FORTUNE GIVEN AWAY
"MISER OF HEADINGLEY"
£1,000,000 FOR MISSION WORK (.FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT] LONDON, July 1 The £1,000,000 left by the "Miser of Headingley" for missionary work 36 year* ago has now been spent. By an order in Chancery, the trust which has administered the fund came to an end this week. An unhappy love affair many years ago in the life of Robert Arlington,'son of a Quaker brewer, of Leeds, altered his whole outlook on life, and ultimately affected the disposal of his fortune.
.Rejected fay the woman ho loved, he lived alone a life of poverty, although he was a rich man. So he became known in Headinglev, the Leeds suburb where he lived, as "the Miser." His principal meal consisted of a red, herring and a piece of bread. Very fe-.v people entered his house. Callers were told to go away, or spoken to tbiough a door only partly opened and with the chain fastened, The few who went inside saw in the entrance a stack of coal heaped against the wall.
A few months before his death he mentioned to a friend that he thought he had about £'Bo.ooo, and the friend replied, "More like £800.000." Mr. Arthington said, "Xo man has a right to possess so much. I will get rid of it at once. I will give away £BO,OOO a year."
In the next six months he gave away over £50,000, but did not live long enough to make any great reduction in his fortune. When he died he left £043,000, but before the money could be distributed it had grown to £1,119,000. •'
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22476, 21 July 1936, Page 6
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270FORTUNE GIVEN AWAY New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22476, 21 July 1936, Page 6
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