August 1909 and in it he bequeathed—according to the laws of the island—
one third of his residual estate to his wife Edith, with the remainder to his
surviving children Herbert, Elsie and Robert in equal shares. However, on 17
February 1910, the day before his death, two signed codicils were added
which were in keeping with his humanity. In the first of these he gave the
sum of one hundred pounds to one, ‘Bessie Stephenson’. The same amount
was left to the Jersey Medical Society, four fifths of the annual interest from
which was to assist any medical practitioner in the island who, ‘as member of
the society and who has practised for at least ten years, may be ‘in need’. The
remaining one fifth interest was added to the capital. To his coachman
‘Bartlett’, he bequeathed a years wages of £57 4s. 0d., to his cook and
housemaid each, a further sum reflecting their annual wage, and to Rachel
Jane Richie, ‘who has been many years in the family’, the sum of £27 6s 0d.
The second codicil ensured that after the death of any one of his children, and
after the death of their mother, the income from his children’s share of his
estate would pass to that child’s husband or wife if they were without issue.
This ensured that his bequeath would not only help his children but their
partners equally. Augustin Le Rossignol left a personal estate in the United
Kingdom valued at £11,872 11s.
3
—including shares such as in the Great
Western Railway
5
—all of which of course passed to Edith and the children.
With the average annual (mainland UK) wage at the time around £50–70,
this figure in today’s money translates to a purchasing power equivalent to
many millions of pounds. Probate of the Will, along with the two codicils was
granted to Edith, and in just a few years Robert had moved from being an
‘impecunious student’
6 to being a rather wealthy young man.
But in the year his father died, much happier times were to come when a
few months later he married the youngest daughter of Carl Walter of
Karlsruhe, one Frauleine Agnes Emily Hedwig Walter (b. 24.1.1885). Robert
and Emily were married on Tuesday 11 October in Karlsruhe, and The Times
of London on Friday 14 October 1910 carried the announcement of their
marriage which was to last for the next sixty five years. Following their
marriage, Robert and Emily left for their honeymoon—something of a ‘curate’s egg’—for Robert was sent to the ‘States by the ‘Auer’ to meet and stay
with Coolidge in Schenectady with whom he became good friends, and this
business trip doubled up as their honeymoon. Undoubtedly, these two men
must have discussed the problem of tungsten ductility at length, … but
Robert later remarked of the business trip and honeymoon, ‘this is not a good
mixture!’
6
By the time of Augustin’s death, Robert had left Grünau and was living at
8 Marburger Strasse in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin,
7 a little to the
202
D. Sheppard
one third of his residual estate to his wife Edith, with the remainder to his
surviving children Herbert, Elsie and Robert in equal shares. However, on 17
February 1910, the day before his death, two signed codicils were added
which were in keeping with his humanity. In the first of these he gave the
sum of one hundred pounds to one, ‘Bessie Stephenson’. The same amount
was left to the Jersey Medical Society, four fifths of the annual interest from
which was to assist any medical practitioner in the island who, ‘as member of
the society and who has practised for at least ten years, may be ‘in need’. The
remaining one fifth interest was added to the capital. To his coachman
‘Bartlett’, he bequeathed a years wages of £57 4s. 0d., to his cook and
housemaid each, a further sum reflecting their annual wage, and to Rachel
Jane Richie, ‘who has been many years in the family’, the sum of £27 6s 0d.
The second codicil ensured that after the death of any one of his children, and
after the death of their mother, the income from his children’s share of his
estate would pass to that child’s husband or wife if they were without issue.
This ensured that his bequeath would not only help his children but their
partners equally. Augustin Le Rossignol left a personal estate in the United
Kingdom valued at £11,872 11s.
3
—including shares such as in the Great
Western Railway
5
—all of which of course passed to Edith and the children.
With the average annual (mainland UK) wage at the time around £50–70,
this figure in today’s money translates to a purchasing power equivalent to
many millions of pounds. Probate of the Will, along with the two codicils was
granted to Edith, and in just a few years Robert had moved from being an
‘impecunious student’
6 to being a rather wealthy young man.
But in the year his father died, much happier times were to come when a
few months later he married the youngest daughter of Carl Walter of
Karlsruhe, one Frauleine Agnes Emily Hedwig Walter (b. 24.1.1885). Robert
and Emily were married on Tuesday 11 October in Karlsruhe, and The Times
of London on Friday 14 October 1910 carried the announcement of their
marriage which was to last for the next sixty five years. Following their
marriage, Robert and Emily left for their honeymoon—something of a ‘curate’s egg’—for Robert was sent to the ‘States by the ‘Auer’ to meet and stay
with Coolidge in Schenectady with whom he became good friends, and this
business trip doubled up as their honeymoon. Undoubtedly, these two men
must have discussed the problem of tungsten ductility at length, … but
Robert later remarked of the business trip and honeymoon, ‘this is not a good
mixture!’
6
By the time of Augustin’s death, Robert had left Grünau and was living at
8 Marburger Strasse in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin,
7 a little to the
202
D. Sheppard