A ROMANTIC MYSTERY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIX, Issue 8118, 12 April 1906, Page 7

A ROMANTIC MYSTERY.

THE GREATEST OF MODERN

TIMES,

DRUOE CLAIM TO THE POUTLAND DUKEDOM AND ESTATES.

The Druce claim to tho estates and title of the Dukedom of Portland, the greatest romauce oi modern times, ia rapidly approaching the last phase—that of open hearing in the open court. It is anticipated that an application will be made shortly for the purpose of taking important eevidence on commission, and other stages will follow in regular succession until the great case is settled definitely one way or the other once for all. A TREMENDOUS ISSUE. The stake is a tremendous one, involving the possession not only of the great Welbeck estates and others that now figure in the rent-roll of the Portland Dukedom, but also the London properties administered by the Portland trustees and hold by Lord Howard de Walden. These London properties include some of the best revenae-producing parts of London—Cavendish Square, Barley Place, Wtlbeck Street, Weymouth Street, Bentiuck Street, Great Portland Street, Holloa Street, and other well-known thoroughfares. ,

It ia estimated that, taking every thing into calculation, the value of the properties claimed ia little short of £100.000,000.

THE CLAIMANT AND HIS ALLEGATIONS.

The present claimant is Mr George Hollamby Drooe. lie bases his contention on the allegation that the fifth Duke oE Poitand and Thomas Charles Druce, proprietor of the Baker Street Bazaar, vere one and the same person. Be is the grandson and the oldest legal descendent of Thomas Charles Druoe, and therefore, if his contention be proved, the grandson and oldest descendant of the fifth Duke of Portland. The present duke is a cousin of the fifth duke, whom he succeeded.

Some time ago Mrs Anna Maria Druce made a similar claim oo behalf of her son. The new claimant, however, represents an older branch of Thomas Oharles Druce's family. His grandmother was T. O. Drace's first wife, while Mrs Anna Drace's claim ia based on the bioahip through a second wife.

RECONSTRUCTING THE STORY.

Let us reconstruct the Portland story as it ia read* by Mr H. G. Druce. For reasons of bis own the fifth Duke of Portland in early life, certainly before he was twenty, began to live a doable life. At times he was the Marquis of Tifohfleld. his proper title; at other tun™ lie was Druce, a name which he assumed for reasons of bis own. A*< Diuoe, ho went to Bury St. Edmunds, where he opened a draper's busim-**, and made a runaway marriage wif h Miss Elizabeth Crickuier, a girl who was at the time a pupil io a school, theie. fle had several children by her, of whom the eldest whs Mr George Druoe, father of the .irwut claimant, to whom he left £1.01)0 in his will. He forsook lus wife after a few years and left Bury St. Edmunds. He succeeded to the dukedom of Portland in 1854, but still aontinued to pose at timas as Druce. It is found that the two names ooinoide with facts in a remarkable manner. When there are records of activity on the part of the Duke of Portland, Druoe seems to have disappeared from the face of the eaith. When Druce is much in evidence history is silent regarding the duke. Continuing the story (according to Mr Druoe'a version) the duke found himself free to marry again when his first wife died in 1851. He did so at once, and the second wife was Annie May Berkeley, a member of the Berkeley family, near neighbours and intimate friends of the Portland family. It is a remarkable fact that the Duke of Portland when Marquis of Titohfield had a violent quarrel with bis brother Lord George Bentiuck about this same Misa Berkeley whom "Thomas Charles Druoe" is aotually known to have married. About 1854, according to the claimant's reading of the mystery, the fifth duke decided to drop the Jekyll-Hyde life he was leading. Accordingly he decided to suppress T. O. Druce and revert permanently to his ducal state. This was done by burying Druoe in the famous vault in Highgate Cemetery. ' A MYSTERY CENTRED ROUND A COFFIN.

If the romance of the claim centres round the estates and the

millions, the mystery centres round

this coffin. If it contained the N actual body of Thomas Charles Druoe, then Druoe ooald not possibly have been the duke, who did not die until 1879. Permission to open the vault was obtained in the earlier proceedings brought by Mrs Anna Druoe, before the present claimant hßd come forward, but this was successfully opposed in every instance.

Mrs Hamilton, a goddaughter of the fourth Duke of Portland, avers that the Ofth Duke of Portland and Thomas Charles Draee were one and the same person. Mrs Hamilton states that the duke used to put on a false wig and whiskers when he wished to conceal hia identity. She saw him repeatedly after the date of his "death,"the last time being iu 1876. One curious fact about the original Thomas Charles Drune is that, prior to bis sudden appearance at Bury St. Edmunds and his marriage, no traoe of his existence has ever been fouud. The list of coincidences could be multiplied almost to any extent. The fifth duke was in the habit of

tying bis trousers with string, /

much as navvies do at the present time. The same habit was a marked characteristic of T. 0. Draoe. Both Druoe and the duke were known to be small eaters, and both had a marked aversion to most kinds of animal food. Both had a mania for tunnelling operations, underground excavations being made wherever Druoe had property, while the miles and miles of subterranean fcunuels are one of the most famous features of the Wei beck grounds.

MYSTERIOUS JOURNEYS

One mysterious ordor to the Welbeck coachman waa that he had to drive to Worksop station at a certain hour every day to meet the train from London. Similarly he had to drive to the station in time to catoh the train for London. The carriage had to bo left eaoh night in auch a condition that it could be used iu the morning without any preparation. The coachman never knew whether or not he was driving an empty carriage to and from the station, as the blinds were invariably drawn, and he was never allowed to open the door to see whether the duko was there or not. Whether these eccentricities, many of them unusual aud remarkable, were the attributes of one man masquerading under two distinct personalities, or whether they were mere coincidences, will be known when the impending case has been thoroughly thrashed out in the courts, or in the House of Lords, whichever tribunal has tho decision of the matter.