ROMANCE OF A WILL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 118, 5 October 1912, Page 9

ROMANCE OF A WILL

YOUNG DOMINIE'S GOOD LU"K. l>e Coghlan, deceased. — £IO,OOO reward will be paid by tlie parties benefiting by the production of a will which is believed to have been in favor of his fraternal relatives made by the late Mr. Henry Thomas Cogklan, who died at l-lvde Park Gardens, London, November, 1002, leaving an estate valued at about £700,000.

Such was the advertisement that appeared in all the principal papers of the United Kingdom, ancl now an extraordinary story conies from the village of Thornton, in Fifeshire, of the remarkable discovery of this much-sought-for will. The story of its recovery is thus told in the Scotsman:—

James Macgregor, a young man of 18, who resides in Thornton, found the | niueh-sough-after will tightly concealed in the binding of an old book which he bought in Kirkcaldy for twopence, and while romance and legal strife were strangely intermingled in the story that was behind the advertisement—for the missing will has been a subject of much interest in English and Irish Courts — the manner in which it has been unearthed adds another tinge of romance to an almost iiction-like history.

THE HISTORY Buvw.. Maegregor has been a pupil at Kirkcaldy High School for the past live ses : sions, and is training for the teaching profession. This is his story of how he found the will: "I frequently ramble into Kirkcaldy, especially on a Saturday, and on the night in question—not long before Thornton Games it was—l was strolling along High street. Off the main thoroughfare, which was pretty much crowded, I noticed a number of people standing round a barrow at the top of Rose street. Going over with others I found it was a sale barrow of a second-hand book vendor, and, being interested," I proceeded to make a choice. A modern history treatise was specially desirable, and, casting my eyes upon 'Modern History, translated from French by Michelet, 1846,' I purchased for twopence,, along with another book on astronomy. Michelet's is a capital volume, and I could not have chosen a better for my purpose." INSIDE THE BINDING. "There was an unevenness in the binding of the book, however, that aroused my curiosity when I got home," he went on, "and I tore it and pulled out an old piece of paper, which was folded into the smallest possible space. After some difficulty I could read it. It was a will made by Mr. H. T. Coghlan at Hyde; Park Gardens in 1884, the witnesses to it being Charles Kelly (a famous Irish Judge) and Thomas Cassey. In the same binding, however, I got another will, dated December, 1891 (a year before Mr. Coghlan died), and by this one that of 18S4 was revoked. The name of Thomas Cassey also appears as a witness in this later one, along with the signature of

Patrick O'Neil. Having seen the advertisement in the papers relating to a missing will, I got into communication with the official source in London, and the process of establishing the validity of it, the identity of the witnesses' handwriting, and other formal details are being proceeded with. Fortune has smiled upon me in another way, because had the will been discovered after November of the present year —20 years after Mr. Coghlan's death—it would, according to the English law, have been invalid."

TEXT OF THE WILL.

The will of 1891 seems to have been written on the page of a small notebook, the lines being clearly visible. The writing is remarkably distinct, although at the folds ot the paper it is somewhat blurred. The text is: This is the last will and testament of Henry T. Coghlan, of 14 Hyde Park Gardens, London, made this twentythird day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-one. I devise and bequeath to Samuel Williams, his heirs, executors and administrators, for his and their own use and reeeipt absolutely, all my estate and effects, both real and personal, and I hereby appoint him, the said Samuel Williams, sole executor of this my will, hereby

revoking all other testamentary writings. In witness whereof I have hereunder set my hand and seal, the day and year above written. (Signed) Henry T. Coghlan.

Signed, sealed and delivered by the testator as his last will and testament in the presence of us present, who, at his request, attest and subscribe our names as witnesses.

(Signed) Patrick O'Neil, Thomas Casey.

Although there would seem to be no doubt that this is the will for which the big sum was offered, there is another which, however, is not nearly so explicit or formal. It was found recently by a Mr. John Sprague, an assistant in Stevenson's Stores, Eatt Molesley, and, strange to say, it, too, was discovered in a book. The following was written on a page at the end of the volume, "The Life and Work of Bishop Heber," viz.,— Hyde Park Gardens. —This is my will. I leave my whole fortune to Emma Broughton for her benetit. (Signed) H. T. Coghlan. Hyde Park, November 23 (?) The year is a matter of conjecture. It might be read as either 1522, 1872, or 1592. If it were the latter year, then the 23rl November, 1892, was the day before Mr. Coghlan's death. The lady referred' to as "Emma Broughton" was Mr. Coghlan's mother,, who died in 1820. A strange story of distrust and quarrelling is linked up in the history of the dead miser's millions, and this is one of the factors that has made the real will difficult to trace. Mr. Coghlan was almost a man of mystery, who kept his private affairs entirely to himself.

LARGEST SUM LEFT WITHOUT A WILL.

Mr. Coghlan's father was LieutenantGeneral Roger Coghlan, an Irish officer of wealth, who married Miss Emma Broughton, second daughter of the Rev. Sir Thomas Broughton, of Eccleshall, Staffordshire, and Doddington, Cheshire. Mrs. Emma Coghlan died in 1820, and she and her husband left £IOO,OOO to their son, Henry Thomas Coghlan, who for many years, it is stated, lived the life of a recluse at Hyde Park Gardens. In a long life he enormously increased his wealth by prudent investment until at his death he left a fortune of £680,000 personalty, which, with realty, was believed to amount to a million sterling. Up to the time of his death that was the largest sum that had ever been left by a person who died intestate, for Mr. Coghlan left no will that could be found. After his demise in 1892 his house was ransacked for a month, it being suspected that there might have been a will carefully concealed srtmewhere. Every book in his large library was critically examined, but in none of the volumes could the desired document be found.

; - THE MISER'S FORTUNE. Ultimately a vast fortune was divided ahiongst the next-of-kin, four in number —i-Sir°Henry Delvese Broughton, nephew

of .Mrs. Coghknj Mr. Alfred Di"lvi><« Drouth ton, his brother; .Mrs. Laura Maul, his rsisLcr. widow of the late Mr. <T. Sompton Maul, barristor-at-law: and ill's. Fanny Hardress Lawson. his cousin. Naturally, this division greatly dissatisfied those who claimed to be related to tlu> miser's family. In IS!)!) Mrs. Teresa Mahon, the wife of a Dublin commercial traveller, made an effort to recover the estate, claiming to be a cousin of the intestate, but she failed. Legal proceedings are at present proceeding in London, where the documents so sensationally discovered bv the lad Macgregor have been forwarded, and

further developments are anxiously awaited in the Fife village.