0:00:02 > 0:00:07Heir Hunters specialise in tracking down people who are entitled to money from someone who has died.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11It's not easy, it's hard for us. And we do it every day of the week.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15They hand over thousands of pounds to relatives who had no idea they were in line to inherit.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18If you get nothing, then we get nothing.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Their work involves painstaking investigation.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25So, one step forward and two steps back.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28But it can reveal all kinds of fascinating family history.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31- My dad worked as a ventriloquist and magician.- Did he?
0:00:31 > 0:00:37Most of all, though, the work is giving people news of an unexpected windfall.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40I got the phone call and I couldn't believe it.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Could the Heir Hunters be knocking at your door?
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Coming up, Heir Hunters look for the descendents of a magician
0:00:50 > 0:00:54and conjure up several long-lost relatives.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57They're obviously your half-brothers and sisters.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02A family comes to terms with discovering an aunt they had never heard of.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05I was absolutely gobsmacked!
0:01:05 > 0:01:10Plus how you could be entitled to inherit unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Could a fortune be heading your way?
0:01:17 > 0:01:22It's Thursday morning in London and at Fraser & Fraser,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25the country's biggest firm of heir hunters,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28the team have been hard at work for hours.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32- He died in 2011. - I'm going to try and work on this.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35One of them, I can't read the birth for. It may be he's illegit.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41Overnight, the Treasury solicitors' latest Bona Vacantia list has been published.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45It shows the names and dates of death of people who've died without leaving a will.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49And one name in particular has caught the eye of boss Neil.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52So we're just starting this. We've got very little information.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55The name of the deceased, Harry William Hooper.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00We know he died in August of 2011 and that's in High Wycombe.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03The team, headed by case manager Gareth Langford,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06is working on commission for a percentage of the estate.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09And with around 40 rival heir hunting firms all
0:02:09 > 0:02:12competing for a slice of the pie, it's vital they work fast.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16We'd like to deal with it as quickly as possible.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19The quicker we get going, the quicker it can be sorted.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27Harry William Hooper died on the 16th of August 2011.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29He was 84 years old.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32No pictures of Harry have survived,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35but his friend Peter Collins has fond memories of him.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Harry was very laid back.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43A very nice sort of personality. He would talk to you, have a chuckle.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Born in West London, Harry spent
0:02:47 > 0:02:50most of his life in the Buckinghamshire town of
0:02:50 > 0:02:54High Wycombe, where he worked on the buses, a job he thoroughly enjoyed.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Harry was a bus conductor and he took tickets from people
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and got to know people quite well.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07In later life, a series of strokes meant Harry could no longer do the job he loved.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11So instead, he took up a new position in the payroll department.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14When he worked in Wages, he enjoyed doing that with figures.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18He was always very clever, very clever thinking.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21I think he was probably underestimated.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23He was quite a bright bloke.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27You could talk to him and you could have a good conversation with him.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Although he'd known Peter for more than 30 years,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Harry rarely spoke about his family or his past.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36He was very reserved. But he did say he didn't get on with his mum.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39They were fighting, they were always arguing.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43When I went to visit Harry, I didn't see many pictures of other people.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I felt that I was really his only true contact.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48I was part of his family, really.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56With Harry's past remaining a mystery to even his closest friends,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00it's unsurprising that the team have very little to go on,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03as they start the search for heirs to his estate.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Trying to find out some information about his parents
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and his birth and whether he owns property or not.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Finding out whether or not the deceased was a homeowner is crucial,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17as it gives a good indication as to how much an estate is worth.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21The unclaimed list does not publish this information.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23So taking on a new case is always a gamble.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Because they work for a cut of the estate,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30the team could end up losing out if it turns out to be of low value.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34At the moment, we've got no idea of value, so one of the reasons
0:04:34 > 0:04:37we're still working it is because we don't know the value.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40If we knew it didn't have any value, then we wouldn't be
0:04:40 > 0:04:43looking at it, but at the moment we don't know either way.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Harry never married and didn't have any children.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49His parents have long since died,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52so the first thing the team will do is check to see
0:04:52 > 0:04:55if he had any siblings, who would be next in line to inherit.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59But Hooper is not the easiest of names to work.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03It is quite difficult, just because it's such a common...
0:05:03 > 0:05:05it's not an area name, it's just an all-over generally common name
0:05:05 > 0:05:07for a lot of families.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11So, a lot of mix-ups can happen with that sort of name.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14A thorough search of birth records soon throws up
0:05:14 > 0:05:15the names of Harry's parents.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19William Thomas Herbert Hooper and Frances Mary Bowman.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23And it appears that Harry was the couple's only child.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28The next step would normally be to look for aunts, uncles and cousins,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30but Gareth decides to wait before widening the search.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Although Hooper is a common surname, Harry's father's full name
0:05:34 > 0:05:38could give them the breakthrough they desperately need.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41William Hooper is actually William Thomas Herbert Hooper.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44That's an incredibly unusual name, certainly a combination of names.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50So, it's very simple for us to look at the number of marriages
0:05:50 > 0:05:53there are for him and we're quickly able to see
0:05:53 > 0:05:56that there were certainly two marriages for the deceased father.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59This is a great result.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Before he married Harry's mother, Frances,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05William was married to a woman called Maisie Evelyn Hennings.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08If William and Maisie had children,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12they could be Harry's half-blood siblings and entitled to his estate.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15It's now vital that the team find out if this couple
0:06:15 > 0:06:17had a family of their own.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21It looks like William and Maisie have had five children.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25We've basically looked for children with the surname Hooper
0:06:25 > 0:06:28and with the mother's maiden name Hennings
0:06:28 > 0:06:30and we've come up with five.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Bingo! This is exactly the result the team needed
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and now it's full steam ahead to see if any of these
0:06:37 > 0:06:40half-blood brother and sisters of Harry's are still alive.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43We're dealing with half-blood, which obviously don't have
0:06:43 > 0:06:46as full entitlement as full-blood brothers and sisters,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50but half-blood taking priority to full-blood cousins.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52And a quick search of electoral roles
0:06:52 > 0:06:55soon brings some more good news.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57So, we've also discovered that one of the children
0:06:57 > 0:07:00of the marriage between William and Maisie is still alive.
0:07:00 > 0:07:06He's become a monk and lived, I think, a lot of his life in Africa,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09although we believe now he's returned to England.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13As this half-brother to Harry is still alive,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15he's entitled to a share of the estate.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18But the other four siblings Gareth's found,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Amy, Queenie, Maisie and Queenie, have all passed away.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27However, any living descendants they had would also be beneficiaries.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31As the team continue to look into the marriage of Maisie and William,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35they soon discover this couple had been very busy indeed.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40We realised that there was also a Lesley, a Cyril and a John.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Further half-brothers and sisters of the deceased.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Although more stems mean more work for the team,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50it also increases their chances of finding beneficiaries.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53But it's not long before there's yet another twist in this tale.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55There's loads of 'em!
0:07:55 > 0:07:58While searching under Harry's father William's name,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00they found an amateur family tree online
0:08:00 > 0:08:03which connects him to another relationship
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and means he could have had more children.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10His brood currently stands at nine and rising.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Most of the information that we've got
0:08:12 > 0:08:15has come from a family tree put up on the internet.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The deceased father married a couple of times.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21He's also had a couple of children with a woman that he didn't marry.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Of course the team must approach any amateur research with caution.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29But after investigating it for themselves,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33they uncover some crucial new information.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36The deceased father, William, then had a relationship
0:08:36 > 0:08:40with an Agnes Munro and had a further two children.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Now, we don't think he married Agnes,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46although we're not a hundred per cent sure yet,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49and it was a bit of a stroke of luck that we were able to find them.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54So, that's another two half-blood siblings of the deceased.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Again, the deceased wouldn't have been aware of.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01The children of William Hooper and his third partner, Agnes Munro,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03are called Clive and Iris.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06If it can be proved that they're also half-siblings to Harry,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10they will be entitled to a share in his estate.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Gareth has a phone number for Iris and gets straight on the phone,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16filling her in on what he has uncovered.
0:09:16 > 0:09:23So, essentially they're obviously your half-brothers and sisters.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Then there was also Harry.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Iris has given Gareth an address and phone number for brother Clive.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34'Dave Hadley on five. Dave Hadley on five.'
0:09:36 > 0:09:41He wastes no time in mobilising travelling researcher Dave Hadley.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46- Hi, Dave.- Hi, Gareth.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49As part of a flying squad of researchers
0:09:49 > 0:09:55who cover the whole country, Dave is a vital cog in the company's wheel.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58They're at the front line of the heir hunt and staff in the office
0:09:58 > 0:10:01rely on them to gather information they can't get over the phone.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03It's their job to speak to neighbours,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07pick up crucial documents and ultimately meet and sign up heirs.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Nice to meet you. Cheers now.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Now Gareth needs Dave to make contact with Clive
0:10:13 > 0:10:15to find out if he and his sister Iris
0:10:15 > 0:10:20are indeed the son and daughter of Harry's father William Hooper.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23So, the guy I am going to see is Clive Hooper, is it?
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Yeah, Clive Hooper and then if you see Clive,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29then it might be worth arranging to see Iris afterwards.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Iris didn't know about this half-brother, then?
0:10:32 > 0:10:35'She did not know about her half-brother.'
0:10:35 > 0:10:39She is aware of some of her other half-brothers and sisters, though.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- OK, all right, Gareth. - Cheers, thank you very much.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Cheers then, bye.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46The pressure is on.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Can Dave get to Harry's potential heirs
0:10:49 > 0:10:52ahead of any rival firms who might also be on the case?
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Finding heirs often involves delving deep into a family's past.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Sometimes the search can uncover long-kept secrets
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and even bring to light relatives other family members
0:11:11 > 0:11:13never knew they had.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18That's exactly what happened when heir-hunting firm Celtic Research
0:11:18 > 0:11:23took on the case of a woman called Mary Woodall, who died in 2011.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Saul Marks, who covers the Northwest region for the company,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28led the research.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33We picked up this case from the normal Treasury solicitors' list
0:11:33 > 0:11:37every Thursday morning. We looked at this one in particular
0:11:37 > 0:11:41in this office because the deceased died in the Northwest.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44She died in Altrincham, which is very much in our patch.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49Mary Mayor Woodall was born on March 5, 1928,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52in the Hulme area of Manchester.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Mary's life is a mystery.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58All that's known about her is that she spent her last few years
0:11:58 > 0:12:01being cared for at a nursing home in Altrincham.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05And it's there that she died on November 11, 2011.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Mary didn't leave a will.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11If a living heir could not be traced,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14then her estate would go to the government.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Case manager Saul was keen to stop this from happening,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22but at the outset, he had very little to go on.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26The information that the list provides every week
0:12:26 > 0:12:30is simply the name of the deceased and the date and place of death.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33It might not seem like a promising start,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36but the firm are used to turning such small nuggets of information
0:12:36 > 0:12:38into solid family trees.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40And Saul got stuck in.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Mary Mayor Woodall was a spinster, so we knew that she hadn't married
0:12:45 > 0:12:47and it was a reasonable assumption
0:12:47 > 0:12:49that she'd had no children of her own,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51so the next step would be to look for siblings.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Saul needed Mary's birth certificate
0:12:55 > 0:12:57to find out the names of her parents.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01From there, he could find out whether they had any more children.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03These would be Mary's brothers and sisters
0:13:03 > 0:13:06and they, or their living descendants,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08would be in line to inherit her estate.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12But it wasn't quite as straightforward as he'd hoped.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15The deceased's birth certificate, which I got from Manchester Registry Office,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19showed that the deceased's father wasn't listed.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22There was a big dash through it, which almost always means
0:13:22 > 0:13:24that the deceased was illegitimate.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28This new information did not bode well for the investigation.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31If we establish on a case that the deceased is actually illegitimate,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35that reduces the chances of finding heirs,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37because if we end up going to cousins,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41there's only one side, the maternal side to work on.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Mary's mother, Mary Ellen Woodall, was 21 years old
0:13:46 > 0:13:48when she gave birth to her daughter.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53At the time, she worked as a spinner in a cotton mill in Manchester.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58The textile factories would have been quite tough places to work.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02They were hot, they were noisy, they were dirty,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04you might well get a clip round the ear from the overseer
0:14:04 > 0:14:07if your machine wasn't running as it should.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11But on the other hand, they were seen as good jobs for women.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13And this was because in the textile districts,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16women were paid roughly the same wages as men
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and that was very rare at this time.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21But equal pay did not necessarily mean
0:14:21 > 0:14:24an enlightened attitude towards women.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Especially women who had a child out of wedlock.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Mary would likely have lost her job if she had had an illegitimate baby.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Partly because of the moral disapproval
0:14:34 > 0:14:38of having a child outside of marriage,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42but also because of the practical matter of who was going to care for the baby.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44In the early 20th century,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47illegitimate births were still relatively rare.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Only between four and five per cent of children
0:14:49 > 0:14:51were born outside marriage.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54What was common, was for premarital sex to take place
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and a pregnancy to result, which then led to a marriage,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00so that was very common.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04It's estimated that maybe a third of all marriages already had
0:15:04 > 0:15:08a pregnancy in place so that wasn't particularly frowned on but what
0:15:08 > 0:15:12was frowned on was not getting married after you got pregnant.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16It's not known why Mary Ellen didn't marry the father of her child
0:15:16 > 0:15:20but as an unwed mother, she would have faced some stark choices.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Most young women with illegitimate babies were encouraged to give up
0:15:25 > 0:15:27their baby and just move on.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31So occasionally families were welcoming of the illegitimate babies
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and brought them up, so you might have the grandparents
0:15:34 > 0:15:37heavily involved but, more commonly, families didn't want the stigma
0:15:37 > 0:15:42and shame associated with having an illegitimate child and so those
0:15:42 > 0:15:45babies either had to be brought up by the mother in very, very
0:15:45 > 0:15:48difficult circumstances or they would have been given up
0:15:48 > 0:15:53into foster care, adoption or institutional care.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57It's not clear exactly what happened to Mary after she was born
0:15:57 > 0:15:59but it seems likely that she was given up by her young
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and probably vulnerable mother.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Women who give up their babies must have wondered
0:16:04 > 0:16:08sometimes what the fate of those children was but I think
0:16:08 > 0:16:10they would have mostly thought they had done the right thing.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13There was a lot of pressure on them to give up the babies,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15to give the babies a good start in life -
0:16:15 > 0:16:18the kind of start that they couldn't give them themselves.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22So she might well have taken comfort from the fact that she had
0:16:22 > 0:16:25done the right thing for her child, she had done her best.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32The fact that Mary was an illegitimate child could have
0:16:32 > 0:16:34spelled trouble for case manager Saul
0:16:34 > 0:16:38but thankfully some new information provided him with a glimmer of hope.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44I found a marriage for a Mary E Woodall in 1929
0:16:44 > 0:16:49to a James Steele. That was the year after the deceased was born.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52In cases like this where the deceased is illegitimate, it is
0:16:52 > 0:16:56often the case that the mother will marry after that birth
0:16:56 > 0:16:59and go on to have children so what I wanted to find out was
0:16:59 > 0:17:03whether the deceased's mother Mary had had children who would then
0:17:03 > 0:17:07be half-siblings of the deceased and they would be entitled to inherit.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11In fact, Mary Ellen had gone on to marry twice
0:17:11 > 0:17:13and she had five more children
0:17:13 > 0:17:16but only two survived into adulthood, which meant Saul's
0:17:16 > 0:17:19options for finding heirs were narrowing by the minute.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22The deceased's half-sister Freda was my next port of call
0:17:22 > 0:17:24in terms of trying to find an heir.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27I established that she married a gentleman named Roland Thomas
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and that they had had three daughters.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34Sadly, I found Freda's death listing in 1997
0:17:34 > 0:17:39and so the three daughters were going to be her heirs
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and therefore obviously heirs to this estate.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Discovering that Mary did indeed have living relatives was
0:17:46 > 0:17:49a big breakthrough for Saul
0:17:49 > 0:17:51but because his company works on commission,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55he still had to sign them up ahead of any rival heir hunting firms
0:17:55 > 0:17:58in order to get paid for his work.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I was able to establish that, towards the end of her life,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Freda had been living with her youngest daughter, Paula.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Having confirmed Paula's address and phone number, I actually rang
0:18:08 > 0:18:11her and there was no answer and I got the impression she was at work.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I had been told she was a teacher.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16So I went over to her house and waited for her to come home
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and I was actually there quite a while.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Saul's patience paid off.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Paula was able to confirm that she was the daughter of Mary's
0:18:25 > 0:18:29half-sister Freda. The company had found its first heir.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32It was a shock and a real surprise
0:18:32 > 0:18:36because obviously we knew nothing about Auntie Mary.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I don't think my mum knew anything about her either so I've
0:18:40 > 0:18:43never had an inkling or heard anything
0:18:43 > 0:18:45so, yeah, it was a real surprise.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Because neither Paula nor her mother Freda had ever heard of Mary,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54it seems clear that she wasn't brought up with the rest of her family.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57It is more likely she was brought up in care,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59a thought Paula finds hard to digest.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03It must have been extremely hard, I can only imagine,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05for my nana to have to let her baby go.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08As a mother myself, I can't even imagine having
0:19:08 > 0:19:12to let your baby go, especially your firstborn baby.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16The fact that her auntie Mary had been living just minutes away is
0:19:16 > 0:19:18a source of great regret for Paula.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24It's just very sad that we could have known her and we didn't.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26We could have played a part in her life,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29she could have played a part in our lives.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31And as Mary's story continues to unfold,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34there are more bittersweet moments to come.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37The women who gave up their babies would have been expected to
0:19:37 > 0:19:38give them up for good.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Thanks to the work of the heir hunters, thousands
0:19:47 > 0:19:52of beneficiaries receive their rightful inheritance every year.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56But they can't crack every case and the Treasury's unclaimed list
0:19:56 > 0:19:59still contains plenty yet to be solved.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Cases stay on the unclaimed list until they're no longer
0:20:05 > 0:20:10claimable by virtue of the Limitation Act and that is a 12-year period
0:20:10 > 0:20:14from the date the administration of the estate is completed.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Today, we are focusing on two cases which have
0:20:17 > 0:20:19so far stumped the heir hunters.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Could you be the beneficiary they are looking for?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Could you be in line to inherit a fortune?
0:20:26 > 0:20:30First is the case of Marie-Antoinette Leonette Miller,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33who died in the Wiltshire town of Salisbury
0:20:33 > 0:20:34on the 22nd of March 2005.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Her unusual name hints at a French connection.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Are you a relative of Marie who has vital information which could
0:20:43 > 0:20:45help finally lay this case to rest?
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Next is the case of John Parton,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53who died on the 15th of October 2007 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58The Parton name is most common among the Welsh borders. Are you a Parton?
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Could John be a long-lost family member?
0:21:01 > 0:21:05If so, a windfall could be coming your way.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Both Marie and John's estates remain unclaimed
0:21:07 > 0:21:11and if no-one comes forward, their money will go to the government.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16The Bona Vacantia unclaimed list has generated a lot of interest and it is
0:21:16 > 0:21:19reducing slowly as we go along, and it is hoped that that will continue.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22Those names once more...
0:21:33 > 0:21:37In Liverpool, heir hunting firm Celtic Research was looking
0:21:37 > 0:21:39into the case of Mary Mayor Woodall,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42who had died in 2011 without leaving a will.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Mary was born in 1928
0:21:45 > 0:21:49and was the daughter of a cotton-spinner from Manchester.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52But many key details of her life remain a mystery.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54As an illegitimate child,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58it seems she was given up by her mother shortly after her birth.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Illegitimate births were really frowned upon by families so there
0:22:01 > 0:22:06was a sense of real moral failure if you had an illegitimate birth,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09the likelihood being that that baby would not have been seen
0:22:09 > 0:22:15as neither a welcome addition to a family nor necessarily a good person.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17The baby themself would carry some
0:22:17 > 0:22:21kind of sign of the circumstances in which they had been conceived.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Mary wasn't adopted but it is likely she was taken into care
0:22:26 > 0:22:30and probably never saw her mother again.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32The women who gave up their babies would have been expected to
0:22:32 > 0:22:34give them up for good.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38There was no sense that the birth mother or the birth parents
0:22:38 > 0:22:41had any rights over their children once they had given them up
0:22:41 > 0:22:44and they were encouraged to simply forget about them
0:22:44 > 0:22:45and move on in their lives.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Case manager Saul Marks had discovered that Mary's mother
0:22:55 > 0:22:58went on to marry twice and from her two marriages
0:22:58 > 0:23:02she had five more children, but only two survived into adulthood.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08She wasn't brought up with the rest of the family.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Her younger half-siblings also might never have known she existed.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18One of those have siblings is still alive and, as Mary had
0:23:18 > 0:23:22no full brothers or sisters, he will be an heir to her estate.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Mary's half-sister Freda died in 1997 so her living
0:23:26 > 0:23:29descendants will be in line to inherit her share.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38Freda Elizabeth Steele married Roland Thomas in Manchester in 1952.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Roland worked as a singer in the city's pubs and clubs
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and the couple had a long and happy marriage.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47But because Roland's father hailed from Sierra Leone,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50they also endured a great deal of prejudice.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Their youngest daughter, Paula, recalls the challenges her
0:23:55 > 0:23:59parents faced in this relatively intolerant '50s British society.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01I think my mum and dad had quite a hard time
0:24:01 > 0:24:03being in a mixed-race relationship in the '50s.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08My mum had to go and get a house.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10She had to go and get it by herself,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12she can't take my dad with her cos obviously they would just see
0:24:12 > 0:24:14the colour of his skin
0:24:14 > 0:24:16and they probably wouldn't have got the house.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22Britain's black and Asian population increased dramatically in the 1950s.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25The government desperately needed workers to help
0:24:25 > 0:24:27rebuild the country's economy after the Second World War
0:24:27 > 0:24:29and Britain threw open its doors
0:24:29 > 0:24:32to immigrants from Commonwealth nations.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35From the Caribbean, India and Pakistan, prospective workers
0:24:35 > 0:24:40came in their thousands, but not all were made to feel at home.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45There was a lot of fear and hostility amongst the white British
0:24:45 > 0:24:49population to these new arrivals.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54There were concerns about competition for economic resources
0:24:54 > 0:24:56and also competition for women.
0:24:57 > 0:25:04In the 1950s, it wasn't uncommon to see signs in boarding houses,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06B&Bs, stating,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09"No blacks, no Irish, no dogs."
0:25:10 > 0:25:15Although Freda's husband Roland had been born in Manchester in 1928,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19he did not escape the bigotry levelled at these new immigrants.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Because of the increased visibility of black
0:25:22 > 0:25:29and ethnic minority populations that mass immigration brought,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32those long-standing communities, who were themselves British,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35were treated no differently
0:25:35 > 0:25:40and were treated with the same type of racism that the new immigrants
0:25:40 > 0:25:42found so there wasn't really that distinction, I think,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47made between somebody who had lived their whole life in Britain
0:25:47 > 0:25:52and was British and somebody who had just arrived.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57So it was not unusual for interracial couples to experience overt
0:25:57 > 0:26:01hostility, even aggression, particularly when they were
0:26:01 > 0:26:09together and that could be directed at both parties, man or woman.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15Women were attacked physically, spat at and called names
0:26:15 > 0:26:16so it could be very, very distressing
0:26:16 > 0:26:20just simply walking down the road with the person you loved.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Despite the intolerance that surrounded them,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Freda and Roland remained steadfast
0:26:25 > 0:26:29and their relationship lasted for more than 30 years.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31She just got on with it, I think.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33It was, you know, her husband, her life.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37She was going to do what she wanted to do how she wanted to do it
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and I don't think she really cared about what anybody else thought.
0:26:40 > 0:26:41She was true to herself.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44She really loved my dad and he really loved her and
0:26:44 > 0:26:48they got through it regardless of what was going on around them.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54So she was, I think, just very determined and very stoic
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and just a really strong woman.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Freda and Roland had three daughters together.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07These would be Mary's half-nieces
0:27:07 > 0:27:09and entitled to a share in her estate.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Case manager Saul managed to sign up two of them with his company
0:27:15 > 0:27:17straight away but Freda's firstborn
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Lynne was proving a little more difficult to locate.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Sadly, Paula told me that Lynne had died a few years ago
0:27:24 > 0:27:28but she had one daughter and Paula and that daughter are very close
0:27:28 > 0:27:33and she was able to ring her niece up and explain what was going on
0:27:33 > 0:27:35and I actually went down and visited her
0:27:35 > 0:27:37and signed her up that day as well.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42There are just two years between Paula and her niece Cathy and,
0:27:42 > 0:27:43just like her aunt,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Cathy was stunned to find out about her great-aunt Mary.
0:27:48 > 0:27:49I was absolutely gobsmacked.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Paula had rang me and she said, "There's a man coming to see you.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57"He thinks we have inherited some money." I was like,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01"No." We had no clue whatsoever that this lady had existed.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05She had never been mentioned in all the time I was growing up.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Now Cathy is desperate to discover the truth about the relative
0:28:08 > 0:28:09she never knew she had.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11I have been speaking to my auntie about it
0:28:11 > 0:28:15and we kind of think it is really sad that we have got
0:28:15 > 0:28:18a member of the family that wasn't part of our close-knit family
0:28:18 > 0:28:23that we knew nothing about and I am interested to find out,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26you know, what kind of life she led. I hope it wasn't a sad life.
0:28:26 > 0:28:27I hope it wasn't lonely life
0:28:27 > 0:28:31because that's just going to make it 10 times worse that we
0:28:31 > 0:28:34were all here and we have all tried to remain close
0:28:34 > 0:28:37and she never got to know any of us.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41The most frustrating thing is that because my nana's died and my
0:28:41 > 0:28:46mum's died, who might have known something, you can't ask anybody.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49And when it comes to inheriting her share of Mary's estate,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Cathy has mixed feelings.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Everybody, you know, likes to get money
0:28:55 > 0:28:59but in terms of getting money from Mary if I don't know
0:28:59 > 0:29:04anything about her, it would be like inheriting money from a stranger.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08So I think in order for me to feel comfortable and in order to want
0:29:08 > 0:29:10to go and spend any of the money,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12I want to know a little bit more about Mary.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23It's not yet clear how much money Cathy or any of the other
0:29:23 > 0:29:26heirs will inherit but for case manager Saul Marks,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29whose company works for a percentage of the estate,
0:29:29 > 0:29:31the job was not just about the money.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34We still don't actually know what this case is worth.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36It may not be worth a great deal but nevertheless,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39certainly for the family and for us, it was a case worth working.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43It really is great to be able to tell someone all about a family member
0:29:43 > 0:29:46who might actually be quite a close relation
0:29:46 > 0:29:47but who they never knew existed.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49The visit from Saul prompted Paula
0:29:49 > 0:29:54and Cathy to do some investigating of their own.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56They went to Mary's nursing home to meet the staff who had looked
0:29:56 > 0:29:59after their aunt in her final years.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03It seems that Mary had spent much of her life in a hospital
0:30:03 > 0:30:07environment, having been given up by her mother as a baby.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10We believe that Auntie Mary had learning difficulties
0:30:10 > 0:30:15so we believe that our nana might have given her away
0:30:15 > 0:30:19because she might not have had the support at the time
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and the way society was at the end of the 1920s.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25She, presumably,
0:30:25 > 0:30:30wouldn't have been able to cope with having a baby with needs.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Although it is hard to imagine what Mary's mother must have been
0:30:34 > 0:30:37through, the visit to the hospital has been able to give Paula
0:30:37 > 0:30:41and Cathy a precious insight into their auntie's personality.
0:30:43 > 0:30:49It told us a lot about Auntie Mary and just her life there,
0:30:49 > 0:30:52her death, what she was like.
0:30:52 > 0:30:59I think Mary was surrounded by a lot of loving care staff.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04They described Auntie Mary as strong, she knew her own mind,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07she knew what she wanted, she knew what she didn't want
0:31:07 > 0:31:09and although she couldn't speak,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13she would bang her fist on the table or on her own hand
0:31:13 > 0:31:15if she didn't want something
0:31:15 > 0:31:18and she was quite accepting if she did like something.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23Very brave, very lovable and very easy to care for.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I think my mum would have loved knowing that she had a sister.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29She would have gone to see her as much as she could,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32made sure she was OK as far as she could.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35And while the two women are delighted that they
0:31:35 > 0:31:38have at least some information about their aunt,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41their quest to learn more about Mary is far from over.
0:31:43 > 0:31:49It makes you want my mum back and Nana back, Paula's mum back,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51so we can ask questions.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Did you know anything about her? Even in the back of your mind
0:31:55 > 0:31:58was there an inkling of anything going on?
0:31:58 > 0:32:01But we have not got anyone to answer the questions for us.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05We can't even speak to Mary about the kind of life she's had
0:32:05 > 0:32:08so we have still got lots of questions that have been
0:32:08 > 0:32:13unanswered and at the moment we are kind of just dipping into it.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Although she remains something of a mystery,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Mary's legacy will now live on through her new-found family.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24They said at the care home that had she have met us, she would have
0:32:24 > 0:32:28just loved it, she would have loved to have known that she had family.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30But the children know about her now. Our children.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33So, you know, at least that's one thing.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35And we have got the photograph of her
0:32:35 > 0:32:38and she will be referred to as Auntie Mary.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50In London, the team at heir-hunting firm Fraser & Fraser
0:32:50 > 0:32:53are working the case of Harry Hooper,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55who died in Buckinghamshire in 2011.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00You can't tell where the beneficiaries are going to be.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02They could be anywhere.
0:33:02 > 0:33:03Harry was an only child
0:33:03 > 0:33:07so had no full-blood siblings to inherit his money.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10But the team has discovered that his father William was married
0:33:10 > 0:33:15more than once and had a total of 10 children.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17These are Harry's half-siblings
0:33:17 > 0:33:19and they or their living descendants
0:33:19 > 0:33:22will be entitled to a share in his estate.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Travelling researcher Dave Hadley has been dispatched to Kent
0:33:26 > 0:33:29to the home of one of Harry's half-brothers, Clive.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Will he be the first heir to sign up?
0:33:32 > 0:33:34He is happy to be seen this afternoon.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37It looks like we might get a result.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Harry Hooper was a reserved man who lived alone
0:33:40 > 0:33:44for most of his adult life. No photos survive of him.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Peter Collins had been Harry's friend for 30 years.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51I used to come and visit him about once or twice a week.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55Harry was housebound so he was in a wheelchair.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57He couldn't do much for himself
0:33:57 > 0:33:59so I used to go down the fish and chip shop
0:33:59 > 0:34:02'and get fish and chips for him once a week on a Friday.'
0:34:04 > 0:34:07A series of strokes had left Harry paralysed down one
0:34:07 > 0:34:10side of his body but when it came to his enjoyment of life,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13he refused to let his disability get in the way.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16He was determined to keep himself active.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19Harry like putting a bet on a horse.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24He would look at the horse racing, see what was in the paper
0:34:24 > 0:34:27'and a lot of the time he did quite well.'
0:34:29 > 0:34:34Harry would be in my, you know, always in my memory, you know.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41In all the time he knew Peter, Harry never mentioned any brothers
0:34:41 > 0:34:45or sisters so it seems likely he had no idea
0:34:45 > 0:34:48he had a large number of half-siblings.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Now, travelling researcher Dave Hadley has come to Kent
0:34:51 > 0:34:55to try to speak to one of those half-brothers, Clive.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57- Hello there, Mr Hooper?- Yes. - Dave Hadley.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Thanks ever so much for seeing me.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03When he arrives at Clive's home, he finds not one but two heirs.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05- Hello, are you Iris?- I am.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Hi, I'm Dave Hadley.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10To make sure he has got the right people,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Dave has to check the office's research against the information
0:35:13 > 0:35:17he gets from Clive and his sister Iris, who has popped in to meet him.
0:35:17 > 0:35:24The person that has passed away is a fellow by the name of Harry Hooper.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- I don't know whether you've ever heard of him. Have you?- No.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30If we have got our research right,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33your father was William Thomas Hooper.
0:35:33 > 0:35:34Herbert Hooper.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36William Thomas Herbert Hooper, was it?
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Now, your mum then would have been Frances Bowman?
0:35:40 > 0:35:44No, Agnes Donaldson Munro, actually.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Of course, yeah, that's right. Yeah. OK. Agnes Donaldson Munro.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48That's right.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51The office got it right.
0:35:51 > 0:35:52Client and Iris are the children
0:35:52 > 0:35:55of Harry's father William and Agnes.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57They're Harry's half-brother
0:35:57 > 0:35:58and sister and entitled
0:35:58 > 0:36:00to a share in his estate.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05However, William died when Iris and Clive were only infants so they
0:36:05 > 0:36:10know very little of their father's life before he met their mother.
0:36:10 > 0:36:17Well, we think that Harry Hooper was also a child of your father.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Harry was the son from William's second marriage
0:36:19 > 0:36:22and although they had met some of the children from William's first
0:36:22 > 0:36:27marriage, Clive and Iris had never even heard of their brother Harry.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32- We met Frank, Cyril and Jack. - Jack. So we must have...
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Frank and Cyril came to see us when we were...
0:36:34 > 0:36:39Were they children from a previous relationship before he met your mum?
0:36:39 > 0:36:41That's the only ones that we knew of.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45- Are you still in touch with them? - No.- Lost touch with them.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49- I've moved so many times that no-one could ever find me, you know.- Yeah.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53In the course of the meeting, Clive comes up with some interesting
0:36:53 > 0:36:56information about the man that links them to Harry -
0:36:56 > 0:36:58their father William.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02- My dad worked as a ventriloquist and magician.- Did he?
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Yeah, he was called Victor Stewart, that was his stage name.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08- Oh, right, that's interesting. - Very clever at this, apparently.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12- High society entertainer.- High society entertainer. Yeah.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13- Oh, right.- Yeah.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16On the 1911 census,
0:37:16 > 0:37:21William Hooper's occupation was listed as painter and decorator.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23But by the end of the First World War,
0:37:23 > 0:37:25it seems he had had a dramatic career change.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Now, I can only speculate on what might have happened
0:37:31 > 0:37:34but I think World War I is the key here.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37There were a lot of troops who had to entertain themselves and card tricks,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42card games were very, very popular and I think he might well have met
0:37:42 > 0:37:46someone and basically started learning a few card tricks,
0:37:46 > 0:37:52got bitten by the magic bug and then pursued it after World War I.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54The early part of the 20th century
0:37:54 > 0:37:57was something of a golden age for magic.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01We have just had a big world war, people are unsure,
0:38:01 > 0:38:03they want to be diverted, they want to be entertained,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06they want a bit of escapism.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10You had a lot of magic happening in theatres in London.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15I mean, Houdini was in town in 1904 and created really quite a stir.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17The sawing through a woman,
0:38:17 > 0:38:21which later became sawing a woman in half,
0:38:21 > 0:38:27that was invented and first performed at the Finsbury Empire in 1921.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31So William Hooper is performing in that environment.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36People want escapism. It's a good time to be an entertainer.
0:38:36 > 0:38:37As a society entertainer,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41William would have been moving in some lofty social circles.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46It became very fashionable, very fashionable that after the meal
0:38:46 > 0:38:49when you're sitting down and having the brandy and cigars that
0:38:49 > 0:38:53you would be entertained by an entertainer in the drawing room.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58William Hooper would have worked in that environment
0:38:58 > 0:39:00and would then do his magic tricks
0:39:00 > 0:39:03and it would be predominantly close-up tricks.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07It would be tricks that could be seen for a small group.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09So small props would have been OK.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Things like cards and coins and the classics of magic,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17things like cup and balls, the linking rings.
0:39:17 > 0:39:18All of these, basically,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21are sleight-of-hand tricks so minimal props, I would have thought.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25And as he stuck with his new career for the rest of his life,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28it is clear he must have had a real flair for it.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31He would have had to have been an excellent entertainer with
0:39:31 > 0:39:36magic tricks because if he was only average he would not have survived
0:39:36 > 0:39:41long in that environment because it is a very exclusive environment
0:39:41 > 0:39:43and the way that you're going to perpetuate work is that you're
0:39:43 > 0:39:45going to entertain a group of people,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48there are going to be people there that you haven't seen before
0:39:48 > 0:39:53and they're going to want to book you for their next party so if his
0:39:53 > 0:39:58show was rubbish, then he's not going to get booked for the next show.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01So I think he would have had to have been pretty good
0:40:01 > 0:40:03to make a living from it.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11In Kent, Dave Hadley has wrapped up the meeting with Clive and Iris.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14- Bye.- Thanks very much.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16And he is pleased with the result.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18They weren't able to tell me anything about the deceased
0:40:18 > 0:40:21because they didn't even know he existed.
0:40:21 > 0:40:26But the information they gave me confirmed one or two points
0:40:26 > 0:40:28so I'm fairly confident we have got the right people.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33And they have signed agreements so I'm going to get on the phone now,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35speak to Gareth, give him the good news
0:40:35 > 0:40:37and I think it's a job well done.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41In the office, case manager Gareth Langford now
0:40:41 > 0:40:44knows of 13 heirs to Harry Hooper's estate.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48When we were originally drawing up the tree, we had
0:40:48 > 0:40:51one, two, three, four, five half-brothers and sisters
0:40:51 > 0:40:55but in actual fact, there were quite a few more.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57As well as Clive and Iris from
0:40:57 > 0:40:58his father's third relationship,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00Harry has another half-brother
0:41:00 > 0:41:03from his father's first marriage, who is still alive.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07The seven other children from this marriage have all now passed away
0:41:07 > 0:41:09so their children and grandchildren
0:41:09 > 0:41:12will all be in line to inherit their share.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15This tree, you know, at first glance,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18looks like a normal maternal, paternal cousin tree.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20In actual fact, it's a near kin tree.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23What we are dealing with, all the relatives that we have spoken to
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and met are half-blood relatives and that obviously takes
0:41:27 > 0:41:30precedent over any cousins that may have an interest in this matter.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34For Clive and Iris, the news that they're heirs to the estate
0:41:34 > 0:41:37of a half-brother they'd never even heard of has come as a shock.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40When we got the call today, we were extremely surprised.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42Unbelievable, really, you know.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45And sad, in a way, because you only hear about these things
0:41:45 > 0:41:49when somebody else has sadly passed away.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52I've often thought about them and wonder what happened to them but...
0:41:52 > 0:41:56Yeah, but it's nice to know that we've got some more members of the
0:41:56 > 0:42:00family and at some point, of course, it would be nice to meet them.
0:42:05 > 0:42:06A few weeks later
0:42:06 > 0:42:10and Gareth's work on the case has drawn to a close.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14We have managed to locate every heir and that is always, you know,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16the most important part of the case.
0:42:16 > 0:42:22And the value has now been revealed to be approximately £19,000.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Not as much as we hoped but we have located all the heirs
0:42:26 > 0:42:30and the research, in the end, was relatively simple so I think,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32all in all, quite a good result.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35But there is one outstanding piece of the puzzle
0:42:35 > 0:42:37that is still troubling Gareth.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41One of the big questions in my mind now is, you know,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43the deceased father was a magician.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Was he named after Harry Houdini?
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Was Harry Hooper named after Houdini?
0:42:49 > 0:42:50If you would like advice
0:42:50 > 0:42:53about building a family tree or making a will, go to
0:42:53 > 0:42:56bbc.co.uk/heirhunters.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd