0:00:03 > 0:00:05Heir Hunters make their living tracing people
0:00:05 > 0:00:08who are entitled to money from relatives who have died
0:00:08 > 0:00:09without leaving a will.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Often, the rightful beneficiaries have no idea
0:00:13 > 0:00:16they are in line to inherit.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19The amount of volumes means it's a needle in a haystack.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Their work involves detailed research.
0:00:22 > 0:00:2514 children - 11 living, three dead.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Basically, we've got quite a lot of work to do at the moment.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32And can often shed new light on family histories.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34You could take a tea chest.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35That was it.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42But most of all, it's about giving news of an unexpected windfall.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Could the Heir Hunters be knocking at your door?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Coming up - the remarkable story
0:00:52 > 0:00:55of one of Britain's wartime meteorologists.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Largely, the weather later today, the weather for tomorrow,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02was being generated in his head.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06And one heir uncovers the missing pieces of her family tree.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10I was just totally amazed, I couldn't believe it.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11As far as I was concerned,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14my mum was the last surviving relative on her side.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Plus how you could be entitled to inherit money
0:01:18 > 0:01:20sat in unclaimed estates.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:30 > 0:01:33It's Friday afternoon at heir hunting company Fraser & Fraser,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37and the entire research team are busy trying to track down
0:01:37 > 0:01:41beneficiaries on a case involving a huge family tree.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44There's 14 children - 11 living, three dead.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49So basically I've got quite a lot of work to do at the moment.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52The team are responding to a tip-off that has just come in
0:01:52 > 0:01:56about the case of Edith Konieczny who died without leaving a will.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58They are straight in at the deep end,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02especially as the team are up against a rather important deadline.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05We are under a lot more pressure than usual on this one
0:02:05 > 0:02:07because we have to get it done by 3.30.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Usually, we just carry on until we're finished.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12We have to get it done because Grimble's retiring today
0:02:12 > 0:02:16so I think there's a big drink, so we need to get it done.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18After 32 years on the job,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22it's veteran case manager Grimble's last day in the office,
0:02:22 > 0:02:27and later, the team are planning to give him a proper send-off.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29But for now, senior researcher Ewart Lindsay
0:02:29 > 0:02:31is focused on the job at hand.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35We've got quite a lot of staff working on it.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40It's all hands on deck, to get it sorted.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46Edith Konieczny died on 20 December, 2011,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50aged 87 at her home in Carterton, Oxfordshire.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Hairdressers Lesley and Trish looked forward
0:02:55 > 0:02:57to her regular visit to the salon.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01I was really sad to find out that she'd passed away
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and doubly sad that she's got no relatives.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10We did go to Edith's funeral and it was quite sad
0:03:10 > 0:03:14because there was just a handful of people there.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17I think she did live through her husband and when her husband died,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21I think she became very lonely and wasn't as outgoing as he was.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24The light went out a little bit then.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26After her husband Joseph passed away,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28her weekly trip to the hairdresser
0:03:28 > 0:03:32was as much contact with the outside world as Edith had.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33She was quite a lonely lady
0:03:33 > 0:03:38and I think we were her only port of call once a week,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41so we used to make a bit of a fuss of her and she'd have her tea
0:03:41 > 0:03:45a certain way and want her hair shampooed and rinsed a certain way,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47which we tried to do.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Even into her old age, Edith was a glamorous woman.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Mrs K was very stylish.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58She wasn't afraid to express her sense of fashion.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01She would wear very loud colours if she wanted to,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04usually with a matching hat.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Ranging from woolly hats to bandannas.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08You name it, she would wear it.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12She was a pioneer in the fashion stakes, put it that way.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17And she was ladylike in more than just her dress sense.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19To those who knew her,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Edith's polite, courteous manner will not be forgotten.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27She always made a point of coming to the desk and saying,
0:04:27 > 0:04:32"Thank you, that was very nice. Goodbye, see you next week."
0:04:32 > 0:04:34That's how I will remember Mrs K.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Back in the office, case manager Simon Mills and the team
0:04:40 > 0:04:44are making progress finding heirs to Edith's estate.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45As she owned her own property,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49they think the case could be worth a lot of money.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53It's thought to be worth about 250, I think.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58They've got hold of her death certificate and from that,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01they've established that Edith died a widow.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Searches also show that she had no children.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07I did Edith Konieczny.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10That one came up. It was birth there so I went for it.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14The team must now look to the wider family tree
0:05:14 > 0:05:17to see if Edith's parents had brothers or sisters.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22If any of these uncles or aunts of Edith had children,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24they would be heirs to Edith's estate.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29There's 11, I think, aunts and uncles on the maternal side
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and four on the paternal.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And although it's only just landed on his desk, case manager Simon
0:05:35 > 0:05:37is worried that another rival firm
0:05:37 > 0:05:41may have been given the same tip-off.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43It's a bit worrying at the moment because we don't know
0:05:43 > 0:05:46if we're behind by a long way on the job or not.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49It doesn't sound like it after talking to the neighbours,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53but you don't know until you speak to an heir.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55If the heirs have already been contacted,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58all the team's hard work may be for nothing.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I've got the whole office working on it and for all we know,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03we're weeks behind at the moment,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05so we need to find an heir as soon as possible.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08The office has been split into teams to try to work
0:06:08 > 0:06:10both sides of the tree at once.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Just try to get someone up-to-date.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Already, Isha's made a breakthrough and thinks she may have found
0:06:19 > 0:06:24a cousin on the maternal side of the family, but the team won't be able
0:06:24 > 0:06:27to confirm this until they can speak to her on the phone.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32I've just found what I believe to be a first cousin of the deceased.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Ewart's just going to ring them.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It's an important call, as speaking to this potential heir
0:06:39 > 0:06:42will hopefully also let them know if they're behind the competition.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46PHONE RINGS
0:06:46 > 0:06:49'Hello. Your call cannot be taken at the moment
0:06:49 > 0:06:54- 'so please leave your message after the tone.'- She's not in.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56We'll need to get someone on the phone
0:06:56 > 0:06:58just to find out if this has been worked before.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Having hit a brick wall with the maternal side,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04the focus is now on Edith's father's family.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Gareth is trying to track down the records of Edith's paternal aunts.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12I don't know if this is right, I can't quite work it out
0:07:12 > 0:07:14but I think she's married Henry Single.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18And while the rest of the team might have found some potential heirs,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21they're struggling with current contact details.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Me and Simon are concentrating on the paternal side,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28and Simon's got a few up-to-date but they're not on the phone.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32We're still trying to find one on the phone at the moment.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Getting close but it's just the last couple of years
0:07:35 > 0:07:36they seem to have moved away.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Still trying.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Meanwhile, Isha has been working hard tracing children
0:07:46 > 0:07:49of the 11 aunts and uncles on the maternal side.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51She's found details of another potential heir
0:07:51 > 0:07:54the only other first cousin still living
0:07:54 > 0:07:57on Edith's mother's side of the tree.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Ewart gives her a call.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02PHONE RINGS
0:08:09 > 0:08:13But once again, there's no answer.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18PHONE RINGS
0:08:22 > 0:08:26But Ewart's constant phone bashing isn't all in vain.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29The team have just discovered that the case may be worth
0:08:29 > 0:08:30more than they thought,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35as apparently Edith owned not one property but two.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Simon gives boss Neil a call to fill him in.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Ewart spoke to a neighbour. She owned a £250,000 house
0:08:42 > 0:08:46and they had another property as well down in Dorset.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48We were the first people to call the neighbour.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51We can't get through to any heirs.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Suddenly, the pressure is really on.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00The team now know that the case is worth well in excess of £250,000.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03As they work for a percentage of the estate,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06that could make this a very lucrative job.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14With the 3.30 deadline looming, frustrations are beginning to show.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15You'd think I wouldn't have trouble
0:09:15 > 0:09:18finding people with the surname Treblecock, would you?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22PHONE RINGS
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Nobody is answering, nobody is answering.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Any more addresses, numbers?
0:09:35 > 0:09:38But Ewart's bad luck continues.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41PHONE RINGS
0:09:48 > 0:09:49Also not in.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52At last, it seems Simon and Mike might have made
0:09:52 > 0:09:55a breakthrough on the paternal side.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57How do you get Roger Webb?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Of all the names we've gone through, you get Webb.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03September.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05This one's got initials.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Pencil, I'll put it on in pencil. What's the address?
0:10:11 > 0:10:15It looks like they might have found a cousin once removed
0:10:15 > 0:10:18but Ewart needs to speak to him to confirm.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Mike's not sure because he's got an initial he shouldn't have
0:10:20 > 0:10:23but he's in the right area. Born in the right quarter.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26He's worth a go because we haven't got anything else.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Is this Ewart's chance to finally speak to an heir?
0:10:30 > 0:10:33PHONE RINGS
0:10:36 > 0:10:39It seems Roger Webb isn't answering
0:10:39 > 0:10:42but Simon has managed to trace his brother.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Stuart Webb, yeah?
0:10:45 > 0:10:46Number?
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Ewart's straight on the phone.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54He's calling a paternal cousin once removed.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57We just tried to speak to his brother
0:10:57 > 0:10:59but he didn't answer the phone.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Hopefully, we think they're right because they married sisters
0:11:02 > 0:11:04so even though they seem to have acquired initials
0:11:04 > 0:11:07which they shouldn't really have, it looks good,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11but sounds like it's another that hasn't answered.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Finally, with the office about to close
0:11:13 > 0:11:15for Grimble's retirement party,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18the team have to call it a day.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20We can't really do any more.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23We've got quite a few numbers, nobody is answering, nobody's in.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Or the numbers aren't correct.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Having made no headway in the office, first thing next week
0:11:29 > 0:11:32they're going to try and make some progress on the ground.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35There's an address in Harpenden.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37I'm going to go straight there on Monday.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40If we actually get to speak to one heir, and they say,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43"We haven't been called up by any other company,"
0:11:43 > 0:11:44we'll know we're in.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Let's just hope he hasn't been contacted already
0:11:47 > 0:11:50or it will have been a waste of everyone's time, really.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53But for now, it's time to say goodbye to Grimble.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Since joining the company in 1980,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59he's become one of the most senior and respected figures
0:11:59 > 0:12:02in the business and has worked on some of their highest-value cases.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08We have a few little gifts and something that, David,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11you ask me every month whether I've got it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- This time I have.- A P45?
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Lovely, I'll drink to that!
0:12:17 > 0:12:21It's there for you to keep.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Enjoy your happy retirement.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Thank you very much.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29APPLAUSE
0:12:29 > 0:12:35After more than 30 years on the job, for Grimble, it's the end of an era.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39I'm looking forward to my retirement. Thank you very much.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42APPLAUSE
0:12:42 > 0:12:46But for the rest of the team, it will be business as usual on Monday
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and that will mean trying to track down
0:12:48 > 0:12:51the elusive heirs of Edith Konieczny.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56And when Ewart discovers the competition...
0:12:56 > 0:12:58It looks like they've actually written to people.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01I don't think they've actually gone to make any visits.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04..he still refuses to give up.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I'm quietly confident I'll sign these two today.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Sometimes successful heir hunting is all about taking a gamble.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21In the case of Colin Wilkinson, the Heir Hunters had no choice
0:13:21 > 0:13:24but to do exactly that.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26You're working two sides of a family
0:13:26 > 0:13:30and putting resources into locating them which could all be for nothing.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37Colin Charles Wilkinson passed away on 17th December, 2011,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40aged 83, in Noseley near Liverpool.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Neighbours Tony and Norma Hughes remember him
0:13:44 > 0:13:46as a very smartly dressed man.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Little and bald. Very, very spotless.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Very spotless. And his shoes used to shine.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Always well groomed, always well-dressed.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58A very smartly dressed gentleman.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04Always walked upright.
0:14:04 > 0:14:10He was one of them people, a very happy person walking along.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13You'd say hello to him and he'd say hello back.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17Colin's dapper appearance certainly made an impression.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20He was a character, I think.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23You could put him down right as a character.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26One remarkable thing about him which I can't forget
0:14:26 > 0:14:28was he always wore different coloured shoes.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Never black or brown. Always green, red or blue.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35But he was a very private man
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and remained a mystery to those around him.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40I always said to myself,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44he must have been in the theatre at some stage, or something like that.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Although for 25 years, they regularly bumped into each other
0:14:48 > 0:14:51at the station, neighbour Dorothy Crosland
0:14:51 > 0:14:54never knew what he did for a living.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Every Saturday, we'd get the same train
0:14:58 > 0:15:04and we just used to gab but he never said where he was going.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Where he was going, Manchester, but apart from that,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09what he did, he never, ever mentioned.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16When case manager Ben Cornish started investigating the estate
0:15:16 > 0:15:19of Colin Wilkinson, it looked like
0:15:19 > 0:15:21it was going to be very straightforward.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Because it was a private referral,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28rather than one advertised by the Treasury solicitor as unclaimed,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Ben had a whole lot more information to go on.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36When I get cases through, we have just the date of death,
0:15:36 > 0:15:41an area of death and a name, but in this case, we had a name,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44date of birth, date of death and an address.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49He also had a good idea of the amount of money involved.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53What we usually go on, that indicates to us if there is value,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55was whether the deceased owned his property.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57We knew that it was a private tenancy
0:15:57 > 0:16:01so there was no obvious signs of money there, initially.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Because Colin's estate was relatively low value,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Ben needed to find heirs quickly and easily.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Generally in my experience,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15cases like this are approximately around £15,000.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18If there's near kin involved, it's not too resource heavy.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Hoping that the heirs would be close family, Ben's first task
0:16:22 > 0:16:26was to establish whether Colin had a wife or children who might be entitled.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Once we had the correct birth record,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31we knew that he was born in West Derby.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34We knew that he passed away in West Derby
0:16:34 > 0:16:37so the next thing to do was to look for a marriage,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40but we couldn't find any marriage for the deceased which suggests
0:16:40 > 0:16:44to us that he was never married and probably didn't have any children.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49The next step was to look for siblings.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52I initially made some enquiries with the neighbours.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55One said that there was a sister
0:16:55 > 0:16:59and they didn't have any more details.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02The neighbour also had some worrying news.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06They said that a guy was looking for the deceased
0:17:06 > 0:17:09in regards to the sister but I wasn't sure what that meant.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12It wasn't very clear, they didn't really know,
0:17:12 > 0:17:13so I took that as being
0:17:13 > 0:17:16there was potential competition on this estate.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22It seemed that a rival firm had also received the same tip-off
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and were working the same ground.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29Ben now had to race against them to reach heirs first.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Obviously, we needed to speed up the research
0:17:33 > 0:17:35to try and find the next of kin.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39The search now focused on trying to find Colin's sister.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42In order to trace her, Ben first had to trace Colin's parents.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50His birth certificate showed that his parents were Ellen Mary McEvoy
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and Charles William Wilkinson.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Charles was born in West Derby in 1888.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01When Charles married Ellen in Lancaster in July 1918,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04he was a soldier in the Canadian Army.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09Historian Taff Gillingham has uncovered his military records.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12It's interesting that he comes from Liverpool
0:18:12 > 0:18:14and it's interesting as well that he actually enlists
0:18:14 > 0:18:18in the Canadian Army in Montreal. Both of those places are ports.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21It says, "What is your trade or calling," when he joined the Army.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23It says, "steward."
0:18:23 > 0:18:26That tells us that he was a steward on a cross-Atlantic ferry.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Charles was sailing back and forth across the Atlantic
0:18:31 > 0:18:33and after the outbreak of war,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37he chose to enlist not in his own country but in Canada.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42I suspect that he was quite shrewd because the Canadians were paid
0:18:42 > 0:18:46a dollar a day plus ten cents field allowance when they got to France,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49whereas the British soldier would only have got a shilling a day.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52During his time in the Canadian Expeditionary Force,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Charles was involved in one of the most notorious conflicts
0:18:56 > 0:18:57of the Second World War.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01They make a major contribution to the third Battle of Ypres,
0:19:01 > 0:19:02the Battle of Passchendaele.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Two whole British army corps have been smashed trying to get there.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09The Anzac core of Australians and New Zealanders, they've been smashed
0:19:09 > 0:19:14to pieces as well, and finally the last unit left is the Canadian Corps.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17After five months of trench warfare in horrific conditions,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21heavy rainfall had turned the battlefield into a swamp
0:19:21 > 0:19:23and made the use of tanks impossible.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26By the time the Canadians are committed,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29the fighting at Passchendaele's been going on for months
0:19:29 > 0:19:31and it's been a real slog.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34The conditions have been appallingly bad.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36It's been mud, it's been rain.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39By the time they actually get to the fighting towards the end,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41the conditions are not quite so bad
0:19:41 > 0:19:43but it's still a very, very nasty place.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45It's uphill nearly all the way
0:19:45 > 0:19:47and the Germans have got perfect observation over them
0:19:47 > 0:19:51and it was not the best place to be at the end of 1917.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54But the Canadians weren't deterred by the terrain
0:19:54 > 0:19:58and after a successful assault to capture Passchendaele Ridge,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01they brought an end to the long drawn battle.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Charles survived the war and shortly before he was discharged
0:20:10 > 0:20:15from the Army, he married Colin's mother, Ellen Mary McEvoy.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18We know that we have a birth record of the deceased.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21We know the father's name was Wilkinson,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23the mother's name was McEvoy.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26We then have a look to see if there are any marriages
0:20:26 > 0:20:30of Wilkinson to McEvoy and we did find one in the area.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34From that point, we will then search for any siblings
0:20:34 > 0:20:38and there was one that popped up - an elder sister called Kathleen.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41This was great news.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43If Colin's sister Kathleen was still alive,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46she would be set to inherit his whole estate.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49All Ben had to do now was find out what had happened to her.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54First, we would look to see if she had maybe died in infancy.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57She hadn't. We also try to look for a spinster death,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00but we couldn't locate that either.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04His next challenge was to try to find a marriage certificate
0:21:04 > 0:21:07for Kathleen, but he had a mountain to climb.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09In this particular case,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14there were far too many records to look at every one of them.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Without knowing where to start,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18he seemed to be facing an impossible task.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23It's going to be difficult to find her if she married out of the area.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28The sheer amount of volumes means it's a needle in a haystack.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Things were not turning out to be as simple as Ben had hoped.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35As he dug deeper into the mystery of Kathleen,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38he was forced to take a huge gamble.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40You're working two sides of a family,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43putting resources into actually locating them,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45which can all be for nothing.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Despite the efforts of the Heir Hunters,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55there are still thousands of unclaimed estates in the UK.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59In Scotland, these are dealt with
0:21:59 > 0:22:03by the Queen and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, or QLTR.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05In England and Wales, estates are handled
0:22:05 > 0:22:08by the Treasury's Bona Vacantia division.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11The Bona Vacantia division has its own dedicated website
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and I'd encourage anyone interested in this field of work
0:22:15 > 0:22:18or feels they have a claim to go to that website first.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Today we're focusing on two cases that were both advertised
0:22:22 > 0:22:26by the QLTR and are yet to be solved by the Heir Hunters.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Could you be the beneficiary they are looking for?
0:22:29 > 0:22:34Could you be about to inherit some money from a long-lost relative?
0:22:35 > 0:22:39First is the case of Susan Robertson.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Susan died in Scotland in 2005.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Could you be related to her?
0:22:46 > 0:22:52She was born on 7 January 1913 and when she died aged 92,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55she was living on Constitution Street in Edinburgh.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Were you a neighbour?
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Perhaps you are an heir who is entitled to a share of her estate
0:23:01 > 0:23:04which is worth over £11,000.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09Next, can you shed any light on the case of Patrick Brady?
0:23:09 > 0:23:14He died in Prestwick, Scotland on 12th December 2005.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Patrick was born in 1922 and he lived at Limonds Court in Ayrshire.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23Did you know Patrick?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Both Susan and Patrick's estates remain unclaimed
0:23:27 > 0:23:29and if no-one comes forward,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32their money will go to the Scottish Government.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Do you have any clues that could help solve the cases
0:23:35 > 0:23:38of Susan Robertson or Patrick Brady?
0:23:38 > 0:23:41If so, you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52The team at Fraser & Fraser are having a frustrating time
0:23:52 > 0:23:55tracking down the heirs to the estate of Edith Konieczny.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Nobody is answering, nobody is answering.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Having established that she had no close kin, the team have been
0:24:02 > 0:24:05trying to trace Edith's cousins on a huge family tree.
0:24:05 > 0:24:12We have got 11 children, potential aunts and uncles on one side.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15And after one day's work cut short
0:24:15 > 0:24:17because of Grimble's retirement party,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20it's now Monday morning and they're back on the case.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28To date, senior researcher Ewart Lindsay is taking no chances
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and is hitting the road to try to speak to the heirs in person.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Unfortunately, his worst fears have been realised
0:24:35 > 0:24:38and he's discovered that a rival firm are already on the case.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41It looks like they've actually written to people.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44I don't think they've gone to make any visits.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47All he can do now is hope that he's not too late
0:24:47 > 0:24:51and that a face-to-face visit will persuade Edith Konieczny's heirs
0:24:51 > 0:24:52to sign with him.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Edith Konieczny was 87 years old when she passed away
0:24:59 > 0:25:02at her home in Carterton, Oxfordshire.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Hairdressers Trish and Lesley grew fond of her over the years
0:25:05 > 0:25:09and remember her weekly visit to the salon well.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12We used to have to towel dry her hair a certain way
0:25:12 > 0:25:14and always give it a good rinse.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17We always referred to her as Mrs K,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20primarily because we couldn't pronounce her surname,
0:25:20 > 0:25:26but she always responded to Mrs K and that's how we always remember her.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29By all accounts, Edith was a completely devoted wife.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33She did talk about her husband quite a lot
0:25:33 > 0:25:37and obviously she was a Forces wife years ago.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40I think she must have done a little bit of travelling around.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Her relationship with her husband was really important.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45She was very, very close to him.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50She didn't have any other family because she never talked about
0:25:50 > 0:25:54any other member of her family, only her husband who she idolised.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59Edith married Joseph Konieczny, the love of her life,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02in Cirencester in 1954, aged 30.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05It transpires that he played an important and fascinating role
0:26:05 > 0:26:08in the Second World War.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10After leaving Poland in 1940,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Joseph worked as a meteorologist forecasting weather for the RAF.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Weather forecasting was vital to the war effort.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Is still vital to the war effort.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25We have meteorologists in Afghanistan today.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28War is carried out in the open air
0:26:28 > 0:26:32and therefore weather is very important, particularly for aviation
0:26:32 > 0:26:35because you're flying up amongst the clouds
0:26:35 > 0:26:37and if the temperature's below zero centigrade -
0:26:37 > 0:26:3932 Fahrenheit during the War -
0:26:39 > 0:26:41then the aircraft gets covered in ice.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45If you want to go from A to B, the wind may be blowing you off-track.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48You need to know about the wind at the level you're going to fly.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50These were the sorts of things that you needed
0:26:50 > 0:26:53for flying to the targets, there and back,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and you needed to know what the weather was going to be for landing.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Whilst today, advanced technology means that predicting the weather
0:27:00 > 0:27:02is a very precise science,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05for Joseph, it was a very different matter.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Today we run global models of the atmosphere on our computers.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13We did not have anything like that during the Second World War.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Joseph Konieczny would have had forecasts coming
0:27:16 > 0:27:19from the central forecast office, forecast charts,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24but largely, the weather later today, the weather for tomorrow
0:27:24 > 0:27:26was being generated in his head.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29The forecasting of changes in weather patterns by meteorologists
0:27:29 > 0:27:31like Joseph made history.
0:27:32 > 0:27:38This chart behind me is the chart for midday on 6 June, 1944, D-Day.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43The forecasting for that event would have been pretty critical.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47It resulted in D-Day being postponed by a day.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50After weeks of fine weather,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53the conditions on the eve of the planned attack were impossible
0:27:53 > 0:27:57with wind and high seas preventing a naval attack
0:27:57 > 0:28:01and low clouds also affecting targeting from the air.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03With all the troops poised and ready to go,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06it looked like the whole operation was in jeopardy
0:28:06 > 0:28:10until chief British meteorologist James Stagg stepped in.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Using the detailed forecasts of weathermen such as Joseph,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16he predicted a respite in the weather
0:28:16 > 0:28:19if Eisenhower could just delay by a day.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22It was a window of opportunity, that was the phrase that was used,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25and that's exactly how it worked out on the 6th of June.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32Despite a long happy marriage, Edith and Joseph had no children
0:28:32 > 0:28:35meaning there are no immediate heirs to her estate.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40But the Heir Hunters have discovered she came from a very large family.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Edith's father Charles Hewer was one of five.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47His sister, also called Edith, married Henry Rigsby Webb,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50and had one child, Maurice.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56As Maurice passed away 10 years ago, his two sons, Stuart and Roger,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Edith's cousins once removed,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02are now entitled to a share of her estate.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Senior researcher Ewart Lindsay has managed to arrange a meeting
0:29:09 > 0:29:14with them. He calls case manager Simon to give him the good news.
0:29:14 > 0:29:21Roger Webb, I'm seeing him and his brother at 11 o'clock. All right.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28Roger received a letter and thought it was a scam
0:29:28 > 0:29:33and threw it away last week.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37But he's willing to see me.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Although they have decided to ignore a letter from a rival firm,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Roger and his brother Stuart have agreed to see Ewart.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Quietly confident I'll sign these two today.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51But although he's feeling positive, unless Stuart and Roger
0:29:51 > 0:29:55are happy to sign with the company, it will have been a wasted journey.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58After all their hard work on Friday,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02are they about to sign their first heir?
0:30:02 > 0:30:06- Hello, Mr Webb. - Come on in.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Thank you.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10At their home, Ewart takes Roger and Stuart
0:30:10 > 0:30:12through what he knows about the case so far.
0:30:12 > 0:30:18- Charles Joseph Hewer married... Do you know who he married?- No.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20He married Nelly Curtis.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25And they had the deceased. Edith.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Edith would be a first cousin to your father,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32so this is where the estate is coming from.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37- Then it's time to go through the tree.- Let's start from the top.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Let's get your details and then we can work ourselves down.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45The brothers then decide they are happy to sign with the company.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50There's your copy, have a read of it. That's your copy, Mr Webb.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55- All the best, bye-bye. - Cheers then, bye.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58It's a great result. After all their hard work,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02they finally signed their first heirs, and for Roger and Stuart,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05news of an unexpected windfall has made their day.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11It's a bit of a surprise, we'll wait and see what comes out.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14We don't usually have that sort of luck so would be nice
0:31:14 > 0:31:20if we get something. More the merrier. Larger the sum, the better.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23In the case of Edith Konieczny, we started a day later than some
0:31:23 > 0:31:26of the competition but we were able to send Ewart
0:31:26 > 0:31:30and other researchers out to see people face-to-face and that really
0:31:30 > 0:31:34helped us to catch up and often when you see people face-to-face
0:31:34 > 0:31:35that puts them at ease
0:31:35 > 0:31:39and we managed to get a good result out of it in the end.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Eventually, the company managed to sign 13 heirs who are all entitled
0:31:43 > 0:31:49to a share of Edith's estate, now estimated at over £250,000.
0:31:55 > 0:32:02Colin Charles Wilkinson passed away on 17 November 2011, aged 83.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Neighbours Norma and Ted Hughes remember him as a private
0:32:05 > 0:32:07but very polite man.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09He was a lovely person.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11He used to say hello and that was it.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15I couldn't see him having any visitors or anything like that.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18I think he just kept to himself.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21As Colin grew older and fell into ill health,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25his reserved nature meant that he found it hard to reach out
0:32:25 > 0:32:27to friends such as Dorothy Crosland.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31We found him to be a lovely chap.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35I'm only sorry I couldn't help him in some way
0:32:35 > 0:32:38because his house just went to rack and ruin.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42The curtains looked as though they hadn't been washed for years.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45All the growth was past the windows
0:32:45 > 0:32:49and plants and shrubs were going right over the driveway.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Ben's research had reached a dead end.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59If he wanted to continue with the case, Ben had no choice
0:32:59 > 0:33:03but to take a huge risk and expand the search.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07He needed to look further up the tree to trace aunts and uncles
0:33:07 > 0:33:10and then down to cousins to see if he could find out
0:33:10 > 0:33:13more about what happened to Kathleen.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17If it did turn out that she had passed away and had no children,
0:33:17 > 0:33:19any cousins he found could be heirs.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24When you're tracing two family trees at the same time,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28you've got the cost of researchers doing the work.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31You have no idea of the value of the estate.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34You don't know if there is going to be a near-kin factor in the end.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38It could be the fact she moved to the States and had three children
0:33:38 > 0:33:41who were still alive. It was a bit of a risk for us to do this
0:33:41 > 0:33:44but I thought eventually we would come to the bottom
0:33:44 > 0:33:46of where Kathleen actually was.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Colin's father Charles William Wilkinson was one of three children
0:33:52 > 0:33:56and tracing cousins on that side was relatively simple.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58When it came to Colin's mother however,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01her family presented a bigger challenge.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08When we are tracing the McEvoy family, two stems stayed in the UK.
0:34:08 > 0:34:13One stem, they married here but it seems that they had
0:34:13 > 0:34:17a lot of children and they were quite hard to trace.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21We found out one of the stems went to Australia.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26Colin's mother Ellen Mary McEvoy had five brothers.
0:34:26 > 0:34:31Two of them died with no issue but the other three all had children
0:34:31 > 0:34:35of their own, cousins who Ben now needed to trace.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38One of Louis McEvoy's ten children, Philip McEvoy,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41was proving particularly tricky to find.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47In the early 1950s, Philip McEvoy made a momentous decision.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Disillusioned with life and austere post-war Britain,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55where rationing, housing shortages and economic depression
0:34:55 > 0:34:57made life tough for his young family,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01he chose to emigrate to Australia
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and become what was known as a Ten Pound Pom.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08The Ten Pound Pom agreement was initiated between Britain
0:35:08 > 0:35:10and Australia in 1947.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Essentially, the two governments heavily subsidised the sea passage
0:35:13 > 0:35:16of migrants over to Australia and the migrants themselves
0:35:16 > 0:35:20only had to pay £10 and children could come for free.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25The scheme ran alongside an extensive advertising campaign.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28It was quite an active campaign for its time.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32It was quite something. A lot of money was put into it
0:35:32 > 0:35:35and I suppose the three main themes of the campaign
0:35:35 > 0:35:39were sun, sea and sand, which would obviously appeal to British people
0:35:39 > 0:35:43in austere Britain following the Second World War.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Over one and a half million Brits jumped at the chance to make
0:35:46 > 0:35:48a better life for their family.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51There was a sense that it was a better place to raise children
0:35:51 > 0:35:55because of the climate, because of the lifestyle,
0:35:55 > 0:35:57and also the lack of food rationing,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01which for families is quite a practical issue.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04When Philip and his wife Margaret bought their £10 ticket
0:36:04 > 0:36:08to a new life, they had four children all under the age of seven.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10It seems they set sail across the globe
0:36:10 > 0:36:13in search of a brighter future for themselves.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19By tracing Colin's cousins in the UK and all over the globe,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Ben was hoping that he could find someone to tell him
0:36:23 > 0:36:27more about Colin's sister Kathleen, but he had no such luck.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33We discovered quite quickly that there were no first cousins left
0:36:33 > 0:36:38on either side of the family, so we went down to cousins once removed
0:36:38 > 0:36:43but they had no information about Kathleen or the deceased.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46He had reached a stalemate.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49The distant cousins he had found would have been heirs
0:36:49 > 0:36:51to Colin's estate if Kathleen had passed away
0:36:51 > 0:36:56but until he could prove that she had, all his hard work was in vain.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Suddenly, in a conversation with one of Colin's neighbours,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Ben had a huge breakthrough.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10She confirmed the story of this gentleman coming to visit her
0:37:10 > 0:37:13regarding the sister.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17This gentleman was visiting or attempting to visit the deceased.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20To tell him that the sister had passed away
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and that she had left him a property.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28We'd been working on the fact this case was a minimal amount of money
0:37:28 > 0:37:30but this one phone call changed everything.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34Not only did we find out that the deceased's sister had passed away,
0:37:34 > 0:37:39the estate was a lot more valuable than we initially thought it was.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41The risk had paid off.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45The 32 distant cousins that Ben had contacted were now beneficiaries
0:37:45 > 0:37:49to an estate that was now valued at £150,000,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53ten times what he had believed it was originally worth.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00Beauty therapist Michelle Davies is one of the heirs to Colin's estate.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02I had to give them a few details and they asked me
0:38:02 > 0:38:05about other family members.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09They explained about Colin to which I was just totally amazed.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11I couldn't believe it.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16News about her surprise windfall was a shock on more than one level.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Up until Heir Hunters contacted me,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22I didn't have a clue that Colin had existed or his sister.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25As far as I was concerned, my mum was the last surviving relative
0:38:25 > 0:38:27on her side and that was it.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Michelle does know a little about her immediate family history.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35It was during the war when my mum was born
0:38:35 > 0:38:37so she always had stories about the war and things like that.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42Coming home to a tank that crashed into the front of the house one day
0:38:42 > 0:38:47and things. Make do and mend, living off rations and all things like that.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50And she's tried to find out more.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53I've done a bit of research into my family history
0:38:53 > 0:38:56on several websites and things like that.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59I think as an amateur you hit a point where you don't know
0:38:59 > 0:39:04how to go any further without having somebody to help you.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07The call from Ben Cornish turned out to be just the helping hand
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Michelle was after.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12She is now keen to explore more about her extended family.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16My mother passed away in 2007 and my dad last year
0:39:16 > 0:39:19so the family were starting to shrink.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21I didn't think there was anybody else on my mother's side
0:39:21 > 0:39:25so to hear about Colin, I was really excited there was going to be
0:39:25 > 0:39:27other family members out there I can get to know.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Hopefully fill in some blanks.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33But it's the discovery of her ancestors' emigration to Australia
0:39:33 > 0:39:37that has been one of the biggest revelations.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Until she was contacted by the company, Michelle had no idea that
0:39:41 > 0:39:45her distant cousin Philip McEvoy was one of the famous Ten Pound Poms.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51She's keen to try and understand what it would have been like for him
0:39:51 > 0:39:56and his young family arriving in Australia to start a new life.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58And today, she's come to meet Mark Peel,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01an expert in Australian history
0:40:01 > 0:40:04whose own parents settled down under as Ten Pound Poms.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10We need to recognise the courage it took to undertake this migration
0:40:10 > 0:40:14and people had to get through some pretty hard times.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18OK, wages were higher, there was all the sunshine and lots of space,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21but there were ups and downs for people.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Women especially often felt isolated and of course
0:40:23 > 0:40:27there were quite strong restrictions in the 1940s on what you could take.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32My mother for instance, you could take a tea chest, and that was it.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36A life packed into a tea chest.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40Would they have to find their own housing or was that provided
0:40:40 > 0:40:44- on the £10 scheme?- It wasn't provided, there were no guarantees.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49This is a picture of me as a child in our front garden,
0:40:49 > 0:40:51the house we rented in Elizabeth.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Most of the housing was council housing
0:40:54 > 0:40:57but to English people, it was palatial.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59I can see how it was appealing to your families
0:40:59 > 0:41:03coming from the terraced housing and overcrowding into these big gardens.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Whilst many Britons might have been lucky with housing,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11finding employment was a different matter.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14Would most of them have jobs arranged for when they got there
0:41:14 > 0:41:15or was it a case of no employment
0:41:15 > 0:41:17and then having to find it when you got there?
0:41:17 > 0:41:21- How long would it take them to find a job?- It varied.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24My mother couldn't get permanent work for a couple of years
0:41:24 > 0:41:29as a teacher so she sold ice creams on the beach one summer.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34- She worked in various...- It must have got very disheartening at times.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36I think people could get very disheartened,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39really question what they'd done.
0:41:39 > 0:41:44There was some real unhappiness in those first few years for people.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46I'd never thought of that side of it.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50I always thought they arrived there and there's a house for you,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54you'll get on really nice, but there's this other side to it.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59The picture that Australia painted of itself was a very optimistic one.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02It was one that was deliberately designed to appeal to what
0:42:02 > 0:42:06they thought British people wanted, which was a place of sunshine,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08a place of space.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Work, opportunity for your children,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13and all that was true but it took a while.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Despite the difficulties of settling in, some of Michelle's family
0:42:18 > 0:42:22did stay and make a life for themselves in Australia.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Two generations later, Michelle still has relatives all the way
0:42:26 > 0:42:29across the globe and she can't wait to get in touch with them.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32I definitely want to find out more about my family tree now.
0:42:32 > 0:42:33I'm full of enthusiasm again.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37I want to go home and get on the laptop, see what's out there.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39Especially the family that's in Australia,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41I want to know more about them.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45For case manager Ben Cornish, it's also been a rewarding experience.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49I think that the strategy did pay off in the end
0:42:49 > 0:42:51because we've got the case.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54We've managed to find all the heirs
0:42:54 > 0:42:57and sometimes it's good to run two things concurrently.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00Sometimes it can work against you but in this case, it worked.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05Colin's £150,000 estate will now be divided between all 32 heirs.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10If you would like advice about building a family tree
0:43:10 > 0:43:11or making a will, go to...
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd