A VALUABLE ESTATE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 332, 20 June 1911, Page 4

A VALUABLE ESTATE.

Jill. E. J. IUDDIFORD'S WILL. __ *• PROVED FOR PROBATE AT £300,000. £12,238 DUTY ON PARTNERSHIP'. DEED. Wellington, Monday. The estate of the late Mr.. E. J. Riddiford, of Lower Hutt, has been valued for probate at £300,000. The deceased provided for the distribution! of his estate in a lengthy will followed S>y five codicils, the last dated within, a month of death.

To the widow he bequeathed the residence "Fern Grove," Lower Hutt, And £IOOO for immediate requirements. It i« provided that upon Mrs. Riddiford's transference of her partnership' interest* in the Ruamahanga property to her sons (the remaining partners) she-shall become entitled to an annuity ot £2OOO per annum, to Be reduced to £2OO per annum in the event of her marriage. A trust fund is- to be created for the benefit of the three daughters. That in respect of Elsie Catherine Harriott LfndSay (who received a marriage settlement) is to be £20,000, while the fund will total £30,000 in' respect toeach of the remaining daughters, Phyllis, and Ngaire Riddiford. The large landed interests of the deceased are covered' by a deed of partnership with his sons, Edward Vivian, Daniel Henry Strotlier, and Eric Leslie Riddiford, executed in June, 1907. Upon* this deed stamp duty amounting t0£12,238 £12,238 was paid. The deceased's interest reverts to the surviving partners. The lands referred to therein are as follow:--

Tc Awaite—sl,2oo acres. Glenburn.—l2,432 acres. Orongorongo—sß4 acres freehold and 7100 leasehold. Puke Atua—s6Bß freehold and' 588# acres leasehold. Tablelands—B673 acres leasehold. Ruamahangn—76l .acres freehold. LEGACIES. The following legacies free of duljf arc provided:— To Oliver Ashby Bunny (Brother-in-law of deceased) , £SOO. William Bunny (manager of Glen* bum property), £2OOO. Daniel G. A' Cooper (nephew), £2000; Tancred Cooper (nephew), £2OO. Kathleen Marjory and Ruth Hum* phrey (nieces), £SQO eacS. Jane Hall (nurse), £IOO. David Davies (ex-employee), £l6O. William Anstis (stockman), £IOO. Annie Lee, wife of Harry Lee (exemployee),; £IOO. Mildred Butler (housemaid to Mrs. Riddiford), £250 and a life annuity of £IOO. For the benefit of Emily Pratt (niece), wife of John R. F. Pratt, the sum of £SOO is to b« Invested by the trustees. , A CHURCH BEQUEST.

A codicil of April 16th, 1911, provides foT the payment to the vicar and churchwardens of the Church of England parish of St. James, Lower Hutt, the sum of £SOO, to be applied either to the church building fund or to be used as they thinjc fit.