CLAIM TO A PEERAGE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9134, 5 February 1910, Page 3

CLAIM TO A PEERAGE.

THE SACKVILLE CLAIMANT,

PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL WITHDRAW (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) iPer Press Association.) LONDON, Feb. 4.

During the leading of the documents in connection with the Sackville peerage ease in the Probate Court, Mr Justice Bingham remarked that the late Lord Sackville had repeatedly held petitioner out as his illegitimate son. He (Judge Bingham) was satisfied as to Pepita Duran's marriage with the dancer Gabriel Oliva. In the course of further discussion it was. shown that the late Lord Sackville left a sworn declaration that he had never married Pepita Duruti, adding that if she passed herself off as his wife it wa? merely for her . reputation, also that the adopted children, including the petitioner, were not legitimate. It transpired that respondent, the. present Lord Sackville, had married the petitioner's sister (his cousin). The petitioner wrote to his sister in 1890, saying "Father could not have done more for us; we are his illegitimate children." When in 1391, the present Lady Sackville had a daughter, the petitioner, in a letter to his father, regretted that the child was noi a- boy to inherit the estates. A dramatic incident occurred yesterday. The petitioner handed his counsel, Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., a letter requesting him to ask for an adjournment for the production of certain documents collected in Spain, nn<l adding "Should Judge Bingham refuse 1 wish you to retire from the ease. I do not care to go on further with such an unfair trial." Sir Edward Clarke, considering that his client would not be guided by his advice, withdrew with his junior. Petitioner's solicitor likewise withdrew. Judge Bingham will decide to-day whether the documents are essential. Received February 5, 9.40 a.m. LONDON, Feb. 4. The claimant is conducting his own case.

The late Lord Sackvilic died in September, 1908, in his 82nd year. The present Lord Saekville is the nephew of the late peer, and as Mr Lionel Edward Sackville- West succeeded as next heir on the assumption that his uncle was not legally niarried. He asserts that a Spanish dancer. Josofu Pepita Duran, mother of the plaintiff in the present case, married Gabriel Oliva in January, 1851, and that Oliva was alive at the time Pepita Duran was living with Lord Saekville as his wife.

This is contested by Mr Ernest Henry Saekville-West, the eldest son of Josefa Duran and the late Lord Sackville. lie was born at Arcachon in 1869 at the time bis father was First Secretary to the British Embassy in Paris. The"certificate of his birth was signed by the late Lord Sackville. and the sponsors at his baptism were the Duke of Saxe-Co-burg-Gotha and the Comtesse de Beon.

In the case of ihe Oliva-Duran registry, the tampering with which is not denied, each .aide claims that the document was tampered with in the interests of the other party. For Mr Ernest Henry Sack-ville-Wcst it is suggested that the document is a forgery made over Ihe erased names of another marriage certificate. For Lord Sackville it is maintained that the certificate is genuine, bid has been tampered with to give it the appearance of a forgery. Two men. Rophon Ortega and Alonso Sanchez, were tried last year in the Assize Court of Madrid for the alleged falsification of the marriage record, and after a hearing lasting seven days were acquitted. A third man. named Anton, was indicted with them, but he fled the country before the proceedings commenced. The decision leaves the mystery of the Sackvillo peerage case, out of which tlit. , forgery trial arose, no nearer solution than before. The casn comes before the English Probate Court on an application under the Legitimacy Declaration Act.