ECCENTRIC PEER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIV, Issue 20931, 10 January 1938, Page 12

ECCENTRIC PEER

HIS IRISH MILLIONS MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE A recent cable message, announcing that Lord Hare wood, husband of the Princess Royal, has decided to sell his Loughrea property in the Irish Free State, recalls echoes of the Irish land problem, for this property was in-

herited by Lord Hare wood from his grand-uncle, the late Marquess of Clanricarde, who died in 1916, writes Gerald Dillon in the “Sydney Morning Herald.” Lord Clanricarde had lived for eighty-four years, and during the greater part of that period he was engaged in a struggle for what he considered to be his inalienable rights, for in Ireland he was regarded by the Nationalists as the stock villain in the Irish land drama.

He was born a younger son of the Ist Marquess and 14th Earl, by Harriet, daughter of the statesman, George Canning, and he succeeded to the title and estates, almost accidentally, on the premature death of his elder brother It would be justifiable to assume that Lord Clanricarde’s character had been slightly warped during his school days, for according to his own account he had a most unhappy time at Harrow Then he went into the diplomatic service, but left it when he succeeded his brother, and through his mother inherited the wealth of the Canning family. All his wealth and property passed, on Lord Clanricarde’s death, to Lord Lascelles, who is now Earl of Harewood. Invincible Die-hard Clanricarde was probably the very last of London’s noble “characters.” and he had some streak in his nature which made him appear as a typical specimen of the noblesse disoblige. The old Marquess was an invincible diehard, but (as an Irishman) I have always suspected that the Irish, in spite of their professional hatred of the old man, had a sort of sneaking regard for him, for they are capable of that sort of inconsistency.

There were over 1500 tenants on the Clanricarde estate in County Galway, and nearly 200 of these were evicted in their time —in spite of the fact that Clanricarde’s rents were never excessive. It was just that Lord Clanricarde insisted upon having them. On occa-

sions this persistency, or consistency, led to pitched battles on the Portumna property, and many of Clanricarde’s agents were murdered. One Chief Secretary for Ireland spoke of the Clanricarde estate as being “haunted by the ghosts of murdered men . . .”

Lord Clanricarde was certainly the absentee landlord in excelsis, for it is doubtful whether he was ever in Ireland in his life; but in spite of the fact

that he had incurred greater odium in the country than any man since the days of Cromwell he stubbornly resisted all inducements by various Governments to sell his property. In fact, he resisted all Government approaches with a vigour that never diminished. He refused to sell when offered volun- | tary inducement, and when, by com- ! pulsion, he was required to dispose of | a portion of the Portumna property, he fought the case through the Court of Appeal, up to the House of Lords, and back to the Irish Land Court. And though he was defeated in the end he , still managed to retain Portumna Castle and demesne. His Hard-boiled Egg The most interesting personal characteristic of Lord Clanricarde was that, in spite of inheriting great wealth, he continued to practise the most economical habits. He spent most of his life in London, living in rooms, and used to go about in the shabbiest of clothes. , He was a great frequenter of clubs, but was by no means “a clubbable fellow.” He would enter into a general conversation in a club, but if anyone were introduced to him by name he would get up and walk away. He rarely attended at the House of Lords, I for whenever he did appear he experienced difficulty in persuading the j policeman on duty at the door that, he had the right of entry. His own household arrangements were ordered so economically that 6d a day was all that he allowed for the cost of kitchen coal, and his most sumptuous repast was two boiled eggs —as to the size of which he was most particular. In fact, the Marquess used to keep an old hard-boiled egg in a drawer so that his servant should never be at a loss to know the exact size of eggs required! Paradoxically, the Marquess was a lover of beautiful things, and had a priceless collection of art treasures. On one occasion, in his rooms at Hanover Square, Lord Clanricarde showed Lady Dorothy Neville the famous jewel which Canning had brought from the Mogul Treasury at Delhi, and said to be worth £12,000. The old man lifted this wonderful jewel out of a drawer which was partly filled with cigar stumps. He used to smoke cigars in three stages, ar I i those in the third stage being, as he I averred, the best, he kept them in this drawer for special occasions. In the same room in which he kenc this jewel there were stacks of valuable pictures on the floor, and rare j china was displayed on rough packing cases—which the old man himself h d knocked together. Clanricarde lived on into the first two years of the Great War, an event to which he referred as “that unpleasant affair.” Shortly before his end. he called to his presence his two servants, a charwoman who had been with him for thirty-two years, and a manservant who had been with him for twenty-three years. These two were asked o witness a document which left a fortune of ".2,000,000 to Clanricarde’s grand-nephew. Lord Lascelles, and in this way Lord Lascelles, now Earl of Hare wood, inherited the remains of the Clanricarde estate in the County Galway. Lord Lascelles and the Princess Royal* spent a few days at Portumna 1 Castle some years ago, and now Lord ■ Hare wood, by a generous gesture to his i Irish tenants, has decided tj sever | territorial connection with the Irish, Free State.