A LUCKY WANDERER.

Western Star, 31 May 1904, Page 3

A LUCKY WANDERER.

A young man who came to Bristol shortly before Christmas has just inherited a fortune under romantic circumstances. He was known b} r the name of Moore, and when he reached the city he was in such poor circumstances that he was befriended by members of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and a situation was obtained for him, which be held up till recently. Some time since he wrote to friends in London, who appears to have known that Mr Moore was in reality Mr Stephens, and that he was heir to a considerable fortune. By means of these friends a well-known firm of London solicitors wei’e put in communication with Mr Moore, who on March 31 had an interview with them. He then discovered that his real name was Stephens, and that he was a son of the Kev. A. E. Stephens, of Cambridge, and that he was entitled to a fortune of £47,000, plus a rent roll of £IO,OOO a year. Interviewed in Bristol Mr Stephens corrobated the above facts. He said that he was born at Cambridge, and attained the majority in Mai’ch. As a boy he was sent to school at Ealing, but both his parents died, aud he bad to rough it ever since. After the death of his mother and father he appeared to have been looked after for a time by an old servant of the family, but lately he had been wandering about. Arrangements are practically completed for the estate to be handed over to Mr Stephens, who has already begun to participate in its benefits. With some of the first money he received Mr Stephens recompensed friends in Bristol who had befriended him in the hour of need.

Moore alias Stephens, the good young man from Bristol, who was said to have inherited a fortune in hard cash and a rent roll of £IO,OOO a year, is in the hands of the police as a swindler. He obtained a goodly sum from a Bristol man, whom lie promised to his steward when he took possession of his estate.