Many years have passed since I first learned from my dear late Father a fascinating story of a family court case ('in chancery') and entitlement to a huge inheritance.
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William Adrian Allery
In contention with the Ecclesiatical Commissioners
At Russell House, Brixton |
In my Father's memory, I was prompted to research The Allery family legacy.
William Adrian Allery's Herculean task to challenge the Ecclesiastical Commission without financial means did not deter him: he had secured a public subscription fund, thus backing of many influential and wealthy supporters ~ ample evidence of the validity to his claims.
Furthermore, sisters, Phobe and Grace Allery, my paternal Grandmother and Great Aunt held legal documents and Press cuttings in safe hands during both World Wars when male members of the family had died in service.
The sisters' grandparents lived within a community where migrants had fled from Ireland due to the Great Famine and so they found themselves too, living from hand-to-mouth whilst they should have been living in the lap of luxury.
Grandson of the thrice-heiress Widow Angell, John Angell, died at sea: his 'illegitimate' grand-daughter was not a 'male-heir' as depicted in his curious Will ~ enter The Benedict-Browns who changed their name to Angell and along with the Ecclesiastical Commission, inherited the huge fortune.
No man, let alone an Angell man, would wish an 'illegitimate' grand-daughter to live without means upon his death: and especially anyone who would top the equivalent of today's Rich List.
Therein lies a tale of the South Hams, The Garden of Devonshire where The Allery family were once farmers.
The Claxtons, the 'illegitimate' daughter's immediate descendents, decided make a claim on the Estate but fell victims to the sinking of the Royal George in 65ft of water within eyesight of land.
The 'unlawful' seizure of the estate as reported in the newspaper by William Adrian Allery had resulted in the 'disinherited' family descending into poverty.
{Commander Kempenfelt was writing in his cabin when the ship sank; the cabin doors had jammed due to 'the ship heeling' and he perished with 900 people, including 300 women and 60 children before any distress signal could be given. A court martial failed to attribute blame for the tragedy and acquitted the officers and crew.}
The Sinking of the Royal George
Toll for the brave
The Brave that are no more,
All sunk beneath the wave,
Fast by their native shore.
William Cowper
(Between 1836 and 1839 John and Charles Deane, inventors of the deep sea diving suit, raised 29 cannon from the wreck but reported that the hull was beyond salvage. In 1839 Colonel Palsey, a pioneer of marine demolition, raised the remaining cannon by using gunpowder. The cannon were melted down and were used to make the bronze and iron capital for Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, celebrating the triumph of Royal George's sister ship HMS Victory.)
Hence the notorious Will in question ~ an already extraordinary document that would not thesedays pass scrutiny continues to raise questions.
William Adrian 
Allery died at 83 years of age, having fought for 50 years to prove The Allery entitlement to the huge fortune, given the earlier Angell-Allery marriage; and having witnessed his ancestors unfairly plummet into poverty.
Yes, London had survived the Great Plague, The Great Fire and WWI & WWII as had its inhabitants who had learned to smile in the face of adversity.
In the last year of his life, William Adrian Allery seized Russell House, Brixton and told tenants that he was the Landlord ~ what had he to lose? The Establishment had won, for now.
Thank you William and Charles for keeping this unholy injustice alive and, equally, for breathing oxygen into The Allery family tree, so magnificently: you are the giants on whose shoulders we stand.
Copyright reserved
{Curiously, recent online access to a Family Tree disappeared into the ether but not before I was able to record the information I required to connect the families involved. The above photograph disappeared too.}
