0:00:03 > 0:00:06Welcome to Heir Hunters, where we search for living family of people who've died
0:00:06 > 0:00:09without leaving a will, hoping to unite them with a fortune.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Today the heir hunters are looking into
0:00:13 > 0:00:16a spectacular six figure state.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19We've actually heard the value of this estate is three-times
0:00:19 > 0:00:21what might top hope was really.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Teams across the country will be hunting for relatives who
0:00:24 > 0:00:27have no idea they are in line for a windfall.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Could they be knocking at your door?
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Coming up on today's programme...
0:00:51 > 0:00:52Wow, that's amazing!
0:00:52 > 0:00:55The heir hunters uncover the case of Britain's
0:00:55 > 0:00:56first international supermodel.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It appears that the deceased was indeed a really famous model in her day.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Who graced the catwalk in the 1940s.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11And the team unravels the story of a wartime exile
0:01:11 > 0:01:13whose life was secret, even to his family.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18I think it was so traumatic for him, that's why he was a loner
0:01:18 > 0:01:23and didn't divulge very much to anybody.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25And I meet up with the heir hunters to see
0:01:25 > 0:01:29if a complex case is any closer to closure.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32So how do you feel now? Do you feel...
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Very emotional. Just couldn't believe it.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Plus, how you could be entitled to unclaimed estates
0:01:39 > 0:01:41where beneficiaries still need to be found.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Every year in the UK an estimated 300,000 people
0:01:54 > 0:01:58die without leaving a will. If no relatives are found,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02then any money that's left behind will go to the government.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And last year they made £14 million from unclaimed estates.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12But there are over 30 specialist firms competing
0:02:12 > 0:02:14to stop this happening.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17They are called heir hunters, and they make it their business to track
0:02:17 > 0:02:21down missing relatives and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26I bring about a change
0:02:26 > 0:02:29so that the rightful assets
0:02:29 > 0:02:32go to the rightful family members and not to the state.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40In our first case today, the heir hunter's tackle the case
0:02:40 > 0:02:44of a woman with a glamorous past who left a valuable legacy.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46But did she have any living relatives?
0:02:48 > 0:02:50It's Thursday morning
0:02:50 > 0:02:53and the Treasury list was released just hours ago.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57It shows the names of people who've died without leaving a will.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00And staff at Fraser and Fraser, Britain's largest heir hunting
0:03:00 > 0:03:03firm, are scouring the entries.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Today it's unusually lengthy.
0:03:05 > 0:03:0725, 13th June.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10The team is trying to make an early breakthrough to get an edge
0:03:10 > 0:03:13on the competition.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16We've got one here aged 101, the deceased,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18and got possible near kin on it.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Partner, Neil, has got the lead on one name.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25So one of the cases we are going to start today is this
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Grace Charlotte Woods, her maiden name is Cook,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31and neither Woods nor Cook are good names.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35It's going to be tricky, but Grace Charlotte is certainly a good combination.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39We found a marriage in Hampstead.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43The husband dies, it looks like he was born in 1908.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46We haven't really been able to get a good date for her birth
0:03:46 > 0:03:48because it's too recent to get her death.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51The heir hunters need to discover a date
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and place of birth for Grace to build a family tree.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Which may lead them to heirs.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58There is a birth in 1908,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03which makes husband and wife a very similar age.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Marriage in Hampstead and the birth is in Bethnal Green.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09So that all looks quite good, so we will run with that
0:04:09 > 0:04:12and hopefully get it confirmed up at some later time.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18They've found a marriage for a Grace Cook and Lester Woods in 1939.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22According to Lester's death certificate, he was born in 1908.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25So there's a fair chance that the Grace Woods
0:04:25 > 0:04:28who was also born in 1908 is the same one.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31It looks like she had quite a few brothers and sisters,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I'm just putting them on the tree.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37If the birth's right, Grace's family was from Bethnal Green
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and she was the youngest of seven siblings.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44But although the team have a good lead,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48they don't yet know if it's a case worth pursuing.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Estates on the Treasury list can range from a jackpot of many
0:04:51 > 0:04:54millions to as little as £5,000.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58As they tend to work on a commission basis,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02deciding which to follow is a risky business.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05As far as value goes on this,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07it's pretty hard to tell.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10I haven't got a great address.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13It's the Oxford bit we are trying to concentrate on.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18It's hard to ascertain what sort of value we are going to look at.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22The value is important. It dictates how much manpower and resources
0:05:22 > 0:05:24the team should throw at a case.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Get this wrong and they could easily lose money.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Grace Woods died
0:05:32 > 0:05:36on 23rd December, 2009 in Oxford.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40She lived alone in her flat for over 20 years,
0:05:40 > 0:05:46having originally moved to the city with her husband, Lester, who sadly died in 1986.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49I can't remember whether she invited me to her flat
0:05:49 > 0:05:53or I just took it upon myself to visit her.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58I discovered that she was very isolated there.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Grace was plagued by ill-health for most of her life,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06and became increasingly reclusive in her later years.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10She gradually became more and more housebound.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14I didn't realise then that she was well over 70.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17It must have been very difficult to let everything go
0:06:17 > 0:06:22and gradually become alone
0:06:22 > 0:06:26and have all these health problems to cope with by herself.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Back in London, the heir hunters are trying to work out
0:06:34 > 0:06:36the value of Grace Woods' estate.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39They are keen to know if she owned her own flat in Oxford.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42And case manager Dave Slee is on the phone to neighbours to
0:06:42 > 0:06:44see what he can find out.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48A Mrs Grace Woods, I wondered if you knew the lady at all.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51She's just touched the 100 mark so...
0:06:51 > 0:06:56No. Did she own her own property?
0:06:56 > 0:06:57No?
0:06:59 > 0:07:02You think it might have been council, rent.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06No, you have been most helpful. Thank you very much indeed, bye bye.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09It's bad news.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Grace didn't own her own property,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15although it seems that she may have had an interesting career.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18The neighbour had known the deceased for 24 years
0:07:18 > 0:07:22but didn't know much about her really. She might have been a model
0:07:22 > 0:07:24at one time, the deceased, very tall and elegant.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29A bit like my good self! Right, let's pass the information over.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33There's no obvious value to the estate but the research team have made good progress.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Looking into Grace's siblings,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39they've managed to find a possible niece and nephew.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43I think that they will still be alive, and one of them is themselves
0:07:43 > 0:07:45well in their 80s and they live in Ongar.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49So we've got one of our researchers, David Hadley,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52he's hopefully going to go to Ongar to interview
0:07:52 > 0:07:56this elderly nephew of the elderly deceased.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The company employs a network of regional heir hunters
0:08:06 > 0:08:11who are on standby every day. Whether the researchers are speaking to neighbours
0:08:11 > 0:08:14or picking up certificates from register offices,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18they leave no stone unturned in the race
0:08:18 > 0:08:19to find and sign up heirs.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Dave Hadley, who works the Southeast region,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27is sent to sign up the first heir.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30It would appear that we've got a possible nephew
0:08:30 > 0:08:35living in Chipping Ongar, who's 83 years of age,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40and he wants me to go and try and locate him, speak to him,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43and see if we can confirm
0:08:43 > 0:08:46that he is in fact a nephew and a possible heir.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54- 'Um... Just a minute.' - Thank you.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00But back at the office, alarm bells are starting to ring.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Have they jumped the gun with this case?
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Although we've heard little bits of information,
0:09:06 > 0:09:08about how the deceased used to be a model
0:09:08 > 0:09:12and along those sort of lines, personal information about her,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14no-one mentioned her age.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Now, if you're talking about a deceased person
0:09:18 > 0:09:20and she's 101 years old,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23the first thing I would expect to come out of someone's mouth
0:09:23 > 0:09:28is she celebrated her 100th birthday last year, or something like that.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Dave Slee has managed to track down the funeral home in Oxford
0:09:32 > 0:09:34where Grace was cremated.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Good afternoon. Sorry to trouble you.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38It's a long shot,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42but can they confirm that Grace was 101 when she died?
0:09:42 > 0:09:46OK. Is there any record to show on your records
0:09:46 > 0:09:51her date of birth? Is that something that would be shown on your records?
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Said that she was age 89.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59It's just as they feared.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01The 1908 birth is wrong.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Well, the crematorium tell me that she was age 89,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08which makes her born, if my maths is right, 1920.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Have we got a birth in 1920?
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I don't know. You've got a birth in 1908,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15which I don't think is the right one.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Funeral home are going to come back to me.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20So in theory, according to the...
0:10:20 > 0:10:24That would still make that marriage right. She'd only be 19.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28It means the potential heirs are also wrong,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31and travelling researcher Dave Hadley is pulled off the job.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Here's a tree that I made earlier that's all wrong.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39- Great. - Here you are. All that's wrong.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42While the team still thinks Grace's marriage is right,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and she had no children, they now have to begin a totally new line of research
0:10:46 > 0:10:49for a likely birth in 1920.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Can you try and find the marriage on the '11 census?
0:10:53 > 0:10:58- Um... And then... And then let me know. All right?- Yeah.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Starting from scratch is frustrating
0:11:00 > 0:11:03when they don't even know the value of the estate.
0:11:03 > 0:11:04Did you get it?
0:11:04 > 0:11:09But it's not long before Dave gets a phone call that changes everything.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Oh, so she was... A top model?
0:11:14 > 0:11:17The phone call is from the bereavement officer
0:11:17 > 0:11:20who handled Grace's affairs. He's been asked by the funeral home
0:11:20 > 0:11:24to see if he can help the heir hunters' enquiries.
0:11:24 > 0:11:30I presume she was going to America, to New York, to model there.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35Suddenly the estate of Grace Woods is looking a lot more interesting.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Wow, that's amazing!
0:11:39 > 0:11:43It appears that the deceased was a really famous model in her day.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46She was married very young, to a much older man.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49We now know we've got the right family,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51so the original research was all wrong,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54and now we're on the right tracks.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And it just shows you, sometimes you make these phone calls,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59nine out of ten of them will go nowhere.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Something like this today has helped us piece together
0:12:03 > 0:12:07the starting of this estate, which I'm really pleased about.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11It's a major breakthrough. Not only is the team back on track,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15they've discovered that Grace Woods was a top model in her day.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The news has been given to them by the bereavement officer
0:12:18 > 0:12:21at the Oxford hospital where Grace died.
0:12:21 > 0:12:27Philip Sutton had the job of visiting her flat to sort out her belongings.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30It was almost to the end of an hour and a half's search
0:12:30 > 0:12:34through many pieces of paper that I came across two folders,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and these two folders revealed her early story,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41the story that is most fascinating.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45And in a third folder, tucked at the back of the sideboard,
0:12:45 > 0:12:50was a collection of about 15 or 20 photographs,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52and these revealed a lady
0:12:52 > 0:12:55of great elegance and beauty,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58oh, probably from about
0:12:58 > 0:13:00the age of 15 to early 20s.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Grace Woods began her modelling career
0:13:04 > 0:13:06at the tender age of 15.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Her stunning beauty and natural elegance
0:13:08 > 0:13:10soon attracted the attention
0:13:10 > 0:13:13of the Lucie Clayton Modelling School.
0:13:13 > 0:13:19The agency was probably London's top model agency in the 1940s.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22You had to be certain height - over 5'9".
0:13:22 > 0:13:26There was a specific model walk from the 1940s,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28far more straight,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31but to flow at the same time.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Grace certainly would have had training
0:13:33 > 0:13:36in making sure she didn't use her hands too much
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and her head didn't dip. She would have been told how to maintain
0:13:39 > 0:13:41a very still figure.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45By the 1940s, Grace was a well-known face on the fashion scene,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49and was photographed and filmed at prestigious events.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54The British fashion industry was starting to boom,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56as designers shrugged off the drudgery of war
0:13:56 > 0:13:58in search of exciting new styles,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03and this design revolution required a new breed of model.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Grace must have had the similar training to me
0:14:06 > 0:14:07at her modelling school.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12She would have learnt how to walk, how to wear the clothes,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16how to promote herself, in other words, really.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19And generally learn all the ins and outs
0:14:19 > 0:14:22of how to behave in front of a camera,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26and as a model. I mean, there was a lot more to it in those days.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Well, Grace certainly was a beautifully elegant model back in the day.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38I'm here at the Museum of London to find out more about the world she inhabited.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45I've come to meet Beatrice Behlen, fashion curator
0:14:45 > 0:14:47and an expert in post-war fashion.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53- Hello, Beatrice.- Hi.- So tell me,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56what happened to the global fashion industry during the war?
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Paris was occupied by the Germans for about four years,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05so they were still producing fashion, but only for people in Paris and France.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Normally, they would have dominated fashion, leading fashion.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13Now the British and the Americans, they were developing their own styles
0:15:13 > 0:15:17- and they were hoping Paris could be kept down after the war. - What did people wear at the time?
0:15:17 > 0:15:20I'll show you some things over here.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22I've got three dresses here.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26All three are worn about sort of '44, '45.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31I think they maybe look a little bit like that. But this one, I think, you could definitely wear now.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33So they are different, slightly different.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38This one is a utility dress, and you can see the CC41 sign here.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- It's made by a company called Bijou. - Right.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46Utility means it was made out of a fabric
0:15:46 > 0:15:49that was controlled by regulations.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53- So even fashion and material was regulated at the time?- Yes, it was.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56In wartime Britain, clothes and materials to make them
0:15:56 > 0:15:58were as strictly rationed as food.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02The Government had taken control of all imported cloth,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07and in 1941 brought in utility clothes for the general public.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12They set up a coupon system to ration how many new clothes people could actually buy.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16The utility label meant when consumers used their coupons
0:16:16 > 0:16:20and saw that mark, they'd know the clothes would be well-made,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22hard-wearing and affordable.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Unfortunately, clothes rationing didn't stop there.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28There were all sorts of austerity regulations.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33They governed how many buttons you could have, how many pleats.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36It makes you think there was one style. That's not true -
0:16:36 > 0:16:39- you can make quite a lot of different styles, despite the regulations.- Yeah.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44Austerity measures aside, the public found ways around them,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46using what they already had at home.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49This one here is made out of bedding material.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54She could do whatever she liked, so she got a pattern, she made this dress, and she thought,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58"No, I'll not just have four buttons, I'll have whatever - ten, nine, or whatever she has here.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03- She used as many as she could get her hands on.- It's amazing how bright they are.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08I imagine war clothing, because of regulations, to be dark and drab.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13No, I think the state was quite worried that people would hate it
0:17:13 > 0:17:17so they did their best to have different patterns and things like that.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23It's amazing to see first-hand just how inventive
0:17:23 > 0:17:27and resourceful people were in times of such austerity.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Putting clothes made of bedding to one side for a moment,
0:17:31 > 0:17:36I want to find out more about how Grace became the superstar she was in her day.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40So, the UK, was that a good place for Grace to be modelling after the war?
0:17:40 > 0:17:44After the war, it would have been. There were still regulations for everyone else,
0:17:44 > 0:17:50but the designers were made exempt from the regulations so they could make beautiful things for export
0:17:50 > 0:17:52so that money would come into the country.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57So, of course, they would have needed models to show these new fashions.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00It sounds as if Grace was in the right place at the right time.
0:18:00 > 0:18:06But what about the clothes she would have been wearing on the catwalks of America and Europe?
0:18:06 > 0:18:08From the silhouette,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12this would have been the kind of thing she would have modelled in 1946.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16This is another utility garment, so what she would have worn for a designer
0:18:16 > 0:18:18would probably have been a bit more luxurious.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21But it would have had these wide shoulders
0:18:21 > 0:18:25- and been quite straight, quite a boxy look.- Amazing detail on here.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Yeah, but also, this is a fake.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Because again, you have to not use that much fabric
0:18:33 > 0:18:36so you don't put in proper pockets, you just have sort of fake pockets.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41- Were the public happy with the new styles? - The big thing that changed was
0:18:41 > 0:18:45when Dior had his first fashion show on 12th February 1947
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and what he introduced was this new style, which you can see here.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52This is a beautiful suit by Hardy Amies,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55- one of the big designers in London. - I love it.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Yeah, I think you could wear this now.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02So this is much more detailed, you have different pockets,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05more of the detail here than on the others.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09You can see how much fabric these pleats would have needed.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12You couldn't have done that under austerity regulations.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Some people liked it, some people absolutely hated it.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19There were debates in the Commons about this, because it was using a lot of fabric.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23You can't really fight fashion. It was going up that way and there was nothing people could do.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26It appears Grace was walking the catwalks
0:19:26 > 0:19:28during a fashion revolution,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32and subsequently became one of the world's first supermodels.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Coming up - the team learn that Grace Woods was rich
0:19:41 > 0:19:44as well as famous.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47We've actually heard that the value of this estate
0:19:47 > 0:19:49is three times what my top hope was, really.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02Our next case today proves a real puzzle for the probate researchers,
0:20:02 > 0:20:08as the hunt for missing heirs leads to some of the darkest moments in 20th century history.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14Heir hunters can spend years trying to solve complex cases,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17but sometimes there's a reason why people's lives
0:20:17 > 0:20:19are shrouded in mystery.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23That was the story when one company looked for heirs
0:20:23 > 0:20:27for Leons Grinbergs. His friends and family knew surprisingly little
0:20:27 > 0:20:30of the dramatic events which had shaped his life.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Leons died in Seaford, West Sussex, in 2009,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38aged 83.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43He was a popular man who Paul Allery had known for over 30 years.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48When I first think of Leo, what I remember is his smile,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51his laugh, a pipe and a pint.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54I've never known him unhappy.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59No. Not in all my life. He's never been unhappy.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02He'd make you laugh.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Leons died without leaving a will,
0:21:04 > 0:21:09and his £13,000 estate was published on the Bona Vacantia list in 2009.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Thanks. Cheerio.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Hector Birchwood, who runs heir-hunting firm Celtic Research
0:21:17 > 0:21:21with his father Peter, began to investigate.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23We started the case when it was first advertised
0:21:23 > 0:21:25with the Treasury solicitor last year.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28We didn't get the death certificate immediately,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31but we had established a number of different facts
0:21:31 > 0:21:34by the time that we had the death certificate.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36We knew that he was married.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40We... Or at least I guessed that perhaps he may have been divorced
0:21:40 > 0:21:45and that there would have been some previous in-law family
0:21:45 > 0:21:48still residing here in the UK,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and so that then led us down a research avenue
0:21:51 > 0:21:55by which we could possibly maybe find the deceased's family.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Dawn Marian Moor was married to Leons Grinbergs.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04They met while she was working at Hastings railway station in 1972.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10When I met Leo, I had been separated from my husband
0:22:10 > 0:22:13for a few years,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and Leo was a great comfort to me.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19He was about 6'2",
0:22:19 > 0:22:22nicely-built,
0:22:22 > 0:22:23very nicely-built.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Always had a little goatee beard and moustache.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30Used to laugh at his own jokes.
0:22:30 > 0:22:36One of his best points was that he was very good to my children,
0:22:36 > 0:22:40and he was very reliable and loving.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43And handsome!
0:22:45 > 0:22:48At the time, Dawn was living with her 11-year-old son Paul,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52when Leons, or Leo as he was known, moved into the family home.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55I first met Leo when I was 11 years old,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59which would have been about 37 years ago.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02I thought, "What's this stranger doing in my house?"
0:23:02 > 0:23:05But literally within hours, I loved him straight away.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Lovely man.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Made me laugh. Made me feel much, much better.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Dawn and Leo got married in June 1975,
0:23:14 > 0:23:19and they settled into family life with Paul and his elder sisters.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22It was very good, you know, very happy.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Everybody jogged on fine, you know.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30It was like having Leo and I's family, you know,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33because he was really good with the kids.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Dawn and Leo decided to get divorced in 1983,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40but the split was amicable.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Paul always kept in touch with him, and if ever I saw him,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47because he moved to Seaford,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49we used to perhaps go for a drink together.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55No animosity. It was very good. Remained friends for a long time.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59As Dawn and Leo had divorced, she wasn't an heir to his estate.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Nor was stepson Paul, as he wasn't a blood relative.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06So if Hector was going to find any living relatives,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09he needed to look further into Leo's past.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11But that's where it would get tricky.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14He'd only tell you what he wanted you to know.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17He never elaborated on anything.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22It was as though he'd done it, he'd been there,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24and he wanted a fresh beginning.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28He had his private side, which he wouldn't talk about,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and we never worried about him, about it.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33If he'd wanted to talk about it, he could,
0:24:33 > 0:24:38but he kept himself to himself in that respect, his private life.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41In order to find heirs to Leo's estate,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46Hector would have to delve into his mysterious past.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49He was quickly able to establish that Leo was from Latvia,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and that he'd been born in 1926.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56But frustratingly, he couldn't find any other details of his birth.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Once you go to places in Eastern Europe,
0:24:59 > 0:25:04the former Soviet union, because of historical reasons,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07namely lots of armies conquering back and forth
0:25:07 > 0:25:09and destroying records in churches,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13you begin to see that there's real trouble
0:25:13 > 0:25:15in being able to get any form of record
0:25:15 > 0:25:18to prove that somebody's related to another person.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24And trying to find records in Latvia was especially difficult.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28In 1939, the country was turned upside down
0:25:28 > 0:25:31when Russian troops invaded and seized control.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Within a one-week period,
0:25:34 > 0:25:39around 15,000 Latvians were given 24 hours' notice
0:25:39 > 0:25:41to collect 100 kilograms of their possessions.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43They weren't allowed to take any more.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46They were then taken to the main railway stations.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Families were split into men and women and children,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and they were transported to Siberia.
0:25:51 > 0:25:5513-year-old Leo was lucky to avoid this fate.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58But like the rest of the Latvian population,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01he was now at the mercy of violent Russian oppressors.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03CANNON BOOMS
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Salvation seemed to come two years later
0:26:07 > 0:26:11when German troops arrived in Latvia and forced the Russians out.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18Initially, a lot of the Latvians welcomed them on the street,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20with flowers in some cases,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24because they were seen as at least not being as bad as the Soviets.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26But their relief was short-lived.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31The arrival of the Nazis brought a new threat to many Latvian people,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and one which would directly affect Leo, who was half-Jewish.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Very soon the Nazis set up ghettos and concentration camps
0:26:39 > 0:26:41for the Latvian Jews.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44In Latvia, there were around 90,000 to 95,000 Jews,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48about 90%of which died by the end of the war.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Sarmite Janovskis was a young girl
0:26:51 > 0:26:56living in the Latvian capital city in 1941.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Jewish ghettos in Riga were terrible. They were rounded up.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02You weren't allowed to give them a piece of bread.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06You did that on the quiet, but not while they were in the road.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10You couldn't do anything, and it must have been awful.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15They had lived there all their lives,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17a peaceful, normal life.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21And I suppose the only place they could run
0:27:21 > 0:27:24was Sweden, but there was no way to get there.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29If they ran to Germany, they would have run into fire.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32The same into Poland or Lithuania,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Russia, everything. They had nowhere to run,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40and they were very quickly rounded up and shot, and it was terrible.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47As a young Jew, Leo was in imminent danger.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50And his ex-wife Dawn remembers a rare revelation
0:27:50 > 0:27:53about this period in his life.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59Leo one day sort of sat down, and, talking about the past,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02he told me that...um...
0:28:02 > 0:28:04he had to leave Riga
0:28:04 > 0:28:07when he was 15, because...
0:28:07 > 0:28:11the Jewish part of his family - his father was a Jew -
0:28:11 > 0:28:14he feels his parents were murdered anyway,
0:28:14 > 0:28:21and his only escape was to make way to a different country to survive.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24It took him two years to get to Switzerland,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27by sleeping during the day,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29travelling at night,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32surviving on whatever he could...
0:28:32 > 0:28:38um...which made him, today, not leave anything on his plate
0:28:38 > 0:28:41because he'd suffered so much hunger in those days.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45But it took him two years to get to Switzerland.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49The news of Leo's extraordinary wartime journey
0:28:49 > 0:28:52and the loss of his parents explained a lot to Dawn.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54I think it was so traumatic for him
0:28:54 > 0:29:01that each episode of his life he shuts away,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05and doesn't want to relive it.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08And I think that's the secret of his life.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10That's why he was a loner,
0:29:10 > 0:29:16you know, and didn't divulge very much to anybody.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18But was Leo hiding a secret
0:29:18 > 0:29:22that would help the heir hunters find relatives who could inherit his estate?
0:29:22 > 0:29:25They'd been able to establish that after the war ended,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Leo somehow made his way to a military hospital near Cologne.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33From here, records show Leo was moved
0:29:33 > 0:29:36to a displaced-persons' camp in Western Europe.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41These camps housed 150,000 Latvian refugees,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45who'd fled their country when it fell under the Iron Curtain.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Hundreds of camps formed in Germany,
0:29:47 > 0:29:52both in the English zone and in the American zone,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56and as soon as the camps opened, we started forming schools
0:29:56 > 0:29:58and choirs and our own social life,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and life was very, very difficult.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04The Latvians were free to leave the camps,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08but with little prospect of jobs, they survived on rations,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and in sometimes squalid conditions.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13We were seven in a room,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16with one tap to about 16 families.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21The toilets weren't usable. They were full of...
0:30:21 > 0:30:23faeces and worms.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Maggots!
0:30:25 > 0:30:28But there were always the woods.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29Yes.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Yes. It was...
0:30:31 > 0:30:35That part of my life was horrible.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40No-one seems to know what happened to Leo when he left the displaced-persons' camp.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44But his stepson Paul was about to make a dramatic revelation.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49He believed that Leon had an illegitimate daughter.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03and millions of pounds are paid out to rightful heirs.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05But not every case can be cracked.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08The Treasury has a database of over 2,000 names
0:31:08 > 0:31:12that have baffled the heir hunters and remain unsolved.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15This is known as the Bona Vacantia list.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Bona Vacantia is Latin for "ownerless goods".
0:31:18 > 0:31:20And we deal with the estates of people
0:31:20 > 0:31:24who die intestate and without known kin.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28And this unclaimed money could belong to you, not the Government,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31but you'll have to show them you're the rightful heir.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34If they write to us enclosing a simple family tree,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37just showing how they're actually related to the deceased person,
0:31:37 > 0:31:42then we can have a look at it, make sure we're talking about the same family,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46before we go off and ask them to supply various certificates
0:31:46 > 0:31:49of birth, death and marriage
0:31:49 > 0:31:51to actually substantiate the claim.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55The estate could be worth as little as a few hundred pounds
0:31:55 > 0:31:57or as much as many millions.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Today we're focussing on three names from the list.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Are they relatives of yours?
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:32:05 > 0:32:10Edna Youle died in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, in September 2006.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13The surname Youle is medieval,
0:32:13 > 0:32:18and was traditionally taken by people born on Christmas day.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23Did you know Edna? So far, all efforts to trace her entitled relatives have failed.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Did you know Robert William Walker-Hesp?
0:32:28 > 0:32:33He died on the 7th of October 2008 in Bideford, Devon.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38Do you recognise Robert's distinctive double-barrelled surname?
0:32:38 > 0:32:40Can you help solve this case?
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Also on our list is John Francis Christopher Fleming,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49who died in Coventry on the 4th of August 2006.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52The name Fleming is commonly associated
0:32:52 > 0:32:55with people from Flanders.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57Was John a friend or neighbour or yours?
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Someone out there must remember him.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03But these estates won't be around for ever.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06It'll stay on the list as long as it's claimable.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Actually, under the Limitation Act,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12people have 12 years to come forward and claim.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15A reminder of those names again.
0:33:15 > 0:33:21Edna Youle, Robert Walker-Hesp, and John Christopher Fleming.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23So if you're a relative of someone on today's list,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35Still to come - the heir hunters know about Grace Woods' fame,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37but what about her fortune?
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Now, though, it's back to the difficult search for heirs
0:33:40 > 0:33:45to the estate of Latvian exile Leons Grinbergs.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48'Later, I've some more news about the case.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:52- So do you have any updates for us? - Well, I do have some updates.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55But first, it's back to the investigation.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58The heir hunters at Celtic Research
0:33:58 > 0:34:01have been looking into Leon's case.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04He was born in Eastern Europe, and died in West Sussex,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07leaving an estate worth around £13,000.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12But uncovering the tracks of someone who wanted their past left behind was proving very difficult.
0:34:14 > 0:34:20A lot of people who left Latvia they live in the past,
0:34:20 > 0:34:24and they think of what was in Latvia,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28but they can't tell people in England about it
0:34:28 > 0:34:31because they wouldn't understand. It was a different world.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34And the war experiences -
0:34:34 > 0:34:37I mean, they were just so horrendous.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42I think they like to bury them.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44After the Second World War,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46the only evidence of what happened to Leo next
0:34:46 > 0:34:51are photographs which show him living in North America.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55I would think, obviously, in Canada.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58It looks like he's studying for something.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00These are the sort of things I wish he'd told me about.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02What was he, 25, 30?
0:35:07 > 0:35:11What was he doing and why?
0:35:11 > 0:35:14In 1947, Canada adopted emergency measures
0:35:14 > 0:35:18to assist the resettlement of refugees,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20many of whom were from Eastern Europe.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23It's likely Leo was part of this programme.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28After 1945, 150,000 Latvian refugees were unable to return home,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31because Latvia was controlled by the Soviet Union until 1991.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35The majority of the Latvian refugees moved to North America,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37to the United States and to Canada.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Toronto has one of the largest Latvian communities,
0:35:41 > 0:35:45and is the second-largest Latvian city outside of Latvia.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51But none of these movements were making Hector's task of finding an heir any easier.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55The only tangible record that we have
0:35:55 > 0:35:59is the Merchant Marine record that we have for Leon,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03which states that he was here first in 1953.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08We don't have any records of Leon having resided in Canada,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10or coming back and forth from Canada,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14or having any form of family
0:36:14 > 0:36:19that you could say was related to him in Canada,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21so it's...
0:36:21 > 0:36:23It really has led nowhere.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27So they were left with a black hole in Leo's life.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30For a period of almost ten years,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33the heir hunters had no idea of Leo's whereabouts,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35or what was going on in his personal life.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39And then stepson Paul dropped a bombshell.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43The last tantalising clue that we got from Paul
0:36:43 > 0:36:48is that he believed that Leon had an illegitimate daughter,
0:36:48 > 0:36:52that during his travels to and from Canada
0:36:52 > 0:36:55as a Merchant Marine man,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57he'd fathered a girl.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01Perhaps she resides in Canada, speculatively.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06Shortly after Leo passed away, the council got in touch with me
0:37:06 > 0:37:09and left me all his personal possessions,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13and I was pretty much talking to my mother,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15and we were going through things,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19and she just suddenly says, like, "Oh, he had a daughter in Canada."
0:37:19 > 0:37:24I thought, "What's this?" I didn't know anything about this.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28He paid for her college, I believe.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31He mentioned paying for her college.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34But that's all he said about his daughter.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38I think his past... He didn't want to dwell on it.
0:37:38 > 0:37:44Leo's daughter is likely to be the sole heir to his £13,000 estate.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47But in order to find her, they need his name on the birth certificate.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50For us, it's exceptionally hard
0:37:50 > 0:37:52to try and find that needle in a haystack
0:37:52 > 0:37:56without knowing a name. If somebody's born illegitimately,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00normally they would take on their mother's surname,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03so without knowing who the relationship was with,
0:38:03 > 0:38:05or where it even took place,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09we have no way of being able to find out who this person is.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12The ongoing search for Leo's daughter
0:38:12 > 0:38:15is being championed by his stepson Paul.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17Well, I know I'm not entitled to anything,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19and because he died intestate,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23I thought I didn't want his money going to the Government.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25I'll try my damnedest, if he has got a daughter,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27to make sure it goes to her.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Despite searching every record available to him,
0:38:30 > 0:38:34Hector has so far been unable locate any trace of Leo's missing daughter,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37who may be in Canada, or even in the UK.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Without having the luxury of a birth certificate
0:38:41 > 0:38:44or a baptismal record,
0:38:44 > 0:38:49or the name of a potential illegitimate daughter,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53or even the name of the person with whom he may have had a relationship
0:38:53 > 0:38:55and then had an illegitimate daughter,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58it really leaves us in a very difficult spot,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01and, on the face of it,
0:39:01 > 0:39:06I don't really think that there's any resolution to this case,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10so eventually the Crown will be quite happy
0:39:10 > 0:39:13to obtain the deceased's assets,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17and this will all go to Her Majesty's Government.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24But Paul hasn't given up hope of finding his stepsister,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Leo's long-lost daughter.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30I think Leo would have wanted me to do it.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32He would have liked me to do it.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Last thing I can do for him.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Are you Leo's daughter, or do you know someone that could be?
0:39:43 > 0:39:49Do you hold the key to solving this £13,000 case?
0:39:52 > 0:39:55'Well, there's been a dramatic twist in the hunt for Leon's heirs.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00'I've come to London to meet heir hunter Hector Birchwood and Leon's stepson Paul.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04'Both men have been working for years to solve the riddle of Leon's life.'
0:40:06 > 0:40:10- Paul, it's lovely to meet you. - Lovely to meet you.- Thank you.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13- You're obviously really fond of Leon?- Yeah.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19- Terribly.- And what are your favourite memories of him? - Hmm, good Lord, loads.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22I suppose when I first met him, he used to look after me,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24treat me well...
0:40:24 > 0:40:27When I left school he got me my first job.
0:40:27 > 0:40:33- And taking me to the pub. - So, Hector, I'm glad you could join us.- Pleasure.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Did you know from the start this was going to be a difficult case?
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Yes, I knew it was going to be very hard.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43There were a number of reasons why this case was going to be hard from the outset.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Latvia, because of its history, has had a number of its records destroyed.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50So we knew that even if we found anyone,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53it would have been very difficult to document any form of claim.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56We've not had a lot of success in Latvia before.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59And in addition to that,
0:40:59 > 0:41:05we could not find a birth for Leon where he said he was.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09So the initial research that we did
0:41:09 > 0:41:12didn't prove very fruitful at all.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15And it was at that point that I decided to research
0:41:15 > 0:41:19in the family that Leon married into.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21That's when I contacted Paul.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23And Paul was himself doing a lot of research,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26trying to find Leon's family.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28So we effectively traded information.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32He gave me papers that he had in his possession and I gave him
0:41:32 > 0:41:35papers that I had found in the National Archives.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38We traded information, we put it all together,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and we still didn't really get anywhere!
0:41:41 > 0:41:46'Hector's main problem in this case was trying to locate the potential illegitimate daughter.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51'It had been suggested Leons had her whilst living abroad.'
0:41:51 > 0:41:53So where did the trail ran cold?
0:41:53 > 0:41:59Well, the trail ran cold in Canada, because, as you knew,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03he came to the UK as a Merchant Mariner.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07So we thought that perhaps maybe he had a daughter there,
0:42:07 > 0:42:08and that was our idea.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13- You gave me pictures of Leon in his time in Canada. - Canada, that's right.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16He was a young man, so we thought perhaps maybe
0:42:16 > 0:42:19he might have had an illegitimate child there.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22We got some help from the Latvian community in Canada
0:42:22 > 0:42:27and we managed to trace down the daughter of his landlord
0:42:27 > 0:42:30- who rented his apartment.- Good Lord.
0:42:30 > 0:42:35Sadly, no-one could confirm, A, he had any relationship,
0:42:35 > 0:42:40and B, and he had any daughter. No-one knew of any daughter, no-one knew of any children.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46So it seems unlikely that Leons did have a daughter after all.'
0:42:47 > 0:42:51So, Hector, have you got an update for us?
0:42:51 > 0:42:56Well, I do have some updates. We managed to find...
0:42:56 > 0:43:01a farmhouse, which is where Leon was born.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03Strewth!
0:43:03 > 0:43:07The farmland - we found his family still reside there.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09You're joking?
0:43:11 > 0:43:12Good Lord.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19- How do you feel?- Shocked.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21I wasn't expecting that at all.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26We found the descendants of a paternal aunt of the deceased.
0:43:26 > 0:43:32Anna Grinbergs. She was the sister of his father Fricis.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Fricis Grinbergs.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38She died in the late 1970s.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41She was born in 1894.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Two years younger than his father.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48And she had two children - Krishus and Ilma -
0:43:48 > 0:43:51both of whom married and are now deceased.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53And so we found their children -
0:43:53 > 0:43:57one of them who is still living in the farmhouse Where Leons was born.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02- I really wasn't expecting it. - It's really amazing.- Fantastic.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06So all those years, a good few years of working this case,
0:44:06 > 0:44:08but finally Hector has cracked it.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11- Have you been in touch with them? - Yes, yes.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15We've been in touch, we've submitted their claim, it's been accepted,
0:44:15 > 0:44:19and the money will be distributed actually this week.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24- Oh, result.- Fantastic news. - What a result.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27- Well done.- Thank you. - Cor, absolutely fantastic.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Wait till I tell everybody.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36I think it's so lovely that you've been trying to find out
0:44:36 > 0:44:38- and working so hard to crack this... - Yeah.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41If it wasn't for Hector,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44I would have got nowhere. I was just going round and round in circles.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48By the way, they did confirm he didn't have any daughter either,
0:44:48 > 0:44:50I did ask!
0:44:50 > 0:44:53- So where that came from... - I don't know.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56At least we haven't been able to verify that.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01So, Paul, where would you like to go from here, would you like to get in touch with the heirs?
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Now I know, I would love to,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08if Hector would be good enough to give them their address.
0:45:08 > 0:45:14- If I could meet her, better still.- A whole new journey to go on.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17And after it's all over with. I just can't wait.
0:45:17 > 0:45:22One chapter comes to an end in the hunt for Leon's rightful heirs.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26But another begins in reuniting his long-lost family
0:45:26 > 0:45:30and it's all thanks to the heir hunters.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38Now, do you have long-lost family? Here's some more names of unclaimed estates
0:45:38 > 0:45:41from the Treasury Solicitor's list.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44Could you be in line for a forgotten fortune?
0:45:44 > 0:45:45The list of unclaimed estates
0:45:45 > 0:45:49is money that is owed to members of the public
0:45:49 > 0:45:52and new names are added all the time.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56The unclaimed list is a list of cases that we haven't found kin for.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59The list goes back to 1997
0:45:59 > 0:46:02because that's when our case management system came on line.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05The idea is to produce a list of all those solvent cases
0:46:05 > 0:46:09so there should be a few pounds in there, possibly many thousands.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13So how is the Bona Vacantia Division working on your behalf?
0:46:13 > 0:46:17The Bona Vacantia Division doesn't employ genealogists or agents
0:46:17 > 0:46:21we work very hard to find kin ourselves. We advertise in local and national newspapers
0:46:21 > 0:46:25and ultimately put the names on our website.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28Do the names on the list mean anything to you?
0:46:28 > 0:46:30Could they be relatives of yours?
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Christopher Michael O'Riordan died in Fulham, London,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39on 18th August 2010.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41O'Riordan is a Celtic Irish name
0:46:41 > 0:46:46and originally derived from words meaning Royal poet.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Do you remember Christopher, does his Irish surname ring a bell with you?
0:46:50 > 0:46:56Alexander Clark Molyneux died in Corby on 3rd August 2010.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00The name Molyneux derives from Moulins,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04a town on the River Allier in France, famous for its water mills.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06Moulin is the French for mill.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10Were you a friend or neighbour of Alexander's?
0:47:10 > 0:47:14So far, all efforts to find his heirs have drawn a blank.
0:47:14 > 0:47:19John Samuel Earnshaw died on 11th October 1997
0:47:19 > 0:47:22in the district hospital in York.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25I've got John's death certificate here
0:47:25 > 0:47:30and it shows he used to work in a canteen. Did you used to work in a kitchen or a cafe in the York area
0:47:30 > 0:47:32and maybe know a John Earnshaw?
0:47:32 > 0:47:35Maybe you could crack this case.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37The death certificate also shows
0:47:37 > 0:47:42that John was born on 26 December 1919 in Putney, London.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Were you part of the Earnshaw family living in a Putney at that time?
0:47:45 > 0:47:48A reminder of those names again.
0:47:48 > 0:47:54Christopher O'Riordan, Alexander Molyneux and John Earnshaw.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58If today's names are relatives of yours, you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Finally today, let's rejoin the heir hunters
0:48:06 > 0:48:10as they search for heirs to the estate of former model, Grace Woods.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14The team are investigating Grace's case.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17She died in Oxford in 2009 without leaving a will
0:48:17 > 0:48:21and her name was advertised on the Treasury Solicitor's list.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27But one wrong step in their search has sent that team wildly off course.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32I've made a mistake on this case and run with the birth in 1908
0:48:32 > 0:48:36and it looks as though the birth is in 1920.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Knowing that Grace was a famous model,
0:48:38 > 0:48:43the team is now working flat out to find relatives for the 1920 birth.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Trawling through records, they make another exciting discovery.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Apparently she went over to the US of A.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54It seems Grace Woods was so sought after as a model,
0:48:54 > 0:48:59she travelled to America on the Queen Elizabeth in 1946.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02There she is... A mannequin.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Let's get stuff in on priority on that
0:49:06 > 0:49:09because there could be value on this.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13The team is now certain it's an estate worth working.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16We have a little bit of information which is from a shipping record
0:49:16 > 0:49:20where the deceased is travelling to America in a first class cabin.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22That first class cabin is on the Queen Elizabeth,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25which is a very, very luxury liner.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30Certainly a very expensive cabin to be travelling to America on.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33So indications like that sort of gear us to the line
0:49:33 > 0:49:37that we're dealing with a person who certainly had wealth at one stage.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40In fact, Grace Woods wasn't just any model
0:49:40 > 0:49:43but Britain's top model after the war.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47Now for British mannequins going to the States,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Georgie Clifford, Grace Woods, Jane Lynch...
0:49:50 > 0:49:54in 1946, she led a team of models on a famous trip
0:49:54 > 0:49:57which showcased British style in America.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00The tour was set up by Grace's modelling agency.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04The trip of the mannequins to New York
0:50:04 > 0:50:09was a very important part of Lucy Clayton's involvement.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12She saw on opportunity to take her girls over
0:50:12 > 0:50:15as ambassadors for British fashion.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17The idea of this glamorous Englishwoman
0:50:17 > 0:50:21travelling abroad with her girls, hand selected,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24brought immediate American media attention.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28Grace's glamorous look was so in vogue,
0:50:28 > 0:50:31it made her the British supermodel of her day.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34I think the English market was very influenced
0:50:34 > 0:50:38by Hollywood in the 1930s.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41If we think of those wonderful 1930s movies
0:50:41 > 0:50:43that were coming out of Hollywood,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46it was the beginning of platinum blonde,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50it was the beginning of quite curvy women.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Records show that all of Lucie Clayton's original models
0:50:54 > 0:50:58had a life-changing experience when she scouted them out.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00I should imagine she loved every moment of it.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06At the office, the race is now on
0:51:06 > 0:51:08to find heirs to the estate ahead of the competition.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11We know it's about £5,000.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15Our indication is we think it may be up to about £20,000 or £30,000
0:51:15 > 0:51:17or possibly higher.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20We've done a lot more digging into this life.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23The team now believes Grace was born
0:51:23 > 0:51:25to William John Cooke and Gertrude Johnson
0:51:25 > 0:51:30and they're hoping the 1911 census will reveal her wider family.
0:51:30 > 0:51:35Johnson and Cooke is a surname that's difficult for us
0:51:35 > 0:51:37because it's hard to identify.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40It's a case of putting the name in and seeing if we come up lucky
0:51:40 > 0:51:42but it doesn't seem to be happening.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45The team urgently needs to find a marriage certificate
0:51:45 > 0:51:48that will identify the right parents.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52- Anything you can get would be most appreciated.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54Birmingham based researcher Paul Matthews
0:51:54 > 0:51:57is sent to nearby West Bromwich to get the proof.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02- Can we have that marriage, please? - Of course.- In 1919.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07Can we have it on the express service? I know there's an extra charge, but that's fine.
0:52:07 > 0:52:08OK. No problem, sir.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12If it's held here, the certificate will be a vital link
0:52:12 > 0:52:14that will speed up the heir hunt.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19OK. Thank you very much indeed. I suppose you want my money as well.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21Thank you very much.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25This is the marriage of the deceased's parents.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30The mother was Gertrude Johnson and the dad was William John Cook.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34He was 29, she was 22. Bachelor to spinster.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Um... Yeah. Everything fits into place,
0:52:39 > 0:52:45so all we've got to do now is find Gertrude's brothers and sisters.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48At the office, the team's now making progress
0:52:48 > 0:52:52finding heirs through Grace's mother, Gertrude Johnson.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54There were seven children born,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57so the deceased's mother had six siblings.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01They're finally starting to build an accurate family tree.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08The team's got names of Grace's six aunts and uncles.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12If they have living descendants, they'll be heirs.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16We're making good progress. The tree's gone from a single page
0:53:16 > 0:53:20out to five, six pages long. We've come down at least one generation.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22We're dealing with cousins of the deceased.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26One of Grace's uncles, Thomas Richard Johnson,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29married an Amy, and the couple lived in Birmingham.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Paul Matthews is sent to another register office
0:53:34 > 0:53:38to find out if Thomas and Amy have any living descendants,
0:53:38 > 0:53:40who would be heirs.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45We've now got the deaths of Richard Johnson, an uncle of the deceased,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48but the actual informant on the second death,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51which was Amy,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53in 1971...
0:53:53 > 0:53:56The informant was an Elizabeth Millicent Hill.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00Elizabeth Millicent was actually Thomas and Amy's daughter,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03and Grace's cousin. Elizabeth died in 1991,
0:54:03 > 0:54:08but she had two children, a son called Martin and a daughter Sharron.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12Paul's managed to find an address for Sharron in nearby Solihull.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17She would have been born 1947, so she's retirement age,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20so hopefully she'll be in and we can get a hold of her,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23and tell her all about this and get her signed up.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28The team have invested many man-hours into this case,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32and it looks like they've finally found their first heir.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34The pressure's now on Paul to sign her up
0:54:34 > 0:54:36ahead of the competition.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Good afternoon. Paul Matthews, Fraser & Fraser.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46Basically it's an estate we're dealing with,
0:54:46 > 0:54:48coming down through your late mother.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52- We think you're entitled. Can you spare me half an hour?- Certainly.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54OK, that's great. Thank you very much indeed.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00A visit from the heir hunters has taken Sharron by surprise.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04I bet you never thought we'd knock on your door!
0:55:04 > 0:55:08I didn't! None of our relatives have had any money. Most of them have died paupers.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11We don't know the value. You might get a few bob out of it.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Well, you know, even 50 pence is better than nothing.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Paul needs to make sure that Sharron is, in fact,
0:55:17 > 0:55:20Grace Woods' first cousin once removed
0:55:20 > 0:55:22before she can make a claim.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Right. Your dad's forenames.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26- My father?- Yeah.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30William Charles Kendall.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Luckily, Sharron's able to provide the names of her relatives
0:55:33 > 0:55:37to help the heir hunt, and she recalls her distant cousin.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40- Was she very famous, or... - I think so.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44I don't know whether they used to call her Grace Darling
0:55:44 > 0:55:48or something like that, because she was a darling of Vogue magazine.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Sharron signs with the company, and in return for an agreed percentage,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55they'll help her claim her share of Grace's estate,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58currently estimated at £30,000.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03First heir signed up. No sign of any competition so far,
0:56:03 > 0:56:06so obviously they all think there's no value to it,
0:56:06 > 0:56:10but we hope that our educated guesswork
0:56:10 > 0:56:14is...is correct.
0:56:16 > 0:56:22A few weeks later, the heir hunters learn their hard work and the gamble have paid off.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25A sample claim has been accepted by the Treasury solicitor,
0:56:25 > 0:56:30and it's only at this time we get to find the real value of the estate.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34We were hoping for a value of between £30,000 and £50,000.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37Fingers crossed, it may have been a bit more.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39We've actually heard that the value of this estate
0:56:39 > 0:56:45is 153,000, so three times what my top hope was, really.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48It's a substantial estate,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52and in total it will be shared amongst 18 heirs.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54That was the car he had when we were there.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58For Sharron and her brother Martin, who's also an heir,
0:56:58 > 0:57:01the experience has stirred up memories of their famous relative.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06The last time I saw Grace, I think I was about seven years old.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09I remember her coming to my grandmother's house,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11and being in the lounge,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14but I can remember looking at her, thinking how beautiful she was.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16I mean, I was in awe of her,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19because she wore the most beautiful clothes,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23and she was absolutely beautiful, and I made my mind up
0:57:23 > 0:57:24I wanted to be a fashion model, too.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30Martin also recalls that Grace had suffered from an illness.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33I was told that during the war,
0:57:33 > 0:57:35she'd had TB of the throat,
0:57:35 > 0:57:39and she had to have an operation to have the windpipe removed
0:57:39 > 0:57:43and replaced with a stainless-steel tube. When I saw her last,
0:57:43 > 0:57:46she had a big necklace round, hiding her throat part.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49In fact, Grace contracted TB
0:57:49 > 0:57:51while she was on her famous trip to New York.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55She was gravely ill, and although she recovered,
0:57:55 > 0:57:58it seems the tracheotomy put paid to her illustrious career.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03But for those who knew her, she remains an inspirational figure.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06She was just a sweet lady, and she WAS a lady.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10You couldn't say she was a woman. She was a lady. She was elegant.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15The thing that pleased me most was,
0:58:15 > 0:58:19when she was telling me about her happy days as a model,
0:58:19 > 0:58:22and, um,
0:58:22 > 0:58:25to reminisce about those days,
0:58:25 > 0:58:28I could see the pleasure in her face,
0:58:28 > 0:58:32and the happiness it gave her to reflect on.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:42 > 0:58:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk