LADY HOUSTON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22615, 31 December 1936, Page 9

LADY HOUSTON

DEATH IN ENGLAND FAMOUS MILLIONAIRESS MANY BENEFACTIONS DEFENCE POLICY CRITIC By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received December 30, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 30 The death has occurred of Lady Houston, widow of the millionaire shipowner. Sir Robert Houston, who died in 1926. She was in former days a prominent advocate of women's suffrage and more recently had made herself known for her criticisms of the Government, especially in regard to its defence policy and expendi ture. Lady Fanny Lucy Houston was born in London, the daughter of Mr. Thomas Radmall, of Twickenham. Quite early in life she took up the cause of the advancement of the privileges and status of women and when the demand for votes for women took the very vigorous form known as the suffragist movement she was anions the leaders, writing and speaking in support of ii. Jn 1901 she married the ninth Lord liyron—the poet was the sixth baron. In 1917, when the honour equivalent to knighthood was created for women she was one of the first to he made a Dame Commander of the British Empire. Lord Byron (lied in the same year. Jn the course of the Great. War his widow instituted at her own expense the first rest home for tired war nurses. After seven years of widowhood she married in December. 1924, Sir Robert Paterson Houston, Bart., head of the firm of R. P. Houston and Company, and principal owner of the Houston Lines of steamers. Within two vears

she was widowed again. Sir T?obert left, an estate of about £7.000.000, and. J his home having been in Jersey, Chan- | nel Islands, which have laws of their ! own, particularly in regard to taxa- ] tion, a legal dispute arose in regard to the death duties to be paid to the Imperial Exchequer. Lady Houston I fought the big demand made on her for some time, but at the end of 1927 she paid to the Exchequer "as an act of grace'' a cheque for £'l,-500.000. Generosity Benefits Many In the meanwhile appeals for help from persons and institutions in all parts of the world had been pouring in on Ladv Houston in thousands. They included many offers of marriage. With , assistance Lady Houston settled down to the enormous task of trying to go through the mass with a view to helping those who deserved it. She soon ! found that three out of every four ap- ; plicants were impostors. Deserving j people, however, benefited by her generosity. She was one of the first to rej spond to the Prince of Wales' appeal for the distressed miners at Christmas, 1928. Her contribution was £30.000. In December, 1929. Lady Houston took up the case of 115 men at Hull who. after having worked as volunteers on the trams during a strike, had been given permanent employment, but had received a week's notice of dismissal when Labour City Council came into office. She declared that she would bear i the whole cost of fighting the issue in ! the courts. The council decided to sus--1 pend its action. At Christmas all the ! men involved received gifts from Lady j Houston. In April, 1930. she gave I £IOO,OOO to St. Thomas' Hospital. National Government Assailed It was due to Lady Houston's geni erositv that Britain took part in the j Schneider Trophy contest in 1931. | Britain had won twice and, if she die! Iso again, she would win the trophy | outright. But. owing to the demand j for economy, the raising of the neces- | sarv funds by the usual means was I extremely doubtful. Lady Houston at once guaranteed £IOO.OOO to cover the ! cost. Under that security Britain en- ! tered and won magnificently. With her strong anti-Socialist feel- ' ings Lady Houston was a severe critic i of the formation of the National Gov- ' eminent under Mr. Bamsav MacDoni aid. In a New Year message on Januj ary 1, 1932, beginning, "Dear people of j England," she wrote that to call the I biggest majority of Conservatives ever known a National Government was a "diabolical scheme to introduce Bolshevism into England." In April, 1932, Lady Houston offered the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, a cheque for £200,000 instead of one for the £40,000 due by her for income tax. She proposed ' that the extra amount should go toward the cost of an adequate Army, -Navy and Air force, which she said she considered required an addition of £5,000,000 to the coming Budget. "If 19 others do the same." said"Lady Houston, "the paltry sum required to ensure the national safety will be found." The offer was declined on the ground that the Government could not accept gifts for specific services. Further Offers Not Accepted An offer of £200,000 which was made in 1935 by Lady Houston for the aerial dofoncc of London w«is «iiso declined bv Mr. Chamberlain. In his reply he stated, however, that ho would be able to accept the sum if it were offered •is a contribution toward the general expenses of the Kxehequei. In the same year she gave £SOOO to the Papworth Village Settlement, 'which provides tuberculous patients with an assured future through employment. She had made many other gifts to chaiitablo causes, including £2OOO to the I'airbridge Farm Schools. It was stated on May 4 of this year that Lady Houston had offered to salve and repair the barque Iler/ogin Cecilie, which was stranded off the Devon coast on April 25 and" had been abandoned by the owner, Captain Erikson. llie* estimated cost, of the salvage was between £IO,OOO and £15,000. lhe repaired vessel would be presented to the nation as a naval training ship. Lord Monsell, then First Lord of the Admiralty, wrote, expressing appreciation of tho offer, but did not accept, as it was not the policy of the Admiralty to provide training in sail for the officers and men of the Navy.