0:00:02 > 0:00:06Welcome to Heir Hunters, where we follow the search for living family of people who have died
0:00:06 > 0:00:11without leaving will, hoping to unite them with a forgotten fortune.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Today the heir hunters are looking for the heirs of a skilled
0:00:14 > 0:00:19craftsman who is rumoured to have left an estate of £40,000 in cash.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Somewhere out there are some long lost relatives who have no
0:00:24 > 0:00:27idea they are in line for a windfall.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?
0:00:31 > 0:00:32'Hello?'
0:00:46 > 0:00:52Coming up on today's programme, it's all in the name.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54The name Clarke is awful.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57You only need to drop the E and you're really in Queer Street.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00It's tough times for the heir hunters as they tackle
0:01:00 > 0:01:03one of their most demanding cases yet.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05No luck, Isha?
0:01:05 > 0:01:09The death of a bricklayer from Bradford leads all
0:01:09 > 0:01:12the way to a legendary Derby winner.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I've spent me inheritance!
0:01:14 > 0:01:18And I'll be looking further into our bricklayer's past,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22discovering how and why he left the family business of Yorkshire wool.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Because wages are so low, British people won't do the work.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Plus, how you may be entitled to inherit an unclaimed estate
0:01:31 > 0:01:33held by the Treasury.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Every year in the UK,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52If no relatives are found,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56then any money that's left behind will go to the government.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Last year, they made £14 million from unclaimed estates.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04That's where the heir hunters come in.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07They make it their business to track down missing relatives
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14We reunite family members,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17even decades after they've lost contact with each other.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24In our first case today,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27a common surname proves a challenge for our team.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I'll be finding out how researchers tackle problems like this,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34but first let's see how the investigation unfolds.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43It's seven in the morning at the offices of heir hunters Fraser & Fraser
0:02:43 > 0:02:45and the Treasury has just released its weekly
0:02:45 > 0:02:48list of unclaimed estates.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51In the UK, if someone dies without leaving will,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55has no known relatives and their estate is worth £5,000
0:02:55 > 0:02:59or more then it will appear on this list.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Can you take this?
0:03:01 > 0:03:06The team's first job is to try and identify the high-value cases.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Death of Gordon Clarke. Dies in Birmingham, in Ladywood.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15With only a name and place of death to go on, it's not easy.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20Boss Neil has singled out one case that may not immediately
0:03:20 > 0:03:25look like it's worth a lot, but he's got a good feeling about it.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27We're going to work on the case of Gordon Clarke.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31He dies in 2009 in Birmingham. Don't know a huge amount about him,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34doesn't look like there is any value, but who knows?
0:03:34 > 0:03:38We may fight a little bit of cash hidden in a drawer or something.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43The value of estate is really important to the heir hunters because they work on commission,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45earning a percentage of the amount
0:03:45 > 0:03:48that's claimed by each heir they sign.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Neil is hoping that his hunch is going to pay off.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03Gordon Clarke died aged 65 on 24 January, 2009.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08He lived in this block of flats in the Ladywood area of Birmingham.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12His friend Nilash Patel lives nearby.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14He would always be there to help everybody.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18He would always put other people first before himself.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20He would always be up for a good conversation.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23He would always be there as a good listener.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26He'd be like a breath of fresh air, you know?
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Although Gordon was quite a bit older than his friend,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32he was definitely young at heart.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Not many 60-year-olds are keen followers of rave music.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I was surprised when I first met him.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42"Hold on, you're this age and you listen to this type of music?
0:04:42 > 0:04:46"You should be down there on Broad Street, clubbing every night!"
0:04:46 > 0:04:50He was a fantastic person. One in a million.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52I really lost a good friend that day.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56I would say he was more than a friend.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58I'd say he was a family member.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Back in the office and the question the heir hunters need to answer is
0:05:11 > 0:05:15does Gordon have any family members who would be eligible to inherit?
0:05:15 > 0:05:18And if this case is going to be worth enough
0:05:18 > 0:05:21to merit a full investigation.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26The best place to start looking for answers is at Gordon's home.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Kate's manager, David Milchard,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31known around the office as Grimble, has been given
0:05:31 > 0:05:34responsibility for this case and he gets straight on the phone to
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Bob Barrett, one of the company's senior researchers on the road.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44'It's a case called Gordon Clarke. We think it's a low value estate.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46'We've made an enquiry.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49- 'See if you can get any value on it.'- Yeah, sure.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Heir hunting relies heavily on research done in the office,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58but its senior researchers on the road
0:05:58 > 0:06:01like Bob Barrett who are the public face of the company.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05They're based all over the country and it's their job to follow up
0:06:05 > 0:06:10any lead and make sure they get to the heirs ahead of the competition.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24- 'Hello? Do you want me to let you in, love?'- Yeah. Thanks.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Bob arrives at the block of flats where Gordon lived.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30He wants to talk to the neighbours to see what
0:06:30 > 0:06:32he can find out about the deceased.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35He's always lived on his own, has he?
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Did he own the premises, the property, or are they council owned?
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Bob's first findings aren't encouraging.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49The neighbours never saw any of Gordon's family who might be
0:06:49 > 0:06:51able to help with the investigation.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Crucially, it appears he didn't own his flat, which would mean
0:06:55 > 0:06:59the estate could be worth much less than the heir hunters had hoped.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03But Bob is a pro and doesn't take just one person's word for it.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07So he heads off in search of more people to talk to.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And his persistence pays off.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13It could be there is some value in it.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18I spoke to a neighbour who knew him quite well. Excuse me.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23And he had several pensions and he had one cash sum that came out.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28- She reckons his estate might be about 40,000.- 'All right.'- OK, mate?
0:07:32 > 0:07:35This is the news the heir hunters have been waiting for.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40£40,000 is a decent sized estate and worthy of an investigation,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42so it's all systems go.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- How many children are there? - Five alive, one dead.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Grimble assigns senior researcher Alan
0:07:48 > 0:07:51and research at Isha to the case.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53They get hold of Gordon's death certificate which
0:07:53 > 0:07:57shows that he was born in Birmingham.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01They can then access his birth certificate which reveals
0:08:01 > 0:08:04that his parents were Frederick Clarke and Lily Bowen.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06And that he was an only child.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10They now know there is no near kin or brothers
0:08:10 > 0:08:12and sisters on this case.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14They need to go further back in the family tree
0:08:14 > 0:08:18and look for aunts, uncles and eventually cousins.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21The team decide to tackle the paternal side first
0:08:21 > 0:08:26and try to find any siblings for Gordon's father, Frederick Clarke.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Elizabeth May, born June 1907, Birmingham.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Isha gives Alan a list of five names that she
0:08:33 > 0:08:35found on the 1911 census.
0:08:35 > 0:08:41It seems he had four brothers - Frank, William, George and Albert.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43And a sister, Elizabeth.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45All very common names for the period
0:08:45 > 0:08:47and combined with the surname Clarke,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49they spell bad news for Alan.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Unfortunately, because the name is Clarke,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55and they're not good combinations of names, we're going to have to
0:08:55 > 0:08:59trawl through some very common name searches to try and identify them.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Isha gets straight onto it and it's not long before she has
0:09:03 > 0:09:05honed in on the correct birth record
0:09:05 > 0:09:07for each member of the Clarke family.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Somehow, she's managed to make a hard task look very easy
0:09:11 > 0:09:13and Alan can't quite believe it.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16How do you know these ones are correct?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18They are quite common names.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Yeah, because they were like a year apart or something.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Sure enough, Isha's research is spot-on and gives them
0:09:29 > 0:09:32the information they need to proceed with their investigation.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37The youngest of Gordon's uncles and aunts was born in 1907.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40They are all now deceased, so the next step is to look
0:09:40 > 0:09:44for their marriages and any children who would be Gordon's first cousins.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Do you want to have a look at Elizabeth then?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Elizabeth or May Elizabeth?
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Isha now turns her attention to Gordon's aunt Elizabeth,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56who married Frank Davis.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00It looks like, unfortunately, she's married a Davis which
0:10:00 > 0:10:02doesn't help me at all.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07It seems even super researcher Isha has met her match.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Davis as a surname is about as common as Clarke and so the
0:10:11 > 0:10:15chances are there will be thousands of Davis-Clarke births
0:10:15 > 0:10:17in Birmingham.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22This case is going to test the heir hunters' skills to the limit.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27At times like this, the best thing to do is to consolidate what
0:10:27 > 0:10:29they already know.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31So Grimble gets on the phone to Paul Matthews.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32I'm all ears.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Paul is another of the company's senior researchers on the road
0:10:36 > 0:10:38and is based in the Midlands.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43What we want initially is the... Start with the father.
0:10:43 > 0:10:50- He's Frederick Theodore.- Clarke. Yeah.- Sixth of June, 1905.- Yeah.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54So initially, that's what we need you to get sorted out first of all.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Paul heads off to Birmingham register office to get
0:10:58 > 0:11:01the birth certificates of all the Clarke brothers and sisters.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06That way, at least they can be 100% sure they have the right family.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10This case is beginning to feel like an uphill struggle.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13The name Clarke is awful.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Not only is it a common name,
0:11:15 > 0:11:21but you only need to drop the E
0:11:21 > 0:11:25and you're really in Queer Street.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27It becomes as bad as the name Smith.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Paul knows the staff at the register office very well and it's not long
0:11:36 > 0:11:41before John the registrar has found those all-important certificates.
0:11:41 > 0:11:48- The first one, Frederick Theodore is the name.- Frederick Theodore.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Your next two...are Frank,
0:11:53 > 0:11:58then you've got George, born 25 April, 1901.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01One by one, he reels off the whole family.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07- And your final one is Elizabeth May. - OK. That's great. Right.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- Cheers, John.- OK.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Job done.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16- 'Good afternoon, Fraser & Fraser.' - Paul Matthews after Grimble, please.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Paul reports back to base to get his next instructions.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23- Can you try for a marriage of Elizabeth May Clarke?- Yeah.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25'To Frank Davis.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27'September 1913.'
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Okey cokey. OK, Cheers.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34They need the marriage certificate to prove that Elizabeth did
0:12:34 > 0:12:36indeed marry Frank Davis.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39And then they can go on to look for any children.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42But Paul is also going to try another angle.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46I'm trying to basically find the death of Elizabeth May Davis,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49hope that she never remarried.
0:12:49 > 0:12:55Born 1907. So I'm working back from 1990,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58hoping we get lucky.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Paul is working on the theory that if Elizabeth had any children, then
0:13:02 > 0:13:06they are likely to be listed on her death certificate as the informant.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08The team are relying on him
0:13:08 > 0:13:12to make a breakthrough on this most complicated and demanding of cases.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16But with so many Clarke-Davises in Birmingham, he's got a mountain to climb.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18It's just trial and error.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23It's trawling through it and hope eventually that we will find it. The truth is out there.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34We've just seen how a common name like Clarke can cause a real
0:13:34 > 0:13:37headache for the heir hunters.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41I'm here in London to meet heir hunter Neil Fraser,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45who's going to tell me more about how they deal with the problem.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48So why is Clarke a tricky name to work?
0:13:48 > 0:13:51We have good surnames, bad surnames, common surnames,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53area surnames.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Surnames which are spelt differently, different variations.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Clarke is one of those names which falls into a couple of camps.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Firstly, it can be spelt two different ways.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03With an E on the end or without an E.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Secondly, it is a very common name.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09And common names are very hard to research.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15What we have to remember is we are looking for unique people.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19And a name isn't a unique distinguishing feature.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22A date of birth isn't even a unique distinction feature.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26So although we like to think of ourselves as individuals,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28there is another Neil Fraser out there,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31there is another person who was born on my birthday.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35What we are trying to tie-up is all of the same surname and the same date of birth.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38And when we're dealing with Clarke, there's going to be
0:14:38 > 0:14:41a lot of people without first bit, the surname and the first name.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44It makes it very common, very complicated.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46What other names are tricky to work?
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Different names are hard for different reasons.
0:14:49 > 0:14:56But names such as Smith, Jones, very common names. Very hard to work.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Area names are also very hard.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Area names or regional names can present either a very easy or
0:15:04 > 0:15:07very hard hunt for the researchers.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10For example, if the deceased person's surname is
0:15:10 > 0:15:13synonymous with a specific geographical area or
0:15:13 > 0:15:18city like Cardiff, but the deceased was born and died in London,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22it's then going to be an easier hunt to find them in London.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27But if the deceased was born, raised and died in Cardiff with
0:15:27 > 0:15:31a local surname, it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Why are so many people called Smith?
0:15:36 > 0:15:40There's a lot of different theories on the surname Smith.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43I think about one in every hundred people has the surname Smith.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Now people say it's because of the occupation, it's an occupation surname.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51It's because people used to be blacksmiths, silversmiths or goldsmiths.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54And that's just what they are called, Smiths.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58There is no real evidence to that. It's a common surname,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01so therefore it continues being common throughout history.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03People marry Smiths.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08- Common names get more common.- We've heard about Smith, what about Jones?
0:16:08 > 0:16:12The Jones surname falls under the Welsh camp.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16In Wales, there is a high percentage of the population which
0:16:16 > 0:16:22use about six surnames, Jones, Williams, Evans, Davies, Thomas.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Very common surnames in Wales and certainly when we're trying to do
0:16:26 > 0:16:29the research, we find that we get Mr Jones marrying Mrs Evans
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and therefore it's very hard for us to find that unique person.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37It's hard for us to look down the indexes. How do we get around it?
0:16:37 > 0:16:40We have to spend money, we have to order the certificates.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45We have to get on the ground and go to the registry offices and go through their registers.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Looking for those unique bits, the bits where there's going to
0:16:49 > 0:16:51be a father on there with a unique occupation.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55The likelihood of being able to find potential heirs to an estate
0:16:55 > 0:16:58is always an educated gamble for the heir hunters.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03When a case comes up with a surname Jones or Smith, it makes them groan.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Smith is historically and currently the most popular surname in the UK,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11with over half a million people having it.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Jones is in second place, with just under 400,000 sharing the name.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20No wonder finding descendants with these names can be a nightmare.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24What about common names that don't necessarily originate in the UK?
0:17:24 > 0:17:26There are some very,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30very common surnames now in the current population.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Singh, Patel.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35They are particularly hard
0:17:35 > 0:17:39because for instance the name Singh only goes to males.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42It makes research incredibly hard.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47What's different for us though and for heir hunting,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51is that they are mainly Asian surnames and the Asian population
0:17:51 > 0:17:56which is in the United Kingdom is quite a close-knit society.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58It's a close community.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02And therefore, you don't have the person who's gone off
0:18:02 > 0:18:04and died alone.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Everybody knows who their family is or their neighbours know about their family.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11So it's not a surname which we have to research very often.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15And have you ever had to travel abroad for an heir hunt?
0:18:15 > 0:18:20I've been to Jordan and to Egypt to research on an estate.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Researching in Egypt is very hard.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Not only is it not a centralised index of births, deaths
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and marriages certificates, but there's also a problem that we
0:18:31 > 0:18:34don't have the authority to look through the indexes.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38They have protection laws which stop you looking for birth certificates.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Not only that, it's all not just in a different language,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45but a different character and I can't recognise the alphabet.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49So it's not as glamorous as it sounds by going abroad to look for an heir hunt.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52When you're waking up in the morning
0:18:52 > 0:18:56to put on a suit in an Egyptian hotel and everyone has shorts
0:18:56 > 0:18:59and flip-flops on, going off to see the pyramids, you have to
0:18:59 > 0:19:03question why you're actually trying to do the research there.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05But in the end, you cracked the case?
0:19:05 > 0:19:08In the end, I was able to find the beneficiaries.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11And they inherited close to £1 million.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Certainly, it was a worthwhile trip.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Still to come, Clarke may be an extremely common name,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23but finally case manager David has got something to be excited about.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Terrific. We've definitely got the right family.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30And the hunt for Gordon Clarke's heirs really hots up.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48And millions of pounds are paid out to rightful heirs,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50but not every case can be cracked.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54The Treasury solicitor has a database of over 2,000 names
0:19:54 > 0:19:57which have baffled heir hunters and remain unsolved.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00This is known as the Bona Vacantia list.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Bona Vacantia is Latin for ownerless goods.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07And we deal with the estates of people who die intestate
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and with no known kin.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13And this unclaimed money could belong to you, not the government.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16But you have to show them you're the rightful heir.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19If they write to us, enclosing a simple family tree,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22just showing how they are actually related to the deceased person,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26then we can have a look at it, make sure that we are talking about the
0:20:26 > 0:20:31same family, before we go off and ask them to supply various certificates
0:20:31 > 0:20:35of birth, death and marriage to actually substantiate the claim.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38The estate could be worth as little as a few hundred pounds
0:20:38 > 0:20:41or as much as many millions.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Today, we're focusing on three names from the list.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Are they relatives of yours?
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:20:50 > 0:20:55Marjorie Ettlinger died in Hammersmith London in 1997.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Ettlinger is a very rare name in the UK
0:20:58 > 0:21:02and may indicate German ancestry.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Did you know Marjorie?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Are you related?
0:21:07 > 0:21:12William Ronald Victor Tod died in Plymouth in 2008.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13Although Todd is a common name,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17this spelling with just one D is quite unusual.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Does his name ring a bell with you? Was he a friend or a colleague?
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Vera Stingmore died in Molesey in 1997.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Stingmore is a very rare name indeed.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35There are only a handful in the whole of the UK.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Were you a friend or neighbour of Vera's?
0:21:38 > 0:21:39Can you help solve the case?
0:21:39 > 0:21:44If no heirs are found, her money will go to the government.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47But these estates won't be around for ever.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50It will stay on the list as long as it is claimable and actually
0:21:50 > 0:21:56under the Limitation Act, people have 12 years to come forward and claim.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Here's a reminder of these names again. Marjorie Ettlinger.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02William Tod.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04And Vera Stingmore.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07If today's names are relatives of yours,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10you could be an heir entitled to their estate.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18In our next case, the search for heirs reveals a fascinating
0:22:18 > 0:22:20glimpse into our industrial past.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27Sometimes, families lose contact because one member moves
0:22:27 > 0:22:31away from their hometown, even if it's only a short distance.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Years can go by and relationships that were once very close
0:22:34 > 0:22:36can be lost for ever.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40This was exactly what happened with Jack Thornton.
0:22:40 > 0:22:47Jack died aged 61 on July 19th, 2005 in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51He left no will and only a couple of childhood photos survive of him.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Before he died,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Jack lived in this house in the Laisterdyke area of the city.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01His landlord, Graham Swain, a builder,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04knew him for over ten years.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Jack were a good tenant.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11He always understood that one month were four weeks.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14That's how much rent we got.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Yeah, Jack were a builder, he were a bricklayer.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20He always used to carry a bag of tools around with him.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24And we just used to talk about times on building sites.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Jack originally moved in to the house with his elderly father
0:23:29 > 0:23:34but when he died in 2000, Jack carried on living there on his own.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Jack were quite a lonely guy.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40He kept himself to himself.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43He didn't seem to have any family about.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47He didn't get out much but Jack did have one unusual passion in life.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50He loved old Western films.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55Jack always used to get himself spruced up in his leather jacket
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and his cowboy hat and he always is to say,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01"I'm going to see my girlfriend in Leeds."
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I don't really think he had one, but he used to say that.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10When Jack passed away, me and my wife were very sad about the situation.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12He'd lived in the house for seven or eight years
0:24:12 > 0:24:17and you really get to know people like that and it was very upsetting.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20If you knew he was going to die, you'd ask him hundreds of questions.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24But you think they are going to live for ever, don't you?
0:24:29 > 0:24:35When Jack died, he left an estate worth £15,000. But no will.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37His case was picked up
0:24:37 > 0:24:40by heir hunter Anna Dunn at DS Researchers in Hull.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I've ordered the marriage for that name in '85.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Anna and her team have been in the genealogy business for ten years.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Hi, I'm Peter from DS Researchers.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And are one of only a handful of heir hunting companies
0:24:53 > 0:24:55based in the North of England.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Being based in Hull, we pretty well placed to deal with
0:24:59 > 0:25:03the Northern areas of England and we also cover Scotland.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07When Jack's name appeared on the Treasury's list of unclaimed
0:25:07 > 0:25:10estates, it showed that he had died in Bradford.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Anna picked up on it straight away and started to investigate.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17On checking the case,
0:25:17 > 0:25:23we found that the deceased had been married and he'd had two children.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29Jack had married in 1962, but the marriage lasted less than ten years.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33In that time, he had two children who under normal inheritance laws
0:25:33 > 0:25:35would have been his sole heirs.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39But then, Anna made a surprising discovery.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44I found that his wife had remarried and I couldn't find the children.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Then I checked the names and she had actually changed
0:25:48 > 0:25:53the children's names to her next husband's surname and on checking,
0:25:53 > 0:25:58we found that they'd been adopted, which threw the case out for them.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01So even though Anna had found Jack's biological children,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05because they'd been adopted by their mother's new husband,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09they were not eligible to inherit Jack's estate.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10Adoption laws are clear.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15They go through court and once a child has been adopted out,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17they belong to another family.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Now that his own children had been ruled out, Anna needed to go
0:26:23 > 0:26:26further back in Jack's family tree to look for his heirs.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31Jack's birth certificate revealed his parents were Arthur Thornton
0:26:31 > 0:26:33and Sylvena Banks.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37And that he had been born in the village of Saltaire near Bradford.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45In the late 19th and early 20th century,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Saltaire was a centre of the Yorkshire wool industry.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51It was named after Sir Titus Salt,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54a wealthy industrialist who'd been horrified by the appalling
0:26:54 > 0:26:57conditions he'd seen in the mills of nearby Bradford where workers
0:26:57 > 0:27:02were exploited for pitiful wages and crammed into slum accommodation.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09In 1853, Sir Titus transplanted his entire textile manufacturing
0:27:09 > 0:27:12business from Bradford to his newly constructed
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Salt's Mills on the banks of the River Aire.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19His workforce were installed in a new model village, Saltaire,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21built to the highest standards
0:27:21 > 0:27:25and designed to promote their general health and well-being.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Titus Salt, I class, as a paternalist employer.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35He was aiming to better the lives of the workers.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38You'll find street upon street of terraced housing,
0:27:38 > 0:27:42there was a dining room within the complex,
0:27:42 > 0:27:47there was the institute where they could go and exercise their minds.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51All this was far removed from the smoky atmosphere you would
0:27:51 > 0:27:54find in Bradford and in the mills in Bradford.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56By the end of the century,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Saltaire was home to 4,500 mill workers, amongst them
0:28:00 > 0:28:05were Jack's paternal grandparents, Edward Thornton and Ada Houlden.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Over the years, they lived in several houses in the village,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12but ended up at number 27, Titus Street,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15just a couple of doors down from the house where many years later,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18in 1943, Jack was born.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Having established Jack's immediate family,
0:28:23 > 0:28:28Anna now needed to cast her net wider in her search for his heirs.
0:28:28 > 0:28:29She began by looking to see
0:28:29 > 0:28:33if his father Arthur had any brothers or sisters.
0:28:33 > 0:28:39We found the grandparents' marriage in 1903.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44And that was Edward Thornton, who married Ada Houlden.
0:28:44 > 0:28:50So from there, we were able to identify one, two, three,
0:28:50 > 0:28:54four, five, six children.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58It turned out that Jack had four paternal uncles and two aunts,
0:28:58 > 0:29:01most of whom were born in Saltaire.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04It seems that Jack's grandparents Edward
0:29:04 > 0:29:07and Ada worked at Salt's Mill all their lives,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11as did at least three of their children, including Jack's
0:29:11 > 0:29:15uncle Joseph, who eventually held the prestigious post of wool sorter.
0:29:15 > 0:29:21Wool sorters were considered to be the aristocrats of the industry.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26Seven years' apprenticeship, very skilled, the whole production
0:29:26 > 0:29:32depends on their skill at finding the different qualities of wool.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37Gerald Smith has been a wool sorter since he left school at 15.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41He is now one of only two still working in Bradford.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45It entails getting fleece of raw wool from the sheep
0:29:45 > 0:29:48and sorting it into different grades.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52I suppose you could go five or six different sorts on one fleece.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55The rougher it is, it goes for carpets,
0:29:55 > 0:30:00the finer it is, it goes for making suitings and clothes.
0:30:02 > 0:30:0675% of Bradford was reliant on the wool trade
0:30:06 > 0:30:10and it all started off with wool sorters and went down the line,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14right through the mill until it came out as cloth.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Salt's Mill, where so many of Jack's relatives had
0:30:18 > 0:30:24spent their entire working lives, closed down in 1986 and Saltaire
0:30:24 > 0:30:26has since been preserved as a World Heritage Site.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Jack's father Arthur didn't follow the family into the wool trade.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35He was a gunner in the Royal Artillery and then,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39like his son after him, went to work as a bricklayer.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43When Jack was 10, they moved away from Saltaire and it seems
0:30:43 > 0:30:47they slowly fell out of touch with the rest of the Thornton family.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Anna had found every single one of Jack's father's siblings but it
0:30:53 > 0:30:57was very unlikely that any of them would still be around to inherit.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02I checked to see whether any of those were still alive and, having
0:31:02 > 0:31:08found deaths for all of them, we knew there were no uncles and aunts.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12The search was now on to find their children and, after some
0:31:12 > 0:31:16painstaking research, Anna eventually came up with the goods.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21Jack's father's sister Annie, we found the marriage on that one.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26She was married to Mr Watson and we found three births to the marriage.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31It looks like Anna had finally made a crucial breakthrough
0:31:31 > 0:31:34but little did she know the investigation would go on to
0:31:34 > 0:31:37reveal some names with a very different sound to them.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Was she on to the right family after all?
0:31:40 > 0:31:45We had names like Cicero, Sylvena and I thought,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47"Could they be Italian?"
0:31:47 > 0:31:49The search for Jack Thornton's heirs
0:31:49 > 0:31:52was about to lead to some very unexpected places.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Even though it sounds like Anna's hunt could be
0:32:00 > 0:32:03moving in a Mediterranean direction, I want to stick to
0:32:03 > 0:32:06the Yorkshire Dales for a little bit longer.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09Many members of the Thornton family worked in the wool trade at
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Saltaire but, with it almost being a family business,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14why did Jack end up as a bricklayer?
0:32:16 > 0:32:18I'm here to meet social historian Liz MacIver
0:32:18 > 0:32:23who can spin a yarn or two about the wool trade in Yorkshire.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26So, was the wool industry a big part of British industry?
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Yes, massive.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Really, even as far back as the Medieval period,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33British wool exports were huge
0:32:33 > 0:32:36and it was really our biggest export for centuries.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38And when was its heyday?
0:32:38 > 0:32:40You're talking about the mid 19th century.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Anything from 1850 through to the 1880s was the boom period.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47Of course, the industrial revolution had begun
0:32:47 > 0:32:50in the early part of the 19th century, really.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53It allowed, for the first time, it to move out of the cottage industry.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56It had been an artisan craft before that.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58And it allowed everything to take place under one roof,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02which was much more productive and cost-effective.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04It also meant you didn't have to pay your workers as much money.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07And what would the woollen mills have been like to work in?
0:33:07 > 0:33:10They would have been very uncomfortable, unfortunately.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13They would be hot, sweaty, damp, dirty, very dusty.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17A lot of toxic dust would come off the fibres as they were
0:33:17 > 0:33:20being carded and processed so people would be breathing them
0:33:20 > 0:33:24in and they would get lung conditions as a result of that and poisoning.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26People would lose fingers and arms
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and even die as a result of being caught in the machinery.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Of course, none of this machinery had any guards
0:33:32 > 0:33:33or safety procedures in place.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37People would work very long hours, they would be very tired,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41often hungry, often suffering from malnutrition.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45As we know, Jack Thornton's grandparents and some of his uncles
0:33:45 > 0:33:49were fortunate enough to have worked for Titus Salt in his revolutionary
0:33:49 > 0:33:53wool factory and workers' community village but both Jack
0:33:53 > 0:33:56and his father Arthur ended up as bricklayers.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00So what went wrong and why didn't they carry on the family tradition?
0:34:00 > 0:34:04These mills were still running strong for decades but was
0:34:04 > 0:34:06the wool industry affected by the war?
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Oh, yes, massively. The First and the Second World War
0:34:08 > 0:34:11had a big impact on the mill trade. Particularly
0:34:11 > 0:34:15being that a lot of young men had to go away to fight.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17There weren't enough men to run the mills
0:34:17 > 0:34:20so women were brought in to do their roles.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22It had always been, traditionally,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24that women did what was deemed as unskilled work
0:34:24 > 0:34:26while men had skilled jobs.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29So the men would be in preparation and finishing
0:34:29 > 0:34:33part of the cloth making and women would be doing something
0:34:33 > 0:34:38like carding wool or mending the cloth when it had errors in it.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40So, burling and mending, that would be what went into it.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44Gradually, this was taken over so you'd have, in the 1940s and '50s,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49a lot more women in the weaving sheds than there had been previously.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Despite women moving into traditionally male jobs
0:34:54 > 0:34:58in the mills, the wool industry was facing even bigger problems -
0:34:58 > 0:35:03competition from abroad and new textiles entering the marketplace.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Bradford had to contend with the fact that overseas cloth was much,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10much cheaper, exports were dropping, demand was falling everywhere.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12Especially for Worcester cloth
0:35:12 > 0:35:14because you now get synthetics coming in, man-made fibres,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17so you have got to compete on all these different levels
0:35:17 > 0:35:22and really, by the '50s and '60s, the mill industry is on a steep decline.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25So that would be the reason why Jack Thornton wouldn't have
0:35:25 > 0:35:28followed in his family's footsteps in the wool industry?
0:35:28 > 0:35:29Yes, very possibly.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32What you're talking about is a massive fall in wages after
0:35:32 > 0:35:36the Second World War and they do try to keep wages at a level
0:35:36 > 0:35:39but it drops and drops so that now you have
0:35:39 > 0:35:43got 24-hour opening in mills, working through the night to try to boost
0:35:43 > 0:35:46production and because wages are so low,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48British people won't do the work.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51They are looking for work in the service industries,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54in building and in retail and that is the next big boom.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58So what you get is mills are staffed by foreign operatives
0:35:58 > 0:36:02who come over from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05primarily, and take over that work force until the 1970s
0:36:05 > 0:36:09when the industry really bottoms out and declines completely.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13It sounds like Jack and his father got out at the right time
0:36:13 > 0:36:16and going into the construction trade was a shrewd move.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Bradford was building hugely in the 1950s and '60s.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Massive council estates were going up all around the city.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26There was a huge plan to completely change the way that the
0:36:26 > 0:36:29central part of Bradford looked - clear all the slum housing,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32the back-to-back housing that was there and put up concrete
0:36:32 > 0:36:36and glass buildings that were highly fashionable in the early 1960s.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40So Jack would possibly have been involved in demolition and in
0:36:40 > 0:36:42building either new housing
0:36:42 > 0:36:44or some of the big buildings that are in Bradford today.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46So he went where the work was.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49The next step was obviously building.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Yes, exactly. It was just changing what Bradford had to offer, really.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56Becoming, from a wool city that was known from its Worcester trade,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59becoming known for other things. For example, retail being one.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03Morrisons, as a supermarket chain, was born in Bradford
0:37:03 > 0:37:04and has gone global now.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07So that is one of the arms of the new industries
0:37:07 > 0:37:10that Bradford has developed into.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14Bradford was changing and so were the dynamics of the Thornton family.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17No longer in the wool trade, they seemed to spread out.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20A fact that makes finding Jack Thornton's heirs all
0:37:20 > 0:37:22the more difficult for the team.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Now, do you have long lost family?
0:37:29 > 0:37:31Here are some more names of unclaimed estates
0:37:31 > 0:37:33from the Treasury Solicitor's list.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37Could you be in line for a forgotten fortune?
0:37:37 > 0:37:39The list of unclaimed estates is money that is owed to
0:37:39 > 0:37:44members of the public and new names are added all the time.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46The Bona Vacantia unclaimed list
0:37:46 > 0:37:49is a list of cases that we haven't found kin for.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51The list goes back to 1997 because that's
0:37:51 > 0:37:54when our case management system came online.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58The idea is to produce a list of all those solvent cases so there
0:37:58 > 0:38:01should be at least a few pounds in there, possibly many thousands.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06So, how is the Bona Vacantia Division working on your behalf?
0:38:06 > 0:38:09The Bona Vacantia Division doesn't employ genealogists or agents.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12We work very hard to find kin ourselves.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15We advertise on local and national newspapers and, ultimately,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18put their names on our website.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Do these names mean anything to you?
0:38:21 > 0:38:23Are they relatives of yours?
0:38:24 > 0:38:28William Niblock died in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset
0:38:28 > 0:38:31on the 21st of February, 2001. Niblock is rare.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Only 10 people per million have the surname.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Do you share William's unusual surname?
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Can you help solve his case?
0:38:41 > 0:38:47Joan Ruth Burrill died in Archway London on the 26th of May 2010.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49The name Burrill means someone living on a hill
0:38:49 > 0:38:52and is most commonly found in Yorkshire.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Joan left no will
0:38:56 > 0:38:59and so far all efforts to trace her family have failed.
0:38:59 > 0:39:00Could you be the missing heir?
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Michael Harris died in Whipps Cross University Hospital
0:39:06 > 0:39:09in Leytonstone on the 14th of December, 2002.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13Michael's death certificate shows that he was born
0:39:13 > 0:39:17on the 17th of June 1952 in Camberwell in London
0:39:17 > 0:39:20so he was only 50 years old when he died.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22The death certificate also reveals
0:39:22 > 0:39:24that he was a head receptionist at a bank.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Do you remember working with a Michael Harris?
0:39:27 > 0:39:30A reminder of those names again.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35William Niblock, Joan Burrill and Michael Harris.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38If today's names are relatives of yours then you could have
0:39:38 > 0:39:39a windfall coming your way.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Now back to the hunt for heirs to the estate of Jack Thornton and
0:39:48 > 0:39:52some unusual family names are about to reveal a surprising pedigree.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58Jack was a reclusive bricklayer who died aged 61 in Bradford, Yorkshire.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Anna Dunn at DS Researchers
0:40:02 > 0:40:06had established that all Jack's paternal uncles and aunts were dead
0:40:06 > 0:40:09so the search for his cousins was well and truly on.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Anna began the investigation with Annie Thornton,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17one of Jack's paternal aunts.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21She discovered that she had married Heba Watson in 1938
0:40:21 > 0:40:25and that Jack's mother Sylvena had been a bridesmaid at their wedding.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Annie and Heba had then gone on to her three children.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Two daughters and a son, Ian.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35If Anna could only find these children then
0:40:35 > 0:40:37she would have her first heirs.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45It didn't take long for Anna to find a phone number for Ian Watson
0:40:45 > 0:40:48who is still living in the Saltaire area.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52The news of his cousin's death was quite a shock to him.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57It came as a surprise because we haven't heard from him
0:40:57 > 0:41:00for over 20 years.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Ian remembered back all those years to
0:41:02 > 0:41:05when he and Jack were both growing up in Saltaire.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10Jack was an only child and I think he was a bit of a loner.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13One of his main interests was horse riding.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15He used to go to a local stables.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19On one occasion he brought the horse to our house to show us
0:41:19 > 0:41:23and then rode the horse through the town
0:41:23 > 0:41:26and then all the way back to the stables again.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29When Jack's family moved away from Saltaire, the two boys
0:41:29 > 0:41:33kept in touch for a little while, meeting up in Bradford to go
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and watch Jack's favourite cowboy films.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37But in the end they lost contact.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43The fact that Jack died alone and without anybody else
0:41:43 > 0:41:46in the family knowing about it is quite sad.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51We had no contact addresses so without the chance meeting
0:41:51 > 0:41:55there was no way that we would have been able to get in touch with him.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59It wasn't long before Anna had traced all the paternal heirs
0:41:59 > 0:42:03to Jack's estate but her work was only half done.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07There was still the whole maternal side yet to investigate.
0:42:07 > 0:42:12Anna managed to track Jack's mother Sylvena Banks' birth certificate.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16This showed that her parents were a Tom Banks and a Lavinia Campbell.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20By referring to the 1911 census,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Anna discovered that they had nine children, including Sylvena.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26But that wasn't all she noticed.
0:42:28 > 0:42:36We had names like Cicero, Sylvena, Mona May
0:42:36 > 0:42:41and various sorts of unusual names and I thought,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45"Could they be Italian?" But, then again, being a little bit
0:42:45 > 0:42:48different, I thought this might help with the search.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52As Anna predicted, there weren't many Cicero
0:42:52 > 0:42:56or Cicero Banks born in Bradford at the turn of the last century
0:42:56 > 0:42:59so it didn't take long to track him down.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05We looked first for the marriage of Cicero Sr
0:43:05 > 0:43:09and found his wife and then looked for the children for that
0:43:09 > 0:43:12marriage and found yet another Cicero.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19Cicero Jr had married Olive in 1932 and they'd had five
0:43:19 > 0:43:23children, all of whom would be beneficiaries of Gordon's estate.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27The youngest of these children was Julie Banks who was amazed to
0:43:27 > 0:43:30hear that she was in line to inherit from a first cousin once removed
0:43:30 > 0:43:32that she'd never heard of.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36I didn't know anything about Jack Thornton.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41I didn't know he existed and
0:43:41 > 0:43:45I felt a little bit disappointed by that.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51But Julie was able to shed some light on how her father
0:43:51 > 0:43:54and grandfather came by their exotic name.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Cicero Sr was born in 1905 and the winner of the Derby that
0:43:58 > 0:44:02year was a magnificent chestnut thoroughbred called Cicero.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07When you're a young teenager,
0:44:07 > 0:44:11having a dad who is named after a horse is slightly embarrassing.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14If anybody used to ask, I used to say, "Oh, yeah, my dad,
0:44:14 > 0:44:18"he's from Italian stock that's why his name is Cicero."
0:44:18 > 0:44:19But in the end,
0:44:19 > 0:44:23Julie embraced the story behind her father's unusual name.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Especially when she heard how he had come by it.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30It seems that was all down to her great-grandmother Lavinia Banks.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33Great-grandma, definitely a gambler.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38Loved the horses and liked to put the odd penny or two on a race,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41which I think is absolutely brilliant
0:44:41 > 0:44:43and I hope she won lots of money.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48But Julie certainly didn't inherit a fortune from her long-lost cousin.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53Jack's £15,000 estate was divided equally between all his aunts
0:44:53 > 0:44:55and uncles and then divided again
0:44:55 > 0:44:58as it passed down through each branch of the family.
0:44:58 > 0:45:03So by the time it got to Julie, she only received £25.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05But for Julie it wasn't really about the money.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11The whole process has been about finding out more about my family.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14So I've learned who he was through this process which,
0:45:14 > 0:45:18you know, you can be thankful for. You can thank the process for that.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26Jack may never have met his cousin Julie but the shy boy who
0:45:26 > 0:45:29loved cowboy films and had a passion for horses would have been
0:45:29 > 0:45:33pleased to know how she was planning on spending her inheritance.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40- Yes, darling.- Hiya, can I have £10 each way on Sand Skier, please?
0:45:40 > 0:45:4310 each way, number 11, thank you.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45- Thank you, my love.- Thank you. - Cheers.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50Julie and her mother Olive have come on a trip to Epsom racecourse.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54- If this wins I'll get £75.- Will you?
0:45:54 > 0:45:57The same racetrack where Cicero the Derby winner,
0:45:57 > 0:46:03who her father was named after, had his famous victory in 1905.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05Come on! Come on!
0:46:05 > 0:46:08On that day, he raced his way into the history books
0:46:08 > 0:46:11and became part of the Banks family history as well.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18If only the great champion had been running today.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20I think we lost.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24I've spent my inheritance.
0:46:24 > 0:46:25That was brilliant.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38Finally, we return to the case of Gordon Clarke from Birmingham.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41The heir hunters have been trying their hardest to find
0:46:41 > 0:46:43living relatives to inherit his estate
0:46:43 > 0:46:47but it's an uphill struggle with a surname as common as Clarke.
0:46:49 > 0:46:54Gordon died aged 65, leaving an estimated £40,000 but no will.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Gordon was a Brummie born and bred and worked his entire life
0:47:00 > 0:47:05in a pen factory in Birmingham's famous Jewellery Quarter.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08The pen making trade was established here in the 19th century
0:47:08 > 0:47:13and, at one point, 75% of all pens in the world were produced in this
0:47:13 > 0:47:15one square kilometre district.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Gordon came to the factory in 1960, aged 16,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24and worked his way up to become a pen designer.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Dennis Freeman was a friend of Gordon's
0:47:26 > 0:47:29since they were young apprentices together.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Due to a congenital condition, Dennis has been deaf
0:47:32 > 0:47:33since he was a teenager.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38He wouldn't make friends easily
0:47:38 > 0:47:41but gradually he started to come out of himself
0:47:41 > 0:47:46and the more I got to know him, the more I got used to him
0:47:46 > 0:47:50and he got used to me and we started to socialise.
0:47:53 > 0:47:59Well, he'll always be remembered for the work he did here.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04We find it very difficult to cope without him.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09He didn't really have a family as such.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11The factory was his family, really.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Back in the office and the case of Gordon Clarke is proving
0:48:18 > 0:48:22so complicated that it is pushing case manager Grimble to the limit.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28The two surnames involved, Clarke and Davis,
0:48:28 > 0:48:30are amongst the most common in the UK
0:48:30 > 0:48:34so they have had to use all their ingenuity in the search for heirs.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Their main hope is to find
0:48:38 > 0:48:40Gordon's aunt Elizabeth Clarke's death certificate.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43If she had children then one of them
0:48:43 > 0:48:45should appear on it as the informant.
0:48:47 > 0:48:48Paul is currently scanning
0:48:48 > 0:48:51the records in Birmingham Register Office
0:48:51 > 0:48:52but so far he has drawn a blank.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58In the office, the team are trying a different tack.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01They are searching the online databases for Elizabeth's children
0:49:01 > 0:49:03and they strike gold.
0:49:03 > 0:49:08Anthony Davis was born in 1941 in Birmingham.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12If they can find him then he will be their first heir.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15But, like everything on this case, it's not that simple.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18We haven't picked him up alive, haven't picked him up dead.
0:49:18 > 0:49:19But he will be...
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Probably is alive somewhere but we just can't figure him out yet.
0:49:26 > 0:49:32Now that the team in the office have found a possible son for Elizabeth,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34Paul turns his attention to Gordon's uncles,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38looking for any trace of marriages or children.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41- Oh, hang on, hang on. Hot off the press. Hang on a second.- OK, bye.
0:49:41 > 0:49:42Paul is on the phone to Grimble
0:49:42 > 0:49:45when registrar John comes in with some good news.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49We've got a marriage in 1923.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51- And this is...?- Frank Clarke.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Oh, right. Oh, spot on.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57They've found a record for Frank Clarke's marriage to
0:49:57 > 0:49:59an Elizabeth Stella Raven.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01Finally, it looks like the heir hunters will have a
0:50:01 > 0:50:04relatively unusual surname to work with.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11Clarke to Raven. That's not that bad, is it?
0:50:11 > 0:50:13And there's more good news.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Grimble has finally managed to track down the elusive death certificate
0:50:16 > 0:50:18for Gordon's aunt Elizabeth Clarke,
0:50:18 > 0:50:23which they are hoping will list her son Anthony Davis as the informant.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26The only problem is it's in Lichfield,
0:50:26 > 0:50:31half an hour north of Birmingham and it's already late in the day.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35You ain't got time to get over to Lichfield now, have you?
0:50:35 > 0:50:39No. I might need you to do that first thing in the morning.
0:50:41 > 0:50:42Paul heads home for the night
0:50:42 > 0:50:45but in the office they are still making headway.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48The team have found two children from the marriage of Gordon's
0:50:48 > 0:50:52uncle Frank Clarke and his wife Elizabeth Raven.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56A girl, Elizabeth May, and a boy, Frank Thomas.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58Oh, right.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01But before they can celebrate, Grimble uncovers
0:51:01 > 0:51:06another incredible twist in this most torturous of heir hunts.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09It seems that Frank was adopted out of the family
0:51:09 > 0:51:12and so is no longer eligible to inherit.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Worse still, there is absolutely no sign of Elizabeth.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21His mum remarried, took the son with her.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24What has happened to Elizabeth? I don't know.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27So it looks as though it is going to be a bit of a problem here.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31Poor Grimble. Nothing is going his way
0:51:31 > 0:51:35and as the sun sets on the first day of this investigation,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39it's safe to say that the case of Gordon Clarke is still wide open.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50It's early the next morning and Paul Matthews is on the road
0:51:50 > 0:51:54to Lichfield to pick up Elizabeth Davis' death certificate.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57Paul's confident it will lead him to her son Anthony.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01Picking up the death from Lichfield
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and hopefully the informant on that will be the son
0:52:04 > 0:52:08and it'll give us some indication as to where he might be.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14At the very least, we will know where he was in 1995.
0:52:14 > 0:52:15Morning.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17- Any chance of that death, please? - Yeah, certainly.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20It's been a bit of a dodgy case where we can't find anything at the moment.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24- Not the best of names.- Yeah, we'll have a look at. No problem.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Cheers, thank you.
0:52:26 > 0:52:27It's not long before the registrar
0:52:27 > 0:52:30comes back with a copy of the certificate.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32- So, here's your certificate. - Thank you. Fantastic.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Do you want to check and make sure it's the right one?
0:52:35 > 0:52:37That's great. Thank you very much.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41That is a bit of a surprise but there you go.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44A surprise might be a bit of an understatement.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47It turns out the informant isn't Anthony Davis
0:52:47 > 0:52:49but someone listed as a stepson.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51Frank Thomas Davis.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53The same first names
0:52:53 > 0:52:56as the child adopted out of brother Frank's family.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59I wonder if this Frank Thomas
0:52:59 > 0:53:04somehow ended up as part of Elizabeth May's family.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06The simple way to find that out is to go and knock on his door
0:53:06 > 0:53:09and we'll see if we can unravel the mystery.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Paul gets straight on the phone to Grimble
0:53:11 > 0:53:14to report this extraordinary new development.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16PHONE RINGS
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Frank Clarke had a son called Frank Thomas,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21didn't he, who was adopted out?
0:53:21 > 0:53:24You're bloody right here. You're bloody right there.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27- 'You're right there.' - I'm right there.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Grimble is justifiably excited.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33Frank Thomas may have lost his claim on his cousin's estate
0:53:33 > 0:53:35when his parents gave him up for adoption
0:53:35 > 0:53:39but he has turned up again as a fully-entitled heir
0:53:39 > 0:53:42because he was adopted back into the family by his aunt Elizabeth.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Finally this case is opening up
0:53:46 > 0:53:49and it seems the key to it all is Frank Thomas Davis.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54It's funny things can change so quickly.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58We come up with one little bit of information and the potential
0:53:58 > 0:54:02of it is that this guy may know quite a bit about the family.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06It doesn't take them long to find a phone number for Frank
0:54:06 > 0:54:10but it is Grimble's job to make the call and he gets straight through.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15Was Frank Raymond Davis your father?
0:54:15 > 0:54:17He was a stepfather as well?
0:54:17 > 0:54:20So they were stepparents. Right.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22It's sounding good
0:54:22 > 0:54:24but after a day of disappointments and near misses,
0:54:24 > 0:54:29Grimble wants to be 100% sure he's got his man.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32Do you know who your natural parents were?
0:54:35 > 0:54:36Yeah.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42Stella Raven, that's it. Oh, terrific.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46We've definitely got the right family. OK, fine.
0:54:46 > 0:54:47Bingo.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Grimble has got his first heir.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51But he's not going to stop there.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54There's plenty more that Frank can help him with.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Did your adoptive parents have a son called Anthony?
0:54:57 > 0:55:02Yeah, OK. So the baby died shortly after birth.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05Did you have a sister, Elizabeth?
0:55:05 > 0:55:07It seems that Elizabeth's son Anthony Davis
0:55:07 > 0:55:10died as a baby before Frank was adopted.
0:55:10 > 0:55:15One by one, Grimble sorts out every branch of the Clarke family tree.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20Thank you very much. Thank you, bye-bye.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22Success. There, see.
0:55:22 > 0:55:27One minute, despondent, thinking it going to take us years and years
0:55:27 > 0:55:32then we get one little break and it's opened the whole lot.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34He may have solved the case but nothing is over
0:55:34 > 0:55:38until the heirs have signed an agreement allowing the company
0:55:38 > 0:55:42to help them make their claim on Gordon's estate to the Treasury.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47Unless they get that all-important signature, this whole investigation
0:55:47 > 0:55:51could still turn out to be a huge waste of time and resources.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54Luckily, Paul Matthews is close by
0:55:54 > 0:55:56so he heads straight round to meet Frank.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59Hi. Pleased to meet you.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03Frank tells Paul that his birth parents separated when he was young.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06His sister stayed with their grandmother
0:56:06 > 0:56:10but he was adopted by his aunt Elizabeth when he was 11 years old.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14I still kept in touch with my real mother. She never got married again.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17She lived alone and I always kept in touch with her.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19Why were you adopted out?
0:56:19 > 0:56:23Well, at that time there was no handouts like they get today.
0:56:23 > 0:56:29There's no welfare and it's just a bit of maintenance from the husband.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31He disappeared, Frank.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34She got no maintenance so she couldn't really keep us.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Frank remembers his cousin Gordon from when they were both young boys.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41He'd probably be about seven or eight then, I should think...
0:56:43 > 0:56:45..when I last saw him.
0:56:45 > 0:56:46- And he's gone?- He's gone.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50They are all passing me by.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53You hang on there, you've got some money coming.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55After listening to what Paul has to say,
0:56:55 > 0:56:57Frank decides that he is happy for the company to help him
0:56:57 > 0:57:01with his claim and duly signs on the dotted line.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06- OK, thanks for your time. Nice meeting you.- And you, bye-bye.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09- All the very best. I hope you get a nice few bob, anyway.- Thank you.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11OK, Cheers, thank you. Bye-bye.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14It's time for Paul to get going but there is no doubt
0:57:14 > 0:57:17he is delighted with how things have turned out.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Absolutely lovely couple. He is an entitled relative.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24He signed it with ourselves so that's a very good end result.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28Now we've just got to try and trace some more members of the family.
0:57:31 > 0:57:32In the end,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35the heir hunters found three heirs to Gordon Clarke's estate
0:57:35 > 0:57:37but when the case was submitted to the Treasury,
0:57:37 > 0:57:41they discovered that the rumours about its value were unfounded.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44There was no £40,000 in cash.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48It turned out to be worth just £5,000,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51which was split between the three of them.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54Sadly, Gordon wasn't close to his blood family when he died
0:57:54 > 0:57:56but he certainly wasn't alone.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58His close circle of neighbours
0:57:58 > 0:58:02and colleagues were a testament to his loyalty and youthful spirit.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04He will be sorely missed.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08He was just an amazing person.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12I do think he's gone straight up and he's looking down at us.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16In my mind and heart, he'll always live on. He will.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd