Heir Hunters

A chance conversation provides a new lead in a case that was shelved for several years, while in Liverpool, heir hunters reveal how important the docks were for an Irish family that arrived in the city at the turn of the 20th century.

Heir hunters work against the clock to find the family of a reclusive painter in north London, while elsewhere in the area, a team uncovers the story of a sailor who stopped at nothing to fight for his country and an uncle who manufactured bombers during World War II.

Heir hunters investigate the case of a former accountant complicated by a mystery surrounding his parentage. In Norfolk, a team looks at the case of a villager who died with thousands of pounds hidden in his house.

Heir hunters look into a tricky case of a large family of glove makers who plied their trade in Yeovil. In another case, the chance discovery of a war grave in a Thai cemetery leads heir hunters to two family members who both fought in Burma in World War II.

Heir hunters work on a tough case of a person who worked in ships' kitchens, while another team uncovers the story of an orphaned Norfolk boy who went on to achieve great things in the music industry.

Heir hunters travel to foreign shores as family histories are unlocked in the quest to find the rightful beneficiaries of unclaimed estates. One case centred on the Channel Island of Guernsey brings up heartbreaking tales of families torn apart by war, and reunites relatives as a niece is grateful to be given missing pieces of her own family tree. In America, friends remember a Cheshire woman who travelled across the pond to start a new life and then met an untimely death. The hunt to find heirs to inherit the estate she left Stateside travels back to home soil. The tragic case leads to a cousin embarking on an exciting journey of her own.

Adoption, the workhouse and the social stigma of illegitimacy in the early 20th century are revealed in the history of a very quiet man from St Albans. When an heir is found, he believes his grandfather was ashamed of what he was, and thinks that's why he never wanted to talk about it. A letter from the Queen is found in a house in Kent that's been empty for four years. It belonged to a woman who was in the Women's Land Army during World War II. The Heir Hunters discover that her father and her mother's father were deaf, and that the closely-knit deaf community of the late 1800s could be the reason her parents met in the first place.

Competition is intense as heir hunting firms battle to find heirs on a high-value treasury case worth close to half a million pounds. Uncovering a family history in motor car manufacturing, the hunt quickly leads to a sole heir discovered only a few miles away. Can the Heir Hunters beat other firms to sign him up and break the news of this unexpected windfall? In Shropshire, the hunt is on for heirs to the estate of a career soldier. With an unusual name to work with, the team discover his mother was conscripted to build parts for fighter planes during World War II - could this have sparked her son's interest in the military? With a career stretching halfway around the world to the rainforests of Borneo and back, the team uncovers a close-knit group of friends who fondly remember their army youth.

Heir hunters investigate a deceased person who doesn't seem to exist, while a sailor risks all for the sake of love. As researchers dig through census records, they uncover a grandfather who worked on the early London Underground and are led to an heir whose surprise encounter brings fond childhood memories flooding back. On another case, a name change proves a challenge to the team and leads to a family mystery stretching back over a hundred years. Discovering female relatives who made lace in the Midlands, one relative gets the surprise of a lifetime.

The Heir Hunters are up against stiff competition on a case just posted on the Bona Vacantia list. With travelling researchers dispatched to find out what they can from neighbours in the deceased's home village in rural Wales, the office team uncover the courageous exploits of a family member in the deserts of Egypt at the turn of the century and the mysterious double death of the deceased's parents, on the same day, in the run-up to Christmas four decades previously. In Margate in Kent, the shocking death of a local judo enthusiast leads the Heir Hunters to a large family of wheeler-dealers - fruiterers and greengrocers - scattered as far as Canada. As research unfolds, the team discovers that one wheeler-dealer uncle surpassed all the rest, reaching dizzying heights in the fast-moving London gambling scene. Back in Margate, the heir and his son go to find out more about their benefactor from his lifelong judo friends.

The Heir Hunters take on the case of a mysterious woman from Essex. As they delve into her records, the search moves to the Midlands and the steam railway where her grandfather worked as an engine driver. With an enormous family to research, work is cut out to ensure no heirs are missed, but a group effort pays off. In Yorkshire, four sisters and brothers who lived together all their lives are the starting point for a search that uncovers a large mining family in Durham. With generations of men working in the pit, the family's heir learns that the fancy footwork of one lucky ancestor paved the way to a celebrity sporting career, and saved his life from the front lines of war.

The Heir Hunters race to find heirs on one of their biggest ever cases. When a retired chambermaid with half a dozen siblings passes away leaving no will, the hunt is on to work out who might benefit. Census records provide crucial links and reveal a family history in printing in the early part of the 20th century. World War II provides the backdrop for another family tale of a Welsh dancing girl who fled Cardiff during the Blitz and moved north to Cheshire. But a mysterious name change threatens to close the case until war records provide a vital clue and the team unlocks the tragic story of a family ravaged by a killer of the time - tuberculosis.

In Kent, the house clearance of a retired lathe operator uncovers a large family, but surname changes don't add up and illegitimate births mean many won't be entitled. Delving deeper into the family tree, missing family records reveal two sister war brides who married their GI sweethearts, but had a fight on their hands to be reunited with them on the other side of the Atlantic. Another team working a Midlands case uncovers a grandmother who made cigars for a living in the thriving tobacco industry. Struggling to locate any heirs on one side of the family, a possible writing error on a census leads them up the wrong track before an eventual breakthrough reveals a large family. But just as the case is turning into a winner, a chance find might see it slip through the Heir Hunters' fingers.

The competition is on as Heir Hunters endeavour to crack a new treasury case before a rival firm gets there first. With family lines leading nowhere, the team's research takes an interesting tack when records lead to India and the family of a colonel in the British Raj. In London, another team attempts to crack a case that has gathered dust on the Bona Vacantia list for almost six years. Missing records and persecution lead to London's Jewish quarter in the early 1900s and the tale of a family separated. A surprised heir discovers a hidden secret about an uncle and learns how personal family letters were used to prove the case to the government.

Heir Hunters race to find family on one of their most valuable ever cases. When an NHS pathologist passes away, the search leads to a family torn apart by tuberculosis. As the hunt for heirs hits a dead end, records eventually lead halfway around the world and reveal that the family's youngest members were forced to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. In a second hunt, medical matters are also at the forefront with a grandfather who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, helping the wounded on the frontline of battle. As the search unfolds the team learns that his son, an ambulance driver, played his part during another great war, this time on the home front during the Blitz. With heirs receiving potentially life-changing sums of cash, they learn about the bravery of their unsung wartime heroes.

In this episode, both heir hunts involve a tough time on the front line uncovering long-forgotten tales of families reshaped by world conflicts. In a case with its roots planted firmly in London's East End, the team investigates an immigrant Jewish family who survived the horrors of Europe to endure the devastation of London in the Blitz. In Hatfield, Hertfordshire, one of the firm's travelling researchers struggles to find any clues from neighbours about a retired factory worker whose father survived a World War I prisoner of war camp. When the family tree begins to grow, it's an emotional journey for heirs who learn how their father's heroic army deeds made him one of World War II's silent heroes.

The competition is on as the Heir Hunters tackle a case just in on the government's Bona Vacantia list. As the family tree develops, the search widens to Lancashire and uncovers a family hero who flew illustrious Wellington bombers during World War II raids. In London, another firm tackle a tricky case, on hold for almost seven years while a personal agreement was honoured. Uncovering a huge family, the team also stumble across a mysterious family disappearance in the swinging sixties and an heir discovers more about her family's trade in the artisan world of glass blowing. Show less

The home of a retired lift attendant from Leeds goes under the hammer at auction and the Heir Hunters are hoping for a good profit to pass on to any heirs they can find. As the team unravel the family tree, they discover that one of her grandfathers rose from groom to coachman to chauffeur as horse-driven vehicles were replaced by turn-of-the-century mechanisation. In London, another team investigate the estate of a military man who fell in love and married an Italian girl while posted in Italy during World War II. As the search widens to find heirs, the story leads back to the UK and the deceased's childhood living in one of the UK's earliest forms of social housing, the Peabody Buildings in London.

In London two properties go under the hammer on a high-value case, but before any heirs can inherit the proceeds the team need to establish the identity of the deceased. With two names to research it's a tricky case of vested interest. As the mystery unfolds, researchers uncover a wealthy husband-and-wife flying duo. The stakes are also high on another case fresh on the government's Bona Vacantia list. Research leads to a family of silversmiths working in Birmingham at the turn of the century, but when war breaks out one of the girls turns her hand to farming and does her bit for her country as a land girl.

The probate researchers investigate a competitive case based in Dorset, using the newly-released 1939 register to help unlock a family tree. Their search turns up an uncle of the deceased who was once a naval policeman and as they scour other censuses, they discover more and more hidden family members. In a second case, a retired publican and hotelier with a great love of bowls is found to have been born illegitimately north of the border in Scotland, complicating the heir hunter's search. Working the deceased's mother's side of the family only, research reveals an uncle who servied in Asia.