New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-01-01
A REMARKABLE WILL CASE


/ THE pARitE@ TO fhL slii-iHf Will toNhlANl'l
| ANHNDED-CoNFUsIuN Nd LITiGArlON inthfhf
INTENsuIED- DisrPEARANcE 90
TuE pocuMKNr-oRAL TESTIMONY A. 10 ms
| coNtENIs DEEMID sUrTtCIFNr
iFroN ~ oc'AsiONAL ooREtsroNDtSI of rats thinuNf
| LONDON. Nov. 27.--sir James Hammer, lresdel Z
/ Of the Probate Division ~ he High Court Of Jns
| ticr. pave Judgment ON Thurs,ny IN the rcmarkahl,
suit Of sugdcn against -. lsonarls which had oc-
| tupied the attention 81 the Court during the whole
Of the previous week.
! One singular feature ~ the suit lies in the per.
vcrsity Of fate which made the tcstamentary dispo-
sitions Of Lord 81 Leonlrds, late Lord Chancellor
] the subject of litigation at al. Throurhout the
greater portion Of long life be- had been boz pressing
upon others the duty and necessity of cail5. simple
] will-making I'm one II his books ne SAYS: " II h.
| quite shocking 10 reflect upon the litigation vhch
has been caused by men making their own wills or
en- loying incompetent persons do 40? aud to
put ofi making your will until the hand of death b.
upon You eviuces either cowarlicc or a shameful
neglect of your temporal concerns The deceased
lord was also the very highest anthony ou thc art
of w.ll-makiug-a fact Of which Ne was peri city
comizaut aud iuorluatcly proud. It's not them
fore surprising that be- should take great paine be
the distribution Of his own property. lie drew up
his will aud revised IL again and again, adding
from time Ia time mo- less than eight codc.ls and a
last deposited 70 iu strong box in hs own house.
there to remain until che proper time ior its prodi
ton. Everything that human skiil and forests it
could suggest appears 10 have been dome 10 a,uld
confusion OF litigation, and get the result De- or IN
tonsidcd form Of both.
But tie suit ~ of still Greater mtcrct bccauso II
the points If law involved iu h. and the important
ISSUES How ing from Sir James Hammers decision. Il
will. iu fact become one If the foremost leading
cases" Ia tho law affecting wills, aud brief resume
of the facts will therefore Doe OF interest.
LORD ~. LEovAPDs.
lord 81. Loonlris as most people arc aware. vas
the architect of bis own fortunes, and during the
course Of a long life he had amas,ed considerable
wealth. Much OF this Wa invested n landed estates
N Berkshire Camhridgcshife. Hampshire, Kent,
aud SusscX-estimatcd at the yearly value II SIX or
seven Thousand pounds-but lt the time of hos death
he also had personal property 10 'ho amount ~
ECO 900. Ia 1866 Zoe, eldest SON died. leaving among
other children o son, who hes now succeeded 20 The
title. The late lord had also another son, Frank.
and an unmarried daughter. Miss Charlotte sugdrn.
who lived with her father mp ~ bee dnt" II DIE
death on terms Of the gr'gtcst confidence and init
macy Ia 1867 Lord ST. Lcunards made Nl'l
leaving handsome endowment to hl- successor ln tie
title. young Mr. Bartenshaw Suglcn; but in the
cour-e Of ihe next two years this Young gentleman
appears 10 have incurred the severe di-pleasuTc of
bis grandfather. The principal causes Of csiriug'-
meut were two successive matrimonial engagement
INTO which Nr Sugtl-n entered against Tire Nislr,
of the then head Of the family. but iu which ticre
il said tu have been nothing that reelected trlur-
ously Ou the character Of the present peer. There
o, also something said ahuui the graudsous taking
pirt 10 au agitation to procure the removal at th
nc 10 Of Wells which his grandfather resented, AMI
abOni series Of practical likes which seriously
troubled the rpO-eo of Loid s. Icon1ri- la-t year,.
The result Of this rupture we, llIt the Oul made
another will much Tess 4 'nrlbc To bis successor,
and as the enlargement became moro aud more pro
nouucrd lc from time 10 time 1dd'd eight codlCI's
lo ii, will 80 81 the drpriNlug the present lori
# Vet another slirc OF his gruudfathcrs property
and comforting u upon citrr the son Francis or The
daughter Charlotte. IL ali th',r changes loid
frouards had no other assistant than his dlugh-
ter Charlotte, who from having been bis constant
companion and ahuucL9i-, came 10 d.
thoroughly acquainted with the nature Of bis tesla
mrutafy dispositions After the Last codcli was
added the will was PLACED M the deed box ~ The
pr.-.rce of Miss Su-lru in August, 1873 aud there
when iuTd -. LcOuaris died, on tine 2'th ot ia-i
January. IL was still suppo-"d To be-. When Misc
~ugdcu, however, iu company with lawyer, went
10 the box 20 produce the WI. after her father
death It was not to be found, although the codicil~
and testarcntary papers connected with TIE l@-
quests were found To bc sil safely deposited IN hc
strong box Inquiries showed that there were Eve
keys in the house that wUud unlock the box; but
un tuuiric, cuu!d throw any light upuu the whcrcl-
bouis of the lost VIII. Large rewards offered
for IT, but IL has never been restored. Tie present
lord then sought 10 take possession of the estates
sisted by the Hon. and Rev. Frank Sugdcn aud the
Hon. Miss Charlotte who took the ease into the Pro
bate Court, submitting Ia i He plrers OF which
thew retained poss,,iuu, and Offering To prove the
cpuicuts OF tAe principal document by parol eyi-
dencc.
what were the contents of the viii which was at
TENTED 10 Ice proved aud. secondly was the VIII
DESTROYED by the tcstator himself ammo rcOodHdtI
The latter question WIS, of course, the more Nv
portant ~ it needed to be- settled before tho other
could have any wci"Ut. The defendants, ucpr'-cW
Lord -. Lcouard aud his brothers and sisters, st
up the theory that the VIII bad been destroyed h}
ir tc tator himself with the intention OF rcvOklug
A. and this theory was supported 10y tHc wrll-knOWu
d.c,um of Lord Neu-l,Adalr That n a Wtl, traced
to o. possession 81 the d.ccJ.d Iid last seen there.
I- not ioithc"min@ al h.@ d'"' mus, h' .ul,''
10 have been made away with by mm-cL unless
good reasons Tor In'uwut u" the 'ohlI "ph".
can be- shown. Against tins it WAC oout'udcd that
the will NOT Ia the last in the possession ana
under the control of the rstdtor, ~iucr % vas ~
place tO which access could "N identity nave utru hil
by other people. added To which the late lop who
was - a. the time of lls DEATH had Tor months
previously been cpuilhcl To h7 room, Whit
the will had been locked up for whole year
ga Hiss SuEdcns apartments. SIN stronger
| ground for resisting the ordinary uirlcn,c
WAS tn be- found d. the conduct aud declarations If
the ,.'atur himself and j. scarcely likely ~ was
urrrl thai hc would deliberately break AL the
rules hc had himself laid down tor the guidance "l
nti,r- and ,nu,lci himself out If his own mouih e.
rvluciup either coWar lice OF shameful neglect %,
ms temporal rou,rTl,.' Lord -. lcuutId-, too,
tad always shown Eusrlt couscrutou-Iy awe 100
the duty oi cndow Ing thr p,,rJpc a which hc "Js
founder. aud the simple elect oI rrhoNlug the VIII
! without substituting another would br 10 allow the
greater part az hI. estates t. pass 10 hS grandson
! v.itIiout ANY n.ifitlun Whatever, giving him tine
pov.r c-euurutly to ui pose of tht hc might
please and leave the prcrigc barre. title y" on
! n likely Ia have seen tlI, moro readily Than ihc
great luWy crur tu have uorc tlIy appreciated tue
danger and tie disiIIst hc hu consistently shown
t,r h, grandson completes the Wpu.SIhlhty oi hts
having acted with - little caution as the dciruG-
| ants cuutcudcd hc had. Those r.tous were -Iih-
rut To induce 81 James iiauuen 10 drrdc that the