Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-30
DRUCE7 GRAVE OPEN;
{. BODY FOUND INSIDE
. Continued from First Page)

y
other workers who were induced to buy
shares In a. company formed to prosecute
the claims of George Hollamby bruce
against the estate of the Duke of Port
land. -.-..
The charge of perjury against Herbert
bruce is. effectively disposed of.
A special meeting of the claimant and
his friends and supporters will be held
soon to consider the situation In its new
aspect.
The home office does not intend to
issue any official report of the exhuma-
ton.
Those persons who have sworn to the
placing of lead instead of human body
In the coffin have been dscredited. and
they probably will have to take the con-
sequences of their acts.
So far as the general public is CON
csrned. the entire long-drawn-out Druce-
Duke of Portland controversy is at an
end. and the case of the claimant. George
Hollamby bruce. has fallen TO the ground.
Story Of the Case.
George Hoiiamby bruce. claimant to the
title and estates of the Duke of Portland.
has after Several years spent In gathering
fresh evidence in his support revived his
case in the English courts. and the. sto-
ries told by his new witnesses are of SO
sensational a nature that the keenest pub
III iutCIcSL lldS again Uccu dIUusScu w Ci
one of the most amazing mysteries the
law has ever been called upon to unravel.
The dual life of the fifth Duke of Port
land as pieced together by the claimant
is as remarkable a romance as was ever
met with between the covers of a book.
The grounds upon which the claimant
builds his case are as follows: He alleges
that William John. fifth Duke of Portland,
Il 4, ~ md
the same person: that the duke adopted
for reasons of his own the name of bruce
and led dual existence, and that in 1854
he arranged for a burial of 'Druce' and
resumed his life as the duke.
The bruce claim Is that the burial was
a sham, that the coffin did not contain a
body and that there are direct descend
ants of the fifth duke living, inasmuch as
he was married in the name of bruce and
had children. When the duke DIED in 1879
he was buried as a bachelor and the title
and portion of the estates according
to the law. passed into the possession Of
his cousin. the present duke
The first claimant was the late Ann
Marie bruce. widow of Walter Thomas
bruce, who is stated to have been the
only legitimate son of Thomas Charles
bruce. George Hollamby bruce. the pres
ent claimant. has evidence proving beyond
doubt that Thomas C. bruce was twice
married and that he is grandson of
bruce by the latter's first marriage to
Elizabeth Cr1ckmer. which took place in
1916 at Bury St. Edmunds.
The. bruce claim does not concern the
title and estates of the Duke of ortland
alone but also the vast London estate
now held by Lord Howard de Walden
from his mother. the late Dowager Lady
Howard de Walden. The late dowager
inherited the estate from her brother, the
fifth Duke of Portland. who died without
heirs, and thereupon the estate, according
to tho will of the fourth duke, went to
the fifth dukes sister. This London es-
tate has a rent roll of half d million
sterling year and covers some of the
best revenue producing parts Of central
JOndon