In the 1800s Lyne Stephens
was known as the richest commoner in England. He used
his massive fortune to buy and then re-build Lynford
Hall, near Thetford. But after he died the true history
of his fortune and family became clouded. Fascinated
by the mystery, Jenifer Roberts has meticulously unearthed
the true story. ISABEL COCKAYNE found out more. Pictures
by Denise Bradley.
The memory was passed down through the generations.
Fathers would tell their daughters and sons in hushed
tones: “We should have inherited the Lyne Stephens
fortune”. It was a massive fortune – more
than £46.5m in today’s values – and
when Stephens Lyne Stephens died in 1860 there was a
stampede from many people who believed they were entitled
to a share.
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| Lynford Hall. |
Whole family trees were shifted around to prove to
the court handling the case that claims were valid,
leaving a trail that still foxes family historians today.
The gossips started speculating where his fortune came
from. Some had it that he was a rich banker and others
that he made his millions after inventing moveable eyes
for dolls. But they were wrong.
A new book released in October reveals the truth behind
the fortune, which was finally split between 93 claimants,
each share being at least £500,000 in today’s
values despite the fact it was severely diminished by
a costly 48-year legal dispute.
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| A portrait of Lyne Stephens, holding a
wad of banknotes to indicate his status as the richest
commoner in England when his father Charles died
in 1851. He bought the Lynford Hall estate in 1856. |
Glass: The Strange History of the Lyne Stephens
Fortune also reveals some interesting history of
Lynford Hall, near Thetford, which was owned by Stephens.
The book’s author Jenifer Roberts insists she
is not a family historian, although is related to the
Lyne Stephens. Most of all she enjoyed the thrill of
her eight-year paper chase, searching out documents
and pieces of information to produce a well-researched
history of the events behind the fortune.
“I just love researching, it is very exciting
learning about the characters’ lives. It’s
finding those things that shed light on someone’s
personality and how they felt about a situation. It
is very hard work but really rewarding,” she said.
Stephens Lyne Stephens, born a son of a wealthy businessman,
always knew he would inherit a lot of money.
His father Charles Lyne, not only made his own money
but inherited a large fortune made in Portugal by his
cousin, William Stephens, who himself was born a poor
schoolmaster’s son.
More than just rich, Stephens Lyne Stephens had enough
to spend on building opulent houses, gambling, hunting,
dinners and charity. He even bought his mistress’s
affections. She was the fabulous French ballerina Yolande
Duvernay, whose fame then was so great it can probably
be equalled to that of Madonna’s today, and she
later became his wife.
Such was his pride at being the richest man with no
title in the country – although his father nearly
got him a barony – he even had himself painted
clutching a wad of banknotes.
It was Stephens who bought Lynford estate at auction
in 1856, planning to use its 8000 acres, mansion house
and parkland with a lake as a hunting retreat.
However the £133,500 estate’s mansion house
was not grand enough for him and Stephens employed architect
William Burn to re-build it.
Burn drew up ambitious plans that included a grand entrance
hall, six reception rooms and 50 bedrooms and dressing
rooms.
Not only that, but it had all the modern conveniences
– running water, its own private gasworks –
as well as servants’ quarters and stable block.
According to Mrs Roberts’, Stephens longed to
live there – to host shooting parties and flaunt
his wealth – but died before work was completed.
 |
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| Yolande Duvernay, who married
Stephen Lyne Stephens as a young woman in 1845;
and in 1888. |
He left it to Yolande, who gradually became a recluse,
dividing her time between the several houses Stephens
left to her and using her own fortune to build the Catholic
church at Cambridge and help local schools.
And the mystery of the fortune’s origins began
thanks to a lawyer.
Stephens just signed a poorly written will drawn up
for him without reading it and when he died it became
a honey pot, drawing hundreds of distant relations buzzing
around for their share.
And that resulted in the lengthy legal enquiry as would-be
inheritors wasted thousands of pounds trying to establish
a claim to his millions, mixing up family trees to prove
their claim.
Women even claimed their unborn children were eligible
and con men had a field day drumming up false claims
for cash.
Mrs Roberts’ mother told her the strange story
of the Lyne Stephens fortune and it was curiosity that
led her into a records office eight years ago.
Mrs Roberts said: “The story came from my mother
and grandfather – it was part of social history.
There was this memory of this fortune, which came down
my family.
“I was told a little bit about this massive fortune
inherited by people in Cornwall. There were documents
when mother died, and when I began to dig it appeared
there was rather more to it than what she had told me.”
A former black and white still photographer, Mrs Roberts
said she had originally not even intended to write a
book about it. “I was researching another book
at the time and I happened to pass by a records office
in the right place, and started digging.”
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