THE ROMANCE OF A FORTUNE

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14465, 3 September 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE ROMANCE OF A FORTUNE

The romance of a fortune made in the great Australian gold rush of the early 'sixties, "lost" in the bank panic of the 'nineties, and yet preserved by an ingenious system of fraud, formed the background of an extraordinary action heard in the Sheffield Bankruptcy Court. ' This was the story told by counsel :— Charles Clayton, an old man of seventy, was supposed to have lost in the bank panic the fortune ho had made in the goldfiolds of Australia, and he was adjudged bankrupt in 1901, with liabilities amounting to £9000. He stated he luid no assets, and in the following year obtained his unconditional discharge Then in 1905. he returned to Australia and died there. The proving of his will revealed the existence of a fortune of £12,000, and investigations resulted in the whole elaborate system of deception being exposed. After the bank smash Clayton had avoided the payment of calls on the shares which ho held. Instead, he had made - secret investments both in Australia and England. These were in various names and places, and he spent the last few years of his life in collecting them together. . , On his return to Australia it was proved thai he had £5000 in cash, and the /c----mainder was believed to be invested in Australian securities. Judge Benson made an. order annulling the . dead man's discharge, and the creditors will thus receive a welcome windfall.