A woman who says she is descended from a 17th-century pirate has launched a bid to claim what she describes as her share of a modern fortune tied to land in south London and Croydon.
Viki López-Love, 52, of Pontypool, Gwent, told the Daily Mail she traced her ancestry to a seaman known as John Stockwell, also called Long John or Black-Jack Stockwell, and believes his estate is worth about £60 million in today’s money. She said she has contacted the BBC programme Heir Hunters and is seeking help from anyone who can assist with her claim.
Stockwell is said to have been a crew member of Captain William Kidd, the Scottish privateer who was initially commissioned by British authorities to combat piracy before being denounced as a pirate himself. According to accounts cited by López-Love, Stockwell used his seafaring fortune to buy land in London, part of what is now described as the Stockwell-Angell estate, which stretched from south of the Thames to Croydon.
López-Love said she did not know of the connection until her sister alerted her. "I thought my sister was having me on and I was asking these questions, and I thought she was getting it wrong, and I Googled it, and he did exist," she told the newspaper. She said the family tree shows a direct link through a line with the name Bloodworth and that other descendants have pursued claims on the estate in the past.
Historical records show that Captain William Kidd operated in the late 17th century and that his reputation shifted amid changing legal and political contexts. Kidd was tried and executed for piracy in 1701. Tales of buried treasure linked to his crew and associates have circulated for centuries; contemporaneous documents confirm privateering commissions, maritime ventures and subsequent legal actions that reshaped reputations and property holdings.
López-Love said she has reached out to Heir Hunters, a television programme that investigates potential heirs to unclaimed estates. "I've emailed Heir Hunters, and nobody's gotten back but at the end of the day £60 million is a lot of money so I'm looking for someone to help me look into this. It's really interesting," she told the Daily Mail.
Attempts by other alleged descendants to establish claims to long-dormant inheritances tied to 17th- and 18th-century figures have faced legal and evidentiary hurdles, including proving unbroken descent, establishing the existence of a private estate today, and navigating centuries of property transactions and trusts that may have altered or extinguished potential interests. Property that once formed large rural or suburban parcels can be fragmented, redeveloped and subject to later titles and municipal governance, complicating modern claims.
The Stockwell-Angell name appears in historical references to land holdings south of the Thames. López-Love said Stockwell settled in London after his voyages, invested in land, and later embarked on another voyage from which he did not return. The precise chain of title from any 17th-century holdings to present-day property or to an identifiable modern estate was not detailed in her account.
López-Love’s approach echoes a broader pattern in which genealogical research, digitised archives and television exposure combine to surface long-dormant claims. Legal experts caution that establishing a successful claim would typically require documentary evidence, legal counsel and potentially lengthy court proceedings to trace titles and rights.
López-Love said she welcomed contact from anyone with information or expertise and that she hopes to build a case that will clarify whether a modern-day share of the alleged estate can be distributed to living descendants. Representatives for Heir Hunters did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and no independent legal filings tied to López-Love’s claim were identified in public records at the time of publication.