MISER’S £600 HOARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 793, 14 October 1929, Page 13

MISER’S £6OO HOARD

LIVED ON SCRAPS AND CHARITY Hidden beneath an accumulation of rubbish, a hoard of nearly £6OO in gold, silver and notes has been discovered in the house of Herbert Hopkins, aged 61, a Fulham recluse, who died in Fulham Infirmary recently. Hopkins kept a small confectioner's shop in Greyhound Road. Residents in the road are astonished by tlie discovery of the money, as Hopkins was always complaining that he did not have- enough to eat and lived on scraps and food given to him by neighbours. When his house was searched by the guardians' officers they found so much rubbish that five cart-loads were taken away. Hopkins did not leave a will, and efforts to trace relatives have so far failed. It is known that at one time his brother was town clerk at one of the south coast towns, and lie is believed to liave had relatives in Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight. He owned his house, in which he lived for many years with his mother, who died about 14 years ago. After his mother’s death Hopkins lived alone. He never received friends and refused to allow anyone into the house. If a neighbour brought him iood he took it through a half-opened