THE BANKRUPTCY OF A LINCOLNSHIRE FARMER AND LAND SPECULATOR.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 50, 17 May 1884, Page 7

THE BANKRUPTCY OF A LINCOLNSHIRE FARMER AND LAND SPECULA TOR.

March 21st was fixed for the adjourned public examination at Grim4>y of Mr. Samuel Grant, fanmr and yj.izior, C.istlethorpe, near Biiirg, a b.inkm.if, before the Registrar of the G-rini'-.l»y (JoniiLy Court It \va-i elicited that Air Grant had had a share since 1879 or 188*) in a farm, at Dii>'l>y with Messrs Roberts aud Mimes The two latter occupied tiki farm, hut he was responsible for one-third of the loss, cind entitled to ole third of the profits. Ho had mm t^a^ed his interest in the firm to Mr Milnes to secure tin advance of. C7,5(U made upon property in N \\v Z 'aland. He kept no books, his businoss having: been carried on by correspondence. His property at Healing, near Grimsbv, was bought in 1872 for £.'35,510, and \w valued it n -w it £;* ),<)00' which was what Mr Welstead valued it al last ye.ir for purposes of mort&aive. It has been offered for sale during the last year or two, but there were no bids. He had 125 shares of £100 each in the New Zealand Alford Estate. Those shares were fully paid up, and their saleable value now he put down an par. He had soino interest in land in iSew Zealand called the Te Aroha Estate. He guve a chargj upon a portion of that land to a Mr Miles, in consideration ol a loan of £50J0. The Te Arolm property originally consisted of about 17,000 acres, of which about 8000 acres were sold in March, 1883, for £23,560. He had a farm ;it Irby, in Lincolnshire, which was sold to Mr Tooth, of Sevenonks, Kent,but his (Mr Grant's* son now occupied it The stock on that; farm was transferred to his Son in October, 1882, the co mi deration being £4000, for which a bill of sale, not registered, was jjiven as security. The Te Aroh-i estate was acquired by himself and Mr Foster conjointly, from the New Zealand Government', mi the conditions that they were to erect 45 houses upon it, and obtain 225 s,»,i tiers. The purehase-mon^y was £29,020, to be paid by instilments extending over three yeirs. The preliminary arrangements wore made in Now Zealand, but they after wards saw Sir Julius Vogel, the then agent-general, in London^ and through him they received an Onier in Coun.il from the Now Zealand 1 Government, nuking over the land. There was no signing of any agreement or document whatever. They met Mr Miles in New Zen land, and he' ctuno Jirtiue > ',with them, •yub^iiivint'y Mr MiW off-rad '(b ■ finartcthe. ■ bin^iiiiss in Niw JL 'nj njd,; ami- \\U ' &QVV-IVV& bein^" tiuce^t^Ue'ußoiateJ^Oliud;

the money to carry out the schema. , MiMi 1 % advanced altogether about £29,000, but hft had been repaid some £23,000 bv the sale of land. Gold had beon found close to I fie estate. Mr Milja also advanced £7500 on the Alford estate, in New Zetland, and altogether about £18,000 was owing to him- The remaining eight or nine thousand acrcu of ths Te Aroha property wou'd be worth now nbout £40,000, but only half of it belong id to him. The other half, belonging to Mr FoUer, had been made over to \tv Mile.-, who agreed to exonerate Mr Foster from all loss, and to pay him 25 por cent, on the 'iet profits. He signed a document in Fiondnn, prepired by Messrs Stevenson indO-ouldwell, solietora for Mr MiU\s, find lie understood it was in the nature of a mortgage on a portion of the Te Aroha estate fir £5000, received from Mr Miles, fn the letter initiating tli3 transaction. Mr Miles certainly did offer the money for the purchase of the land ; but unddr the rules of the New Zealand Government, no portion of the land could be abso'urely conveyed until the Crown grant was •iiven at the end of the three- years, within which its purchase was to be completed by Mr Foster au.l himself. Motv than two years ago he borrowed from his sot) Clmrles£6oo, giving only a promissory note as acknowledgment. As security he had since transferred t) his son 100 shares in the Tham js Valley Company, a few sharps in Walker and Smith's Oilcak. 1 Company, Hull, and soun Alford Corn Exchange shares. The whole of the security was given at the same time, but he could not say whether it was before or since ho went to i Ulrica. Ilia sou Charl«M was a solicitor in London. Tim transfer of the stock on Irby farm, on a bill of sale Cor £4,000, was to his son, Samuel Maud ton Gr.mt. The stock on his farm at Castlethorpu, which he valued at £2000, wao recently sold unddr a writ of ologit issued by Air Klston Law for a debt of £1258. Ho some time ago resigned hi.s position as director of the Thames Valley Company, and hid ceased to draw the salary of £200. Messrs Mil us Bros, put forward ac aim to the absolute ownership of nearly the whole of the Te Aroha estate ; but this would be disputed on the ground that Allies Bros , h-jd no right to finance, or do anything in regard to that property until the Crown grant had been given to the parties who entered into the oiiginal agi cement. The New Zjal md authorities wou'd not in any way recognise the claims of outsider-., because the land had not been taken up by the persons to whom it had been granted. Gold hid been found within three miles of the estate, and from the geological char.icteristico of Te Aroha, it was lvason-ble to suppose that the precious metal might be found within its borders. If thr\y could get possession of these 10,00J acres which were left half the value, some £14,000, would fali into Mr Grant's estate The Registrar gnuitod adjournment until 24th April.