'Walters millions' estate. courtcase & Treasury.

[hobbyhorse]

I am looking for any information, regarding the courtcase of my family, Walters.
they owned a tea plantation in Ceylon/sri lanka and left an estate worth millions! the money ended up going to the treasury, as the church in which they got married (in carmarthenshire) burnt down and records destroyed.
They must have died out in Ceylon, without leaving a will.
My grandmother said it was a huge case, in all the papers, but I am unable to find anything. I don't have a date, but would love to see the court documents and newspaper stories. Does anyone have any ideas of where to look? This has been eluding me for a long time and I would be grateful for any help.
I found out that land was sold off, in Ceylon in the 1840's to British people.
Any information would be gratefully received

[jorose]

So this occurred pre-1840s?

Do you know the full names of the "Walters" whose estate it was or the names of anyone else involved (especially names of sons in law etc that can be used to cross-check?).

[hobbyhorse]

Hello
Thanks for the message. I think that the land was starting to be sold off, in the 1840's to encourage British people to go over there and buy the land etc.
I am presuming that it must have been around or after that date, but my gran, who has passed away never mentioned a date. Sorry to be so vague, but my gran always just said 'a long time ago'.
I don't have the names of the people that were trying to claim the estate, again I am assuming it was Walters. I was trying to find out is there some sort of archive that deals with estates that have been claimed, by the treasury?
Surely there can't be many tea plantations in Ceylon, worth millions, that have been in the papers?
It is very frustrating that I have no more details, as I would really like to see the records.
On the internet there is a reference to the church, in Llangynog burning down and all records prior to 1775 destroyed.
kind regards
Hobbyhorse

[jorose]

Sounds like possibly "Bona Vacantia" - no will (intestate), no legal heir could be found. As I understand it, property belonging to the estate would have been sold and the money held in trust by the court until such time as a legal claimant comes forward.  It is possible records may be at the NA.

Some of the original parish records in Llangynog were destroyed by fire, but there are some surviving Bishops Transcripts previous to that date.

I suggest you work back to try and figure out who it was who owned the estate originally, and/or who would have been the ones to try and claim the money. These two events could be decades apart. Otherwise it's just a fishing expedition.

I thought the London Gazette might have a notice (again, depending on the date), akin to these issued for people who died intestate in Ceylon, but could not find one for anyone with the surname Walters:
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/25558/pages/707
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/26307/pages/4088

[hobbyhorse]

Hello and thanks for the information, on the London gazette. there were Walters in my family, Margaret Walters, born 1845, was the daughter of John and Sarah Walters. Margaret was one of many, as was her father. I am assuming that it was one of these, but there is no way I can say definately, as I have no clues??
I was wondering if  there an index or records kept of old courtcases, especially concerning the treasury. Would this be at the national archives?
kind regards
Hobbyhorse

[Valda]

Hi

Tea production was introduced into Ceylon in 1867.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_production_in_Sri_Lanka

So really for a tea plantation to be worth millions in Ceylon you are looking some way past that date.

Regards

Valda

[jayaydee]

Have you had a look at this site?

http://www.historyofceylontea.com/

There's alot about the history of the tea estates along with a forum.

[jorose]

Is this family John and Sarah Walters who lived in Llanelly? John was a farmer?

I did find a link between Ceylon and Llanelly -
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/uklist1891.htm
 shows an Edith Blanch Clarence aged 14 b. Ceylon was living there in 1891, "cousin" (don't know to who) - could this be the connection?

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

[chasbaz]

You should check the Gale Times archive.
This is not so easy to do as it was but most libraries have a subscription.
My gggfr John Boustead was a coffee planter in Ceylon who went bankrupt in 1879 because of the dreaded coffee rust.
The resultant court cases were extensively reported in the law reports in the Times.
His son Jack Boustead rescued the family fortunes to an extent by going out and planting tea.
HTH