0:00:02 > 0:00:05A quiet suburban street in Wimbledon, South West London,
0:00:05 > 0:00:07was home to Nathan Barnett.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09When the heir hunters take on his case,
0:00:09 > 0:00:13they discover his estate to be much larger than they expect.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14We were stunned.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18£200,000 was left in Nathan's bank accounts.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22And a seemingly simple investigation turns into a tough six-month slog.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Unfortunately, for us
0:00:24 > 0:00:27it was a more drawn-out process then we'd have hoped.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30It's going to be a busy day for the heir hunters,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32with two challenging cases to crack.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Today, we uncover more about Britain's risque wartime history.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51The owner of the windmill came up with the idea of having
0:00:51 > 0:00:53nudes on the British stage.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56And we learn how Jewish immigrants reaching British shores
0:00:56 > 0:00:59in the late 1800s faced a tough start.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03The area was very dilapidated, there were very few facilities.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06They would have lived something like 30 to a house.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Plus how you could be entitled to inherit an unclaimed estate.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Could a fortune be heading your way?
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It's a busy Monday morning
0:01:20 > 0:01:23at London-based heir hunting firm, Finders.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26A new case has just come in via a private referral
0:01:26 > 0:01:29and is being handled by case manager Ryan Gregory.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33OK, Ryan. So this is the Florence June Massey case.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Have a look at the tree.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38The only details the team have been given are Florence's name,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40address and her date of death.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43But Ryan has already tracked down records for her.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47She passed away in September, a spinster.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50It looks like she was probably born in Holywell,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53but she passed away in Portsmouth, in Hampshire.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57The waterfront town of Southsea, Portsmouth
0:01:57 > 0:02:01was home to Florence June Massey for more than 70 years.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Known to her friends as June,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08she left a lasting impression on everyone she met.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11June was a very happy person.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13She enjoyed music and loved the music
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and always had that little sparkle in her eye.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20June moved into the Bluebell's care home in Portsmouth in 2009,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23where she became good friends with Dizzy Page.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Dizzy organised the home's activities,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28which June always took part in.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30She loved the dressing up side of all of that,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34you know, putting the hats on... Always wearing a hat.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The Easter bonnets and the Halloween hats and...
0:02:37 > 0:02:38She'd wear a hat for any occasion.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43She loved the outdoors and being close to nature,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45so she would never be too far from the garden.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49June used to love sitting out here, just watching the birds.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53She'd sit many an afternoon and we'd have afternoon tea out here.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55It was June's favourite spot,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59as she could watch her beloved birds in the garden's aviary.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03June particularly enjoyed watching them have their bird baths.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06BIRD CHEEPS And there was a little, yellow canary
0:03:06 > 0:03:10that used to come and sit here. He was a bright yellow canary
0:03:10 > 0:03:12and she'd sit and talk to it and it was very sweet.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Very special, yeah.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21Sadly, Florence June Massey passed away on 21st September 2013.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24She was 85 years old.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27She died without making a will and with no known family,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30so the search is now on to find heirs to her estate.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Research has revealed that Florence was born on 13th June 1928.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Her parents were Francis Gordon Massey and Gladys Pattie Dawson.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48The team know that Florence was a spinster,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51so having established she had no children of her own,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55the next job is to see if her parents had any other children.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58What we've done is we have done a quick issue search
0:03:58 > 0:04:01to find out any siblings that she may have had.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05We have established that she had a sister that died a spinster.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09With no descendants on this sister's line,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Ryan and the team continue to look for more siblings.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18There was a brother called Francis that passed away, age 0,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20within the first year of being born.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22And then there's one other brother,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25also called Francis, but with a different middle name.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27And we're just trying to find out what happened to him.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31As neither of Florence's other siblings married or had children,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Ryan and the team are trying to trace her brother,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Francis Walter Massey.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41At the moment we know, so far, that he was born in 1924.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45We know he... isn't married, or wasn't married.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48So we just need to find out if he's still alive, where he is,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52or if he's passed away, whether he did have any children out there.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Although this case has been privately referred to the company,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58there are no guarantees that it won't also be published
0:04:58 > 0:05:00on the Treasury Solicitor's bona vacantia list
0:05:00 > 0:05:02of unclaimed estates.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04So time is of the essence.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06And it's not long before they come up with a lead
0:05:06 > 0:05:08on Florence's brother, Francis.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12As it stands, it doesn't particularly
0:05:12 > 0:05:14look like a tricky case.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17I mean, it can be a bit more difficult to find somebody
0:05:17 > 0:05:20if they're close kin, if they're relatively elderly.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Sometimes someone drops off our databases if they're in a care home,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29or if they've emigrated overseas.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32But Ryan has managed to find a record for Francis.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36It dates back to 2004 and shows Francis living at the same address
0:05:36 > 0:05:40as his sister, Florence. And they never parted.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43June and Frank came here together in 2009.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Erm...and...
0:05:45 > 0:05:50And I joined The Bluebell about a couple of weeks after.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Francis had cared for June for many years,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58but when his health deteriorated, they've moved into care together.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01It's very sweet to have a brother and sister coming together.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Knowing that they've got each other to rely on.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07But sadly, Frank died a week after being here.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10I believe that they were very close
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and I believe that she was with him
0:06:13 > 0:06:15when he died and held his hand.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Back in the office, Ryan and the team
0:06:20 > 0:06:23are getting to grips with Francis's records.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27We can assume that he was probably a bachelor,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30if he was living with his sister for a lot of his life,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32but we're not sure. Erm...
0:06:32 > 0:06:36So it could be tricky, if we can't find him.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38We're hoping that we'll be able to,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41or maybe just find a death entry for him.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45And it isn't long before they locate some info.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49We've actually just found out that he died in 2009,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51in Portsmouth, which is the right area.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55We've done a marriage search, also, so we know that he died a bachelor.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58So we can draw a line under that and then we're going to start
0:06:58 > 0:07:01to look into the maternal and paternal families.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Using census records, Ryan and the team
0:07:05 > 0:07:08are able to establish that Florence's grandparents,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Francis Massey and Harriet Armstrong, had six children,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15including Florence's father, Francis Massey.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18The records also show that Florence's paternal family
0:07:18 > 0:07:20came from Chester.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It looks as though the Massey parents, the deceased grandparents,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26are alone in 1911, which suggests that
0:07:26 > 0:07:29the daughters and the son have all moved out.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Possibly married, so we're going to have to try and find out
0:07:32 > 0:07:34who each of the girls married
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and then find out if they have any children and go down from there.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Ryan begins to search the marriage indexes for Florence's aunt, Gladys.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45If we start with the youngest, we'll be able to find
0:07:45 > 0:07:47a cousin who may still be alive.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Fingers crossed.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51But they can't find a record of her,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54so the team begin to search the death indexes from 1890
0:07:54 > 0:07:56for people with that name.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Luckily, there was only a handful.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01One of the death entries that came up in that search
0:08:01 > 0:08:04was a Gladys Beatrice Newbold.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07So it could be that she's just
0:08:07 > 0:08:10dropped the A name during her lifetime.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Ryan searches the marriage index again
0:08:12 > 0:08:16using Gladys's new-found middle initial of A.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20There is a Gladys A Massey marrying a Henry J Newbold.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23It's in Lambeth, so it's not in Chester,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26but it seems as though the family may have moved around a little bit.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30And it transpires that whilst Gladys married her husband
0:08:30 > 0:08:32under the name Henry Newbold,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34just over a decade later,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37he would become one of the biggest stars of British wartime radio.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41And be known to millions of listeners by his stage name,
0:08:41 > 0:08:42Clay Keyes.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Clay Keyes was a fast talking,
0:08:45 > 0:08:46breezy kind of chap.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49He was a very pleasant man. Always dressed very smartly.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51I seem to remember, in fact, that...
0:08:51 > 0:08:55I seldom remember seeing him in anything other than a brown suit,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58rather similar to the jacket that I've got on today, in fact.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03During World War II, Clay Keyes was the host of a radio variety show
0:09:03 > 0:09:05called The Old Town Hall,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08which ran for a staggering 64 weeks in its first series.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Although Clay was known as a comedian,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18he was the host of The Old Town Hall programme,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20so there wasn't so much direct comedy from him.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Erm... The er...
0:09:23 > 0:09:26it was more introducing parts of the programme
0:09:26 > 0:09:28that would take part.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33A typical variety show was the cast
0:09:33 > 0:09:35with an orchestra sitting behind them.
0:09:35 > 0:09:3835 piece orchestra, in many cases.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40And there was always a singer in the programme.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Comedy tended to be more situation comedy,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46they were more scripted, of course.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48And they were acted.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Florence's aunt Gladys also played an important role
0:09:52 > 0:09:54in Clay's comedy shows.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58There was a sketch played by an actor named Richard Goolden
0:09:58 > 0:10:02called Old Ebenezer. He was supposed to be a night watchman.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05And they were scripted shows.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The scripts, in fact, were written by Gladys Keyes.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13And, eventually, when the Ebenezer sketches went out of favour,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17she became the actress and was Martha, the gossip carrier
0:10:17 > 0:10:20in following series of that programme.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The popular shows were broadcast from The Monseigneur,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27a converted news cinema in London
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and always in front of a live audience.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33There used to be a BBC ticket unit and people used to apply to
0:10:33 > 0:10:36that ticket unit for admission to the shows.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39And they were never at a loss to find an audience for them.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43And they used to flock to all the theatres that we were using,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46regardless of the fact that there were bombs dropping at times.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Wartime comedy radio shows played a huge part
0:10:50 > 0:10:53in boosting morale during times of hardship.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Audiences wanted them. To get out of the depression of the war,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01its starvation, its deaths.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04You couldn't be frivolous,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07other than listening to a radio programme.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11The power of radio during the war was tremendous.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Comedy sketches and variety shows
0:11:13 > 0:11:17became a permanent fixture on BBC radio after the war.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19And this can, in part, be put down to the success
0:11:19 > 0:11:23of Florence's Uncle Henry's famous sketch show.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26The BBC had changed during the war, completely.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Instead of being just educative, or serious all the time,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33it really thought that it ought to be a morale booster
0:11:33 > 0:11:35for the population.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And more and more comedy programmes were created.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Clay Keyes was valuable at the time,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43particularly with his programme The Old Town Hall.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46It was an incredible favourite programme.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Back in the office, discovering Gladys and Henry's marriage
0:11:53 > 0:11:56has given Ryan a much-needed lead.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58We're going to see if Gladys had any children.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00If one of them is still alive,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03hopefully, we'll be able to talk to them and they'll be able to say,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05"Yeah, my mum was from Chester," and, you know,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07"This was her background and history." Yeah.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12To speed things up, Ryan sets the rest of the team
0:12:12 > 0:12:17searching for possible descendants of Florence's other maternal aunts.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Was there a sister called Frances?
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- There's a Maud...- Mm.- ..in there, as well.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- She's actually Frances Maud... - And she's born 1880.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- OK.- She messes around with her name.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Oh, you've got her... So you've got a 1911.
0:12:30 > 0:12:321911, she was with Gladys.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35And the dad, Gordon and Lillian, as well.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- So we know Lillian was a spinster. - Yeah.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41But the search is quickly thrown into confusion
0:12:41 > 0:12:45as Florence's aunts seem to be listed under many different names.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- OK, Ryan, so Lillian Massey... - Yes.- The aunt.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52- What we've found out is that she was single in 1911.- Yep.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Did she drop her middle names?
0:12:55 > 0:12:58To Ryan's frustration, names have been swapped, dropped and changed
0:12:58 > 0:13:03making it impossible to find exact matches for Florence's aunts.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06So I think the only... Well, it might be the only answer is to check
0:13:06 > 0:13:09- all of those marriages, but that death is possible.- OK.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12- It's not exact, but it's possible. - I'm going to get the birth...
0:13:12 > 0:13:14and then we'll try and find a date.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16- Take it from there. OK. - Cheers, Tony.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20And as research continues,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22the search becomes ever more complicated
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and things don't quite work out the way Ryan wants.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27You're kind of going on your own steam
0:13:27 > 0:13:31and hoping that it's going to be a quick case.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Unfortunately, well, unfortunately for us,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36it was a more drawn-out process than we'd have hoped.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45The busy borough of Wimbledon, south-west London,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47was home to Nathan Barnett.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51He'd lived in London since he was born, in 1923.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54And throughout his life, Nathan worked as a civil servant,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56a bookseller and a librarian.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01He lived in a modest flat and was a popular figure with his neighbours.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05He was a very nice gentleman. Erm...
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Very upright, nicely dressed.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10And...
0:14:10 > 0:14:14always very pleasant when you met him.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Er...but very private.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18As neighbours go,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20very well-behaved and quiet.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22A reserved man, probably very good.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Going to church, doing the good deeds.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29He always went religiously to church.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And I think he was involved in the church, as well.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Nathan was a cultured man who liked to travel
0:14:36 > 0:14:38and catch plays and operas in the West End.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And he had a very striking appearance.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44He had lovely, lovely silver...
0:14:44 > 0:14:48grey hair. And it was so thick.
0:14:48 > 0:14:49Beautiful hair.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51And it was always neat and tidy.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58Sadly, Nathan passed away on 15th March 2012.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00A friend organised his funeral
0:15:00 > 0:15:02and he was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Brighton.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06But Nathan hadn't written a will,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08so his home was simply closed up and left.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14It was more than a year after his death that Nathan's case
0:15:14 > 0:15:18became known to London-based heir hunting firm, Fraser & Fraser.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24The case of Nathan's didn't really come from a usual source.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27One of the neighbours phoned up to say that there was an empty house,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30been left dormant for over a year in the street and asked
0:15:30 > 0:15:32if we could help sort it out.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35Cases are usually published
0:15:35 > 0:15:39on the Treasury Solicitor's bona vacantia list of unclaimed estates,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43but this wasn't one that the team had come across before.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47This situation's quite unusual, cos there was a friend of the deceased,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50who was dealing with his funeral and trying to sort out his affairs.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Now, unfortunately, they were a little lost about what to do
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and didn't really refer it to the council.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58In most situations, these properties get referred to the council
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and they sort them out, or pass it on to the Treasury Solicitor.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04So this is quite unusual with the family becoming lost
0:16:04 > 0:16:07in the paperwork and not having any of the authority
0:16:07 > 0:16:09to do any more work.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11On first inspection, it would seem
0:16:11 > 0:16:13that the property was owned by Nathan.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15This was good news for the heir hunters,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18as could make this a high-value case.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22We checked the Land Registry to see if his name was on the title deeds.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24For a surprise to us, it wasn't on the deeds.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27A gentleman by the name of Thomas Gibson Bell was on there,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31so it could have been possible the deceased was renting the property
0:16:31 > 0:16:33and it had been empty because the landlord
0:16:33 > 0:16:35hadn't done anything with it, so therefore,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37the case could have been not worth pursuing.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39So we needed to make a bit more of an investigation
0:16:39 > 0:16:41into who Thomas Gibson Bell was.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45This was a huge blow for the team.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47If Nathan had rented the property,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49then it wouldn't be worth pursuing.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52But they didn't give up that quickly.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56We had to have a look at the electoral register
0:16:56 > 0:16:58to see who Thomas Gibson Bell was and it appears
0:16:58 > 0:17:02that he was living with the deceased for a number of years.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03But he disappeared in 1986,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07which is usually an indication that a person has died.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Mike checked the death indexes for that year
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and confirmed that he had, indeed, passed away.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16The team then tracked down a will left by Thomas
0:17:16 > 0:17:18and was surprised by its instructions.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20When we got a copy of the will,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23we noticed that Nathan David Barnett was the heir to that will
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and, therefore, inherited most of his estate.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Now that they've confirmed that the property did, in fact,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32belong to Nathan, the search was on
0:17:32 > 0:17:36to find heirs to his estimated £330,000 estate.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39We discovered that Nathan was not married.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42And he never had any children.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44We then had to go backwards through the family
0:17:44 > 0:17:47to see if he had any brothers or sisters.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49That may be still alive.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51The team traced Nathan's birth record,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54which gave them his mother's maiden name.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56This information then allowed them
0:17:56 > 0:17:59to trace a marriage certificate for Nathan's parents.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Now, the names that we have are Barnett and Freedman.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Unfortunately, we couldn't locate a marriage record straight away
0:18:05 > 0:18:06as the parents of the deceased,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10the father's name was actually Lazarus Bronstein, not Barnett.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Nathan's father, Lazarus Bronstein,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17was born in Russia in the late 1800s.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20As a young man he, like almost two million others,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23were forced to flee their homeland.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25A large number of Jews arrived from Eastern Europe
0:18:25 > 0:18:28at the turn-of-the-century,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31because there were numerous pogroms against them.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34They were blamed for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36And, therefore,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41they left in very large numbers from the Russian Empire.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Lazarus made the long trip to the UK and settled in east London.
0:18:45 > 0:18:4895% of the population there were Jewish
0:18:48 > 0:18:51and Nathan's father stayed for many years.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53The Jews headed to London, because it was,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56of course, the largest city in the world at the time.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59It was the centre of the British Empire.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03In London, Nathan's grandfather met his wife, Annie Freedman,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05who had also fled from Russia.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Life for the Barnett family, as for all the Jewish immigrants
0:19:08 > 0:19:11at the turn of the century, would have been very hard indeed.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And the area was very dilapidated, with very few facilities.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17They would have lived something like 30 a house.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Erm...and they were exploited, not only by their employers,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24but by the landlords of these properties, as well.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Many Jewish immigrants from that time changed their names.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Lazarus would have changed his name from Bronstein to Barnett
0:19:33 > 0:19:35in the hope of an easier start.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39He wanted to appear Anglicised. He might have had reason to do it -
0:19:39 > 0:19:42reasons for finding employment or setting up a business.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45He would have found easier to be Anglicised.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Lazarus did find a job as a tailor.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51It was a semi-skilled job, which had opportunities to rise up the ladder.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55He worked on Berwick Street, in Soho, where the rag trade
0:19:55 > 0:19:57still thrives today.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Berwick Street became a major centre
0:20:00 > 0:20:02of Jewish tailoring in London.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I mean, the tailors really came over from the East End of London.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09There were very close links between Soho and the East End.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12And Berwick Street, really until the 1960s,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14remained an almost entirely Jewish street.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18It had kosher restaurants, Jewish-owned dress shops.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Eventually, the Jewish community began to move away
0:20:21 > 0:20:23from the East End of London.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Their main move came placed as a result of the Second World War.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30The borough of Stepney, which we're in now,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33was the most bombed borough in the whole of Britain,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37because of the docks and because of its proximity to the city of London.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39So a lot of the houses were destroyed.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Jewish people began to move to north-west London and Essex
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and very few are left in the East End today.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Jews wanted to improve themselves all the time.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52They wanted better conditions, better living conditions
0:20:52 > 0:20:55for themselves and their children. They wanted better schooling.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57So, inevitably, they moved out,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00particularly to Essex and most of the Jews who live in Essex now
0:21:00 > 0:21:02came from the East End of London.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Using the surname of Bronstein,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10the team were able to trace a marriage certificate
0:21:10 > 0:21:13for Lazarus and birth certificates for his children.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Records revealed that Lazarus Bronstein married Annie Freedman
0:21:17 > 0:21:21on 12th June 1904 in Whitechapel, London.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24And the couple went on to have eight children, including Nathan.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27This meant that Mike now had to track down
0:21:27 > 0:21:30these brothers and sisters of Nathan and their descendants.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34It made it slightly more difficult for us, because we weren't sure
0:21:34 > 0:21:37what names they were using when they were registering their children.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Now, if they were using a variation of names,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43then we'd have to check under quite a few different possibilities
0:21:43 > 0:21:46to make sure that we had the full extent of Nathan's family.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49And the team soon began to uncover more information
0:21:49 > 0:21:52about Nathan's nonconformist lifestyle.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54He was only a black sheep, like my mum,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57because they didn't follow the Jewish faith.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Every year in Britain, thousands of people
0:22:05 > 0:22:08get a surprise knock on the door from the heir hunters,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11who bring welcome news of an unexpected inheritance.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Obviously, I was surprised, cos I never expected anything like that.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Never had a call like it before, really.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19We were quite excited, but also sad,
0:22:19 > 0:22:24because neither of us had seen Barry for over 20 years.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26But there are still thousands of unsolved cases
0:22:26 > 0:22:29on the Treasury Solicitor's bona vacantia list,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31where heirs need to be found.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Could you be one of them?
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Today, we've got details of two estates on the list
0:22:36 > 0:22:37that are yet to be claimed.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42The first case is Leaford George Barrett,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45who died on 24th February 2013
0:22:45 > 0:22:48in Hackney, East London.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50He married Mary Doreen Hackworth
0:22:50 > 0:22:54in the same area on 21th June 1986.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59Leaford was widowed, when Mary passed away on 23th December 2004,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01when she was 80 years old.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06The name Barrett is a popular Anglo-Irish surname
0:23:06 > 0:23:09in both south-east England and south-west Ireland
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and is particularly prevalent in County Cork.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Does the name ring any bells with you?
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Do you have any clues that would help crack this case?
0:23:19 > 0:23:24Next, 74-year-old Bernard Edward Barton was born in Harrow, Middlesex
0:23:24 > 0:23:27on 11th September 1931.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31He died a bachelor on 5th September 2006
0:23:31 > 0:23:33in Colchester, Essex.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36The name Barton is a distinguished Anglo-Saxon name,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38meaning barley farm,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40and dates back to 942 AD.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Does the name Bernard Barton mean anything to you?
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Could you be the beneficiary they're looking for?
0:23:46 > 0:23:49If you know anything that could help solve the cases
0:23:49 > 0:23:52of Leaford George Barrett or Bernard Edward Barton,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55then you would need to make a claim on their estate
0:23:55 > 0:23:57via the Treasury Solicitor's office.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Perhaps you could be the next of kin.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03If so, you could have thousands of pounds coming your way.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Heir hunting company, Finders, and case manager Ryan Gregory,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17are hot on the trail of heirs
0:24:17 > 0:24:20to the £50,000 estate of Florence June Massey.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22She lived in The Bluebells Nursing Home in Portsmouth
0:24:22 > 0:24:25with her devoted brother Francis.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30When Francis sadly passed away, she became good friends with Dizzy Page.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34June and I had quite a special relationship
0:24:34 > 0:24:37because I spent a lot of one-to-one time with her.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41We'd go out for trips out and we'd spend a lot of time in her room,
0:24:41 > 0:24:47sitting and chatting. I will remember June as a special lady, yeah.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51We gelled and I felt like I was her friend
0:24:51 > 0:24:53and perhaps her only...
0:24:53 > 0:24:56person at the end.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00June and her brother Francis were inseparable.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Francis had devoted his life to June and was her sole carer right up
0:25:04 > 0:25:08until his death. Before then, they did everything together.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12I've been told that this park is where June and Frank used to walk
0:25:12 > 0:25:17and spend many happy hours here just walking round the park.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21To me, it's got a real nice feel to it and I can imagine them two
0:25:21 > 0:25:25having plenty of afternoons, great afternoons, yeah.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30I miss June and this is a very special place for her
0:25:30 > 0:25:35and I'm glad that I can be here today to think about her and Frank
0:25:35 > 0:25:38walking around and enjoying the sunshine here.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45It's been several months since Ryan
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and the team started searching for heirs to Florence's estate.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Having discovered her aunt Gladys married Henry Newbould
0:25:52 > 0:25:56in London in 1928, they've been able to trace the couple's only daughter.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01So, whilst we found one of these paternal cousins pretty early on
0:26:01 > 0:26:05in our research, we contacted her immediately. Unfortunately
0:26:05 > 0:26:09she wasn't able to provide us with much more information on the family.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Heirs can be a great source of information about other family
0:26:13 > 0:26:16members, sometimes saving the heir hunters hours,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18even weeks of complex research.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21But in this case, sadly things weren't that simple.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24It's frustrating for us when we contact the beneficiary quite
0:26:24 > 0:26:27quickly and they're not able to give us any more information.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30It just means that we have to go back to the drawing board
0:26:30 > 0:26:32and go through all the processes.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35The team continued their search for any other cousins
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Florence might have had on both her mother's
0:26:37 > 0:26:39and her father's side of the tree.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Florence's parents were Francis Massey and Gladys Pattie Dawson.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49According to their marriage certificate, Florence's father
0:26:49 > 0:26:52worked as a hallmarker at the Chester Assay Office.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Hallmarkers like Francis were responsible for authenticating
0:26:57 > 0:27:01every piece of silver, gold and platinum sold in Britain.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04The assaying of precious metals is just to guarantee
0:27:04 > 0:27:08a certain amount of precious metal within the alloy.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09So, for example, if you go out
0:27:09 > 0:27:13and you buy a piece of sterling silver product off the marketplace,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16you know it's made up of 92.5% silver
0:27:16 > 0:27:19and the other part is copper, simple as that.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Hallmarking dates back to the 1300s
0:27:22 > 0:27:25when Edward I of England passed a law requiring any item
0:27:25 > 0:27:30made of silver which was for sale to be at least equal quality
0:27:30 > 0:27:31to that of the coin of the realm.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36When items were passed by the wardens of the Goldsmiths company,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40they received the king's mark of authentication, the hallmark.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Ours have obviously got the leopard's head, for London.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Chester would have had its own town mark,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47which was a sword and the wheat sheaves.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50And then the date letter for that specific year.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53So, since 1478, each year, appropriate year,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56has had its own date letter, primarily, so you can date
0:27:56 > 0:27:59a piece to a very specific period of time.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03This series of marks, once applied, gave the articles full
0:28:03 > 0:28:07provenance and were the oldest form of consumer protection.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Florence's father was working at the assay office in 1912 which
0:28:11 > 0:28:15would have been a busy time as silver goods were in high demand.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Throughout... Especially in the 1900s,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20the product that would probably have been hitting Chester
0:28:20 > 0:28:23more than anything else would have been watch cases
0:28:23 > 0:28:26coming in, still, from Liverpool and Coventry and those
0:28:26 > 0:28:29sort of areas, from mass exportation, primarily,
0:28:29 > 0:28:31to the colonies.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34My own pocket watch, which I wear on a regular occasion,
0:28:34 > 0:28:38is actually hallmarked for 1907 and, funnily enough,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41it's actually a Chester hallmark.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Demand for silver goods reached its peak during the Victorian era.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49There was so much product wanted by the consumer at that period of time,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51it was really a first buzz of the consumerism
0:28:51 > 0:28:55that we are all now used to. The Victorians especially had just
0:28:55 > 0:28:58an accoutrement for just about everything that you went through
0:28:58 > 0:29:02from eating your breakfast, i.e. to silver toast racks,
0:29:02 > 0:29:04right through to when you went to bed
0:29:04 > 0:29:07with silver hot water bottles and things like that.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11But the 20th century brought cheaper imports and changing lifestyles
0:29:11 > 0:29:15and the demand for silver goods began to decline.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Primarily fuelled by, obviously,
0:29:17 > 0:29:21people not wanting product any more, things slowly went out of fashion.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Tastes changed massively.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25And because of that, obviously,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28closures of assay offices followed suit.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31The Chester Assay Office closed its doors in 1962,
0:29:31 > 0:29:36ending almost 200 years of its hallmarking history.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40Chester hallmarks are becoming increasingly more popular
0:29:40 > 0:29:43and more collectable as they've become rarer, obviously,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45since the assay office closed in 1962.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Although Ryan and the team had uncovered interesting
0:29:50 > 0:29:53information about Florence's deceased relatives,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57they were still struggling to find more heirs to her estate.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00They were trying to track down descendants of her aunt Mildred,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03the youngest of her father's five siblings.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06The line of Mildred Massey was probably the most complicated line
0:30:06 > 0:30:10that we had to research on the whole family tree.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13We had a few situations happen that does make our research
0:30:13 > 0:30:15a little bit more difficult.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18One of them being that Mildred actually married twice,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21so we're dealing with change of surname through marriage.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23The team had found that Florence's
0:30:23 > 0:30:25aunt Mildred had a daughter, Maude,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28with her first husband, William Newton.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31In 1910, she married a James Faulks Lowe
0:30:31 > 0:30:33and went on to have another four children.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37They were all first cousins once removed and they,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41or their descendants, would be heirs to her estate.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44One of the Lowe children was a Francis Lowe,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47he was the last born of that family.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51We found a marriage for him. We then did a birth search
0:30:51 > 0:30:54in order to find out how many children he had
0:30:54 > 0:30:56and one of those was Peter Lowe.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Francis Lowe had two children, a daughter and a son, Peter,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03who were Florence's first cousins once removed.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05And Peter recalls the moment
0:31:05 > 0:31:07he first heard from the heir hunters.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10It was just a normal morning, I was looking at the post
0:31:10 > 0:31:12and there was this letter from heir hunters
0:31:12 > 0:31:15and I passed it over to Janet for her to have a look at.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18I didn't really think a great deal of it and then a few minutes later,
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Janet said, "I think you'd better read this." And it was the way,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25the tone of her voice that made me prick my ears up, actually.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Peter and his wife already have an interest in genealogy.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36Well, we know quite a lot about my paternal side through Janet's
0:31:36 > 0:31:39researches over the last 20, 30 years. So, erm...
0:31:39 > 0:31:43But it still came as a surprise to find that we hadn't got
0:31:43 > 0:31:46everybody. I'd never heard of the name Florence Massey,
0:31:46 > 0:31:48it was a complete mystery to me.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52The couple had built up a huge catalogue of their relatives
0:31:52 > 0:31:55from Peter's grandfather's side of the family
0:31:55 > 0:31:58but his grandmother's side needed more investigating.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05I went on the internet and found her death and from that I was
0:32:05 > 0:32:10able to piece together where she'd come from, which part of the family.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14Florence is here on the map...
0:32:16 > 0:32:19..and her father was Gordon Massey...
0:32:20 > 0:32:24..and her mother was Gladys Pattie Dawson.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Contact from the heir hunters was the first time
0:32:28 > 0:32:31they'd heard of a relative named Florence.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35I was a little bit sad to think that she'd died without, apparently,
0:32:35 > 0:32:36anybody being around so...
0:32:36 > 0:32:40It's always sad that... A sad, lonely death.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45So, obviously, I'm pleased to be a beneficiary but I do feel
0:32:45 > 0:32:47a little bit of sadness that it ended,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49from her point of view, as it did.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53But the news did allow these keen genealogists
0:32:53 > 0:32:57to conclude 30 years of research and complete their family tree.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01I've learned an awful lot more about my paternal side.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04It's been very exciting, very interesting
0:33:04 > 0:33:07and we've found quite a lot of very surprising facts
0:33:07 > 0:33:11and some quite intriguing information
0:33:11 > 0:33:15about various members that we would never have known otherwise.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Peter isn't the only one who waited a long time to wrap up his research.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22In the end, this case took the heir hunters
0:33:22 > 0:33:24almost six months to complete.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29The case of Florence June Massey was a real example of a case
0:33:29 > 0:33:32that you need patience and persistence in order to push through
0:33:32 > 0:33:36all the research and find all the heirs that are entitled.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Many of Florence's older relatives changed or dropped their names.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Her aunt Mildred married twice creating a complicated tree.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47And the first heir the team located was unable to confirm
0:33:47 > 0:33:49or add to any of their findings.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53This run of bad luck led to a challenging six months but
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Ryan and his team finally brought the case of Florence June Massey
0:33:56 > 0:33:58to a pleasing end.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00All in all, there was 26 heirs to this case
0:34:00 > 0:34:03which is a large number for us to get through.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05It was a really good case for us to crack.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07We managed to contact all the beneficiaries
0:34:07 > 0:34:10without coming across any competition which is great for us.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19At heir-hunting company, Fraser & Fraser,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22case manager Mike Pow has been tracking down heirs
0:34:22 > 0:34:27to Nathan Barnett's estate, which he believed to be around £330,000.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31The team had discovered that Nathan was one of eight children,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34born to his Jewish parents, Lazarus and Annie Bronstein.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37They changed their name to Barnett after
0:34:37 > 0:34:40moving from Russia in the late 1800s and it seems that this
0:34:40 > 0:34:44pattern was repeated throughout the next generation.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46With some of the children, it was slightly difficult
0:34:46 > 0:34:49because they'd changed their names to something that
0:34:49 > 0:34:52kind of resembled the name but wasn't their name.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Something from Sully to Sydney is going to cause problems
0:34:55 > 0:34:59when we're trying to look for marriages and death records.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03However, one sister of Nathan's was relatively easy to trace.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10Bessie Barnett was born in 1921 into the strong Jewish community
0:35:10 > 0:35:12of Stepney, East London.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17But in her early 20s, she was to embark on a career that would
0:35:17 > 0:35:20set her apart from her traditional Jewish roots
0:35:20 > 0:35:24when she became a dancer at Soho's infamous Windmill club.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27The Windmill, for me, is really our version of the Moulin Rouge.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31In 1932, in order to revitalise their shows, the owner
0:35:31 > 0:35:34of the Windmill came up with the idea of having
0:35:34 > 0:35:36nudes on the British stage.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Now, this had never been done before
0:35:38 > 0:35:42and so they had to approach the Lord Chamberlain to ask permission.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46So, the Lord Chamberlain agreed but under three stipulations.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49And that was that the ladies were never allowed to move,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52that they had to be presented in an artistic fashion
0:35:52 > 0:35:55and that they had to perform with very subdued lighting.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59So, in this way, they managed to have, for the first time,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01full nudes on the British stage.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06The Windmill shows caused a sensation.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08Not surprisingly, they were a huge hit
0:36:08 > 0:36:10with the soldiers of World War II.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13But they also drew in some of London's finest.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15For Bessie, in the 1950s, it would
0:36:15 > 0:36:19have been worlds apart from the family life she left behind.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23The shows were attended by the aristocracy, by politicians,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27by ordinary people, by celebrities, and they went wild for this idea.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29It wasn't just the nude tableaus.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32The Windmill launched the career of some amazing comedians,
0:36:32 > 0:36:36had some amazing variety artists, so it became a massive favourite,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39particularly during the war, for the soldiers.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42BURLESQUE PIANO MUSIC PLAYS
0:36:42 > 0:36:45But the excitement of something different would sometimes
0:36:45 > 0:36:48bring out the mischievous side of the soldiers who would
0:36:48 > 0:36:51go to the theatre with mice in their pockets.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54They used to place the mice on the floor in the hope that
0:36:54 > 0:36:56they would scuttle onto the stage
0:36:56 > 0:36:59and scare the Windmill girls into moving and running around whilst
0:36:59 > 0:37:03they were nude, which, of course, they weren't allowed to do.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09These exciting new shows helped the Windmill become an unlikely
0:37:09 > 0:37:12symbol of London's wartime resilience.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16They never closed during the war and, especially, during the Blitz.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19And even during the 12-day period of compulsory closure for all
0:37:19 > 0:37:23theatres, the Windmill company kept rehearsing,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27so their slogan became, "We never closed."
0:37:27 > 0:37:30At this time, the Blitz would have brought out
0:37:30 > 0:37:33the fighting spirit in Bessie.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37Girls like Bessie must have been real characters, I think,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39to have that strength and that zeal,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42that commitment to really want to seize the moment,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45which is very much a Blitz spirit, particularly in Soho.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48You wouldn't know what was going to happen tomorrow.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50She must have been a very vibrant person,
0:37:50 > 0:37:55a very exciting person and, erm, I think really embodies that
0:37:55 > 0:38:00kind of fun, exuberant spirit of the Blitz, really, and of London.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06For many years, the Windmill continued to do a roaring trade
0:38:06 > 0:38:08but with the rise of the more liberated '60s,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12it was seen as dated and it eventually closed.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16Today, it's reopened and is trading very clearly on its risque past.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23Back in the office, things were also about to get more
0:38:23 > 0:38:25revealing for heir hunter Mike Pow.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29We found out that, out of the eight siblings,
0:38:29 > 0:38:31including Nathan, six of them had married.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37And although they'd all predeceased, they all seem to have had children.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42The team found that many of Nathan's nieces and nephews were still alive.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45They tracked them down and contacted each person individually.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Some of the first heirs that Mike got in contact with were
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Nathan's nieces, Gloria and Penny,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56both daughters of Windmill dancer Bessie.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00The sisters lost touch with their uncle when their mum died in 1998
0:39:00 > 0:39:05and didn't know he had passed away until the heir hunters got in touch.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10I felt really sad but mainly because...
0:39:10 > 0:39:12I thought that he was alone
0:39:12 > 0:39:15and we hadn't been informed.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18And I felt sad because of my mum too because it was her favourite...
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Well, it was her youngest brother and they were really close.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26So, immediately, we just wanted to find out why and where
0:39:26 > 0:39:31and where he was buried, so that we could do that for our mum.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35Gloria hadn't seen her uncle for many, many years.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38But he certainly left a lasting impression.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43My last memory of my uncle was probably...was when I was a child
0:39:43 > 0:39:47at a funeral and my memories of him
0:39:47 > 0:39:50are always that he was like a 1920s film star.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55And he reminded me of someone out...
0:39:55 > 0:39:58You know, like, the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, you know,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00that style, sort of thing.
0:40:00 > 0:40:06I just really remember him as being very tall, very handsome...
0:40:06 > 0:40:10and sparkly eyes.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16Gloria's sister, Penny, had more recent memories of her uncle.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18I did have a chance meeting with him
0:40:18 > 0:40:22in St James's Park one day in my lunch hour
0:40:22 > 0:40:27and I recognised him immediately by his hair, the family hair,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31the grey hair. And he was very tall and elegant and well-dressed,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35how I'd always remembered him, and how my mum had always
0:40:35 > 0:40:38spoken of him... That was what he was like.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42So, I stopped him and he knew immediately who I was
0:40:42 > 0:40:45and we had a long chat and sat down on a bench
0:40:45 > 0:40:50and then we went our separate ways and, you know, so...
0:40:50 > 0:40:53That's my last memory of my uncle Nat.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Like Penny's mum, Bessie, Nathan broke away from the family
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and didn't have much contact with them.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05I think he was only a black sheep, like my mum,
0:41:05 > 0:41:09because they didn't follow the Jewish faith, they both left...
0:41:09 > 0:41:12I think it came from their childhood.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16My uncle Nat may have felt a bit of pressure
0:41:16 > 0:41:19when he was younger to conform to the Jewish faith...
0:41:20 > 0:41:24..and it probably made him rebel as he got older.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28He was very flamboyant character, he was very well travelled,
0:41:28 > 0:41:31very well educated.
0:41:31 > 0:41:36He had his partner, Tom, that he lived with and he travelled
0:41:36 > 0:41:40round the world with him and they had a lovely lifestyle and...
0:41:41 > 0:41:45That way, I do think he was also born before his time
0:41:45 > 0:41:48because his generation wouldn't have been
0:41:48 > 0:41:53so open as he was about his sexuality, so I'm really
0:41:53 > 0:41:56pleased he was able to live his life how we wanted to live it.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Once Mike and the team had contacted all of the heirs,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05they were then able to access Nathan's property where
0:42:05 > 0:42:08they discovered one last surprise.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Because we search the property thoroughly,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15we often find different assets, bank accounts.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18This case, though, we were stunned.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21£200,000 was left in Nathan's bank accounts.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23That's a huge amount of money. It takes the whole value
0:42:23 > 0:42:26of this estate to well over £500,000.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32In total, the 13 heirs that the team traced are now entitled
0:42:32 > 0:42:34to their share of Nathan's estate,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37valued at over £500,000.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42But for Penny and her own family, this hasn't been about the money.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46We're much happier now we know that he had a nice funeral with
0:42:46 > 0:42:52friends that attended and he had a Catholic ceremony, which he would
0:42:52 > 0:42:56have loved, and he'd love where he was buried, it's a beautiful place.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59So we're a lot happier about that.