A PAUPER’S DREAM

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8184, 27 July 1912, Page 9

A PAUPER’S DREAM

POOR WIDOW'S CLAIM TO SHARE OF £250,000 FORTUNE. Tho tleath of an aged woman inmate oi tho Hackney U’orkhouso (Eng.) has brought to iight a remarkable story, of her claim to share in a legacy of) £250,000. Tho claimant to the fortune was Frances Mead, aged ninety-six, the widow of a. laborer, who had been an inmato of the workhouse for seven years. Bhe died ns the result of a fall. •;

At the inquest a son stated that Mrs Mead hoped to have shared iu the legacy of £250,000 a few years ago. The coroner: Did she get anything?— No; I can’t tell why she didn’t. The coroner: It was worth while applying for. Did not the Guardians make an application on her behalf? Constable McDowell said ho was informed by the master of the workhouse that inquiries were made, but the claimant could not find ono document which was necessary to prove her claim, to the fortune. The paper had been lost or burnt.

The coroner: Where is the property ? The coroner’s officer: X was told it was in Ireland. The eon told mo that the family owning the proi>erty have a mansion in Groevenor square. The old lady was a cousin of Mrs Helen Blake, the widow of General Robert Dudley Blake, who died in 18VG without issue and intestate, leaving property now held by the Crown amounting to .£360.000 realty and £IIO,OOO personalty. There were other claimants besides Mrs Mead to this fortune, which has now gone begging for more than thirty years. She expected to secure at least £250,000 of this legacy, but a lost document

STOOD BETWEEN HER, AND WEALTH.

"The old lady was very hopeful at one time of proving her right to this fortune," said the master of Hackney Workhouse. “That she was actually the cousin of Mrs Helen Blake was as clear as daylight, but it could not be legally proved. One paper, and one paper only, was missing, which, she said, had it been found, would have proved beyond all doubt that .she was a rightful claimant. This Was the certificate of her birth in the remote Irish village where, ninety years ago, she remembered playing a's a child with her cousin, Helen Sheridan.

"At the ago of nineteen her cousin ran away to Scotland to bo married to young Lieutenant Blake, who when he died left her this fortune. This birth certificate was burnt or destroyed during the Irish rebellions last century, with many other registers of births, marriages, and deaths, and so Mis Mead was never able to prove her claim.”

In May, 1876, after the death of Mrs Helen Blake, the Crown authorities advertised for any claimants to the property. They only gave the address, “Helen Blake, deceased, of 4, Earl's terrace, Kensington,” and did not mention Ireland. The advertisement was only published in London papers, bnt the relatives were all Irish people, and it is presumed' that

THE LEGAL NOTICE NEVEK BEACHED THEM THEBE-

Nearly sixty years had even then passed sine© the romantic marriage of Lieutenant Blake with Miss Helen Sheridan, the daughter of an obscure Irish schoolmaster. Nine years ago some Australian claimants were found. One was Mr Edward Gleeson, proprietor of a clothing store in Adelaide, but his claim was never established, and the' fortune has remained in the hands of the Crown.