THE ROMANCE OF A FORTUNE

Shannon News, 2 July 1926, Page 3

THE ROMANCE OF A FORTUNE

BIG BEQUESTS TO WIDOW AND EX-MAN AGER. THE HOUSTON MILLIONS. The will of Sir R. P. Houston, the millionaire shipowner, and for thirtytwo years Conservative M.P. for the West Toxteth Division of Liverpool, was proved in Jersey. It is surmised that his entire will realise between £6,000,000 and £7,000,000. Sir Robert leaves to his former general manager, Mr George Henry Appleton, of Liverpool, £50,000 and one-filth of his estate after the payment of other legacies —a bequest which will probably amount to £l,000,000. The other four.fifths go to Lady Houston. A sum of £50,000 is left for employees. ;

The testator declared Jersey as his domicile, which means that the Exchequer will lose a considerable sum in death duties. This point may, however, be contested in-the courts. Manager and Confidant.

Mr George Henry Appleton, to whom Sir Robert Houston has bequeathed £50,000 and one.fifth of his estate after certain legacies have been met, and who is expected to benefit to an amount which it is believed will be close upon is a Liverpool man, where hg was born and educated. His fatho:\ a Liverpool merchant, had designed him' for the ministry, but Mr Appleton became an accountant. About twenty-five years ago he entered the service of Sir Robert Houston as chief accountant, and became in time a partner, general manager, and the chief confidant of Sir Robert. Last month he resigned the position of general manager to devote liimsplf to Sir Robert’s personal affairs.

In politics, Mr Appleton supported liis chief when Sir Robert represent, ed the West Toxteth Division fox; thirty-two years, helping in the organisation of the Conservative forces in that constituency as the chairman j of the West Toxteth Divisional Con. i servativc Association. ~ J Mr Appleton lias a grown-up fam- *, ily of four sons and one daughter. [ His residence is at Manor Hill, J Claughton, but lie has lived there for a few years only. Prior to ac. quiring that house he lived at Meols. I Quite apart from thfe Houston leg- j acy, Mr Appleton is sppken of as j possessing very considerable means. J The Wile’s Share. { Sir Robert left to his wife—whom j. he married about eighteen months | ago—and “whose self-sacrificc, dovo. tion care and * wonderful intuition on two separate occasions saved my life when the doctors despaired. £IOO,000, to be at once paid; aiau my steam yacht Liberty, with her equif* | ment, and my pictures, silver plate, and th e personal effects.-’ She also receives four-nfths of the residue —probably several million pounds. ,Mr Walter Francis Roch (who gets £15,000), late M.P. for Pembrokeshire, is a son.in-law of Lord Treowen apd was a great personal friend of Sir Robert Houston. Mr Herbert Gornford (who gets £10,000) was Sir Robert’s personal secretary. Mr W 7 S. Fisko (£5000) acted as solicitor for Sir Robert Houston. Two cousins of the late baronet live in- Dunfermline, to which town Sir Robert’s father and mother belonged. Mr Henry Houston, Kinnisplace, Bruce street, Dunfermline, is a retired night watchman, but was out of touch with his cousin, and other is the wife of William Steven, son, the head of a large furniture and auctioneering business in Dun.fermline. Another cousin, Mrs William Boardman, resides in Bootle. A Legal Point. The opinion of the law officers of the Crown will be taken on the question of domicile. “It is too early yet to say what will actually bo done to contest the matter,” .said an official at SomersetHouse, “but the legal position must be scrutinised very fully,- and nothing will be done in a hurry. Probate will have to be obtained through Somerset House for that part of the estate which is in thi& country.” In the absence of Mr G. H. Appleton, who has a complete knowledge of the property, it is impossible for anyone in London to say exactly how much of it will be subject to estate duties here, but it is safe to say that there will be over £2,000,000 value in that, which in itself will bring in to the Treasury over £SO,OOO, and probably over , a million. Declaration not Enough. Apart from the amount of estate duty which will come to the Treasury on account of property in this country, ther e is the important question of legacy duty. That part of the estate * which is left to Lady Houston will be subject to a legacy duty of 1 per cent., and the rest to 10 per cent., if the domicile is deckled to b e in this country, and not in Jersey. If the domicile is in Jersey there will bo **nonc at all payable either by Lady Houston, Mr Apple, ton, or any other of the legatees. But the total legacy duties payable if the domicile is found to be English would amount to well ove* £IOO,OOO. The declaration in a will Of » statement that the domicile was in Jersey is not in itself conclusive, but it is one of the considerations of a very complicated problem. Sir Robert had a keen Jersey solicitor, ana it may be that he bad cairied out all the legal formalities necessary to ensure that his holding in War Loan

should not be subject to British | estate duties. A Grateful Patient. Mias Annie Reed, a hospital nurse, was surprised the other day to learn that under the will of Miss Portal, of Carlisle Mansions, London, she had been left 14 00 a year for life. The second daughter of the Lor Melville and Lady Charlotte Poitah of Laverstoke, Miss Portal, who died on March 3rd last, left £57,314. “I loved Miss Portal,” said Miss Reed, “and I had, indeed, been a lricnd of the family for many years. Twenty years ago T nursed her mother, Lady Charlotte Portal. -Vbout two years ago Miss Portal asked me to retard her home as - mine, and in between my cases 1 returned to it. Ror the last few years of her life I devoted all my attention to Miss Portal, who hadbeen an invalid for many years. 1 do not intend to give up nursing.”