0:00:02 > 0:00:04Welcome to Heir Hunters where we follow the search for living family
0:00:04 > 0:00:06of people who've died without leaving a will,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09hoping to unite them with a forgotten fortune.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Today the heir hunters are dealing with an estate which could be
0:00:14 > 0:00:17worth an estimated £200,000.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21They only need to go somewhere we don't know about and have a kid.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Somewhere out there are some long-lost relatives who have
0:00:24 > 0:00:26no idea they're in line for a windfall.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Coming up on today's programme -
0:00:49 > 0:00:53a common family name proves a real headache for the heir hunters.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Evans in Wales is a worst-case scenario really.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01A Victorian school produces a massive windfall
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and an unusual challenge for the team.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Because quite a lot of the people concerned in these cases died in
0:01:07 > 0:01:12the 19th century, a lot of the wills we have to look at are handwritten.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15And I'll be delving further into the world of the written will,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18both its history and its hilarity.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21"I give and bequeath unto Francis Smith, my wife,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25"the sum of one shilling of lawful money of Great Britain."
0:01:25 > 0:01:27SHE GASPS
0:01:27 > 0:01:28Wow.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30He left it all to his mistress.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Plus how you could be entitled to unclaimed estates where
0:01:34 > 0:01:36beneficiaries still need to be found.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:01:48 > 0:01:49Every year in the UK
0:01:49 > 0:01:53an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58If no relatives are found then any money that's
0:01:58 > 0:02:00left behind goes to the Government.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Last year they kept £14 million from unclaimed estates.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10That's where the heir hunters come in.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13They make it their business to track down missing relatives
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20I do it because I enjoy meeting the heirs.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29In our first case today, the heir hunters face a tough challenge,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31identifying even the right family.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39It's an unusually quiet morning at heir hunting company
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Fraser & Fraser.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45There are no cases on the weekly Treasury list worth pursuing today
0:02:45 > 0:02:48so they are looking into one from a different source
0:02:48 > 0:02:50and it's a bit of a challenge.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53We're doing research under the surname of Evans,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56so, a particularly hard name to research
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and an even harder name in Wales so it's going to be a long day
0:02:59 > 0:03:01I think, for people working on that case.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05How are you feeling, old boyo?
0:03:05 > 0:03:06Good.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10You'll be used to a Welsh accent to go to do Evans in North Wales.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Victor Evans was 88
0:03:21 > 0:03:25when he died in Bedford on 28th July 2010, without a will.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33He spent the last 11 years of his life in this care home where
0:03:33 > 0:03:36former manager Guy Tremonto remembers him fondly.
0:03:36 > 0:03:42He was such a pleasant man. He was very caring.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45He would always thank you for whatever you did for him.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Victor enjoyed following his daily routine.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53After his breakfast he would read all the newspapers.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58He would have some financial papers and also the daily newspapers.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00He would take a whole day reading them.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05He was very astute in his finances.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08In fact, he made a lot of money out of the stocks and shares.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Victor's other love was cats and when he moved into the care home
0:04:14 > 0:04:16he brought his cat William to live with him.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Sometimes he couldn't...
0:04:18 > 0:04:20He wanted to stay in his room and he couldn't
0:04:20 > 0:04:23really move out of the room because he was quite poorly.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25He would shout from the bedroom, "William, William."
0:04:25 > 0:04:27He would shout and shout.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30But we could hear him so we used to get the cat and take it
0:04:30 > 0:04:34to his bedroom and when he used to see the cat he just used to laugh.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37"Oh, William, oh, William, come here, come here."
0:04:37 > 0:04:41When he saw the cat he was another person really.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Before he moved into the care home, Victor lived in this house.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Heir hunters earn their money by charging
0:04:54 > 0:04:57a percentage of the estate for their services.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01And they confirm that he owned the property so they know it has value.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06The property which Victor owns as a house in Bedford.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11It's perfect commuterville to get into London which helps to increase
0:05:11 > 0:05:13some of the prices but we're looking at a value of that of
0:05:13 > 0:05:18about 180 to £200,000 if it's in reasonable condition.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23But what worries the team is that Victor spent 11 years in a care home.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26And he might have left bills that need paying.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30It's a possibility that the property is going to be sucked up
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and be used to pay for those care home fees but we know he's
0:05:34 > 0:05:36been in a care home for quite a while and he still
0:05:36 > 0:05:39owns his property, so he could have had a large amount of savings.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42He could have sold a business or something like that.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So, we are going to work it. We are going to work it quite hard.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51The team need to try and identify Victor's immediate family
0:05:51 > 0:05:52as quickly as possible.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55So that they can start to search for heirs.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58They discover that Victor, a bachelor all his life,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02was an only child and did not have children.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05To trace any beneficiaries, the researchers need to go
0:06:05 > 0:06:07further up the family tree.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11They discover that Victor's father was Thomas Haworth Evans
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and his mother was Gwendoline Eads.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Looking into the mother's family,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19we've been able to tie this all up.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Tie it up because the mother's an only child.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23She doesn't have any brothers and sisters,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25therefore, we don't have any uncles and aunts.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27We don't have any cousins descending from them
0:06:27 > 0:06:31so from our point of view, this side of the family's dead.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33But there's brilliant news on his father's side.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37It looks like Victor has loads of potential heirs.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39We've got a huge amount of research to conduct.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43The researchers get to work looking for Victor's
0:06:43 > 0:06:45paternal aunts and uncles.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49But with a common name like Evans, it's hard to know where to start.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Evans in Wales is a worst-case scenario really.
0:06:56 > 0:07:03Census-wise we're looking at ten uncles and aunts of the deceased.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07So that's ten stems of evidence that we've got to work which is,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09it's going to be very tricky.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13And we, we've got some really quite common names as well.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16William, Robert, Susan.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20They're going to be very, very difficult to work.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23I'm trying to find Abraham Evans who'll be the uncle of the deceased.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I'm just looking at one of the uncles of the deceased,
0:07:26 > 0:07:27George James Evans.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- I don't think the Sheffield ones are right.- No.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33With a name like Evans, you can never be sure of anything.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36It's such a very, very common name.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38The only Robert Evans
0:07:38 > 0:07:42is that one in 1916, which would be before the marriage.
0:07:43 > 0:07:44Do you see my problem?
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Evans is such a problematic surname we're going to need certificates on
0:07:48 > 0:07:52this but we're trying to get as much up to date as we can without them.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The team will need help from on the road investigator, Paul Matthews.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04While most of the research is done in the office, it's his job to
0:08:04 > 0:08:08get certificates, find the heirs and sign them up before the competition.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13It's a good name in Wales, Evans, so we could be in for a long day.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Case manager David Milchard, known as Grimble, has sent Paul to
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Chester Register Office which covers part of the North Wales district.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35I just want to get someone in the registry to get hold of some
0:08:35 > 0:08:37certificates because we...
0:08:37 > 0:08:41It's such a common name, it's all guesswork at the moment.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46We're all running down little avenues but whether or not they are
0:08:46 > 0:08:49right or not we won't know until we get the certs.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I wouldn't want to put any money on anything I've got at the moment.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Paul's arrived at the Register Office
0:08:54 > 0:08:56and he checks in with Grimble.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58There you go.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01I'm at the Register Office but I don't know what I'm going to get.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02I haven't got a clue.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05We want certs to prove whether we're going down the right line or not.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07That's all we need to concentrate on at the moment.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10OK, just tell us what you want. I'll try and sort it out later. Yeah.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13But as the whole team work flat out
0:09:13 > 0:09:17looking for heirs, they get the worst possible news.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19None of that... none of that tree is correct.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24And that's what Dominic's doing.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28The birth certificate ordered earlier for Victor's father,
0:09:28 > 0:09:33Thomas Haworth Evans has come in and it's a bombshell.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36The census we worked was of a Thomas H Evans
0:09:36 > 0:09:39born at the right time, the right area.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Unfortunately, the parents of the Thomas H Evans they were
0:09:43 > 0:09:47researching were William and Mary but the birth certificate of
0:09:47 > 0:09:52Victor's father, Thomas, shows his parents were William and Sarah.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55It now appears that they were two Thomas H Evans
0:09:55 > 0:09:58born in the same area at the same time.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00One is Thomas Haworth, the other one is probably
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Thomas Henry or something like that,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06but the census we were looking at was the wrong Thomas.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10So the ten aunts and uncles they've been chasing are a dead end.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14- So you've got the wrong family but birth and parents are right?- Mm-hm.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20- Have you got...- No I haven't got anything, just getting to do the tree, haven't got any information.
0:10:20 > 0:10:26It's 10:45 and Grimble calls Paul in Chester to tell him the bad news.
0:10:26 > 0:10:27You what?
0:10:28 > 0:10:31That's all no good then, no?
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Basically all the work for the last few hours has been in vain
0:10:36 > 0:10:40because obviously we've got the wrong family which is quite
0:10:40 > 0:10:42easy to do when you've got a nightmare name.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46So now the office have got to revisit it and start backtracking
0:10:46 > 0:10:48and obviously find the right parents of the deceased.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50So back to the drawing board, I'm afraid.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Coming up - they've lost loads of potential heirs.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Now it's back to square one.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01We did a lot of work on the wrong family.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Let's hope we can do something with the right family.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Will Victor's real father finally lead them to his living relatives?
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year
0:11:24 > 0:11:27and millions of pounds are paid out to rightful heirs.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30But not every case can be cracked.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates that have
0:11:33 > 0:11:36baffled the heir hunters and remain unsolved.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40"Bona Vacantia" is the Latin term for ownerless property.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42There's two main types,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46there's the property of now dissolved companies, and the estates
0:11:46 > 0:11:49of those who die without a valid will, or entitled kin.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52This is money which could have your name on it.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Money raised through Bona Vacantia
0:11:54 > 0:11:56ultimately goes to the General Exchequer,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58to benefit the country as a whole,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00but it's important to remember the Crown doesn't want
0:12:00 > 0:12:02to grab all estates it possibly can.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05It's keen for kin to be found and for people to make wills.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09That's the way to stop property becoming Bona Vacantia, make a will.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12So could you be in line for a windfall worth hundreds,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15thousands or even millions of pounds?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The estates stay on the list for up to 30 years
0:12:20 > 0:12:22and today we're focusing on three names.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Are they relatives of yours?
0:12:27 > 0:12:33Edward Stephen Connolley died in Leicester in 2002.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Although the surname Connolley is fairly common,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38this spelling is very unusual.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Does it ring a bell for you?
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Could you be related to Edward?
0:12:44 > 0:12:50Leonard Smurthwaite died in Percy Main, Tyne and Wear, in March 2005.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53The highest concentration of Smurthwaites
0:12:53 > 0:12:55is in the North East of England.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00If no relatives are found, Leonard's money will go to the Government.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Do you remember him? Can you help solve this case?
0:13:06 > 0:13:11James Leask died in Westcliff on Sea in November 2000.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18The Scottish name, Leask, is linked to the Orkney and Shetland Isles.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Do you share the surname Leask? Could James be a relative of yours?
0:13:23 > 0:13:26The estates on the list could be worth a few hundred pounds
0:13:26 > 0:13:27or many millions.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Only successful heirs will be told.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34We never release details of the estate
0:13:34 > 0:13:36or anything about the deceased
0:13:36 > 0:13:38until a claim has been admitted,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40and we will only then release it to
0:13:40 > 0:13:43the person whose claim we have admitted.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45If you think you might be entitled to an estate
0:13:45 > 0:13:47and want to put in a claim,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51the onus is on you to prove your family connection with the deceased.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55We need to have a simple family tree showing how
0:13:55 > 0:13:58they think they're related to the deceased person.
0:13:58 > 0:13:59Then we can have a look at it,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02make sure we're talking about the same family,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06before we go off and ask them to supply various certificates
0:14:06 > 0:14:11of birth, death and marriage, to actually substantiate the claim.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15So do you recognise any of today's names? Here they are again.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25If any of the names today are relatives of yours,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28then you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38Our next case today is a complicated investigation for the team,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42as their search for heirs spans over 150 years.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Occasionally, heir hunters stumble across a job
0:14:49 > 0:14:51that is a little out of the ordinary.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55The case of John Crewe wasn't about savings or property
0:14:55 > 0:15:00but land donated in the 1850s to build a school, Dunalley Street.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05It was spotted by the team
0:15:05 > 0:15:08and brought to the attention of partner, Charles.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12We first became aware that beneficiaries needed to be traced
0:15:12 > 0:15:14regarding the Dunalley Street School,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18following a notice that was published in The Times in April 2002.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22The advert appealed to the heirs of Victorian businessman,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26John Crewe, to come forward and claim what was rightfully theirs.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Born in London almost 200 years ago,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36John Crewe became a successful retailer in Cheltenham.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40From the 1840s he ran a chain of grocery shops and bakeries.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Having done very well for himself he decided to give something back.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48In 1858, he donated some land to a charity
0:15:48 > 0:15:52so they could build a school for the poor.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56In the mid-1800s, there was a great Victorian philanthropic era,
0:15:56 > 0:16:00where the Victorians realised that they needed to educate the masses
0:16:00 > 0:16:04and that education couldn't be reserved just for the elite.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And so as a result of that, they introduced
0:16:07 > 0:16:10the School Sites Act 1841 which allowed people
0:16:10 > 0:16:13to give land away for the creation of schools, or school houses.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19The school, named after its address, Dunalley Street,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24was opened in 1859 by the British and Foreign Schools Society.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31One of over 100 across England, it was the brainchild of Quaker,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Joseph Lancaster, and took a radical new approach to teaching the poor.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42Lancaster had to develop a system that was cheap.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44He would like the education to be free
0:16:44 > 0:16:48but they generally had to pay a master's salary.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51But you couldn't afford any assistant masters.
0:16:51 > 0:16:57So Lancaster's system was to introduce boys called monitors.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02He would select the best, the abler, or slightly older boys,
0:17:02 > 0:17:08who he would teach, and those monitors would then teach
0:17:08 > 0:17:11groups of eight, nine or ten other boys.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16It was like this school in Hertfordshire,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19that's been preserved as a museum.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Over 200 children at Dunalley Street School were taught in one big hall.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26And costs had to be kept to a minimum.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Paper was expensive. Ink was expensive.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34Lancaster had to find ways of doing education cheaply.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38He designed a sand desk.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41It's a tray of sand, in which beginners can
0:17:41 > 0:17:45practise their letters, rub it out, and practise again.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49They moved on to slate. Slate, again, is very reusable.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54It lasts for a long time. You can write on it and rub it out.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59It's simple economy. Very low-cost school room equipment.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03There would be no books either. Books were very expensive.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07The solution, by Joseph Lancaster,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10was to print one set of lesson sheets.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12They would be hanging on the wall.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17When a monitor took his group of scholars to learn,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19he would take them to the wall,
0:18:19 > 0:18:25take down from the wall a lesson sheet, and teach them from it.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28He would then hang it back up and they would then return
0:18:28 > 0:18:31to their seats to practise what they had learned.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Despite their financial constraints,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37the schools proved both popular and successful.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41At the time there was a need for education.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Businesses, commerces,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47factories were springing up after the industrial revolution.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49They needed children, they needed adults,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52who could read and write and count things,
0:18:52 > 0:18:59and the Lancasterian monitorial system fitted the bill perfectly,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03educating large numbers of children fairly quickly.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10Dunalley Street remained as a working school until January 1999.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13The following year the land was sold
0:19:13 > 0:19:16to a property developer for £126,000,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and the building was turned into flats.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22That's when it became a case for the heir hunters.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25One of the provisions of the 1841 Act
0:19:25 > 0:19:27was that if the school should close,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32then the land would go back to the original person who gave it away.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36The people now entitled to those proceeds
0:19:36 > 0:19:39are John Crewe's beneficiaries.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41In a normal heir hunt, there is no will,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44so the closest living family inherit the estate.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47But this case would be based on wills
0:19:47 > 0:19:49dating back to Victorian times.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Case manager, Simons Grosvenor, got to work.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57The donor, John Crewe, died in 1872.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00So the first step was to get a copy of his will
0:20:00 > 0:20:02and see who he left the residue of his estate to.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08In this case, most of the people concerned were quite well-to-do
0:20:08 > 0:20:10and, therefore, they left wills and it was just
0:20:10 > 0:20:13a process of following who they left their estates to,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16particularly true where the people who benefit
0:20:16 > 0:20:18were not members of the family.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Because quite a lot of the people concerned in these cases
0:20:21 > 0:20:22died in the 19th century,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25a lot of the wills we have to look at are hand-written,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28which can make deciphering them quite complicated.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34In his will, John Crewe left everything to his wife, Jane Turner.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36On her death, he stated that his children should inherit
0:20:36 > 0:20:40his money, and it should go to their children when they died.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47John Crewe had six children, of whom five left descendants
0:20:47 > 0:20:50and, therefore, it was quite likely we were looking at a large
0:20:50 > 0:20:53family of potential beneficiaries.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57One of John Crewe's daughters was Grace.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59She was just 37 when she died.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Her inheritance went to her six children,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05including her only daughter, Ada Grace.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11Normally, daughters would miss out on an inheritance, because it
0:21:11 > 0:21:15would be the sons, and generally the eldest son, who would inherit land.
0:21:15 > 0:21:22Because John Crewe left the residue of his estate in a will to
0:21:22 > 0:21:24the children of all his children,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27that meant that daughters could inherit instead of sons.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29And in this instance, therefore,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Ada Grace was entitled to a share of the fund.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Simon discovered that, like her grandfather,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Ada Grace was also keen to help those less fortunate than herself.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43In 1914, when the First World War broke out,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45she was a Red Cross volunteer,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50and was elected as commandant of one of their hospitals,
0:21:50 > 0:21:51Leckhampton Court.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The duties of the commandant would have been many and varied.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59They would have covered everything from the most menial activity
0:21:59 > 0:22:04to such things as interviewing patients on arrival,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06appointing staff,
0:22:06 > 0:22:12concern with hygiene, and ensuring that discipline was observed,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14consistent with keeping a happy ship.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Ada Grace's job carried enormous responsibility.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25To have been selected for the post of commandant
0:22:25 > 0:22:27of this establishment,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31she must have had considerable organisational skills.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33I imagine a sort of Mrs Fix It.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38As wounded soldiers began arriving from the front, the volunteers had
0:22:38 > 0:22:42to cope with injuries and conditions they had never seen before.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50The injuries and complaints presented to the staff will have been
0:22:50 > 0:22:55mostly quite novel, beyond their previous experience.
0:22:55 > 0:23:02Such things as gas gangrene, trench foot, gas poisoning,
0:23:02 > 0:23:06malaria that had been brought back from the Far East,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and in the latter days of the war
0:23:09 > 0:23:12influenza was beginning to present itself.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17A total of 1,700 patients passed through Leckhampton Court.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20And they are incredibly successful,
0:23:20 > 0:23:26in that there were no deaths as the result of wounds.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29The success of the hospital did not go unnoticed
0:23:29 > 0:23:32and Ada Grace was awarded an MBE for her work.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35When the hospital closed at the end of the war,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37she wrote about her experiences.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41A souvenir booklet was produced in 1919
0:23:41 > 0:23:45and Ada Grace writes a lovely foreword to it.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49"We are all proud of our soldier boys, of their tenacity,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52"courage, and cheerfulness.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56"And I believe there is just as much honour due to our girls.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01"I can say with grateful pride that I have never seen a black look,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05"never heard a grumble, at any order given.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10"We've done our best not only for the patients but also for each other.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13"The result has been a very happy hospital.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17"Personally, I am more than proud to be commandant of such
0:24:17 > 0:24:20"a splendid detachment of willing and capable workers.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24"And I trust that the future holds much happiness for everyone
0:24:24 > 0:24:28"who has worked so untiringly, and with such generous spirit
0:24:28 > 0:24:31"to make Leckhampton Court Hospital a happy memory."
0:24:36 > 0:24:37It's an unusual case
0:24:37 > 0:24:42and I want to understand how schools like Dunalley Street came about.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45So I've come to meet historian Alex Windscheffel, who can tell me
0:24:45 > 0:24:49more about the laws the Victorians created so the rich could give
0:24:49 > 0:24:54away their land for schools, and also, what motivated them to do so.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Why was the School Sites Act created in 1841?
0:24:57 > 0:25:01The School Sites Act is an act of Parliament which tries to
0:25:01 > 0:25:06create a legal framework to permit local landowners,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10local benefactors, local groups of citizens,
0:25:10 > 0:25:16to donate areas of land for the purpose of building schools,
0:25:16 > 0:25:21usually with the explicit concern of education for the poor of the parish.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26The School Sites Act, or, to give it its full name,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28An Act To Afford Further Facilities
0:25:28 > 0:25:31For The Conveyance And Endowment Of Sites For Schools,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33allowed wealthy benefactors to
0:25:33 > 0:25:38give away up to one acre of land to charities to use for schools.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The Act applied to England, Scotland, and Wales.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Why were wealthy people of the time keen to contribute to
0:25:46 > 0:25:48the School Sites Act?
0:25:48 > 0:25:49There's two reasons.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Firstly, often because they are wanting to give something back
0:25:54 > 0:25:56to their local community.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59At the start of Victoria's reign there's no such thing
0:25:59 > 0:26:01as a national system of education.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06Where education was provided, it tended to be for the very rich
0:26:06 > 0:26:09or occasionally, for the very poor.
0:26:09 > 0:26:16It also fits into the desire to give a religious and moral education
0:26:16 > 0:26:19especially to the children of the poor at a time when Britain was
0:26:19 > 0:26:24experiencing rapid industrialisation, urbanisation,
0:26:24 > 0:26:28has a growing child population and there are moral concerns
0:26:28 > 0:26:32and political concerns about the state of the nation.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36- Did charity as a concept grow at that time?- Very much so.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40The Victorian age is the great age of philanthropy,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43the flowering of charity if you like.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44What other forms did this take?
0:26:44 > 0:26:50You also get institutions such as Barnardo's providing for orphans,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53in particular, trying to provide a better life
0:26:53 > 0:26:56as well as a form of moral instruction
0:26:56 > 0:26:59for these children, removing them from the streets.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03A lot of Victorian charities also directed towards widows,
0:27:03 > 0:27:08people whose circumstances have caused their poverty
0:27:08 > 0:27:12rather than being in poverty because of their own actions.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16And a lot of Victorian charities also directed towards, for instance,
0:27:16 > 0:27:21fallen women, so it's a way of trying to address moral concerns
0:27:21 > 0:27:22within the country.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25So what brought about the end of the School Sites Act?
0:27:25 > 0:27:27The School Site Act largely becomes redundant
0:27:27 > 0:27:31because in 1870, the great reforming Liberal government of the time
0:27:31 > 0:27:34introduces the 1870 Education Act
0:27:34 > 0:27:39and this means responsibility has now passed to the local state.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Schools are now funded out of the rates
0:27:43 > 0:27:50and there's no longer the need for this patchwork voluntary initiative.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57By the 1870s, the modern education system as we know it was born.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01The School Sites Act may have become irrelevant thanks to this
0:28:01 > 0:28:05later piece of legislation but its legacy lives on.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09A legacy that is proving tricky for the heir hunters.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Coming up - having traced the family tree through three generations,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Simon was finding the case a challenge.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21There's quite a lot of legal jargon that we have to make sure
0:28:21 > 0:28:24we've got correct so that we know we've got the right people.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Would he manage to find any of John Crewe's living heirs
0:28:28 > 0:28:32to claim the £126,000 that is rightfully theirs?
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Here are some more unsolved cases where heirs still need to be found.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48The Government list of over 2,000 unclaimed estates is money
0:28:48 > 0:28:51that is owed to members of the public.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54My division isn't allowed to make a profit, we don't make commission,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57we don't get huge bonuses for passing lots of money to the Treasury.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01In fact, the Treasury's more interested in "Are we finding more kin?" Which we are
0:29:01 > 0:29:05and, "Are we good value for taxpayers' money?" Which we are.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08The Government wants this money to go to its rightful owners
0:29:08 > 0:29:12so let's try and solve some of these cases.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16Do these names mean anything to you? Are they relatives of yours?
0:29:16 > 0:29:22Ernest David Weiss died in Paddington, London, way back in 1975.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27The Weiss name is of German ancestry and actually means "white".
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Is there an Ernest Weiss on your family tree?
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Could you be related to him?
0:29:32 > 0:29:39Next, James Bernard Lanigan. James died in January 2007 in East London.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Lanigan is a very well known Irish surname.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Was James a relative of yours?
0:29:45 > 0:29:49Could you be an heir entitled to a share of his unclaimed estate?
0:29:51 > 0:29:56Or finally, did you know Herbert Richardson?
0:29:56 > 0:29:58He died in November 2005.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02The list records his last address as Northwick Park Hospital
0:30:02 > 0:30:05but we've conducted some more research.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08I've got Herbert's death certificate here.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10It contains more information about him.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12It says that he lived in Wembley.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Was Herbert a neighbour of yours?
0:30:14 > 0:30:16Did he ever talk to you about any family?
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The death certificate also reveals Herbert's date of birth.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24It says he was born on 24th May 1918.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Was there a Herbert in your family with that date of birth?
0:30:27 > 0:30:30If you think you are related to any of the names today,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33you could be entitled to their estate.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38If people want further information about Bona Vacantia and what we do,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42the first port of call would be our website which has information
0:30:42 > 0:30:47about who's an entitled relative, how to put in a claim,
0:30:47 > 0:30:51how we deal with estates, and things like that.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54A reminder of those names again.
0:30:54 > 0:31:00Ernest Weiss, James Lanigan and Herbert Richardson.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03If any of the names today are relatives of yours
0:31:03 > 0:31:05then you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16The heir hunters are investigating the case of Victor Evans.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Can the team overcome their earlier setbacks and find living relatives?
0:31:22 > 0:31:26In the office, they've been working hard on Victor's case.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30He died in Bedford in 2010 without leaving a will.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Researching an Evans from Wales was never going to be easy.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39With a name like Evans, you can never be sure of anything,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41it's such a very common name.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44The team quickly discovered there were no living heirs
0:31:44 > 0:31:47from Victor's mother's family.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Then, having found a huge number of possible heirs through his father Thomas Evans,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54his birth certificate revealed the bombshell that
0:31:54 > 0:31:57they weren't relatives at all.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00'We had the wrong family altogether.'
0:32:00 > 0:32:05So we'd done a lot of work, all to no avail really.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08So it's back to the drawing board as far as the father's side
0:32:08 > 0:32:10of the family's concerned.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20Now the team are pinning their hopes on finding the correct Evans family.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22They have a lot of work to do.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Former care home manager Guy Tremonto remembers Victor as a bright man.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33He passed an entrance exam to Bedford Modern School which is
0:32:33 > 0:32:36a very good school in Bedford.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40He left at 16 or 17 and passed seven O-levels
0:32:40 > 0:32:42and he'd always mention that.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Victor was an accounts clerk by profession,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48a skill that was to prove useful in the Second World War.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51He was sent to Sierra Leone in Africa...
0:32:54 > 0:32:58..and then, I think he was transferred to Egypt as well.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01He was a messenger boy and he fought under Montgomery,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04and he said that he actually gave Montgomery a letter
0:33:04 > 0:33:09of how the war front was going on in North Africa.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15The heir hunters may have a battle on their hands finding his heirs
0:33:15 > 0:33:19but Victor had his fair share of drama in his life.
0:33:19 > 0:33:25We know that Victor Evans arrived in the Middle East sometime in 1942
0:33:25 > 0:33:29and that's at about the time that General Montgomery takes over
0:33:29 > 0:33:33the British force out there, which is called the Eighth Army.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36Field Marshal Montgomery is better known to the world as "Monty,"
0:33:36 > 0:33:40and he was Britain's premier general, really, in the Second World War.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47Victor worked in Monty's tactical headquarters behind the front line.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50We know that he was some sort of messenger or clerk
0:33:50 > 0:33:52and this is the days before e-mail,
0:33:52 > 0:33:56where you physically had to take a piece of paper from one room to another.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01I think Victor had the luxury of probably having
0:34:01 > 0:34:04a bigger understanding of what was happening in the war,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08where they were, how much closer they were to beating
0:34:08 > 0:34:10and defeating the Germans,
0:34:10 > 0:34:15and for someone with an educated background, as he clearly had,
0:34:15 > 0:34:17I think that's quite satisfying.
0:34:17 > 0:34:23It's rewarding to know what your part is in a war and whether it's making
0:34:23 > 0:34:27a difference and I think Victor would have been hugely aware
0:34:27 > 0:34:29of the contribution he was making,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31perhaps more so than a soldier at the front.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36His face clearly fitted and he was clearly very good at his job.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38Montgomery had no time for fools
0:34:38 > 0:34:42which meant that none of his staff officers would have either.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Anyone saying or doing the wrong thing, getting their paperwork
0:34:45 > 0:34:50in a mess, being rude, even smoking or drinking - because Montgomery
0:34:50 > 0:34:55didn't like that - would have been out of the headquarters very quickly.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59The three caravans that Montgomery took on his campaigns have been
0:34:59 > 0:35:03preserved at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07These are the very vehicles that he would have been working around
0:35:07 > 0:35:09each and every day.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12In one of them, Montgomery himself slept.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16In another, is his map room and in the third is his office.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20One can picture Victor bringing messages to the field marshal
0:35:20 > 0:35:25in his office and watching a stream of important visitors
0:35:25 > 0:35:29come to see Field Marshal Montgomery while the campaign is under progress.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33These include Winston Churchill and even more famously,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35King George VI.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41So, Victor's life in the Second World War is actually gilded in a way
0:35:41 > 0:35:43that not many soldiers experienced.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Victor's wartime experience was a positive one
0:35:48 > 0:35:52and back on the hunt for his heirs, things are looking up too.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55The team have discovered that his father Thomas had a sister -
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Victor's aunt, Annie.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00She married Pryce Morris in 1916
0:36:00 > 0:36:03in the West Derby district of Liverpool.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06If they had children, they would be Victor's cousins
0:36:06 > 0:36:08and beneficiaries to his estate.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10If they were no longer alive,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13their children would be next in line to inherit.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Now we've got the correct census,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18we've found the deceased father on the 1891, the 1901
0:36:18 > 0:36:20and the 1911 census
0:36:20 > 0:36:23and throughout that period, he's only with one sibling
0:36:23 > 0:36:25who is Annie Billington Evans
0:36:25 > 0:36:28and that looks to be his only sister.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32This is a much smaller family than the ten aunts and uncles
0:36:32 > 0:36:34they believed there were before.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37It's good news but there's a catch.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40You've got nine possible children,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44none of which we know are the right ones or the wrong ones
0:36:44 > 0:36:46so we're working them all speculatively
0:36:46 > 0:36:49and hopefully, we'll get through to someone
0:36:49 > 0:36:53and they can tell us whether they are the right family or the wrong family.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57As the hunters now move to Liverpool, Grimble contacts Paul.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00How would you like Liverpool on a cold, wet day?
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Ah, Paul.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Hello. Who's that?
0:37:04 > 0:37:06'It's Grimble.'
0:37:06 > 0:37:07I know, go on!
0:37:07 > 0:37:12Can you sort of turn your car and go towards Liverpool?
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Okie.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16We're now going on the correct line.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20It looks like there was an aunt of the deceased
0:37:20 > 0:37:23who married in Liverpool.
0:37:23 > 0:37:29She died around 1972 and it looks as though she had children
0:37:29 > 0:37:31but it's moved over to Liverpool
0:37:31 > 0:37:34so I thought if we get you heading that way...
0:37:34 > 0:37:37OK, speak to you soon. Cheers. Bye.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41If the team can confirm that they have the right family members,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45Paul can make contact with them and hopefully, sign them up.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50I'm working a son of Annie. I don't know if he's definitely a son.
0:37:50 > 0:37:56We've gone through all the births after the marriage of Annie in West Derby and everyone's working one.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00After the disappointment of losing their first set of heirs by chasing
0:38:00 > 0:38:04the wrong family, the team have come up with phone numbers for numerous
0:38:04 > 0:38:10possible relatives but contacting them is proving frustrating.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Can you believe, all those numbers
0:38:12 > 0:38:15and I can't get through to anyone?
0:38:15 > 0:38:17We've got, what...
0:38:17 > 0:38:21One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
0:38:21 > 0:38:26nine potential children of the aunt of the deceased.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31Now, they could all be part of the family
0:38:31 > 0:38:35but it means Mum was having the last child quite late in life or
0:38:35 > 0:38:40only a few of them might be right and the others may be part of another family.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44It would just be nice for one of them to answer the phone.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46With no joy on the phone,
0:38:46 > 0:38:49the only way to prove who's who is with birth certificates.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52It's over to Paul on the road.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53'How are you doing?'
0:38:53 > 0:38:55I'm just arriving in Liverpool.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57'Oh, right.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01- 'Can you head to the registry to begin with?'- Yes.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06'I've got half a dozen addresses and nobody's answering the phone.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11'So nobody can confirm whether we're on the right track or not.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14'They said they can do it in a couple of hours.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20'So when you get there, give us another call and I'll tell you what we want.'
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Whereas I was hoping to go knocking on somebody's door,
0:39:24 > 0:39:28I've got to go to the registry office now, get some certificates
0:39:28 > 0:39:32which will prove that we've got the right family.
0:39:32 > 0:39:33So, a little bit frustrating
0:39:33 > 0:39:37but nothing new there, is there, with this type of work?
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Finally, Grimble gets through to one of Victor's possible heirs.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Hello, there. I'm sorry to trouble you. My name's David Milchard of Fraser & Fraser in London.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51We're desperately trying to trace a family by the name of Morris
0:39:51 > 0:39:55in connection with an estate that my company's dealing with.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59Unfortunately, the name Morris is quite common,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02particularly up in the North Wales area.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05I'm not sure if I have the right family or not
0:40:05 > 0:40:10but we were, in fact, trying to trace the children of a gentleman
0:40:10 > 0:40:16called Pryce Morris and his wife Ann Billington Evans.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20Does that ring a bell with you and your family at all?
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Finding Aunt Annie's possible children from their list
0:40:23 > 0:40:27of nine names is a process of elimination.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29It certainly looks as though...
0:40:29 > 0:40:33That's definitely not part of our family because
0:40:33 > 0:40:36your mum would of had to have been the daughter of a Pryce Morris
0:40:36 > 0:40:38and an Annie Evans
0:40:38 > 0:40:43so I think we're getting mixed up with the other marriage there.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Anyway, thank you very much. I'm really grateful to you.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48One down, eight to go.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50PHONE BEEPS
0:40:50 > 0:40:57Hi, Dave, it's 12:25, I'm parked up near the registry office,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00just waiting for an update from you.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03So give us a call when you've finished talking on the phone, please.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07She's recognised some of the names of the children
0:41:07 > 0:41:10born from the marriage that we're looking at,
0:41:10 > 0:41:16so that would indicate about half the births that we've got.
0:41:16 > 0:41:23We've got nine kids and five of them are obviously not connected to our family.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28Still no actual heirs yet. Grimble works his way down the list.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33It really looks as though your husband's part of the family isn't correct.
0:41:33 > 0:41:38But you've helped us a lot and we've ruled out a lot of information,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41otherwise we'd be going completely down the wrong path.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45It's not looking good.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48After finding numbers for the aunt's nine possible children,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52the heir hunters have one last possible hope.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57We've got one guy called Eric Morris that nobody that I spoke to recognises,
0:41:57 > 0:42:04so if we've ruled out the family we've spoken to as not being ours,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07and they don't recognise Eric then Eric is a good chance
0:42:07 > 0:42:13of being perhaps the only child of the aunt of the deceased.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19Now, he died in 1997 but he is survived by a daughter.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24She could be the only heir to Victor's estimated £200,000 estate
0:42:24 > 0:42:28and the frustrating thing is, she isn't answering the phone.
0:42:28 > 0:42:29Hello, Paul?
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Any joy?
0:42:31 > 0:42:35We've got a possible address but she ain't answering the phone yet.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38OK, tell us what you want while I'm in a position to write it down.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40The first thing I want you to do is to check
0:42:40 > 0:42:46the birth of an Eric Lynn Morris...
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Yes.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52..who was born on the 12th October 1916 in West Derby.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54If I'm to be correct...
0:42:54 > 0:42:58he's got to be the son of Pryce Morris...
0:43:00 > 0:43:01Yeah.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06..and Annie Billington Evans.
0:43:06 > 0:43:07OK.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Before we go knocking on the daughter's door,
0:43:10 > 0:43:14while you're there, best check his birth, make sure it is right.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17After a false start,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21this entire case now hangs on what Paul can find out.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23He's going to check the birth of Eric
0:43:23 > 0:43:26and then we're going to check, if possible,
0:43:26 > 0:43:29all the other eight births that we looked at,
0:43:29 > 0:43:33just to make sure that none of them are also in our family.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37So...
0:43:37 > 0:43:39we should know in a little while.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Can he prove that Victor has a last remaining heir?
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Hello, Dave. Paul.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Er, all those Morris births are all wrong.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57It's a disaster for the team.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59After an exhausting day,
0:43:59 > 0:44:04having chased up countless potential heirs, they've ended up with none.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Aunt Annie had no children,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09so when Victor died, his family tree died with him.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14It's finished off a huge disappointment.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18A lot of man-hours and we've ended up proving that it's a dead case.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22As no heirs were found in this case,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25the true value of Victor's estate will never be known.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32This is a case that is going to go back to the Government now.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34And just not a dickey bird for us.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43Still to come -
0:44:43 > 0:44:47the intriguing story of a Victorian school that was put up for sale.
0:44:47 > 0:44:48But, as we know,
0:44:48 > 0:44:53things are never straightforward in the world of probate research.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56Unusually for an heir hunt, the heirs to Dunalley Street
0:44:56 > 0:44:59inherit through a series of wills written by each generation,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01rather than through blood ties.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07'So how did wills come about? And how did they change over time?
0:45:07 > 0:45:09'I'm meeting genealogist Paul Blake,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12'who's going to take me through their history
0:45:12 > 0:45:15'and show me some interesting examples of wills.'
0:45:15 > 0:45:18When did wills become established in England?
0:45:18 > 0:45:21Well, in England, what we traditionally think of as being a will,
0:45:21 > 0:45:23probably not till the 12th and 13th century.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27But there was, before that, really quite a long tradition
0:45:27 > 0:45:31of people making their wishes known, probably in front of witnesses
0:45:31 > 0:45:33and those wishes being put into action.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38But, on the whole, it wasn't until the late Norman period, the Middle Ages,
0:45:38 > 0:45:44that you actually start getting this tradition of making a formal will.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48It was during the Middle Ages that the Church actively prompted
0:45:48 > 0:45:52and even stipulated that people left a written will.
0:45:52 > 0:45:57This wasn't a completely selfless act for the good of the common man.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59There was an expectation by the Church
0:45:59 > 0:46:01that you would leave a tenth of your estate to them.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05Of course, if you died without leaving a will,
0:46:05 > 0:46:06that wouldn't happen.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08So no wonder they were keen!
0:46:08 > 0:46:12But the Church's powers went to last for ever in the world of probate.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19So what was the 1857 Act and what impact did that have on wills?
0:46:19 > 0:46:21It was a major change.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25I mean, before 1858, which was when the Act actually came into force,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28everything to do with probate, everything to do with death,
0:46:28 > 0:46:30to some extent, was handled by the Church.
0:46:30 > 0:46:31So if you had a will,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34then your executors would have had to take that will to the church courts
0:46:34 > 0:46:38and they would then have processed the will,
0:46:38 > 0:46:40made sure that the bequests in it
0:46:40 > 0:46:44were doled out to whoever was actually mentioned.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46And it was a very complicated process.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48By the time you get to the 19th century,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Government's been getting a bit fed up with the Church having so much power
0:46:51 > 0:46:56and therefore it brings in this law, the Probate Act in 1857,
0:46:56 > 0:46:59to change everything to do with probate
0:46:59 > 0:47:03from being a Church jurisdiction to being a civil jurisdiction.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05So those 300 courts, probate courts, are abolished
0:47:05 > 0:47:10and you simply have the one single principle probate registry,
0:47:10 > 0:47:11which is based in London,
0:47:11 > 0:47:15and a number of district registries around the country.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17So the whole process is simplified.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19So what interesting examples of wills
0:47:19 > 0:47:21have you brought along for us to look at today?
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Well, we've got a couple here. Let's see here.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26The first one is Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's will.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Yeah, the handwriting's not that easy, is it?
0:47:29 > 0:47:31But probably the best-known will in the English language.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35He's got within it probably one of the best-known phrases in any will.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37"I leave to my wife my second-best bed."
0:47:38 > 0:47:42- Which sounds an enormous slight on his wife, doesn't it?- Yeah!
0:47:42 > 0:47:47But I think the truth of it is really that this was her own bed,
0:47:47 > 0:47:49it was the bed which they used.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Because the best bed, like the best crockery and all that,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56is only brought out on special occasions
0:47:56 > 0:47:59when important visitors come or the in-laws come or whatever it might be.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03- So he's left his wife her bed. - He's left his wife her bed, yes.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05She's not mentioned very much in the will,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09which again people often think is because they weren't getting on terribly well.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13But she's mentioned enough so she will inherit what is necessary.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16What else have we got? We've got another will, a little bit later.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19And this is the will of Isaac Merritt Singer.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Now, Singer was a man who formed the Singer Sewing Machine Company.
0:48:23 > 0:48:24Right. Yeah.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26He didn't actually invent the sewing machine,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30but he improved it beyond anything that had been seen before.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34And he was a man who, shall we say, um...
0:48:34 > 0:48:36I'll say "roamed."
0:48:36 > 0:48:38He...married twice.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40He had a marriage at the beginning of his career
0:48:40 > 0:48:42and at the end of his career.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45But he also probably had a bigamous marriage.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49And he certainly had two other liaisons.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52All of which gave him children.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55- Right.- 22 children in all.
0:48:55 > 0:48:56- 22?!- 22 children.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Only about half of them from marriages.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02But he mentions all 22 children in there.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06And his wives and it's fairly unusual, I think,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08that someone who had illegitimate children
0:49:08 > 0:49:11is actually so open about it and actually gives so much information.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14They got £10,000 each and I think, at the end of the day,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17he left something in the region of about a quarter of a million pounds,
0:49:17 > 0:49:21which for the time was an enormous amount of money.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23The last one is just an extract from a will.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26This is the will of somebody called Charles Smith.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29He is nobody well-known, but I'll read out what it actually says.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33"Item - I give, devise and bequeath unto my respectful friend,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36"Elizabeth Morgan, all my household furniture,
0:49:36 > 0:49:42"ready cash and all other my estate and effects for her own sole use.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46"Item, I give and bequeath unto Francis Smith, my wife,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50"the sum of one shilling, of lawful money of Great Britain."
0:49:50 > 0:49:51Ha!
0:49:51 > 0:49:56- Wow!- He left it all to his mistress, yes. Well, his best friend.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58- His best friend. - His best friend. Absolutely.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01It is interesting, entertaining.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03But there's a reason for it.
0:50:03 > 0:50:04He HAD to mention his wife.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06He HAD to leave her something.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09You often get the phrase, "Cut off with a sixpence,"
0:50:09 > 0:50:12or, "Cut off with a shilling," and the reason is because now...
0:50:13 > 0:50:17..Mrs Smith can't turn around and actually contest the will.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20Because she is mentioned, she has been given something
0:50:20 > 0:50:23and therefore she has no case for any argument.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27That's why you do often get people mentioned as being given very, very little.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30It's just so they can't turn around and say, "Oh, they forgot me."
0:50:30 > 0:50:33- Wow.- And then contest the well.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36So, there we are, three examples of the sorts of things you can find.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41Wills can give fascinating insight into the lives of both
0:50:41 > 0:50:44the famous and the ordinary people of our history.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46They're also invaluable to the heir hunters,
0:50:46 > 0:50:48as the information contained in them
0:50:48 > 0:50:53can provide vital clues about a specific family and its dynamics.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Just remember to do yours.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04A series of wills are being used in the hunt
0:51:04 > 0:51:07for beneficiaries to an estate in Cheltenham.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10Can the team find people entitled to inherit?
0:51:14 > 0:51:17In 2002, the Heir Hunters were looking into the case
0:51:17 > 0:51:20of 19th-century entrepreneur John Crewe.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24In 1858, he had donated his land to a charity
0:51:24 > 0:51:28to build a pioneering school for the poor - Dunalley Street.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32In 2000, the trustees sold the land
0:51:32 > 0:51:37to a firm of property developers for £126,000.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40But, by law, when the land is no longer used for a school,
0:51:40 > 0:51:44the original owner, or his descendants, must be reimbursed.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49Case manager Simon's challenge was to find John's living beneficiaries.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57Through their wills, he had traced one stem of the family tree,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59from John Crewe to his daughter, Grace,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02and to her daughter, Ada Grace Ward.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07He found that when she died in 1951,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11she left everything to her only child, Kenneth.
0:52:11 > 0:52:17We identified a death for Kenneth Ward in 1964, in Cheltenham.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20And, in his will, he left his estate to his wife, Patricia.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Patricia, when she died,
0:52:22 > 0:52:25left a portion of her estate to her daughter, Angela.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29Angela was the great, great-granddaughter of John Crewe,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31and his first heir.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35But, following a major car crash 17 years earlier,
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Angela had been left paralysed with severe head injuries.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42When Simon contacted her, she asked her husband, Brian,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44to act on her behalf.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47Her condition was very difficult.
0:52:47 > 0:52:48Er...
0:52:48 > 0:52:53She had a full vocabulary and could understand everything,
0:52:53 > 0:52:57but had no idea of figures at all.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Couldn't count and couldn't read.
0:53:00 > 0:53:01When we took the phone call,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Angela thought that someone was having a joke
0:53:04 > 0:53:08and didn't believe that there was even a firm called Fraser & Fraser.
0:53:08 > 0:53:15But, on looking at some paperwork, we realised it was quite serious.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19Angela knew very little about her family background.
0:53:19 > 0:53:25It was, um...quite an old family, in relation to herself.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Her father was quite old when he married
0:53:27 > 0:53:30and her mother didn't say anything at all
0:53:30 > 0:53:33about that side of the family.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39So, again, we were completely surprised to hear anything.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Angela signed an agreement as heir to John Crewe's estate.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46But, sadly, she passed away soon afterwards.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51As beneficiaries in her will, Angela's son and her husband, Brian,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53have inherited her share.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57He's keen to learn all he can about her Victorian ancestor
0:53:57 > 0:54:00and the land he donated for the Dunalley Street School.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04I didn't know anything of John Crewe,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08except that his name has been mentioned as a distant ancestor...
0:54:08 > 0:54:10of my late wife.
0:54:10 > 0:54:16Having spoken, in years gone by, to various very elderly people,
0:54:16 > 0:54:20some of which had been ex-employees of the family's,
0:54:20 > 0:54:25they had hinted that the land that John Crewe had donated for the building of the school
0:54:25 > 0:54:28had possibly been used as market gardens.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36Brian is meeting Cheltenham historian Dr Anthea Jones at a market garden.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38This is what John Crewe's land may have looked like
0:54:38 > 0:54:40before he gave it away.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45The land that John Crewe donated had been used, at some time,
0:54:45 > 0:54:46for some commercial growing.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Yes, I think that's quite likely.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54Nobody seems to be exactly sure as to how large the growing area was
0:54:54 > 0:54:57or what he was doing with it.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02Well, I think the early maps of Cheltenham will show you that...
0:55:02 > 0:55:07that area was completely fields and open until 1806,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09when there was an Enclosure Act.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11And, after that, it began to be developed
0:55:11 > 0:55:16but the point about enclosure is that various people who had rights
0:55:16 > 0:55:21in the field were given small plots of land.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24All they could really do with that land was either develop it
0:55:24 > 0:55:27for building, which gradually did happen in that area, as we know,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30or they could use it as a market garden.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32By the age of 45,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36John Crewe had made enough money to give his land away to charity.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40And Brian's keen to find out more about his business.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42When John Crewe came to Cheltenham,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45the population was something like 30,000.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49It had grown enormously in the early 19th century -
0:55:49 > 0:55:52from 3,000 at the beginning of the century,
0:55:52 > 0:55:58it actually zoomed to 30,000 by 1841.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02So there were new houses, there were more people coming in.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05There was a good opportunity for him to open a shop.
0:56:08 > 0:56:15He started off in Winchcomb Street as a grocer and tea dealer.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18And that was quite common, for grocers to be tea dealers as well.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22And then, gradually, he becomes a baker and grocer.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26- He diversified into being a baker as well?- It seems so, yes
0:56:26 > 0:56:30because he only advertises himself as a grocer to start with
0:56:30 > 0:56:32and then he adds the baker bit.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35Maybe he found that he wasn't making money out of tea,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39so he looked for something else to add to his profitability.
0:56:43 > 0:56:48But despite his success, John Crewe wasn't driven by profit alone.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53And Brian wants to see for himself the school he helped create.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56It is quite strange to think that,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59after all of the children that have been educated in it,
0:56:59 > 0:57:04it's now luxury homes for half a dozen families.
0:57:04 > 0:57:09It's quite surprising, really, when you see how well it was built in those days...
0:57:10 > 0:57:12..compared to modern schools.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15It will still be here in 100 years' time,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19whereas, many will have dropped into rubble.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24By inheriting his wife's share of John Crewe's £126,000 estate,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28Brian has also become part of Cheltenham's history.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31My impression of John Crewe is that he was one of these people
0:57:31 > 0:57:37that did everything he could to help the poorer areas of the town
0:57:37 > 0:57:40and his work has stood the test of time.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Angela would've been extremely pleased to have seen all this
0:57:43 > 0:57:46and I think she would have been proud of him.
0:57:46 > 0:57:51After an epic search, the heir hunters found over 20 beneficiaries.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54They were all entitled to a share of the money,
0:57:54 > 0:57:57from hundreds to thousands of pounds.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01It's thanks to the great Victorian philanthropic era
0:58:01 > 0:58:05that our beneficiaries today are benefiting from land
0:58:05 > 0:58:07that was given away over 150 years ago.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19Join me next time for some more fascinating family stories
0:58:19 > 0:58:21and investigations into our past.
0:58:40 > 0:58:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd