New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-01-28
WALL HALL, HERTS
pierpont Morgan, Jr.'S. Coun-
try Seat in England.

lIy OCdl III Lily i0iiN'
-. ,ai1 bv the Brentwood Company
r,srpont Morgan, jr.. now that he has
.hosed from Colonel William Dugald
- the picturesque country seat known
A1denham Abbey in Hertfordshire.
-, he had leased for several years. has
.,ore5 10 IL its former name OF Wall Hall.
- built at the end of the eighteenth
.,,-,. bv George Thellusson. brother Of
est Lord Rendlesham and second son
.hat eccentric multi-millionaire. Peter
...ureson. whose extraordinary will. d.
ting that his great properties should be
"a ,n and invested a; compound interest
-. generations and then 10 go 10 his eldest
- descendant resulted In a tremendous
-.o,,rt Of Irrigation. and ultimately in the
..actn,ent Of q law by Parliament. known
= .Ais dav as the Thellusson act which
.,,5ers IL impossible for personal property
10 tied ND for more than twenty-one
,ssrs after the testators death.
peter TheIusson. who was born a.
c.,ava as Swiss citizen and whose
.,,ber Isaac Thellusson. had figured as
euiss Ambassador az the court of Louis Ky
France. came TO London in 1862. at the
80 NJ about twenty-five. secured letters Of
,s+uralizatIou as an Englishman and en-
ba~ke5 I'D business, accommodating a large
,,-,-ne estimated at some 100000. by sue
.assfrl investments enterprises and specu-
i.tiors. as we'll as by the utmost avarice.
70 seems % have been a most disagree
.s,o old man. with a harsh, hard voice,
.bo So terrorized his family that his wife
faI ~ heart
r.rue after his death his portrait. which
still figures at Rendlesham Hall. the fam
AZ. Mace In suffolk. was shot full of holes
-. his 7fsgusted sons when they found
..5s+ according 20 his will neither they nor
-bei- children were 20 enjoy any Of the
..,s- p~oue~tv which he had left behind
him.
The vii provided that the fortune should
% M accumulating at compound interest
during rho lives Of his three sons and Of
,is grandchildren. then the entire prop
,-.v was 10 be conveyed 10 the senior
--ss-- r~anCchild. on the condition that he
assumed the name of Thellusson. II he did
rot already possess it by birth; and that
IN default OF this compliance with MS
wishes or in the event Of the failure OF any
7-ea--c~sr5-hild as heir. the accumulated
fortune should be applied. through the
srercv of the sinking fund. in reduction Of
.re national debt. His motive in making
This viii was partly "A malignant hatred Of
,is children and grandchildren, and partly.
600 vanity. anxious as he was that nearly
o. century after his death his name should
no r4rpa-uated by the largest fortune in
existence.
Of course. his testamentary dispositions
created great deal Of controversy, criu-
-,sr, sn5 litigation. and led TO the enact
-renr u the Thellusson act, which l have
mentioned above and which became law
Of iho land i'm lSoj. But II was not retro
active and his will. though contested. was
vpheH DIS decision OF the House OF
Lords af June. 1905 Litigation continued,
however among the various members or
tho family for the following fifty years or
more. 4u-ichinE generations OF lawyers.
Th. last surviving grandchild died in Feb
-ra-- 1866. and then q question arose as
-r whether tie eldest male descendant or
--. .40.or male descendant Of the eldest
son should inherit the property. the mat
pc. being brought 10 a conclusion. IN hnai
.-r,a- i'm 1859. In favor Of t..e senior male
....-endant Of the eldest son, namely the
resent and NTH Lord Rendlesham II IS
said that. owing 20 the extraordinary ex-
lenses Of all these sixty wears Of litigation.
.bo fortune which came into the posses
sion Of Lori Rendlesham ar that time was
oniv about twice the size of the wealth left
- old Peter Theliusson ar the time Of his
death
4 Charles Dickens did not immediately
~-ard the TheIlusson case 70 be the origi-
pal Of .Jarndvce versus Jarndyce.' he, at
an, rate. makes an obvious reference
thereto IN the preface 10 Bleak House
-.--en in 1855. IN the following WORDS.
There is another we'll known suit IN
r.srra~v. not vet decided, which was COM
-s-.el before tho close Of the last cen
-.-, and I'm which fabulous sums have
been swallowed Up iu costs. II / wanted
otra- authorities for Jarudyce versus JaTh-
d~cs could rain them on these pages.
Tho present Lord Rendlesham. the only
member of The British peerase whose fam
Yr was founded by q Switzer. is one OF the
NOS popular all-round sportsmen in Eng
and has several times held Office as stew
s-5 Of che Jockey club and has achleNed
distinction ar a shot, az a yachtsman anu
In +r. hunting field. lie has no seat in the
Ifo-.. or Lords his peerage being an lrlsH
one rre first. indeed, created since the HCI
of --r Union. ana makes his home at Rem
o.o.ra~ Hall. % beautiful place In SUFFOLK
vHs.r rs Peter TheHusson bought in the
eighteenth century from tie Nomo"eA