THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL!, 'PORTLAND,! SUNDAY- MORNING, NOVEMBER 1920.
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j And Even Young . Burke i
Roche's Twin Brother Who
Wai Get the Title and Estates
Had to : Face a Situation
Like a Comic
Plot.
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Opera
'Maurice Burke Roche, as a Knight, , with
i Mrs. Howard Cushinsr. as "Joan of Arc"
Suggesting His Natural Interest in Europe.
The Mother of
the Twins,
Mrs. Burke Roche,
Whose Unhappy
Marriage to a
British Nobleman's
Brother, Caused
Her Father to
Order His Children
and Grandchildren .
to Stay Away
from Europe
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Maurice Burke Roche (onthe left), Heir to the Title and Estates of
Lord Fermoy,. and His Twin Brother, Francis Burke Roche (on the
right), Who Lost the Title and Estates by Being Born a Miriute Later.
IN all the plots imagined by novelets
there Is probably not one more compli
cated and remarkable than the actual
lives of the tiro young New York society
men. Maurice and Francis Burke Roche. - V
The most peculiar position Is that-of
Francis Burke Roche, who simply, because
he was born one minute later than his
twin brother, Maurice, lost the possibility
of becoming a British lord with a castle (
and great estates in Ireland. . ,
But Maurice Is in almost as strange a
situation, for in order to assert his un
questioned right of becoming a British
lord he runs the risk of losing a great
American fortune.
On September 3, of this year, the second
Baron Fermoy died and his title and es
tates passed to his brother, James Booth
by Burke Roche, the divorced husband of
the New York society woman, once known
as Fanny .Work, and the father of the in- ,
'teresting Burke Roche twins. ;j -The
new Lord Fermoy is no gilded Idler.
He was for years an Irish Nationalist
member of Parliament and has had an ad
venturous career as a fighter and soldier
of fortune In many parts of" the world.
During the Rnssian-Japaneae war ne won,
fame by delivering some torpedo boats to
, the Russians after hostilities had begun.
Dord Fermoy owns 21,000 acres in Ire
land and an old mansion at Rockbarton, in
County Limerick. His elder twin son, the
Hon. Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, of
New York, is now listed by Burke's Peer
age as heir to the title.
The dashing young Irishman; now Lord
Fermoy, married Fanny Work, who was
considered the greatest beauty in New
York society, back In the eighties of the
last century. Miss Work was the daugh
ter of Frank Work, one of the richest New
York bankers in his day, and a man of .
remarkably autocratic temper, so much so
that he would drive from his presence any
body whose appearance or speech did not
latlsfy him. ,
. The young heiress had a share of her
father's autocratic spirit, and her husband
had a high-spirited Irish temper of his
own. The result was that after the birth
of three children they had an unhappy
end violent Quarrel. Mrs. Burke Roche
took refuge with her father, who de
nounced foreign husbands of noble an
cestry in a furious manner.
Mr. Burke Roche, angered by what hfi
, considered the unreasonable behavior of
his father-in-law, adopted the strange re
prisal of leaving his two little sons on the
doorstep of the Work mansion in Madison
Square. Ever since then they have been
members of New York society and to all
appearances Americans.
But daring all this time" they retained
their British citizenship and Maurice his
right to the title of Lord Fermoy.
; As time went oa old Mr. Work became
more and more furious at the thought of
foreign husbands - and the unhappiness
they were causing to American girls. He
forbade his children and grandchildren to
have anything to do with Europeans or to
go to Europe. He eat up nights planning ,
a wjll that would enforce his Ideas on this
subject. .
Just when Mr. Work felt that he had
completely separated his daughter from
the British, aristocracy, she enraged him
by marrying the Hungarian coaching ex
pert, Aurel Batonyi, a man. who was not
only a foreigner bu of much lower socttl
status than her first husband. After a few
'months of married life they separated and
were divorced. .
When Mr. Work died in 1911 It was
found that he had left a will with no less
than fifteen codicils, all of them aimed at
preventing his children and grandchildren
from having anything to do with Europe.
An estate of t&o9l $3,000,000 each was left
to the Burke Roche twins, on condition
that they observe its various provisions.
After providing for various legacies the
will said: - -v :- i
"I direct that f my. grandchildren,' Ed
mund Maurice Burke Roche and .Francis
George Burke Roche, sons of my daughter,
' Frances Ellen Work, shall share equally in
the residue of the estate, provided that
they become American citizens within a
year of my death, take the name of Work
and keep a permanent legal residence in
the United States.!
v In one codicil the testator said:
"I hereby direct that my daughter, Fran-
ces Ellen Burke Roche, shall not in any
manner contribute to the living expenses
of James B. Burke Roche, or make or
cause any payments of money to him or
tor his benefit directly or indirectly, and
that her children should not -in the life
time of said Burke Roche reside in, or
visit, the Kingdom of Great Britain and
. Ireland or any part thereof, and shall not -
' live with or under the control, as to their
persons or property,- of said Burke Roche,
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j"I make these provisions In the Interest
of, and for the protection of my daughter,
Frances Ellen, and her children,! and in
consequence of the conviction at j which I
havearrived that he is not worth of con
fidence and not a fit man to care for the
interests of my daughter and grandchil
dren, and that life with him or nnder his
control is not calculated to promote their
happiness.' !
Concerning his granddaughter, Cynthia
Roche, who afterward became Mrs. Arthur
Sj Burden, Mr. Work provided in his will:
"I hereby expressly will and provide that
in the event of said Cynthia's contracting
a marriage . with any foreigner or anyone
not a citizen of the United States that
thereupon all her interest in my estate
chall cease, and the property which other
wise would have teen held in trust for
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her and such interest . in my estate as
might otherwise have vested in her shall
be divided among and go to my grandchil
dren, or such 'of them as 'shall have ob
served and complied with the conditions in
my wHl" ; k .
I In another codicil he said:
. j "1 do hereby expressly :will and provide
that 'my daughter, Frances Ellen, and her
children,, shall not during my lifetime,
without my express consent, nor at any
time after my death, visit or reside in. the
Kingdom of Great Britain -and Ireland, or
the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.
"I make these provisions for the protec
tion and benefit of my said daughter and
grandchildren and In the belief that they
can find in the United States enough to in
terest, instruct and amuse them,: and all
the varieties of climate at any time neces
sary or desirable for the purposes of
health. ! - " '. ..V-.-.
. I Ins another codicil Mr. Work stipulated
concerning his Burke Roche grand
children: . - ' . -f
1 "That such grandchild' shall not during
. the lifetime of the said J. B. Roche and
during its minority reside in or visit the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire
iand or any part thereof.
I "That such grandchild shall not live with
or under the control as to the person or
property of such grandchild, 'of the said
James B. Burke Roche."
. Soon after Mr. Work's death.it became
evident that the Burke . Roche twins had
disregarded -his peculiar will in certain
respects they bad not adopted the name
IC) 1820. International Feature Service. Ino.
Work and they went to Europe and' to
England, both forbidden places..
When the twins went aboard the Lust
tanla In 1911 the passengers looked at
them with awe, as men who were forfeit
ing $2,600,000 for the sake of a trip to
England. The reporters questioned them
about this and Maurice Burke Roche re-"
plied: : .'fs"'- ; . ." . , y '
"We have received legal advice and ws
have been informed that: we are entirely
within our rights in going to England.' We
are going to London first, then to Paris
and will return to London for the corona
tion." - i ' -.: ' .. -I .-.-.; -
The young men were received in Lon
don as members of a noble British family,
which must jhave been rather pleasing to
'-them.; ;. -'''
While there they had a short interview
,with: their father, but what understanding
they reached has not been announced. !
-When It! became apparent that the
Burke Roche twins were disregarding
some of the provisions of Frank Work's
will their lawyers were 'questioned as to
what effect: this would have on their in
heritance. The lawyers declined to give
any! explanation, but the statement was
published that the other parties Interested
''would "permit the twins to. receive their
shares of the estate Intact and this was
' never denied.
It was explained that the feeling of the
family was that Mn Work was exceedingly
eccentric and that some of his provisions
appeared to be contrary to public policy.
Nevertheless, until the matter has been
legally passed upon, there will always re-
main an impression that the twins by
keeping their paternal name and other-
. wise disregarding the grandfather's will
; are risking the loss of a great fortune.
'The other important heirs besides the
twins are their sister, Mrs. Arthur 6. Bur
den, and their aunt, Mrs. Lucy. Work
Hewitt, formerly the' wife of Peter Cooper
. Hewitt The will as, unofficially ! Inter
preted means . that if either of the twins
disobeys Its provisions,, his share shall be
divided equally among the remaining
grandchildren and .Mrs. Hewitt, but the
codicils are so numerous and confusing
that It would require prolonged study to
reach any i conclusion as to their legal
effect. , i , -
People continue to ask whether there is
not always a possibility that the provisions
of Mr. Work's will may be enforced. Sup-
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pose one of the heirs should have a
serious disagreement with the others,
could he or j she not claim another
settlement of the will? Is it not pos
sible that at' some future time chil
dren of Mrs.! Cynthia Roche-Burden
may claim that they were entitled
to a greater share of theqestate when
their twin nncles broke the provi
sions of old Mr. Work's will? j
A new piece of information con-'
cerning the legal status of the Burke
Roche twins came to light when the
United States entered the great war. They
immediately ; offered themselves for ser
vice as officers in the United States Army,
but found they could not be accepted, as
they were British subjects. Here, again,
they had disregarded their grandfather's
Will.
, A few weeks later Maurice succeeded in
obtaining admission to the Harvard Offi
cers' Training Corps he bad been a Har
vard student. Francis was then accepted
as a petty officer in the Naval Reserve.
Tbe marriage of one or both of the
twins has been expected with eager in-
The Late Frank Wort, Whose Will
Threatened His Grandchildren, the
Burke Roche Twins, with a Loss
of a Fortune of $3,000,000 If
They Went to Europe. ,
terest by New York society for several
years and seems to have been unduly post
poned. Tbe engagement of Maurice to the
daughter of the Marquis d'Alcedo, of
Spain, was announced, but this affair came
to nothing. .. , .
Englishmen and New Yorkers who aia
acquainted with the Burke Roche twins
assert that they have no doubt that Mau
rice Intends to claim the title when he
inherits it All his actions indicate that.
What Francis, who arrived a minute too
late to be a lord, will do Is greatef
mystery.