0:00:02 > 0:00:05'Heir hunters are trying to trace beneficiaries to an estate
0:00:05 > 0:00:08'that could be worth £50,000.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15'They're looking for relatives who had no idea they could be in line for a windfall.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'Could they be knocking at YOUR door?'
0:00:35 > 0:00:39'Today, the heir hunters have their work cut out
0:00:39 > 0:00:42'with the mysterious case of Elsie Pope.'
0:00:42 > 0:00:44It's needle-in-a-haystack time!
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'There's more than one surprise.'
0:00:47 > 0:00:49That is an absolute first!
0:00:50 > 0:00:54'And in Hackney, east London, one lady's death uncovers
0:00:54 > 0:00:57'three generations of family secrets.'
0:00:57 > 0:01:03I can't make out why they were so secretive. It was saving face.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10'Plus, how you could be entitled to estates where heirs need to be found.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13'Could YOU be in line for a cash payout?'
0:01:18 > 0:01:25'Every year in the UK, an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27'If no relatives are found,
0:01:27 > 0:01:31'any money they left behind goes to the government.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'Last year, that was a staggering £12 million.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39'But there are over 30 specialist firms competing to stop this.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41'They're called heir hunters.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45'They make it their business to track down missing relatives
0:01:45 > 0:01:49'and help them claim their rightful inheritance.'
0:01:49 > 0:01:52I love that I can put families back together.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57I can tell them secret histories which they don't know about.
0:02:02 > 0:02:09'It's Thursday morning and, overnight, the Treasury advertised the new list of unclaimed estates.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14'In London, heir hunting firm Fraser & Fraser
0:02:14 > 0:02:16'have identified a possible case.'
0:02:16 > 0:02:19We're looking at the estate of Elsie Pope.
0:02:19 > 0:02:25The advert's worrying. It indicates that she's a widow but they don't know her maiden name.
0:02:25 > 0:02:32'With no maiden name, this case already looks like a real challenge.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36'Elsie Pope died in 2008
0:02:36 > 0:02:38'at a nursing home in Shropshire.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43'She was 83, but hadn't left a will and had no known relatives.
0:02:43 > 0:02:49'Her closest friends were two of the residents of the nursing home.'
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Scones!
0:03:04 > 0:03:06'The team has little to go on.
0:03:06 > 0:03:13'Before they can get anywhere, they need Elsie's date of birth and maiden name.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16'Neil Fraser is keen to work this case,
0:03:16 > 0:03:21'because initial research suggests Elsie's estate is worth £50,000.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25'So the team must work with the only information they do have,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27'Elsie's married name of Pope.'
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Are you still free, Debbie?
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Before we find that marriage or her birth,
0:03:35 > 0:03:40we can't do a huge amount of research or get on to the family.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'Heir hunters depend on this sort of information
0:03:43 > 0:03:48'to build an accurate family tree and find the rightful heirs.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55'Neil hands the estate over to case manager Frances Brett.'
0:03:55 > 0:03:57- Pope!- Yeah.
0:03:57 > 0:03:5913th June '25.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'With 20 years of heir hunting experience,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08'Frances is unfazed by their lack of information.'
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Our first port of call
0:04:13 > 0:04:16is to try and obtain a copy of her death certificate
0:04:16 > 0:04:21to see if the person who registered the death knew Elsie's maiden name
0:04:21 > 0:04:26and her place of birth, cos we understand she wasn't a local girl.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29And that will get our research kick-started.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34'But researcher Roger Marsh is a little more concerned.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Could have been married anywhere, born anywhere.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42We don't know what Mr Pope's called. It's needle-in-a-haystack time.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47A choice 1,300 births. I might strike lucky, pick the right one!
0:04:50 > 0:04:55'In an attempt to get things moving, Frances calls the register office in Shropshire.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01'She's hoping they'll pass on crucial information from Elsie's death certificate.'
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Thanks ever so much. Bye bye.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08- Are you going to make me cry? - It's as we suspected.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Go on.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13- No information.- No information!
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'Frances is back to square one.'
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Realistically, until we can get some information about Elsie,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24such as her place of birth
0:05:24 > 0:05:28or, indeed, her husband's first name,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33we are really not going to manage to get started on this.
0:05:33 > 0:05:39'The only other person who could help is the manager of Elsie's nursing home.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43'Frances has just been told she's away on holiday.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:49When they return from holiday on Monday,
0:05:49 > 0:05:54we'll be able to open her file and have some of those details.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02'Frances has no choice but to shelve the case until Monday.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06'It will be a long wait, because a £50,000 estate
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'is bound to attract the attention of rival heir hunters.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14'It hasn't been a successful day.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29'A few days later, the nursing home's manager returns
0:06:29 > 0:06:33'and, finally, the story of Elsie's life starts to unfold.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36'Cook Beryl remembers Elsie fondly.'
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Elsie was a very active little lady.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Elsie liked to help in the kitchen with the wiping up
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and clearing the tables,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and laying the tables.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55If they wanted a drink of squash, Elsie would take them a drink
0:06:55 > 0:06:57or anything they wanted.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Elsie used to like a joke as well.
0:07:00 > 0:07:06She had a lovely little character, very bubbly and full of fun.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10'Elsie is sadly missed
0:07:10 > 0:07:16'by nursing home manager Lesley and residents Kath and Marge.'
0:07:28 > 0:07:32'Fortunately, for Frances, Elsie's friends and carers can answer
0:07:32 > 0:07:35'some key questions about her life.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38'At last, the case is up and running.'
0:07:38 > 0:07:40They could all be...
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Just had a surprise call from Lesley Taylor,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47the care manager of the Grange nursing home.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Elsie's maiden name was Stephens.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52She WAS a Shropshire lass,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55so we've gone and had a look
0:07:55 > 0:07:57for Elsie Stephens,
0:07:57 > 0:08:02born in the June and September, 1925
0:08:02 > 0:08:05in the Shropshire area.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07There are two possibilities.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13One born in Wem district, and the other born in the registration district of Atcham.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16'This is a great result.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21'What's more, Frances has learned that Elsie married an Alfred Pope.
0:08:21 > 0:08:28'She applies for the two birth certificates and what she hopes is the right marriage certificate.'
0:08:28 > 0:08:30We're waiting for the certificates,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35to see whether we're now on the right track.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38'Frances calls Elsie's former nursing home,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43'in the hope of getting more family information.'
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Sadly, we know very little about Elsie...
0:08:49 > 0:08:53'She's finding out more about Elsie's marriage
0:08:53 > 0:08:57'and the source of her £50,000 estate.'
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Ah! The money...
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Ah! Her money came from her brother!
0:09:02 > 0:09:05Do you know her brother's name?
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Well, that's a big help.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Thank you. Bye bye.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Well, that was a very useful phone call.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23'Frances is able to start building a family tree.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28'She now knows that Elsie married Alfred Pope in 1974,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30'at the age of 49.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34'Alfred died whilst Elsie was in the nursing home,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37'and the couple had no children.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42'The biggest news is that Elsie had a brother, George,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44'who left her money in his will.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50'George's will could give them the breakthrough in this £50,000 case.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55'It could contain vital information they need to find living relatives.'
0:09:57 > 0:10:01So we're looking for a male dying in Shrewsbury,
0:10:01 > 0:10:08- that could potentially be the source of the money that Elsie had.- OK.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11'Researcher Amy heads to the Probate Office
0:10:11 > 0:10:16'to try and get details from George's will.
0:10:16 > 0:10:22'Frances builds family trees from both birth certificates they have for Elsie,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25'even though they don't know which one is right.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29'But this causes a bit of a shock.'
0:10:29 > 0:10:33Both births we've applied for have the mother's maiden name Jones.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39'Both Elsies having a mother called Jones is not good news.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42'A name like Jones is hard to work.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46'But things are about to get stranger.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51'Roger learns the two certificates have something else in common.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Both formerly Jones, both born on the same day?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59'And the coincidences keep coming.
0:10:59 > 0:11:05'Not only are the birth dates and mothers' names the same, so is the father.'
0:11:05 > 0:11:06What?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09- What's the dates of birth?- The same.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Both the third?
0:11:11 > 0:11:17Yeah. Even I can't go with three coincidences on one search!
0:11:17 > 0:11:19LAUGHS
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Can she stick them straight through?
0:11:22 > 0:11:24'This is getting ridiculous.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28'Both Elsies have the same birthday, mothers called Jones
0:11:28 > 0:11:31'AND dads with the same name.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35'The two birth certificates are faxed through to the office.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:41- It is actually the same person. - Yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46That is an absolute first. A birth being registered in two districts.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Cos he got it wrong first time.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Dad got it wrong! He went to the wrong place to register the birth.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59'Mystery solved, but it had now taken an excruciating eight days
0:11:59 > 0:12:03'for the team to confirm the most basic information.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09'They finally managed to establish who Elsie's parents are.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13'The only other relative they found is her late brother, George.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15'The team has a mountain to climb
0:12:15 > 0:12:18'to solve the case ahead of the competition,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22'and find heirs to Elsie's £50,000 estate.
0:12:26 > 0:12:32'Later on, Frances gets the breakthrough she's been waiting for.
0:12:38 > 0:12:45'Heir hunting companies don't always chase the latest cases on the Treasury's unclaimed estates list.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50'Some businesses make their money going after old estates
0:12:50 > 0:12:53'that no-one else has bothered to solve.
0:12:55 > 0:13:01'Rose Edwards was born in 1902 to parents William and Hannah Summers.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05'Raised in London, she was the oldest of three siblings,
0:13:05 > 0:13:10'and remained a Londoner before her death aged 94.'
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Rose was 100% cockney
0:13:12 > 0:13:17to the extent that, at times, myself as a child found her unintelligible.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23'Rose died in 1996, without leaving a will.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27'Her £11,000 estate was advertised by the Treasury,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31'but it sat unclaimed for over a decade.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36'Then heir hunter Lord Teviot decided to pick up her case.'
0:13:36 > 0:13:42My business partner, Christopher, who lives in Bristol,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44he rather chooses these cases.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49We rather specialise on doing ones that are old,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52just coming up to their 12-year period,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54before you lose the interest.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59'Charles and Mary, also known as Lord and Lady Teviot,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04'have over 50 years' experience in genealogy and ancestry.'
0:14:06 > 0:14:11You want to get the telephone number for the post office in Kilburn.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Yes. That might be an idea.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19'These days, smaller cases like Rose Edwards suit them best.'
0:14:19 > 0:14:22It's generally smaller things we do,
0:14:22 > 0:14:28where we don't have to jump in a car and rush off here, there and everywhere,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31then find somebody else on the doorstep.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Those sort of days for me are gone.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37'Lord Teviot knew from the Treasury's list
0:14:37 > 0:14:40'that Rose had died in Hackney in 1996.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43'From that, he established some basic information.'
0:14:43 > 0:14:45She was born in 1902.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48So, um...
0:14:48 > 0:14:52you look that up and you then get her certificate.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55'From Rose's birth certificate,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59'Charles learned who Rose's parents were.'
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Her father was William Summers
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and her mother was Hannah Porter.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08We then started looking and tried to...
0:15:08 > 0:15:10You always look for somewhere,
0:15:10 > 0:15:15for somebody to pick on, the first person to contact.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18'Armed with her parents' names,
0:15:18 > 0:15:24'Charles discovered that Rose had two brothers, William and Charles.'
0:15:24 > 0:15:29Her brothers didn't get married and died without issue,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33which, alas poor lady, she herself did.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37'With no descendants from Rose or her brothers,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39'Charles widened his search.'
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Then moved on to the maternal line,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45but we've not found any live stems there.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48'By looking at marriage records,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53'he discovered that Rose had married George Edwards in 1945.
0:15:54 > 0:16:01'Peter Codd is George's nephew, but he's not an heir, as he's only related through marriage.'
0:16:01 > 0:16:05I knew Rose, my Auntie Rose, all my life.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08She was married to my Uncle George.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13He used to live in our house and later went down to London,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15looking for work, as a plumber.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20He boarded in the boarding house run by my Aunt Rose's mother.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23'When George married Rose,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27'it was on the condition he took on everything that came with her -
0:16:27 > 0:16:32'her mother, her brother Charles and the boarding house.'
0:16:32 > 0:16:35George wasn't too happy about the situation.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40He was in love with Rose. He was in love with her all her life.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44They were very close. But Charlie came along with it.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48He didn't go for days out with them, but he was always in the house.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52They sort of tolerated each other for 30 years!
0:16:52 > 0:16:57'Having established that Rose and her brothers died with no children,
0:16:57 > 0:17:02'Lord Teviot looked at the paternal side to try and find heirs.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06'Had Rose's father had any brothers and sisters?'
0:17:06 > 0:17:13And then one discovered that Rose had four aunts and two uncles.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17'Rose's father, William, was the son of a bricklayer
0:17:17 > 0:17:19'and the eldest of seven children.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23'Of his six siblings, one died as an infant.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27'Using the 1881 and 1891 census,
0:17:27 > 0:17:32'Charles discovered that the family had lived and worked in Hackney,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36'Rose's father was a fishmonger, his brother a greengrocer
0:17:36 > 0:17:38'and sister a laundress.'
0:17:38 > 0:17:42If you're working as a fishmonger or bricklayer,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47you're probably employed for a period at a time.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51So you've got an income of some kind coming in.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56It'll be quite a low income with a family to feed and house.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58This is before the Welfare State,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02so the big issue is you've got to do it every day.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05You can't have time off sick. Can't have a holiday.
0:18:05 > 0:18:11Nobody's going to pay you for that, you can't pay rent and you're out.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14So it's a really tough, brutal kind of existence.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19'Rose's parents married in 1901,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23'but her father William died just ten years later.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28'Rose's mother was left on her own with three children to raise,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31'a grim situation in Edwardian England.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36'She found work in a laundry before deciding to open a boarding house,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40'the house Rose and George would later take on.'
0:18:40 > 0:18:43It was a three or four storey house,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47so some of the bedrooms would have been closed off.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51They lived in it until it was compulsory purchased and demolished.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56'Rose chose a different path to her mother
0:18:56 > 0:18:58'and found a career she loved.'
0:18:58 > 0:19:05Rose worked for many years as a waitress in the Lyons Corner Houses.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10And she worked in some of the more prestigious ones.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14I think she worked in Marble Arch for quite a long time.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19And, um... She was there for about 20 years, I think.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25'The Lyons tea houses were a phenomenon
0:19:25 > 0:19:30'and are still celebrated today in the Museum of London.'
0:19:30 > 0:19:35J Lyons & Company opened a range of eating establishments.
0:19:35 > 0:19:41The most famous were the tea shops throughout the country.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47In London, they opened these sort of super catering establishments
0:19:47 > 0:19:51known as the Corner Houses and Maison Lyons.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56'It was the Maison Lyons in Marble Arch where Rose worked.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00'The restaurant catered for thousands of customers,
0:20:00 > 0:20:05'offering all classes of Londoners a glamorous dining experience.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09'There were up to 400 people working in each Lyons Tea House.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13'Rose was on the front line as one of their world famous waitresses.'
0:20:15 > 0:20:20The idea of the Nippy waitress was introduced in January 1925.
0:20:20 > 0:20:27The term "Nippy" really referred to the poise and elegance and the speed
0:20:27 > 0:20:33which the waitresses were expected to nip through the tables they were serving.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Most Nippy waitresses were very elegant, rather beautiful,
0:20:37 > 0:20:43highly fashionable, of course, in their wonderful flapper uniform.
0:20:43 > 0:20:49They were expected to have short hair, so very up with the times, very modern.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Songs were written about them.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56They starred in theatre and eventually cinema.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01'For Rose to become a Nippy was an achievement for an East End girl.'
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Nippy waitresses came from a range of backgrounds.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09For a working-class girl from a modest background,
0:21:09 > 0:21:15to become a Nippy waitress would have been a fantastic opportunity.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17People would look in awe at her
0:21:17 > 0:21:21because she was working in a Lyons Tea House in London,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23so she'd be proud of that.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29'But as heir hunter Charles Teviot delved into Rose's family history,
0:21:29 > 0:21:35'he was about to reveal a secret the family weren't so proud of.'
0:21:35 > 0:21:41He allowed me to be fostered. My mum begged him to let her keep me.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49'Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53'ensuring millions of pounds are paid out to heirs.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55'Not every case can be cracked.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58'The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates
0:21:58 > 0:22:02'that have baffled heir hunters and remain unclaimed.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'These stay on the lists for up to 30 years.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10'Each could be worth anything from £5,000 to many millions of pounds.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14'Today, we're focusing on three names from the list.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16'Are they relatives of yours?
0:22:16 > 0:22:21'Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:22:22 > 0:22:25'Annette Regina Cadnam Clinton died aged 94,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28'just before Christmas in 1997.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32'If no heirs are found, her money will go to the government.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41'Or did you know Frances Montigo, who died aged 80 in the Wirral?
0:22:41 > 0:22:43'She passed away in 2003,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47'and her mother's maiden name was Morris.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54'Perhaps Josephine Canaletta Ruaux rings a bell,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57'with her distinctive French surname.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02'She died in 2001, aged 86, in Soho, London.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06'So far, all efforts to trace any heirs have failed.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13'If Annette Clinton, Frances Montigo or Josephine Ruaux mean anything to you,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17'you could have a fortune on its way.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26'From his home office, heir hunter Lord Teviot
0:23:26 > 0:23:31'has been chasing the heirs for Rose Edwards' £11,000 estate.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34'With no descendants from Rose or her brothers,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38'he widened his search to aunts and uncles.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43'One aunt, Florence, was particularly tricky to find.'
0:23:45 > 0:23:48They refer to that aunt as Peggy.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53It took quite some time to realise that Peggy was really Florence.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59Then somebody did know that she married Archie Williams.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03I was able to find that marriage, which took place in Islington.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Then one found their children,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10of which there were four sons and three daughters.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15'Rose's aunt, Florence Summers, married Archie Williams
0:24:15 > 0:24:19'and they had a daughter, also called Florence.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21'She had a daughter called Ellen.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24'As a first cousin once removed,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28'she was the first heir Charles had found.'
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Quite a close family we were, really, my nan, me granddad.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36We lived quite near, too, when we lived in Hackney.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39We lived in a prefab.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44We was in Richmond Road and they was in Ellen Road, which was quite close.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48It was very nice. I used to love going to my nan.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54She always gave me a threepenny piece with the nice shaped edges.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Yeah. I used to love having that.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59I've got very fond memories.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04'Because Ellen knew so little about Rose's side of the family,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08'she put Charles on to her daughter, Kim, a keen genealogist,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12'who had looked into the family tree.'
0:25:15 > 0:25:20I sent him an e-mail cos Mum had passed it on to me.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23So I sent him the details what I had.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26I had my great-nan's birthday
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and any information on her sister, I think, Lil.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33I just gave him that information.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37He said it was very helpful, so that was good.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43'Kim was in the fortunate position of having known Rose's aunt Florence and her husband Archie.'
0:25:44 > 0:25:46His name was Archie.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48He had glasses.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50The memories I've got of him
0:25:50 > 0:25:55are when I used to stand while he was having breakfast eating kippers.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00He used to ask me if I would like some. I was only four, five.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03'Archie was hiding a secret
0:26:03 > 0:26:08'concerning his other daughter, Ellen, Rose's cousin.'
0:26:09 > 0:26:13The daughter Ellen, I looked for a marriage for and never found one.
0:26:13 > 0:26:20But one of the cousins did say that Ellen had a daughter out of wedlock
0:26:20 > 0:26:25called Jeanette - I don't think many of the family knew about her.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30I was lucky there weren't many Jeanettes about when she was born.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34With a name like Williams, it was quite easy.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40'Charles put in the call to Jeanette, who was also an heir.'
0:26:40 > 0:26:42I was fostered
0:26:42 > 0:26:45because of my grandfather.
0:26:45 > 0:26:54In those days, it was not the done thing to keep a child.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59But he allowed me to be fostered rather than taken for adoption
0:26:59 > 0:27:03because my mum begged him to let her keep me.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06If somebody is adopted out,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10they belong to the family who they're adopted by.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Luckily, Jeanette was fostered.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I think her mother, Ellen, visited her on a regular basis
0:27:17 > 0:27:21and became close friends with her foster family.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24'Throughout her childhood and into her teens,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27'Jeanette visited the Williams household
0:27:27 > 0:27:29'and maintained a close relationship
0:27:29 > 0:27:33'with the mother who had been forced to give her up.'
0:27:33 > 0:27:38My mother was just so kind. Everybody called her Nelly.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41When I was small, I called her Mummy Ellen.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45Then I called her Nelly. Everybody loved her.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49My husband adored her. He really did.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52She was always very smart.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Tailored suits, she'd come down in.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58She always looked really nice.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Everybody liked her.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05'The family was split into camps by Archie Williams -
0:28:05 > 0:28:09'those who could know about Jeanette and those who couldn't.'
0:28:09 > 0:28:13When I was younger, I didn't really think about members of the family
0:28:13 > 0:28:15that I couldn't see.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18I just knew that I didn't see them.
0:28:18 > 0:28:25My mum used to talk about the family so I really felt that I knew them.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29'Although Jeanette was a large part of the Williams family life,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34'only certain people knew who she actually was.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39'Kim was led to believe Jeanette was a friend of the family.'
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Very nice person.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Didn't think no more of it, really.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50Even from a little girl, I thought Jeanette looked like Aunt Nell.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54When you're little you don't think anything of it.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58It was just a coincidence that she looked like her mum!
0:28:59 > 0:29:01'Archie's grandchildren remain baffled
0:29:01 > 0:29:05'as to why he kept Jeanette a secret.'
0:29:05 > 0:29:11I can't make out why they were so secretive. He was saving face, mainly.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16'Rose Edwards would have known nothing about this saga,
0:29:16 > 0:29:23'having lost contact with that side of the family, despite living nearby.'
0:29:23 > 0:29:25I could have passed this lady in the street.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30Because we lived in Hackney and if she lived in Hackney, too,
0:29:30 > 0:29:34we could have passed on the street, which is sad.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38'With the help of Peter, Kim, Jeanette and Ellen,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41'Lord Teviot found an astonishing 50 heirs
0:29:41 > 0:29:45'to Rose Edwards' £11,00 estate.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49'This from a woman who had no children of her own.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52'Rose may have thought she had no relations,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54'but she had a huge family,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58'all living in the same neighbourhood as her.'
0:29:58 > 0:30:03On the Summers side, we found at least over 30 heirs, probably more.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07But on the Porter side, we've not found any.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11'For those in the family,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15'just being able to piece history together is enough.'
0:30:15 > 0:30:20We just care to know about the person and what she was like.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22'In death,
0:30:22 > 0:30:27'Rose Edwards has opened up a new chapter for the rest of her family.'
0:30:27 > 0:30:32Once my mum died, the family sort of spread out a bit.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37You didn't see them so much, so it's been brilliant.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42It's opened up a complete new story, which is lovely.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49'Heir hunters Fraser & Fraser
0:30:49 > 0:30:54'are trying to solve the frustrating case of Elsie Pope.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59'She died in December 2008, aged 83, leaving no will.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02'After spending a week looking at her estate,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05'the team is still stuck at square one.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12'Case manager Frances Brett has been struggling with lack of information
0:31:12 > 0:31:17'and confusion caused by a duplicated birth certificate.'
0:31:18 > 0:31:20I've never seen that before!
0:31:20 > 0:31:24Somebody's birth being registered in two places!
0:31:24 > 0:31:28'They believe Elsie had a brother, George,
0:31:28 > 0:31:32'but they're waiting for this to be confirmed.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36'Now she has the right birth certificate for Elsie,
0:31:36 > 0:31:41'Frances can look into her parents, Ellen and William Stephens.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43'After several attempts,
0:31:43 > 0:31:48'Roger thinks he's found a record of their marriage.'
0:31:48 > 0:31:51You need to apply for that marriage.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55- If you think we have it.- Yeah.
0:31:55 > 0:32:02And on the premise that, if she inherited money from her brother...
0:32:04 > 0:32:08..he's unlikely to have a wife and children,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10and leave money to his sister.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17'Earlier, Frances sent researcher Amy to the Probate Office.'
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Yes!
0:32:19 > 0:32:24'And she now has crucial information on Elsie's brother.'
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Amy, you have done a brilliant job.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28But it's paid off.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30It's paid off.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34George Stephens died...
0:32:34 > 0:32:39'They confirmed Elsie's brother was George and got his date of death.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43'And Amy's called back with more information.'
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Right, date of marriage?
0:32:46 > 0:32:4825 October.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51William George Stephens
0:32:51 > 0:32:56was aged 29 and a bachelor?
0:32:56 > 0:32:59'Elsie's maternal grandfather
0:32:59 > 0:33:03'was shown on the marriage certificate of her parents.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07'He was a farmer called Thomas Jones.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09'The 1911 census
0:33:09 > 0:33:15'shows him having eight children and a grandchild living with him.'
0:33:15 > 0:33:19John Thomas Jones.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21I don't have a date of birth,
0:33:21 > 0:33:27except it's going to be in the first quarter of 1911.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32'John Thomas Jones is the grandchild shown living with Thomas Jones
0:33:32 > 0:33:34'on the 1911 census.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37'This makes him Elsie's cousin.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41'Because he's living with his grandparents,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44'the team speculate that he may be the illegitimate child
0:33:44 > 0:33:50'of either Elsie's mother, Ellen, or one of her sisters.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58'When Frances receives John Thomas Jones' birth certificate
0:33:58 > 0:34:02'their hunch is proved right.'
0:34:02 > 0:34:07Born on 24 January 1911, the illegitimate child of Ellen Jones,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10being the mother of the deceased.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13So Elsie had a half-brother.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17'This is fantastic news.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21'Descendants of John Thomas Jones
0:34:21 > 0:34:26'would be half-blood heirs to Elsie's £50,000 estate.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29'They turn their attention to the informant
0:34:29 > 0:34:31'on John's death certificate
0:34:31 > 0:34:34'and get a pleasant surprise.'
0:34:37 > 0:34:40The informant on that death was his son -
0:34:40 > 0:34:44yet another John Thomas Jones.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47We've managed to track him down
0:34:47 > 0:34:49to an address in Devon.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54'This is a great result for the team.
0:34:54 > 0:35:01'They've found an heir and, despite early concerns, they've beaten their rivals to it.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04'During her phone call with John Jones junior,
0:35:04 > 0:35:09'Fran realises she's uncovered a family secret.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15'Although John Jones senior was the grandson of Eliza and Thomas,
0:35:15 > 0:35:20'he was raised as their son to cover up the fact he was illegitimate.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24'He was brought up believing his mother and siblings
0:35:24 > 0:35:27'were his own brothers and sisters.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30'This was passed down to his son, John Jones junior
0:35:30 > 0:35:35'who, until now, had thought his grandmother was his aunt.'
0:35:35 > 0:35:39I found out by having a telegram from Fraser & Fraser...
0:35:41 > 0:35:46..to say that Elsie had died
0:35:46 > 0:35:50and that your father...
0:35:50 > 0:35:55who your father thought was his mother and father,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59was his grandparents.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02But Nell was his mother.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07So that changed from Aunt Nell to being me grandmother.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09CHUCKLES
0:36:13 > 0:36:17All my life, I've always felt
0:36:17 > 0:36:20that there was something there.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23That my father wasn't in the right place
0:36:23 > 0:36:27he should have been in the family tree.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30My uncle was, like, reserved with him.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35He didn't treat him as a brother, I don't think.
0:36:35 > 0:36:41I thought that one of his other sisters could have been his mother.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45She doted and called my father the baby of the family.
0:36:45 > 0:36:52But the family kept it... they kept it hidden well.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57Even, you know, the years I lived in Wales, it was all kept as a secret.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03'It was shocking for John as he'd been close to his Aunt Nell
0:37:03 > 0:37:08'and had lived with her for a time during the Second World War.
0:37:08 > 0:37:15'Like millions of inner-city children, John was evacuated to the countryside in 1939,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17'after the outbreak of war.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21'He was sent from southeast London to stay with Aunt Nell
0:37:21 > 0:37:25'who, unbeknown to him, was his grandmother, Ellen Jones.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28'He still clearly remembers the move.'
0:37:31 > 0:37:36We were on holiday with, then, my Uncle Dick and Aunt Liz,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39when the war broke out,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42when Chamberlain read that war has been declared.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48Then, immediately, there was a scuffle round, must go back home.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51I was to stay there in case something happened.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Then later, of course, the Blitz did start,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57so I stayed there.
0:38:02 > 0:38:08'Back in the office, the search for Elsie Pope's heirs is far from over.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12'John has given the team new information about the family.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17'He's told them Elsie had a sister, Irene, who died young.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19'They search for records of Irene
0:38:19 > 0:38:24'and uncover an additional brother and sister,
0:38:24 > 0:38:28'meaning that Elsie had four siblings.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31'Irene and George are accounted for.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37'There was another brother who was adopted out of the family.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41'Worryingly for the team, there is a sister outstanding,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44'who cannot be accounted for.'
0:38:44 > 0:38:47We can't find a death for her.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51Although Alan HAS found a potential marriage
0:38:51 > 0:38:55in the district of Wellington, in Shropshire.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58A little way further north,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01but she marries a Williams,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03a chap called Williams.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08So he has applied for a copy of the marriage certificate,
0:39:08 > 0:39:13so we can see if her father's name is given as William George Stephens.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17'If Elsie's sister IS alive or has any children,
0:39:17 > 0:39:22'they will be full-blood heirs to her £50,000 estate,
0:39:22 > 0:39:27'and John Jones junior will no longer be entitled.
0:39:27 > 0:39:34'Frances decides to get one of the firm's travelling researchers up to Shropshire to investigate.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39'As luck would have it,
0:39:39 > 0:39:43'Ewart Lindsay is working on another case nearby.'
0:39:47 > 0:39:50- Hi, there.- Hi, Frances.
0:39:50 > 0:39:57I'm afraid it's going to be a bit of a hanging around thing, until they come back at 10 o'clock.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- Are all the loose ends tied up for the boys?- Yeah.
0:40:00 > 0:40:06- That lot are entitled, being full-blood...- To the whole lot.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10- ..over the half-blood nephew. - OK. Great stuff.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15- Speak to you tomorrow. Thanks again. - All right, Frances. Thanks a lot.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19'Ewart's barely started his car before he's pulled off the case.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23'In the office, researcher Alan has struck gold.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27'He's found a marriage certificate for Elsie's elusive sister.'
0:40:27 > 0:40:33He's found her alive and living in a nursing home in Wolverhampton.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Regrettably, she has dementia,
0:40:37 > 0:40:42and is unable to take in any of this herself.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46And has, as far as the home are concerned,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49no living relatives.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51'The team has found Elsie's sister.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56'Because she's a closer relative than John Jones junior,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59'she is the sole beneficiary.'
0:41:02 > 0:41:07It's taken us a couple of weeks to track down where she is.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11The reason being she's in a hospital, a home,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15suffering from old-age mental health problems.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19So we're going to have to approach her receiver, her carer,
0:41:19 > 0:41:24the person who's got a power of attorney over her legal affairs.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29So we're contacting them. Hopefully, we'll receive an agreement back.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35'This is yet another surprise for John Jones junior.'
0:41:35 > 0:41:43That was sad, knowing that you've got a relative who you've never known existed all your life.
0:41:43 > 0:41:49And then, just right at the end of her life,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53where she's dying in a nursing home,
0:41:53 > 0:41:58that you find that she's there and you're her only relative left.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01That does come a little heavy.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05'Although he's no longer an heir to Elsie's £50,000 estate,
0:42:05 > 0:42:10'John is glad some of his family mysteries have been solved.'
0:42:12 > 0:42:14It's funny to say,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16but it seems all nice.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20It seems as if something's happened to me life.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25LAUGHING: I am a Tom Jones, after all!
0:42:25 > 0:42:30'But Elsie's sister isn't able to make a will, so when she passes away
0:42:30 > 0:42:35'the £50,000 estate will go to her nearest living relative -
0:42:35 > 0:42:37'John Jones junior.'
0:42:41 > 0:42:46If you would like advice about your family tree or making a will,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50go to:
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:10 > 0:43:13E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk