HM Treasury has published details of 30 unclaimed estates belonging to people who were born or died in Greater Manchester.
There are thousands of unclaimed fortunes in the UK left by people who died without making a will, and their relatives are encouraged to step forward.
The government keeps detailed records of every unclaimed estate in the country, which can include money, investments, businesses, cars and property.
Read more:
There are several relations that are eligible to make a claim on an unclaimed estate (listed in order of priority):
-
Husband, wife or civil partner
-
Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on
-
Mother or father
-
Brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews)
-
Half brothers or sisters or their children
-
Uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants)
If your relationship to the deceased is traced through someone who survived the deceased but has since died, you will need to confirm who is entitled to deal with that person’s estate.
For example, children are only entitled to share in an estate if their parent died before the deceased, in which case they take their parent’s share of the deceased’s estate. If their parent survived the deceased but has subsequently died, then whoever is dealing with their estate should claim.
Unclaimed estates must be claimed within 30 years of the person's death. If you think you are eligible to claim on one of the estates below, all you need to do is prove it with a family tree - more information is available here.
If you are in any doubt about your entitlement to claim the estate, you should either seek your own legal advice or send a family tree, including the dates of death of family members on it, to bvestates@governmentlegal.gov.uk
Here's a list of every unclaimed estate as of January 27, 2022 where the person either was born or died in Greater Manchester:
Unclaimed estates in Greater Manchester
Full name, marital status, date of birth (place of birth), date of death (place of death) and additional information listed for each unclaimed estate
Note - some estates are in historical Greater Manchester prior to pre-1970s council boundary changes.
- Edward Frederick Luckarift, bachelor, 23/01/1920 (Salford), 29/03/2010 (Llandudno).
- Catharine Elizabeth Tweedale, widow, 03/09/1928 (Salford), 24/11/2001 (Newport Isle of Wight). Maiden name, Palmer.
- George Anthony Haughton, bachelor, 28/01/1918 (Tameside), 04/11/1993 (Stalybridge, Cheshire). Adopted on 07/12/1927.
- Mary Knight, 05/06/1927 (Trafford), 06/11/2018 (Wythenshawe).
- John Robert, bachelor, 15/12/1947 (Stretford), 26/11/2010 (Ashton-under-Lyne).
- Muriel Constance Bell, widow, 17/06/1914 (St Columb Cornwall), 17/07/1992 (Stockport). Maiden name Marshall, married Robert Jones Bell on 04/03/1948 in Milford, Surrey. Husband died on 21/05/1991. She went by Constance Muriel Bell.
- Kenneth Ashworth, bachelor, 17/09/1927 (Rochdale), 07/09/2008 (Lincoln, Lincolnshire). Also known as Kenneth Benjamin Marmaduke Ashworth.
- Menvil Dowell, widower, 08/05/1948 (unknown), 17/03/2018 (Trafford). Also known as Winston Churchill, otherwise Winston Menvil Dowell Churchill. May have been divorced. Marriage certificate held dated 26/11/1976. The event took place in Birmingham.
- Rita Margaret Carroll, widow, 22/06/1931 (Manchester), 12/11/2017 (Wythenshawe). Husband John Carroll is believed to have died on 11 September 1996.
- Basil George Drummond, widower, 07/07/1928 (Jamaica), 17/05/2003 (Ashton-under-Lyne). Wife's name was Theresa Margaret Drummond nee Walsh.
- Margaret Ann Eccleston, 05/07/1907 (Manchester), 14/04/1992 (Hove, East Sussex). The Division holds a birth certificate in the name of Margaret Ann Eccleston. The event took place in St George, Manchester.
- John Robert Kemp, 02/08/1954 (Manchester), 14/07/2019 (Exeter, Devon). The Division holds the following birth certificates - John Robert Kemp - 02/08/1954 in Manchester. William James Kemp - 28/05/1956 in Wirral. It holds the following death certificates - William James Kemp - 07/09/1985 in Bristol, Stanley Wilson Kemp - 21/11/2014 in Somerset, Constance Mary Kemp otherwise Mary Kemp - 06/02/2016 in Somerset.
- Mona Jean Giddens, widow, 08/03/1918 (Chorlton, Manchester), 22/01/2009 (Enfield, Middlesex). Maiden name Jones.
- Jean Jackson, 16/09/1932 (Stretford, Manchester), 16/04/1995 (Altrincham, Cheshire). May have had a sister.
- John George Mason, bachelor, 22/03/1971 (Manchester), 20/10/2017 (Aberystwyth Dyfed).
- Alfred Rodney Stelfox. 19/06/1938 (Manchester), 25/04/2019 (Tavistock, Devon). Known as Rodney Stelfox. Sister: Ena Marilyn Stelfox born 30 July 1945 in Manchester died 20/3/2019 in Falkirk.
- Gladys Turner, single woman, 21/01/1922 (Manchester), 11/03/2012 (Bristol, North Somerset). Parents: Thomas Turner & Mary Turner nee Nolan. Possible daughter in the USA.
- Kathleen Turner, widow, 20/07/1908 (Cheetham, Greater Manchester), 18/01/1999 (Pontefract, West Yorkshire). Maiden name Clarke.
- Ian Walkden, bachelor, 30/04/1955 (Greater Manchester) 21/01/2013 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire). Also known as Ian Rogerson. Father Jack Rogerson died 11/01/2005 and mother Betty Walkden died 07/11/2005.
- Arthur Warwick, widower, 27/10/1912 (Rusholme, Manchester) 15/05/2006 (Southampton, Hampshire). Also known as Peter Warwick.
- John Nurse, bachelor, 3/7/1923 (Rochdale), 31/7/2004 (Tollerton, Nottinghamshire).
- Dianne Gerrard, 25/2/1968 (Oldham), 28/2/2005 (Worksop).
- Andrew Peter Gibson, 20/5/1951 (Oldham), 30/11/2013 (Worthing).
- Gordon Ponting aka Peter Ponting, widower, 16/11/1930 (Bolton), 17/12/2004 (Leicester).
- Francis Sage, 30/4/1941 (Liverpool), 17/4/2017 (Ashton-under-Lyne).
- Jennifer Margaret Sharp, 27/4/1946 (Rochdale), 5/9/2015 (Croydon, Surrey). Her father was Reginald Sharp (born 16/3/1914 in Nelson and died 8/8/1970 in Lancaster) and mother was Olive Sykes (born 26/4/1917 in Wardleworth, Rochdale, and died on 7/1/2006 in Rochdale) who married on 5/4/1945 in Rochdale.
- John Geoffrey Smith, bachelor, 17/6/1943, 14/1/2007 (Ashton-Under-Lyne).
- Peter Allan Talbot, bachelor, 30/12/1946 (Bury), 10/3/2014 (Colwyn Bay). His grandfather was Harry Clarke (born 28/7/1885 and died 8/9/1967) and his grandmother was Elizabeth Alice Leatherbarrow (born 21/6/1885) who married on 26/3/1910 in Lancaster. His uncle was Wilfred Clarke (born 6/5/1913 and died 15/9/1991 in Aberconwy), father was James Wilfred Talbot (born 17/10/1919 in Lancaster) and mother was Joan Clarke (born 26/3/1924 in Lancaster and died 31/12/1998 in Denbighshire) who married in Whitchurch on 4/6/1945.
- Christopher Topping, 12/8/1937 (Salford), 10/4/2020 (Swinton).
- Frederick Joseph Yates, 25/7/1922 (Stretford), 7/7/2008 (Camden, London).
See the full list of unclaimed estates here.
To get the latest email updates from the Manchester Evening News, click here.
