The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-26
SH LEAVES EST ATE
TO HUSBANDS NEPHEW

passed to John Lesson. tho railroad
conductor. as a GRANDSON OF the sec
ond son of the third Earl of Milltown.
He claimed the earldom, but was pre-
vented by poverty from making goou
his pretensIons. and died in 1863, leav-
ing two daughters. both of them mar
ried in India, and who have assumed
the title of lady" which Is not. how
ever, officially recognized. His widow.
who styles herself Countess of Mill
town." keeps an optician shop on the
Mall. at 9imla, In India.
Next In line Of succession came Rob-
crt William Frederick Leeson, grand
son of the third son of the third Earl
Midtown. He too put forward q claim
binary career. of much adventure.
having served as private in the army.
and as assistant to a veterinary sur
geon. He succumbed. in the MERGERS
Hospital, at Dublin. to injuries re-
ceived In q street car accident In that
city.
AS far as can BIO ascertained. the
next heir, in law, to the honors is
Richard John Lesson, man neighbor-
ing on sixty, q member Of the Royal
| Dublin Society, and who makes his
| home at 5 Rosemount Terrace, In Dub
| lin. He is very far from being In az
| fluent circumstances, is unmarried, and
has already announced that, owing to
! the heavy expense involved In proving
his descent from the first earl of Mill
town. and especially OF proving tho
| fact that there are no other heirs hav-
| ing prior rights to his own. he will
abstain from making any move in the
| matter, and leave the earldom In its
dormant state, all the more as, even
/, IL he secured it. he would obtain no
property Herewith on which to sup
| port the dignity.
| Some years ago tho Lady Mill
| town became involved In an extraor-
I! binary lawsuit with the National Gal
/ lery Of Ireland, at Dublin. In 1902
| she conveyed by deed of gift to the
trustees OF the National Gallery the
collection OF paintings and statuary at
Russborougl. as well rs quantity of
furniture, porcelain and silver, objects
OF art. as memorial of her husband.
the sixth carl. The trustees undertook
! to build a special wing to the National
Gallery for the reception of the Mill
4 town collection
Between the time. however, Of the
countess signing the deed and the COM
/ pletion of tile wing, the trustees of
the National Gallery did something to
| offend her. Womaniike, she declared
that she would rescind her gift, and
that under no circumstances would
She allow the National Gallery to have
| her collection. The trustees, however
invoked the courts, and ON the strength
OF the deed of gift. obtained judicial
order compelling her to turn over the
| collection to the nation.
II seems incredible that no careful
examination of the collection was made
by the trustees before they went to
the length of accepting 1t, of com
! pleting wing for It's exclusive re-
ception, and OF instituting legal pro-
ceedings eXacting Its surrender by
Lady Milltown. Yet such was the
case. Tor when they ultimately got
tho collection On their hands. thew did
not know what to do with 1t.
Of the 200 pictures, there were only
about thirty that were worthy of ex-
hibition In any public gallery. the re-
| mainder being the veriest trash. and
adorned with names which could only
be regarded as usurped There was
also some old silver, which both from
an intrinsic and artistic point OF view
was valuable. Likewise some statua nv
But the bulk OF the collection was
made up of domestic furniture OF the
eariS victorian era, and so-called cob
Jects dart" OF tho most commonplace
| order.
according to tho deed OF gift. the
trustees have been obliged to place all
I THIS mass of rubbish on exhibition in
! lhe National Gallery, and have thus
rendered themselves. as we'll ms that
institution. ridiculous In the eyes OF
the world
Ihey underworld to obtain from
LADY Midtown her legal permission to
Withdraw from exhibition, and to re-
turn to her or sell, all that was worth
iess In the Midtown collection. that
10 TO say the bulk of it. But to this
suggestion she turned a deaf ear he
ing naturally disinclined to meet their
wishes, after the treatment that she
mad received at their hands.
copyright 1914. by the Brentwood
Company