Wills and Bequests

Emily Kirtley (c.1845 - 1909)

Note: The original piece was printed as a single paragraph. Breaks have been introduced to make it easier to read. Dotted underlines show where footnotes are available giving definitions or more information.

LADY ROE, of Litchurch, Derby, who died on July 31, age 64 (wife of Sir Thomas Roe, M.P.), left estate valued at £41,503 gross, with net personalty £41,159.

She left the residue of her estate upon trust for her husband for life, with remainder, subject to his interest, to her children or their issue in equal shares.

In the event of failure of issue, then the testatrix left her estate upon trust for her cousin, W. Kirtley, for life;

and subject to his interest, she bequeathed £5,500 to the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary for the purpose of endowing five beds in memory of herself, Matthew Kirtley, Ann Kirtley, and Elizabeth Greenwood;

£5,000 to the Governors of Owens College, Manchester, for founding a scholarship or scholarships in connexion with some branch of mechanical engineering;

£1,000 to the Corporation of Derby for the purpose of erecting within two years of the death of the survivor of her residuary legatees a fountain and drinking trough for horses and dogs, either near to the Midland Railway Station or the Market-place;

£3,000 to the Railway Servants’ Orphanage, Derby; £2,000 to the Railway Benevolent Institution; £1,000 to the National Lifeboat Institution; £1,000 to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; £500 each to the Middlesex Hospital for the upkeep of the cancer ward, the Surgical Aid Society, the Derby Home of Rest, and the Children’s Hospital, Derby.

The residue of the estate was left to the Railway Servants’ Orphanage, Derby, The Railway Benevolent Institution, and the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

The Times, Thursday, Sep 16, 1909, page 13, issue 39066, col D

Background Notes

"cousin, W. Kirtley" - this was William Kirtley, son of Thomas Kirtley, brother of Emily's father. Thomas had died at the age of 37, from a brain tumour. Both he and William were railway engineers.

"Matthew Kirtley" - Emily's father. Matthew had been a well-known railway engineer. One of his goods engines was shown at the Great Exhibition.

"Ann Kirtley" - Emily's mother.

"Owens College, Manchester" - John Owens, a Manchester cotton merchant and Non-Conformist, left most of his fortune for the establishment of a college which would be independent of the Church of England. The college ultimately developed into the Victoria University of Manchester.

"Surgical Aid Society" - founded in 1862 to provide surgical aids (artificial limbs, trusses, ear trumpets, leg irons and boots) to people who could not afford to buy them.