Szymanski/Edwards Heir Hunters

In Birmingham, Heir Hunters are searching for people who could inherit a whopping £150,000.

-Are you doing the siblings?

-They're looking for long-lost relatives

-who have no idea they could be in line for a windfall.

-Polish Brummies.

Could they be knocking at your door?

On today's programme: the mystery of three brothers and how they came to be wrenched apart.

-The court split up the kids.

-Yeah. He was really resentful because he wanted to be with his dad.

And it's last-chance saloon in the case of barmaid Evelyn Edwards,

a case that spans two centuries, but remains a riddle.

It was really a standout case on the Treasury list.

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

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

Every year in the UK, more than 300,000 people die without leaving a will.

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

And last year that was a staggering £14 million.

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

They're the Heir Hunters and they track down missing relatives

and help them claim their rightful inheritance.

The best aspect is telling people about their families. It's wonderful to put people back in touch.

It's 7.15 on a Thursday morning.

Overnight the Treasury has published a list of unclaimed estates.

It's going to be a busy day for Fraser and Fraser.

Bob, Neil.

Partner Neil is juggling several cases at once.

Sorry, yeah.

And one Anglo-Polish name on the list has him stumped.

This...Garry Szymanski.

Born in 1954.

It looked a little strange with the Christian name being Garry.

That's not a very Ukrainian, Polish, Russian sort of name. The surname is Polish.

Garry Szymanski died alone in 2010. He was only 56 years old.

The police had found his body, which had lain undiscovered in his house in Birmingham for several months.

He hadn't left a will and had no known relatives.

Ken and Ivy Bullock knew Garry as a neighbour and got to know him better when he decorated their house.

He kept himself to himself. It was as if he hadn't got confidence,

but in meeting Ken and I, we brought him out of himself.

Garry was a quiet man, but he was a jovial man.

He'd always like a joke.

These jokes, he would just reel them off and we'd just...ache.

We'd say, "Garry, you'll have to stop." The tears would be rolling down our faces.

In later years, Garry had lots of health problems.

He had to give up his decorating business when he broke his back and he also lost an eye to cancer.

Through the tough times, Ken and Ivy were there to support him

and they were impressed at his sense of humour against the odds.

Even his new glass eye was fun.

He used to take it out and laugh and put it in upside down.

-It was so funny. He used to make us laugh.

-He'd come in and say, "Eye-eye!"

Garry had come to rely on Ken and Ivy so much that when they decided to move out of the area,

he was devastated.

He said, "You can't. You can't leave me."

I said, "Well, it's a case of having to. This house is too big for us," you know.

And I think it really affected Garry in that way because he thought he would lose the friendship.

After Ken and Ivy moved, they tried to contact Garry, but never heard back.

They had no idea he had passed away.

With no known next of kin, Garry's name went onto the Treasury list.

And in London the team are now looking for heirs to his estate.

You know where it is?

Garry lived in this semi-detached house in Great Barr, Birmingham.

It's valued at £150,000.

Property usually forms the bulk of someone's fortune

and often the Heir Hunters use it to determine the value of an estate.

-They need to find out if Garry rented or owned the property.

-I still don't know if he owned it.

Neil must now start the hunt for relatives. An unusual name like Szymanski will be easier to find.

-Szymanski.

-What?

-If I'm pronouncing it correctly.

The first stage of any hunt is to draw up a family tree.

Heir Hunters use these documents like treasure maps. They break down each generation, step by step,

until they find the person entitled to inherit.

-Neil's looking at birth registers.

-We've found a birth for him in Lichfield,

which is Staffordshire.

Also on the register are several other Szymanskis, all the right age to be brothers and sisters.

Dorien, which Neil thinks is a misspelling of Doreen,

Mark and another sister.

If these people are related to Garry, they could be potential heirs.

Now he knows the family might be in Birmingham, Neil phones Senior Researcher Paul Matthews.

Hello?

-Paul is one of a group of travelling Heir Hunters.

-'In 500 yards, left turn.'

Their job is to chase down leads on the ground, feeding back information to the office team.

You're probably expecting me.

Crucially, they give Frasers the edge in reaching the heirs before the competition.

Neil fills Paul in on the research so far.

He's probably born in England. He was born after the war. Born in Lichfield, March '54.

As Garry Szymanski.

Probably three siblings, oldest being...

Doreen, I think, but it's spelt D-O-R-I-E-N.

-Yeah, good.

-OK? Right, bye.

Paul's on his way to where Garry lived in Birmingham to speak to neighbours.

In the London office, they've got to work out how much this is worth.

I'll hand you across to Neil.

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

They need a good-sized estate to cover costs and Neil's made a discovery that is great news.

It's developed slightly because we found out he owns the property,

which is quite important in deciding how many people will work on it.

Garry's house is worth a whopping £150,000.

The chase is on and the team now know the competition to get to the heirs will be fierce.

They need to find Garry's brother and sisters.

-Are you doing the siblings?

-Yeah.

Paul's arrived where Garry lived.

He's shocked to think no one knew Garry had died for several months.

Decent area, but apparently he was in the property for a few months,

so obviously must have kept himself to himself and, sadly, he couldn't have been missed.

Life is cruel sometimes.

Paul's hoping the neighbours might be able to give him more information about Garry's family.

I work for Fraser and Fraser.

Garry from number 154, who passed away last year, I'm told you may have known him.

-Yes.

-Is it all right if I ask a couple of questions?

-Yes.

-Thank you very much.

-I didn't know he'd got any brothers and sisters.

-Did you socialise?

Only just talking outside. He kept himself to himself.

While Paul's not having much luck in Birmingham,

in London there's been a development that could change everything.

Neil's found out that Garry had a wife.

We've got a marriage for the deceased.

Garry tied the knot with a woman in Birmingham in 1975.

And if they haven't divorced, she could be the sole heir to his entire estate.

Debbie, do you want to keep on that wife?

While Debbie hunts through the marriage registers, Alan scours Birmingham telephone directories

looking for Garry's siblings and he's made a curious discovery.

There's over 1,000 hits for that name. It's not an unusual surname, which is incredible.

-I've never heard of the name.

-They're Polish Brummies. Yeah.

The birth records have led them to Garry's parents and it solves the riddle of the unusual name.

Garry's mother, Mary Thomas, who died in 2008, was Welsh.

But his father, Czeslaw Szymanski, was from eastern Poland.

From the records, the team can see that Garry's father Czeslaw would now be aged 89 years old.

And, crucially, if he is still alive, he is next in line to inherit after Garry's wife.

It's vital they find him.

In the office, senior researcher Simon is looking at death records to see if Czeslaw has passed away.

There are three deaths for Czeslaw Szymanskis. I think they're all wrong.

So it's still an open question as to whether Garry's dad might be an heir.

By looking at the marriage records, though, Neil can rule out one person for sure.

He's found a record for another marriage for Garry's wife.

The wife gets remarried afterwards and we've got no kids,

so our first port of call being the wife, she's obviously had a divorce.

So finding an heir to Garry's £150,000 estate

all hinges on his immediate family.

They're tracked down a number for a Mark Szymanski in Birmingham.

Could this be Garry's brother and potential heir?

This could crack the case, but they need to tread carefully.

If Mark IS Garry's brother, he may not know that Garry has passed away.

Case manager Francis Brett has made the call.

-Hello. Mr Szymanski?

-She's got through to Mark's son.

Do you have a mobile number for him?

Thank you ever so much for your help.

The son confirmed that his dad, Mark Szymanski, had a brother called Garry,

but didn't know much more. It seems they've found their man. They just need to speak to him.

He's at work. I have a mobile number. Whether I can get hold of him is another matter.

Coming up: will the Heir Hunters find Garry's father?

-Hello. Mr Szymanski?

-And will they beat the competition to the heirs?

-Don't be surprised if somebody else might be sitting there waiting for him to come home.

-Oh, right.

For every case that is quick to solve, there are others that remain shrouded in mystery.

But the clock is ticking. After 30 years, if no heirs are found, all the money goes to the Treasury.

When case manager Saul Marks of Welsh-based Celtic Research took on the case of Evelyn Edwards,

it had been sitting on the Treasury list for more than 25 years.

And it was to take him on a journey that would span two centuries.

This case was unusual. It caught my eye, not least because it was in our area, in North Wales,

but because she actually died in 1985, which is over 25 years ago.

It was really a stand-out case on the Treasury list.

Evelyn was born to parents Frank and Helena Harrison. She grew up in the small community of Gresford

in Wrexham, north Wales,

and remained there until her death aged 92.

She had spent her final days in this care home.

Evelyn was very fond of the garden. She loved the garden. It was lively surroundings.

She used to sit on the porch outside. She had no family. She never spoke about any family.

Her only visitor was a young social worker who was very nice. She came once a fortnight.

When Evelyn died in 1985, she left a sizable sum of £97,000, but no will.

It's a large amount of money, but no family came forward,

so her estate was advertised by the Treasury.

With the clock ticking, Saul decided he'd have a last-ditch attempt to break Evelyn's case.

We were able to look her up on the death index and established that she was born in 1893,

so we obviously knew that this case, just because of the timeframe involved,

was going to stretch back further into history than our normal cases.

In the search for heirs, the first place to look was Evelyn's immediate family.

She'd got married, but hadn't had any children.

While she did have a sister, there were no nieces or nephews.

Her mother, Helena, had been an only child, so there were no heirs on her line.

That left Evelyn's father, Frank. Perhaps he would hold the key to finding an heir to her estate?

Saul decided to have a look at the 1911 Census for Gresford to trace Evelyn's family.

Amazingly, he found Evelyn living in this pub in Gresford.

18-year-old Evelyn was working as a barmaid for her father, Frank Harrison.

He was listed on the 1911 Census as being a hotel proprietor.

Saul was able to use Evelyn's father's death record to find his birthplace and date.

From there, he started to trace brothers and sisters and he made an exciting discovery.

Evelyn had eight uncles and aunts on her father's side.

Frank was the youngest of nine children and the Harrison family originated in Great Barr

and Rushall in Staffordshire.

This was fantastic news. A large family would shorten the odds,

so Saul turned back to the Census.

It was to prove a fascinating snapshot of Victorian Britain.

We picked up Daniel Harrison, who is Evelyn's grandfather, on the 1851, 1861 and 1871 Censuses

working as a master maltster and brewer.

Evelyn's grandfather had run his own small brewery in Staffordshire

and three of her uncles and aunts had also worked there.

He owned 52 acres, so there was a lot of work to be done.

The family brewery, named Rushall after the village, was in this actual building.

In Victorian times, it would have been surrounded by countryside.

Brewing in this part of the Black Country was a thriving business.

Evelyn's grandfather was riding the crest of a wave.

The brewery we're talking about was probably one that made around 5,000 barrels a year.

Not the smallest, but quite small.

They would buy in the barley from farmers and it's likely that they bought the finished malt.

And they would buy in the hops.

They would use their premises and a small tower brewery.

In the brewery museum in Burton on Trent, there are lots of relics from this era.

And, incredibly, after 120 years,

an original bottle from Evelyn's grandfather's brewery still survives in a local archive.

It seems that the business of producing the Rushall ale

would have been sustained by a genuine thirst for amber liquid.

At the time we're talking about, the turn of the century,

a lot of manual labour, a lot of heavy work. You would drink to put back the liquids

so particularly public houses outside shipyards were very popular.

And the beer that family made would have been quite different from today's mass-produced lager.

The average strength of beer was between 5.6 and 6% alcohol.

Now it's about 4%. It would be a cheap beer, though.

Four old pence a quart. 70p a pint.

It was drunk in great quantities.

But the strength of the beer became a problem.

Drunken behaviour was on the rise and the public became increasingly alarmed.

By the time Evelyn was working for her father, Frank, in Gresford at the Plough Inn,

beer had become a political hot potato.

The Liberal Party tried to introduce severe controls.

The brewers were outraged. They fought against it, Hyde Park was thronged

with 750,000 people with banners. And it went through the House of Commons, the licensing of pubs,

but the Lords chucked it out.

It was a turbulent time to be a brewer or a publican

and Evelyn's father, Frank, would have felt the repercussions in Gresford.

Frank Harrison with the Plough Inn would have had a hard time in the Edwardian period.

If he survived until 1910, he'd be in a very good position.

The beer trade then picked up quite quickly.

But fascinating as Evelyn's family history was, Saul Marks still had to find an heir

to her £97,000 estate.

You would think having a family of nine children would produce a healthy crop of heirs,

but on investigation Saul found it wasn't the case.

I was thinking, "We're going to have this enormous family and no heir!"

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

but not every case can be cracked. The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates

that have baffled Heir Hunters and remain unsolved.

Could you be the heir they've been searching for?

Could you be in line for a windfall worth hundreds, thousands or even millions of pounds?

Estates stay on the list for up to 30 years. We're focusing on three.

Are they relatives of yours?

William Aspey died in Cosham, Hants, on the 10th February, 2000.

Aspey is a relatively rare surname in the UK, with the highest concentration being in Lancashire.

If no heirs are found for his estate, it goes to the Government.

Janet Mary Disley died in July, 2003, in Braunstone, Leicester.

Janet's last name, Disley, originates from the town of Disley in Cheshire.

Do you remember Janet? Could you be related?

Perhaps Bernard Zoe sounds familiar?

He died in 2007 in Camden, London.

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

If the names William Aspey, Janet Disley or Bernard Zoe mean anything to you,

you could have a fortune coming your way.

The Treasury is about to call time on the case of barmaid Evelyn Edwards.

She died in the village of Gresford near Wrexham, north Wales, in 1985,

leaving a large sum of £97,000, but no will.

The real problem with this as the research progressed was

that even though we had such a big family on the paternal side,

I couldn't find any heirs!

If case manager Saul Marks can't find an heir, every penny of her £97,000 estate

will go to the Treasury.

He's uncovered plenty about Evelyn's rich family history in the brewing industry in Staffordshire

and the fact that she had eight uncles and aunts, but he can't locate any heirs.

Saul thinks that one of the reasons the case is so hard to solve

is because the large family dispersed.

Evelyn's father started in Staffordshire and Evelyn was born there,

but he then moved up to north Wales to run a hotel and took his family.

So they were a little bit removed from their family's origin,

which is possibly why, initially, there were no heirs that could be found back in 1985.

And because he was working so far back in time,

Saul realised it would be difficult to trace the uncles and aunts,

but after scouring the search engines, he stumbled on a website that unlocked the case.

I found a Charles Harrison who was actually a vicar in a village in Nottinghamshire,

a little way from Staffordshire.

It was a major breakthrough.

Charles was one of Evelyn's uncles. If he had any descendants, they could be heirs to her estate.

He married a lady named Dorcas Brown and, with an unusual name like Dorcas,

she becomes very easy to find in censuses, birth and death indexes.

The name Dorcas was a huge asset. Rare names are like gold dust to Heir Hunters

because rare names are easier to research.

Just the combination of an unusual first name with a common surname is enough to make it much easier.

We could then follow the line down.

In three generations of Charles Harrison's family, there was a Dorcas

and Saul was able to follow this thread to find Evelyn's first heir, Dorcas Kilgas.

She's Evelyn's first cousin twice removed. Being contacted by Saul was like a bolt from the blue.

Obviously, the letter took me by surprise.

Eventually I decided to phone him and to find out more about it.

And he told me that...

this person could have left money.

My grandmother Grace...

Dorcas was all the more amazed because she and her partner Malcolm had done the family tree.

They had no idea Evelyn and her father Frank existed.

We had gone back to Evelyn's grandfather and we knew he'd had a lot of children,

but we hadn't picked up Frank.

Maybe the reason they missed out Frank was because he had moved away from Staffordshire.

When it came to building the family tree, like Saul, Dorcas and her family were thankful

-that her unusual Christian name was passed down the line.

-It's a name from the Bible.

Well, I always thought you were a bit holier than thou.

Really?

Dorcas's namesake was her mother's cousin Dorcas Harrison.

She's now passed away and her daughter Diana is another heir to Evelyn's fortune.

She and cousin Dorcas lost touch when they were children and now they are to meet.

I'm really looking forward to meeting Dorcas Patricia

as we always knew her because my mother was Dorcas.

Diana and Dorcas are going to meet each other in the village of Gresford to compare family notes.

They're about to meet at the Plough, the very pub Evelyn worked in nearly a century ago.

-The two women haven't seen each other in nearly 52 years.

-Hello!

-Gosh, how lovely. How lovely to see you.

-It's fantastic.

-After all this time.

-You don't look any different!

-I can't remember you, to be honest.

-I'll remind you.

-I must have been very small.

-You were.

-I don't know how old I was.

-You were seven.

-Was I?

Dorcas and Diana are just two of the 14 heirs to Evelyn's £97,000 estate.

Their get together is a chance for them to look back at family.

-Charles Harrison was the only one that was the vicar.

-That's right.

-And all the others, I presume, were in the brewing trade.

-That's right.

Public houses.

Oh, yes.

If it hadn't been for Saul's perseverance in tackling this case,

the cousins would never have been reunited

-and the case would be unsolved.

-One of the best aspects of this job is telling people about their families.

It's wonderful to put people back in touch.

Dorcas and Diana are over the moon.

-They've not only found a long-lost relative, Evelyn...

-She looks happy there.

-Yes.

..and received an unexpected windfall, but they've also found each other again.

Bringing us together is really the best part of the whole thing.

-I mean, we would never have met.

-No.

-If this hadn't happened.

Heir Hunters Fraser and Fraser are trying to solve the case of Garry Szymanski.

He died in 2010, leaving a fortune of £150,000, but no will and with no known next of kin.

A painter and decorator by trade, Garry was a faithful regular at his local pub.

Garry was in here most days. He liked his jokes.

Unfortunately, they weren't always the best ones!

His jokes were so bad that you had to laugh at them anyway!

Garry had suffered a broken back from a car accident in 2004

and was more or less forced to give up his decorating business,

but he refused to be downhearted.

He did have an awful lot of bad luck in life.

And he somehow overcame this

-because he had got a positive attitude.

-He was resilient.

-He was.

Yes, indeed.

But although they spent a lot of time with Garry, he never revealed too much about his family.

Garry was very secretive. I didn't even know if he had any brothers.

Also, Garry had a very fond affection for his dad,

which a lot of people don't know. He used to talk about his dad a lot.

It's Garry's father that the Heir Hunters are trying to find.

Case manager Simon has been looking at the death records.

There are three deaths for Czeslaw Szymanskis and I think they're all wrong.

As they can't find a death record, Garry's father could still be alive.

If he is, he'll be first in line to inherit his son's estate.

Czeslaw was from eastern Poland.

Like many Poles, he came to the UK during the war to escape the Nazis,

but little did he know it would be a one-way ticket.

Agata Blaszczyk-Sawyer is a researcher on the period.

In 1945 it became clear that Poland was losing its independence and freedom.

The Soviet regime was quite well-established and for many soldiers there was no way back.

To adjust to life in Britain, Garry's father joined the Polish Resettlement Corps.

Although not much is known about what happened to Czeslaw in the war,

his army documents give us an insight into the trials he must have suffered.

Up to 1943 he was in Germany, forced to work.

Czeslaw was in a forced labour camp and then made to fight for the Germans in France.

This one is interesting. It says the place of capture. He was captured in Paris.

In August, 1944.

He was brought to the UK as a prisoner of war

and, once released, he settled in the West Midlands and had three children,

one of which was Garry.

But the Heir Hunters also believe there were also two girls - Dorien spelt with an I,

another sister and a brother, Mark.

They are all potential heirs to Garry's £150,000 estate,

but at the moment all eyes are on Czeslaw.

Parents are first in line to inherit a child's fortune.

Case manager Francis Brett is about to call Mark Szymanski, Garry's brother.

The question on everyone's lips is is his father still alive?

And does Mark even know that his brother has passed away?

Hello. Mr Szymanski?

This could be a difficult call for Francis and Garry's brother.

I am terribly sorry to say that the subject of our inquiries is your brother Garry.

Um... He passed away last...last year.

So I'm really, really terribly sorry to have to break that news to you.

On the other end of the phone, Mark is obviously stunned.

He tells Francis that the last time he saw his brother was 23 years ago

and he had tried to contact him when his own wife died.

It does take two, so don't feel so badly.

Francis arranges for travelling Heir Hunter Paul Matthews to see Mark.

Now what time would suit?

-Half past four?

-But then Mark reveals a piece of worrying news for the Heir Hunters.

No, it wouldn't have been... It wouldn't have been us.

A rival has already been in contact.

I mean, it could be somebody else about this, but...

As I said,

I'm terribly sorry.

Telling a family member that a brother or sister has passed away is never easy

and for Francis this call was especially upsetting.

I really feel for...for Mark

because he said he'd been thinking of his brother Garry, thinking he ought to give him another ring.

And he is now beating himself up for the fact that he hadn't made contact.

Although it was a tough conversation, they can now fill in the blanks on the family tree

and the million-dollar question - is the boys' father Czeslaw still living? If he is,

he'll be the sole heir to Garry's £150,000 estate.

But Mark confirmed his dad passed away in Germany several years ago.

And they've discovered that the spelling on the records was correct, so it is Dorien,

Garry's brother, not sister.

Dorien has a home address in Perth,

but he spends 10 months of the year in the Outback working with the Aborigines.

And he's extremely hard to keep in touch with.

He's virtually uncontactable.

The sister is an illegitimate half-sister, born to their mother, Mary Thomas,

so she's not entitled. That leaves Garry's two brothers, Mark and Dorien, as the only beneficiaries

to his £150,000 estate.

If the Heir Hunters are to make any money on this case,

they must persuade the brothers to let them assist with their claim.

Francis calls Birmingham-based travelling Heir Hunter Paul Matthews to tell him about Mark.

Hi, Paul. I have fixed you up an appointment to see Mark Szymanski at 5 o'clock tonight at his home.

-Oh, right.

-He did get a call last night from somebody

-and he thought it was just a sales call, so...

-Yeah.

..don't be surprised if somebody else is sitting there waiting for him to come home.

Yeah.

Paul will present the paperwork to Mark ahead of the competition.

Francis has been left stunned.

Garry's brother Mark told her the reason the brothers lost touch.

-The court split up the kids?

-Yeah.

He was really resentful. He wanted to be with his dad, like his brothers, and he got Mum.

It's five o'clock and in Birmingham Paul has arrived at Mark Szymanski's house.

-Paul Matthews.

-I was expecting you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Come on in.

Thank you.

He was stunned to hear the news about his brother's lonely death.

The last time I seen him,

my wife was pregnant with my son.

That must be 23 years now since I seen him last.

We just lost contact through the years. I just can't believe it.

Yeah. Sometimes it happens. People have their own lives and move to different areas.

-Five weeks becomes five months becomes five years.

-Yes.

Mark's parents, Czeslaw and Mary, were separated when he was just six weeks old

-and their long, messy divorce took years to settle.

-We've all just gone...

-Separate ways.

The last real phone call I had off him, he just said, like,

"Our family's all split up. I'm the black sheep of the family."

He said, "I'd sooner you not have any contact with me."

-And that was the last.

-There's not much you can do about that.

-No.

-It's...

-That's the way he wanted to live his life. You've not got anything to feel guilty about.

-No.

After his parents separated in the early '60s, Mark lived with his dad and brothers.

He was four when the divorce came through and they forced him to go to his mother,

while his brothers, Garry and Dorien, stayed with their dad.

I'd spend every weekend at my dad's and obviously my brothers were living with my dad.

That's when I spent time with them.

It was just like they grew up and they drifted into their own lives

and my dad decided to up sticks and move to Germany with his mother.

The family just fell apart, really, I think.

Once again, thanks.

-OK, OK, all the best.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

-Take care.

It's a poignant story and Paul knows that without the Heir Hunters

Mark would never have known that his brother Garry had passed away.

He's got a few regrets because he didn't keep in touch with him.

At least this chap's been made aware that his brother has passed away.

Obviously, it's right that his brother's estate goes to these two.

And earlier fears of competing Heir Hunters have proven unfounded.

I'm surprised that we've seen none of our rival companies,

but that's good news. We've got a signed agreement now,

so the company will be very happy and we'll progress the claim.

The final amount of Garry's estate was £130,000.

This has been an emotional case for all concerned

and partner Neil is shocked at the story of how the young Szymanski brothers were split up.

The divorce court, for some reason, decided two brothers went with the father and one with the mother.

It's unbelievable, really. That one action by one judge

meant that these two brothers didn't have much to do with each other.

So much so that one's passed away alone and the other one is going to inherit his money.

It's a... a bit of a heart-wrenching story.

But perhaps the most tragic of all, although Mark lived just 21 miles away,

he hadn't seen his brother Garry in nearly a quarter of a century.

He's arrived at Garry's old local to meet with some of Garry's closest friends.

It's sad, really. I never spent much time with him, like, in these last years.

If I knew he was that ill, I'd have, you know... I'd have been there for him.

I've come over here to meet some friends of Garry's, Ken and Ivy,

and hoping to hear some stories about Garry. I'm hoping it will bring some good memories for me.

It's a bittersweet moment for Mark and for Ken and Ivy, too.

Are you Ken and Ivy?

I'm Garry's brother, Mark. Hiya.

All right, love?

-All right?

-Thank you for coming.

-No, it's OK.

-Thank YOU for coming. Hiya, Ken.

-How do you do?

Ken and Ivy met Garry when they were neighbours and he became a regular fixture in their lives.

They show Mark the road they lived on.

-Garry used to come from the pub and come into our house.

-For a cup of tea?

-A cup of tea.

-And a chat?

-And a piece of cake.

-He liked his cake.

-A drop of whisky if it was available.

-If it was available.

-Was it available often?

-No!

-Ah, that's good.

The whisky was, believe you me!

-So this is where you lived?

-This is where we lived. Garry would open the porch,

-put his veggies in there and then we knew he'd come back for his cup of tea.

-Oh, right.

-That was a sign he'd be on his way.

-And then he'd leave from there

-and go down there to where Garry lives.

-OK.

Garry's house is several doors down.

-It's many years since Mark has seen it.

-We always knew he was in. He put the light on in the bedroom.

-Oh, right. So you knew...

-We knew he was in.

-Have you been in since?

-No.

Not at all, no. Like I say, it was '88 when I was here last.

-Yeah, yeah.

-A long time ago.

-Yeah.

Garry was found and buried by strangers.

Ken, Ivy and Mark don't even know where his grave is. For the three of them, this meeting is their chance

-to share their memories of a friend and brother.

-He always felt to me that he was shy.

-Yeah.

He gave the impression of being shy. And that is why we sort of befriended him in that way.

-We thought he was lonely. And shy.

-Yeah. I think...

I think when my mum and dad got divorced, it all stemmed from that. I think he went into himself

and in later life he got worse and worse in that respect. Keeping himself to himself.

-That's right.

-And Mark is relieved to know that his reclusive brother had found friends like Ken and Ivy.

-I bet he adopted you as his mother and father, really.

-In a sense.

I'd like to thank you, really. What you've been saying is you were always there for him.

He had somebody to turn to, you know what I mean? Thank you for that.

-It's been really nice meeting you.

-I'm so glad, glad of this.

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