ROMANCE OF A PEERAGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 95

ROMANCE OF A PEERAGE.

BARONESS TWICE MARRIED TO ONE HUSBAND. A curious romance of the peerage was revealed in the Probate Court, when the property, valued at about £40,000. of the late Fabia, B_arones3 Stanley of Alderley, was in question. The baroness was a Spanish lady. Her career and that of h&r husband are thus briefly summarised in " Burkes Peerage " : — ''Henry Edward John, third Baron Stanley of Alderley, some time in the diplomatic service. Born July 11, 1827 j married August, 1862, Fabia. (who died May 15, 1905), daughter of Den Santiago Frederic© San. Roman, of Seville. Died without issue December 10, 1903." But -the actual facts, as «tated by eotiii-.'l, were somewhat different. A*-conhr. „' to counsel's statement, the lad\ tint mai ned a Spanish gentleman, Doi. Ramon IY-nv. v Abril, in 1851. The geiul"iticji was still alive when she " married " T oni Stanley in 1869, but the Don died i!i< % : h >i\i-igr \eaIn 1874 the lady again married Lord S^ml«y. Plaintiff "was Edward LyuJph, four fa Baron Stanley of Alderley. who was hi:u-at-law of his brother, the third baron. Hia Lordship propounded a tv»11, da^il October 26, 1891, executed in Gem-^i In tho lat© baroness, who died at B<l Au, Alderley Edge, Cheshire, on May 15, 1905. Defendant (Mr St. George V\ llham Lano FoxPitt) claimed as sole de.iico »n<i irnvpr«il legatee under a will d&t. 1 1369. Ac>...i ;^ to Mr Priestly, for the pi~»enr baron, his client propounded a will tlai^d fV-toln'r 2b, 1891, of the late baronet, mad<» at Geneva. It was a holograph wjII, made without attesting witnesses, but was in accordance with th« law of that country. Plaintiff was heir-at-law and one of the next-of-kin of his deceased brother, the third baron, and under the will of the baj-oness, of which probate was asked, the lady gave all her Swisa an<J English property to her husband and his heirs. Defendant (Mr Lane Fox-Pitt} propounded a will of 1869, a-nd he had alleged in regard to the other will incapacity, and made other pleas. It was in the course of inquiries made in connection with/this suit that it was discovered that ' TESTATRIX HAD PROPERTY IN SPAIN, and when inquiries were made it was discovered that she had made a will there, dated October 18, 1892, in the name of Donna Serafina Fernandez y Funes, by which she revoked all previous Spanish, wills. Thus the disclosure of the double marriage romance was brought about. Itt Ootober, 1892, the late baroness made a will, when it was suggested she was not of «>und mind. Had the present action been, fought out, said counsel, it would have been necessary to decide these questions : Whether deceased was the lawful widow of the third Baron Stanley. Whether she was the lady known in Spam as Donna Funes. Whether she waa of sound nnncJ at the time of the will oi % 1892. But testatrix, it was admitted, continued counsel, married a Spanish gentleman, Don Ramon Perez y Abril in 1851, and " married " Lord Stanley in 1869 executing the will propounded by defendant one month later. Don Ramon, the lady s first husband, died in 1870. She subsequently again married Lord Stanley in 1874. Inder the terms of the compromise which had now been arrived at between the interested parties, the will of 1891 would b<- aumitt- v &j probate. The result wouW t- *n.-. plaintiff got all the English and - P£perty, valued at about £20,000, l-*\ivjr the Spanish defendants and other in'<>w.<->i property in Spain to a sin. '••. ,— ■ "';• Other parties interested consent.!. Lirou^a their counsel, to this course. II 1 - l f-' c , ship thereupon pronounced foi in. wi I o. October 20, 1891; made a dec!.', v, 'Ivf the lady known in Spain as Donna- b unes was the third Baroness Stan py; and that she was domiciled in England. Ihe present Baron Stanley, the fourth baron and brother of the late peer, was formerly vicechairman of the London School Board. The secretary of the Oamaru Chanibar of Commerce lias received the following letter from the General "Isnager, Railway Department, Wellington: — "With reference to your letter of November 23 res?ardin X the provision of an overhead bridge to g-iva access to Holmea wharf at Oamaru, I hay** to inform you that this bridge is now in hand, and should be completed in about two months' time." One of the stories current in Sydney after the recent contest was that Johnson had gone privately, to the Manly Hospital, and had his ribs examined under tha Rontgen Raye, two ribs being found to ba broken. Join > n ihr* h- had beeni injured, hv ':,';i'< \ ' h - .d gone to the h'>-*|/i<<il to . '\<s, Lo a'i c\c.nination, this bein-? \. f- „ 'Dl f o»- jr. '■ " re and after a " i.^-t.