New-York tribune., 1907-07-22
TWO LORDS CURZ0N.
Not the er-Ficeroy, but the Young
discount, about to Wed.

y7s-1 Howe While his nancae, who MADE her DEBUT
last year is q cousin, being daughter Of Colonel
che Hon Mon;agu Curzon half brother Of the
,a+e earl Lord Howe has been exceedingly anxious
that his son should wed early. For, in the event
of his dying unmarried, and OF the earl himself,
now a widower contracting another matrimonial
alliance, the family honors and the extensive es-
.ates would eventually pass 70 the now ten-year-
old Chanbre Curzon, of Lord Howe's only
brother the Hon. Frederick Curzon, by his mar
rtass with Miss Ellis Jeffreys the actress who is
almost as well known this side of the Atlantic
as in London. This union has now been severed by
q divorce, and the boy is being brought up by his
mother. 70 whom his guardianship was awarded
b. the courts and toward whom the Curzon
family feels somewhat bitterly.
Lord Howe is sometimes described the chief
Of the house OF Curzon. This is not the case The
head Of the family is the venerable Lord Scars
dale father OF the former Viceroy of India The
Curzons are descended from a Norman knight OF
the name of Giraline de Curzon. who received II
number of manors in Oxfordshire and Berkshire
from William the Conqueror. and who fouhden
three lines. namely. the Curzons of CroXhaiI 'ne
Curzons Of Kedleston and the Curzons OF water
perry. The Curzons of CroxhaH became merge
into the house Of SacSville through the narrlase "
Mary Curzon. last survivor of the CroXhlll ii'ie' "
Edward SackviIle. Earl Of Dorset. The CurL0IS
Waterperry are extinct, but the Curzohs OF ~
lesion still exist, being able 10 trace back 'lie ue
Of their family IN unbroken liale my
the founder OF the house The heao OF iiIe -,
lesion branch
C,rzor EIigi1 Sf7arif of Nottingham and OF Derby
and slruamed John with the White fe3d, MING
Charles I conferred baronetcy on the tuI|o" I ~
Kedlestou of his day. and the second hatoie'' ol.
Na+banfei C,11rzon married Sarah. the daughter n
William Penn OF Penn House, Buckinghamshire,
and l,eIrass Of the latter and through her Penn
House 1essad into The possession OF the CurzonS
ord is today one OF the country seats of Lord
IL " W4tbjn the limits of its park is the old
C,,skar burial ground called the Jordans. in which
renose the ashes Of William Penn, the founder Of
Pennsylvania . ,-.,-., ),
ION had sons, The elder of whom. Nathaniel
MAS elevated the peerage as Lord Scars
dafe while the younger. Assheton, created
Lord Curzon in 1Yl2 Lord sCurZon's son married
Sophia Baroness Howe, daughter and heiress Of
the famous Admiral Lord Howe and niece of the
TWO generals of the same name. one of whom fell
at the battle of Ticonderoga. while the other was
commander in chief of the British forces in
America al the time OF the Declaration of Inde-
pendence The of this lady by her marriage
with Lord Curzon's son became Viscount Curzon,
through the death OF his paternal grandfather and
Lord Howe. through his mother. being subsequent
Iy advanced TO the dignity of Earl Howe
The famous Admiral Lord Howe. known through
out the navy by the name OF BLACK Dick
OF his swarthy complexion and his TWO broth
the English generals above mentioned. were re
puted grandsons Of King George l and of that Han
oveTian countess, Kilmansegg. who was created by
that sovereign Countess Of Darlington. and of whom
Thomas Carlyle gives such unfiattering descrip-
ton The Countess OF Kimanseggs daughter Mary
married the second Lord Howe, and thus became
the mother Of BLACK Dick" and of mis- brothers.
The present Lord Howe IS not only very close
friend Of the King and Queen but IS likewise lord
chamberlain Of the latter, and has been connected
with the royal household for q number Of years
His wife, who died last year. a sister OF the
late Duke Of Marlborough and of Lord Randolph
Churchill and of the famous four
finland whips in the United Kingdom.
AMERICAN CLAIMANTS TO HIS FORTUNE
Gopsau House the principal country seat Lord
Howe in Leicestershire belonged to the Curzon
family IN the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. but
then passed out Of their possession. and had
number OF owners during the subsequent three or
four hundred years. until Il acquired in the
eighteenth century by great iron master OF the
name q Jennens, or Jennings. hailing from Bir-
rnIngharn II was Charles Jennings who built the
present mansion, about 100 years ago with a 'front.'
age OF two Hundred feet, and he the
friend and patron Of Handel who spent much Of
his time ar Gopsan, where he wrote the Messiah"
and Israel IN Egypt many OF his original scores
being preserved there in the library.
Charles Jennings died without issue and without
leaving any will II seems that few DAYS before
his death, at the age Of ninety-seven he went down
10 his lawyers office for the particular purpose Of
signing his viii, but on reaching there found that
he had LETT his spectacles at home. and put of
the matter until d later date. being meanwhile
overtaken by the grim destroyer His entire prop
erty went in consequence thereof, to his niece
Esther, daughter Of his only sister Eliza beth and
Of her husband William Hammer Of FIintshirc
Esther Hammer married the first Lord Curzon, and
that Is how his Iineal descendant the present Lord
Howe IS master Of GOpsaH and or all the great
Jennings fortune to-day.
II IS hardly necessary for mo TO add that the
CurZon earls Howe have not been allowed to
main IN undisturbed possession Of the Jennings
fortune Il has formed the subject OF repeated
and prolonged legal proceedings that are stated to
have furnished Charles Dickens the inspira-
ton for his ''Jarndyce Jarndyce. in BLEAK
House" The courts ultima cely decided in favor
of the earls Howe and confirmed them in the
possession Of the Jennings estate But, in spite
Of this, people constantly cropping up who
imagine that they have claim TO the fortune. and
there is knowing how many credulous people Of
the name Of Jennings IN this country or blessed
with ancestor OF the name of Jennings,
been Induced part with good American dol
lars for the alleged prupose Of enabling more or
iess honest lawyers TO prosecute mythical claims
70 the Jennings estate. This too, IN spite Of the
fact that the statute Of limitations. which. Of
course runs from the death Charles Jennings, in
l7ss has long since rendered any proceedings for
The recovery OF the property entirely useless even
II the pretension well founded.
The last time that the matter came actually into
court about twelve years ago. when man or
the 0f George willis undertook TO prove that
the nrst Earl Howe Of the present creatton-that Is
10 gay the grandfather Of the present earl-was
not really Of Lord cuzon and of his wife
Esther Hammer, niece Of old Charles Jennings, put
suppos.titious child the illegitimate offspring of
naidservsnt Of the name OF Anne Oa.eF'
who had been passed off by Lady CurZon as her
son sfter the death Of her eldest boy, George Au-
gUgtus Tie case Of MI Wills was thrown out
Of court. only the ground Of the statute
Of limitations. his inability to furnish ade-
guate legal proof Of his story. but also IN conse-
qUence Of its being discovered that ne was an III
discharged bankrupt, and could not sue save WIN
The cooperation and sanction Of the trustee OF ms
bankruptcy, who absolutely declined 10 move i'
The matter.
Fortunately Lord Howe is very rich. for there
is knowing how much money he and his father'
his uncle and his grandfather before MIN nave
spent Ia resisting claims 10 the Jennings estates.
snd II win scarcely be belieY@c that III sI'ite "i
an that has rsssed few weeks go by without the
earl receiving demands IN writing for the surfeh-
Ger either in part in entirety Of the Jennings
property majority ot these COMMUNICATIONS 0oiii-
ing from America.