THE PAGE ESTATES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 82, 26 March 1908, Page 4

THE PAGE ESTATES.

A syndicate was formed in Sydney in September last to secure the Page estate, estimated at from 01.000,000 to £150,000.000. The story had much in common with some of tlie old Chancery suits which swallowed up fortunes in law expenses ami nimHl claimants. The syndicate, However, was satisfied thai the present matter would have a different termination.

The Page estate dates hack to ih. days of Henry VIII. Somewhere about 1535 the King suppressed the monasteries in England, and Mr. Page, wlu was a commoner, was given the Kilburn Priory, of which he took jwssession upon the expulsion of the nuns. The family gradually accumulated a vast estate, including a large portion of the West End ot London and Harrow, besides other property. The last direct heir died in 1821), and the estate has since been held by trustees. It was never in Chancery, the very name of which would have probably scared investors who have risked their capital in the syndicate.

Since 182!) the Page millions have accumulated. According to the 1-ondvn Tribune, the estate yields an income of £2,000,000. and its capital value is variously estimated from €50,000.000 H» €150,000.000. Of course the trustees will be able to give an approximate estimate of its value, but presumably they do not give any more information to the public and to possible claimants than can be helped.

From the sixteenth century down to 1820 the family lineage was unbroken. The death of the last Page in that year is responsible for the present uncertain situation. The claimant's name is Morris, lie is an Englishman, lately resident in Stepney, and is not in affluent circumstances. Mr. Morris has made several trips to Australia during the pa?t twenty years. 'His claim to the Page millions K to a certain extent supported by legal opinion. Learned counsel in Sydney investigated the matter, and reported that there was a good fighting chance. The syndicate was formed with a nominal capital of £SOOO in £1 -.hares. one-h.iU' of which are paid up. A representative of the syndicate proceeded to London, opened up communications with the trustees, and the present motion is the result. To recover a title lost for over threequarters of a century seems hopeless; still the claimant is said to have been confident. Mountains of legal dilliculti;-s tower up before the adventurous capitalists, but on the distant horizon a hue., dred millions are dazzling.