The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-10-16
NEXT OF KIN,
CurlosItIes ofa t.Next Of Kin Index"


Edward Preston, proprietor Of Robert
Chambers Index to Next of Kin, writes
to the London Echo as follows: "Ir
compiling my index of persons adyer
tised for during the past year, it occurred
to me that short summary OF sucl
advertisements Numbering over two
tnousand) would not prove uninterest-
ing to your readers: l therefore ven
ture to send the same to you. A nov
elist need be at no loss for a subject
were he to con daily the "agony column
Of the Times, and, although in novels
people are often made to pick up for.
tune through chance newspaper, the
public are, as a rule, too skeptlcal to
believe in such instances. A case re-
Gently decided by Vice Chancellor
Malins, in which 9200,000 was at stake,
is very curious. The facts were as
follows: In December, 1871, Mrs. Maria
Mangin Brown, OF Hertford street, May.
fair, died intestate, leaving 100000 per.
sonalty, and without any known next OF
kin; consequently the then Solicitor oi
the Treasury (Mr. Gray, @. o. took
possession OF her estate on behalf of the
Crown, and paid all expenses of ad-
ministration, &c. Advertisements were
then issued by the Grown Solicitor to
ascertain who were Mrs. Browns next
ofkin, and fourteen persons came in
hereunder. -Four of them, Italians,
proved their claim to the satisfaction OF
the court, and the matter came on by
petition praying payment to the petit
TONER, Filippo Tomasso Malta Freccia,
of Gl92, ,535, the balance of the above sum
of f2O0,00O after providing for success
sion duty and costs. The Vice Chancel.
lor made an order as prayed.
Cases such as the foregoing will, l
hope, dissipate a good many doubts, and
nut many persons of an inquiring turn
of mind on the Qui UiUe as to whether
there may not be, alter all, good deal
in the motto that truth is stranger than
tiction.' AS patriotic subject, l am
happy to learn that Her Majesty during
the past year came into possession OF
plate and money valued at several thous-
and pounds, woTkmen having opened
up, the same { to use a mining phrase
during alterations at Buckingham
Palace. The sudden acquisition OF
wealth would be almost the last thought
of a paaper, yet" two instances OF this
kind may be chronlcled; one, that of a
poor woman, whose husband deserted
her many years ago, and recently died
in America, leaving her $4,000; the
other, that of Hull pauper, who long
ago left his native place for Australia,
and returned to become an inmate of a
workhouse; he has recently been proved
heir to $50, 900 through the medium of a
neXt.oi-K1n advertisement.
Numerous notices were given by the
Bank of England for retransfer OF
funds from the Commissioners for the
reduction OF the national debt, claim
bnu I'm nf
Chancery issued many notices TO next
to kin, in the most notable OF which the
testator died in 172S; this case is still
funding. 1t may not be generally known
that the New Law Courts are being
built with the interest of suitors' money
lying dormant in Chancery. Several
cases of firms which became insolvent
many years ago, and to whose estates
unexpected assets have accrued, de-
serve a passing notice. The creditors
or their representatives are now inquired
for to claim such assets. Legacles OF
of all sorts-by parents to children, by
uncles and aunts 10 nephews and nieces,
are too numerous to especially partlcu-
larize, but the following, which ap.
ueared in the Times, contains good news
ior one young lady: 'Louy a. r. Max
has &1,0U0 tor you.' Many persons,
chieily resident in the Colonies, are
wanted by the Court OF Probate to ac-
cept or refuse letters OF administration
to estates ol relatives dying i'll England.
Several msers died miserably, leaV-
ing lal ge sums of money. In one case
the bouy OF an aged spinster was found
partly eaten by rats, and securities for
{ 900 in consols were also found in the
saine room, which was not ut Tor the
habitation of even miser. Several re-
wards are offered for lost wills, includ-
ing one OF $500 for that OF Lord st. Leon
ards (not yet found, but probably has
been granted on copy of it drawn up
from memory by Miss Sugden, his lord
ships daughter). Our Ex-Lord Chan
cellors, great lawyers though they were,
have been unable to so manage their
affairs as 10 avoid litigation. In Lord
Westbury's case two or three suits have
already arisen. While on the subject of
wills the following case is, in its way,
unique. A testatof makes his Will as
follows:
"I. having neither kith nor kin,
Beaueatn all i have named herein
TO Margaret, nv dearest wife,
To have and hold as hers for life.
While in good health and sound in mind,
This codicll Pve undersigned."
His wife and executors having pre-
deceased him, probate was granled to
the Crown Solicitor, there being no next
of kin. In another case, Felstead VS..
GRAY. q Mrs. Felstead, who came in un-
der an advertisement issued by the
Grown, claimed the estate ot George
Rose valued at f25 900, and obtained a
decree in her favor. Under a head of
"Missing Relatives and Friends" many
curious inquiries are made; there is
quiet pathos in the mothers advertise
me MT, who desires her son to make her
happy by writing 10 her.. Wonders
Nil never cease, and gentleman actu-
ally inquiries for his tailor in order to
settle an account. A cabman is informed
that he Will hear oil his fare on applying
at so-and-so. such notice would be
music to many cabman's ears. Forty
six persons are inquired for toclalm val
liable property saved from the Pantech-