FORTUNE IN CHANCERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21874, 9 August 1934, Page 14

FORTUNE IN CHANCERY

ESTATE OF £20,000,000 NEW ZEALAND CLAIMANTS FORMATION OF A COMPANY To financo the prosecution of claims by certain residents of New Zealand to "the Bailey Millions," an estate in Chancery said to total £20,000,000, a company has been registered in Auckland under tho name of Eldorado, Limited, with a nominal capital of £"3000. The principal claimant, Mr. Elijah Houltbam, left for London on August 1 bv the Bangitiki to undertake a search for certain documents required to support the claim. The company, which is acquiring a one-fifth share in tho interests of certain claimants, has already disposed of all that portion of its shares which has been allocated to Auckland, and is about to offer the remainder in Southern centres. The maximum allotment to any applicant is 10 shares of 10s each.

The story of the claim dates back to tho early days of Auckland. Mr. W. W. Meek, of Milne and Meek, the company's solicitors, stated yesterday that tho" founder of tho fortune was one Francis Bailey, who in the earl} part of the 19th century carried on a highly successful coaching business between London and tho provinces, and invested his profits largely in London real estate. Francjs Bailey had a daughter, who died unmarried, and three sons, two of whom enlisted in the Army and the third in tho Navy. When tho father died in 1850, leaving no will, he was apparently quite out of touch 'with all his sons, and none of made any claim to his very large estate. Harry, the son .who had joined the* Navy, was believed to have gone to Australia. Another served with the Army in the Crimea and was killed two years later. Howick Military Settler The eldest son, Thomas, served in a regiment of light dragoons and came to New Zealand in 1847 in the ship Minerva as a military pensioner, settling at Howick. He was accompanied by his wife and little daughter. A son, William Howick Bailey, was born not long after the family reached Howick, and his birth was the first recorded in the register of All Saints' Church there. He died in 1927. The daughter, Mary Anne, married Elijah Houltbam in Auckland, and on his death went to England in 1867 with her two children, a boy and girl. For a time she suffered considerable poverty, and both she and the children, aged nine and 11, had to work in a cotton mill. She had no monci - to prosecute a claim to the fortune.

At the ago of 15, the boy, Elijah Houltham the younger, emigrated to Queensland, and learned the trade of a carpenter and builder. Subsequently he lived in New South Wales and New Zealand, gathering information about his family as opportunity offered. In 1922, he set out for En eland with the idea of making inquiries there. After reaching Sydney he saw by chance in an English newspaper an article relating to the Bailey . estate. He went to London and consulted solicitors, who ascertained that the estate was then worth nearly £20,000,000, and was accumulating at the rate of about £250,000 a year. They advised, him to search for and obtain copies of all the necessary birth, death and marriage certificates relating to his parents and grandparents, and if successful to return to England and prosecute the claim. Search in Three Continents Mr. Houltham, though 60 years of age, then set out on a remarkable odyssey in search of other descendants of his great-grandfather. In ten years he traversed a large part of South Africa, then of North America, and finally of Australia, working at his trade and inquiring for people of the name of Bailey. At length, in Tamworth, New South Wales, he encountered a family whom he had good reason to believe were descended from his lost great-uncle, the sailor. He returned to Auckland, where his sister was living, and endeavoured to borrow enough money to take him to London, but without success, but eventually a company was formed to finance his claim. %. The prospectus states that an advance of £125 has been made to him for the purposes of his present trip, and that possibly a representative of the company will be sent to England to help him in his search. It is considered that if his grandfather's and mother's birth certificates and his grandparents' marriage certificates can be obtained, together with the military records of his grandfather, the chain of evidence of relationship will be complete.