The Sun.
London, England, 1823-11-27 00:00:00

•
PRE ROGATIVE COURT, Nov. 21.
CtlttlaNO V. 7.IIOitNToN.
Dr. DODSON said, that in this case the Learned'Counsel
on
the opposite side had - contended that the. facts did not billar
sufficiently to establish the rule obtained. The facts are these :
Colonel 'Thornton quitted England in 1813, and went to reside
in France, where he took up his domicile, and 'irsided chiefly
in Paris, until his death in 1823, and the will Made by him was
to 411 intents and purposes null end void; he remained itr
France from the year 1815 till the time of his death, excrot
ire
1818, when he came to this country for the purpose of nusi. ness'only, and returned in a very short time ;jte had applied to the King of France, and was by him authorised to be tio--
.miciled in that country according to its customs : he runained
in that country without the intention of r,•turningte England,
and he died a domicile in France; and by the -civil law, the
law of domicile is quite appliCable to Colonel Thornton's ease,
Sir Joust Nieuwe; in giving the judgment or the Court, said
it was a question air the Will of Colonel Thomas Thornton,
dated on the ad Oct. 18111, and he died in Mareb, 1823. The
head of the Will described him as of Thornville Reyel, in the
East !tiding of Yorkshire, and of the principality of Clutin-•
baud, in the kingdom of France; he gave all his real and per-
sonal estate in trust to pay, all his debts, legacies, and fire eral
expcnces ; it authorised one Priscilla Darn, to reside in any
of his houses in England or. France, and to ha,' the use of the
furniture, &c.; to her he gave an annuity of 6004 per annum ;
provides for the education of his natural daughter until she be-
comes of' 21 years, and gave her a life interest in his property ;
in failure of issue the property devolves to sorts other persons
of his family ; the trustees were authorised, with the consent
of the tenant for life, to meil any of his estates in England or
France, the produce of which was to be invested in the purchase
of estates in England only ; his furniture and other moveables
to die sold, and the proceeds to become part of the surplus to
be invested in property in England. His plate, hooks, paint-
ings, &p. were to be considered heir-loonut and sot to be sold.
He gave a few small legacies, one of 100/4 to a person whom
he described as Thomas Thornton, his son by his wife ; he di-
rected the possessor of the estate to take the name of 'Thornton,
and appointed Messrs. Curling and Roussel executors. The
will was a very long one, written in English, manifested sewed,:
ing to the English law, and was attested by-three witneases,
Mr. Curling, in April Nit, was sworn to the testator's will,
and the widow, Mrs. Thornton, put in an allegation, which did
not affect to deny the existence of the will, but suggested that
it Was not valid according to the law of France, and whether
it was the law of France that ought to govern the validity of
the.will. The all gation pleaded that in 1815 ColOnel Thernten
went to Franc ,and determining to reside there, he came again
to England to finally arrange his affairs, and returned to.
France, and fixed his residence hi Paris. In IBlti, in purauanee
of his determination, he applied to the King of France for his'
license to domicile in France; he obtained the Royal license on
-30th January 1317, by which he enjoyed all the civil rights so
long as he should remain in France, and was created nn.tquis-
de Ponti ; he continued to reside in France until March 183.
when he died. If a person died without making a will, it was
fairly to be 'presumed that his property was to lie disposed a
according to the law of the place where' he was lloiniciltd,
but if' he made a will, his intention was to be taken from the
will itself, and his property must be so governed. Colontl
Thornton was a British subject, but resident in a foreign
country, possessed of the rights and privileges of the coun-
try, ;qui was there domiciled. Many cases had been'adduced
to prove to him the manner of personal property being dispo4ed
of, but not one had been shown of the disposition of property
under the present circumstances. After svoighing well the facts
of the case us they titand,:he (Sir John Nickell) wits decidedly
of opinion that the allegation of Mrs. Thornton ought to be
rejected, and the diaposition of the will adhered' to,—Allega-•
tion rejected accordingly.