BARONETCY INHERITED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22818, 27 August 1937, Page 13

BARONETCY INHERITED

RESIDENT OF CALIFORNIA AN OLD ENGLISH TITLE LOS ANGELES, August 4 A bachelor of 55 years, Mr. Francis William Robert Boreel, who rents half a modest apartment on West FiftyFirst Street, Los Angeles,' was awakened the other morning by newspapermen who insisted that apparently he had inherited an English baronetcy, an estate in the Netherlands and the title of Sir Francis. The new baronet took his good fortune calmly, talking with reporters on the narrow verandah of his little home. He showed no great surprise at his inheritance, since he knew himself to be next in line. His uncle, the 10th baronet, Sir Jacob Boreel, died at Overeen. Holland, on July 16. The , new baronet said the first baronet was created in 1644, and the title descended in the Dutch family. An ancestor of Sir Francis Boreel's was the Dutch ambassador to Britain, and was knighted by King James I. in 1619.

"I'll never use my title here in the States," he said. "And I always want to make mv home in Southern California, where I have lived for the last 15 years. I like it here, even better than Canada, where I was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a civil engineer." It was 20 years ago that he last saw his titled uncle, although he received a letter from Sir Jacob five years ago when the latter was in California. He said he expected to leave for Holland to claim his estate as soon as official notification was received from the Dutch Consulate.

The late Sir Jacob Boreel, who was 85 years old, was Chamberlain to the Queen of the Netherlands and a member of the States-Generals. He was twice married, the first .time to a daughter of Baron Schimmel-senninck Van der Oye, who died in 1891. His second wife was Miss Cornelie Mario van Weede, who died 10 years ago. There were two daughters of the first marriage. The new baronet is a son of Mr. Robert Eugene Boreel.