BIG FORTUNES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 30 August 1927, Page 9

BIG FORTUNES

A DYE-WORKERS'CLAIM BEFORE FRENCH COURTS.

The Frenih Couru are shortly to be called upon to settle a claim to a for tune of over £1.200.000. This claim is made by Francois Brunswick, a fore* man in the dye works of Roubaix, who is, however, believed to be a direct deeeendant of the Dukes of Brunswick. During the war Francois Brunswick remained in Roubaix, and it was a Ger* man officer in charge of the issue of identity cards who suggested that he should investigate his descent, since he bore a name of the High German nobil* ity* then recalled that his grandfather had often said that his ancestors had possessed vast domains and numerous castles, and that If only they eould establish their descent they would be rich beyond the dreams of avarice. One of, the family heirlooms in the foreman was a framed copy of the rams of the Dukes of Bruns* wick and a genealogical tree, which I showed the family‘s decent from the Duke Otto of Brunswick, born in 1495, down to the year 1700. On the death of Duke William, in 1884, his fortune should have passed to the eider branch of the family, but at that time it was believed that this line was ex* tinct.

Researches carried out by genea* legists (says the Paris correspondent of the London “Daily Telegraph”) have now revealed, however, that this elder branch is represented by Francois de Brunswick, a direct descendant of Duke Otto, of Brunswick-Luneberg. It appears that when Francois de Brunswick died in 1746, he had only one son, who was placed under the guardianship of his uncle, a priest. The uncle died, however, when the child was only ten years old, and the fortune passed into other hands. The present claimant, though confident that his title to the Brunswick heritage is proved boynd all doubt, is continuing his ordinary work in the dyeing establishment pending a legal decision on his case. In 1891, and again in 1925, an attempt was made to secure for the Count de Civry the legacy of 313,000,000 francs left by the Duke Charles of Brunswick to the City of Geneva, but his claim w« not recognised by the Court. A member of the Paris Bourse has now been briefed on behalf of the new claimant.