GIFT OF MANOR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19678, 9 July 1938, Page 8

GIFT OF MANOR

OFFER TO AUSTRALIA HEAVY COST OF UPKEEP LONDON, June 23 The beautiful Weston ing Manor with its park, which has been bequeathed to Australia by a leading Bedfordshire citizen as the High Commissioner's office residence will pass into the possession of the Commonwealth, if the bequest is accepted, on the death of the two sisters of the testator, Mr. Howard Spcnsley. Possession includes lordship of a manor and patronage of a church living. The will expressed the hope that should the Australian Government accept the bequest it would appoint to Westoning Church men having experience in Australia, “so that a greater knowledge or the two countries, one by the other may arise.”

Mr. Spensley, who was the son of a former Solicitor-General of Victoria, was a London barrister with a town house in Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge. He was formerly a member of tlie Bedfordshire County Council and sheriff of the county.

Westoning Manor consists of a pretty 100-year-old three-storeyed brick building with about 18 rooms, situated in 200 acres of parkland and farmland. The house is surrounded by lawns and flowering gardens. It appears that Westoning Manor was originally offered to the British National Trust, which declined it. It is understood that the bequest to Australia is not accompanied by an endowment similar to that of Chequers, the British Prime Minister’s official residence, and if the Commonwealth accepted the offer it would involve heavy, possibly prohibitive upkeep.