreds, thousands or even millions
0:20:48 > 0:20:49of pounds?
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Estates stay on the list for up to 30 years,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and today we're focusing on three names.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56Are they relatives of yours?
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Marie Teresa Jaconelli died in South Shields in Tyne and Wear, in 2008.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09If heirs aren't found, her money will go to the government.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14Did you know Margaret Lamonby, who died in April in 2000 in Enfield,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16north London?
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Lamonby is a rare surname - only three people in a million
0:21:19 > 0:21:21have this name in England and Wales.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Also on our list is Olwyn Muriel Oliver, who was from
0:21:29 > 0:21:34Bartestree in Herefordshire and died in August 1999.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37All efforts to trace her relatives have drawn a blank.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- If the names Marie Jaconelli, - Margaret Lamonby or Olwyn Oliver
0:21:41 > 0:21:44mean anything to you or someone you know,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47you could have an unexpected windfall coming your way.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00The heir hunters are struggling to investigate
0:22:00 > 0:22:07the case of George Drinkwater, who died in Sussex in 2010 without leaving a will.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Sue Mills was a next-door neighbour to the elderly civil servant,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14who lived in this overgrown house with his brother, John.
0:22:14 > 0:22:20I can't say that I knew him very well, as did the same for all neighbours in the road,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23because they were very, very reclusive
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and very much kept themselves to themselves.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30The heir hunters have worked out that George didn't have any aunts or uncles...
0:22:32 > 0:22:35No indication whether they've got any other children?
0:22:35 > 0:22:38No, I've done the 11, there's no other children.
0:22:38 > 0:22:45..so the team have drawn a blank finding cousins to inherit a potentially very valuable estate.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Everything now rests on whether George's brother, John, is still alive.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51It could be that he's just gone into a home.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57The office is still anxiously waiting to hear back from travelling researcher Bob Barrett.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02He's gone to the south coast to do an inquiry with George's neighbours.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07So in the meantime, researcher Jo decides to see if she can find out
0:23:07 > 0:23:10any more about John Drinkwater by herself.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16She's managed to find a phone number for one of George's neighbours,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18who happens to be in.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22You can understand, to be fair, they were quite old as well, weren't they?
0:23:22 > 0:23:25So in later life, they probably got even more reclusive.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Yeah, it's understandable when you're living together that long.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32But it's not looking good.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Thanks so much for your help, then.
0:23:34 > 0:23:35Thank you, take care, bye-bye.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38And as soon as she's off the phone,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Jo goes to update partner Charles about the brothers.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Er, the neighbour said they died within days of each other.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49OK.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53And he had no siblings?
0:23:53 > 0:23:54No.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56It's bad news for the heir hunters.
0:23:56 > 0:24:03George's brother, John, passed away the very same day that George died.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08In fact, it was the brothers' neighbour, Sue Mills, who found them,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12after she'd been alerted by a home help that something was wrong.
0:24:12 > 0:24:19I looked through the letterbox and I could see George was clearly dead
0:24:19 > 0:24:23on the floor by the door. It wasn't gruesome or anything like that,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26he'd just collapsed there. It looked like a chair had fallen over.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29But I was very concerned because I couldn't see John anywhere.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Sue quickly called the police, who broke into the property
0:24:32 > 0:24:35to find John Drinkwater.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39From my understanding, what had happened was that they had found John
0:24:39 > 0:24:44had laid down next to George to die next to him.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47And actually, when they went in there, he was still alive,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and they took him off to hospital, but he died within about half an hour
0:24:50 > 0:24:54of them getting to the hospital.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Sue firmly believes that George and John had a pact
0:24:58 > 0:25:00to not outlive the other.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02There was no family
0:25:02 > 0:25:08and they knew that one of them wasn't going to survive the other.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Then perhaps that was the reason why there wasn't a will.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Back at the office, the news that
0:25:15 > 0:25:20George Drinkwater has no living heirs is a major blow to the team.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Drinkwater's dead.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Unless he reveals something miraculous, it's all over.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Yeah, looking at the tray, yeah.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30So that's that one.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34The decision's made to pull the case before it uses up any more
0:25:34 > 0:25:37valuable time or resources.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Down in Sussex, travelling researcher Bob Barrett is called off the job.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47There's now no point in him doing the inquiry.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Well, I've just had a phone call from the office.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52The good news, I've got something to do now.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55And the bad news is, it's in Lincolnshire.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58About 190 miles away.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02So, I'm not going to get there for a little while.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04It's a disappointment for the team,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08but they turn to working up the remaining cases.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Who is working Rudman?
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Debbie's doing Rudman, that's valuable.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18The wife, Annie, was possibly born in 1887.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Hopefully, one will give them a return on their research.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Oh! So, my tree is going from bad to worse.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37It's now 12.30pm and the Drinkwater case has long been forgotten, when suddenly,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39there's a glimmer of hope.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42I'm looking at the case of Drinkwater again
0:26:42 > 0:26:48and an administration has come back for the death of the maternal grandmother,
0:26:48 > 0:26:53which says that it's granted to a Charles Hooper, who's allegedly a son.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Incredibly, the case is back on.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Four hours after applying for a probate for George's grandparents,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03the details have been phoned through.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05It shows part of their estate
0:27:05 > 0:27:08was left to a mysterious son called Charles.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Charles would be a maternal uncle of the deceased,
0:27:12 > 0:27:17who we hadn't previously found because he wasn't on any of the censuses.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21This is a big turn-up for the books.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25The team had written off finding any siblings for George's parents,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27and if this uncle Charles had children,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29they'd be George's cousins and heirs.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Jo quickly starts a genealogical search for Charles Hooper,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36and while she re-examines the records,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40she finds something else which makes this case worth another look.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45We've managed to find on the 1911 census the maternal grandfather,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47George Edward Drinkwater,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50living in a place called Bernithan Court,
0:27:50 > 0:27:55which is a very large house with at least 14 rooms,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57which was very large at the time.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01He was a farmer with servants living there with him,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05so we definitely know that they were very rich at the time.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10On top of finding a lead to possible heirs,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14news that an impressive stately home may have been in the family
0:28:14 > 0:28:16is an exciting development.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Bernithan Court is a manor house in Herefordshire
0:28:19 > 0:28:22set in 300 acres of land.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24If George's grandparents lived here,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26their money might have passed to George.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33In fact, current owner Michael Richardson knows about the link to George's grandparents.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36They did live here at the turn of the last century.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42We came to find out about the Drinkwater link through
0:28:42 > 0:28:47documentary evidence that we had of ownership or tenancy of the house
0:28:47 > 0:28:52in the late 19th century, and the fact that a Drinkwater bought it
0:28:52 > 0:28:54from the then-owners in 1920.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59Michael has a photo album compiled by a previous owner.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03It clearly shows George's grandparents, who were tenants on the farm,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06before their son bought the estate.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10This is the most direct evidence we have of the Drinkwater connection,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13because it's a photograph of George Drinkwater and his wife,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17along with a number of their friends and relations,
0:29:17 > 0:29:24standing right here outside exactly the same wrought iron gates in 1891.
0:29:24 > 0:29:30And George Drinkwater and his wife are as clear as anything.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33To the heir hunters, the discovery that Bernithan Court
0:29:33 > 0:29:38had belonged to the Drinkwaters reinforces the idea they were well-off.
0:29:40 > 0:29:46Jo has joined forces with Noel to rework the case, focusing their attention on George's uncle Charles.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50I'll start doing all the deaths for everywhere,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54- and I'll just see how it goes. - You do that and I'll do the probate, right?- Yeah.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56They begin to cast the net wide,
0:29:56 > 0:30:00looking for a date and place of death for George's uncle.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03And they also apply for a will for Charles Hooper, dated around
0:30:03 > 0:30:06the early part of the 20th century.
0:30:06 > 0:30:13Hopefully, if there is probate, we'll be able to tell if he is married or not and if he has any kids.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16The office is a flurry of activity.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Having previously given up on the Drinkwater case,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22the team could now be lagging behind the competition.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27Time marches on as they scour the records.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30And eventually, it's researcher Simon Mills who comes across
0:30:30 > 0:30:33the right will for George's uncle, Charles Hooper.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37But does it name any offspring?
0:30:37 > 0:30:42It turns out that he died in India in 1933 as a bachelor,
0:30:42 > 0:30:47and the letter of administration said he was a bachelor and he left...
0:30:47 > 0:30:52Its representative was his sister, Margaret, and Edward Drinkwater,
0:30:52 > 0:30:53his brother-in-law.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58The names on the will match up, but it's dashed their hopes.
0:30:58 > 0:31:03George's uncle seems to have died without marrying or having children.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06It all looks dead. I doubt there's any issue.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09We can't find a marriage for him, but because he was in India...
0:31:11 > 0:31:13..we don't know.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15It's a massive blow for the team.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17After so many false starts,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21and despite indications that the Drinkwater estate could be very valuable,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24the company has to put the case to bed.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27There's no way of tracing children that Charles could have had
0:31:27 > 0:31:30out of wedlock in India.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34As far as we're concerned, there's nothing much more that we can do.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Doesn't rule out the possibility that he may have had children,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41but without knowing who they were and where they were,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44there's just no way of finding who they are.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48As the day draws to a close, partner Charles Fraser has the chance
0:31:48 > 0:31:55to reflect on the story of the Drinkwater brothers they spent so much time researching.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Here, obviously, we had two brothers who died on about the same day.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01Very sad, very tragic.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Yes, it brings things home to us all.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12But down in Sussex, Sue Mills sees their story differently.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16She was the neighbour who found the brothers on the day they died.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Some might say it's a very sad ending but actually I think it was
0:32:20 > 0:32:21just what they wanted,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25and I don't think one would have survived without the other at all.
0:32:25 > 0:32:31Their lives were so intertwined and so dependent on each other.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34It was quite an extraordinary relationship.
0:32:34 > 0:32:40Actually, I think it was quite a happy ending, in a sad way.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45So George Drinkwater's heirs may never be found.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Unless you or someone you know is aware of children born to
0:32:48 > 0:32:53a Charles Hooper who lived in India in the early 1900s.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57Otherwise George's estate, estimated at over £200,000,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59will go to the Treasury.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13Sometimes in an heir hunt, the most seemingly simple case
0:33:13 > 0:33:15will have a twist in the tail.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17That was the story when the heir hunters
0:33:17 > 0:33:19investigated Winifred Neaves.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23She was an accounts clerk who died in Sussex aged 78
0:33:23 > 0:33:25without leaving a will.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30She was a very retiring person. She wasn't shy if you met her,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33but she never pushed herself forward.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37She was a very pleasant person to talk to on the rare occasions
0:33:37 > 0:33:39that one met her and talked to her.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44Believing Winifred had left behind an estimated £200,000,
0:33:44 > 0:33:46the team was piecing together the story of her family.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50So far, they've found one heir on Winifred's father's side.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55It became apparent quite quickly that there were going to be
0:33:55 > 0:34:00five stems on this case, and she was entitled to one fifth
0:34:00 > 0:34:02of the estate.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04Research director Gareth Langford now turned his attention
0:34:04 > 0:34:10to her mother's family, which like Neaves, was another unusual name.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14On the maternal side of the Neaves case, we were
0:34:14 > 0:34:16quite lucky. Firstly, it's a very good surname,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Lunnon, a very unusual surname.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22Also, the family established themselves in Lambeth
0:34:22 > 0:34:24and they stay in Lambeth.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27They'd worked out Winifred's mother was a Margaret Lunnon,
0:34:27 > 0:34:31the daughter of Henry and Catherine Lunnon, who lived in South London.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36Any of Margaret's nieces and nephews would be heirs to Winifred's estate.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39As soon as we got the birth of Margaret, we started
0:34:39 > 0:34:42looking for her brothers and sisters.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45We discovered that she had 10 siblings,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47which is obviously quite a lot.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51But from our point of view, the good part of her brothers and sisters were
0:34:51 > 0:34:53that they were all born in Lambeth.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57We looked at the Lambeth births of Lunnon and they were all our family.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01So far so good.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04The team had the names of all of Winifred's aunts and uncles.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07They started with one of the aunts, Grace Lunnon.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Did she have any children who might be heirs?
0:35:10 > 0:35:16She was born in 1893 and she married a Gabriel Rodriguez,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20which you would think initially would be maybe Portuguese.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22But he was actually born in India.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28Genealogical research traced Grace's descendants to both India and Canada
0:35:28 > 0:35:31and in total the team managed to sign 12 heirs
0:35:31 > 0:35:36from overseas to help them make a claim on Winifred's estate.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38It really was becoming an international case.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43The company's costs were mounting, but believing
0:35:43 > 0:35:45that the case was worth £200,000,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49the heir hunters gambled that the time and expense were worth it.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54Some cases that we look at, we can wrap up the entire family in
0:35:54 > 0:35:56a matter of days.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Other cases take a bit longer.
0:35:58 > 0:35:59I think really,
0:35:59 > 0:36:05if you look back, it took us nearly three months to finalise this case.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08The team managed to trace all the stems from Winifred's extended
0:36:08 > 0:36:13family and eventually found one heir closer to home.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Winifred's Uncle Henry had a grandchild who lived in Somerset.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Lorraine Davies was astonished to hear about the surprise inheritance
0:36:20 > 0:36:23when she came home from work one day.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26I walked down the drive, came through the door and as soon as
0:36:26 > 0:36:28I got through the door, the bell went.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32There was this gentleman there who said he was from
0:36:32 > 0:36:34a company called Fraser and Fraser.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38They were looking into...
0:36:39 > 0:36:42..the testate will, which
0:36:42 > 0:36:46I might have been involved with because I was part of the family.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50I told my husband and he thought it was quite exciting as well really,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52because the prospect of any kind of money from out of the blue!
0:36:52 > 0:36:57Lorraine had no idea who Winifred was and had to have
0:36:57 > 0:37:00the family connection explained to her.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05Probably I'd never heard of her because my grandfather died the year before
0:37:05 > 0:37:10I was born, in 1947. So, I think
0:37:10 > 0:37:15she had lost contact with a lot of his side of the family.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18But the news has given her the urge to join the dots together
0:37:18 > 0:37:21with her unknown family.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25In a way, yes, it has whetted the appetite to find out a bit
0:37:25 > 0:37:31more about the direct family, sort of just go back a couple of generations.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Back at the office, the heir hunters were working on the claims
0:37:33 > 0:37:37to Winifred's estate, estimated at £200,000.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40There was a mountain of paperwork to process for
0:37:40 > 0:37:44the 23 heirs dotted around the world.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47Case Manager, Tony Pledger, was in charge of the inquiry,
0:37:47 > 0:37:52but in September 2007 he had some news which left him reeling.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54The matter had been accepted.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56The whole thing was going ahead.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00The administrator is in the property, making arrangements to
0:38:00 > 0:38:05clear the assets, etc, and they found a will.
0:38:05 > 0:38:06In amongst Winifred's belongings,
0:38:06 > 0:38:11her cousin had found a brown envelope which contained a document.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16Incredibly, it looked like Winifred's last will and testament.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Usually, these cases are sent to the Treasury Solicitor
0:38:19 > 0:38:21because there is no valid will.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23So, it's unusual for one to pop up.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27So, obviously, when one does occur, we need to look at it very closely.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31We are really making sure that that will is actually a valid will.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36Every part of it is actually what the deceased wanted to say.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38That it has being witnessed correctly,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41that the deceased has signed it, all the addresses tally up.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43So, there are lots
0:38:43 > 0:38:48of clues for an invalid will, but this one was the genuine article.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Winifred's will stated that her entire estate go to, not
0:38:52 > 0:38:56relatives...but to charity.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59St Dunstan's is a care centre for blind ex-servicemen,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02based just miles from where Winifred lived at Polegate.
0:39:04 > 0:39:09Winifred's bequest turned out to be worth £300,000, and
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Marketing Manager Dan Carter knows the difference that money will make.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16We rely heavily upon these legacies, and we just basically couldn't
0:39:16 > 0:39:19continue the service that we provide without
0:39:19 > 0:39:21people leaving gifts in their wills.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25The charity was started in 1914
0:39:25 > 0:39:30by Sir Arthur Pearson, a newspaper owner who himself was going blind.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35He wanted to help soldiers who'd lost their sight
0:39:35 > 0:39:38on the battlefields of the First World War.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44We're currently helping 5,000 beneficiaries across the whole of
0:39:44 > 0:39:52the UK, and we aim to increase those services to another 650 beneficiaries
0:39:52 > 0:39:56next year, because the need for our service is constantly growing.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02Back at the company, the news of a will was a massive shock.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05The three months spent investigating the case had
0:40:05 > 0:40:10been for nothing, and the gamble they'd taken hadn't paid off.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12But that wasn't all...
0:40:12 > 0:40:15It also means, of course, that we have got a lot of
0:40:15 > 0:40:19extra expense to go to, because we have got write to all of the heirs,
0:40:19 > 0:40:20explaining the situation to them,
0:40:20 > 0:40:24dealing with their understandable queries that
0:40:24 > 0:40:27they may have. And we get nothing out of it, so the whole
0:40:27 > 0:40:32matter is a complete waste of a lot of resources and a lot of time.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35There is a disappointment to the people we have approached.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37They all thought they were going to get a share in the estate.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41One of the people that the company had to break the news to
0:40:41 > 0:40:46- was Lorraine Davies.- The day the letter came, which basically said,
0:40:46 > 0:40:51a will had been found, and I think that was the end of it, basically.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55You know, nothing else was going to happen for us.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59I was disappointed. Naturally.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01In the back of my mind, although it had been going on for quite a few
0:41:01 > 0:41:06months, I hadn't really thought about it a lot, but every time a letter
0:41:06 > 0:41:11came, you thought, "Oh, perhaps we're getting nearer to something." But in
0:41:11 > 0:41:17the end, there was nothing, and, you get a little bit of disappointment,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20but, you know, it was something for nothing, basically.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24Lorraine's full of admiration for Winifred's cousin.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28She feels she made a noble choice in a difficult situation.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33I think, as I've been told, that the lady that was going to inherit
0:41:33 > 0:41:38actually found the will while she was throwing rubbish away,
0:41:38 > 0:41:45and she...didn't throw it away, and actually sort of
0:41:45 > 0:41:47produced it formally.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51I think that's fantastic because the temptation, perhaps not for her,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53but for some people, the temptation would had been to
0:41:53 > 0:41:57get rid of the will because then she would have inherited something.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01So, I think she's a really good person,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03she must be a very nice person.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08And knowing Winifred's £300,000 estate would have been split
0:42:08 > 0:42:1323 ways, Lorraine's relieved it's all going to a good cause.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16It was a good feeling and nothing to do with me, because the
0:42:16 > 0:42:19money... I may have got a very small part of it,
0:42:19 > 0:42:24but actually, I am pleased that it is going to a good charity as well.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28So while the heir hunters have spent valuable resources chasing
0:42:28 > 0:42:32an estate that didn't have any return for them, in this case
0:42:32 > 0:42:34there is a consolation.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40The heirs, I think, generally speaking, are
0:42:40 > 0:42:43happy, if nothing else, that the deceased's wishes have at least
0:42:43 > 0:42:47been fulfilled, so it's good that's the money has gone to
0:42:47 > 0:42:50where it was originally meant to go.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52If you would like advice about
0:42:52 > 0:42:58building your family tree or making a will, go to bbc.co.uk.
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