0:00:02 > 0:00:04Alistair Richards was Cornish through and through...
0:00:04 > 0:00:06He was just a lovely man.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08..but the heir hunters are in Hertfordshire,
0:00:08 > 0:00:11in search of a missing link to his estate.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13It's an area where the children were born. To me,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15that looks pretty strong as a correct address.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Well, the neighbours have told me
0:00:17 > 0:00:20that she works part-time and may be back in about half an hour.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22And, on another case,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26drawing up a tree means a family's long-forgotten secrets are revealed.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30The census showed us that the deceased's father had many siblings
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and when we tried to find their birth records we found out
0:00:32 > 0:00:37that one of them was the illegitimate daughter of the paternal grandmother.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40It's all in a day's work for the heir hunters.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Coming up -
0:00:52 > 0:00:54the heir hunters' work leads us
0:00:54 > 0:00:56to the hardships of the Victorian workhouse...
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Victorian life could be so challenging that, if you're poor,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04pregnant and alone in the 1870s, the prospect of a clean bed,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07a reliable meal and a roof over your head could begin
0:01:07 > 0:01:09to look like quite an attractive option.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12..and a Roman Catholic priest's legacy takes us back
0:01:12 > 0:01:15to Manchester when it was known as the Cottonopolis.
0:01:15 > 0:01:171913 was the peak of the industry.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21There were about 624,000 people employed and at that point
0:01:21 > 0:01:25it was producing eight billion yards of fabric.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26And we'll be giving you details
0:01:26 > 0:01:29of some of the hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of estates
0:01:29 > 0:01:31that are still to be claimed.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?
0:01:41 > 0:01:44In the London offices of heir-hunting company Finders,
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Senior Case Manager Ryan Gregory and the team are hard at work.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53I'm just back from a two-week break, back in the office today.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56We've opened a new case in the last few days so I'm just taking
0:01:56 > 0:02:00a bit of time to get my head around the names involved,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04what research needs to be done and where we need to go from here.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10This is the case of a gentleman called Alistair Newton Richards.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12He was from St Austell in Cornwall.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17The only information that we've been provided is that he died in May 2012,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19he was a bachelor without issue.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23We've been told that he didn't have any brothers and sisters.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29One thing that the team do know is Alistair Richards' last address.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32He lived in this stone-built terraced cottage in the village
0:02:32 > 0:02:36of St Dennis, at the heart of the beautiful Cornish countryside.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Alistair lived by himself but was obviously highly sociable.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43I remember him as a bubbly person,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47a very smart dresser. He joined in
0:02:47 > 0:02:50everything in the village and he was very clever.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53He could put his hand to anything, really. Really talented.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Well, his baking mostly was his talent and he did work
0:02:57 > 0:03:02a while for the baker's that is no longer here in the village.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Then he would enter into the shows that we had
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and win prizes for his knitting and his baking.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16I've been working here at the chip shop for 33 years now.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Alistair was a very regular customer.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22A few years ago, he started coming in every evening -
0:03:22 > 0:03:25you could time your watch by him.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28He would have his meal, then we were sharing jokes and news
0:03:28 > 0:03:31and he enjoyed that.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35And, as is so often the case in a small community,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39the church was at the heart of Alistair's life.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Mostly, we got friendly through the church.
0:03:42 > 0:03:49We'd have fun, he'd see the funny side of everything, and we used to
0:03:49 > 0:03:53talk about anything and I could say anything to him, so I miss that.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55He was just a lovely man.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Yes, that's how I'll always remember him. Yes.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Sadly, Alistair passed away on 3rd May 2012.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08He was 59 years old and left no will.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12The heir hunters have been given his case by a firm of local solicitors.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15They were informed of Alistair's death by a cousin
0:04:15 > 0:04:19on his mother's side, Douglas Rider.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Alistair and I were pretty close when we were growing up.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25He lived in St Dennis and I lived in Wadebridge,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28which is a distance of 15 miles apart, but during the summer
0:04:28 > 0:04:31I used to go over and just visit him.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Alistair idolised my daughters and used to teach them to cook as well.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38He made my youngest daughter's wedding cake.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40He did a fantastic job -
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I didn't think a professional could have done it better.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49The way I like to remember Alistair is he was kind to other people
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and helpful.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55After Alistair died, Douglas was able to tell the solicitors
0:04:55 > 0:04:58all he could about Alistair's mother's side of the family.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01I've got a cousin which lives in Southend
0:05:01 > 0:05:04and a cousin who lives in Amesbury in Wiltshire
0:05:04 > 0:05:10and also there was a Karen Ferguson, which I hadn't seen for...years,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13somewhere, but I didn't know where.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14Since taking on the case,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Ryan has known of the names that Douglas provided
0:05:17 > 0:05:21but he and his team still have to start their heir hunt from scratch.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23And even, you know, if you're given information -
0:05:23 > 0:05:28whatever the source is - we like to verify it and independently
0:05:28 > 0:05:33go through the records and just cross-reference everything.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Ryan's team have quickly managed to establish that Alistair
0:05:36 > 0:05:39never married nor had any children,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42so they must now deal with finding any potential siblings
0:05:42 > 0:05:44and start building the family trees.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46This is the fun bit, trying to figure out how much paper
0:05:46 > 0:05:49you think you might need on one side of the family.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52I'm hoping that two A3 sheets might be enough.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54By studying Alistair's birth certificate,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Ryan easily traces the parents - James Alfred Richards
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and Margery Watters, who both died many years ago.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Ryan finds no details of any further children
0:06:04 > 0:06:07so he moves up the family tree to see if he can find
0:06:07 > 0:06:11the aunts and uncles who could be parents of possible beneficiaries.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13What I want to focus on today
0:06:13 > 0:06:16is the deceased's maternal side of the family.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18His mum was called Margery Watters
0:06:18 > 0:06:23and it's that Watters family that I'm going to be having a look into.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26He soon establishes that Margery's parents were Fred Watters
0:06:26 > 0:06:31and Alice Mennear and they married in St Austell in 1904.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35By checking the 1911 census and the birth indexes, Ryan discovers
0:06:35 > 0:06:39that Alistair's mother Margery was one of eight children.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Four passed away in childhood and another brother, William,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45died a bachelor in 1986.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Margery's sister Ivy had one son,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Douglas, who brought the case
0:06:49 > 0:06:51to the solicitors. Her other sister,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Mabel, had three children.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57It hasn't taken us too long to rule out beneficiaries
0:06:57 > 0:07:01on two of the lines. There's another line which does have one heir.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05I've verified his claim but the main line of the family
0:07:05 > 0:07:10that we're interested in at the moment is that of Mabel Watters.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13She married Francis Perryman.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16The solicitors are in touch with two of Mabel's children
0:07:16 > 0:07:21but there is a granddaughter of Mabel that we need to try and trace.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24When he first received this case, Ryan was given the name
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Karen Ferguson by Alistair's cousin Douglas, who knew of her existence
0:07:28 > 0:07:30but not where she lived.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Through the records, Ryan discovers that Karen married
0:07:33 > 0:07:38in Hertfordshire in 1982 and has two children
0:07:38 > 0:07:40but, in order to find her, he's getting help
0:07:40 > 0:07:43from another colleague, Amy Moyes.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Her name is quite common,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50or it is now that she's married into a Ferguson family,
0:07:50 > 0:07:56so I've got her name, her husband, she has a couple of children,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00so I'm just going to have a look on some of our databases in-house.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Quite often, we'll use social media as one of the many methods
0:08:04 > 0:08:08we have to try and locate someone, particularly if we've got a teenager
0:08:08 > 0:08:12or one of the heirs has teenage children.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15As Amy continues her hunt, Ryan turns his attention
0:08:15 > 0:08:18to Alistair's father's side of the family.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21The paternal side isn't finished at the moment,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24there's still a few people that I need to have a look into.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28It looks as though there's four active stems on the paternal side,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30not counting the deceased's father,
0:08:30 > 0:08:37so there's three aunts and one uncle who have living descendants.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39One of those is completed already.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44The stem of Richard Richards, we need to try and find heirs on.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Alistair's father, James Richards,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50was one of eight children born to Samuel and Catherine.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Like many living in the area,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55including Alistair's maternal grandfather, Fred Watters,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58James and his brother Richard were employed as clay labourers
0:08:58 > 0:09:00in the china clay pits.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04China clay initially started its life
0:09:04 > 0:09:07in the United Kingdom as THE ingredient to produce porcelain.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10As time progressed,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13it was found that clay could be used to improve the whiteness
0:09:13 > 0:09:14and the smoothness of paper,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18it could be used in the manufacturing of paint, rubber,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22plastics, sealants, adhesives, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25So, probably every day, unwittingly,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28we either touch or even consume china clay.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33As the china clay industry took off, the need for a workforce grew
0:09:33 > 0:09:37and a community of small villages emerged around the pits.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42The industry has been in Cornwall since 1746, so over 260 years,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and it initially was very modest.
0:09:45 > 0:09:51In the year 1800, only 2,000 tonnes were produced
0:09:51 > 0:09:55but by 1900 half a million tonnes was being produced.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58It was at the turn of the 20th century that Alistair's
0:09:58 > 0:10:01maternal grandfather, Fred Watters, was working in the pits,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04when it would have been incredibly hard work.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Alistair's grandfather would have come up when everything was
0:10:07 > 0:10:12basically handled with a shovel and even the rock was hand-trammed.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14It was basically all manual labour.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18By the late 1920s, when Alistair's father started work
0:10:18 > 0:10:21in the clay pits, working practices had changed.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Really, within the space of a decade almost, we went from
0:10:25 > 0:10:29hands-on manual labour to the beginning of mechanisation.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34St Dennis is one of 12 clay villages and the so-called clay villages
0:10:34 > 0:10:39grew up around the industry and there's a huge sense of community.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43The most Cornish of Cornish people will be found
0:10:43 > 0:10:44in what we will call Clay Country.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50As Ryan gets to work tracking down Alistair's father's family,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Amy has made some headway with her investigation
0:10:52 > 0:10:56into Karen Ferguson, the missing heir on Alistair's mother's side.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59There is a possible Hertfordshire address for her.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05- That would be a recently married daughter.- Yeah,
0:11:05 > 0:11:06maybe she's married, yeah.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09We have several databases in-house.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14They cross-reference electoral rolls with other sorts of information
0:11:14 > 0:11:17and so I used two of those combined to double-check.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22It gave me a hit on dates of birth, both for the missing heir
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and for her daughter, and the area...
0:11:24 > 0:11:27it's an area where the children were born
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and the missing heir also married in that area so, to me,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33that looks pretty strong as a correct address. Unfortunately,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35it's ex-directory - no telephone number.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39As Karen can't be reached by phone,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42the team send someone to visit her in person.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43Hi, Peter?
0:11:43 > 0:11:47I was just wondering if you would be free to do a visit today.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Peter George is one of the company's travelling researchers
0:11:50 > 0:11:52out on the road.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55It's his job to make enquiries, collect certificates
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and, crucially, visit and sign up heirs.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Ryan is sending Peter to the address that Amy has tracked down
0:12:03 > 0:12:04in the hope of finding Karen.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09But as he arrives at the given address...
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Well, there's a car there so I may be lucky.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18..he still doesn't know for sure if Karen Ferguson lives here.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21If no-one is in then his visit could be in vain
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and the team at the office would again be under pressure
0:12:24 > 0:12:25to track her down.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27DOG BARKS
0:12:33 > 0:12:36When there's no response at the house, Peter goes next door
0:12:36 > 0:12:39to see if he can glean any information from the neighbours.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42OK. Will she be back soon, do you think, or...?
0:12:42 > 0:12:44There is a car in the drive...
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The neighbour confirms that Karen does live here.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Well, the neighbours have told me that she works part-time
0:12:50 > 0:12:54and may be back in about half an hour, so...
0:12:54 > 0:12:56It's probably worth hanging about but I'll report back
0:12:56 > 0:12:58to the office anyway.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03And Peter settles down for a key part of his job -
0:13:03 > 0:13:04waiting.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Sometimes, the search for heirs can turn up fascinating tales
0:13:15 > 0:13:18of long-forgotten family histories
0:13:18 > 0:13:20and our next case does just that.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25The estate of William Hunt was taken on by Fraser & Fraser's
0:13:25 > 0:13:29case manager Ben Cornish back in 2013, when it was advertised on
0:13:29 > 0:13:32the Duchy of Lancaster's unclaimed estates list.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35The Duchy of Lancaster is very similar to
0:13:35 > 0:13:38the Bona Vacantia department of the Treasury Solicitor
0:13:38 > 0:13:41but its cases relate solely to people who have passed away
0:13:41 > 0:13:43in the County of Lancashire.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46When the estate was advertised by the Duchy of Lancaster,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51we were given a date, the place of death and the value of the estate.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55With the estate valued at an estimated £26,000,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Ben knew that he needed to work fast.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01So, armed with William Hunt's date and place of death,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03he began his research.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06So, this is the death certificate of William Hunt.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09It shows his occupation as Roman Catholic priest
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and his last known address.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13It gives us information such as place of birth,
0:14:13 > 0:14:14which is good, so we can find a birth record
0:14:14 > 0:14:17for them to be able to do the further genealogy,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and the fact that it mentions that he's a Roman Catholic priest
0:14:20 > 0:14:23suggests to us that he wasn't married so we don't have to then
0:14:23 > 0:14:25look for records of a William Hunt
0:14:25 > 0:14:27potentially marrying somewhere in Manchester.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Father William Hunt passed away on 8th November 2005
0:14:33 > 0:14:35in Longsight, Manchester.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39He was born just down the road in Salford in 1926.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45His lifelong friend, Canon Kevin O'Connor, knew him simply as Bill.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Bill was a very pleasant character
0:14:50 > 0:14:53but he was also quite a shy man
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and a very quiet individual.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01Even from being a youngster, Bill was a devout young man
0:15:01 > 0:15:07and displayed all the signs of being serious about
0:15:07 > 0:15:10wanting to study for the priesthood.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Bill was quite academic and for that reason
0:15:14 > 0:15:20was sent to study at the seminary at the English College in Rome.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23William spent six years training at the seminary in Rome
0:15:23 > 0:15:27and was ordained into the priesthood in 1951.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30On returning to Manchester, he became an assistant priest,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34which is when parishioner Jim Rowan first encountered him.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37When I first met Father Hunt, I was greatly impressed
0:15:37 > 0:15:42by his whole bearing. He was obviously a gentleman.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47I would say that Father Hunt's faith was him, basically,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50because he was completely selfless.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54William served 17 years as assistant priest in three parishes
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and finally achieved his dream in 1970,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00when he became parish priest of St Anne's Church
0:16:00 > 0:16:02in the Manchester district of Ancoats.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Father Hunt epitomised for me what a priest should be -
0:16:06 > 0:16:10he was dedicated, he was always available
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and, with all the strains and stresses of being a parish priest,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17he was always approachable.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19You know, and I think that's his testimony.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24He was very happy as a priest,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28always, and content with what he was doing.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31He was a lovely character, Bill.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36For heir hunter Ben Cornish, discovering that William Hunt
0:16:36 > 0:16:39was a priest placed a seed of doubt in his mind.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42When I discovered that the deceased was a priest,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45it was a little unusual because I've always been
0:16:45 > 0:16:49under the impression that when a Roman Catholic priest passes away,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52whatever estate he would have would go back into the Church
0:16:52 > 0:16:56so I was a little bit surprised that this was an actual case.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00But Ben soon established that the priest's estate would only have gone
0:17:00 > 0:17:03to the Church if he had made them the beneficiaries in a will,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06and Father Hunt never made a will, so Ben moved forward
0:17:06 > 0:17:09with his enquiries, in the knowledge that this was indeed
0:17:09 > 0:17:11an intestacy case.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14This is the family tree of William Hunt.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19We can see here that he's born on 3rd July 1926 in Salford.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21We would have initially looked for that birth record
0:17:21 > 0:17:27and from that birth record we would have noted his full name
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and his mother's maiden name.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31When we have that birth record,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35we would then look for his parents' marriage.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Now, his parents are William Hunt and Mary Walsh
0:17:37 > 0:17:41and they married in 1924 in Barton-upon-Irwell.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44As we knew that William Hunt was a Roman Catholic priest,
0:17:44 > 0:17:48we assumed that he wasn't married
0:17:48 > 0:17:50but that had to be confirmed later on
0:17:50 > 0:17:52so we would think there are no...
0:17:52 > 0:17:54There's no spouse, there's no children
0:17:54 > 0:17:56so we would look for any siblings
0:17:56 > 0:17:59from the point of when his parents married forward.
0:17:59 > 0:18:05We found two - Joseph Hunt, born in 1928, and Mary A Hunt, born in 1930.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10We soon discovered that both Joseph and Mary had passed away in infancy.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13His brother Joseph died at the age of seven
0:18:13 > 0:18:16and his sister Mary died just days after her birth.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19This meant that Ben would now have to search for heirs
0:18:19 > 0:18:22through any siblings of Father William's parents,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24William Hunt and Mary Walsh.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28When we discovered there were no near kin, my heart did sink a bit
0:18:28 > 0:18:33because the name Hunt is a very difficult name to research.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37It's one of the most common names. And the other name was Walsh,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40which equally - although not as common as Hunt -
0:18:40 > 0:18:42is still quite a common name.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46We had to find the deceased's parents' birth certificates.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Now, on the marriage certificate of the deceased's parents,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52we would have their approximate ages and who their fathers were,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55so that is something that we will use,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58that information we will use to try and find their birth records.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Once we found the father of the deceased's birth certificate,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03we were then able to establish who his parents were
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and from that point we can see whether there are any brothers
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and sisters of the deceased's father.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11These descendants would be the heirs under intestacy.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Michael Hunt and Catherine Martin
0:19:15 > 0:19:18were the parents of William's father, also called William.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22He was the youngest of 11 children in the family.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Ben had found their details on the 1901 Census
0:19:25 > 0:19:29but on closer inspection he discovered something quite unexpected.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32The census showed was that the deceased's father
0:19:32 > 0:19:35had many siblings, and when we tried to find their birth records
0:19:35 > 0:19:38we found out that one of them was the illegitimate daughter
0:19:38 > 0:19:41of the paternal grandmother.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44She was Mary Jane Martin.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Mary Jane Martin was registered as being born to Catherine Martin,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52in Barton-upon-Irwell workhouse in 1876.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55A workhouse was not the start in life that anyone would have wanted
0:19:55 > 0:19:58but it was also not quite as bad an option for a pregnant mother
0:19:58 > 0:20:00as it might appear.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02It's very easy to think about our own sentiments
0:20:02 > 0:20:04about going in to a workhouse and feeling
0:20:04 > 0:20:07oppressed, ashamed, lacking in privacy,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11but Victorian life could be so challenging that, if you're poor,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15pregnant and alone in the 1870s, the prospect of a clean bed,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18a reliable meal - albeit not a very tasty one - and a roof
0:20:18 > 0:20:22over your head could begin to look like quite an attractive option.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25From the mid-19th century, campaigners
0:20:25 > 0:20:28including Florence Nightingale pushed for the inclusion
0:20:28 > 0:20:30of medical care within workhouses.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Considered by some to be the tentative beginnings of the NHS,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37it took many years to implement across the country,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39but in 1876,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41when a heavily pregnant Catherine Martin
0:20:41 > 0:20:44entered Barton-upon-Irwell workhouse,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48she knew that she and her baby would be looked after.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Entry to a workhouse specifically for maternity purposes
0:20:51 > 0:20:54could make sense, because to have an unattended birth
0:20:54 > 0:20:57is very dangerous, but also knowing that you would be attended
0:20:57 > 0:21:00by a medical practitioner and that there was a certain set
0:21:00 > 0:21:05of structures around you to support you at this particular crisis moment
0:21:05 > 0:21:08might have appeared not the worst option that you could encounter.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12There was an additional reason for maybe taking the workhouse option
0:21:12 > 0:21:13when giving birth.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16All medical practitioners in the workhouse were male
0:21:16 > 0:21:20and in the mid to late 19th century there was much scaremongering
0:21:20 > 0:21:24about the capabilities of female midwives.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Female midwives didn't technically have any training structure
0:21:27 > 0:21:29or programme at that time, so it could be the case that
0:21:29 > 0:21:32female midwives might solely have been trained on the job, which
0:21:32 > 0:21:34was not necessarily a bad form of training - hands-on
0:21:34 > 0:21:37practical training can be very useful - but it might be the case
0:21:37 > 0:21:40that they hadn't undergone necessarily a course in anatomy,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44undertaken any exams or received any organised programme of instruction.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Male midwives would probably have undergone proper medical training.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50In order to secure a post as a workhouse medical officer,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53you had to have a certain number of certificates to your name,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55it could be an array of them but you had to have at least
0:21:55 > 0:21:59two forms of qualification to be a workhouse medical officer.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02William's grandmother Catherine survived the workhouse
0:22:02 > 0:22:06and, for Ben, knowing that the daughter Mary was only half-blood
0:22:06 > 0:22:08meant she and her family were not heirs,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12as all nine other children were full-blood siblings of William Hunt, Senior.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Once we realised that the deceased's father had so many siblings,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20we needed a lot of researchers to try and find what happened to them,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22to try and find records for them.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26We subsequently found out quite early on that they'd married
0:22:26 > 0:22:28into the families of Walker and Chapman,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32which are equally as hard names to research.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34So Ben and his team had their work cut out
0:22:34 > 0:22:39tracing the descendants of all nine of William Hunt, Senior's siblings.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Every year in Britain, thousands of people
0:22:47 > 0:22:50get a surprise knock on the door from the heir hunters
0:22:50 > 0:22:53but there are still thousands of unsolved cases
0:22:53 > 0:22:56on the Treasury Solicitor's Bona Vacantia list,
0:22:56 > 0:22:57where heirs need to be found.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Could you be one of them?
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Today, we've got details of two estates on the list
0:23:02 > 0:23:04that are yet to be claimed.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09The first case is Albert Bidjikian,
0:23:09 > 0:23:14who died in Redcliffe, Bristol, on 4th December 2002, aged 70.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19He was born on 8th March 1932 in Khartoum
0:23:19 > 0:23:22in what was then known as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24He was a bachelor.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28Next, Joan Pollard,
0:23:28 > 0:23:33who died aged 73 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on 20th September 2000.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39She was also born in Chesterfield on 1st August 1927
0:23:39 > 0:23:43and she lived her life as a single woman.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46It's not known if she had any children.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Do you remember Joan Pollard?
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Do you know anyone that could help solve the cases
0:23:51 > 0:23:53of Albert Bidjikian or Joan Pollard?
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Perhaps you could be the next of kin -
0:23:56 > 0:23:59if so, you could have thousands of pounds coming your way.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07In Hertfordshire, travelling researcher Peter George
0:24:07 > 0:24:10is hot on the trail of one of the key heirs
0:24:10 > 0:24:12to Alistair Richard's estate.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15He's been waiting for two hours outside what he hopes is
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Karen Ferguson's house and has just seen someone come home.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20Hello, Mrs Ferguson?
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Yeah, my name's Peter George.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25I represent a company called Finders who are probate genealogists.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Oh, right.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31It's an estate we're working on, a man called Alistair Richards.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35It's Peter's job to inform potential heirs of a relative's death
0:24:35 > 0:24:38but also to confirm their relationship to the deceased
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and to encourage them to sign documentation that allows
0:24:41 > 0:24:45the heir hunters to help them make their claim on the estate.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Heir-hunting companies make their money by taking a percentage
0:24:48 > 0:24:51of the estate from any heirs they find and sign up,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53so it's a crucial visit.
0:24:53 > 0:24:59From what I understand, your mother was a first cousin of the deceased.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- Is that...- Yeah. - Would that be right?
0:25:02 > 0:25:07So, if we go back a generation to her parents...
0:25:07 > 0:25:09- Mmm.- Do you know the details of that? Do you know any details there?
0:25:09 > 0:25:14So my grandmother had two...
0:25:16 > 0:25:18..two sisters and a brother
0:25:18 > 0:25:23- and it's one of her sisters was Alistair's mother.- OK.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Well, he died in May 2012.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Oh, blimey, that long ago?
0:25:28 > 0:25:32The timing of Alistair's death comes as a huge surprise to Karen
0:25:32 > 0:25:34but once she has time to take it in
0:25:34 > 0:25:36and has talked through the paperwork with Peter
0:25:36 > 0:25:39she eventually agrees to sign up with the firm.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43- Well, nice meeting you, Karen. - Yes, you too.- Thanks very much.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46- You too, thank you.- You'll hear from office shortly no doubt.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- All right, lovely.- Thanks very much. - Thank you.- Bye-bye.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54You don't think that a long-lost relative is going to...
0:25:54 > 0:25:57suddenly pop up into your life.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01To receive some money that I didn't know I was going to get is...
0:26:01 > 0:26:04you know, is lovely, but at the same time it's bittersweet
0:26:04 > 0:26:09because I didn't know the man and it was a shame that he didn't
0:26:09 > 0:26:15leave a will and had no children to leave his money to.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17It's been a successful day for the team.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22But three days later Ryan makes a discovery that threatens
0:26:22 > 0:26:25to turn the whole case on its head.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Since we were looking through the certificates that came in,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32we've actually established that the deceased appeared to have had
0:26:32 > 0:26:33a half-blood sister.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37What we like to do is, when we're doing the searches,
0:26:37 > 0:26:38to rule out any closer kin,
0:26:38 > 0:26:44we do like to do a search for any illegitimate children to the mother.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48We know that either parent was just married just the once,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51to one another, but we did a Watters birth search
0:26:51 > 0:26:53and then we came across this half-blood sister
0:26:53 > 0:26:58called Angela Joan Watters, born in 1936,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01which was sometime before Margery, the mother,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04actually married James, the deceased's father.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Alistair's parents, James Alfred Richards and Margery Watters,
0:27:08 > 0:27:13were married in 1951 and Alistair was born in 1953.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18His half-sister Angela Joan was born 16 years before him.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21We know she was born in 1936 so there's a possibility that
0:27:21 > 0:27:23she could still be alive.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Either that or she may have married and had children
0:27:26 > 0:27:29so, if any of those instances are found to be true,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32then anybody on that bit of the family tree
0:27:32 > 0:27:35would take precedence over the other people that we've found,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39so basically it's a priority for us now to find out what happened
0:27:39 > 0:27:43to the half-blood sister and check whether she had any children.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Ryan is under pressure to find out what has happened
0:27:46 > 0:27:49to Alistair's half-sister, Angela.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52If she's alive, almost everything that has been done to date,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54both in the office and out on the road,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57will have been an expensive waste of time.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03He calls on a colleague to help search out any useful documentation.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06They need to search for any births, deaths or marriages that include
0:28:06 > 0:28:10the name Angela Joan Watters.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Luckily, Watters is a fairly unusual surname.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18I've searched a couple of our databases, it looks as though
0:28:18 > 0:28:24Angela Joan Watters may have died a spinster in 2004.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28The death certificate they've found matches the date and place of birth
0:28:28 > 0:28:30but the surname is missing a T.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Erm, it looks as though the death may have been registered
0:28:33 > 0:28:38under the surname Waters so, I mean, it can happen sometimes if you've got
0:28:38 > 0:28:41a surname, you know, for instance, with two Ts in the middle.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44The date of birth matches, the area is different.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47The family are from the West Country and she appears to have died
0:28:47 > 0:28:51in Surrey but everything else looks good.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54But Ryan's investigations are not yet over.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Although it looks as though Angela died a spinster,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59we just want to double-check all the information that we have,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03go back through the residential directories that we have, make sure
0:29:03 > 0:29:06that there's no children living with her
0:29:06 > 0:29:08or anybody else that may have a claim.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13Ryan's colleague Amy Littlechild is quick to find an answer.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18Erm, I've checked the residential directories and I've found
0:29:18 > 0:29:24- her address.- OK.- It looks like she was there from 1983
0:29:24 > 0:29:30up to when she passed away in 2004. The only person who looks as if...
0:29:30 > 0:29:34there was living there throughout that time was this lady
0:29:34 > 0:29:37but she dies in 1995, Gwendolyn.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Ryan can now be sure that Alistair's half-sister Angela had no children
0:29:42 > 0:29:46so there are no heirs to be found on her stem of the family tree.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49It looks unlikely that we'll send anybody out on this case today,
0:29:49 > 0:29:54just for the fact that it looks pretty conclusive that Angela
0:29:54 > 0:29:58passed away a spinster without issue so there's no need to do
0:29:58 > 0:30:02any additional research into the close next of kin.
0:30:02 > 0:30:03This is great news,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06as now all the team's previous research still stands
0:30:06 > 0:30:09and the 19 beneficiaries are still entitled to their share
0:30:09 > 0:30:13of Alistair's £55,000 estate.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16But for Karen it's about much more than the money.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20What's interesting is both of my uncles
0:30:20 > 0:30:24I had lost contact with for 25 years, so as this has happened
0:30:24 > 0:30:27they have been in touch, they've managed to find me,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31so now we are reunited, which is lovely,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35and I haven't seen my cousins for... the same amount of time.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Yeah, so, you know, that's really positive.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Putting this fractured family back in touch
0:30:40 > 0:30:43is a key part of the heir hunters' work,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46and for Alistair's cousin and beneficiary Douglas
0:30:46 > 0:30:50this has been a time to remember his relative and friend.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Alistair was unique cos he helped other people.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56Very kind and helpful
0:30:56 > 0:31:00and also he could do anything for anybody at any time.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01And he would.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10In London, Ben Cornish and his team at heir-hunting firm
0:31:10 > 0:31:12Fraser & Fraser were busy trying to track down
0:31:12 > 0:31:15heirs to the estate of Father William Hunt.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18They've discovered that Father Hunt's dad, William,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20was one of 11 children -
0:31:20 > 0:31:23nine of which were full-blood relatives,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26so any of their descendants could be beneficiaries.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30But Ben's job was also made more complicated because Father Hunt
0:31:30 > 0:31:35died back in 2005, eight years before the estate was released.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37So, as this estate was advertised
0:31:37 > 0:31:39some years after the deceased actually passed away,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42we went looking at the research and tried to find next of kin,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46found out that some of the individuals had passed away
0:31:46 > 0:31:50after the deceased, meaning that there would be
0:31:50 > 0:31:52vested interests in this matter.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55A vested interest is where a beneficiary who was still alive
0:31:55 > 0:31:58when Father Hunt died has since passed away.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03With there being so many vested interests within this case,
0:32:03 > 0:32:08we either have to try and find the executors of that individual's estate
0:32:08 > 0:32:13if he'd passed away testate and, if not, we'd have to try and find
0:32:13 > 0:32:16their next of kin and if something had happened to them, you know,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19the chain would have to go on, so it makes our work a little bit harder.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24In total, Ben traced 39 heirs on the paternal side of the tree.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31One of these was William's cousin once removed, Eric Roughley.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34The family I come from is usually, I consider, quite small.
0:32:34 > 0:32:35My mother had one brother,
0:32:35 > 0:32:41James, which she never spoke to him at all. They had a family row
0:32:41 > 0:32:45before I was born, something to do with my grandmother
0:32:45 > 0:32:47but she never actually said what.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51My father had a brother called Peter who died in 1965.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55He had no children so there was just myself, my sister and my parents.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Eric now lives in the Merseyside town of Southport
0:32:58 > 0:33:01but was brought up in Manchester.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05He didn't know William Hunt but he had come across the surname before.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Where we grew up, there's quite a lot of people called Hunt
0:33:09 > 0:33:11and...that was friends with me mother
0:33:11 > 0:33:15and sometimes she used to say, "You're related to these people."
0:33:15 > 0:33:18They were sometimes mentioned as cousins or something like that.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21She never actually said how we were related except,
0:33:21 > 0:33:22you know, quite distant.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26They all seemed quite old to me as a child
0:33:26 > 0:33:29so I didn't really talk to them much but just to say hello to.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Because I come from such a large family,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34I know all about me family,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38that I can't believe that somebody could come from such a small family
0:33:38 > 0:33:42and not know about other relatives that might be out there.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Totally unaware of the size of his extended family,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49Eric and his wife Irene are keen to find out more.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52I'm very curious about William's life. I've been trying to think of
0:33:52 > 0:33:54all sorts of reasons why he would be interesting.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Not knowing enough about that side of the family, it's very curious.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I was checking on the date of his birth to see what he could possibly
0:34:00 > 0:34:04be involved in. He was too late to be hung as a murderer
0:34:04 > 0:34:07so it can't be that, so...
0:34:07 > 0:34:10I'm really keen to know what it is.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Today, Eric and Irene are travelling to Ancoats in Manchester
0:34:14 > 0:34:17to find out more about their mystery benefactor.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19Well, hopefully, we're going to meet a friend of William's
0:34:19 > 0:34:23and he's going to tell us much more about him - flesh him out as a person.
0:34:23 > 0:34:24I can't wait.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28Let's see what sort of a life he's had and let's hope it's interesting.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31They're meeting up with William's lifelong friend,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Canon Kevin O'Connor,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36but they have no knowledge of William's Roman Catholic connections.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40- Hello, good afternoon. - How do you do?- My name's Eric,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43- this is Irene.- Pleased to meet you. - I'm William's first cousin.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47- Canon Kevin O'Connor.- How do you do?- Friend of Bill's.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51I would be delighted to tell you anything that I can about him.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55I'm curious to find out what sort of connection Bill had with this church.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59Bill was a Roman Catholic priest.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01He was a very good preacher.
0:35:01 > 0:35:07He was very clear in what he had to say and he wasn't one who went on
0:35:07 > 0:35:13for a long time, he was well able to make the points he wanted to make
0:35:13 > 0:35:17clearly and quite briefly.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20- I know who you take after now! - ERIC LAUGHS
0:35:20 > 0:35:21That is surprising actually
0:35:21 > 0:35:24because all my family are Church of England.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Bill was born a Catholic.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30His dad and mother were Catholics.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32But I did actually...
0:35:32 > 0:35:36I was actually told by my mother that generations back
0:35:36 > 0:35:39one of my...I think it was great-great-grandmother
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- married an Irishman...- Mmm. - ..and they had children
0:35:42 > 0:35:45who were brought up as Catholics and then the Irishman died
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and then they have them re-baptised in the Church of England
0:35:48 > 0:35:49in Manchester Cathedral.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Did Bill ever talk about his parents?
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Well, I met his mother and father a few times.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03They were straightforward, simple, working-class people, really.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Can you tell me what he was like as a priest?
0:36:06 > 0:36:11Well, people liked Bill and so he made friends quite easily,
0:36:11 > 0:36:16although underneath all that he was quite a shy person,
0:36:16 > 0:36:21but he blossomed as a priest and was able to mix quite freely
0:36:21 > 0:36:26and was popular with fellow priests as well as parishioners.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30But Father Hunt was not just a parish priest here at St Anne's -
0:36:30 > 0:36:34he had a much more solid involvement in its foundations.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38When Bill came here, the whole area was being rebuilt
0:36:38 > 0:36:43and the diocese decided that the old church should be pulled down
0:36:43 > 0:36:46and that they would provide a new church
0:36:46 > 0:36:51and Bill was responsible for the building of this new church here.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53Father Hunt was appointed parish priest
0:36:53 > 0:36:57at St Anne's Church in April 1970.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00When Bill arrived in Ancoats,
0:37:00 > 0:37:05it was quite a vibrant area with a large Catholic population
0:37:05 > 0:37:10but it was also an area that was decaying and full of slums.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13- JIM ROWAN:- Ancoats when I was a mere...
0:37:13 > 0:37:17a schoolboy, was the classic Coronation Street set-up
0:37:17 > 0:37:22of back-to-back houses, no bathrooms,
0:37:22 > 0:37:28in our instance, no electricity - we used to admire people
0:37:28 > 0:37:33that had electricity, so it really was an impoverished area.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38But Ancoats hadn't always been so downtrodden.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40In the 19th century, the area's cotton spinning mills
0:37:40 > 0:37:44were a major part of the Lancashire cotton industry boom.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49Cotton developed in Lancashire, and, through that, the mills, because of a combination of factors.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Initially, there was
0:37:51 > 0:37:53available water power that was unused for other things
0:37:53 > 0:37:56so that was great for the initial rural mills.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00You also had busy ports, you had centres of population,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03and one of the key components was the weather.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Cotton needs to have a fairly humid and moist atmosphere
0:38:07 > 0:38:09to be able to work it.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12If it's too dry, it will just break and it becomes unworkable.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Contrary to popular opinion,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17Manchester and the North West hasn't got any more rain than anywhere else
0:38:17 > 0:38:22but it falls as drizzle or showers rather than as persistent rain
0:38:22 > 0:38:24so we get it over more days
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and from a mill perspective that's exactly what you want.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32Manchester had so many cotton mills that it became known as the Cottonopolis.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Many of those mills were in Ancoats,
0:38:34 > 0:38:39which by 1815 was the most populated district of Manchester.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Cotton's always been an industry where you can have both
0:38:42 > 0:38:46male and female, boys and girls, so it's been very adaptable
0:38:46 > 0:38:50to circumstances and the demographics of each of the towns it goes into.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54So those that are first entering the industry are doing the basic jobs,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57they're, sort of, helping out a spinner or helping out
0:38:57 > 0:39:00a weaver, and gradually they learn the skills of the trade through,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03if you like, a sort of apprenticeship.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06So, by the time they hit 20, 22, something like that,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10they've got a set number of years of experience
0:39:10 > 0:39:14and a few skills, so gradually they can work their way up the ladder
0:39:14 > 0:39:17and get slightly better paid employment. Probably, by the time
0:39:17 > 0:39:21they're in their late 20s, they're a very productive senior member of the workforce.
0:39:21 > 0:39:27The start of the 20th century was when the industry was most successful.
0:39:27 > 0:39:291913 was the peak of the industry.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32There were about 624,000 people employed in the textile industry
0:39:32 > 0:39:35in Lancashire, and at that point
0:39:35 > 0:39:39Lancashire was producing eight billion yards of fabric.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44By value it was 25% of British exports, and in terms of production
0:39:44 > 0:39:48it was 85% of the world's cotton manufacture.
0:39:48 > 0:39:54By 1930, that had shrunk to 3.5 billion yards.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57Both the First and Second World Wars took their toll on the industry,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00as demand for cotton fell.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04As the mills closed, people moved out of Ancoats in search of work
0:40:04 > 0:40:07so by the 1950s the death knell had been struck
0:40:07 > 0:40:10for both the industry and the area.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13The big issue, really, with Lancashire
0:40:13 > 0:40:16is, because traditionally the textile industry was unchallenged,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19the entrepreneurs were a little bit complacent
0:40:19 > 0:40:22so they never really modernised at the rate they should have done,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25they were always using old machinery.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29I think their mantra probably was, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Eventually, that goes against you
0:40:32 > 0:40:34because the foreign competition are continuing to modernise
0:40:34 > 0:40:37all the way through, they're looking at the processes,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40they're making more efficient, more productive, faster machines,
0:40:40 > 0:40:45so they're able then to contract Lancashire's traditional markets
0:40:45 > 0:40:49and eventually also affect the domestic market,
0:40:49 > 0:40:51the British domestic market.
0:40:51 > 0:40:551958 is a significant date because, for the first time then,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Britain is importing more cotton manufactured goods
0:40:59 > 0:41:04than it's making itself, so that really is a crucial date
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and there's no recovery from that point.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09So, in the '60s and '70s,
0:41:09 > 0:41:12you're getting on average one mill a week closing in Lancashire.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15It was just as the cotton industry was on its last legs
0:41:15 > 0:41:18that Father Hunt arrived in Ancoats.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20He offered advice and support to those struggling to survive
0:41:20 > 0:41:25in the area and his church remained a place of solace for those most in need.
0:41:25 > 0:41:31Well, here's the foundation stone and the date when the church was opened
0:41:31 > 0:41:36and there's Bill's name carved for evermore
0:41:36 > 0:41:39on the foundation stone,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41"Father William Hunt,"
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and at that stage he was not only parish priest here,
0:41:44 > 0:41:48he was the dean of the area.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50He was the rural dean.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Father Hunt opened the new church in 1978
0:41:53 > 0:41:56and as people moved into Ancoats
0:41:56 > 0:41:59he worked hard to bring them in to his congregation.
0:41:59 > 0:42:05The church itself was very important to Bill, he was very proud of it.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08As a priest, was Bill a popular person with his congregation?
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Bill was a very caring priest
0:42:11 > 0:42:18and the love that he had as a priest was extended beyond God,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22if you like, to all those that he came into contact with.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25- What sort of funeral did he have? Was it a big occasion?- Well,
0:42:25 > 0:42:30it was a huge funeral and even though he didn't have a wife or children,
0:42:30 > 0:42:36when he died, the people who had known him as their parish priest
0:42:36 > 0:42:40and had loved him all flocked to his funeral.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44Father William Hunt may have died on 8th November 2005
0:42:44 > 0:42:47but his memory will now remain not just in this building
0:42:47 > 0:42:51but in the minds of his long-lost relatives.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53It's really amazing, being here in front of this church,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57because he built it. It's his church and he was responsible for it
0:42:57 > 0:43:00and to find out one of my family has actually done something like this is amazing.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03For your beliefs...
0:43:03 > 0:43:06To give up so much for your beliefs...
0:43:06 > 0:43:09is true dedication, isn't it?