The Irish standard., 1909-12-04
ANCIENT PEDIGREE OF
AN. N.ENGL|sH CATHOLIC.
\ Historical Sketch of the
Duke of Norfolk, one Of the
Greatest Landed Proprie-
tors in the United Kingdom
as well as the Foremost
Catholic Layman in the
British Realm--ls at Present
England's Earl Marshal.

If an ancient lineage, wide possess
sions, and an. immense rent-roll could
ensure felicity, then his Grace of Nor
folk should be one of the 11appiest of
men. Premier Duke and Earl Mar
shal, this unassuming man of sturdy
build and kindly eye owns $4,000 acres
in some of the fairest English coun-
ties, while his rent-roll exceeds Il
quarter of million year. If it were
possible to bodily move Liverpool,
J Manchester and Birmingham, they
could all be accommodated on the
Dukes land, with handsome margin
of 1900 acres to spare; while his in
come exceeds that derived by the Cor
poration of Bristol from its borough
rate.
The Dukes holdings are made up Of
1927 acres in Sussex, where his beau
tiful Arundel estates are situated;
1920 acres in the West Riding; 4,S49
acres in Surrey; 4,46O in Norfolk,
where his ancestors had already dis
tinguished themselves early in the
thirteenth century; 1853 in Derbyshire;
and the remainder in Motifs, Stafford
and Suffolk. 1t is true that several
members Of the Upper House have
much more extensive possessions, but
there Is a very material difference be-
tween 100000 acres. in the remote
Highlands and 200 acres, say, in the
heart of London or 500 acres in the
middle of Sheffield
AS one of London's great ground
landowners, his Grace owns a con-
siderable slice of the southeast side
of the Strand. Norfolk street, Arun-
del street, and the five other streets
bearing some portion of the family
name, in addition to the Strand and
Embankment frontage, are all let on
comparatively short and ever-increas-
ing costly leases. According to a
competent authority, "the rental value
of 1853 to 100, Strand, and of the
streets bearing the family name of
Norfolk, was, a couple of decades ago,
some $4,000 pounds. The rebuilding
in Norfolk and Surrey streets has i'm
measureably augmented the rent-rol,.
which has probably increased three
fold in volume"
The site adjoining the Outer Tenn
ple-Arundel House-was the resi-
dence of the Earl of Sussex, and was
afterwards occupied by the Bishop of
Bath, from which it was wrested with
out penny of compensation by Sey-
mour, brother of Protector Somer-
set At the latter's death in 1852,
Henry Fitzalan, ancestor of the pres
ent Duke of Norfolk, bought it for Al
pounds 6s. Sd. This comprised the
larger portion of the present Dukes
Strand property.
Some idea of the increasing value
of this part of the metropolis may be
gathered from the fact that a shop in
one of the streets named realized
1900 pounds twenty-seven years ago,
the rental being 80 pounds, whereas
on the expiration of the lease the rent
was raised to 26O pounds year. In
another case the rent of a boarding
house was raised from 27O pounds, at
which figure it was fixed twenty two
years ago, to 685 pounds. Such in
stances in no way reflect on the Duke
or his agents. On the contrary, his
Grace has the reputation of being a
most kindly and considerate landlord,
and is greatly respected by his ten
= santry in Goth town and country. The
Duke also owns land in st. Martins
in-the-Fields, from which he derives
several thousands per year.
It is moot point whether the
Dukes property in Sheffield does not
bring him in quite as much as does
his metropolitan estate. 1t is very
much more extensive, and for the most
part is situated in the heart Of the
city, several of ShefReld's most i'm
portant steel, cutlery and other works
having been erected on it. Prior to
1899 the whole of the city's markets
belonged to his Grace, but they were
purchased by the Corporation for $780,
O00arpounds, somewhat costly trans
action in view of the fact that the