The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-12 00:00:00

" (Pa ge 4,)

"I bequeath to my stepson, Sir Colman Rashleigli, baro-
net, of Prideaux, Luxulian, Cornwall, the sum of £5,000.
" I declare this to be any last will and testament, and in
witness hereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this Ist day
of August, in the year of our Lord 1872.
'MARTHA RASHLEIGH.
"Signed, sealed, and declared to be her last will and testa-
ment by the said Martha Rashleigh, the testatrix, in our
presence, who in her presence and in the presence of each
other at the same time subscribe our names as witnesses.
"HENRY 11. TREMAYNE, Manager of the West
of England Bank, Exeter; and
"WILLIAM P. HART, Accountant, West of
England Lank, Exmouth."

The next page of the document was a blank, and the
last contained the endorsement—" The will of Martha
Rasleigh, August 1, 1872."
Some time after the execution of the will Mr. Tre-
mayne, who felt uneasy in relation to it, wrote to
Lady Rashleigh, again advising the employment of a
lawyer in the matter; but the testatrix adhered to her
own views, stating, "My mother wrote her will with ,
her own hand, and all was said to be right ;" and in a
later letter, in answer to -,tlrther remonstrance by Mr.
Tremayne, she wrote, 'I have no fear of any dispute
about my will. . . . And let the worst happen they"
(her nephews and nieces) "may all share and share
alike. But lam convinced that all will go right, and
without any difficulty." Events have falsified the con-
viction so expressed and cherished by the deceased.

The Rev. Robert John Gould died since the institu-
tion of the suit. The action was continued by his
widow and executrix, Mrs. Emma Gould, and the
question raised on the pleadings between her and Mr.
Gould Lakes, the defendant, was whether or not the
first sheet of the document was in existence and formed
part of the will at the time it was executed by the
testatrix. The plaintiff alleged that it was, the de-
fendant that it was. not.

Sir John Holker, Q.C., aril Mr. Bayford appeared
for the plaintiff; Mr. Irtderwick, Q.C., and Mr. Searle
for the defendant.
The attesting witnesses to the will were called on
behalf of the plaintiff, but beyond the fact of its due
execution by the testatrix in their presence, their
memory was a blank on the subject. Neither could
say whether it consisted of one or two sheets of paper,
and Mr. Trernayne, who had read it, had no recollec-
tion whatever of its contents. It appeared, however,
that before the date of the will Lady Rashleigh often
expressed her intention of making the Rev. Robert
John Gould her executor and residuary legatee, and
it appeared from further declarations, made by her
subsequently to the date of her will and repeated by
her shortly before her death, that it was her impres-
sion she had carried her intention into effect in
the will. Those declarations were offered and re-
ceived in evidence on behalf of the plaintiff, subject
to objection as to their admissibility by counsel for the
defendant.

The President, in summing up the case to the jury,
said that the question which it involved was un-
doubtedly one of importance, and should be deter-
mined by them upon general principles without regard
to any feeling they might have as to which way their
determination would best carry out the intentions of
the testatrix. The law required that, even though the
will were in the handwriting of the testatrix, all of it
and all its parts must have been in existence at the time
, and must also have been at-
testedwitnesses. Where a will consisted of
t a s e
by executed
twote d b her,
several sheets of paper, if the sheets were found fixed
together in the manner in which solicitors dealt with
papers, or, if not so fixed they read consistently and con-
tinuously,
and were signed at the end and duly at-
tested, the presumption was that all the sheets so
found together were to be taken as the will of the
testator. But in this case the question was whether
or not the papers were in that state. Was there any-
thing from which the jury could form an opinion
whether or not the papers as they were found in the
desk of testratrix after her death were in that condi-
tion when the testatrix executed the last sheet? That
was the question which they had to determine. He
thought it must be taken for granted that the
deceased lady did intend to make her nephew, the
Rev. Robert John Gould, her executor and her resi-
duary legatee. She seemed to have expressed that inten-
tion both before and after the date of the will, andthe
question was whether she had succeeded in giving
effect to it in her will. It was a most unfortunate
thing that she should have had such a repugnance to
the employment of lawyers, and that in her old age
she should have made her will without professional
assistance. It was another illustration of what all in
one way or another learnt in their experience of life,
that it was a most foolish thing on the:part of people
to think that they could deal with such matters with-
out the aid of a lawyer.

The jury, after deliberating for short time, found
a verdict in favour of the plamtin.

The Court pronounced f ;the will as contained in the
two sheets of paper, with the interlineation,- and
allowed the defendant costs of the estate, the litiga-
tion having arisen from the state in which the testa-
trix left her papers.