The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-01-24 00:00:00

SERIOUS CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY,

At the Old Bailey, London, on Tuesday, William
Ffolliott Regan, aged 28, dealer, and Frank Bastow,
aged 30, clerk, were indicted for conspiring to obtain
cows and horses by false pretences. The prisoners, as
Fro Mott, Nephews, and Co., and the Alberta Cattle
Rancho Company advertised in the Irish and Jersey
newspapers that they were desirous of purchasing
large quantities of stock. They represented that their
ranche in Canada was 100,000 acres in extent. Nine-
teen cows andllve horses were obtained from an Irish
dealer, and:six cows, valued at £lBO, from a gentleman
in Jersey. All the animals were sold immediately
they were received, by one or other of the prisoners,
at prices in some cases below those agreed to be paid.
It was asserted that one man had lot £4OO by the
transactions of the prisoners. The jury found the
prisoners guilty. Inspector Marshall was called, and
stated what he knew of the prisoners, saying that
there were about forty complaints against them; but
objections were raised to this being stated; and the
Common Serjeant said he could only take cognizance
of the fact that there were complaints. The prisoners
wcrc.,s-sentenced to eighteen months' hard labour each.

DEATH OF THE EARL OF WILTON.

The death is announced of the Earl of Wilton,
which took place at Egerton-lodge, Melton Mowbray,
on Sunday night. Arthur Edward Holland Grey
Egerton, Earl of Wilton, of Wilton Castle, county
HErefurd, Viscount Grey de Wilton, and Baron
Grey de Radcliffe, in the peerage of the United King-
dom, was the elder son of Thomas, second lord, by
his wife, Lady Mary Stanley, fourth daughter of
Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby, and was born Nov.
25, 1883. He was educated at Eton and Christ-
church, Oxford. His lordship entered the House
cf Commons in 1859, as member for Weymouth,
which he represented up to 1865, and was returned
for Bath in 1873, in the place of Viscount Chelsea
(now Earl Cadogan). He unsuccessfully contested
the city the following year. In June, 1875, he was
created Baron Grey de Radcliffe, during his father's
lifetime. He succeeded to the earldom and vis-
county on the death of his father, in March, 1882.
His lordship was hon. colonel of the 6th Lanca-
shire Rifle Volunteers, and lieutenant-colonel of the
Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry Cavalry. He
married Aug. 11, 1858, Lady Elizabeth Charlotte
Louisa Craven, eldest •daughter of William, second
Earl of Craven, but leaves no issue, so that the earl-
dom and other honours devolve upon his brother, the
Hon. Seymour John Grey Egerton (formerly captain
in the Ist Life Guards), born Jan. 1, 1839, and
married in 1862 to Laura Caroline, daughter of the
late Mr. William Russell, formerly accountant-
general of the Court of Chancery. The first Earl of
Wilton was Si,. Thomas Egerton, seventh baronet,
whose peerage was in remainder to the second and all
the younger sons successively of his daughter, who
married Earl Grosvenor, afterwards first Marquis of
Westminster. His baronetcy, however, reverted to
his cousin, the next heir male. The second Earl of
Wilton assumed the surname of Egerton in lieu of his
patronymic Grosvenor in 1821.

An old back-country farmer, who had given his
note in payment for a new patent "reaper and
binder" came into the bank to pay up. "How does
she go ? " asked the cashier, as he thumbed the bills.
"Well, ye see, this time las' year I sot on the fence
with a cigar in my mouth and a ombrel over me, and
waithed thirty men a-reapin' my field. This year I
reaped it myself and thirty men sot on the fence and
ratched me."