HEIR TO EARLDOM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18276, 18 December 1922, Page 6

HEIR TO EARLDOM.

NEW ZEALAND CLAIMANT.

DERWENTWATER ESTATES.

[BY TELEGRAI'II. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

CHRISTCHURCH. Saturday.

It is quite possible Mr. Thomas Itadcliffo, an octogenarian resident of Lytte]ton, is heir to the title and estates of the unlucky Earl of Donventwater, who "was executed on Tower Hill for his share in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. Mr. Radcliffe says,the is going to put in his claim if all goes well.

The following paragraph appeared in Reynolds' newspaper of October 1 last: "People surnamed Radcliffe "will be interested in the possibilities of a claimant to the Derwentwator earldom coming forward. With the title may go the vast estates in the North. These were forfeited to the CroAvn when the Jacobite, Lord DerWentwater, was executed on Tower Hill, and are now the property of Greenwich Hospital."

James Radcliffe, third Earl of Derwent•water, "was a staunch supporter of the Old Pretender, and took a leading part in the rebellion. He was made prisoner at Preston, and sent to the Tower. At his trial for high treason, he pleaded guilty, and was executed 011 February 24, 1716. His estates were deciared forfeit to the Crown. The earl left no children, so there was no question of the forfeiture of their rights. Mr. Thomas Radcliffe, who lives in London Street, Lyttelton, comes from the Isle of Man, where his forefathers have lived for generations. He claims to be the eldest lineal descendant of the Earl of Derwentwater's brother, Charles, who, after the execution of his brother, escaped as a fugitive to the Isle of Man. The claimant, who came to New Zealand in 1874, is the eldest of a family of five sons. His brother William, the fourth in the family, is an ex-Mayor .of Lyttelton, where he still resides. A third brother, Edward, at present lives at Woolston, Christchurch. Mr. Radcliffe has always been recognised by the Radcliffes of the Isle of Man as the head of the Radcliffe family on the island. The reason "why no member of the family has ever laid claim to the title is simply that none o:; them until now has felt financially able to undertake the task. Mr. Thomas Radcliffe has several sons, and as the New Zealand branch of the family is not by any means dying out, it is probable that the claim will be thoroughly pursued. The chief difficulty in the way appears to be a legal question, whether the estates, having been seized by the Crown, can be recovered, as Reynolds' Newspaper suggests. •