Evening star., 1923-10-24
Death of Duke
Recalls Stormy Story of Line

duke was In the nature OF love
match The duchess Is of Canadian
McKinnon of Montreal. Indeed. sho
brought to her husband. who was
then stationed at Halifax as plain
C"pt Algernon st. Maur of the 60th
of the Red River expedition nothing
but her good looks her charm and
har cIeverness by way of dowry. and.
although of excellent birth. was oc-
cupying the position of governesS
when her husband first set eyes OH
her She became her husbands com
rade and companion in many of mis-
shooting expeditions in the ROCKY
mountains when he was with his reg
tment in Can da. and has publlshed
several volumes recording her trips
in the far west of the Dominion. tho
most successful and popular OF her
works being entitled Impressions OF
a Tenderfoot."
It is just possible that the rights
OF the new duke to the family hon
ors may be contested by claimants
For the dying duke was subjected
about twenty years ago. to a gooo
deal of trouble. annoyance and ex.
pense in this connection. The then
claimant who was a sexagenartan.
insisted that he was the mystic
riously missing Lord Edward st
Maur younger of the two sons OF tht
twelfth and Sheridan duke. Lord Ed
ward st Maur was at one time IT
the diplomatic ser ice and attached
in turn. to the embassies of Vienna.
Madrid and Paris. and. finally. TO the
then embassy at Washington. He waf
enormously interested in the war OF
secession then in progress; managed
to spend every bit of time that -hC
could spare from his duties at Ghe
legation In visiting the Union front
and, finally. determined to watch the
progress of the war from the Con
federate side His chief Lord Lyons.
would not permit this. and SO he a.
once resigned from the d'nlamatic
service and. with the assistance o.
two Baltimore friends, he slipped
away from Washington and found his
way by what was then known as the
underground route" across the Po
tomac to Richmond There he called
with letters of Introduction. upor
President Davis and upon Roher
n"ld. then varv active ne17her o.
the working government of the Con
federacy With much reluctance
they granted him the necessary per
mission to proceed to the Confed-
crate front and President Davis gave
ton to Gen. Dick Taylor. who was g.
great character and who was at first
inclined to regard him as an i'm
poster when he presented the letter
introducing him as Lord Edward St.
Maur" Gen Taylor exclaimed that
as st Maur" in the English neerage.
his suspicious ba'nu ircrn"sn r-hsr.
. ord Edward added that he was e
son Of the Duke of Somerset.
II
Lord Edward had no end OF trouble
in convincing the general that the
spelling of the patronymic of the
family had been changed by tho
grandfather. WELL" growled old
Taylor, who at first had been in
ciined to hang his visitor as a spy
and as a fraud, your grandfather
was nothing but a damned fool. !
have never heard of any such pre-
posterous thing. Your family name
OF Seymour is historic wherever Eng
lish Is spoken and where Shakespeare
is read. But who has ever heard o.
knows anything about st. Maur?
However" he continued, more gra-
ciously, "it is no fault of yours. so 7
will be glad If you will dine with mo
and spend the night. and make your
self at home in my quarters"
Lord Edwards exit from the Con-
feueT2Cy was peTtlOuS anu
troublesome than his entrance. The
temper of the authorities al Wash
ngton was not improved by the col
lapse of the onto Richmond" cam
paign. Venomous reports had reach
ed Washington of Lord Edwards
activities in the south, and orders
were given. from Union headquarters,
to keep a strict lookout for the re-
turning Engllshman. whose visit to
Richmond was attributed to some
sinister mission of the English gov
ernment to the Confederate authori-
| tiles.
ON his eventual return to England
! via Canada, after hairbreadth es-
capes in the United States from
prison and firing squads he left for
/ India on a shooting trip in the HimS-
| layas, where. while engaged in a bear.
! hunt, with only native attendants
/ and guides, he mysteriously disap-
peared in 1866, the natives lnsis tins
| that he had been torn to pieces by
1 a pair of infuriated bears in defend
ling their cubs. After some years his
death was judiciaily assumed by tho
| English courts, while a memorial
tablet In the parish church at Maiden
Bradley, on the ducal Somerset es-
tate. near Bath, recalls his birth. his
career and his alleged death In India.