0:00:02 > 0:00:06Every year, around 500,000 people die in the UK.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Over half leave no will and thousands have no known family.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13In all of the time I've been here,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16I've never seen a single person visit him.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19If no relatives come forward to claim the estate,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21their money will go to the Government.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24And that's where the heir hunters come in.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28They specialise in tracing beneficiaries who have no clue
0:00:28 > 0:00:30that they're entitled to an inheritance.
0:00:32 > 0:00:38I just was in shock really, I just couldn't...take it all in, really.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39I thought this happened to other people.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45The heir hunters face fierce competition from rival firms
0:00:45 > 0:00:49as they investigate cases worth thousands of pounds.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52There is talk that there could be upwards of £50,000
0:00:52 > 0:00:53in savings accounts.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58And they can reunite families and long-lost relatives.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02This is wonderful, I found a family I never knew I had.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Above all, it's about giving people news of a surprise windfall.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?
0:01:15 > 0:01:20Coming up, a valuable case is proving a tough nut to crack.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22We've still got quarter-of-a-million pound estate
0:01:22 > 0:01:25to try and find a home for.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Everything will hinge on a single record
0:01:27 > 0:01:29and it's just a matter
0:01:29 > 0:01:32of finding that single record to put us in the right direction.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36And a family secret is finally revealed.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37I didn't find out until she died,
0:01:37 > 0:01:42but my sister and cousin - somehow or other down the line they knew -
0:01:42 > 0:01:45but I never ever knew, so it was quite a shock.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Plus, how you could be entitled to inherit unclaimed estates
0:01:49 > 0:01:50held by the Treasury.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Monday morning,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05and as much of the country eases its way into the working week,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07the heir hunting team at Fraser & Fraser
0:02:07 > 0:02:09have hit the ground running
0:02:09 > 0:02:12on a new case which was published on the previous Friday
0:02:12 > 0:02:15by the Government's Treasury Solicitor.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20The estate they're looking at
0:02:20 > 0:02:22belonged to a man called Eric William Wardley
0:02:22 > 0:02:26and case manager Mike Pow thinks it could be a good,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28lucrative case to get their week off to a flying start.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32We think there's a property involved which is
0:02:32 > 0:02:36valued at about £200,000...
0:02:36 > 0:02:38but that's just a rough estimation at the moment,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40we don't know what else the deceased had.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42So I'm going to do some phone enquiries
0:02:42 > 0:02:44and hopefully pick up some more information.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Eric William Wardley died in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54on 21 March 2013 aged 83,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58leaving an estate estimated at £200,000.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Unfortunately, there are no surviving photographs of Eric,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05but neighbour Sue remembers him well.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06He had...
0:03:06 > 0:03:10He still had his own hair, it was dark and curly, he wore glasses.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14We used to call him the "carrier bag man" because he always had some sort of carrier bag with him
0:03:14 > 0:03:17and every day he walked up to the public library to read the papers.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Long-time neighbour Louise had been concerned about Eric
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and was the one who raised the alarm.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28We hadn't seen him for a couple of days,
0:03:28 > 0:03:33so my husband phoned the police and they came round
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and unfortunately, he was found upstairs.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39He had fallen over and unfortunately,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41he was in quite a bad way.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45The paramedics came and brought him out, he was still alive,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49but unfortunately he died later on in hospital.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51My wife and I went to the funeral
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and there was nobody else there
0:03:54 > 0:03:56apart from the neighbours
0:03:56 > 0:03:58and the minister conducting the service.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04In the office,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07company boss Neil must ensure that a high-value case like this
0:04:07 > 0:04:10is given priority status.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13The bigger cases and the cases with property and things are...
0:04:13 > 0:04:17of such importance that we throw everything at them,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19we put all of our researchers on them
0:04:19 > 0:04:23and we are determined to solve them.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27But determined or not, it seems this case is already testing the team.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31I'm going to ring some neighbours of the deceased.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Hopefully some of them may have known him, it might give us
0:04:34 > 0:04:37a bit of insight into his family and then we can work it out from there.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40- "NUMBER NOT RECOGNISED" TONE - Nope, didn't work.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Everything I've look at so far, we're not getting anywhere with.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Everything will hinge on a single record
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and it's just a matter
0:04:51 > 0:04:53of finding that single record to put us in the right direction.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Eric worked as a typist in London, he was a bachelor
0:04:58 > 0:05:02and never moved away from the family home he shared with his parents.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05I've lived here for 38 years.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07As far as I know, he's always lived there,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09so over 30 years, I should think.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11I think he lived there with his mother
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and I don't really know, 100% sure,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15but I think he lived there with his mother.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17But as far as I know, he didn't have any family.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21I lived next door to Eric for 19 years, obviously,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24so he's known my three children since they were born.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28And he used to be quite interested in what they were doing at school
0:05:28 > 0:05:32and how old they were, and what they were going to be doing.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35It looks like...
0:05:35 > 0:05:39It's all go as the team search for heirs to Eric's valuable estate.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43They are only too aware that they will not be the only ones
0:05:43 > 0:05:45hunting for Eric's beneficiaries
0:05:45 > 0:05:49and so the pressure is on to solve this case before the competition.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53So far, they've managed to establish through Eric's birth certificate
0:05:53 > 0:05:56that his parents were Hilda and Edwin.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59And they also know that both Edwin and Eric were only children.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04Finding someone is an only child can be bad news for any heir hunt.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08When we find that the deceased is an only child,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10it means we've ruled off all of near kin.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13We're no longer going to be able to find brothers/sisters,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15nephews/nieces, great-nephews/nieces.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18So, for us, the near kin's out of the way, much harder research,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20and an extra generation further back in time.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Establishing that Eric's father was also an only child
0:06:25 > 0:06:27means that the paternal side of the tree is now dead.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29So the key to the case
0:06:29 > 0:06:31will be finding heirs on Eric's mother's side.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35But this is proving surprisingly difficult.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39We're still pretty stuck. We're waiting for the marriage certificate,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41but now we're just going to expand the searches that we're doing.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Even though the death says she was born in 1897,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47we're just going to have a look at everything within a ten-year period,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49just in case it may have been registered wrong
0:06:49 > 0:06:51and she wasn't born in 1897...
0:06:51 > 0:06:53purely because everything that we've got around that time
0:06:53 > 0:06:55we've managed to disprove.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59So frustratingly, despite throwing all their resources at this case,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01the team is coming up empty-handed.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06They can only hope that rival firms have also reached a similar sticking point.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11If they can't find a record of Eric's mother's birth,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13it will be impossible to find heirs on the maternal side.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Boss Neil remains optimistic.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Hello, Michael Pow speaking. >
0:07:18 > 0:07:20I'm confident that we've got the right parents' names,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24the issue comes of why we can't find the birth.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27We've worked up three or four so far and all of them
0:07:27 > 0:07:29have been proved wrong.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Which leads us to scratching our head - "Where could she come from?"
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Although they can't find a birth date for Eric's mother,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41they have found several deaths in the name of Hilda G Wardley.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46The team are taking a big gamble by working a few of them up.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51The most likely one is a Hilda Wardley who died in 1957,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53but if it turns out to be wrong,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57any work they've done on it will have been a waste of time and money.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58Thanks, Brian.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01The team work on a commission basis and earn a percentage
0:08:01 > 0:08:05of the inheritance, which is agreed with any beneficiaries they find.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08But they won't earn a penny unless they find heirs.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11There was four of us on Friday, so we probably had ten hours
0:08:11 > 0:08:14looking for this birth already and not being able to get it, so...
0:08:14 > 0:08:18quickly mounting up our time without any results.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22With nothing showing up on any of the databases,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25the team have to turn to old-fashioned research.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Boss Neil has gone to the company's library,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31which houses historical directories,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34listing people living at an address in the UK in any given year.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37They believe Eric's parents
0:08:37 > 0:08:40had lived in the family home for many years,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43so they're hoping that Hilda will be listed,
0:08:43 > 0:08:48and if she is, there might be a clue which will help them to confirm
0:08:48 > 0:08:52that the Hilda who died in 1957 IS the Hilda they're looking for.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Now, these books which we're going through are
0:08:56 > 0:08:58similar to electoral rolls
0:08:58 > 0:09:01or similar to telephone directories, really.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03They're nowhere near as good as an actual roll
0:09:03 > 0:09:06because we only get one person per household.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Ideal world for us would be that the father,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12who's the person registered in the '40s in the books,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14would pass away and then the mother would come on
0:09:14 > 0:09:16and we'd get some change in name.
0:09:16 > 0:09:22We know that Edwin Arthur, the father, dies in '65,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26which is why he stops being in the books in '65.
0:09:26 > 0:09:27So far, so good.
0:09:27 > 0:09:28But what Neil really needs
0:09:28 > 0:09:30is Hilda's name to show up with a variation,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33such as a different middle name or different spelling
0:09:33 > 0:09:36in order to help them narrow their search.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39He's hoping the following year's directory will help.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41And we do have another Wardley...
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Down as "Mrs," M-R-S.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49No initials, so we have a change in 1966.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55It may be a change, but it's not the change Neil was hoping for.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Far from it, in fact.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59There may be no middle name listed,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02but it's the discovery of a Mrs Wardley -
0:10:02 > 0:10:04registered at the house in 1966 -
0:10:04 > 0:10:08that completely contradicts the research they've already done.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13We thought the mother dies in '57, so she shouldn't be in it in '66.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Saying that, in '67 it's back to Eric,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20so have they just made a mistake in it one year
0:10:20 > 0:10:21or have we got the wrong death?
0:10:21 > 0:10:24It looks like another false start
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and more hours of expensive research going nowhere.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Neil heads back to the office
0:10:32 > 0:10:34to have a confab with senior researcher Noel.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37She's only in that book for a year.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41The very next year is Eric and the year before, it's his father.
0:10:42 > 0:10:43- So...- Just a random?
0:10:43 > 0:10:45..is it just an error?
0:10:47 > 0:10:50With a £200,000 inheritance at stake,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54will the team manage to crack this case before the competition
0:10:54 > 0:10:57or will it be the one that got away?
0:10:57 > 0:11:00It's a bit annoying, this one, because we are stuck.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Everything that we've looked at we've proved wrong.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Tricky cases can take years to solve
0:11:11 > 0:11:14and two things heir hunters need in abundance
0:11:14 > 0:11:16are patience and determination.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21And someone who knows this only too well
0:11:21 > 0:11:24is Kevin Edmondson, of heir hunting firm Hoopers in London,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28who has over 30 years' experience tracking down missing heirs.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33There's the thrill of the chase, I suppose.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36The finding out what wasn't known before
0:11:36 > 0:11:38and that's what keeps it fresh.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43And one case which took up almost an astonishing 20 years
0:11:43 > 0:11:48of his and the team's time is that of Veronica Sinclair.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51We first heard about the case of Veronica Sinclair
0:11:51 > 0:11:54when it was advertised by the Treasury Solicitor in 1991.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57One of the reasons we looked at this case was that it was
0:11:57 > 0:11:59reasonable value,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01this was in the days when the Treasury Solicitor
0:12:01 > 0:12:04DID advertise the values of the estates
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and this was advertised at approximately £110,000.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10With a valuable case
0:12:10 > 0:12:14comes a lot of competition from rival firms to find heirs.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17So the pressure was on to solve the case as quickly as possible.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21But as the team were about to find out,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24this was going to be a lot harder than they could have imagined.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And the first hurdle came
0:12:26 > 0:12:29with the very first piece of information they looked at.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34We were puzzled by the fact that the person who was the informant
0:12:34 > 0:12:36on Veronica Sinclair's death certificate
0:12:36 > 0:12:39was described as her niece, because if she was a true niece,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42she would have been one of the next of kin and the Treasury Solicitor
0:12:42 > 0:12:45wouldn't have needed to advertise the case at all.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49The informant on the death certificate in this case
0:12:49 > 0:12:51was Margaret Watts
0:12:51 > 0:12:54and she had been very close to the lady
0:12:54 > 0:12:56she had always known as her Aunt Vera.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Vera was fun, you know, she used to make you laugh.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Happy, happy person, she was.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05She was sort of a bit petite, really, and always made-up.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07She always had her hair done,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09she went to the hairdressers every Saturday.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12She always had jewellery on, nearly always pearls
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and she sort of liked going out, she didn't like staying in much.
0:13:17 > 0:13:2389-year-old Veronica Mary Sinclair died on 30 December 1989
0:13:23 > 0:13:28at the Central Middlesex Hospital in West London, near her home.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32If Margaret had been Vera's true niece,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34she would have been an heir to her estate,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38But Kevin's team soon established that wasn't the case.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40One thing we quickly learned was that
0:13:40 > 0:13:45Mrs Watts was not a blood relation of Veronica Sinclair.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Veronica had been brought up by a foster mother
0:13:49 > 0:13:53from when she was born in 1900 to the age of about seven,
0:13:53 > 0:13:58but then her foster mother had died and Mrs Watts's grandmother
0:13:58 > 0:14:01had taken Veronica in and brought her up with her family
0:14:01 > 0:14:03as one of her own children.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08This news came as a huge revelation to Margaret.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11We never really found out or I didn't find out until she died,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15but my sister and cousin - somehow or other down the line they knew -
0:14:15 > 0:14:19but I never, ever knew, so it was quite a shock.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22We'd always been told that my grandmother had adopted her,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24but in actual fact, she didn't,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27she just took her in as a young baby, I believe.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31When I found out that Veronica wasn't my proper auntie,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34I didn't change in the way I thought about her at all,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37she was still my aunt to me, she always had been.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41I just thought it was just strange that nobody ever sort of knew
0:14:41 > 0:14:43anything about it.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50With Margaret ruled out as an heir,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53the search was on for Vera's blood relatives.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58We quite quickly obtained a copy of Veronica's birth certificate
0:14:58 > 0:15:00and found that her mother was Mary MacDonald,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04but there was no father's name shown, so Veronica was illegitimate
0:15:04 > 0:15:06and this would, presumably,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09explain why she was not brought up by her own mother.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11It was highly unlikely
0:15:11 > 0:15:14that they'd ever find out who Veronica's father was,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18but they DID know that her mother was called Mary MacDonald.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20And Margaret was able to give them
0:15:20 > 0:15:23information about her grandmother, Elizabeth Hammond,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27that gave them a good head start to tracing Vera's maternal side.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31We discovered there was a link between Elizabeth Hammond
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and Veronica's mother, Mary MacDonald.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38The link was that they had actually been brought up together
0:15:38 > 0:15:40in a Scottish convent.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43I always knew that she'd come down from Aberdeen
0:15:43 > 0:15:46because she married an English fella, my grandmother,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and I knew she came down with two friends
0:15:48 > 0:15:52and I knew one was called Mary and that's all she'd ever told us.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56But how had Mary ended up in the convent in Aberdeen?
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Illegitimacy and poverty were two key reasons why children
0:16:00 > 0:16:02were left in orphanages in the first place.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06With no loving parents or family to support her
0:16:06 > 0:16:08in her formative years,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11growing up in the strict environment of a convent can't have been easy.
0:16:11 > 0:16:17Because the convents were often reliant upon charitable donations,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20living conditions tended to be very basic.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Clothing and food were very simple.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27The girls would have been expected to have undertaken
0:16:27 > 0:16:30a daily routine of chores and, as well,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33if they stepped out of line they could expect corporal punishment.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38After such a hard upbringing, the girls made a courageous decision.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40The two friends packed their bags
0:16:40 > 0:16:45and made the 400-mile journey to London in search of a better life.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48And they soon found work as domestic servants.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53In London, sort of the mid/late 19th century,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55you have this burgeoning middle-class
0:16:55 > 0:16:58who are looking for domestic servants
0:16:58 > 0:16:59to reinforce their status
0:16:59 > 0:17:04and the wages were infinitely higher than they were in Scotland.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08But it wasn't long before Mary became pregnant with Veronica
0:17:08 > 0:17:11whilst working as a domestic servant in Marylebone.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Company boss Mike Tringham is a seasoned heir hunter
0:17:15 > 0:17:19and he has seen cases like this many times over the years.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24It was almost the norm that domestic servants...became the...
0:17:27 > 0:17:30The mistress of the head of the household
0:17:30 > 0:17:32and there is...
0:17:32 > 0:17:36There is, or was, a lot of illegitimacy as a result of that.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Particularly during Victorian times.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Mary was in a very difficult situation
0:17:42 > 0:17:45and had to give Vera up to foster care,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49but after seven years, Vera's foster mother sadly died,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52leaving Mary once again in the unhappy position
0:17:52 > 0:17:55of having to find a home for her daughter.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Vera's mother must have had sort of, more of a...sad sort of life,
0:18:00 > 0:18:01I think, really.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06As far as I know, I don't think Mary had any relations in London
0:18:06 > 0:18:08or even went back to Scotland again,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10so she just sort of worked all the time.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13The friendship between Elizabeth and Mary
0:18:13 > 0:18:15that had started so long ago as children
0:18:15 > 0:18:17in that cold convent in Aberdeen
0:18:17 > 0:18:20had since become an unbreakable bond
0:18:20 > 0:18:22through their shared experiences in London,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26and Elizabeth came to the aid of her dear, old friend.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31By then, Elizabeth was married and had a home and growing family,
0:18:31 > 0:18:36and so was able to bring Vera up as her own, in a loving environment.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40We just all assumed that they were just one big, happy family,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43we didn't realise that it wasn't her daughter.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46She was just brought up the same, used to call her Mum and everything.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Vera was never formally adopted by Elizabeth.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54If she had been, Margaret would have been an heir.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58So whilst her mother continued working as a domestic servant,
0:18:58 > 0:19:03Veronica grew up, and at the age of 20, she married Lionel Sinclair.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06In their free time they enjoyed walking together
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and weekend outings in their car.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11After being born illegitimately,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Vera finally gave birth to her own son, Roy.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19But just two years later, fate would deal a cruel blow.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24We think he might have drank some paint, or turps, or something...
0:19:24 > 0:19:28cleaning fluid, because they were working in the cleaners.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I think he was only about two and a half when he died,
0:19:31 > 0:19:36so it was really very sad, but she hardly ever spoke about him.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40So I think it's something that she wanted to keep in the past, really.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44And so there were no direct heirs from that line.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48After the tragic loss of their son,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50Vera and Lionel had no more children,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53so the only blood relatives on this case
0:19:53 > 0:19:55were going to come from Vera's mother,
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Mary's branch of the family,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00and Kevin's team soon ran into trouble.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Mary MacDonald is a very common name, which is a problem for us
0:20:05 > 0:20:09when trying to identify the correct Mary MacDonald.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12We would need to find out where and when she was born
0:20:12 > 0:20:14and who her parents were,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16but the censuses which could have helped us -
0:20:16 > 0:20:19the 1901 and 1911 - weren't available.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Frustratingly, there was only one thing they could do.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26We really couldn't make any progress unless we did identify
0:20:26 > 0:20:31Mary MacDonald's birth certificate, so we closed the case.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36With an estimated £100,000 legacy at stake, it was frustrating,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40but the team's only option was to stop work,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44but almost 20 years after starting the case, would the release of the
0:20:44 > 0:20:491911 census finally give the team the lead they so desperately needed?
0:20:50 > 0:20:55The breakthrough in this case was finding Veronica living with
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Elizabeth Hammond's family.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Heir hunters trace thousands of rightful beneficiaries every year,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09but not all cases can be cracked.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13There are over 10,000 estates on the Government's own list
0:21:13 > 0:21:15of unclaimed estates
0:21:15 > 0:21:18that have eluded the heir hunters and remain unsolved.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23A case will stay on the list until it is claimed
0:21:23 > 0:21:25or for 12 years
0:21:25 > 0:21:28is the legal limitation for claiming an estate.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Today, we're focusing on two cases that have yet to be solved
0:21:32 > 0:21:34by the heir hunters.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Could you be about to inherit some money from a long-lost relative?
0:21:41 > 0:21:45First is the case of Beryl Joan or Joanna Leonard,
0:21:45 > 0:21:51who died on 25 August 2011 in Chelmsford, Essex, aged 85.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Beryl was born on 3 July 1926, but it is not known where.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02She never married and was also known as Beryl Leonard Helliwell.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Although Leonard is a common English name, it has both Old German
0:22:08 > 0:22:10and Irish origins.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Could Beryl have had any family connections either in Germany
0:22:13 > 0:22:15or Ireland?
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Next, do you have any clues that would crack open the case
0:22:20 > 0:22:24of Abdul Jabbar Othman Al-Rawendouzi?
0:22:24 > 0:22:30Abdul was a bachelor, born on 21 July 1937 in Diwaniya, Iraq.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36Known as Jabbar or John Othman, he died a long way from home
0:22:36 > 0:22:42in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, on 5 June 2002, aged 65.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Hatfield has a long association with Iraq.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50In 1931, the newly-formed Iraq Flying Corps
0:22:50 > 0:22:53started its official flying operations
0:22:53 > 0:22:57with a flight from Hatfield to Baghdad.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Could there have been an early family connection that drew
0:22:59 > 0:23:04Jabbar or John to this particular part of the UK?
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Did you know Jabbar? Or do you have any information about his family?
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Both Beryl and Jabbar's estates remain unclaimed
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and if no-one comes forward, their money will go to the Government.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21The money raised by the Bona Vacantia Division is passed
0:23:21 > 0:23:24annually to the Treasury and it goes into the Consolidated Fund,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27therefore to benefit the country as a whole.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Do you have any clues that could help solve the cases
0:23:30 > 0:23:33of Beryl Leonard or Jabbar Othman?
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Perhaps you could be their next of kin.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40If so, you could have thousands of pounds coming your way.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50The heir hunters have spent many costly research hours getting
0:23:50 > 0:23:55nowhere, trying to solve the case of the estimated £200,000 estate
0:23:55 > 0:23:58of 83-year-old bachelor Eric Wardley.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03The team at Fraser & Fraser still cannot find a birth date
0:24:03 > 0:24:04for his mother, Hilda Roberts.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09It's a very frustrating time for case manager Mike.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11It's a bit annoying, this one, because we are stuck.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Everything that we've looked at we've proved wrong.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17They thought they'd found the right death certificate,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20but have not been able to match the birth date with Eric's mother,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22living in Essex.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Drawing a blank online,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28they've even trawled through the company's library of reference books
0:24:28 > 0:24:32to confirm the year they think Hilda died - 1957...
0:24:33 > 0:24:35..only to discover
0:24:35 > 0:24:39that a Mrs Wardley pops up in the records in 1966.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45We've got the wrong death. She should be dead by now.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Boss Neil is determined this case is not going to beat them.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53We've still got a quarter-of-a-million pound estate
0:24:53 > 0:24:57to try and find a home for and I'm confident we will solve it,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00but it's... not quite with our usual speed.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05There are no surviving photographs of Eric,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08but the team have been able to establish that he had always
0:25:08 > 0:25:11lived in the family home in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14He remained there as a bachelor after his parents died,
0:25:14 > 0:25:19some 40 years before his death in March 2013.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Unfortunately, the neighbours have no knowledge of any family members
0:25:24 > 0:25:26which could help the hunt.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27He was a very private person,
0:25:27 > 0:25:32so he didn't sort of talk to us about his...his past.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35We've certainly never seen anybody come to visit
0:25:35 > 0:25:37in all the time we've known the house.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42All hopes of finding heirs to this quarter-of-a-million pound estate
0:25:42 > 0:25:45rest on discovering relatives through Eric's mother,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Hilda's family, because the company have already ruled out heirs
0:25:49 > 0:25:51from his father Edwin's side of the family.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53They have, however,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57made an interesting discovery about Edwin's father.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Eric's grandfather was called Arthur.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02He worked on the railway as a railwayman.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06He died in 1924, aged just 67.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Before the 1920s,
0:26:09 > 0:26:14there were over 120 separate railway companies in the UK.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17The Railways Act of 1921 required them
0:26:17 > 0:26:20to group themselves into just four companies.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Arthur worked in the wagon repair shop
0:26:23 > 0:26:26for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway or the LMS,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28which thanks to the merger,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31had become the world's largest transport organisation
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and was also the second largest employer in the UK
0:26:35 > 0:26:37after the Post Office.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41To give you some idea of the size of the LMS railway company,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44they carried 461 million
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and a few odd people in 1929
0:26:48 > 0:26:52on their trains and they roughly accounted
0:26:52 > 0:26:56for something over a third and the other three companies did the rest.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01The number of people on the LMS workforce was mind-boggling.
0:27:03 > 0:27:10In 1931, they were employing 231,617 people in all types of grades,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14including loco drivers, shunters, station staff
0:27:14 > 0:27:15and the like.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21It seems that Arthur was working on a tree-cutting machine,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24making manageable lengths of timber that could be used
0:27:24 > 0:27:26for carriage and station repairs.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30It was quite a lot of danger involved in the heavy machinery
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and heavy wood machining industries and therefore,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37they would have to take great care to make sure they were not injured.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41There were no real health and safety rules at that time
0:27:41 > 0:27:42like we have today,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45but the LMS had to make sure it protected its employees
0:27:45 > 0:27:49because, obviously, if they didn't and someone died,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51clearly there would be an inquest and so therefore,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55they wouldn't want to be seen as negligent.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01But just before Christmas in 1924, while working at the Grimesthorpe
0:28:01 > 0:28:06sidings in Sheffield, Arthur was involved in a horrific accident.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11A guard's brake van bore down on him
0:28:11 > 0:28:14while he was busily working next to the tracks.
0:28:15 > 0:28:16He didn't stand a chance,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20as the train carriage crashed into him, killing him instantly.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25As Arthur and his wife Mary had only one child -
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Eric's father, Edwin - there are no aunts,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31uncles or cousins who could be heirs,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35which means there are no heirs to be found on the paternal side of the family.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41So the key to solving this case all hinges on
0:28:41 > 0:28:45finding out information about Hilda, Eric's mother.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47But with such a common name,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50the team have multiple Hilda Roberts to work with.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53I could not get her date of birth.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Senior researcher Noel is guiding new girl Sinead
0:28:56 > 0:28:58through the process
0:28:58 > 0:29:00of trying to find a date of birth for Eric's mother.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04Oh, it's the wrong birth.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Michael, that's wrong.
0:29:10 > 0:29:11But she's a spinster, right?
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Well, it's just a surname, Roberts,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17we're not sure where she's from because there's no obvious birth
0:29:17 > 0:29:20in Essex for a Hilda G Roberts born about 1897,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22which is what the death says.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25The two that we found that looked half decent,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28we've managed to rule out, so we're just going back to see
0:29:28 > 0:29:30what we can find and if anything else ties in.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33With all other avenues exhausted, it's time for the team
0:29:33 > 0:29:38to bring in some extra troops, even though this will mean extra expense.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Dave Hadley is one of the company's most experienced travelling
0:29:42 > 0:29:45heir hunters and he's been sent to Brentwood, Essex,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47to apply for Eric's parents' marriage certificate.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Hopefully we should get it this morning. That looks like it'll
0:29:51 > 0:29:54unlock the family at the moment, cos we're ruling everything out.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58It seems Dave's got some news for case manager Mike.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02Arthur Robert... Arthur Roberts the farmer.
0:30:02 > 0:30:03OK, mate, brilliant.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Mike's hoping that the information on the marriage certificate
0:30:06 > 0:30:09about the people who attended Eric's parents' wedding
0:30:09 > 0:30:12will lead them to some new connections to his mother,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15but it's not quite the full picture he needs.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Dave has got bits and pieces from the certificate
0:30:18 > 0:30:21that they've given him, he hasn't got the full certificate,
0:30:21 > 0:30:25so we are waiting for him to get the full one so we can find out
0:30:25 > 0:30:29the witnesses and the addresses of where they were married...
0:30:29 > 0:30:32So then even that could indicate maybe
0:30:32 > 0:30:36one of the sisters of the mother of the deceased has married someone
0:30:36 > 0:30:39and she's a witness on there, so then we can tie in through that.
0:30:39 > 0:30:40If one of Hilda's siblings
0:30:40 > 0:30:44is listed as a witness on the marriage certificate,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47it would be a vital breakthrough for the team.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49And it's not the only reason they have to be hopeful,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53because Dave has also managed to speak to a friend of Eric's,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57who has revealed a potentially vital nugget of information.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00He let us know that the deceased may have had a cousin called Kath
0:31:00 > 0:31:02or Kathleen.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07This is very exciting news and the team immediately begin searching
0:31:07 > 0:31:10for this potential cousin or her children.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14They discover that the Kathleen they're looking for died five years ago,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17but they find a telephone number for someone they think could be her son.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23Could this be the team's first real breakthrough to a possible heir?
0:31:24 > 0:31:27I'm hoping that Elliott would be the son of a Richard Wardley
0:31:27 > 0:31:28and a Kathleen Wardley?
0:31:29 > 0:31:33No, he's not? OK, no, sorry to have troubled you. Take care, bye-bye.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37It's not Kathleen's son.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40So once again, it's a disappointing dead end.
0:31:46 > 0:31:47Still stuck.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50The team have exhausted nearly every option in their search
0:31:50 > 0:31:55for Eric's heirs, but they want to have just one more roll of the dice.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Hilda's full marriage certificate has come in
0:31:57 > 0:32:00and it lists her father as Arthur Roberts.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03The team think they've found records for the same Arthur Roberts
0:32:03 > 0:32:08and if they have, it should lead them to aunts, uncles and cousins.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10But the only way they can be sure
0:32:10 > 0:32:12that they've got the right Arthur Roberts
0:32:12 > 0:32:15is to send researcher Sinead to the British Library.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20The directory from our library - earliest date - has one person from each household,
0:32:20 > 0:32:21whereas in the British Library
0:32:21 > 0:32:25they have the electoral rolls which have everyone within that household.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28But Sinead is under no illusions.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33It's our last chance to really find the deceased's mother's father
0:32:33 > 0:32:37as we've not managed to find any trace of her birth.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41We only have her death and the year that she's born -
0:32:41 > 0:32:42which is on the death certificate -
0:32:42 > 0:32:45but apart from that, we haven't found any trace of her.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Sinead heads over to the British Library,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51hoping to find an electoral roll that lists Arthur and Hilda
0:32:51 > 0:32:55living together at the same address, proving he's her father.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00But after hours of trawling through records with a fine-tooth comb,
0:33:00 > 0:33:01things are not looking good.
0:33:01 > 0:33:08Well, unfortunately, Arthur was not Hilda's father.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11We've had a look at the electoral rolls and he is not the father,
0:33:11 > 0:33:13they just weren't related in any way,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15so it takes us back to square one with Hilda,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19that we don't know where she was born or who she really is,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21we just have her death certificate.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26So for whatever reason, it appears that Hilda made up her father's
0:33:26 > 0:33:28details on her marriage certificate.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32It's the final blow to the team's five days of intensive research.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35It's a bitter pill for boss Neil to swallow,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37but it's time to face the truth.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42You have to cut your losses, we have to draw a line and say,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44"Right, we've got to take this back."
0:33:46 > 0:33:50Weeks later, the team did find the mother's birth,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52but the search for heirs continues.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02In 1991, one of the country's oldest heir hunting firms
0:34:02 > 0:34:07had taken on the search for heirs to an estimated £100,000 estate
0:34:07 > 0:34:10left by 89-year-old Veronica Sinclair.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14Brought up by her mother's friend and raised as one of her own,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17the family she grew up with knew nothing
0:34:17 > 0:34:20of her secret, illegitimate past.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24I didn't find out until she died, but my sister and cousin -
0:34:24 > 0:34:27somehow or other down the line they knew -
0:34:27 > 0:34:30but I never ever knew, so it was quite a shock.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34But even with over 30 years' experience as an heir hunter,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37case manager Kevin Edmondson and the team
0:34:37 > 0:34:39soon found themselves at a dead end.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45All we had was the statement from Margaret Watts,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Veronica's birth and death certificates
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and nothing else really to go on to help us
0:34:51 > 0:34:55to find out about Veronica's mother's family.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00They had no choice but to close the case in 1991
0:35:00 > 0:35:05and although they checked the 1901 census when it was released in 2001,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09there was no further information that shed any light on the case.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14The only hope then was that when the next census was released in 2009,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17further clues would come their way.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22We know from experience that cases have been solved...years after
0:35:22 > 0:35:24we first start them, so we put them
0:35:24 > 0:35:28away in the hope that something will come to light at a later date.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Not only is it frustrating for the team
0:35:32 > 0:35:35when they're forced to shelve a case, but it also means
0:35:35 > 0:35:38that they won't get paid for all the hard work put in up to that date.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41And in the case of Veronica Sinclair,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44the team had to wait an agonising nine years
0:35:44 > 0:35:47for fresh information to become available.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49When the new record was published,
0:35:49 > 0:35:53it seemed it was just what the team had been waiting for.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58The breakthrough in this case was finding Veronica,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00or Vera as she was known in the family,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03on the 1911 census record,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07living with Elizabeth Hammond's family.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12With new information from the 1911 census, the team were able to
0:36:12 > 0:36:16pinpoint Elizabeth Hammond's birthplace to Aberdeen.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19They then trawled back through the 1891 census,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21which gave details of the convent in Aberdeen,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24which had been home to both girls
0:36:24 > 0:36:27and showed the birthplace of Vera's mother, Mary MacDonald,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29as Montrose, Forfarshire.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35It also gave us her age, so we knew that we could narrow down
0:36:35 > 0:36:38her date and place of birth quite significantly.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43We then examined the birth records for Montrose
0:36:43 > 0:36:49and found that there was only one fit for a Mary McDonald, and this,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52strangely enough, was a Mary MacDonald who was also
0:36:52 > 0:36:54born as an illegitimate child.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Her mother Elsie was, in fact, a widow.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03The team began to feel they were finally on a roll,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05as they also discovered that Mary's mother,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07Veronica's grandmother, Elsie,
0:37:07 > 0:37:11had married a John MacDonald and had two children by him.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16Mary was born approximately three years after Elsie's husband died.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21She decided to keep the two boys at home with her
0:37:21 > 0:37:24and sent Mary to grow up and be educated at the convent in Aberdeen.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30The two children that Mary's mother had...from her marriage with
0:37:30 > 0:37:34John MacDonald were called George and John.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40John died as a child, but we found that George did survive
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and did marry, so we wanted to follow down that line to see
0:37:43 > 0:37:45if there were any descendants there.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49John and George were Mary's half-brothers
0:37:49 > 0:37:51and although their descendants would be Vera's half-cousins,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54they would still be heirs to her estate.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59We discovered that George MacDonald had four children and that three
0:37:59 > 0:38:04of them had still been alive at the date of Veronica Sinclair's death.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07This means that their estates could claim
0:38:07 > 0:38:11a share of Veronica Sinclair's estate.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15The team were finally on the verge of pinpointing their first heir.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19One of George MacDonald's children was a son, John,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23who had died a few years previously, leaving his own heir
0:38:23 > 0:38:25who was a half-blood relative of Veronica Sinclair.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31The informant on the death certificate of John MacDonald
0:38:31 > 0:38:33was his son, Ian,
0:38:33 > 0:38:37and we quite quickly after that managed to trace Ian.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40I think it was quite a surprising moment for Ian as well
0:38:40 > 0:38:44when we explained our reasons for contacting him.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50Finally, after 20 long years, the team had managed to solve
0:38:50 > 0:38:55this elusive case, and for Vera's long-lost relative and heir, Ian,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58the news of his legacy came as a complete surprise.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Well, we had no idea.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05I didn't know much about the family history beyond my grandfather.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09I didn't... I knew there was a brother
0:39:09 > 0:39:12and I knew that there had been a sister that went to Canada,
0:39:12 > 0:39:16but I didn't know anything about Mary
0:39:16 > 0:39:20who was the mother of the deceased.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24It transpires Elsie had gone on to have
0:39:24 > 0:39:27three more illegitimate children after Mary,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30but while the others were brought up in the family home
0:39:30 > 0:39:31and remembered by Ian,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34he'd never known of Great-aunt Mary's existence.
0:39:35 > 0:39:40He was, however, close to her brother, his grandfather, George.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44Every summer I was packed off to Stonehaven
0:39:44 > 0:39:49to live with my grandparents and Grandfather George
0:39:49 > 0:39:51I became very attached to,
0:39:51 > 0:39:56because he introduced me to fishing, he made my first fishing rod.
0:39:56 > 0:40:01I'd very fond memories of Grandfather George.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07But it seems Ian's grandfather was no ordinary grandparent.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Grandfather George had been
0:40:09 > 0:40:14the pipe major of the 5th/7th Gordon Highlanders.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17He was recognised as an outstanding piper
0:40:17 > 0:40:21and actually wrote two books of pipe music.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25The Gordon Highlanders was one of the most famous
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Highland British Army regiments of all time.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33It was raised in 1794 to fight Napoleon Bonaparte
0:40:33 > 0:40:36and the role of the pipers was to pipe the men into action.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41It must have been a horrendous experience,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44but also an exhilarating one.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48We have accounts of pipers drawing lots to have the
0:40:48 > 0:40:53honour of piping the men into battle, so it was a prized position.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55These pipers were completely unarmed,
0:40:55 > 0:40:57all they had were their bagpipes,
0:40:57 > 0:41:01but they were a powerful instrument of war,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04they were there to inspire the men of their battalion forward
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and also to strike terror into the enemy.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12But being a piper was a particularly dangerous role.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16Something like 500 pipers were
0:41:16 > 0:41:19killed during the First World War with 600 being wounded
0:41:19 > 0:41:24and they were dreadfully exposed and very courageous men.
0:41:25 > 0:41:26For Ian, becoming an heir
0:41:26 > 0:41:29has also opened up a part of his family history
0:41:29 > 0:41:32he never even knew existed.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35It was hard to take it in to begin with,
0:41:35 > 0:41:37but it did cause a bit of reflection
0:41:37 > 0:41:41and a bit of family research, trying to find out what we could.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45The heir hunters managed to establish that two of Elsie's
0:41:45 > 0:41:48other illegitimate children died with no issue.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52But one married, emigrated to Canada and had children,
0:41:52 > 0:41:53who will also be beneficiaries.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57The team are in the process of locating those remaining heirs,
0:41:57 > 0:42:01but having broken the back of the case,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Kevin can reflect on a job well done,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07even if it did take an astonishing 20 years of determination
0:42:07 > 0:42:09never to give up the search.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15This has been a particularly satisfying case to work on.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19The thing about this case that attracted me and made me want to solve it
0:42:19 > 0:42:22was we put an awful lot of effort into it
0:42:22 > 0:42:27in the first time we looked at it, and personally,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31I felt...a desire to see it through to a conclusion.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33That's why it was very satisfying
0:42:33 > 0:42:35when we did actually make a breakthrough.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40Vera's heir Ian has come to Stonehaven, where the story began,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44to reflect on what he now knows about his family history
0:42:44 > 0:42:49and to revive some precious memories of his beloved grandfather George.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54During the war, this area here is where the sandbag emplacement
0:42:54 > 0:43:00and the Observer Corps lookout point was, and I used to come up here
0:43:00 > 0:43:05and visit my grandfather and get to see everything that went on.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12It seems rather tragic that had we known about her,
0:43:12 > 0:43:15she could at least have been part of the family.