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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Poppie Platt

The 51 Greater Manchester surnames that could land you a fortune in unclaimed estates

HM Treasury has published details of 51 unclaimed estates belonging to people who were either born or died in Greater Manchester.

Across the UK, there are thousands of unclaimed estates left by people who died without making a will, and their relatives are encouraged to step forward to claim their fortunes.

The government keeps detailed records of every unclaimed estate in the country, which can include money, investments, cars, property and businesses.

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There are several relations that are eligible to make a claim on an unclaimed estate. Here they are 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 July 29, 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.

  • Sheila Falbriard, 21/10/1944 (Bolton), 06/03/2022 (Rhyl Clwyd)
  • Francis Dennis Udeh, 11/03/1955 (Manchester), 20/04/2022 (Colchester, Essex)
  • Kathleen Smith, 11/08/1932 (Manchester), 09/11/2012 (Abergavenny Gwent)
  • John Francis King, 24/01/1944 (Oldham), 12/01/2022 (Wells, Somerset)
  • Anthony Breslini, 26/08/1932 (Salford), 19/05/2021 (Eastbourne, Sussex)
  • David Paul Etches, 22/02/1971 (Manchester), 15/09/2021 (Southampton)
  • Michael Mason, 13/08/1943 (England), 21/12/2021 (Trafford)
  • Kenneth Henry Barnes, 09/11/1924 (Manchester), 01/12/1999 (Macclesfield)
  • Joyce Brayne, 22/04/1916 (Leamington Spa), 26/01/2002 (Stockport)
  • Mary Brown, 21/02/1916 (Liverpool), 18/04/2009 (Wythenshawe)
  • Rita Margaret Carroll, 22/06/1931 (Manchester), 12/11/2017 (Wythenshawe)
  • Ulrich Clever, 22/12/1953 (unknown), 12/07/2008 (Stockport)
  • Lillian Coles, unknown (unknown), 04/03/1994 (Stockport)
  • Arthur Connelly, 01/06/1928 (unknown), 12/01/2009 (Stockport)
  • Menvil Dowell, widower, 08/05/1948 (unknown), 17/03/2018 (Trafford)
  • Basil George Drummond, 07/07/1928 (Jamaica), 17/05/2003 (Ashton-under-Lyne)
  • Victor Foden, 09/12/1921 (unknown), 06/06/2014 (Ashton-under-Lyne)
  • Ethel Goodacre, unknown (unknown), 07/10/2002 (Stockport)
  • Freda Mabel Gray, 25/01/1901 (Denton), 20/09/1994 (Trafford)
  • Mary Knight, 05/06/1927 (Trafford), 06/11/2018 (Wythenshawe)
  • James Anthony Pouna, 29/06/1956 (Manchester), 21/01/2008 (Finsbury Park, London)
  • John Robert Kemp, 02/08/1954 (Manchester), 14/07/2019 (Exeter, Devon)
  • Alfred Rodney Stelfox, 19/06/1938 (Manchester), 25/04/2019 (Tavistock, Devon)
  • John George Mason, 22/03/1971 (Manchester), 20/10/2017 (Aberystwyth Dyfed)
  • Jennifer Margaret Sharp, 27/04/1946 (Rochdale), 05/09/2015 (Croydon, Surrey)
  • Helen Fisher Thayre, 13/12/1959 (Crumpsall), 26/12/2013 (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)
  • Andrew Peter Gibson, 20/05/1951 (Oldham), 30/11/2013 (Worthing, West Sussex)
  • Ian Walkden, 30/04/1955 (Manchester), 21/01/2013 (Stoke-on-Trent)
  • Stephen Jacques, 18/12/1948 (Manchester), 17/04/2010 (Denbigh, Denbighshire)
  • Kenneth Ashworth, 17/09/1927 (Rochdale), 07/09/2008 (Lincoln, Lincolnshire)
  • Janet Bowen, 16/06/1944 (Oldham), 22/12/2009 (Aylesford, Kent)
  • Joan Cooper, 25/01/1941 (Bolton), 18/09/2009 (Banbury, Oxfordshire)
  • Dianne Gerrard, 25/02/1968 (Oldham), 28/02/2005 (Worksop, Nottinghamshire)
  • Mona Jean Giddens, 08/03/1918 (Chorlton), 22/01/2009 (Enfield, London)
  • Ruth May Halstead, 08/08/1919 (Bolton), 12/07/1996 (Wolverhampton, West Midlands)
  • Jean Jackson, 16/09/1932 (Stretford), 16/04/1995 (Altrincham)
  • Edward Frederick Luckarift, 23/01/1920 (Salford), 29/03/2010 (Llandudno)
  • David John Myers, 19/03/1945 (Manchester), 16/07/2012 (Stoke-on-Trent)
  • John Nurse, 03/07/1923 (Rochdale), 31/07/2004 (Tollerton, Nottinghamshire)
  • Joyce Pinder, 08/02/1925 (Manchester), 19/05/1997 (Barnstaple, Devon)
  • Gordon Pontling, 16/11/1930 (Bolton), 17/12/2004 (Leicester)
  • Adolphus Reid, 17/10/1939 (Manchester, Jamaica), 14/07/2010 (Holloway, London)
  • John Robert, 15/12/1947 (Stretford), 26/11/2010 (Ashton-under-Lyne)
  • Gladys Turner, 21/01/1922 (Manchester), 11/03/2012 (Bristol)
  • Kathleen Turner, 20/07/1908 (Cheetham), 18/01/1999 (Pontefract, West Yorkshire)
  • Arthur Warwick, 27/10/1912 (Rusholme), 15/05/2006 (Southampton)
  • Kathleen Marion Whalley, 29/01/1925 (Manchester), 07/12/2000 (Westminster, London)
  • Margaret Lillian Williamson, 21/09/1924 (Chorlton), 03/07/2005 (Clwyd)
  • Thomas Marsland Howe, 11/06/1921 (Ashton-upon-Mersey), 06/02/2012 (Wythenshawe)
  • Agnes Maloney, 17/06/1902 (Brouhgton), 23/04/1993 (Manchester)
  • John Geoffrey Smith, 17/06/1943 (unknown), 14/01/2007 (Ashton-under-Lyne)

See the full list of unclaimed estates here

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