THE NAPIER FORTUNE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 95, 23 April 1931, Page 11

THE NAPIER FORTUNE.

BULK LEFT TO LADY FBI END.

WIFE GETS NOTHING IN WILL

CHILDREN SEEK JOBS,

Sensational facts concerning the £1,243,000 will of Mr. Montague Stanley Napier, the famous motor engineer, came to light recently, stated the "Daily Herald/ 5 The bulk oi this vast fortune goes to a woman'friend of Mr. Napier now living in Cannes. His widow gets nothing, and the children get only a tiny fraction of the estate, and this is not payable until the death of their mother.

The principal beneficiary under , the will is Mrs. Norah Mary Fryer, the widow of a doctor, who receives a life interest in £700,000. This will yiej<i an income of between £25,000 and £30,000 a year. On her death the £700,000 is to be devoted to cancer research.

Mr. Xapier's two sons did not enter the Napier works founded by their father, where the engines for the Glou-cester-Napier seaplanes were made for the Schneider Trophy races. They found employment elsewhere. Two daughters are also earning their own living. Their mother, while on her way back from a health cruise to South Africa, has been compelled to dispose of her London house in order to live. Twenty years ago Mr. Napier was an engineer with ability and ambition that put Tiim in the forefront of his fellowworkers. Company Floated. Sixteen years ago he was a*ole to float the company which developed into the now famous firm of D. Xapier and Son, Ltd. , r A vear or so before this Mr. Napier developed serious internal trouble. A n operation wao deemed essential, and he went to a nursing home in the New Forest under the care of Dr. and Mrs. Fryer. He had known Mrs. Fryer for several years. The operation was successful, and he was nursed back to health -by Mrs. Fry^r# Later Mr. Napier was ordered by his doctors to live permanently in the South of France. He bought an unpretentious villa m Cannes, where Dr. and Mrs. Fryer joined him, Mrs. Fryer acting as nurse-com-panion-secretary. She remained in this position after the death of her husband. Mrs. Napier stayed in and accepted her husband s offer of an annuity during his life. She maintained a house in London, but later embarked on a prolonged tour. Speaking to the "Daily Herald' by trans-Continental telephone, _ Mrs. Fryer said: "I was a very old friend of Mr. Montague 2sapier. I had known him for about 20 years. I understand that I shall benefit by over £700,000. 1 do not think that I shall be coming to England. I am going* to stay on here. This is my home. Later I may travel. Now I wish to remain quiet." Friends of the Napier family -told the "Daily Herald" that Mrs. Napier_ was returning home to take legal advice on | her position, and whether she can contest the will. The will provides that if any of the children dispute its provisions, they shall forfeit any share that may be due to them. . Until the time of his death, Mr. .Napier was frequently visited at Cannes by his co-directors, who discussed leading matters with him. £570,000 in Death Duties. Some time ago he retired from _ the fTng.irm ar iand joint managing directorship ofj the company. "He was a shrewd business man," declared a personal friend, "and appeared to be somewhat disappointed that neither of his sons would enter the business." Mr. Napier left£3ooo to each of his secretaries, Annie Parrington and Edith Quinton; to Harry Tempest 'Vane, one-fifth of the moneys received by his estate under the "Lion" and ' Inverted Lion" agreements with Messrs. D. Napier and Son, Ltd.; £10,000, his property at Dieppe and effects there, and all his household effects at Cannes, to Norah Mary Fryer; a fife annuity of il;>o<J to his son, Carill Stanley Napier; an annuitv of £1000 to each child other than his daughter Phylljs, who is to receive an annuity of £500, theae se\ eral annuities to commence on the decease of his wife, Alice Caroline Mary; an annuitv of £1000 to his brother, Walter Percy "Napier, and the residue of the property upon trust for Norah Mary Fryer for life. Death duties will amount to £570.000.