Pope/Edwards Heir Hunters

'Heir hunters are trying to trace beneficiaries to an estate

'that could be worth £50,000.

'They're looking for relatives who had no idea they could be in line for a windfall.

'Could they be knocking at YOUR door?'

'Today, the heir hunters have their work cut out

'with the mysterious case of Elsie Pope.'

It's needle-in-a-haystack time!

'There's more than one surprise.'

That is an absolute first!

'And in Hackney, east London, one lady's death uncovers

'three generations of family secrets.'

I can't make out why they were so secretive. It was saving face.

'Plus, how you could be entitled to estates where heirs need to be found.

'Could YOU be in line for a cash payout?'

'Every year in the UK, an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.

'If no relatives are found,

'any money they left behind goes to the government.

'Last year, that was a staggering £12 million.

'But there are over 30 specialist firms competing to stop this.

'They're called heir hunters.

'They make it their business to track down missing relatives

'and help them claim their rightful inheritance.'

I love that I can put families back together.

I can tell them secret histories which they don't know about.

'It's Thursday morning and, overnight, the Treasury advertised the new list of unclaimed estates.

'In London, heir hunting firm Fraser & Fraser

'have identified a possible case.'

We're looking at the estate of Elsie Pope.

The advert's worrying. It indicates that she's a widow but they don't know her maiden name.

'With no maiden name, this case already looks like a real challenge.

'Elsie Pope died in 2008

'at a nursing home in Shropshire.

'She was 83, but hadn't left a will and had no known relatives.

'Her closest friends were two of the residents of the nursing home.'

Scones!

'The team has little to go on.

'Before they can get anywhere, they need Elsie's date of birth and maiden name.

'Neil Fraser is keen to work this case,

'because initial research suggests Elsie's estate is worth £50,000.

'So the team must work with the only information they do have,

'Elsie's married name of Pope.'

Are you still free, Debbie?

Before we find that marriage or her birth,

we can't do a huge amount of research or get on to the family.

'Heir hunters depend on this sort of information

'to build an accurate family tree and find the rightful heirs.

'Neil hands the estate over to case manager Frances Brett.'

-Pope!

-Yeah.

13th June '25.

'With 20 years of heir hunting experience,

'Frances is unfazed by their lack of information.'

Our first port of call

is to try and obtain a copy of her death certificate

to see if the person who registered the death knew Elsie's maiden name

and her place of birth, cos we understand she wasn't a local girl.

And that will get our research kick-started.

'But researcher Roger Marsh is a little more concerned.'

Could have been married anywhere, born anywhere.

We don't know what Mr Pope's called. It's needle-in-a-haystack time.

A choice 1,300 births. I might strike lucky, pick the right one!

'In an attempt to get things moving, Frances calls the register office in Shropshire.

'She's hoping they'll pass on crucial information from Elsie's death certificate.'

Thanks ever so much. Bye bye.

-Are you going to make me cry?

-It's as we suspected.

Go on.

-No information.

-No information!

'Frances is back to square one.'

Realistically, until we can get some information about Elsie,

such as her place of birth

or, indeed, her husband's first name,

we are really not going to manage to get started on this.

'The only other person who could help is the manager of Elsie's nursing home.

'Frances has just been told she's away on holiday.'

When they return from holiday on Monday,

we'll be able to open her file and have some of those details.

'Frances has no choice but to shelve the case until Monday.

'It will be a long wait, because a £50,000 estate

'is bound to attract the attention of rival heir hunters.

'It hasn't been a successful day.

'A few days later, the nursing home's manager returns

'and, finally, the story of Elsie's life starts to unfold.

'Cook Beryl remembers Elsie fondly.'

Elsie was a very active little lady.

Elsie liked to help in the kitchen with the wiping up

and clearing the tables,

and laying the tables.

If they wanted a drink of squash, Elsie would take them a drink

or anything they wanted.

Elsie used to like a joke as well.

She had a lovely little character, very bubbly and full of fun.

'Elsie is sadly missed

'by nursing home manager Lesley and residents Kath and Marge.'

'Fortunately, for Frances, Elsie's friends and carers can answer

'some key questions about her life.

'At last, the case is up and running.'

They could all be...

Just had a surprise call from Lesley Taylor,

the care manager of the Grange nursing home.

Elsie's maiden name was Stephens.

She WAS a Shropshire lass,

so we've gone and had a look

for Elsie Stephens,

born in the June and September, 1925

in the Shropshire area.

There are two possibilities.

One born in Wem district, and the other born in the registration district of Atcham.

'This is a great result.

'What's more, Frances has learned that Elsie married an Alfred Pope.

'She applies for the two birth certificates and what she hopes is the right marriage certificate.'

We're waiting for the certificates,

to see whether we're now on the right track.

'Frances calls Elsie's former nursing home,

'in the hope of getting more family information.'

Sadly, we know very little about Elsie...

'She's finding out more about Elsie's marriage

'and the source of her £50,000 estate.'

Ah! The money...

Ah! Her money came from her brother!

Do you know her brother's name?

Well, that's a big help.

Thank you. Bye bye.

Well, that was a very useful phone call.

'Frances is able to start building a family tree.

'She now knows that Elsie married Alfred Pope in 1974,

'at the age of 49.

'Alfred died whilst Elsie was in the nursing home,

'and the couple had no children.

'The biggest news is that Elsie had a brother, George,

'who left her money in his will.

'George's will could give them the breakthrough in this £50,000 case.

'It could contain vital information they need to find living relatives.'

So we're looking for a male dying in Shrewsbury,

-that could potentially be the source of the money that Elsie had.

-OK.

'Researcher Amy heads to the Probate Office

'to try and get details from George's will.

'Frances builds family trees from both birth certificates they have for Elsie,

'even though they don't know which one is right.

'But this causes a bit of a shock.'

Both births we've applied for have the mother's maiden name Jones.

'Both Elsies having a mother called Jones is not good news.

'A name like Jones is hard to work.

'But things are about to get stranger.

'Roger learns the two certificates have something else in common.'

Both formerly Jones, both born on the same day?

'And the coincidences keep coming.

'Not only are the birth dates and mothers' names the same, so is the father.'

What?

-What's the dates of birth?

-The same.

Both the third?

Yeah. Even I can't go with three coincidences on one search!

LAUGHS

Can she stick them straight through?

'This is getting ridiculous.

'Both Elsies have the same birthday, mothers called Jones

'AND dads with the same name.

'The two birth certificates are faxed through to the office.'

-It is actually the same person.

-Yeah.

That is an absolute first. A birth being registered in two districts.

Cos he got it wrong first time.

Dad got it wrong! He went to the wrong place to register the birth.

'Mystery solved, but it had now taken an excruciating eight days

'for the team to confirm the most basic information.

'They finally managed to establish who Elsie's parents are.

'The only other relative they found is her late brother, George.

'The team has a mountain to climb

'to solve the case ahead of the competition,

'and find heirs to Elsie's £50,000 estate.

'Later on, Frances gets the breakthrough she's been waiting for.

'Heir hunting companies don't always chase the latest cases on the Treasury's unclaimed estates list.

'Some businesses make their money going after old estates

'that no-one else has bothered to solve.

'Rose Edwards was born in 1902 to parents William and Hannah Summers.

'Raised in London, she was the oldest of three siblings,

'and remained a Londoner before her death aged 94.'

Rose was 100% cockney

to the extent that, at times, myself as a child found her unintelligible.

'Rose died in 1996, without leaving a will.

'Her £11,000 estate was advertised by the Treasury,

'but it sat unclaimed for over a decade.

'Then heir hunter Lord Teviot decided to pick up her case.'

My business partner, Christopher, who lives in Bristol,

he rather chooses these cases.

We rather specialise on doing ones that are old,

just coming up to their 12-year period,

before you lose the interest.

'Charles and Mary, also known as Lord and Lady Teviot,

'have over 50 years' experience in genealogy and ancestry.'

You want to get the telephone number for the post office in Kilburn.

Yes. That might be an idea.

'These days, smaller cases like Rose Edwards suit them best.'

It's generally smaller things we do,

where we don't have to jump in a car and rush off here, there and everywhere,

then find somebody else on the doorstep.

Those sort of days for me are gone.

'Lord Teviot knew from the Treasury's list

'that Rose had died in Hackney in 1996.

'From that, he established some basic information.'

She was born in 1902.

So, um...

you look that up and you then get her certificate.

'From Rose's birth certificate,

'Charles learned who Rose's parents were.'

Her father was William Summers

and her mother was Hannah Porter.

We then started looking and tried to...

You always look for somewhere,

for somebody to pick on, the first person to contact.

'Armed with her parents' names,

'Charles discovered that Rose had two brothers, William and Charles.'

Her brothers didn't get married and died without issue,

which, alas poor lady, she herself did.

'With no descendants from Rose or her brothers,

'Charles widened his search.'

Then moved on to the maternal line,

but we've not found any live stems there.

'By looking at marriage records,

'he discovered that Rose had married George Edwards in 1945.

'Peter Codd is George's nephew, but he's not an heir, as he's only related through marriage.'

I knew Rose, my Auntie Rose, all my life.

She was married to my Uncle George.

He used to live in our house and later went down to London,

looking for work, as a plumber.

He boarded in the boarding house run by my Aunt Rose's mother.

'When George married Rose,

'it was on the condition he took on everything that came with her -

'her mother, her brother Charles and the boarding house.'

George wasn't too happy about the situation.

He was in love with Rose. He was in love with her all her life.

They were very close. But Charlie came along with it.

He didn't go for days out with them, but he was always in the house.

They sort of tolerated each other for 30 years!

'Having established that Rose and her brothers died with no children,

'Lord Teviot looked at the paternal side to try and find heirs.

'Had Rose's father had any brothers and sisters?'

And then one discovered that Rose had four aunts and two uncles.

'Rose's father, William, was the son of a bricklayer

'and the eldest of seven children.

'Of his six siblings, one died as an infant.

'Using the 1881 and 1891 census,

'Charles discovered that the family had lived and worked in Hackney,

'Rose's father was a fishmonger, his brother a greengrocer

'and sister a laundress.'

If you're working as a fishmonger or bricklayer,

you're probably employed for a period at a time.

So you've got an income of some kind coming in.

It'll be quite a low income with a family to feed and house.

This is before the Welfare State,

so the big issue is you've got to do it every day.

You can't have time off sick. Can't have a holiday.

Nobody's going to pay you for that, you can't pay rent and you're out.

So it's a really tough, brutal kind of existence.

'Rose's parents married in 1901,

'but her father William died just ten years later.

'Rose's mother was left on her own with three children to raise,

'a grim situation in Edwardian England.

'She found work in a laundry before deciding to open a boarding house,

'the house Rose and George would later take on.'

It was a three or four storey house,

so some of the bedrooms would have been closed off.

They lived in it until it was compulsory purchased and demolished.

'Rose chose a different path to her mother

'and found a career she loved.'

Rose worked for many years as a waitress in the Lyons Corner Houses.

And she worked in some of the more prestigious ones.

I think she worked in Marble Arch for quite a long time.

And, um... She was there for about 20 years, I think.

'The Lyons tea houses were a phenomenon

'and are still celebrated today in the Museum of London.'

J Lyons & Company opened a range of eating establishments.

The most famous were the tea shops throughout the country.

In London, they opened these sort of super catering establishments

known as the Corner Houses and Maison Lyons.

'It was the Maison Lyons in Marble Arch where Rose worked.

'The restaurant catered for thousands of customers,

'offering all classes of Londoners a glamorous dining experience.

'There were up to 400 people working in each Lyons Tea House.

'Rose was on the front line as one of their world famous waitresses.'

The idea of the Nippy waitress was introduced in January 1925.

The term "Nippy" really referred to the poise and elegance and the speed

which the waitresses were expected to nip through the tables they were serving.

Most Nippy waitresses were very elegant, rather beautiful,

highly fashionable, of course, in their wonderful flapper uniform.

They were expected to have short hair, so very up with the times, very modern.

Songs were written about them.

They starred in theatre and eventually cinema.

'For Rose to become a Nippy was an achievement for an East End girl.'

Nippy waitresses came from a range of backgrounds.

For a working-class girl from a modest background,

to become a Nippy waitress would have been a fantastic opportunity.

People would look in awe at her

because she was working in a Lyons Tea House in London,

so she'd be proud of that.

'But as heir hunter Charles Teviot delved into Rose's family history,

'he was about to reveal a secret the family weren't so proud of.'

He allowed me to be fostered. My mum begged him to let her keep me.

'Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year,

'ensuring millions of pounds are paid out to heirs.

'Not every case can be cracked.

'The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates

'that have baffled heir hunters and remain unclaimed.

'These stay on the lists for up to 30 years.

'Each could be worth anything from £5,000 to many millions of pounds.

'Today, we're focusing on three names from the list.

'Are they relatives of yours?

'Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?

'Annette Regina Cadnam Clinton died aged 94,

'just before Christmas in 1997.

'If no heirs are found, her money will go to the government.

'Or did you know Frances Montigo, who died aged 80 in the Wirral?

'She passed away in 2003,

'and her mother's maiden name was Morris.

'Perhaps Josephine Canaletta Ruaux rings a bell,

'with her distinctive French surname.

'She died in 2001, aged 86, in Soho, London.

'So far, all efforts to trace any heirs have failed.

'If Annette Clinton, Frances Montigo or Josephine Ruaux mean anything to you,

'you could have a fortune on its way.

'From his home office, heir hunter Lord Teviot

'has been chasing the heirs for Rose Edwards' £11,000 estate.

'With no descendants from Rose or her brothers,

'he widened his search to aunts and uncles.

'One aunt, Florence, was particularly tricky to find.'

They refer to that aunt as Peggy.

It took quite some time to realise that Peggy was really Florence.

Then somebody did know that she married Archie Williams.

I was able to find that marriage, which took place in Islington.

Then one found their children,

of which there were four sons and three daughters.

'Rose's aunt, Florence Summers, married Archie Williams

'and they had a daughter, also called Florence.

'She had a daughter called Ellen.

'As a first cousin once removed,

'she was the first heir Charles had found.'

Quite a close family we were, really, my nan, me granddad.

We lived quite near, too, when we lived in Hackney.

We lived in a prefab.

We was in Richmond Road and they was in Ellen Road, which was quite close.

It was very nice. I used to love going to my nan.

She always gave me a threepenny piece with the nice shaped edges.

Yeah. I used to love having that.

I've got very fond memories.

'Because Ellen knew so little about Rose's side of the family,

'she put Charles on to her daughter, Kim, a keen genealogist,

'who had looked into the family tree.'

I sent him an e-mail cos Mum had passed it on to me.

So I sent him the details what I had.

I had my great-nan's birthday

and any information on her sister, I think, Lil.

I just gave him that information.

He said it was very helpful, so that was good.

'Kim was in the fortunate position of having known Rose's aunt Florence and her husband Archie.'

His name was Archie.

He had glasses.

The memories I've got of him

are when I used to stand while he was having breakfast eating kippers.

He used to ask me if I would like some. I was only four, five.

'Archie was hiding a secret

'concerning his other daughter, Ellen, Rose's cousin.'

The daughter Ellen, I looked for a marriage for and never found one.

But one of the cousins did say that Ellen had a daughter out of wedlock

called Jeanette - I don't think many of the family knew about her.

I was lucky there weren't many Jeanettes about when she was born.

With a name like Williams, it was quite easy.

'Charles put in the call to Jeanette, who was also an heir.'

I was fostered

because of my grandfather.

In those days, it was not the done thing to keep a child.

But he allowed me to be fostered rather than taken for adoption

because my mum begged him to let her keep me.

If somebody is adopted out,

they belong to the family who they're adopted by.

Luckily, Jeanette was fostered.

I think her mother, Ellen, visited her on a regular basis

and became close friends with her foster family.

'Throughout her childhood and into her teens,

'Jeanette visited the Williams household

'and maintained a close relationship

'with the mother who had been forced to give her up.'

My mother was just so kind. Everybody called her Nelly.

When I was small, I called her Mummy Ellen.

Then I called her Nelly. Everybody loved her.

My husband adored her. He really did.

She was always very smart.

Tailored suits, she'd come down in.

She always looked really nice.

Everybody liked her.

'The family was split into camps by Archie Williams -

'those who could know about Jeanette and those who couldn't.'

When I was younger, I didn't really think about members of the family

that I couldn't see.

I just knew that I didn't see them.

My mum used to talk about the family so I really felt that I knew them.

'Although Jeanette was a large part of the Williams family life,

'only certain people knew who she actually was.

'Kim was led to believe Jeanette was a friend of the family.'

Very nice person.

Didn't think no more of it, really.

Even from a little girl, I thought Jeanette looked like Aunt Nell.

When you're little you don't think anything of it.

It was just a coincidence that she looked like her mum!

'Archie's grandchildren remain baffled

'as to why he kept Jeanette a secret.'

I can't make out why they were so secretive. He was saving face, mainly.

'Rose Edwards would have known nothing about this saga,

'having lost contact with that side of the family, despite living nearby.'

I could have passed this lady in the street.

Because we lived in Hackney and if she lived in Hackney, too,

we could have passed on the street, which is sad.

'With the help of Peter, Kim, Jeanette and Ellen,

'Lord Teviot found an astonishing 50 heirs

'to Rose Edwards' £11,00 estate.

'This from a woman who had no children of her own.

'Rose may have thought she had no relations,

'but she had a huge family,

'all living in the same neighbourhood as her.'

On the Summers side, we found at least over 30 heirs, probably more.

But on the Porter side, we've not found any.

'For those in the family,

'just being able to piece history together is enough.'

We just care to know about the person and what she was like.

'In death,

'Rose Edwards has opened up a new chapter for the rest of her family.'

Once my mum died, the family sort of spread out a bit.

You didn't see them so much, so it's been brilliant.

It's opened up a complete new story, which is lovely.

'Heir hunters Fraser & Fraser

'are trying to solve the frustrating case of Elsie Pope.

'She died in December 2008, aged 83, leaving no will.

'After spending a week looking at her estate,

'the team is still stuck at square one.

'Case manager Frances Brett has been struggling with lack of information

'and confusion caused by a duplicated birth certificate.'

I've never seen that before!

Somebody's birth being registered in two places!

'They believe Elsie had a brother, George,

'but they're waiting for this to be confirmed.

'Now she has the right birth certificate for Elsie,

'Frances can look into her parents, Ellen and William Stephens.

'After several attempts,

'Roger thinks he's found a record of their marriage.'

You need to apply for that marriage.

-If you think we have it.

-Yeah.

And on the premise that, if she inherited money from her brother...

..he's unlikely to have a wife and children,

and leave money to his sister.

'Earlier, Frances sent researcher Amy to the Probate Office.'

Yes!

'And she now has crucial information on Elsie's brother.'

Amy, you have done a brilliant job.

But it's paid off.

It's paid off.

George Stephens died...

'They confirmed Elsie's brother was George and got his date of death.

'And Amy's called back with more information.'

Right, date of marriage?

25 October.

William George Stephens

was aged 29 and a bachelor?

'Elsie's maternal grandfather

'was shown on the marriage certificate of her parents.

'He was a farmer called Thomas Jones.

'The 1911 census

'shows him having eight children and a grandchild living with him.'

John Thomas Jones.

I don't have a date of birth,

except it's going to be in the first quarter of 1911.

'John Thomas Jones is the grandchild shown living with Thomas Jones

'on the 1911 census.

'This makes him Elsie's cousin.

'Because he's living with his grandparents,

'the team speculate that he may be the illegitimate child

'of either Elsie's mother, Ellen, or one of her sisters.

'When Frances receives John Thomas Jones' birth certificate

'their hunch is proved right.'

Born on 24 January 1911, the illegitimate child of Ellen Jones,

being the mother of the deceased.

So Elsie had a half-brother.

'This is fantastic news.

'Descendants of John Thomas Jones

'would be half-blood heirs to Elsie's £50,000 estate.

'They turn their attention to the informant

'on John's death certificate

'and get a pleasant surprise.'

The informant on that death was his son -

yet another John Thomas Jones.

We've managed to track him down

to an address in Devon.

'This is a great result for the team.

'They've found an heir and, despite early concerns, they've beaten their rivals to it.

'During her phone call with John Jones junior,

'Fran realises she's uncovered a family secret.

'Although John Jones senior was the grandson of Eliza and Thomas,

'he was raised as their son to cover up the fact he was illegitimate.

'He was brought up believing his mother and siblings

'were his own brothers and sisters.

'This was passed down to his son, John Jones junior

'who, until now, had thought his grandmother was his aunt.'

I found out by having a telegram from Fraser & Fraser...

..to say that Elsie had died

and that your father...

who your father thought was his mother and father,

was his grandparents.

But Nell was his mother.

So that changed from Aunt Nell to being me grandmother.

CHUCKLES

All my life, I've always felt

that there was something there.

That my father wasn't in the right place

he should have been in the family tree.

My uncle was, like, reserved with him.

He didn't treat him as a brother, I don't think.

I thought that one of his other sisters could have been his mother.

She doted and called my father the baby of the family.

But the family kept it... they kept it hidden well.

Even, you know, the years I lived in Wales, it was all kept as a secret.

'It was shocking for John as he'd been close to his Aunt Nell

'and had lived with her for a time during the Second World War.

'Like millions of inner-city children, John was evacuated to the countryside in 1939,

'after the outbreak of war.

'He was sent from southeast London to stay with Aunt Nell

'who, unbeknown to him, was his grandmother, Ellen Jones.

'He still clearly remembers the move.'

We were on holiday with, then, my Uncle Dick and Aunt Liz,

when the war broke out,

when Chamberlain read that war has been declared.

Then, immediately, there was a scuffle round, must go back home.

I was to stay there in case something happened.

Then later, of course, the Blitz did start,

so I stayed there.

'Back in the office, the search for Elsie Pope's heirs is far from over.

'John has given the team new information about the family.

'He's told them Elsie had a sister, Irene, who died young.

'They search for records of Irene

'and uncover an additional brother and sister,

'meaning that Elsie had four siblings.

'Irene and George are accounted for.

'There was another brother who was adopted out of the family.

'Worryingly for the team, there is a sister outstanding,

'who cannot be accounted for.'

We can't find a death for her.

Although Alan HAS found a potential marriage

in the district of Wellington, in Shropshire.

A little way further north,

but she marries a Williams,

a chap called Williams.

So he has applied for a copy of the marriage certificate,

so we can see if her father's name is given as William George Stephens.

'If Elsie's sister IS alive or has any children,

'they will be full-blood heirs to her £50,000 estate,

'and John Jones junior will no longer be entitled.

'Frances decides to get one of the firm's travelling researchers up to Shropshire to investigate.

'As luck would have it,

'Ewart Lindsay is working on another case nearby.'

-Hi, there.

-Hi, Frances.

I'm afraid it's going to be a bit of a hanging around thing, until they come back at 10 o'clock.

-Are all the loose ends tied up for the boys?

-Yeah.

-That lot are entitled, being full-blood...

-To the whole lot.

-..over the half-blood nephew.

-OK. Great stuff.

-Speak to you tomorrow. Thanks again.

-All right, Frances. Thanks a lot.

'Ewart's barely started his car before he's pulled off the case.

'In the office, researcher Alan has struck gold.

'He's found a marriage certificate for Elsie's elusive sister.'

He's found her alive and living in a nursing home in Wolverhampton.

Regrettably, she has dementia,

and is unable to take in any of this herself.

And has, as far as the home are concerned,

no living relatives.

'The team has found Elsie's sister.

'Because she's a closer relative than John Jones junior,

'she is the sole beneficiary.'

It's taken us a couple of weeks to track down where she is.

The reason being she's in a hospital, a home,

suffering from old-age mental health problems.

So we're going to have to approach her receiver, her carer,

the person who's got a power of attorney over her legal affairs.

So we're contacting them. Hopefully, we'll receive an agreement back.

'This is yet another surprise for John Jones junior.'

That was sad, knowing that you've got a relative who you've never known existed all your life.

And then, just right at the end of her life,

where she's dying in a nursing home,

that you find that she's there and you're her only relative left.

That does come a little heavy.

'Although he's no longer an heir to Elsie's £50,000 estate,

'John is glad some of his family mysteries have been solved.'

It's funny to say,

but it seems all nice.

It seems as if something's happened to me life.

LAUGHING: I am a Tom Jones, after all!

'But Elsie's sister isn't able to make a will, so when she passes away

'the £50,000 estate will go to her nearest living relative -

'John Jones junior.'

If you would like advice about your family tree or making a will,

go to:

Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]