0:00:01 > 0:00:04Today, the heir hunters are dealing with an estate
0:00:04 > 0:00:08which could be worth an estimated £120,000.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10I've just made a house enquiry where the deceased lived.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15Somewhere out there are some long-lost relatives who have no idea
0:00:15 > 0:00:17they're in line for a windfall.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?
0:00:36 > 0:00:40On today's show,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43a seasoned heir hunter is amazed by one man's thrifty lifestyle.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Our deceased must be the most frugal man I've ever heard of, really.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53And one woman's story reveals the dangers of our industrial past.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Miners had many enemies underground -
0:00:59 > 0:01:00gas, water,
0:01:00 > 0:01:01roof cave-ins.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04And so they did fear for their lives.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09Plus, how you may be entitled to inherit an unclaimed estate
0:01:09 > 0:01:10held by the Treasury.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Every year in the UK,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:30 > 0:01:36If no relatives are found, any money left behind goes to the government.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Last year, they kept £14 million from unclaimed estates.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44That's where the heir hunters come in.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47They make it their business to track down missing relatives
0:01:47 > 0:01:51and help them to claim their just inheritance.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I stop the government from getting money that doesn't belong to them
0:01:55 > 0:01:57and I give it to the people whom it belongs to.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11It's 7am at heir-hunting company Fraser & Fraser
0:02:11 > 0:02:12and they're already hard at work.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17Case manager Tony Pledger is looking into the case of Ronald Boyne.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21It was referred to them a few days ago from a solicitor.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25We've been looking at this case for a bit, um,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30and it's now been advertised by the Treasury.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35Um, but, as I say, we've already done a lot of research on it.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Tony's had a head start on the case,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40but he's yet to sign up all the heirs.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Now it's been advertised on the Treasury's weekly list of people
0:02:44 > 0:02:49who've died without a will, over 30 rival firms could beat him to it.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Ronald Boyne was 84 when he died on 20 December, 2010,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04without leaving a will.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06The only initial information we had
0:03:06 > 0:03:08was that obtained from the death certificate,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11which showed he was born in 1927 in Birmingham.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Of course, he died in Birmingham
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and so obviously he was a local chap.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20We were able to find his marriage in Birmingham to somebody called
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Audrey Kay, and we were unable to trace children from that.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25We then we found her death,
0:03:25 > 0:03:30so we're pretty sure he's died a widower without any issue.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34As Ronald and his wife did not have children,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38the team now need to extend their research to his wider family.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47The heir hunters earn their fee by taking a percentage
0:03:47 > 0:03:49of the estate's final value.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51As it isn't published on the Treasury's list,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54the best way to get an idea of what it's worth
0:03:54 > 0:03:57is to check out the deceased's property.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03Senior on-the-road investigator Paul Matthews is hoping to speak to Ronald's neighbours.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05We're pretty sure he owned the property
0:04:05 > 0:04:09and, if that's the case, it would be nice for Paul to see the property,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13make an assessment for it and, hopefully, we can form
0:04:13 > 0:04:17some reasonable idea as to the potential value of the estate.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Most of the research on cases is done by the office team,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25but front-line investigators like Paul
0:04:25 > 0:04:27are the eyes and ears on the ground,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29feeding back vital information.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31We're now going to make an enquiry at the home address,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33because at this point in time,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36we still don't know the value of the estate.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40We'll try to make some enquiries to try to put a value on it.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Paul has arrived in Birmingham and found Ronald's house.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55He's hoping to speak to some of his neighbours.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14No replies, I'm afraid.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18HE KNOCKS AT DOOR
0:05:19 > 0:05:20DOORBELL RINGS
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Finally, Paul has some luck.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33- Hello.- Morning, sorry to bother you. I'm not selling anything.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Bill, Ronald's work colleague, and his wife Val,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41were the only people in the street Ronald and his wife ever spoke to.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43They never bothered with anybody in the avenue.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46They literally kept themselves to themselves.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Val looked after Ronald in his home opposite
0:05:49 > 0:05:50for nearly 14 years
0:05:50 > 0:05:54after his wife died and illness left him with limited sight.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58She remembers taking him to his building society
0:05:58 > 0:06:00to sort out his finances.
0:06:00 > 0:06:07We'd seen the man and he said... What he says to Ron, he says,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12"I have never had a person with so many ISAs
0:06:12 > 0:06:14"as yourself."
0:06:14 > 0:06:17- So, he had a lot of money. Why didn't he spend it on himself?- Yeah.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19No. He wouldn't. No, no.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21How much cash had he got, then?
0:06:21 > 0:06:22Oh...
0:06:22 > 0:06:23I couldn't tell you that.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29It's... I mean, he's definitely got a bond of £36,000.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- Was it his own house? - Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34It's his own house, all paid, everything.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37What do these properties fetch down here?
0:06:37 > 0:06:42If I say as a "for instance", just down here, that's up for 120.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47It's great news for Ronald's potential heirs,
0:06:47 > 0:06:48if they can find them.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Not only did he own a property,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54but he had substantial savings and spent very little money on himself.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58I must be honest and truthful with you. He was very tight.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Very tight, very careful.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04He used to have a money bag and say you gave him some change...
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Say you'd gone shopping for him and it was £9.99,
0:07:08 > 0:07:09that meant he got a penny.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13He used to have a bag, which he put pennies in.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16So if it was £11.99,
0:07:16 > 0:07:22he would give me a bag which had a pound of pennies in.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25But he'd take one out because it was only 99p.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28It's like an obsession. Save it, not spend it,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31- but, at the end of the day, when Mr Grim Reaper comes along...- Yeah.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Thank you very much for your help.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36At least we know a little bit about your man. So, yeah...
0:07:36 > 0:07:38COUPLE: It's a shame, really.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Because... Have many of the neighbours said anything?
0:07:41 > 0:07:43- There's nobody in.- Oh, right.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48- OK. OK. Thank you very much for your time and your help.- Thank you.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Thank you very much.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53- All the very best.- Bye. Bye-bye. - Bye.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Well, that's probably the, er...
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Something completely different.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I've been doing this for ten years now
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and I think...
0:08:05 > 0:08:10our deceased must be the most frugal man that I've ever heard of, really.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12He just wouldn't spend his money.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15His eating habits - always ate on the cheap -
0:08:15 > 0:08:18and he wouldn't spend his money, but he loved investing.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20But, you can't take it with you.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Paul reports back to the office team.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Hi, Fran. I've just made a house enquiry where the deceased lived,
0:08:27 > 0:08:28which was interesting.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32- OK.- 'For our purposes,'
0:08:32 > 0:08:37this guy spent his life investing
0:08:37 > 0:08:38and wouldn't spend any money.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43And so, basically, there's property worth over 120 grand
0:08:43 > 0:08:46and probably many, many thousands
0:08:46 > 0:08:48'in the bank.'
0:08:48 > 0:08:51- Ooh.- 'It's, er, he's certainly got'
0:08:51 > 0:08:54a bond with about 36 grand in it
0:08:54 > 0:08:58and he was, um, she knew he had a whole rake of ISAs
0:08:58 > 0:09:00because he was advised you shouldn't have everything
0:09:00 > 0:09:02'in ISAs, you should invest it elsewhere,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05'but he wouldn't do it and he would never spend any money.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:08He was really, really frugal.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11'He was advised to make a will because he had so much money.'
0:09:11 > 0:09:15He could even have made a free will, but he never, ever bothered.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18So this could potentially be
0:09:18 > 0:09:20even worth even more
0:09:20 > 0:09:24than at...at first thought?
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Yeah, I think this is going to be quite a sizeable estate.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31The guy would just never, ever spend money.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34- All right. Thanks a lot. - 'Catch you later, Fran.'
0:09:34 > 0:09:37- Cheers.- 'Bye, Paul.'- Bye.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Now they know this could be a lucrative case,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44the pressure is on in the office to find his heirs, fast.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52Ronald got a job at Rover in the 1950s, when business was booming.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55During the post-war years,
0:09:55 > 0:10:00the British government encouraged car manufacturers to export
0:10:00 > 0:10:02as many cars as possible
0:10:02 > 0:10:07to earn valuable foreign currency to repay the war debts.
0:10:07 > 0:10:14Over 75% of Land Rovers produced were exported and, by 1966,
0:10:14 > 0:10:19had earned over £300 million of foreign currency for the nation.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24The factory was working flat out and Ronald made his money
0:10:24 > 0:10:26through hard graft on the shop floor.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29His neighbour Bill worked with him.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33When he got married, he used to work for a tool company
0:10:33 > 0:10:36and he couldn't have the same holidays as his wife
0:10:36 > 0:10:39because she worked at Land Rover.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44And he left the tool company to go to Land Rover,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47so they could have the same holidays together.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Sometimes I'd see him, when he was going to work,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55I used to go on my bike and he used to go on the bus.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59I was in the paint shop, he was on the assembly line.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07They'd have all the bits and pieces
0:11:07 > 0:11:10and, like, you would just...
0:11:10 > 0:11:12They'd be by the side of the track
0:11:12 > 0:11:16and people would be fitting them on as it runs down.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19You see, that never stopped.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23The only time it stopped was for a break or lunch.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25They were coming off every three minutes.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Although it was considered one of the toughest jobs in the factory,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Ronald spent virtually his whole career on the production line.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I don't think he enjoyed it, but it was a job.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37You had to work hard and you got your money.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41It was OK. It was great.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46It gave us a living, you know, and it was always very busy.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Back on the hunt for Ronald's heirs,
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Frances updates Tony with the good news about his finances.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55Not only did he own the property,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58he had quite a number of investments.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00He had money here, there and everywhere.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05Lots of different ISAs, a bond with 36,000.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08So he must have spoken to somebody who told him this?
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Yeah. The woman over the road,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13who was the only person who still had anything to do with him.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16I'd have thought he would have left a will leaving it to her, as well.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19No, they were trying to get him to make a will
0:12:19 > 0:12:21because of the amount of money he had
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and he just never got round to it and never did.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Coming up, if Ronald has any surviving relatives,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31they could have serious money coming their way.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36There could be more in it than first thought.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Now they need to find the heirs, fast,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42or the competition might beat them to it.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51In 2010, heir-hunting company Celtic Research
0:12:51 > 0:12:54came across the unsolved case of Eleanor Pridmore.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56They would uncover a tale of heavy industry,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59hard lives and family heartache.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Eleanor died in Sheffield on 5 July, 1989, without a will,
0:13:04 > 0:13:09leaving an estate worth almost £23,000.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11No living heirs were ever found.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17With no-one to arrange her funeral, it was dealt with
0:13:17 > 0:13:19by local government officer Michael Turner.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24To try and determine what arrangements to make,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27we searched Eleanor's home address.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30We went through everything in detail,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33removed as much documentation
0:13:33 > 0:13:36as we were able to find.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40And we found a grave paper
0:13:40 > 0:13:45giving the details of the grave
0:13:45 > 0:13:48in which her late husband had been interred.
0:13:48 > 0:13:54We were unable to comply with what I'm sure would have been her wishes.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57She was buried with her husband in the family grave
0:13:57 > 0:14:00and I think that's the important thing.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04We were very pleased in that we are not always able
0:14:04 > 0:14:08to ascertain what precise arrangements
0:14:08 > 0:14:11the deceased would have wanted for themselves.
0:14:11 > 0:14:17So a case like this is a happy conclusion for us.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Michael had managed to bury Eleanor beside her husband,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24but, sadly, no family came to the funeral.
0:14:27 > 0:14:3121 years later, heir hunter Hector Birchwood took up the case
0:14:31 > 0:14:36after he spotted it on the Treasury list of unclaimed estates.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39The Treasury Solicitor established a new policy
0:14:39 > 0:14:42where they would be advertising very old cases.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45So this was one of the cases.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53He discovered that she married her husband Wilfred, a van driver, in 1940,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and they were one of the first couples to move into this Sheffield street.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Eleanor is believed to have worked
0:14:58 > 0:15:02in one of the city's best-known industries - cutlery.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Sheffield was famous for cutlery before it came famous for steel,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13producing cutlery from the 16th century onwards.
0:15:13 > 0:15:19When technology was developed that made steel more readily available,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23easier to produce, obviously more and more cutlery was produced
0:15:23 > 0:15:26and the factory system really started.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Prior to the late 18th century,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32production had been really domestic, but then factories took off.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Eleanor is thought to have worked
0:15:35 > 0:15:38at one of the city's largest factories as a knife grinder.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It was unusual for women to be employed as grinders.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Most women would have been employed as buffers.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48They were the people who polished cutlery and holloware.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54Although working conditions had improved considerably since the 19th century,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56it was still a tough and dirty job.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Eleanor Pridmore, as a knife grinder,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03would have ground the blades.
0:16:03 > 0:16:04She would've had a grinding wheel
0:16:04 > 0:16:07and the blank blade would have been given to her.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11She would have ground it down to its finish sized and put an edge on it.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Very hard work, very dirty work.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16She would have been paid on piece work.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17She would not have got a wage.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20She would have been paid a small amount
0:16:20 > 0:16:22for every blade that she ground.
0:16:22 > 0:16:23And to make ends meet,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27she would have had to have ground several gross in a week.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Eleanor's husband Wilfred died 18 years before her
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and Hector discovered that they never had children.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40So he had to start piecing together her family tree.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42He began by looking for a birth record that Eleanor,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44using her maiden name, Bullas,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47which he'd found on her marriage certificate.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50It revealed that she was born in the village of Shuttlewood,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53near Bolsover in Derbyshire, in 1908.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Once we located the birth of the deceased,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00we were able to find out the names of her parents.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Her parents were Hannah Taylor and Henry Bullas.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06He discovered that Shuttlewood was a former colliery village
0:17:06 > 0:17:11and that Eleanor's father Henry had worked as a coal miner.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Coal was the mainstay of the area. It was the main employer.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17The only other employ was farming
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and there would just be a few hundred men employed
0:17:20 > 0:17:22in the whole county - in the whole area - for farming,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27whereas there would be thousands of men employed in coal mining.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28In this area of Derbyshire,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31whole communities relied on the mines for their livelihood.
0:17:31 > 0:17:38The Oxcroft Colliery Company employed over 700 men at the time.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Um, Bolsover Colliery, perhaps 700 or 800 men,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47and Markham Colliery, probably 1,000 to 2,000 men.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52Most companies involved in mining found from an early time
0:17:52 > 0:17:57that if they provided houses and amenities for the workforce,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01they seemed to keep the men a lot longer.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05As well as houses, mining companies built schools
0:18:05 > 0:18:07and even pubs for their workers.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09It was common for generations of men
0:18:09 > 0:18:12to work side by side at the coal face.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Hector found that Eleanor's brother Joseph
0:18:15 > 0:18:18had followed in his father's footsteps and gone down the pit.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Most young men came into the mine
0:18:22 > 0:18:26because their relations worked in the mine.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28They started the lowest of the low.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31They would start perhaps sweeping up
0:18:31 > 0:18:34or then they would go on to transport.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38They'd go from transport on to another job.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42If they were quite fit, they might give them jobs shovelling.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Er, or setting props
0:18:44 > 0:18:49in areas not on the face, but away from the face,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52to prove themselves, and then they would move on.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Because a miner was expected to know every job in the mine
0:18:56 > 0:18:59because, one day, his life might depend on it.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07It was a well-paid job, but it was also a dangerous one.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Miners suffered greatly from injury,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14from small injuries up to loss of limbs.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18And it was quite easy to lose fingers
0:19:18 > 0:19:22where tubs were being moved about.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26If you were hit by a tub, you could suffer quite easily
0:19:26 > 0:19:29groin damage, broken legs, broken arms.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Eleanor's brother Joseph suffered with diabetes,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37a condition not helped by working down the mines.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Sadly, in 1927, he was injured in an industrial accident
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and died the following year aged just 26.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Coming up, another tragedy was to devastate
0:19:47 > 0:19:52not just Eleanor's family, but the whole coalmining community.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Everybody knew these people.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57They'd probably seen them go to work that morning.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Um, and not seen them return.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:20:10 > 0:20:15In the UK, the Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates
0:20:15 > 0:20:18that, over the years, have baffled the heir hunters
0:20:18 > 0:20:20and still remain unclaimed.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24This is money that could have your name on it.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28These estates can stay on the list for up to 30 years
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and each one could be worth anything from £5,000
0:20:31 > 0:20:33to many millions of pounds.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Today, we're focusing on three names from the list.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Could they be relatives of yours?
0:20:39 > 0:20:44Zable Arabian died in Barnes in London in August 1996.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47It's a very unusual name combination.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Does it ring a bell with you? Are you related?
0:20:53 > 0:20:58Betty Stebbeds died in Norwich in February 2009.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Stebbeds is a very rare surname in the UK
0:21:01 > 0:21:04with less than 100 recorded nationwide.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Could she be a distant family member of yours?
0:21:09 > 0:21:14Walter Robshaw died in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in February 1995.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19This mediaeval surname derives from one of the area's lost hamlets.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Do you remember him?
0:21:21 > 0:21:25If no heirs are found, his money will go to the government.
0:21:26 > 0:21:32All these estates are worth at least £5,000, but could be a lot more.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Only successful heirs will be told.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40If the names Zable Arabian, Betty Stebbeds or Walter Robshaw
0:21:40 > 0:21:42mean anything to you or someone you know,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Hector Birchwood, at heir-hunting company Celtic Research,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00was working on the case of Eleanor Pridmore.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04She died 20 years ago in Sheffield without a will,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08leaving an unclaimed estate worth £23,000.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14Eleanor was born into a coal-mining community in Derbyshire.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Her father was a miner, and her only sibling Joseph
0:22:18 > 0:22:21had been injured down the pit, and died without children at just 26.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Hector's next step was to look for aunts and uncles.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28His research revealed
0:22:28 > 0:22:31that nine years before Joseph's premature death,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34the family had been hit by another tragedy.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Eleanor's uncle, James Taylor, also a miner,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41had been involved in an horrific underground gas explosion.
0:22:41 > 0:22:47It was a Sunday, which, normally, it wouldn't have been worked,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50but it was holiday time and the men, I believe,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54were going to get some overtime in so they could have a good Easter.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02At just 30 years old, he was killed in the blast at the Oxcroft Colliery,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04along with five other miners.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11To lose a loved one in the mine must have been horrendous...
0:23:11 > 0:23:15because they were so tightly knit. Everybody knew these people.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19They'd probably seen them go to work that morning.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Um, and not seen them return.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27And the village would have been sombre for many months afterwards,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29because everybody knew everybody.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32It would be a financial hardship, as well,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34because there were rents to pay,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37there was food to buy and clothing for the children.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40There was no welfare state.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42It would have been very difficult times
0:23:42 > 0:23:45for the families of the ones that died.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49And any compensation from the company would be very small.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52They may even have lost the house.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Eleanor's family was just one of those devastated by the disaster.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02She was only 11 years old when her maternal uncle James was killed.
0:24:02 > 0:24:0421 years after Eleanor's death,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Hector decided his best chance of finding living heirs
0:24:08 > 0:24:12lay not with her mother's family, but with her father's.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Unlike her mother's name, Taylor,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17the paternal name, Bullas, was more unusual.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20But he soon realised it had its own problems.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25Bullas itself is not altogether a common name,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27but it's an area name.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30There are a lot of people with the name Bullas in that area.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34That can be just as bad as having a name like Taylor,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36or Smith, or Jones.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41But then Hector found a way of narrowing down the search.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Eleanor's mother's family, the Taylors, were miners.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48So when she married a miner, Henry Bullas,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51they all ended up living in the same community.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55The families, as far as I could tell, worked in the same industry.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Um, from the census material that I found,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02they were also living either very close to each other,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05or, sometimes, even sharing the same dwellings.
0:25:05 > 0:25:11So I can only assume the families lived and worked and ate together.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14I wouldn't say it made it easier, but it at least gave us an avenue
0:25:14 > 0:25:19by which we could do some research and locate the correct families.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24So with the two families living side by side in the census,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Hector knew that he had identified the right relatives.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32The next step towards finding her heirs
0:25:32 > 0:25:35was to piece together Eleanor's paternal family tree.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39He found that her grandfather was Frederick Bullas, a wood sawyer.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44I would imagine that Frederick Bullas's work was probably also
0:25:44 > 0:25:46linked to the coal-mining industry.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48As a wood sawyer,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51he would probably be working to make the beams
0:25:51 > 0:25:54that would be supporting the tunnel.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Hector discovered that along with Eleanor's father Henry,
0:25:57 > 0:26:02Frederick and his wife Ellen had two daughters, Annie and Florence.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Annie had died in her teens, but if Florence had children,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07and they were still alive,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10they would be beneficiaries to Eleanor's estate.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Hector found that Florence had married Arthur Wilkinson in 1910
0:26:14 > 0:26:16and there was more good news.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Records showed they had a daughter, Jessie, the cousin of the deceased.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26Once we'd located one of the children for Florence Bullas,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29er, we knew that we were almost at the home stretch.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31But he wasn't there, yet.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Jessie had died in 1998, a year before Eleanor.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39If she'd had children, they would be Eleanor's cousins once removed
0:26:39 > 0:26:41and the next beneficiaries in line.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45To find out, Hector had to check the record of her marriage,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47and it wasn't straightforward.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50We had to sift through all the marriages until we found the right one.
0:26:50 > 0:26:57Jessie had a son, Clinton, who was no longer alive, and two daughters.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00One was living abroad, but Therese, known as Terri,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03was in Sutton Coldfield in the Midlands.
0:27:03 > 0:27:09At last, Hector had found a living heir and he gave her a call.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12It was totally out of the blue.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Er, and I must admit, I thought, "Somebody's winding me up".
0:27:17 > 0:27:23He just said it's a relation from my mother's side
0:27:23 > 0:27:27and did I know anything about my mother's side of the family.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29And I said, "Not a lot."
0:27:29 > 0:27:34I can remember when I was very young going up to Sheffield and meeting people.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39I can't remember anything else and then, it sort of, like, finished.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43My mother never really spoke about her side of the family a lot.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48But Terry's intrigued to learn of Eleanor's job as a knife grinder.
0:27:48 > 0:27:54I'm very surprised that Eleanor was working in cutlery in Sheffield.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58It seems amazing to me, the link with my father.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Terry's dad came from Birmingham,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04but also worked in the steel industry.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07My father was a consultant metallurgist
0:28:07 > 0:28:09and he did a lot of work in Sheffield.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15And inheriting a share of Eleanor's estate
0:28:15 > 0:28:19has left Terry keen to find out more about her mother's relatives.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23It's another side to my life I didn't know about.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29That's really made me think, "I'd like to meet these people."
0:28:29 > 0:28:34Do they know...do they know about me and my family?
0:28:34 > 0:28:39That's... I'd love to find out about that.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Really, really would.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46In the end, Hector found nine heirs to Eleanor's £23,000 estate
0:28:46 > 0:28:50from her paternal and maternal family.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Once the case was solved, I felt a sense of relief that,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55after all that hard work,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58we'd been able to manage to find the right families.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And instead of going to the government,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03the money Eleanor left behind
0:29:03 > 0:29:06is already bringing happiness to her relatives.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10I've always loved horses and I've always ridden,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14and my daughter's riding now.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17So it's got me back into it
0:29:17 > 0:29:20and that's why I've treated myself to a horse.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Heir-hunting company Fraser & Fraser
0:29:34 > 0:29:37are investigating the case of Ronald Boyne.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41He died in Birmingham in December 2010,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45leaving an estate worth at least £120,000.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Senior researcher Paul Matthews discovered
0:29:47 > 0:29:51that Ronald owned his own home and was a keen saver.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53How much cash had he got, then?
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Oh... I couldn't tell you.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57I mean, at the time...
0:29:57 > 0:30:01He's definitely got a bond of £36,000.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03What do these properties fetch down here?
0:30:03 > 0:30:09Well, if I say as a for instance, just down here, that's up for 120.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Ronald spent most of his working life on the factory assembly line
0:30:13 > 0:30:17at Rover, one of Birmingham's major employers.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21But, as a young man, he served his country in the army for nine years.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Ronald told neighbour Bill how he couldn't wait to join up.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28He didn't get on very well with his mother and father
0:30:28 > 0:30:31and he went to live with his nan.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36He said, "What I've done then..." He said, "I went to join the army."
0:30:38 > 0:30:40And he said, "Not being old enough,"
0:30:40 > 0:30:43he said, "I got my nan to sign the papers."
0:30:43 > 0:30:47I should think he must have been 17.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Because I think you've got to be 18 to get in.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54So that would bring him up to 1944.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59After he left the army, Ronald got married in 1952
0:30:59 > 0:31:01and his wedding was in keeping with his frugal lifestyle.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05They got married in a register office in town,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07just him and his wife, nobody went with them.
0:31:07 > 0:31:13They got people who worked in the register office
0:31:13 > 0:31:17to be witnesses.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21They came out and they went and had a cup of tea and a sandwich
0:31:21 > 0:31:23at a caff.
0:31:23 > 0:31:29The way he told his parents was on a Christmas card and he said...
0:31:29 > 0:31:30What he said about that was,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33he went and pushed the card through the door
0:31:33 > 0:31:36when there were no lights on and they'd gone to bed.
0:31:36 > 0:31:37GUNFIRE
0:31:38 > 0:31:40As Ronald settled down to married life,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43he thought his army days were behind him.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46But, four years later, he was recalled
0:31:46 > 0:31:48when the Suez crisis broke out.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53The Suez crisis came about in 1956
0:31:53 > 0:31:58because President Nasser, Colonel Nasser, of Egypt,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01decided that the Suez Canal should belong to the Egyptian people
0:32:01 > 0:32:05and not a private company owned by the British and the French.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07So, overnight, one night, in July 1956,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09he nationalised it and took it over,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12much to the consternation of the British and the French.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17The British Army decided that, along with the French,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20it would invade Egypt to regain control of the canal,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24a vital route for trade between Europe and the rest of the world.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28But Operation Musketeer, as it was known, faced a problem.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32When the Suez crisis starts, the British Army are short of an awful lot of soldiers
0:32:32 > 0:32:35because, in peace time, the British Army had been shrunk.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40So they start recalling soldiers who served in the Second World War
0:32:40 > 0:32:41who were still on reserve.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46So people like Ronald Boyne find themselves getting his call papers and being called back in again.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50An awful lot of men just said "No, I've done my bit in the Second World War,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53"you get some other fellas to fight this one for you."
0:32:54 > 0:32:57In October, Israel attacked Egypt
0:32:57 > 0:33:01and, a month later, the British and French invaded.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03But with no support from the Americans,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07and the threat of economic sanctions against them, they were forced to retreat.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Suddenly, the politicians find themselves having to pull the army out.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14That's hugely embarrassing for the British Army, the British government,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16the British people and the British standing in the world.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19Suddenly, here were the great imperialists,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21who ran big chunks of the globe for so long,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24finding themselves kicked out with their tails between their legs,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27having not achieved what they set out to do.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Having amassed a great army in Egypt, after just a few weeks,
0:33:31 > 0:33:32the soldiers were sent home.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36The British force that land there on 5th November
0:33:36 > 0:33:39are all withdrawn by 22nd December.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43In Ronald's case, he does make it to Egypt. Many of the people called up as reservists,
0:33:43 > 0:33:47at the time of Suez, find themselves going to their depots,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49getting reissued with uniform,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52going through basic training again to get them back up to speed.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57But by the time that they themselves onto the ships ready to go,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59the whole thing's over and done with.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02After doing his duty in Egypt, Ronald returned to Birmingham
0:34:02 > 0:34:05and soon settled back into civilian life.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Back on the hunt for heirs, the team had established
0:34:12 > 0:34:15that Ronald and his wife did not have children.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17The next step was to look for close kin.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22From his birth certificate, researcher Michael discovered
0:34:22 > 0:34:25that Ronald's parents were James Boyne and Winifred Turrell,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28who were married in Birmingham in 1921.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32Their son Ronald was born in 1926.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34But if they had other children,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38they would be first in line to inherit his estate.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40If his siblings had died but had children,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43as Ronald's nieces and nephews,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45they would also be beneficiaries.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Michael began looking for births on their database records.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53The names are relatively easy to work.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Boyne is not one that I've come across before.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58But the only difficulty was Turrell.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02In the heir-hunting game, the right names are crucial.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04But Ronald's mother, Winifred Turrell,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07was continually changing the spelling of her surname.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09She was changing it around and dropping letters
0:35:09 > 0:35:13and adding letters, from Turrell with two "Ls"
0:35:13 > 0:35:15to Turrell with one "L",
0:35:15 > 0:35:19or Turrell spelt T-U-R-R-I-L-L, or E-L-L.
0:35:19 > 0:35:25So, therefore...we've had to check every possible variation
0:35:25 > 0:35:29on Turrell, just to make sure we haven't missed
0:35:29 > 0:35:31any potential siblings of the deceased.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35Michael found that Ronald was one of six children.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39They all seem to have been born in Birmingham, which has helped.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41You can just go through it really quickly.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Ronald's brothers, James and Francis, known as Frank,
0:35:44 > 0:35:48and his sisters, Patricia and Annie, are all dead.
0:35:48 > 0:35:49If they had children,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52as nieces and nephews of the deceased, they would be heirs.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55But Ronald's youngest sister Maureen is still alive.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00As his closest relative, she is entitled to a share in his estate
0:36:00 > 0:36:06and they hope she can put them in touch with any surviving family.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Senior researcher Paul is on his way to meet her.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13Amazingly, Maureen had no idea her brother had died,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17despite living not far from him in Tamworth near Birmingham.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21The office managed to speak to the sister of the deceased.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24They have told her the bad news about her brother.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29So she is aware, so when I turn up it's on appointment now.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32She is expecting us, but she will be aware her brother has died.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35But, obviously, she'll probably have a few questions,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37a few queries about what actually happened.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39It's not the nicest part of the job
0:36:39 > 0:36:41when you have to go and see people
0:36:41 > 0:36:45and it's a near relative, brother or sister.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48But, obviously, it's something that has to be done.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Something I've done in the past, obviously.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Obviously, you get different reactions.
0:36:54 > 0:36:55It's not the pleasant side of the job,
0:36:55 > 0:36:58but, obviously, it's something we have to do.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03And it's better that these near relatives are made aware of what's going on,
0:37:03 > 0:37:07as opposed to, basically, never finding out
0:37:07 > 0:37:09and the government getting the estate.
0:37:09 > 0:37:10- Do come in.- Pleased to meet you.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12Nice to meet you.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13OK?
0:37:16 > 0:37:19So you're aware of why we're here - sadly your brother has passed away.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Yes, yes.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Obviously, he never made a will, so his estate
0:37:24 > 0:37:26was in the process of going to the government.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30I gather you haven't seen your brother for many years.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34The last time I saw my brother was when I was still at school.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36- Really?- Yes.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39And he was in the, um, in the army.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42And he brought me, um...
0:37:42 > 0:37:45He'd been in Egypt, that was it, and he brought me
0:37:45 > 0:37:48a mother-of-pearl necklace, no, bracelet,
0:37:48 > 0:37:50and a little bag -
0:37:50 > 0:37:54a little leather bag with a camel on it, and I never saw him again.
0:37:54 > 0:37:55Oh, right.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58We were the sort of family who didn't stay together.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00We were the sort of family that you best keep apart!
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Because as soon as we get together, we start fighting. SHE LAUGHS
0:38:04 > 0:38:09Mum always used to say that with Ronald and Frank...
0:38:09 > 0:38:11Now then, what did she used to say? There was a saying.
0:38:11 > 0:38:17"Ron used to make the bullets, Frank used to fire them."
0:38:17 > 0:38:22So, in other words, they used to get into a bit of trouble. SHE LAUGHS
0:38:22 > 0:38:26- You can choose your friends, but not your family.- That's right.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- You haven't done too bad, have you? - No.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30- You've got the old man.- Oh, yes.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Isn't he wonderful? He's wonderful.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36- When did your dad pass away? - There again, I don't know.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40My mum and dad were divorced after 40 years of marriage.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44He went and married again, you see, so, presumably,
0:38:44 > 0:38:46they saw the end of him and we didn't.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Right. Any idea roughly how long ago?
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Were you made aware when he died?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52- No.- No?- No.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53- Charming.- No.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57- It was that antagonistic, I'm sorry. - Oh, dear!
0:38:57 > 0:39:01- 40 years of marriage full of misery. - I've never met her father.
0:39:01 > 0:39:02Oh, right.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07- Nor this brother we're talking about. - Oh, right.- No, no.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10As I said, we're not a family. We stay together.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13So most of the family is a bit of a mystery. You'll be glad to get your family tree?
0:39:13 > 0:39:18It would be interesting, yes, it would be nice, yes. It would be a start.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23Maureen has no idea what she'll do with her inheritance.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26I mean, this has come out of the blue, so I haven't got a clue.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31In any case, it may be... it may be just a little bit,
0:39:31 > 0:39:33it may be... Well, we don't know, do we?
0:39:33 > 0:39:36There may be a property involved. Obviously, it's...
0:39:36 > 0:39:39- So we will. - We just don't know.- Exactly.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42- We will know before too long.- We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45We obviously think it's an estate that's worthwhile pursuing.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51Nice meeting you. All the very best.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53It's nice to meet you, as well, yes.
0:39:53 > 0:39:54I hope it all comes to fruition.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57- Well, thank you very much for speaking to us.- OK, then, cheers.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- See you.- Bye-bye. - Bye-bye now. Take care.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Thank you.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04Paul has signed up Maureen as an heir
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and he calls Tony in the office to tell him the good news.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Hello.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11I've seen Maureen Wright.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15Basically, she signed up with us. She's quite happy. Lovely lady.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Um, so we had a good chat. Not too much family information
0:40:19 > 0:40:23'because, um, basically,'
0:40:23 > 0:40:25she was the youngest, and the whole family just disappeared
0:40:25 > 0:40:28and and they didn't bother keeping in touch.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30OK, thanks a lot. Have a good day. Bye.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31Bye.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34Amazingly, she wasn't aware
0:40:34 > 0:40:37that her brother who was some 14 years older than her
0:40:37 > 0:40:40had died in Birmingham
0:40:40 > 0:40:43not that many miles' distance from her.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45You know,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49it's, um, the way that the, um,
0:40:49 > 0:40:51world seems to be going lately.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55So the Boyne family had grown apart
0:40:55 > 0:40:58and Ronald had little or no contact with his brothers and sisters.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02Over in France, Tony has tracked down another heir.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04She's Ronald's niece through his brother Frank
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and she has her own story of why they grew apart.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10She advised me that the...
0:41:10 > 0:41:16that the father had fallen out with her Uncle Ronald many years ago.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18She's not too sure precisely what it was,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21but she thought it was possibly over an argument about a dog called Rex.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24Not too sure whether that was the deceased's dog,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27or the heir's father's dog.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Or what the heir's father's dog, if it was the heir's father's dog,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33did or didn't do.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36But, that seems to be the reason
0:41:36 > 0:41:40that the deceased hasn't spoken to the rest of his brothers and sisters for many years.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Meanwhile, Michael has been looking for heirs
0:41:43 > 0:41:45from Ronald's sister Patricia.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48She died in her 50s, leaving behind four children.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50But, sadly, records reveal
0:41:50 > 0:41:54none of them is entitled to any of Ronald's money.
0:41:54 > 0:41:55They were all put up for adoption
0:41:55 > 0:41:59and, therefore, lost their right to inherit from their birth family.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05In the end, along with his sister Maureen
0:42:05 > 0:42:09and his niece in France, the team found three more heirs
0:42:09 > 0:42:12to Ronald's estate through his brother Frank -
0:42:12 > 0:42:16another niece, a great-niece and a great-nephew.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18They've been quite good names to research.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21They've stayed in the same area, more or less.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26So it's actually been relatively quick and easy to do.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29We've got five heirs,
0:42:29 > 0:42:31all of which seem to be more than happy with it all.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34So, overall, it's been a very good case.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36And it's Ronald's sister Maureen who will inherit
0:42:36 > 0:42:38the most from her brother's estate.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42She is entitled to half of everything he left behind.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45It's slightly more valuable than we thought it was.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47We'll wait to see when we get the accurate figures back,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49but we were looking at £100,000 -
0:42:49 > 0:42:55the figure may be nearer £200,000, so quite a large estate.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd