MONEY FOR TEE TAYLORS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14895, 22 January 1912, Page 5

MONEY FOR TEE TAYLORS

FORTUNE TO BE DIVIDED. MANY CLAIMANTS. r [FROM, OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] " London, December 13. Ant person of the name of Taylor whc can claim kinship with families of this name around Falkirk stands a sporting chance of sharing in a big fortune. Some time ago inquiries were set qn foot in Falkirk and the district on matters bearing on the will, made in 1785, of a wealthy couple in Holland named Peter and Elizabeth Vanherhorst. This couple are said to have left a big fortune to their nephew, Peter Taylor at Haarlem. Instructions were given as to the disposal ,of the money, and the chief point was ..that in the event of the nephew dying and leaving no direct heir the money was to be divided among the next-of-kin after a lapse of 100 years. That time has now expired, and inquiries fixed the next scene of the drama in Falkirk. The result has been a great gathering of the Taylors in a Glasgow lawyer's office. Over 100 Taylors were at the meeting, and their claims were noted and reported to Holland. A Munich paper says ' that William Taylor of Coxhill Farm, Falkirk iB the most likely claimant, and puts the accumulated fortune at the fabulous figure of 125 millions sterling. Two William Taylors have been interviewed on the subject. One, residing at Mavisbank Farm, said':— "I see this refers to William, who was my father's full cousin. Yes, we are deeply interested in this matter; but you can take it from me the fortune is not as stated in the Munich paper, as I understand that with compound interest it has reached a total sum of £5,000,000. But, really, I don't know if anything will come of it, though there's no doubt we are the next of kin of the deceased, Peter Taylor. That's a fact, whether we get the money or not. The prospect has not affected us in any way and it won't until we have the 'siller' in our hands. . You know it's such a long time since, , and, goodness knows what will happen. The only thing I'm sorry about is that I cannot confirm the statement in that German paper, as we have got no official reply from the lawyers." The William Taylor who lives at Coxhill Farm says .- '* My father was a first cousin of the fortunate Peter Taylor, who left Falkirk for Amsterdam in 1821, and never returned to the land of his birth, dying in Amsterdam." Reticent on the subject of the fortune, the owner of Coxhill Farm said : " That Peter Taylor left Falkirk about ten'years before I was born, but I well remember my father telling me that he was a grain merchant, and ..that my father used to sell him corn. He was a great big man, and the people round about used to call him ' Big Peter.' " Mr. Taylor has had three sons, two of whom are alive, while the third, Peter, named after the relative in Holland, was killed. Thus it is claimed the Coxhill farmer and his family, with William Taylor, of Mavisbank, and Joseph Taylor, another farmer in Cumberland, are the next of kill, and will, it is practically certain, come into this immense fortune, the rich relative Peter never having been married.