CLAIM TO FORTUNE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19549, 31 January 1927, Page 10

CLAIM TO FORTUNE.

ESTATES IN LIVERPOOL. PROPERTY WORTH £20,000,000. CHRISTCHURCH FAMILY'S HOPES. [IIS TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHRISTCHURCH, Saturday. It seldom happens that a claim to a large estate is made after over a hundred years have elapsed, but such a claim is actually being made by a Christchurc'n family who believe they are entitled to valuable estates in Liverpool, estimated to be worth about £20,000,000. So hopeful are the claimants of success that two of them, father and son, will shortly embark for England in order to be personally represented in contesting the claim at law. In the event of the case going in favour of the claimants" the following will be' the beneficiaries:—Mr. John Tabley, civil servant, 383, Worcester Street, Linwood; Mr. Henry Tabley, civil servant, 61-1, Worcester Street, Linwood;" Mr. James Tabley, tanner, Ollivier's Road, Linwood; Mrs. M. Shaw, Hillview Street, Linwood. In an interview yesterday Messrs R. P. and L. E. Tabley, sons of Mr. John Tabley, said that in the first instance information with reference to the claim was received from an indirect source. They learned that a man named Horrocks had gone to England from Australia making claim to a share of the estates, the income from which was about £1,000,000 per annum. They got the first clue through the name Tabley; the estates being claimed were the Tabley estates. Horrocks bad spent two years in England and collected hundreds of documents by which to prove his claim. The only other Tableys known to the beneficiaries were in Australia and were related to the claimants.. Solicitors of high standing in London had advised that the properties were subject to long leases and the Statute of Limitations would not bar the true owner during the term of these leases. Horrocks was prepared to spend up to £20,000 to establish his claim of one-fifth. An interesting fact was that Horrocks' solicitors had advised him to drop his own claim and spend his money in helping to establish Tableys' claim. It was stated that in 1335 most of the property in question was in possession of the Crown and war. granted by Edward 111. to Gilbert Ford. Subsequently other portions of the estates now claimed were granted to Ford by Henry VI., and until 1772 the descendants of Gilbert Ford held the estates. At this time Robert Ford died, leaving the property to two sons, William and Edward. The property accrued to William Ford by survivorship and he died on October 22, 1801. A John Tabley, it is claimed, was the heir at. law, being first cousin to William Ford, and nephew of Robert Ford. However, a Christopher Mottler obtained possession in 1801 and a portion of the estates was sold by Mottler in 1801 to Robert Marsden, against whom in 1807 John Tabley successfully brought an action for ejectment. It was from this John Tabley that the present claimants considered they were descendants and" the persons now entitled to the estates as 'heirs at law.