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Looking for a lost inheritance in London, England

Looking for a lost inheritance in London, England

Posted: 27 Jun 2007 5:18AM GMT
Classification: Query
On my maternal side of the family there persisted this family legend for years and years, my mother always said that her grandmother, Suzanne Appollnaire Borel, who was the only daughter of Benjamin Borel and his wife, Rosela Clark Andres Borel, of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States, was left an inheritance by her godmother, Anne Ransford, who lived in London, England. In the years of the early 1920's, my mother always said that she remembered my maternal grandmother, Lelia Hebert Deslatte and her sister, Elmina Hebert Haydel, going to see a lawyer in New Iberia, La., because Neville Chamberlin, who was then serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer of England, had come to the State of Louisiana in the United States to search for either Appollnaire Suzanne Borel, who was the wife of Nicolas Mathurin Hebert, Junior, or her heirs, and the reason for the trip of Neville Chamberlin from England to the United States was due to the fact that the estate left by Anne Ransford to her godchild, Appollnaire Suzanne Borel was about to prescribe and the government of England was about to reclaim all the land, money, and other properties. This was the same Neville Chamberlin who served as Prime Minister of England during World War II. My mother always said that in the estate of Anne Ransford my maternal grandmother, Appollnaire Suzanne Borel, had been left money in the bank in England, property on Fleet Street in London, and other valuable things. My mother always concluded that her mother, Lelia, and her aunt, Elmina, always said that they did not have the money to go to England to see about the matter and then the plantation home where all the birth/baptisimal papers, marriage papers, and death records or last wills and testaments were stored had burned and all the vital legal papers were destroyed to prove the idenity that they were the true and legal heirs and representatives of the late, Appollnaire Suzanne Bore, who was the wife of Nicolas Mathurin Hebert. Suzanne Borel was born on August 31, 1835 and she was baptized in the year of 1835 at the Catholic Church in Opelousas, Louisiana or St. Landry Parish.
Then a few years later, a relative shows up with some old papers, in these papes was an old letter that was written to Lelia Hebert Deslatte, from a Camille Gary in Jennings, Louisiana, stating that news from London, England, that a reward will be paid for authentic information concerning the wedding of Anne Ransford (Rainsford) to GEorge Sharpe that occurred 1770-1780 circa or 142 yeas from the date of February 27, 1922, as attorneys in London, England, are attempting to find the heir to millions left by Frank Sharpe Batchelor of London.
Does anyone know anything about this? As like my deceased mother, I have always wondered what is the root of this legend and it would be interesting to find the will of Anne Ransford just to see what exactly her estate consisted of.
Any information would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much
kitty

Re: Looking for a lost inheritance in London, England

Posted: 13 May 2010 9:54PM GMT
Classification: Biography
Surnames: Lange, Borel, Williams
My maternal grandmother Louise Borel was raised in such a plantation....b. approx:1864 (her father came in from Civil War on furlough) and married Louis Demetrious Lange bearing him 12 children in Jeanerette, La. He died in 1915 due to pneumonia...My mother Agnes Lange Williams b. 6/3/1910 was the last of their 12 children....She would have been 100 this year. I am the youngest of her children, the oldest being deceased. Grandma (Louise Lange) died in 1962 in Houston Texas. I have been informed of such an inheritance.
Any info. deeply appreciated. Cynthia Dean Phillips (Williams) b. 3/16/1957

Re: Looking for a lost inheritance in London, England

Posted: 15 Jun 2011 10:28PM GMT
Classification: Query
I think you have a certain amount of fantasy running around here. Firstly, Neville Chamberlain was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1931 (Ramsay McDonald's "National Government) to 1937. He was not Prime Minister during WW2 - he was Prime Minister from 1937 and it was his policy of appeasement with Hitler which many claim precipitated the outbreak of war. He resigned in May 1940 when Churchill took over and died in Oct-Nov of the same year. One thing is absolutely certain, whatever else might be true I can assure you no Chancellor of the Exchequer would be making trips to the US just to find heirs to an estate, it would be nothing to do with him. Even if there had been a fire which destroyed documents, copies of such things are always available from the original office. There is only one death for an Anne Ransford registered between 1915-1925 and she died in the March quarter 1918 and had been born in 1844 -so could hardly be a godmother to someone born in 1835, and if Suzanne was baptised in Louisiana how was somebody in London the godmother? There would have been no necessity for anyone to go to London to claim, as long as they had identification it could all have been done by post. If a proper Will had been drawn up it would have had executors appointed whose job it would be to find the legatees. It is true that if there is no Will the money reverts to the State, but only after thirty years if no one has come forward to claim it. I am not sure, but I think if there is a valid Will no one but the named heirs can claim anything. Anyway, once a person is dead all Wills, except for the Queen and her immediate family, are public property and filed for ever. If you google Wills and Probate UK you will find endless links to various records and archives and should be able to get any details. Steer clear of any links which do not have ".gov.uk" in the URL, these are official sites and are mostly free but all sorts of people offer services for which they ask for payment. You can check BMDs on the Free BMD site which is important beause you must have the name right - was the name really Ransford or Rainsford, was this her maiden name, or did she marry? As said, my gut feeling is that this story holds a lot of fantasy - but I could be wrong and it is easy enough to trace a Will - if there ever was one. Hope this helps a bit.

Re: Looking for a lost inheritance in London, England

Posted: 16 Dec 2012 12:48AM GMT
Classification: Query
Goofy cuz told this tale....not reliable....sorry.
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