Bennett/Willey Heir Hunters


Bennett/Willey

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The Heir Hunters have taken on a mystery case in Birmingham and are on the hunt for some heirs.

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Hopefully, all will be revealed. Watch this space.

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They're looking for long-lost relatives who have no idea they could be in line for a windfall.

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Today on Heir Hunters, the team investigate a former member of the Pioneer Corps

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and the mystery of his past life.

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He had a picture of his wife and there was a girl of about 10. He couldn't remember who she was.

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And how an investigation of a Grimsby family

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revealed glamorous origins.

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Due to a huge increase in Grimsby's population,

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there would have been a big need for actresses and singers.

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And plenty of backbone.

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They would do anything to harden their hands up, such as soaking them in methylated spirits.

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Plus how you could be entitled to unclaimed estates where heirs still need to be found.

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Could you be in line for a cash pay-out?

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Every year in the UK, it's estimated that over 300,000 people die without leaving a will.

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If no relatives are found, any money that's left behind will go to the Government.

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Last year, that was a staggering £14 million.

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There are over 30 specialist firms competing to stop this happening.

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They're the Heir Hunters and they make it their business to track down missing relatives

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-and help them claim their rightful inheritance.

-It's about reuniting people with what's theirs.

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That's a real good feeling.

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It's early doors in London.

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7am to be exact. In the offices of Fraser and Fraser,

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partner Neil Fraser is going through the Treasury list.

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Right. Council...in West Sussex.

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Housing Association, Suffolk. Croydon...

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He's looking for estates where the deceased owned property in the hope of a higher value,

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but it's slim pickings today and they struggle to find anything.

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-There's not much on the list.

-Thanks.

-Case manager Dave Slee has taken on a low-value estate.

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William James Bennett, the deceased, died in September 2009.

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Because the death is a few years old, we have the records.

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He was born in West Bromwich in 1923.

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William Bennett was 86 when he passed away.

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He had been living for some time in this council-funded care home in West Bromwich.

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The staff knew him as Bill. Ena Wright was his care assistant and remembers him fondly.

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He was very respectful. If there was ladies present, he'd open the door and say, "Where do you want to go?"

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"The office is up there," he'd say and they'd toddle off. "I'll be all right now, love."

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To Ena, William could be a breath of fresh air.

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A lovable person. Black Country through and through.

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What you see is what you get. That was it.

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"That's mine or that's you'n," he'd say. "That ain't you'n, it's mine." That's the way he was.

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He was a real special person in his own little way.

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He may have been a charmer, but he had a stubborn streak.

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Senior carer Dawn Jones knew his ways.

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He did like attention. If you gave him five minutes, he was happy.

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And then he would trot off.

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'But you would always know if you didn't give him five minutes.'

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The staff would say, "Bill's on the floor again." He'd put himself down and pretend he'd passed out.

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We got the paramedics out and then we were banned because he'd done it so often!

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William was suffering from dementia and didn't appear to have family,

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-but he often mentioned a woman's name.

-"That's my Mary." He always referred to her as "my Mary".

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That was it. He never did say anything about anybody else.

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Just his Mary.

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But in all the 10 years he was at the care home, no one ever came to visit him.

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It hurts in a way that he didn't have any visitors.

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But we don't know the circumstances, we don't know what's happened.

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It may have been Bill's choice that he didn't see his family.

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As staff at the care home couldn't trace his family when he died, his name went on the Treasury list.

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And that's where the Heir Hunters picked up the case.

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At this stage, they don't know anything about William, other than his date and place of death.

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They suspect there's no property involved, so this could be a low-value estate.

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It's possible he had some savings.

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The minimum amount to make it onto the Treasury list is £5,000.

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So is it worth it or not?

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Heir Hunters work on commission, taking a percentage of the money received by each heir they sign.

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They need a good-sized estate to cover costs.

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It looks like the case of William Bennett could be challenging.

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Bennett's an incredibly common surname and we have more than one William J Bennett in West Bromwich

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in that time.

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Working backwards from the death certificate, Dave has instructed researcher Emily

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to draw up a family tree.

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-A sub-tree.

-A baby tree?

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To Heir Hunters, family trees are vital guides for navigating the sprawling threads

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that tie families together.

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They follow generations until they uncover the rightful heirs.

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I think you picked the right ones.

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Emily found that William's parents' last names were Bennett and Jones.

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At this stage they don't have their first names.

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In order to find them, they have to try to locate the correct records in Birmingham,

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but that's not going to be easy.

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So here we have the name Bennett. Bad enough in its own right.

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With the mother's maiden name Jones.

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Especially in the West Midlands, lots of people from Wales moved over there for work.

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So you have a lot of people with Welsh surnames in the West Midlands.

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We've got a number of Bennetts marrying Jones.

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That's the difficulty when we're dealing with common surnames in large urban areas.

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While searching for William's parents, Emily has made a significant discovery.

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She has found records that prove William was married to a woman called Mary in the '40s and '50s.

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Could this be the Mary that he spoke of so fondly in the care home?

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According to their research, the couple were divorced, but did they have children?

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The Heir Hunters don't think so. They think William's parents and their offspring hold the key.

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How many other marriages are there that are Bennett to Jones in West Brom at that time?

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But there is another way to locate the parents.

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If Dave can find possible siblings, they might find the parents' names from their birth records.

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So anything between 1918 and 1923, in theory, has got to be our man.

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There are a few options and one leapt out.

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We found the birth of a Thirza Bennett, mother's maiden name Jones.

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It's a vital lead. Thirza is a very rare name

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and, incredibly, this Thirza's mother was also called Thirza.

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Same name, same mother's maiden name, same district.

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The dates are right, so Dave is willing to take the risk that this may be William's mother and sister.

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On that basis, he finds a marriage for Frederick Bennett to a Thirza Jones.

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Have they got the right family?

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-A good old biblical name.

-Is it?

-Thirza.

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The Thirza Bennett they think is William's sister was born in 1919.

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She's still alive and researcher Emily has traced a number.

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But this could be a difficult call.

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Breaking the news that a brother has passed away is never easy

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and Dave is hoping that it won't be too much of a shock.

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She is in her 90s so...

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Oh, well. Let's take the bull by the horns.

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If Thirza is in, she could provide the key that unlocks the family tree,

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but it seems no one's home.

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We'll try her again later on. She might even be able to say, "No, I did have a brother William,

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"but it's not your man," and we can eliminate that.

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Otherwise, we think this is the sister of the deceased.

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While Dave's been on the phone, Emily has found another family name passed down the generations.

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We decided to stick to family names and due to the amount of births one of those happens to be Leonard,

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who, on the 1911 Census, with Thirza Jones as the mother,

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there is also a Leonard Jones.

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So...

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Uncle of the deceased called Leonard, possible brother of the deceased called Leonard.

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Emily is making good progress, but only if her hunch about the family names is right.

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They really need to speak to Thirza, the woman they believe is William's sister, to confirm the tree.

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I'm flagging.

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But after the fourth phone call, Dave's ready to give up.

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But once again Emily's saved the day with another number.

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We've just found a niece of the deceased.

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Dave's just about to speak to her. Very exciting.

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The woman they hope to speak to is the daughter of Thirza.

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Hello. Good afternoon. Very sorry to trouble you. I'm trying to...

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Coincidentally, this woman is also called Thirza. She's not in, but her husband is.

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Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.

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Right. Where are we?

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Have we got the right family?

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-Coming up:

-Don't throw things at me!

-Are the Heir Hunters in for a shock?

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This has put the cat amongst the pigeons. It's a bit worrying.

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All the work could be for nothing.

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And did William have something buried in his past?

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His photographs were all we had to go on. Really that is all we had.

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He'd cry and get upset if you tried to dig any further.

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All families change over time. Family members move about and they lose touch.

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With each new generation, connections could be forgotten.

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In the hunt for heirs, researchers often uncover family secrets

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that have fallen through the cracks of history and bring families back together.

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For Hull-based Anna Dunn of DS Researchers, it's a rewarding part of the job.

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For me, it's the joy of a family puzzle, fitting all the pieces together.

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And when Anna took on the case of Peter Willey, she knew this puzzle would be a challenge.

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Peter Wallace Willey died on 28th November, 2008,

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in the seaside community of Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. He was 78 years old.

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No photos of Peter survive, but Peter Croft of the bowling club knew him as a talented bowler.

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He was a very, very good player. Very quiet. Very soft-spoken.

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Loved the game. He was a man of about my build, possibly a little shorter.

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And at that time certainly a little lighter.

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He was bald and always wore a white hat.

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That was his trademark. Wherever he went, he wore that hat.

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A great character, great bowler. We loved him.

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Peter came to his bowling club as regular as clockwork,

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but always kept himself to himself.

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But his teammate was able to glean bits and pieces of information.

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Peter lived with his aunt. When he was young, he trained as a confectioner.

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And then later on he worked for the Docks Board.

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After retiring from his work as the foreman in stores on the docks,

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Peter lived on a modest income in this rented flat.

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When he died, he left an estate of £42,000 in cash, but he hadn't written a will.

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Up in Hull, Anna was scanning the Treasury list when his name caught her eye.

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The Peter Willey case came from the Bona Vacantia list.

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He had died in Cleethorpes, one of the areas that we cover.

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Anna and her team focus most of their heir hunts on the northern counties.

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And Cleethorpes is close to home, just 40 miles down the road.

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The first stage was to identify the correct Peter Willey.

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I checked the Electoral Roll but couldn't find him on there.

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So I had to look for a birth. And I found a birth in Grimsby,

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which is fairly close to Cleethorpes.

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This birth record gave Anna the name of Peter's parents.

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She then looked for a marriage certificate for them, hoping to work out if they had other children,

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Peter's brothers and sisters.

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The marriage certificate for Peter's parents, Wallace Willey and Ivy Hall,

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showed that they were married in the early part of 1930.

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Peter was born later on that year, so one can presume that he was the first born.

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I couldn't find any more siblings, so I assume that he must have been the only child.

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Anna also found that he had been a bachelor all his life and hadn't had children.

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Having ruled out near kin, Anna looked at Peter's mother's side

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to see if she had brothers or sisters.

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Looking on the maternal side,

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I discovered that Ivy Hall's parents were Harry Hall and Mary Ann Hall.

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Peter's grandparents, Mary and Harry, lived in Grimsby, a thriving fishing port.

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Anna assumed that they would be involved in the industry, but when she checked the 1901 Census

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she was in for a surprise.

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Harry was listed as a musician and had been throughout.

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And her mother was a theatre attendant. On a previous Census, she had been an actress.

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In the Grimsby/Cleethorpes area, there were three main theatres.

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The Tivoli, the Prince of Wales and the Old Palace.

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Every night they were thronged with workers eager to spend their hard-earned cash.

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Due to the huge increase in Grimsby's population and the amount of income they had to spend,

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there was a need for entertainment. A number of pubs opened, new theatres,

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and there was a need for actresses and singers to entertain the masses.

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Harry and Mary would have been kept on their toes entertaining audiences,

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but they were also busy with their own production - a large Victorian family.

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On the Census records I found that Harry and Mary Ann Hall had nine children,

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seven girls and two boys.

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That was good news for Anna.

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With so many uncles and aunts, Anna was convinced that Peter would have cousins who might be heirs.

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The chances of eight uncles and aunts having children who then had children

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I thought was quite high.

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Peter's uncles and aunts were living in Grimsby in the early 1900s,

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and at that time Grimsby was one of the largest fishing ports in the world.

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Fishing has always been the trade of Grimsby due to our location on the coast.

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In the 14th and 15th century, boats were going out into the North Sea,

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but until the 18th century we were just a small village with a population of 900.

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After then, in the mid-19th century, the industry started to swell.

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It wasn't only fishing that fuelled the growth of the town.

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Grimsby's industry started kicking off in 1846 when we started construction of the Royal Dock.

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Immigrant workers came and stayed and the population began to grow.

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Rather than following in their parents' artistic footsteps,

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Anna found that Peter's young uncles and aunts were employed in the fishing trade.

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Out of the girls, four of them were listed as fish net makers around the docks.

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Net making was in high demand so Peter's aunts found themselves employed

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in one of the more lucrative jobs.

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They used wooden needles like this, which they filled with sisal twine,

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and this spool would have measured the size of the mesh.

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And working with rough sisal carried its own cost.

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It was very hard work on their hands - splinters, blisters -

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and they would do anything to harden their hands up, such as soaking them in methylated spirits.

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So Peter's aunts would have been made of tough stuff,

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but had any of them had children who might be heirs to his £42,000 estate?

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Anna was sure that one of the nine would have done so.

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I started my search on the aunts and discovered that some had died in their thirties

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and had never married.

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Those that had married, I couldn't find any children.

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I couldn't find any marriages for the uncles.

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It seemed to me that the branches had all died off.

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It was a massive surprise to Anna. Peter's mother, Ivy, was the only one out of nine to have children.

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So Anna knew if she was going to crack the case, she needed to look at Peter's father's side.

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Coming up: the family fishing connection continues,

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but with no heirs in sight, will Peter's estate of £42,000 end up going to the Treasury?

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Heir Hunters solve thousands of cases a year, ensuring millions are paid to rightful heirs,

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but not every case can be cracked.

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The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates that have baffled the Heir Hunters

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and remain unclaimed. These stay on the list for up to 30 years

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and each one could be worth anything from £5,000 to many millions of pounds.

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

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Are they relatives of yours? Could you be in line for a windfall?

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Pechara Diplock died in New Malden, Surrey, on the 16th of December, 2006.

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Pechara is an extremely unusual name

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and the surname Diplock is an ancient and rare Anglo-Saxon name.

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

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Could you be her heir?

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George Twist died in Worcestershire on the 5th of July, 2007.

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

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George's surname Twist is usually found in the north-west of England.

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Could you be a Twist entitled to his cash?

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Does the name George Charles Flin have a familiar ring?

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George died in February 1997 in Middlesex Hospital.

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George's last name Flin is spelt with an I instead of a Y.

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Perhaps you knew George.

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If the names Pechara Diplock, George Twist or George Charles Flin mean anything to you,

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then you could have a fortune coming your way.

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Hull-based Heir Hunter Anna Dunn was looking into the case of Peter Willey.

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He died in the seaside town of Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire at the age of 78.

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Peter had lived in this flat on a modest income and left a large sum of £42,000, but no will.

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He was a keen bowler

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and club member Peter Croft remembers him.

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A very quiet man, very introverted.

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Peter was devoted to his club.

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Peter painted a picture of the old bowls club as it would have been on any afternoon.

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And I personally think it's a wonderful picture.

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The heart of Grant Thorold is that picture, yeah.

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When Peter died in 2008, he had no known family.

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Anna was trying to track down heirs to his estate.

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She had already found out about his mother's remarkable and large family,

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but despite having eight uncles and aunts, there are no cousins on this side.

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It seemed to me that the branches had all died off.

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She was hoping to have better luck when she looked at Peter's father, Wallace Willey, and his family.

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I moved on to the paternal side which I thought would be fairly easy to search for the name Willey

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as it's an unusual name.

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Anna turned her attention to Wallace's sister, Peter's aunt Lena.

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Lena married Ernest Wilson and had a daughter, Irene Joan.

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Irene Joan was Peter's cousin, but she had passed away,

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so Anna needed to keep up the search to find an heir.

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Perhaps Lena had more children.

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When Lena married and had her daughter, she was just 17.

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Ernest, Lena's husband and Peter's uncle, was a seaman on the fishing trawlers

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and eventually, became a skipper.

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It would have been demanding work.

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The skipper's role was to bring in the best catch at the best price. That came with a lot of pressure.

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He would fish very hard into gale force winds if possible

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and it was very difficult conditions for the crew.

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They worked long hours.

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If they were doing very well with the fishing, they would often work 18-hour shifts.

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Perhaps all those hours at sea took their toll because Lena split with Ernest when she was still in her 20s

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and she took up with another partner, Harry Howlett.

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Although they never married, she went on to have three more children with Harry -

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Reginald, a daughter and another son.

0:25:310:25:34

They are all Peter's cousins and still living.

0:25:340:25:38

They are heirs to Peter's estate.

0:25:390:25:41

One of Lena's children was Reginald Howlett

0:25:410:25:45

who was Peter's first cousin.

0:25:450:25:48

When Reginald first heard from Anna, he didn't know what to think.

0:25:520:25:57

When Anna rang me up, I thought somebody on the phone was having a joke with me.

0:25:570:26:03

And I just thought, "I'm being wound up here by some of my friends."

0:26:030:26:08

Even though they were first cousins and born just two years apart,

0:26:090:26:14

Reginald had never heard of Peter Willey.

0:26:140:26:17

This is because Reginald's mum Lena was a bit of a mystery.

0:26:170:26:22

My parents split up when I was a baby.

0:26:230:26:26

I lived with my dad on his own in Grimsby for approximately nine years.

0:26:260:26:33

Reginald's mum Lena had travelled up to Nottingham to find work

0:26:340:26:38

whilst Reginald and his sister lived with their dad in Grimsby.

0:26:380:26:42

My mum used to come over and have days with us.

0:26:420:26:46

She used to come over and take us out for the day quite regular.

0:26:460:26:52

But in 1941, it was all change for Reginald

0:26:520:26:56

when his dad decided he should spend more time with his mum.

0:26:560:27:00

I was a bit of a handful down there and my dad, it didn't seem he could cope,

0:27:000:27:07

so he had written to my mother to say, "You'll have to have him."

0:27:070:27:11

That's when I came over to Nottingham to be with my mother.

0:27:110:27:14

But even then he had no idea about his mother's family

0:27:140:27:18

and he didn't even know her maiden name because she'd been married before.

0:27:180:27:24

I did find out that my mother was married to a sea captain.

0:27:240:27:28

I think he was on the trawlers.

0:27:280:27:31

His name was Wilson, Ernest Wilson.

0:27:320:27:34

Certainly Reginald's mum Lena can't have been conventional.

0:27:340:27:39

To have had four children with two partners and then leave them all was unusual in the '20s and '30s.

0:27:390:27:47

Reginald never knew why she had done it.

0:27:480:27:51

We didn't know why they'd split up.

0:27:510:27:53

I can't recall living with my mum and dad as a pair.

0:27:540:27:58

Lena's eldest daughter Irene Joan has now passed away.

0:28:000:28:05

She was 13 when Reginald was born

0:28:060:28:08

and as his half-sister she didn't have much to do with him.

0:28:080:28:12

She had a daughter called Patricia, known to her family as Pat,

0:28:120:28:16

who is also an heir to Peter Willey's estate.

0:28:160:28:20

Reginald is hoping that Pat can tell him more about his mum Lena and her family.

0:28:210:28:26

I'm going to meet up with Pat.

0:28:260:28:28

And she's going to show me something about the early days.

0:28:280:28:32

And it will be interesting to know what happened in them days.

0:28:330:28:38

Pat has come armed with photographs...

0:28:380:28:41

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Hello. Nice to see you.

0:28:410:28:43

..and is looking forward to reminiscing about family history.

0:28:430:28:48

I had this tree from Anna. I don't know if she'll send you a copy.

0:28:480:28:52

-There's my mum.

-Yeah.

-She was definitely born in Grimsby.

0:28:520:28:55

They all seem to come from Grimsby.

0:28:550:28:58

The family may have all been born in Grimsby,

0:28:580:29:01

but Lena bucked the trend, leaving her family behind to work in Nottingham.

0:29:010:29:07

Pat's got something special to tell Reginald about his mum and her time there.

0:29:070:29:12

Right, now...

0:29:120:29:14

-Do you remember Mama working at the ordnance factory?

-Yes, I do.

0:29:140:29:19

-You remember that?

-I do. I used to sleep on my own while she was working.

-She did nights?

-Yeah.

0:29:190:29:25

HOOTER SOUNDS

0:29:250:29:28

Reginald's mum Lena was playing a vital role in the war effort.

0:29:280:29:32

With most men serving in the forces,

0:29:320:29:35

women were called upon to take over the jobs traditionally done by men.

0:29:350:29:40

Women made weapons and shells used by the British army

0:29:410:29:45

and daily risked their lives working with poisonous substances.

0:29:450:29:50

Their work was crucial to keeping the engine of war running.

0:29:510:29:55

Hard-working women like Lena toiled day and night.

0:29:550:29:59

Reginald is surprised to know all this happened while he was sleeping.

0:29:590:30:03

-Have you seen this letter?

-I don't know.

-Look at this. You have to be very careful with it, Reg.

0:30:030:30:09

-Have you got your glasses on?

-Wait a minute.

0:30:090:30:13

-This is 19...

-Wait a minute. I haven't got my glasses. Oh, I have.

0:30:140:30:19

Look, 1945.

0:30:190:30:22

The war's over.

0:30:220:30:24

-Have you seen that?

-No.

-No, I didn't think you had.

0:30:240:30:29

It's a letter from the Ministry of Defence.

0:30:290:30:33

"I am sure you are very proud to have been a member of this war team

0:30:330:30:39

"which has made such a magnificent contribution towards winning the war."

0:30:390:30:44

But why would that...

0:30:460:30:48

Is that what went to Mother?

0:30:480:30:51

Yeah, look, "Dear Mrs Wilson..."

0:30:510:30:53

That's what Mama got. Mum kept that for years in her old wallet and then gave it to me.

0:30:530:30:58

-And they used to do nights, you see.

-Yeah.

-That's what it's all about.

-Yeah, it's lovely though, eh?

0:30:580:31:05

-A lovely letter.

-It is, yeah.

0:31:050:31:07

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

0:31:070:31:09

For Reginald, it's the first time that it has hit home how important his mum's role was.

0:31:090:31:15

Reading that letter from the Ministry about my mother in the munitions factory,

0:31:150:31:21

I felt quite proud that she was amongst the team there.

0:31:210:31:27

And for Pat too, sharing memories of times gone by has been uplifting.

0:31:280:31:34

It was lovely to see that family tree, it was lovely to look at all the names on it,

0:31:340:31:39

go through it with Reg, discuss relations and it was lovely to look at the photos.

0:31:390:31:44

He was able to help me out with people I didn't know and I could do it for him. It was really lovely.

0:31:440:31:50

Back at her office in Hull, Anna is pleased at how the case turned out.

0:31:540:32:00

One of the satisfying aspects of this work

0:32:000:32:03

is allowing people like Reginald to get to know more about family

0:32:030:32:09

or the family that he never knew through whatever circumstances.

0:32:090:32:13

And that's a really good feeling.

0:32:140:32:16

In London, the Heir Hunters from Fraser & Fraser are searching for heirs

0:32:300:32:35

on the estate of William Bennett.

0:32:350:32:37

He died in Birmingham in September 2009.

0:32:370:32:40

Right, where are we?

0:32:400:32:43

Have we got the right family?

0:32:430:32:45

At this stage, they don't know how much his estate is worth,

0:32:450:32:49

but it must be at least £5,000.

0:32:490:32:52

William lived out the last years of his life at Greenhaven Care Home.

0:32:550:33:00

Ena Wright was his carer.

0:33:000:33:02

Well, he was a loveable character.

0:33:020:33:05

Sometimes he was outgoing, sometimes he wasn't. He changed from day to day.

0:33:050:33:10

He'd go out to the park and come back in a good mood if he'd seen something different.

0:33:100:33:16

He'd come and tell you all about it.

0:33:160:33:18

"OK, cock?" Toddle back down to his bedroom, sit on the bed.

0:33:180:33:23

That was it. Push his glasses back up.

0:33:230:33:27

He did have a strong character, but senior worker Dawn knew how to sweeten his moods.

0:33:270:33:34

When he was being bad, I'd come in. They'd say, "Dawn, come sort him out."

0:33:340:33:39

And I'd just say, "Bill, what are you doing again?

0:33:390:33:43

"You're not behaving like a gentleman.

0:33:430:33:46

"If you can't speak to people properly, go to your room, calm down

0:33:460:33:50

"and when you can speak like a gentleman, you can come out again."

0:33:500:33:54

He'd say, "All right, cock. I'll do that for you." And that was it.

0:33:540:33:58

He didn't speak a lot of the past, but he had been a young man during World War Two.

0:33:580:34:04

He had been in the Pioneer Corps.

0:34:050:34:07

William Bennett joined quite late in the war and interestingly, he was only 21 years old.

0:34:070:34:13

Basically, they are trained soldiers who carried weapons,

0:34:130:34:17

but tended to be slightly older

0:34:170:34:20

or less fit than the rest.

0:34:200:34:23

A very young William was probably there as he failed the medical to get into the infantry.

0:34:230:34:29

He might have had bad eyesight or flat feet or something.

0:34:290:34:33

The Pioneer Corps were vital in providing support to the main body of troops.

0:34:330:34:39

William was stationed at Bicester, a crucial ordnance depot.

0:34:390:34:43

At the time he joined, which was late in the war and he served mainly post-war service,

0:34:430:34:48

it would have been quite a hectic life

0:34:480:34:51

because the army in Europe was drawing down and people were being discharged at the end of the war,

0:34:510:34:57

but all the equipment had to be sent back to store in case it's needed again.

0:34:570:35:02

William may not have been on front-line duty,

0:35:020:35:05

but he played a part in the mechanics of the wind-down of the war.

0:35:050:35:10

Not long after this, he met his beloved Mary.

0:35:110:35:14

And at the care home, Dawn remembers his room being full of photographs of him and Mary in happy times.

0:35:150:35:22

But sometimes his behaviour hinted at a buried sadness.

0:35:230:35:27

It was only his photographs mainly we had to go on.

0:35:290:35:32

Really, that is all we had to go on because he'd cry and get upset if you tried to dig any further.

0:35:320:35:39

What was it that upset him so?

0:35:410:35:43

Was there more to his past than his wife Mary?

0:35:430:35:47

He did have a picture of his wife who was named Mary,

0:35:470:35:51

then there was another girl, about ten, but he couldn't remember who she was.

0:35:510:35:56

So I don't know who she was.

0:35:570:36:00

The girl in the photograph certainly never visited and neither did any family.

0:36:010:36:07

But the search for William's relatives is continuing in the offices in London.

0:36:090:36:15

This is annoying me.

0:36:150:36:18

Will they discover William's secrets?

0:36:180:36:21

Emily and case manager Dave Slee have drawn up a family tree that they are hoping to confirm.

0:36:210:36:28

Dave is on the phone to a family member right now.

0:36:280:36:31

Yes, very kind of you, sir. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.

0:36:320:36:36

Right...

0:36:380:36:40

Have we got the right family? I think we might have.

0:36:400:36:43

Emily is chuffed to bits and so is Dave. It's a real boost to know they're working the right tree.

0:36:450:36:50

It turns out that Frederick Bennett and Thirza Jones had ten children.

0:36:510:36:56

The ones the Heir Hunters have traced so far are Thirza, William's older sister,

0:36:560:37:01

and Leonard, his younger brother, and another brother, Raymond.

0:37:010:37:05

Although Leonard has passed away, one of his daughters, Carol, is alive and well and she's an heir.

0:37:050:37:12

It's time to get a travelling Heir Hunter out to see her.

0:37:120:37:15

Hi, Paul.

0:37:150:37:17

Birmingham-based Paul Matthews is one of a group of specialised probate researchers -

0:37:200:37:26

the human face of the company.

0:37:260:37:28

-They chase leads.

-Are you Natalie?

-Interview neighbours.

-Did he live on his own?

-And talk to heirs.

0:37:280:37:34

Paul knows that this case has been a tough one.

0:37:360:37:41

We've got quite a big family. No value, but in this day and age with no values advertised,

0:37:410:37:47

it's all a little bit speculative.

0:37:470:37:49

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-Carol?

-Yeah.

0:37:530:37:56

Carol is William's niece and she knew him as Uncle Billy.

0:37:570:38:02

It's Billy who has passed away. We don't think it's a large estate, but we'll carry on the research,

0:38:030:38:09

bring everything to a conclusion. It could be as low as a £5,000 estate.

0:38:090:38:14

-Obviously, a lot of brothers and sisters, so it could be nobody gets very much at all.

-OK.

0:38:140:38:20

Paul takes Carol through the paperwork.

0:38:200:38:23

At this stage, the Heir Hunters assume William had no children.

0:38:230:38:27

-Was he married?

-He was married, yeah.

0:38:270:38:30

-Who to?

-I don't know. I forget her name.

-Did he have any children?

-Yes.

0:38:300:38:36

Carol has dropped a bombshell. If William had children, they will be first in line to inherit.

0:38:370:38:43

Mavis and Brenda.

0:38:430:38:46

This news has thrown everything in the air. Could Brenda or Mavis be the mystery girl in the photograph?

0:38:460:38:53

-Brenda Bennett...

-In the office, Dave is now beside himself.

0:38:550:39:00

They have put in many hours of research on what is likely to be a low-value case.

0:39:000:39:04

And it might have been all for nothing.

0:39:060:39:09

This has put the cat amongst the pigeons because if this is the case,

0:39:090:39:13

they'll be entitled in prior claim to the people that we thought were the entitled parties,

0:39:130:39:19

i.e, the brothers and sisters and their children.

0:39:190:39:22

As Dave and Emily go through the databases with a fine-tooth comb,

0:39:220:39:27

in West Bromwich, Paul is making a beeline to see William's brother Raymond.

0:39:270:39:32

He's now at home, so we're going to go round there

0:39:320:39:35

and hopefully sort out whether these people are entitled

0:39:350:39:39

or whether the deceased, Billy, did actually have two children.

0:39:390:39:43

If he had two children, it's them that we need to be signing up.

0:39:430:39:48

So the hope is, once Paul speaks to William's brother,

0:39:480:39:52

the mystery of the missing daughters will be solved.

0:39:520:39:55

In London, Dave and his team are waiting with bated breath.

0:39:550:40:00

The pressing fact that needs checking is whether it's true that William had children.

0:40:000:40:06

In Birmingham, Paul is well aware how much is riding on this.

0:40:060:40:10

The chap we're going to see now is a brother of the deceased, so hopefully, all will be revealed.

0:40:120:40:18

Watch this space.

0:40:180:40:20

-Hello, Mr Bennett. Paul Matthews, Fraser & Fraser.

-Fraser & Fraser, yeah...

-OK?

0:40:250:40:30

Raymond Bennett is in his late 70s.

0:40:300:40:33

Raymond is 15 years younger than his older brother William.

0:40:330:40:38

Will he know for sure about William's family?

0:40:390:40:43

The only name I know was Mary.

0:40:440:40:47

Any idea of the year and place?

0:40:470:40:49

No idea at all.

0:40:490:40:52

I've just seen your brother Leonard's daughter

0:40:520:40:56

and she thought Billy might have had two children, but is she getting mixed up on that?

0:40:560:41:02

Wherever she got them names from, God knows!

0:41:020:41:06

Was Billy a man likely to have children?

0:41:060:41:09

I don't think our Billy was interested in anything, er...

0:41:090:41:13

-..getting up.

-Oh, right.

0:41:140:41:16

-So he wouldn't be bothered?

-He wouldn't.

0:41:160:41:19

So, definitely Billy, no children?

0:41:190:41:22

You can take it from me I've never heard of a Brenda nor a Mavis.

0:41:220:41:26

I wonder where Carol created them from then?

0:41:260:41:29

I've got no idea, mate.

0:41:290:41:32

Well, she's obviously got her wires crossed, got mixed up with somebody else.

0:41:320:41:37

Raymond is convinced that William didn't have children.

0:41:370:41:40

Although Raymond lived in the same city as his brother, they didn't keep in touch.

0:41:400:41:45

He hasn't seen his brother William in decades

0:41:450:41:49

and he is philosophical about the news of his death.

0:41:490:41:53

I haven't heard from him in such a long time.

0:41:530:41:56

You half-expect these things, don't you?

0:41:560:42:00

It's the way things are.

0:42:000:42:02

Right, thanks a lot for your time.

0:42:040:42:07

-OK, cheers.

-Cheerio then.

0:42:110:42:13

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

0:42:130:42:15

In the office, Dave can heave a sigh of relief.

0:42:180:42:22

The heirs we thought are entitled, the brothers and sisters, are entitled. There's no closer heirs.

0:42:220:42:28

But it's not done my blood pressure any good, doing all this today.

0:42:280:42:32

In the end, William's fortune amounted to £6,800

0:42:340:42:39

and it will be split between 20 heirs.

0:42:390:42:43

But there is still the seaside snap of William and his wife Mary in happier times

0:42:470:42:52

with a little girl walking by their side.

0:42:520:42:56

And the question remains - who is she?

0:42:570:43:00

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0:43:270:43:30

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