William Dewson "Beaver" Lort
by Jon Ackroyd

tonylort@telus.net

WILL: From Jon Ackroyd:
"Tom spent a lot of time thinking about his will. In the end he left a will and 37 codicils most to Red Cross & Ralph Lort most of the rest to be divided among 7 siblings & descendants. Only 2 codicils survived the probate process, the Red Cross is not mentioned at all. Would be nifty to see all of them. He seems to have had no children. He leaves apart from bequests to his wife, his father's silver snuff box to his brother Edward Llewellyn and in a codicil [1935] to Ralph Lort my nephew of Raddle Bank, Laysters, Tenbury-Wells at the dearh of my wife. This is I guess a son of Edward. He mentions sons who don't show up in Laysters registers. Maybe they are different ones or maybe different names. Sister Harriet Greener gets all the silver plate after death of wife then to her 2 daughters Catherine Jessie Wall and Chloris Greener. His step-sons get everything he may get from his wife's will. Wife gets 2000 pounds, step-sons 25 pounds Brothers Edward, Laysters, Vincent and sisters Emmy and Eurgain 100 pounds. sister in law Gussie 5 pounds. Minor bequests to vicar and old servants and others. Bequests to sons and daus of Edward, Vincent, and their children. What is left over is trusted and to be divided among all his living siblings or if dead then their children which is how Marty wound up with an inheritance in 1960 which is when the will was finally probated. Feb 1992, Roma talked to Carter Vincent who destroyed files 6 months ago!"
BIOGRAPHY: From Jon Ackroyd:
"would receive 1.4 value of the Broughton Astley lands in Leicester that were in trusst for Sidney William Lort's children. Also got 19 guineas outright in 1873; all under the will of his grandmother Elizabeth Lort.
Went to Wales with father when marriage broke up. Was executor for father.
Prior to 1905 Squire G. Assheton-Smith who owned Vaynol and all the surrounding land died and left him 1,000 pounds; Guiney and Taid got 20,000 pounds each and so bougt up most of their fathers estate.
He was a Rogue who swindled his siblings for years; he had a notebook catalogue of family silver and paintings either from Frongoch or Vayno; 'small very old and cracked oil painting of John Lort' a gent wearinig black with a ruffle around his neck; Roma Jones, Bangor ahs had it restored. Roma remembers him as a very quarrelsome person. When he visited Bryniau we all sat back waiting for a right royal row between him and Taid."