'Walters millions' estate. courtcase & Treasury.

[hobbyhorse]

Hello and thanks for all the information. Jorose... how did you access the directory regarding William Walters? I have clicked on the link, that you gave me  and a menu came up. Have been into several, but I can't find the Walters Directory entry?
It is the John and Sarah Walters that were the farmers, in LLanelly. The Walters were a large family, in carmarthenshire up until 100 years ago. There were many of them farming different farms there. Margaret Walters, one of their daughters married William Price, my great great grandparents.
Everyone has been very kind.....I will search the Times archive next. It would be so nice to get a breakthrough.....I wish I had asked my gran more, when I had the chance.

[suzannewalters]

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/[/url]
Another possiblity, I do find a William Henry Walters who was there circa 1845-1851 (appears in directories for those years).

Hi there Hobbyhorse, I'm researching the family line of William Henry Walters and would love to touch base with you and see if you were able to get any further with your inquiries?

[hobbyhorse]

Hello Suzanne
I am still trying to find any mention of  'the Walters millions ', in the newspapers. My gran did say it was in the national papers, as it involved a lot of money...... I just can't find it. I wish I had asked her in more detail ! Are you also descended from this Walters line ? From Ancestry, I know that there were many Walters farming in the Felinfoel area of LLanelli in the 1850's.
Kind regards
Hobbyhorse

[GrahamSimons]

Sounds like the case would have been in Chancery. These cases are indexed at the National Archives, though not always as helpfully as you might hope. I've tried a search for Walters in Chancery records 1840-1900, which gives over 2000 records. Adding Ceylon to the search term, or adding Llanelly (which is the spelling likely to have been used) generate no hits.
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/


Now if there was no Will, or no valid Will, the estate would have been dealt with under intestacy rules and these are clear. As there were by all accounts plenty of Walters relations around, they would have been entitled and the estate would have been distributed: someone would have been given power to Administer the estate. Any big estate pre-1858 would have been dealt with by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and these are indexed at the National Archives. After that, all Wills and Admons were indexed centrally and this is available on Ancestry.

Help at

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/wills-and-probate-records.htm

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/chancery-cases-after-1875.htm

[exeter dweller]

Hello Hobbyhorse

I have just searched The British Newspaper Archives using a search of surname Walters Tea Plantation Ceylon. One of the hits is for Nottingham Evening Post 10 July 1915.

It is a review of what is on in the Theatre and Halls. Two thirds into the review is a review for a show at the Hippodrome starring Jack Shires (a comedian). It states he was descended from Bendigo the prize fighter and is one of about half a dozen claimants to the Pritchard millions which are derived from an estate in Wales and huge tea plantations in Ceylon.

Could this be the same estate?

Gary

[hobbyhorse]

Hello
Thank you for the information on the Pritchard estates. I have scoured the internet and I don't think that it is right estate, as I found an article saying that the estate includes a house in Llangollan. Also the  name Pritchard is not in my family tree and I have just checked any Pritchard/ Walters marriages in  Carmarthenshire, just to sure....and there are no matches.
My grandmother always told me that it was called ' the Walters millions ', but there is no mention anywhere on the internet! According to my gran it made the headlines, as a lot of money was involved. Are there any plantation records surviving from Ceylon? It's very frustrating and I wish I had a date or something, as a marker !!!
Hobbyhorse

[trish18]

I don't know if these article's from Trove, dated 1913, have anything to do with the Walter's family you are searching for.

The location is Australia, not Ceylon, so may just be a similar case, although it does mention estates in Wales.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/136817565?searchTerm=walters%20millions&searchLimits=

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/137619703?searchTerm=walters%20millions&searchLimits=

Regards

Trish

[hobbyhorse]

Hello
Thanks for looking, but I think this also is not the correct estate. It was definitely a fortune made on a tea plantation, in Ceylon.
Thanks again
Hobbyhorse

[giblet]

they owned a tea plantation in Ceylon/sri lanka and left an estate worth millions!

I have been watching this thread out of interest to see where it leads.

Do you think the story could have been altered over the years? My way of thinking is that if someone owned property to the extent of that sort of value back in the early to mid 1800's you wouldnt have to look far to find them, they would notably be high society. One would also think IF they had property to that value they would have been business minded in every sense therefore would have had a will to protect their assets when they died.

There was no doubt a court case etc but i dont feel it was over "millions".