On Tuesday, Mr. Justice Stirling refused the application made by
Lord Ailesbury, under the Settled Land Act for leave to sell the Savernake estate to Lord Iveagh (Sir Edward -Guinness) for the sum of £750,000. The leave of the Court was necessary, because the contract for sale comprised the principal mansion-house and pleasure-grounds, and the con- sent of both the trustees could not be obtained. The decision of the Court was obviously good law. Not only did the trustees and remainder-men refuse their consent, but the condition of the applicant's affairs made it clear that no sale could benefit him. Some curious and characteristic Attalla as to the pecuniary conditions under which great estates are often held were adduced at the trial. The gross rental of the 40,000 acres is £27,000. The outgoings in respect of rates, taxes, tithes, insurance, repairs, and general estate charges, are said to amount to 215,400, and the net rental is therefore only 211,000. This sum is charged with jointures in favour of no fewer than four ladies,—" 21,500 in favour of a lady said to be eighty-two, £3,000 in favour of a lady whose age is not stated, but who was married fifty-four years ago, 23,000 in favour of a lady of about fifty, and £1,000 in favour of a lady aged seventy-seven; the jointure of the last will upon the death of one of the prior jointresses increase to £2,000, and upon the death of two of them to £3,000." The total of the jointures of the Ailesbury dowagers has always been rumoured to be exceptionally heavy, but in this case the facts outran the rumour.
Previous page
