GAVE UP £283,382

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20060, 5 October 1939, Page 15

GAVE UP £283,382

M.P. LEFT ONLY £7OIO FAILURE OF FIRM LONDON. Aug. 1. Mr. Edward Anthony Strauss, M.P. for West Southwark, who died on March 25, aged 7G. left £7OIO, with net personalty nil. Probate of his will, dated September 17, 1035, has been granted to his sister, Mrs. Augusta Lessing, of St. Mary Abbot’s Court, Kensington, to whom he left his property. Until 1935 Mr Strauss was a wealthy man. At Kingston Bagpuze. Berks, where he lived for 35 years, he owned every building except the vicarage, and was known as “The Squire.” Practically every man in the village was employed on his 2000-acre estate. Then came the failure of Strauss and Company, grain merchants. This was separate from his own business as a hop merchant, but he was involved through guarantees he had given. He surrendered his entire fortune' to the creditors. The deed of assignment stated that the total amount of his property included in the surrender was £233,382, and the total of liabilities under the deed was £1,946.168. Even his house and furniture were sold. Mr. Strauss considered iris political career finished when the financial crash came, but his constituents, mindful of his many years of service, ■prevailed upon him to stand again, and he was re-elected in 1935.