MONEY IN NAMES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 40, 16 February 1929, Page 10 (Supplement)

MONEY IN NAMES.

FORTUNES LEFT.

UNDER QUEER CONDITIONS,

PEOPLE WHO BEAR CERTAIN

NAMES

Is your name Sharpies or Hesmondhalgh? Are you over GO, with an income of less than £40 a year? If so, and you make application before November 30 you may get a bit of the fortune of over £100,000 left by the late Thomas Sharpies, of Manchester, England. Or, if your name happens to be Peek and you are hard Tip, if you place your case before the trustees" of the Peek Trust Fund, financial aid may be forthcoming. Almost certainly it will be if you can prove that you are descended from James Peek, a Devonshire magnate of the eighteenth century, who established the Peek Funds.

A surprising lot of "name" charities —that is, charities founded for the benefit of people bearing a certain name —exist in Great Britain, and the latest of these is just coming into operation. This is the one founded by Mr. Sharpies of Manchester.

Thomas Sharpies was an accountant and noted for his eccentricity. For ten years he lived in his office, sleeping at night on a bed that folded up in a cupboard in the daytime, and spending only sixpence a day on food, which he cooked himself over a gas jet. His lunch is said never to have cost him more than the British equivalent of four cents. For the Aged Poor. But when ho died in 1924 ho left more than £100,000 for a "Thomas Sharpies Charity Trust." The income was to be handed to six trustees, "all of whom must be lawfully entitled to the surnames of Sharpies or Hesmondhalgh, and by them distributed to people named Sharpies or ITesmondhaljrh who are more than 00 years old, and whose income does not exceed £40 a year."

Bequests of this kind, it may be mentioned in passing, have raised a number of legal problems. One is the question if a person named, say, Green, who assumes by deed poll the name of Brewster can claim one of the annuities left to people "lawfully entitled" to the name of Brewster. Another is whether, if a man leaves money to his unknown namesakes, his will holds. Should his money go to his next-of-kin, in spite of his directions?

In the case oT Thomas Sharpies, though his next-of-kin contested his will, a scheme has now been drawn up and candidates are required to forward their applications not later than November 30 in each year. It will not bo possible in this instance, however, for a hard-up individual to benefit by assuming the name of Sharpies or Hesmondhalgh, the definition of "lawfully entitled" under the scheme barring legal changes; but there is not likely to be any lack of applicants.

No Dearth of Applicants.

Apparently there are only a few Hesmondhalghs in the County of Lancashire, in which Manchester is situated, but that city alone contains more than 200 people bearing the name of Sharpies, and in Blackburn and other towns also there are many owners of the same cognomen, which derives from a parish in the township of Bolton. In fact, quite a swarm of applicants appeared after the death of Thomas Sharpies, and the trustees' difficulty will lie apparently in making a selection. Whether applications from people in America named Sharpies or Hesmondhalgh would be accepted is uncertain, but it probably would be worth having a try.

Real testators in Great Britain, like the imaginary one in A. A. Milne's play, "Wurzle-Fluromery," show a

curious fondness for particular names, not necessarily their own. One of them bequeathed £1000 to an English girl, payable on the day of her marriage, on condition that she married a man (any man) bearing a spec.'/ied surname. She married a man who assumed that surname, and claimed the legacy; but it was held that she had not, complied with the condition, and the money went to somebody else.

On the other hand, many people have gained by assuming names. A Miss Roberts left £9000 to trustees for her brother, Admiral J. C. G. RobertsGawen. during his life, and then to his foii for life, and afterward for life to "any immediate or direct descendants of my said brother or nephew who shall bear the name of Roberts-Gawen only." In case of failure of any descendant, the money was to go to certain charities.

After Miss Roberts' def.th, but before her nephew's death, a son of her brother's daughter assumed by royal licence the name of Roberts-Gawen, and after the death of the survivor of the brother and nephew he was the only descendant of either who bore that name. Accordingly he claimed the income from the £9000. His right to it was disputed by the charities. As. however, Miss Roberts had said "bear the name" not "born with the name" of Roberts-Gawen, it was decided that he was entitled to the money.

Occasionally a similar frame of mind leads to the formation of a trust for unknown relatives. Th?re is a foundation of this kind—John Harrison's Charity for Poor Kindrfd--ot Pewsbury, England. Dating from lti.'JS. it has an income of about £1200, which is distributed among such descendants of Grace Harrison, a sister of the founder, as chance to be in need of help.

Of the same nature are the Peek Trust Funds. They are for the benefit of any persons named Perk of good character and repute who need help. Preference is given, however, to descendants of James Peek, the founder, whose home was Loddiswell, Devonshire. A husband or wife of deceased kindred of James Peek may be treated as kindred. Assistance to kindred is limited to £200 a year. The income is a little more than £1600. A Trust Three Centuries Old.

One of London's many charitable trusts is called Smith's Gifts. This was founded by a certain Alderman Smith, who died in 1627, and one of its objects is the relief of poor kindred of his, of whom pedigrees are kept by the trustees. In this case the gross income is £26,000, but the bulk of it is used for other purposes in accordance with the wishes of the founder.

From leaving money to actual descendants to leaving it to namesakes in general is only a step, which a testator may be partly influenced in taking from an impression that his family name is very rare. This is a common but usually mistaken belief. It was estimated a few years ago that if all the people eligible for assistance under the will of one man who founded a name trust applied for relief each would get, at the utmost, four cents a month!

One does not hear much about these "name" trusts for the excellent reason that the trustees keep them as dark as possible. If they did not, their duties, already fairly heavy, would be increased by having to wade through thousands of applications from people not entitled to benefit under the terms of the particular bequest.

One of the many foundations for namesakes is the Nicholson Charity in Chelsea, London. It provides pensions of £5 or £6 a month to poor men and women, members of the Church of England, who bear the name of Nicholson, and also apprenticing fees for youngsters, and marriage portions of £2~> for persons of the same name and religion.

One of the latest testators to show that, in 6pite of Juliet, there is something in a name was Miss Jessie Ann Thomson of Aberdeen, who died not Ion" after Thomas Sharpies. Slie left property in Great Britain worth nearly £80,000 and bequeathed about £40,000 on trust "to apply the income thereof'for the benefit of needy gentlewomen in Aberdeen whose maiden name is Thomson or Middleton."