way my Spartan Mother brought us up.â
A project known as âthe new Domesday Bookâ, which aimed to catalogue people and their lands and wealth, reported the extent of the Shore familyâs holdings at this time. According to the Derby Mercury, Offley Shoreâs land extended to 116 acres, with a gross estimated rental of £559 and 16 shillings a year. His older brother Harrington Shore had 58 acres and rental of £293 and 16 shillings a year. The brothersâ financial health was about to be more forensically examined, however, and the Shore familyâs comfortable life would be abruptly interrupted, as the fortunes of the Colonial Trusts Corporation took a sudden turn for the worse.
In October 1878, the Corporation issued a circular announcing that it could not pay interest on its debenture coupons, and called a meeting of shareholders. Two petitions were presented to the Chancery Division of the High Court in the same month, asking for the winding-up of the company, which had stopped making payments. A liquidator was appointed, subpoenas were issued for the companyâs books between 1875 and 1878, and a winding-up notice was issued. Messrs. Brown and Co, stockbrokers of Fenchurch Street, made a request for summonses to be issued against the Directors of the Corporation, â
for publishing to the shareholders and others misstatements as to the position of the company alleging certain surpluses, when, in reality, there were none.
â It was suggested that Lord Bury should resign his Government position. But the Lord Mayor of London decided that this charge could not be substantiated, and refused to issue the summonses. In November, another circular issued on behalf of the Corporation pleaded with shareholders to try to save the doomed company â and indicated clearly where the blame for the crisis lay.
âTo the Shareholders of the Colonial Trusts Corporation Limited â I beg to inform you that the arrangements have been completed with the trustee of Messrs. Harrington Offley and Offley Bohun Shore for paying off the first mortgage on the Meersbrook estate, which practically secures to the committee, through the assistance of the said trustee, the carriage of this valuable property, upon which the directors have advanced very large sums of money on very inadequate security viz. a fifth mortgage.â
The statement puts the blame squarely on the previous Directors, for entering into such risky transactions. It goes on to say that the Corporation is trying to re-negotiate the equity of redemption of Meersbrook and the Lendridge estate, and new leases for a colliery and lead mine, owned by the Shores. It ends by begging the shareholders to support the committee in trying to achieve the âresuscitationâ of the company, rather than allowing it to be wound up.
Offley Shore, renowned physician, author and landowner of the long-established Derbyshire family, found himself in the bankruptcy court in November 1878. The Pall Mall Gazette reported on the case on 23 rd November:
âThe bankrupt had not filed statutory accounts but his debts were put down at £100,000. It was stated that complicated questions were pending between the bankrupt and the Colonial Trusts Corporation, and delay had therefore arisen in filing accounts. An adjournment was agreed to.â
One hundred thousand pounds was a huge sum in 1878, equivalent to at least seven million pounds today, depending on the measure used to compare financial worth across the centuries. So Offley Shore found himself bankrupt, with a wife and three children â now 15, 13 and 11 years of age â to support. In October 1879, Offley was back in court. The Pall Mall Gazette reported:
âIn the Court of Bankruptcy yesterday Mr Registrar Hazlitt sanctioned an arrangement for the settlement of the bankruptcy of Mr Harrington O. Shore and Mr Offley B. Shore, by which the creditors agreed to accept a payment of such a
A project known as âthe new Domesday Bookâ, which aimed to catalogue people and their lands and wealth, reported the extent of the Shore familyâs holdings at this time. According to the Derby Mercury, Offley Shoreâs land extended to 116 acres, with a gross estimated rental of £559 and 16 shillings a year. His older brother Harrington Shore had 58 acres and rental of £293 and 16 shillings a year. The brothersâ financial health was about to be more forensically examined, however, and the Shore familyâs comfortable life would be abruptly interrupted, as the fortunes of the Colonial Trusts Corporation took a sudden turn for the worse.
In October 1878, the Corporation issued a circular announcing that it could not pay interest on its debenture coupons, and called a meeting of shareholders. Two petitions were presented to the Chancery Division of the High Court in the same month, asking for the winding-up of the company, which had stopped making payments. A liquidator was appointed, subpoenas were issued for the companyâs books between 1875 and 1878, and a winding-up notice was issued. Messrs. Brown and Co, stockbrokers of Fenchurch Street, made a request for summonses to be issued against the Directors of the Corporation, â
for publishing to the shareholders and others misstatements as to the position of the company alleging certain surpluses, when, in reality, there were none.
â It was suggested that Lord Bury should resign his Government position. But the Lord Mayor of London decided that this charge could not be substantiated, and refused to issue the summonses. In November, another circular issued on behalf of the Corporation pleaded with shareholders to try to save the doomed company â and indicated clearly where the blame for the crisis lay.
âTo the Shareholders of the Colonial Trusts Corporation Limited â I beg to inform you that the arrangements have been completed with the trustee of Messrs. Harrington Offley and Offley Bohun Shore for paying off the first mortgage on the Meersbrook estate, which practically secures to the committee, through the assistance of the said trustee, the carriage of this valuable property, upon which the directors have advanced very large sums of money on very inadequate security viz. a fifth mortgage.â
The statement puts the blame squarely on the previous Directors, for entering into such risky transactions. It goes on to say that the Corporation is trying to re-negotiate the equity of redemption of Meersbrook and the Lendridge estate, and new leases for a colliery and lead mine, owned by the Shores. It ends by begging the shareholders to support the committee in trying to achieve the âresuscitationâ of the company, rather than allowing it to be wound up.
Offley Shore, renowned physician, author and landowner of the long-established Derbyshire family, found himself in the bankruptcy court in November 1878. The Pall Mall Gazette reported on the case on 23 rd November:
âThe bankrupt had not filed statutory accounts but his debts were put down at £100,000. It was stated that complicated questions were pending between the bankrupt and the Colonial Trusts Corporation, and delay had therefore arisen in filing accounts. An adjournment was agreed to.â
One hundred thousand pounds was a huge sum in 1878, equivalent to at least seven million pounds today, depending on the measure used to compare financial worth across the centuries. So Offley Shore found himself bankrupt, with a wife and three children â now 15, 13 and 11 years of age â to support. In October 1879, Offley was back in court. The Pall Mall Gazette reported:
âIn the Court of Bankruptcy yesterday Mr Registrar Hazlitt sanctioned an arrangement for the settlement of the bankruptcy of Mr Harrington O. Shore and Mr Offley B. Shore, by which the creditors agreed to accept a payment of such a
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