LONELIEST MARQUIS PASSES AWAY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 185, 23 June 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

LONELIEST MARQUIS PASSES AWAY.

DEATH OF LORD CLANRICARDE, THE MOST HATED MAN IN IRELAND. "PARSIMONIOUS PEER." Hubert George De Burgh Canning, second Marquis of Clanricarde, died at his London residence on April 7, at the ago of 84. And thus passed away one of the most singular figures m the Peerage. When a young man he was second Secretary to the Diplomatic Service, and as Viscount Burke was an M.l. during the years 1867-71. But it was difficult to realise m later years that the quaint, almost miserly-dressed figure, frequenting art sale-rooms, could have been one of the best-dressed men about town in the mid-Victorian Era. He succeeded to the title in 18,4, and it was then, that he paid his last visit to Ins Irish estates. A voting man was pointed put at t.ic new heir, but generation* of tenantry crow up and knew not their landlord in the flesh. Lord Claniicarde worked through agents, many of whom lost their lives during the land agitation. TWENTY MILES OF ESTATES. Never was a man more hated, and the whole vocabulary of vituperation. was ransacked to find epithets to hurl at Lord Clanricarde. His Irish estates extend from Athenry to Woodford, ?Jid are about 20 miles in extent, and ;:t whatever point one takes up a position it is possible to obtain a story of tragedy in the land war. . Successive Governments dealt with land purchase, but Lord Clanricarde was adamant, and it was only within the past two years that he was beaten in the final court of appeal. His arbitrary action was a thorn in the flesh of the Conservative Government 30 years ago, and Sir Michael Hicks Beach, the Chief Secretary, refused the forces of the Crown to aid Lord Clanricarde in evicting tenants, reminding him that property had its duties as well ,as is rights. AN ICY RECEPTION. During this tunc Lord Clanricarde was a recluse', or as lie was termed, the "Parsimonious Peer." With a rent-roll of £'30,000 a year from iiis Irish estates, he was not known to contribute a farthing locally. A Bill was introduced into the Commons to expropriate the Clanricarde estates. "Is there a Lord Clanricarde in existence? " was frequently asked. The answer came, as late as 1 ( J07, when Lord Clanricarde made a meteoric appearance in the Lords, and attempted an explanation of his conduct. There was an icy reception for Lord Clanricarde, and he failed to convince his brother-peers. If his treatment of the Irish tenantry enjoined on them a most drastic dietary regimen, Lord Clanricarde certainly set them an example. He wore a Mid-Victorian silk hat; his cloak could not resist the ravages of time, but darning cotton was requisitioned to heal a breach. WATCHED THE SQUIRRELS. He was never seen in a vehicle, mol his ped'istrianism carried him daily to Regent's Park. There on a public seat—not one of the chairs, for an attendant would exact a toll— tvould sit the owner of some sixty thousand acres, watching the squirrels. Canadian soldiers would pass by and wonder who the strange, drooping, wizened figure could be. Children would p'ay at his feet while he sat, regardless of everything. None of them would venture the entertaining of an opinion beyond a thought that an eccentric person formed a bulwark against their light-hearted antics, certainly not an heir to quarter ot a million, and flu? owner of an ever-grow-ing fortune hoarded by miserliness. Lord Clanricarde succeeded in one thing. He carried himself into a lone--1 novs as cold and as frigid as ever begirt a mii-cr.

His sole companions were his china and pictures, in the collection of wlucli he showed a wonderful business acumen.

Tim Marquis of Clanricarde was unmarried, and the niarquisato becomes extinct. The Marquis of Sligo, first cousin once removed of the late Lord Clanricarde, succeeds under special remainder to the Earldom of Clanricarde.