Daly/Harrington Heir Hunters

Heir hunters track down people entitled to money from someone who's died.

It may be a decent relative they didn't know existed.

Or because a person has died without leaving a will.

Whatever the reason, the heir hunters must make sure the money goes to the right people.

If we don't do the work to inform them, it's money which will go to the government.

It involves painstaking research.

We'll concentrate on her.

It can be a race to track down and contact long lost relatives.

Whatever there is I'll share with my son.

It's all about giving news of an unexpected windfall.

Could heir hunters be knocking on your door?

Coming up,

the heir hunter's phone call is the final piece in the puzzle

of a brother who had disappeared many years ago.

I'd been wondering for a long time what had happened to him.

And one heir goes on a journey of discovery after a case was closed.

I imagine that Connie's work

was highly confidential in nature.

I think Connie kept herself to herself.

Plus, how you could be entitled to inherit unclaimed estates

held by the Treasury. Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?

It's early on Thursday morning.

As most of the country starts to wake up,

-the heir hunters are busy working.

-Just getting the troops together.

Overnight, the latest Bona Vacantia list of unclaimed estates has been released.

And at the offices of Fraser and Fraser in London, the research team

are working four cases they think have potential.

Boss Neil is looking into a case of a man who died in London

in October 2010.

We're looking into the case of Michael Daly D-A-L-Y.

He died in a nursing home in 2010.

It looks like he was born in 1928.

Michael died without leaving a will.

As he had no obvious next of kin,

his estate has been advertised as unclaimed.

Daly as a name is not too bad. It's still fairly common.

The heir hunters know Michael Daly died in a care home and they don't believe he owned a property.

So his estate is likely to be of low value.

Not good news for the heir hunters who earn their money by taking a pre-agreed percentage of an estate.

Neil is hoping they'll be able to find close relatives and quickly.

It's not looking great for value.

We may just play it to near kin. Just brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces. And see where we go.

Michael was born in 1928 and grew up in Dulwich Village.

He came from a close-knit family with grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews

all living a few doors from one another.

To his friends and family, he was known by his middle name Joe.

Sylvia Fox is his half-blood cousin

and so not entitled to any inheritance.

But she grew up on the same street and knew Joe very well.

Joe was unmistakable. You could always pick Joe out in a crowd

because he was a big physique, he was sort of 6' 4".

He always weighed, he had to weigh somewhere between 16 and 17 stone.

And he had this fantastic mop of brown curly hair.

Which, because it was curly, he used to try to keep it quite short because then it was wavy.

And, as he got older, it was a steely grey, and it was like, wow!

Sylvia remembers that one of his passions was football.

And he was an avid supporter of his local team.

Well, his routine would have been going to watch Dulwich Hamlet.

Wherever they were playing, he would go and be there

to watch them and enjoy it. I can remember he would follow it up in the newspaper.

If anything was about Dulwich Hamlet,

he would be cutting it out and saying who scored and how far up the league they were.

But sadly later, Joe developed mental health issues

and as a result became less connected from his close-knit family and friends.

I think he probably didn't want to be helped.

It was something he just slid into and then went off to live on his own.

And hence the family were excluded

from his life because of how he felt

he wanted to live his life on his own.

Back in London, the investigation is headed by case manager Jo Ibrahim.

And boss Neil is keeping a close eye on it too.

They're still alive, are they?

Their first job is to try to build up Michael's family tree.

So far, all they know is Michael died in London 2010

and that he was born in 1928.

But already there might be a hitch to solving this quickly.

Just looking around Michael Daly on the date of birth we have,

which is 17th December 1928,

we've identified two possible births.

A plain Michael Daly who is in the December quarter of 1928.

So the right time, the right name.

But it's in Tamworth, which is in Worcestershire.

So quite a long way away from South West London.

The other birth we have is for a Michael PJ Daly.

That's in the right area - Lambeth.

But, obviously, it's got two middle initials,

which is the wrong name to what he died under.

We'll have a quick play around and see if we can work both of them up.

Although we're dealing with a low-value case,

already it looks like we may be working two different families.

Building two family trees means double the research and double the costs.

As long as they're looking at two potential Michael Dalys born on different days,

they're looking at more expense.

-We need to concentrate on her.

-Uh-huh.

Heir hunters describe estates worth between £5,000 and £15,000 as low value.

And Neil thinks Michael Daly's estate will fall into this category.

It's really important the team solves this quickly.

Neil decides to draft in extra help.

Bob Barratt is one of the firm's senior researchers on the road,

whose job it is to make enquiries, collect documents and sign up heirs.

-MOBILE RINGS

-Hello, Bob Barratt.

Neil asks him to check out the nursing home where Michael lived.

Any details Bob can find out, like a date of birth,

might help rule out one of the two families they're investigating.

Without getting the dates of birth, I wouldn't like to guess which is right.

-We'll see whether the home can help.

-'Yeah.'

-OK. Speak to you later.

OK, bye.

But no sooner than Bob is sent on his way, there's a sudden development in the office.

The research team has ruled out one of the Michael Dalys.

I've found the death for that one in Warwickshire in December 1999.

So it looks like we're working the second birth, the Michael PJ Daly.

Now they have the right man, the team's next challenge is to build up his family tree.

They'll want to find out if he was married and had children because they would be heirs.

If not, the team will look at his wider family who could lead them to beneficiaries.

Having the extra initials of PJ really helps.

It's not long before the team find records of Michael's close family.

We've managed to find a marriage for a Michael PJ in Lambeth.

And the marriage certificate does reveal something rather interesting about Michael.

It shows that during the 1950s,

he worked for a fascinating organisation.

The Navy, Army and Air Force Institute, better known as the NAAFI,

was created between the two world wars.

Its aim, to support armed forces at home and abroad by providing food and entertainment.

When the soldiers, sailors or airmen were on their home base,

within their home base there was an establishment where they could go

to have a drink, rest, play darts

or whatever. Then, when they were out on manoeuvres

or mobilised to go to a fighting front,

NAAFI wagons would follow them, at a discreet distance of course,

providing food, cigarettes, cups of tea,

coffee, a little bit of home away from home.

Joe would have been kept busy in the job.

Because of national service brought in after the war,

there were more servicemen than ever,

all wanting their home-from-home comforts.

The '50s and '60s when Joe was involved

was, post-war, the most busy and hectic time for the NAAFI service.

I clearly remember during my years in the RAF,

the highlight of each day, which was mid-morning, mid-afternoon,

when the good old NAAFI wagon arrived.

Time spent at the NAAFI was very memorable.

Today, the NAAFI remains as busy as it did when it was created in 1921,

supporting servicemen and women at home and in Afghanistan.

Back at the office, the team has uncovered documents telling them

Joe was divorced in 1984.

This means his ex-wife wouldn't be entitled to Joe's estate.

The team will now have to look to see if they had children

because they would still be able to inherit.

Without more information about people who might have known him,

it's hard to tell whether he had children or anything like that.

But they quickly establish that Michael and his wife didn't have children.

So they turn their attention to finding any brothers and sisters

because they could be his closest living heirs.

Joe's parents were Henry Daly and Alice Fountain

who married in 1922.

They had four boys. And Joe's brothers were Henry and Bernard.

Another brother died in infancy in 1938.

So case manager Jo is looking at brothers Henry and Bernard.

We managed to find in Camberwell that there might be two potential brothers.

One is out of area. But there's another brother Bernard,

born in Camberwell 1933, who we think might have up-to-date info.

Heir hunters are experienced in contacting close relatives of people who have died.

But it is never easy. When Jo speaks to Bernard,

it is likely that she'll be breaking the news that his brother has died.

The reason I'm calling today is that I'm hoping you're a Bernard Daly,

born in 1933, the son of a Henry P Daly and Alice Fountain.

Is that correct? OK.

I'm so sorry I have to tell you this over the phone

but it's actually Joseph who has passed away

in Streatham.

Sadly, calls like this are a necessary part of an heir hunter's work.

With very close relatives, we have to be incredibly delicate

and very careful when we speak to the beneficiaries.

We have to be sure that we talk about the deceased in a positive light.

It's very tricky for us. It's not something the staff like doing.

But that's part of the job.

The team has found an heir. But with as many as 40 other companies competing to sign beneficiaries,

have they done enough to get a meeting with him?

If you're interested, we could get Colin to come and visit you today.

Sometimes, an heir hunting story doesn't just stop when an heir has been found.

Some cases capture the public's interest.

And the heir hunters often receive information months after the estate has been finalised.

Constance Harrington died on the 7th of January 2011

in Worthing in West Sussex at the age of 87.

As she died without leaving a will, the heir hunters took on her case in a bid to trace relatives

who would be heirs to her £130,000 estate.

But this was an investigation that uncovered more than just relatives.

Al though Fraser and Fraser's files were closed, we've completed the administration,

we've paid out the money to the beneficiaries,

we are constantly getting people asking about the life of Constance.

She lived a very interesting life.

The heir hunters did track down many heirs to Constance's estate,

including cousin Reg Harrington.

It was a complete surprise to me.

I had no idea, in fact, that I had a cousin once removed

named Constance.

But when the investigation first began in April 2011,

the heir hunters tried to find out more about Constance's immediate family.

Her birth certificate revealed she was born in 1922 in Bethnal Green.

Her parents were Stephen Harrington and Ethel Mullings.

From that, case manager Dave Slee could establish if she had siblings.

We undertook a search of birth records in England and Wales

from 1919 up to 1922 when Constance was born.

Then we went past that date for another 20 years

and was able to prove that Constance was, in fact, an only child.

After painstakingly piecing together Constance's family tree,

they discovered not only did she not have siblings but she had never married or had children.

It was back to the drawing board.

And Dave needed to establish if Constance's aunts and uncles

had any children who, as cousins, could be heirs to the estate.

But that search revealed a tragedy which must have hit the family hard.

We know that Constance had two paternal aunts.

One named Florence and one named Beatrice.

And we quickly established that it would appear

that they both died in Dartford as children.

Now, in view of the fact that the family never seemed to leave Bethnal Green,

it made me think there must be some reason why they were in Dartford.

And I had the hunch that probably they died in a hospital.

Dave's hunch turned out to be correct.

Florence and Beatrice's death certificates reveal that they both died in 1894

aged 13 and 5 respectively. Their place of death

was given as the hospital ship Atlas,

one of two ships moored on the Thames that were used to house smallpox patients.

The heir hunters looked to the remaining aunts and uncles

and finally discovered heirs to the estate.

We quickly learnt we were dealing with a relatively large family.

There's well over 30 beneficiaries in total on the estate.

Split evenly between the mother's and father's side of the family.

The knowledge the beneficiaries had of the deceased is very slight.

The majority of them did not know the deceased.

And one of those was Reginald Harrington,

a first cousin once removed. His own father,

also called Reginald, had become estranged from the family.

So this heir new little about his family history.

I didn't come across my family until I was a young man myself.

So my paternal family is quite distant to me.

Which is one of the reasons why I'm now so keen to learn more.

Luckily for Reg, the heir hunters had discovered

a wealth of fascinating information about his distant cousin.

After leaving school, and excelling as a secretary for large London firms,

Constance enlisted in the Wrens in 1943,

something the team discovered when they searched her property.

We found a huge amount of information about Constance's life.

We found CVs. We found information about her history in the Wrens.

The Wrens played an absolutely key role in the Second World War.

There were about 75,000 of them at the peak in 1944.

There weren't enough male personnel

to carry out all of the administrative jobs required.

Clearly, the best male personnel tended to be sent to sea.

So what the Wrens allowed you to get was first-class people running the administration of the Royal Navy.

Having worked as a secretary since leaving school,

Constance soon found herself helping to organise naval operations.

She was involved in the Allied invasion of France at Juno Beach

on the 6th of June 1944.

A role which earned her a glowing reference from her commanding officer.

"The success of the small part of the operation for which I've been responsible..."

Quite a large small part. "..is in no small measure due to her hard work and efficiency."

Clearly a key role in a key operation.

The letter was among many found at Constance's home by the heir hunting team.

Along with a photograph album showing pictures of her parents,

her childhood and her career as a Wren.

From the information we found in the property, it looks like Constance led an amazing life.

A life full of journeys and mysteries, involved in the Wrens, through the war.

One of those people you just imagine you'd like to meet,

you'd like to talk to and you'd like to listen to what she has to say.

And further digging revealed Constance's post-war career had been just as illustrious.

Constance, at one time, was working as private secretary to John Profumo

who later, as the Minister of War, was involved in the Profumo scandal.

John Profumo was a Conservative MP

who served as Secretary of State for War from 1960 to 1963.

During this time, he had an affair with call girl Christine Keeler,

sparking off one of the greatest scandals in history.

It was fascinating information for Reg who had just been tracked down

and informed he was an heir to his cousin's estate.

I just so wish that I'd known Constance during her lifetime.

It would have been wonderful.

But more was to come when this case sparked an interest with the nation

and new information came to light.

We give a little tiny snippet away about what we think we've found and what we've seen in a letter.

And then someone emails us, drops us a letter, and says,

"Actually, I can fill in that bit, I can tell you about the history."

And one person who got in touch was Valerie Carnley,

who worked with Constance at the King's Fund College in Bayswater.

I was appointed as the catering officer when it opened

in 1951, I think. And there was a secretary to the committee

who was Brigadier Semance.

And he had a secretary who was Constance Harrington.

Keen to know more, Reg decided to travel from his home in Felixstowe

to Kent to find out if Valerie could shed more light on Constance.

-Hello there.

-Hello, Val.

-How lovely to see you.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Come in.

-Thank you.

Well, I'm interested to find out more about Connie's life.

I knew her very well. We worked together in a college in London.

I've got photographs here of when we used to go on holiday together.

And so we went to Switzerland.

Another holiday Connie and I went on was to Cornwall to Carbis Bay.

-That's her.

-This is Cornwall.

You mentioned that you both worked in a college.

How long did you both work there?

I've no idea how long Connie was there. No idea.

And I don't know what happened to her afterwards.

Is it possible that Connie may have

stayed in this particular job until she became Profumo's...

I doubt it because I'm not at all sure...

I think the college sort of closed down in about 1956-7.

Something like that.

So there's a gap. I wished I'd known

where she went eventually after the college.

And it's this period of time Reg is keen to find out about.

It's been a fascinating insight into Constance's past.

But it left Reg with more questions.

What Constance did between leaving the college and working

for John Profumo is a complete mystery as far as I'm concerned.

And it's part of her life that I would like to fill in.

And the answer could lie in a document detailing her career,

which was found among her war records.

After her time in the Wrens, there seems to be a little gap.

And then a mention on the timeline of an exercise called Sidestep.

So what exactly had Constance been involved in?

These exercises were a reminder to all who needed to know

that the world was on the brink of a nuclear Armageddon

throughout the whole period of the cold war.

Thousands of beneficiaries are tracked down by heir hunters every year.

But not all cases can be cracked.

There are thousands of estates on the Treasury's unclaimed list

that have eluded the heir hunters and remain unsolved.

Bona vacantia is Latin for ownerless goods.

There are two types of bona vacantia.

There's the estates of people who die without leaving a will

or any entitled blood relatives.

And there are the assets of dissolved companies.

Today, we're focusing on two cases that are yet to be solved by the heir hunters.

Could you be the beneficiary they've been looking for?

Could you be about to inherit some money from a long lost relative?

Harold James Dixon died in the Lancashire town of Preston

on the 9th of August 2010.

He was 82 years old.

There is no father listed on Harold's birth certificate.

His mother was Sarah Ellis Dixon and she worked as a servant.

If Sarah married and had any more children,

they would be Harold's half-blood relatives and could be entitled to a share of his estate.

Did you know Harold? Could you be one of the missing relatives?

Next is the case of Margery Rummens who died on the Wirral

on the 27th of December 2003.

Efforts to trace her relatives have led to a possible brother in Australia.

But there the research has stalled.

Were you a friend of Margery?

Do you have any information that could help in the search for her relatives?

Both Margery and Harold's estates remain unclaimed.

If no one comes forward, their money will go to the government.

The Crown doesn't want to grab all the estates it possibly can.

It's keen for kin to be found and for people to make wills.

That's the way to stop property becoming bona vacantia, make a will.

Here are those names once again.

Harold James Dixon and Margery Rummens.

If you're one of their long lost relatives,

you could have a windfall coming your way.

In London, heir hunters Fraser and Fraser are having a busy morning.

They have four cases from a list of unclaimed estates

that names people who have died without a will.

Case manager Jo Ibrahim and partner Neil are investigating the case

of Michael Daly, known as Joe to his friends and family.

Dies in a nursing home in 2010. Looks like he was born in 1928.

They have traced one of Joe's brothers Bernard and heir hunter Jo

already had to break the very difficult news to him that his brother has died.

I'm sorry I have to tell you this over the phone

but it's actually Joseph that has passed away.

Joe's estate was advertised by the Treasury, so the team is competing against rival firms

to be the first to sign up heirs.

So they'll want to work quickly to find Joe's other close relatives.

Joe's family arrived in Dulwich in the 1880s.

And his grandfather sold flowers from a barrow around the village.

Joe was close to his big brother Henry, known to friends and family as Derek

who later became a popular landlord at the village pub.

But Joe was more of a loner.

He loved to go camping. He would go any time of the year.

It didn't have to be the summer. It could be the middle of winter,

freezing cold or snowing. He used to escape to wherever he could.

Joe's love of the open road wasn't just limited to tents and walking.

Joe had a black motorbike and sidecar,

which he went everywhere in and on. And it stood out.

In the '50s and '60s, that was quite a piece of machinery to have.

Joe's marriage was more than 50 years ago

but Sylvia still remembers the day Joe asked her to be a bridesmaid.

Oh, wow! I'd never been a bridesmaid before.

So the excitement of actually being measured up for a dress.

Because in the '50s, everybody could put all their clothes in one wardrobe for the whole family.

To have something that was going to be made for you,

and have special shoes and really look the part and have flowers,

was really a privilege.

And all the family, as many as I can remember,

everybody that could get to the wedding,

actually turned up and it was a lovely day.

Sadly, in later life, Joe began to experience mental health issues

and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

It seems this took a toll on his relationships with those around him.

As far as I know,

they separated and then got divorced

because of Joe's problems with his mental health issues,

which obviously got too hard for her to handle.

And that was, you know, they just divorced and went their separate ways.

Now that heir hunter Jo has spoken to Joe's brother Bernard,

she has sent senior researcher Bob Barratt round to his house.

She's hoping Bernard will be able to give Bob information

to help trace the remaining heirs.

It seems as though the deceased was quite separate from the family.

His brother mentioned that he was ill at one stage.

He got divorced and after that they didn't see much of him.

So it might just be that the family grew apart.

While the office team begin research on Joe's brother Derek,

Bob talks to his other sibling Bernard.

Some of the information we will know already and so it confirms that

and helps prove to the authorities that you are who we think you are.

My father's name was Henry Patrick, he was Patrick.

My brother's name was Henry Derek,

his name was Derek. We called him Derek.

And Michael Patrick Joseph was Joe.

Bernard confirms that he's the last of the four Daly brothers.

Henry died in 1982.

The youngest died in infancy in 1938.

And Bernard has just learned that his big brother Joe died in 2010.

Bernard hadn't seen his brother for many years.

He knew Joe lived with schizophrenia but he didn't know he spent

the last stage of his life in a nursing home

specialising in caring for people with mental health issues.

It's been a very tough morning for Bernard.

The heir hunter's telephone call was very difficult.

But he has found comfort in knowing what happened to his brother.

I've been wondering for a long time what had happened to him.

I tried on many occasions to contact him and fine out where he was

but without success.

It's some... Although he's dead,

it's somewhat of a relief to know where he is and what's happened to him.

Schizophrenia is a condition that affects people in different ways.

Some of the many symptoms include jumbled thoughts, delusions,

hallucinations and apathy.

In the UK, schizophrenia affects about one in one hundred people

across the course of somebody's lifetime.

At any one time, that's about four out of a thousand people in the UK population.

Symptoms can vary from person to person.

Their experience of them can vary within a person's lifetime.

Some people might only experience one episode.

For others, it might be a more regular thing that carries on throughout their lifetime.

Bernard remembers that, at times, it was difficult to understand what was happening to Joe.

It wasn't easy to be in his company.

I had him with me one Christmas

and he was shaking like a leaf the whole time, couldn't sit still.

It made me wary of being in his company.

Despite his problems in later life, Joe worked as a customs officer.

Lots of people with schizophrenia are able to hold down jobs

and exist in society exactly the same as everybody else.

I think his life was very into a routine.

I think that's probably, while he was at work, how he survived how he did.

Even today, some people fear that there's still a stigma attached to mental health issues.

But charities and other organisations give valuable help and support.

It's often difficult for people to seek support for mental health problems

because of the stigma associated with it.

But help is available and support is there and it's entirely possible

to recover and live a full life with a mental health diagnosis.

back in the office, the team is now focused on finding descendants of Joe's brother Derek,

known as Henry, who along with Bernard would be heirs.

They've established Joe's other brother Henry was married to Joan Rowing.

He died in 1982.

He and Joan had two daughters.

Both of them will be entitled to part of Joe's estate.

The heir hunters broke the news to Patricia who is one of Joe's two nieces.

As soon as I realised they were phoning about a relative, I said, "Is that Joe?"

I just knew immediately that was who it would be.

And it just was so sad to hear that he had passed away.

I was always worried that perhaps he was out living rough.

In a way, it was good news that he was at least being cared for.

Patricia has fond childhood memories of her uncle Joe.

Yes, Joe was very much an outdoors person.

He didn't worry what the weather was like, he would go camping,

walking the dog. He was happiest when he was outside.

And he was great company if you would meet him at the park and walk along with him.

He was a good uncle.

I wouldn't imagine Joe's estate would be very much for how he ended up living in care.

Whatever there is I'll just share with my son.

The heir hunters have chased Joe's beneficiaries swiftly.

It's been tough dealing with close family but it's something they have to do in their job.

We always recommend that every person makes a will.

There's no reason why someone with mental health issues

cannot make a will. It just has to be done in good circumstances.

The heir hunters estimate that Joe's three heirs will share his £10,500 estate.

But for Joe's family and friends it's far more valuable to know what became of him in later life.

At least I know where he is now, which is keeping me...

I find it satisfying anyway.

Heir hunters have tracked down Reg Harrington,

one of 33 heirs to the £130,000 estate of Constance Harrington.

Thanks to their research,

Reg discovered his distant cousin had a colourful career as a Wren

and as a secretary to some high-profile figures.

It was all the more poignant for Reg whose daughter Claire has also had a successful career

as a PA at 10 Downing Street to three prime ministers.

There's a parallel there, isn't there?

They both have worked at the highest level.

So I'm very proud of both of them, I really am.

This has sparked Reg's interest to find out more.

But when he met with Val, a former friend and colleague of Constance,

he was left with more questions about a part of her career in the late 1950s.

There's one part of Constance's life

that I haven't been able to fathom out.

Constance's CV revealed that in 1946 she had a key secretarial role

at an anti-submarine school based in Londonderry.

Its aim was to counteract the threat of German U-boats,

which threatened merchant shipping trade between the US and the UK.

It was just like Constance to be right in the middle of the action.

This is all too typical from what I know about Constance.

She was at the centre of activities. Combined operations,

D-Day and so on. It's no wonder she retired on a bit of a high

at the end of her naval career. She had always been at the centre.

You could not have been more at the centre than being in Londonderry at this time.

But it appears Constance may not have retired following this operation.

By chance, the heir hunters received some information when dealing with the estate,

which indicated there was more to this secretary than one could ever imagine.

One of the snippets of information we got in was an email.

It included a timeline, which pretty much followed the CV we found.

However, it expanded in little additional areas.

And it looked as though after Constance served in the Wrens

she seems to have gone back into the Wrens.

And then a mention on the timeline of an exercise called Sidestep.

One line but one which could potentially answer so many questions about Constance's life.

But what was exercise Sidestep?

Exercise Sidestep was one of those exercises that practise and rehearse

the procedure for launching nuclear weapons.

Documents reveal that, far from retiring from her naval career,

Constance signed up for the Wren reserves during the cold war in the 1950s.

The cold war was a period of history that saw

a complete division between the east and the west.

The Soviet bloc and its partners in eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact.

America, Britain and the west

and their partners in NATO.

It was a cold war because it relied upon deterrents.

Neither side would attack the other because they knew they would be destroyed themselves.

And in 1959, Wren reserve Constance was called to action

as a duty intelligence officer for this secretive exercise.

Sidestep was one of those intelligence and communications exercises

to practise the procedures involved to request the use of nuclear weapons.

A duty intelligence officer involved in these NATO exercises

would have been at the very centre of the action.

There would have been messages coming in.

They would have needed interpreting, decoding and passing on

to the appropriate authorities.

So really, such as there was a frontline in these exercises,

the intelligence officer would be right in it.

It appeared to be such a key event in the cold war period.

But why did Constance keep it so secret?

The work of everybody involved in these exercises was totally secret.

Nobody was allowed to talk about what they were doing to colleagues,

certainly not to family members, certainly not to outsiders.

The only people who would have been allowed to play these roles

would be people who could be totally relied upon to be discreet,

to be proper and not to reveal anything about what they were doing.

And this exercise would have involved international cooperation.

There would have been two or three communication centres.

Probably one in West Germany, probably one somewhere like Belgium,

and one at a major communication centre in the UK.

These would be the centre of this exercise, where signals are coming in around the prepared script,

around the scenario, as the war game unfolds.

And this UK hub was at HMS Pembroke in Chatham, Kent.

Reg has come to walk in the footsteps of his cousin

and find out more from local historian Clive Holden.

The dockyard that's here is from Elizabethan times.

It expanded over the centuries.

Naval technology improved, we had the advent of steam power, wooden warships

were replaced with ironclads and then armoured vessels.

The ships themselves got much larger.

Eventually, the dockyard as it was ran out of space almost.

The ships were getting too big the dockyard.

Chatham dockyard has earned its place in history

being the birthplace of the navy's new weapon of war.

The submarine.

-"Clear the bridge for diving."

-"Diving now! Diving now!"

Production ran through two world wars and into the nuclear cold war era

when Constance would have been stationed here.

But for former Royal Marine Reg, it's the day-to-day life he's interested in.

I'll point out where Constance would have eaten her meals while she was here.

They would have been on long mess tables there

and also would have been able to get a drink if they wanted one.

-I remember it well.

-You remember it well. I'm sure you do. Yes, yes.

It was all standard naval fare, much as you would have eaten in the Royal Marines

-I'd imagine.

-That's right.

But Constance's working conditions would not have been comfortable.

She was actually based in something called

the Area Combined Headquarters Chatham.

Which was an underground complex, an underground bunker

originally built in the Second World War.

She would have been down there collating intelligence reports

on Soviet naval shipping.

This was what the whole exercise was about.

Testing NATO's preparedness.

For everyone involved, it was a sensitive time.

In a sense, an exercise like Sidestep

is sort of reminder of the ultimate destructive

capability that the cold war could draw upon.

Had the cold war ever become a hot war,

it would have been nuclear annihilation, it would have been the end of the world.

It just goes to show, you don't always know where life can take you

or what secrets people take with them to the grave.

What we do know is Constance was one truly remarkable lady

who certainly did her country proud.

I knew very little about my father's side of the family

until this business with Constance started up.

And now I feel I'm part of that family now,

which I never felt before.

And for the heir hunting team it's certainly a case that will stand out for them.

The estate of Constance Harrington is one of those estates which seems to have gone on forever.

We started the research in April of 2011.

And we really finished that research quite quickly.

But the social history afterwards has been the most interesting of any case we've really looked at.

It's one of the most fascinating cases Frasers have ever researched.

For Reg, finding out about exercise Sidestep

has been the final piece of the puzzle.

I feel as though I've known her.

It's a strange feeling. But having met Val,

and now with all the details that Clive's been able to fill in for me,

I feel much closer to her.

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