FORTY YEARS IN EXILE

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 18

FORTY YEARS IN EXILE

€TORY OF A LOST ESTATE. (Faoii Oub Own Coheesfokdent.) LONDON. June 18.. An amazing story i 6 being unfolded in Jhe Rolls Court, Dublin, in the hearing of Ui action brought to set aside a3 fraudutent and void a deed dated co far back as 1875, by which Jonn Boyce conveyed his estate of Edward St. John Brenon, described as now living at 20 Airedale avenue, Chiswiek, London John Boyoe is now an inmate of the tote-wart _ 1 riant. ue for Imbeciles, Dublin, iieicre u.s dw-coverey in Naples a year a<>o JVS hat. been out of Ireland for *37 ye a r s rao=c of whicii period lie had spent in Naples, where through the agency of the •Bntieh Corftul, he was recovered for hie relatives m a top floor of a poor lodgingiiouse, in abject liestitution, over 70 years •i at-e,a t -e, "'sick in body «jid hopelessly imbeoi.e counsel sa id. He began Jif c - with en incomo of £800 a .year. The allegation mace is tji<*t the defendant obtained all h-'e property, and left him in penucv. The present action has bseji brought t>v direction o£ rJie Irish lord Chancellor ~ .iSoyoe was one af^the son* of a wealth y . Wauenord man, he was mentadiy deficient an v novvr went to sciiooj. VST** he came ! £,/:."': Jll ISaB ne wa6 entitled to 'about r T ;v-.r €:>ndant - said «HM«el, was the son o*. Wiliiarti Brenf'an, a .Schooknaster. .He-biaj-icd life with nothing beyond hie brawns an<l his education, but he was extraordinarily clever and attractive, and especially attractive to a man of the mental ' calibre and character, of John Bovce. The defendant ha-d a tazie for music," and -Was a choir boy at the -Chapel Royal (Dublin Oastis?). He had a gieat gift for languages, and na<l also a love of , art. He had a brili^nt—.requently a vitriolic— pen. He was a i3«n-amian, but had tome political and eocial ambitions. He made two unsuccessiul attempts to enter the House of Commons lie was editor of a periodical known as Piccadilly." aod was the author of a booK with the title ''Morals of Mernon Square.' He was divorced from his ! wrie, and <t would be necessary at a later I *tage to refer to the divorce proceedings. I The man had had a vaiiegated career, and j this was the kind of man whom John • Boyco enanoed upon as the one friend of hu lite— in fact, in Boyoc's own words, his "only best friend next to Oiod." From the time John Boyce left his family in the sixties until he was found in Naples in 1907 he had no friend at alt, and no in-iimat-e but Mr Brenon. Among the documents disclosed to Brenon, counsel contended, was a diaiy by means of which they were able to fix. certain datss. On March 7, 1873^ Mr and M«r Brenon arrived- in .Naples, and on the 18th. of the game month Boyce executed a «. ?y? y instrument Boyoe purported to " will and bequeath to my dear friend, Edward John .Brenon, the ■ poet, all my property in the u-ew 3 per cent, consols for his absolute use." He ako bequeathed to Brenon all his landed property in . Ireland for his absolute • use. Boyce and JBrenon a!»o eeemed to be under *the impression that Boyce "had more than a lj{e interest in th-3 lands. Counsel believed His lordship would corns to the conclusion that Boyce was incapable of the amount of mental initiative that would be involved, even in making up his mind to make a will. A letter was read by counsel which was \vritten by Bo\ce to the defendant, thanking him for 10 francs, hoping for a cheque, , asking about bcotlaces, and more shavings' for the tick, and stating that Gloucester (for the parliamentary representation of .which the defendant was at the time a candidate) was Brenon's guiding star. Other letters were dealt with by counsel, inpluding one of May 29, 1873, from JBoyce to * Brenon, in which Boyce acknowledged receipt of bottlaces, and «aid they were a godsend, as his old shoes wefre - quite broken. In another letter Boyce asked Brenon to send him " a blaok-epd- white plaid tie to match .my black-and-white striped shirt." The letters, counsel said, showed the relations between Boyce, and Brenon, and the absolute dependence of thi« weak-minded creature on Brenon. Further letters from Boyce to the defendant were tread by counsel, ell commencing, "My dear Ned." They contained for the most part quaint references to people whom he tad seen or met. He spoke of ladies *' wearing heavy black moustaches on their upper lips," and eaid, "How they rear 'them b1«66 me if I know." His comment on another lady was ' She has a fine figure and flashing black eyes, but she has got a devil of a temper." [A cablegram received early thie month fjtated that the deed had been set aside.]