BANK MANAGER, LADY, YACHTALL VANISH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 13

BANK MANAGER, LADY, YACHTALL VANISH.

STRANGE PROBLEM. (From Otrat Own Correspondent.) LONDON, November 29. An amazing story was related in the Probate Court on Monday of a bank manager's sudden disappearance and death on board a woman's yacht. In romance and mystery it equalled the plot of the most imaginative novel. The manager was Mr William R. Lidderdale, of Ilminster, Somerset; and counsel applied for leave to assume that he died in January, 1892. Mr Lidderdale was xnanager of the Uminster branch of Stuckey's B&nk. On March 5, 1890, he made a will leaving «11 hie property to Miss Chapman, to whom he was engaged to be married. On the morning of January 8, 1892, he drew a cheque for £1000 on his account at the bank, and left for London, taking no bag. It was understood that he •was. making the journey in order to purchase some property, and he had an appointment with a surveyor at the Great Western Hotel, Paddington. His business affairs were in perfect order, and there was no question about his duties having been performed correctly. On the journey up to London some friends saw him in a second class carriage at Taunton. It had been" ascertained that a return ticket from Ilminster to London had been issued on that -day, and that the return half had not been used. It' was apparently his intention to return, for he gave instructions to one of his bank clerks to meet him on the following day and report to him. The surveyor who was -to meet Mr Lidderdale sent a telegram stating that he could not keep the appointment, but it wa6 not known whether Mr .Lidderdale went to the hotel. The last that was heard of him was a letter be sent to Miss Chapman, to whom he was to have been married on the 14th or 16th of the same month. This letter, which was not" dated, runs:— " Arrived safely. Am sending this to -Raby in case I should not see my darling to-morrow. As they did not tell me particulars, I fear the will if, not" eigned. Do not be disappointed, my darling, if we are out of it. I promised you that if ever I saw Miss Vining again I would tell you,, and I do so, dear, at once. She has found out, her old lover is dead, and those old duffers of lawyers must tell 'her they expected me u&', so the first person I ran against on getting out of the train was her. I soon told her what she wanted, andrgot rid of her. She knows- we are to be married, but does not seem to know the date of the wedding. Now, my sweet darling, just be happy about this. It will be all right. Excuse this haste, as I want to start off. Yours for ever,— Willis." - On February 8 of the same year there appeared m the obituary columns of the Standard and other newspapers this announcement :—": — " Lidderdale. — On January 30, on Miss B. H. Vining's y&obt Forsytb, William - Robert Lidderdale, of Ilminster, the result of an accident on January 8. through leaving a carriage when in motion. The yacht records of the world have been searched, but no record of any death or accident on a. yacht of that name has been found. During the same month Miss Chapman received 'by registered post a.n envelope addresed in strange handwriting. This envelope contained £500 in bank notes, a Christmas card, a Jubilee sixpence (which had belonged to Mr Lidderdale), and some visiting cards bearing Miss Vining's name, with the address obliterated. On one of the cards was written in Mr Lidderdale s handwriting: "Was true to you." Mr Li'dderdale'e relatives caused inquiries to be made and communicated with Scotland Yard. They also published the following advertisement on February 13: — "Mies Vining is urgently requested- to communicate details of the "death of William Roberteon Lidderdale on board her yacht Forsyth, as announced in the Standard of the •Bth inst., either to his relatives or to Messrs Pritchard and Marshall, 27 Gracechurch street." Another advertisement, which was inserted "on February 19. Lan :—'"£2s: — '"£25 reward. — To Registrars. — The above reward will be paid to ' the person who first furnishes an authentic oonv of the certificate j of the death of Mr W. R. Lidderdale, whese ! death is purported to have taken place on board the yacht Forsvth." No information. ; however, could be obtained. Noither could any trace of the yacht Forsvth be found, : for she was not registered in Lloyd's register. All that could be ascertained was that a dandy-rigged yacht of that name was seen off the co"ast. " Who was Miss Vining " was asked. -"We only know," was the reply, "that she was a friend of Mr Lidderdale. whose death had not been registered. Hie life was insured in several companies for large amounts, but no attempt had been made to recoyer the insurance money. "The. etory strikes me very much," said "Mr "Justice Bargrave Deane. "as if this gentleman .had thrown over Miss Vining for Miss" Chapman, and fhen -when Miss Vining met -him she got hold of him and they went off together." "If that is so, remarked counsel. " it is remarkable that they have not been traced. They have gone off into space." "We ought to know more about Miss" Vining before disposing of the matter," said the judge, who ordered the matter to stand over until further inquiries had been made. Investigations have brought to light many -new faot6 in connection with the mystery .of Mr Lidderdale and the mysterious Miss Vining, which has occupied detectives for 15 years— ever since 1892. Miss Chapman the lady to whom he was engaged, is still unmarried, and still lives in Ilminster. She has spared no money or trouble to solve the mystery. All she knows is that he left her a week before the. day fixed for the •wedding, that she recived a letter from him from London saying he had met Miss Vining, who apparently exercised a remarkable 'influence over : him. Then she saw the notice in the obituary columns, of the Standard' and The Times recording his" death on board Miss Vining's yacht Forsyth. and received a little later an envelope posted in London, containing £500 in bank-notes, and some of JSliss Vining's visiting cards, with the message in Mr Lidderdale's handwriting on the back of one. "Have been true to you." Every effort to trace the mysterious -Miss Vininpr has failed. She is •aid to have come from New York and lived

in various peaces in this country sometime* in the West of England, sometimes in the North, and often in London. No record can be found in Lloyd's Register of a yacht bearing the name of Forsyth, on board which, according to the obiluarv notice, Mr Lidderdale died. Mr Wiliiain Robertson Lidderdale was born about 1860. His father was a prominent Berkshire physician, and j hie brother is Dr Lidderdale, of Cheltenham, j At the age of 18 he entered Stuckey's Bank as a junior clerk at Castle Carj'. a small i market town near Glastonbury. He after- j wards went to Shepton Mallet, Somerset, and during his seven years' residence there made the acquaintance of the mysterious Mis 6 Vining. He was then transferred to Frome, from where he was prompted to be manager of the bank at Rad.-tock. That was his last post before going to Ilniineter, about 1887, to manage the branch (here at a salary of £600 a year. At Ilminster he became acquainted with Miss Chapman, the niece of Mr James William Shepherd, who, with his late brother, owned a large jute factory, employing several thousand hands. Miss Chapman is described as being at that time a charming brunette of 25. Mr Lidderdale fell in love with her, and they were to be married at Newbury on January 14. The bridegroom had, in the meantime, refurnished his rooms in order to v receive his bride. The wedding was looked forward to with the liveliest interest in the . district, for it was regarded as an excellent match. Miss Chapman was very popular, while Mr Lidderdale was one of the best known men in the county. Stuckey's Bank was an institution of the town, and was the business centre of the farm&rs . 6i the surrounding villages. His weddings hifd^t^ ba postponed on account of a death 'in 'the 'family. Janu-" ary 14, 1892, wa6 then decided on as the date. Very little was heard during this period about Miss Vining. though he sometimes mentioned her name to his intimate friends. Mr Lidderdale once told a romantic story of his first meeting with Miss Vining. " r was walking along the principal street in Bath on a windy day, when a charming lady drove by in a carriage," He said. "A gust of wind blew her hat into the street. I lan after it, picked it up and returned it to her. She was profuse in her thanks, and the next day. when I met her with her mother, she introduced me as "the young man who had been so gallant the day before." An invitation to dinner followed, and I saw a good deal of Miss Vining after that. Mr Lidderdale- and Miss Vining had been seen at Folkestone, and subsequently at Dover. From there all trace of him was lost. The advertisement announcing Mr Lidderdale's death on the yacht was deposited in the letter-box at The Times office. On the back of the manuscripfr-was the name of " Miss A. H. Vining, Queen Anne'e Mansions. S.W." On February 28. 1892, while inquiries about Mr Lidderdale and Miss Vining were being made by every newspaper in London, the People published the following paragraph:—^l_The Central News learns that the whereabouts of Mr Lidderdale, the missing bank manager, have been ascertained, and no further anxiety on hi 6 behalf need be felt, as he is in good health and in extremely ■comfortable circumstances. Information has also been obtained which throws light upon Mr Lidderdals's movements since quite voluntarily, he left Ilminster, and upon the moans taken to conceal them, and to mislead those who desire to trace him." Although 15 years have passed since she last 6aw or heard news of her lover, Miss Chapman has never given up hope, and has devoted the hest part of her life to the search. She has spared no trouble or money to learn the truth about her lover's disappearance. No one in Ilminster knows Miss Vining; her identity is just as mysterious as everything else in this inexplicable story. Just before I close this letter I Ir.irn that the mystery ie likely to be solved next week, when a conference of persons concerned will be held at Bristol. It is believed that the fact of Mr Lidderdale's death will then be conclusively established, as also the non-existence of Miss Viningj who is declared to be a pure myth.