New-York tribune., 1886-04-25
THE cUaSr-TOWNELEY ESTATE

Notwithstanding the repeated exposures OF
| deusion and fraud in cases of alleged American
hcrship to English estates, the business OF
| working such impostures proceeds cheerily, anu
the supply of dupes is apparently unlimited.
| The latest instance record is that OF the So
called Chase Towneley estate, the cxpectant
| heirs of which are mostly in California. Last
| February some one arranged a meeting OF these
sanguinc people for the purpose OF raising a
| fund to carry on further proceedings In Eng
land. The most extraordinary stories were told
at this meeting 1t was gravcly stated that the
value of the property was SsUO,OOO,OOO, and
the Bank of England was said to hold this snug
sum in its vaults ready for delivery upon proof
of title It was also said that the property com
prised 100000 acres of choice land, and the
heirs were encouraged by the information that
the British Parliament had recently passed
special act providing for the distribution OF
the whole property to the American claimants.
Naturally these remarkable stories encouraged
the alleged heirs NIGHTLY and they turned a
deaf ear to the warnings of the one cautious
man who assured them that they were being
deluded.
This one cautious man, instead of accepting
the glowing pictures OF the adv enturers who
We're at the bottom of the humbug, wrote to the
American Minister at London, and received in
reply a letter and a circular which appear to
have at last opened the eyes of the heirs Mr.
Phelps was led to draw up this circular by the
incessant demand for information about the
"Chase- -Towneey Estate" from this country.
Hundreds Of such letters, he says, reach him
from many parts OF the Cnited States. Refer
ring to the representations about the estate
given above, he says: IAll these statements
"are gross falsehoods intended to obtain money
"irom the credulous under pretence of prose-
Scouting their claims. There is money in the
"Bank of England belonging to the Lawrence
"Townelev' or Chase TOwneey,' or 'Towne-
sley' estate, or to any claimants under either.
" There is no such estate in England as the
"Iawrence- Il owneley' or Chase TOwneley
"estate. Nor any known family of that desgna
@,ion. The 'Tovneley estate is a landed
"property of about 5000 acres, in the coun-
I" ties of Lancaster and York. which is now, and
"has been for a very long time, III the possession
" of its lawful owners. Their title is completely
@protected by the law of England. There are no
"unknown or American owners of any part of the
property. And no ground whatever for any
"such claim AS for the Act of Parliament. it
"has no reference to any division of this estate
"among American claimants or heirs 1t is
simply an act to adjust certain equities And
Mr. Phelps adds "The assertion advertised in
"the United States that the act affords an op-
"portunity, or that there is any other oppor-
"tunity, for the prosecution of American claims
"to the property, is false"
This information has probably put an end to
the California raid upon the Chase-Towncley
estate" though there can be no certainty even
as to that, for there are plenty of people
capable of believing that the American Minister
has been bought over by the present wicked
possessors of the estate, who of course are pre-
pared to go to any lengths to keep the Ameri
can heirs out of their lawful property. Some
such theory scems necessary, indeed, to account
for the tenacity with which people cling to ex-
pectations of this shadowy kind, and the reluct-
ance with which they admit the plaincSt evil
dence of their delusive character. The truth
about the "Chase- TOwncley" estate has been
published before. There never has been any
mystery about it, But many people are so ac-
customed to accept hearsay evidence that it
does not occur to them to verify what is told
them This is why bogus nobemen SO often
succeed in deceiving those who have only to
open Peerage or Baronetage to detect the I'M
posture OF course in the heirShip business the
chief leverage of the adventurers is human
greed, which blinds ordinarily shrewd people
frequently. Yet it certainly does seem that this
particular line of fraud ought by this time to be
played out