SOME ENGLISH NOBLE FAMILIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 262, 11 December 1909, Page 3

SOME ENGLISH NOBLE FAMILIES

AND IIOW THEY BECAME RICH. THE DUKE OF NORFOLKIf an ancient lineage, wide possessions, and an immense rent-roll could ensure felicity, then his Grace of JSoilolk should be one of the happiest of men. Premier Duke and Earl .Marshal, this unassuming man of sturdy build and kindly eye owns St),UUO acres in some of the fairest English counties,

| while his rent-roil exceeds a p- tht >l a million a year, if it were pu... „ do bodily move Liverpool Manchester, and Birmingham, they could all be accommodated on the Duke's land, with a haudIsume margin of lfcOO acres to .tyareI while his income exceeds that derived by the Corporation of Bristol from its borough rate. LAND HELD Bif THE DUKE.

The Duke's* holdings arc made up ol 10,217 acres to Sussex, where his beautiful Arundel estates are situated; 1a,2/0 acres iu the West Riding; 4849 acres iu Surrey;. 4400 iu Norfolk, where his ancestors had already distinguished themselves early in the thirteenth century; 708 in Derbyshire; and the remainder in Notts, Stafford, and Suffolk. It is true that several members of the Upper House h;ave much more extensive possessions,) but there is a very material difference between 100,000 acres in the remote highlands and 200 acres, say, in the liaiart of London or 500 acres in the middle of Shelheld. As on« of London's great ground landowners, his Grace owns a considerable slice) of the south-east side of Uiq Strand. \ Norfolk-street, Aruudel-sticel,, and the Ijve other streets bearing some portion of the family name, in addition to the strand and Embankment frontage, arc, all let on comparatively short and ever-increasing costly leases. According to a competent authority, "tlie rental value of 153 to 100, Strand, and 'of the streets bearing the fajuny name of Norfolk, was, a couple of decades ago, some £62,000. The rebuilding in Norfolk ,and Surrey streets has immeasurably augmented the rent-roll, which probably increased threefold in volume."

Tiie kite adjoining the Outer Tenipk —Arunciel House —was the residence of the Eari of Essex, and was ailerwards occupied/ by the Bishop of Bath, from whom it was wrested without a penny compensation by Seymour, a brother of Protector Somerset. At the latter's death in 1502 Henry Fitzalan, ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk 3 bought it for- £4l 6s Bd. This comprised the portion of the-present Dulic's' Strand property. fcome idea of the increasing value of this part of the Metropolis may be gathered from the fact that a shop -in one of the streets named realised £I3OO I twenty-seven years ago, the rental being £OO, whereas on the expiration of the lease the rent was raised (to X2OO [year. In another case the rent ol a

boarding-house was raised from £270, at which figure it- was fixed twenty-two years ago, to £OBS. Such instances in no way reflect on the Duke or his agents. On the contrary, his Grace has the'reputation, of being a most kindly and considerate landlord, and is greatly respected by his tenantry in both town

nqd country. The Duke also owu» land in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, from which lie derives several thousands per year. • It is a moot point whether the Duke's property in Sheffield does not bring him y in quite as much as does his Mctropoiitan estate. It is very much more c.\tensive, and 'for the most part is situt ated in the heart of the city, several ol i Shcmeid's moat important sue), cuie lery, and other works having been [ 1 ereeLed on it. Prior to ISOO tiie whole J of the city'.* markets belonged to ins i- Grace, but they were purchased by the - Corporation for £520,000, a somewhat •• costly transaction in view of the faet - thai the Duke ofrered to sell them Ihe i principal one in IS7G for £2s7,ooo—this particular market having cost his pre- »> decessor £40,000 to erect in 1831. It '• is, of course, the duty of the Duke's o agent to do the beat for their employer; d but on the whole there are comparative- '• ly few very serious complaints in .Sheffield respecting the terms on which leased t are granted. When tlicse arc brought p to the notice of the 3)nke he is always '■» ready to stretch a point in favor of the e tenant. His popularity is attested by the fact that he has been twice Mayor - of the city. He has dedicated Norfolk ) Park to the use of the public, maintaining it at his own cost. lie ha.s abjr». given a recreation ground to the city. The Sheffield estate is especially rich in mineral wealth. A number of eo'i mines' are being constantly worked, and ' many thousands of tons are annually brought* to the surface. As his Grace ' revives an average royalty of 1M per j ton it need hardly bo said that his iu- ■ come from this source alone runs into a good many- thousands per year. Although the Duke has a couple of mansions—Derwcnt Hall and Beech ffall —in the immediate neighborhood of the cutlery capital, his chief seat is Arundel Castle, in Sussex, while his town residence is Norfolk House, in St. James's Square. One of the most ancient and most romantically situated of the seats of the old nobility, Arundel Castle appeals more to the historian and antiquarian than to the connoisseur of works of art or articles of vertn. Hating from the time of Edwaud the Confessor, its Nor-> man keep and grim grey walls lookdown on the meandering Arun and a fertile, smiling country peopled by the Duke's tenantry, whose ancestors have occupied .their farms for generations. The deer park adjacent to the castle is 11acres in extent, ft was formerly a rabbit warren, but a recent Duke built a flint wall round it, laid down several plantations, and placed a herd of 1000 doer in it—features which have been greatly developed. Norfolk House, St. James's Square, is 1 a heary, imposing-looking mansion, wi* a history befitting the famous? square. 1 Although in later days the site was the : residence of the heads of the aristocracy, according to Macaulay, "in 1085 it. was a receptacle for all the ofTal and cm- ' dei*. and for all the dead cats and dojy of Westminster. At one time a cudgel- < player kept the ring there.' Norfolk ' House has been the residence of the } Dtikts since 10H4, when they removed I from tin l Strand, and although it lias 1 liccn largely rebuilt, and a portico added in IS:M, these efforts' have not improved 1 its appearance. It possesses, of course, 1 iiuuiv works of art of great wealth and ' ;tnii"iiily. but the general effect of the interior i. fo.-'rwhat depressing. Its « mo-d nuta Mr elahit on history is that it. 1 was the i.ir Hi" 1 n - nf George 111. ] The nut I••'.! h : which the family be- j came eiiri<''' .| m»d not be dilated on i here. Th» •»!<>:•' in Norfolk and Suj- c > <>' K. v< v.'U the Strand, descend from 1' 11,,. -I I ,lw< when miglil was right and fi a -i rnii>' arm and stout heart v.rre d nri'ili,! to retain possession of envied properties. Hut the Howards c tliCM' to file full, for one won this vK v tnr- f:« Kio'bh-n anolh.vr HI on : worth Field. wlnl-t ot her- fwwlil -If. a Tintiv mi Hie sea. The*" ancestral esIf|,:im> been supplemented by gifts > f','.n>i the frown and fortunate mar- «' rwges»—Home paper. J3: