New-York tribune., 1909-07-23
CLAIMS THE srEPNEY BARoNETcY,


.,., s+snnev C71,lston Of Derv1 cd (Which means
.-Tbs nryids' Home") Llandehis Carmarthenshire,
hos announced his assumption Of the haronetcy OF
tbe late Sir Emile Cowell-Stepney- who was io'nu
dead the other day a q village railroad Sialloll
g Arizona. But while II is perfectly true that
Alan Stepney Culstan is 4 descendant Of the sew
.,,b holder Of the Stepney baronetcy. he can only
lor This descent in the female line. and the de
,- of naronetces Is restricted exclusively 70 the
male line direct. True, under present condltohs
.bs-e Is 10 law 20 prevent Alan Stepney Gulston
f-o7, assuming the baronetcy. and he cannot De
nnslized for the usurpaton. unless he should hap
ns, IN become fnvolvent. and il could be SHOWN
,,o+ ba had obtained credit the strength of his
,Iisre5 baronetcv. IN which event he would lay
himself open 70 criminal prosecution for obtaining
goods under false pretences.
The original Stepney baTonetcy was created hy
lanes in 1921. but became extinct with the dealh
of Thomas Stepney the ninth baTonet in 1928. He
had -zo sisters and it was 70 the younger OF
these Justina that he left his property She mar
-,sd General Andrew Coweu and the son Of this
fneu who by the terms Of his uncle's and mothers
will assumed the name and the arms Of Stepney'
IN addition 10 his fathers name Of Cowell was
created baronet in 1871 for military services
The late Sir Emile. who died the other day, was
Lis son
Now the ninth and last baTonet Of the original
creation had an elder sister Of the name Of Eliza
beth who married Joseph Gulston, a Member OF
Parliament. But Sic was estranged from her
brother It is her grandson, Alan Gulston. who is
nox claiming his granduncle's baronetcy' which
became extinct in 1926.
Sir Emile leaves daughter. Miss Catherine
CoweI-Stepaey. who has inherited all his property
The latter includes about ten thousand acres In
Wales He likewise owned some fifteen thou
sand acres Of land in California What dispo-
sitioa viii be made Of the latter remains 10 be
seen as there is likely 20 be litigation. For IL has
been reported that Sir Emile had, on the strength
Of decree Of divorce which he had obtained IN
the State Of Idaho, contracted another marriage IN
this country. This divorce was, however, never
recognized by the English tribunals. and was de-
clared by them TO be invalid when it came up for
discussion during the proceedings which Lady
Cowell-Stepney instituted some years ago against
her husband in the English courts. which granted
her. not a divorce. but mere judicial separation
the ground OF desertion-
Miss Catherine Cowen-Stepney, who is about
thirty-three years Of age. lives with her mother,
Lady Cowen-stepney. a daughter Of the late Lord
De Tabley, and in this way is connected with the
wadsvorths, Of Genesee. y. Y, and Mrs Arthur
Post OF New York Lady COwe-Stepney's elder
sister is the mother Of that Sir Bryan leighton
who volunteered for service under the American
flag during the war with SPAN. and went through
the entire campaign
Sir Emile was undoubtedly half insane. Indeed,
on the strength Of afidavits Of the late
William E Gladstone, Of Lord Currie. OF Sir
Robert Mead. Un1er Secretary Of State for the
Colonial Department, and Of Sir Percy Anderson
Of the Foreign Office with which the baronet had
been connected for a number Of years.. regarding
his delusions that the Court Of Chancery made an
order IN 1891 granting the custody Of his daughter
20 her mother. Afterward Sir Emile was under
the Treatment Of the late Sir William Gull, Of Dr.
bordesley, and OF other eminent physicians and
Specialists for mental ailments. besides being in
the custody Of aiienist for more than a year.
Had this been known il is doubtful whether Sir
Emile would have succeeded in obtaining his
papers Of naturalization a citizen Of the United
States. BE very proud OF his citizenship and
n writing TO his fellow members Of the Travel
lefs and Brooks, two OF the most important clubs
n London, to which he belonged up TO the time
o. his DEATH always begged that they should ad-
oress him as Mr.. E. Stepney.' since on becom-
ing an American citizen he had dropped the
oaronetcy for gooG and ALL