HC Deb 20 August 1889 vol 339 cc1766-7
MR. ATHERLEY JONES (Durham, N.W.)

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he has received a Petition from one Alfred Charles Lott relating to an estate situate at Harrow, in Middlesex, of the estimated value of £3,000,000 or upwards; whether the allegations in the Petition show that Henry Page, the last tenant in tail of the said estate, executed a voluntary deed by which he conveyed the whole of the said estate to his solicitor, acting only under the advice of that solicitor; whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the opinion of eminent counsel of the Equity Bar has been taken, to the effect that the said deed and will subsequently made in pursuance thereof could not be made against the Crown claiming by escheat or failure of an heir; whether the facts of the case have been submitted by the Treasury to the opinion of counsel; and, whether, in view of the fact that money is being raised from various poor persons by the above-named Alfred Lott on bond, purporting to show that in the event of the Crown obtaining possession by escheat of the said estate he would be entitled to a statutory payment as informer, the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury will deem it right to have the facts submitted to the Law Officers of the Crown, whereby an authoritative opinion on the rights of the Crown may be obtained?

MR. JACKSON

This question of the Lott estate at Harrow has been frequently before the Treasury and its legal advisers, and it was decided, after the most careful consideration, that there was no ground for interference on the part of the Crown.