The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-19 00:00:00

W INTEI,LIGENCF.—fan. 18.

(Before Mr. Commissioner Evans.)
IN RE STRAHAN, PAUL, AND BATES.

A petition had been presented under this bankruptcy
by the Rev. Henry Snow, of Bibury, in Gloucestershire
(brother of Mr. Strahan), praying to be declared entitled
as trustee under the will of the late Mrs. Snow, to 500
Sambre and Meuse iron shares, which, at the time of the
bankruptcy, were held by his brother, Mr. Strahan (a
co•trustee), and were deposited in the bank in a wrapper
labelled with the names of the trustees. The property
being in the order and disposition of the bankrupts, had
of course been taken possession of by the assignees ; and
the question arose whether there had been such an appro.
ptiation of the shares as to render them the property of
the trustees. To-day was appointed for taking evidence
on this point.
Mr. Hannan appeared for the assignees, and Mr. Bag-
ley for the claimant.
Win. Straiten, one of the bankrupts, who had been
brought up from prison, deposed—l and •my brother, the
Rev. H. Snow, were appointed by my mother executors
of her will, and trustees under it. She bequeathed 10,2951.
in the Three-per-Cent. Consols in trust to my brother,
Henry Snow, and myself, for Robert Snow and his
children. The proceeds of her property were invested
in the purchase of Consols to that amount. Some time
after her death in March, 1849, we sold out that stock,
and lent out the proceeds to Strahan, Paul, and Bates.
The books will show when that took place. It was before
the death of the late Sir J. Paul, which took place in
1851. It was done in order to give my brother 4 per
cent. instead of the interest on Consols. Two policies on
the life of the late Sir J. Paul were given as security.
On his death the bank received the proceeds of those
two policies, and I gave some other securities instead.
There are regular entries of the transactions in the books,
but not of the receipts of the proceeds of the policies. I
transacted the business entirely connected with my
mother's will. My brother Henry must have signed the
authority for the sale of the stock ; but he has taken no
subsequent part in the transactions. An entry in the
stoek-book of "509 Sambre and Meuse iron shares given
in exchange for the policies," was made by me in April,
1855. I had the shares at the bank at the time, wrapped
it a paper. At the same time I wrote on the wrapper,
" —and Henry Snow, trustees," and added 100 shares
to the 409 already in the packet. This must have been
done either at the time or shortly before, as I had net
had the shares very long. About the 2d or 3d of April,
having taken fright about the state of the bank, I went
out and bought a note of hand, dated it back for the pre-
vious September, and deposited it with the shares. The
shares at that time were of more value than they
are now ; and I might have male use of them for the
bank at any time, if I had not put them by, and consi-
dered them as sacred. I had previously put by some Char-
leroi and Erqueiline3 share +; but there is no entry in the
books to show the appropriation of these shares. The entry
referred to is the only one showing the appropriation of
the Sambre and Meuse shares. I exchanged the Char-
leroi shares for the Sambre iron shares, but no money
passed. I would not have raised money on them.
I exchanged with Mr. Arnold, who was a director in
both companies. The exchange must have been made
two years ago. The let .94 September, 1854, the date of
the note of hand, has no connection whatever with the
date of these transactions. That date was merely put
to conceal the real date of the transaction. It was on
the let of January, 1854, that I exchanged the Charleroi
for the Sambre shares. The stock, before it was sold
out, stood in the name of William Strahan and Henry
Snow. My brother joined with me in the authority to
sell. The proceeds were lent to the bank immediately,
and an account was opened in our books as an ordinary
banking account. I intimated to my brother at the
time that there was security, and he has supposed so
ever since, at •least, I have never 'told him to the con-
trary. When the proceeds of the policies on Sir J.
Paul's life were received they went into the bank, and
paid off part of his debt to the bank. I immediately
substituted the Charleroi shares as security, but I
did not mention this to my brother, nor the
exchange of the Charleroi for the Sambre shares, I men-
tioned it to my partners, but not to my brother. I
might have raised money on these shares at any time,
but that I considered them sacred as security. I cannot
say when I put the additional 100 shares into the paper.
Some further evidence was taken, and the question
will be argued on a future day.
There was a second petition by the same gentleman re-
lating to 500 Namur Railway Shares, which were said
to have been appropriated by Mr. Strahan as security
for 3,0001. bank annuities which had been bequeathed
by the late Mr. Robt. Snow, of Chesterfield-street, Pim-
lico, to his brothers, the Rev. Henry Show and Mr.
Strahan, in trust for the henefit of the testator's son,
Mr. Wm. Roger Snow, who attained his majority in
Feb. last. In this case also the stock in question had
been sold by Mr. Strahan, and the proceeds lent to the
bank, 500 Namur Railway Shares being put aside as
security.
After hearing Mr. Bagley and Mr. Hannan, his Honour
deferred his judgment till Thursday next.