Michael Tringham recalls tales of heir-hunting
Secrets seem to run in families, from changes of gender to secret marriages, as our intestacy stories regularly demonstrate on popular BBC TV documentaries Heir Hunters and Who Do You Think You Are?. Add the other factors that cause families to lose contact—wars, divorces, family quarrels, politics—and it’s no surprise that case files can read like sensational novels and that for probate researchers life is rarely dull.
Wartime antics
A case dating back to World War One involved an Australian soldier wounded in France and nursed back to health in England, where he married, had a son—then disappeared back to Australia. When his English son died, it was discovered that his English marriage was bigamous. The news was conveyed to the Australian’s remaining family Down Under, one of whom said: “Granddad never wanted to talk about his wartime experiences—now we know why!”
Spies who loved…
Sometimes personal tragedies are uncovered—as with Mary Loraine, who died intestate in a domestic fire in 1973, a virtual recluse about to be evicted from her Brighton flat owing £55 rent. Over 30
