THE HON. W. JOHNSTON’S WILL

New Zealand Times, 12 September 1907, Page 5

THE HON. W. JOHNSTON’S WILL

AN ESTATE.WORTH HALF A MILLION. On the sth inst. hie Honor Sir Robert Stout, C.J., on the motion of Mr Tripp (Chapman and Tripp) granted probate to the will of the late Hon. Walter Woods Johnston, merchant, of Awahuri and Wellington. The value of the deceased gentleman’s estate has not as yet been accurately determined, but it is presumed that it is considerably over ,£500.000, and if this statement is borne out by the facts when they come to be ascertained, tho value of this estate will exceed by some £300,000 that of any other which has been left in the colony. The estate of the late Mr Jacob Joseph was valued at .£300,000, and that of the late Mr W. H. Levin at about £250,000. The Hon. Walter Woods Johnston's will is a long and somewhat involved document. Three-fourths of the estate is given to the widow; but the testator’s sous, John Goring Johnston, Walter J. Johnston, and Oswald Q. Johnston, take a very considerable interest in the estate. The Public Trustee has been given £BO,OOO to invest on behalf of the testator’s four daughters—Mrs P. Baldwin, Mrs H. Holmes, Mrs W. H. Turnbull, and Miss EL C. Johnston. The sum of £IOOO is to go to the testator's niece, Miss Beryl Agnes Goring, a daughter of Sir Harry G. Goring. The widow is given discretionary powers of a very extensive character, and although under the will most of tho legacies are confined to the testator’s family and to some of his old servants, tho widow may, in her discretion, extend the list of beneficiaries. The executors appointed under the will, are Messrs John G. Johnston, Walter G. Johnston, and W. H. Turnbull, and each of these gentlemen are to receive £lO5 per annum during the term of their trust.