Will in an Old Hat.

Manawatu Herald, 26 July 1902, Page 3

Will in an Old Hat.

An eccentric old lady named Arabella Hodgson, reputed to be worth about £40,000, has been found dead at Mickle Gate, Douglas (Isle of Man), under curious circumstances. Although the owner of ninety houses in the neighbourhood of Douglas, she lived In ono room in a poor part of the town for which she paid half a crown a week, It Is stated that ineluding this rent her living expenses were less than ss weekly. Yet to others she showed a liberal dis- ! million and many needy persons bund in her a kind friend, while her tenants ware loud in her praise. Miss Hodgson had

NBVXR MUCH FAITH IN BANKS and what little she bad vanished when DumbeU’s failed two years and a half ago. Her practice was to hoard her money In her room until there was enough to purebase a house. The police made a careful search for a will in the presence of her brother and niece, but for some time none could be found. One, however, made eleven years ago, has now come to light. The back room In which the will was found was in an indescribable state of confusion. It was completely filled with old boxes, bioken furniture and garbage. At the bottom of one of the boxes the will was found, in the lining of an old hat. Fifteen sovereigns were found screwed up in a piece of paper, and about £l3O was discovered In the room, in addition to £I,OOO odd found at a cottage near Crosby where the old lady spent her summers.