MILLIONS THAT NO ONE OWNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 276, 20 November 1926, Page 30

MILLIONS THAT NO ONE OWNS.

ROMANTIC FORTUNES. AWAITING GENUINE CLAIMANTS. WILL IN A WALL. Xorth Devon is at present agog with excitement over the revival of interest in the Webber millions, due to the fact that a conference is taking place between prospective American and English claimants. This is only one case of a huge fortune going begging. Wealth literally "beyond the dreams of avarice" lies idle. In one case a testator bequeathed his fortune to his heirs of the seventh generation, directing that the estate was to accumulate through the intervening six. Endless complexities have thus arisen, and the real heir or heirs are still to be found. The largest fortune awaiting a genuine claimant is the colossal "Angel" fortune, which comprises the Angel estate at Brixton, and a vast accumulation of money laying at the Bank of England. The total Value of the property, which increases yearly by compound interest, is now reckoned at several millions. Up to the present time over fifty applications have come before the Court of Chancery in respect of this vast fortune, but not one of them has been able to establish a valid claim. Years ago a wealthy recluse named Page died intestate, leaving a fortune of nearly £1,000,000, and since his death claimant after claimant has built up his case in an endeavour to win the great prize. But the case always breaks down, and the "nearest living heir" to the Page millions —for the total has doubled itself in the interval—is still to be found. It is estimated that at the present time £90.000.000 lies in Chancery awaiting proved claims for its distribution. Nearly 200 years ago William Haymau died in Somerset, and his estate has laid dormant in Chancery ever since, pending the discovery of a will. Now in the thick wall of an attic room a will, dated 1739, has been discovered by a Mrs. Bishoppe, living in the Orange River Colony in South Africa. William Hayman is believed to have stayed in the house during his travels, and to have left the will hidden in the wall. Mrs. Agnes Biss. wife of a master mariner living at Barry Docks, us the nearest surviving relative of William Hayman. is now endeavouring to get in touch with Mrs. Bishoppe. A valuable estate is at issue, comprising property in London, in Bath, and in a number of Somersetshire villages. Two brothers, J. G. and J. A. Cottaro, and their sister, Mrs. Bonner, of Lincoln, have just proved their right to the fortune of £30.000 left over 90 years ago by Mr. Robert Cottam, who belonged to an old Lincoln family and died intestate. Y r ears ago another branch of the family failed to establish a claim, and the tangle of the actual succession was only unravelled during investigations by a relative who was winding up another estate. Eighty-five years ago Sir John Jeremy, Governor of Sierra Leone, died intestate in the colony, leaving a fortune which was found after his death to amount to the colossal figure of £7,000,000. Mrk. M. A. Charles, who claims to be a direct descendant of the Jeremy family, attempted to prove her own and her two brothers' right as joint owners of the dead baronet's millions.