THE GOOD NEWS. Various New Zealand Newpapers dated 14th & 15th February 1905 have the following report, sent by Electric Telegraph from London on 13th Feb. A century old will, entitling a poor Thanet family named GISBY to one million sterling, dropped out of a picture frame at Margate. BUT, NOW THE BAD NEWS. >From Wanganui Chronicle, ( N.Z.), Volume XLIX, Issue 12472, 6 April 1905, Page 2 PHANTOM MILLIONS PROSAIC TRUTH ABOUT THANET WILL ROMANCE The golden visions of an immense fortune that arose before a poor family of fishermen in Thanet on the discovery of an old parchment dealing, it was said, with the disposition of property worth £1,000,000, have been rudely dispelled says a London paper. This "precious" document, which was found behind an old print of Landseer's picture "Shoeing the Bay Mare," in the house of a dustman named HORN , in Byron Road, Margate, was submitted to a local solicitor, who unhesitatingly pronounced it is to be " utterly worthless." In reality, it is not a will. It is merely an unimportant deed of sale made by one Jacob GISBY , yeoman, and dated May 25th 1795. Although it is curiously phrased, it is strange that it could have made the foundation of so "romantic" a story. As a matter of fact, Mrs. HORN , the dustman's wife, came across the document eleven months ago. She made her discovery immediately after attending a birthday party of an uncle, who is a blacksmith in Margate. One of his presents happened to be a print of Landseer's picture similar to the one possessed by Mrs. HORN - which she bought at an auction for a shilling seven years ago - except that it has a more elaborate frame. Returning home, the dustman's wife determined that her picture should not be eclipsed in this way if she could help it. She would put it into a new and larger frame. So she proceeded to cut out the picture, when, to her surprise, she saw concealed behind it an imposing piece of paper, yellow and musty with age. "I did not know what it was," she said, "and after putting it away on a shelf I forgot all about it. Then, one day, during my absence, my little children - I have eight altogether - got hold of it, and they tore off the stamps which were on it to place them in a scrapbook." Recently Mr. H. GISBY , who is the caretaker at the Arcade Seamen's Rooms in Margate, heard of the "find". He remembered his uncle, a shrimper at Sandwich saying that at one time there was "money in the family." Consequently, the dustman's wife was sought. The document was read and re-read; and at length it was taken to the uncle at Sandwich. He, too, read it eagerly, and imagined that he would no longer need to depend on shrimps for his living. Now, unhappily, comes the true explanation of the parchment on which rested, for a few brief hours, the hopes of so many people. The local solicitor to whom it was submitted satisfied all concerned that the paper was merely a deed of sale; the dream of millions has vanished; and the descendants of Jacob GISBY , yeoman, will continue to follow faithfully their daily toil.

Many thanks to Michael for the "prosaic truth" to this story. I'd always known there was a fanciful belief that about this - but it hadn't been explained quite so succinctly. I'm not a direct descendant of Joseph, but he's "in the family". The only Gisby I know that did financially well was one who did it a more traditional method - he married a rich widow! Phil Gisby From: MICHAELCOOMBER@aol.com Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2011 3:12 PM To: Isle-of-Thanet-L@rootsweb.com Cc: opcsubmissions@kent-opc.org Subject: [Isle-of-Thanet] GISBY and HORN ( 1905 ) THE GOOD NEWS. Various New Zealand Newpapers dated 14th & 15th February 1905 have the following report, sent by Electric Telegraph from London on 13th Feb. A century old will, entitling a poor Thanet family named GISBY to one million sterling, dropped out of a picture frame at Margate. BUT, NOW THE BAD NEWS. >From Wanganui Chronicle, ( N.Z.), Volume XLIX, Issue 12472, 6 April 1905, Page 2 PHANTOM MILLIONS PROSAIC TRUTH ABOUT THANET WILL ROMANCE The golden visions of an immense fortune that arose before a poor family of fishermen in Thanet on the discovery of an old parchment dealing, it was said, with the disposition of property worth £1,000,000, have been rudely dispelled says a London paper. This "precious" document, which was found behind an old print of Landseer's picture "Shoeing the Bay Mare," in the house of a dustman named HORN , in Byron Road, Margate, was submitted to a local solicitor, who unhesitatingly pronounced it is to be " utterly worthless." In reality, it is not a will. It is merely an unimportant deed of sale made by one Jacob GISBY , yeoman, and dated May 25th 1795. Although it is curiously phrased, it is strange that it could have made the foundation of so "romantic" a story. As a matter of fact, Mrs. HORN , the dustman's wife, came across the document eleven months ago. She made her discovery immediately after attending a birthday party of an uncle, who is a blacksmith in Margate. One of his presents happened to be a print of Landseer's picture similar to the one possessed by Mrs. HORN - which she bought at an auction for a shilling seven years ago - except that it has a more elaborate frame. Returning home, the dustman's wife determined that her picture should not be eclipsed in this way if she could help it. She would put it into a new and larger frame. So she proceeded to cut out the picture, when, to her surprise, she saw concealed behind it an imposing piece of paper, yellow and musty with age. "I did not know what it was," she said, "and after putting it away on a shelf I forgot all about it. Then, one day, during my absence, my little children - I have eight altogether - got hold of it, and they tore off the stamps which were on it to place them in a scrapbook." Recently Mr. H. GISBY , who is the caretaker at the Arcade Seamen's Rooms in Margate, heard of the "find". He remembered his uncle, a shrimper at Sandwich saying that at one time there was "money in the family." Consequently, the dustman's wife was sought. The document was read and re-read; and at length it was taken to the uncle at Sandwich. He, too, read it eagerly, and imagined that he would no longer need to depend on shrimps for his living. Now, unhappily, comes the true explanation of the parchment on which rested, for a few brief hours, the hopes of so many people. The local solicitor to whom it was submitted satisfied all concerned that the paper was merely a deed of sale; the dream of millions has vanished; and the descendants of Jacob GISBY , yeoman, will continue to follow faithfully their daily toil. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ISLE-OF-THANET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Fascinating! Thank you for sharing this with us Margate Local & Family History From: "MICHAELCOOMBER@aol.com" <MICHAELCOOMBER@aol.com> To: Isle-of-Thanet-L@rootsweb.com Cc: opcsubmissions@kent-opc.org Sent: Saturday, 25 June 2011, 15:12 Subject: [Isle-of-Thanet] GISBY and HORN ( 1905 ) THE GOOD NEWS. Various New  Zealand Newpapers dated 14th & 15th February 1905 have the following report,  sent by Electric Telegraph from London on 13th Feb. A century old will,  entitling a poor Thanet family named GISBY to one million sterling, dropped out  of a picture frame at Margate. BUT, NOW THE BAD NEWS. >From Wanganui Chronicle, ( N.Z.), Volume XLIX, Issue 12472, 6 April 1905,  Page 2 PHANTOM MILLIONS PROSAIC TRUTH ABOUT THANET WILL  ROMANCE The golden visions of an immense fortune that arose before a poor  family of fishermen in Thanet on the discovery of an old parchment dealing, it  was said, with the disposition of property worth £1,000,000, have been rudely  dispelled says a London paper. This "precious" document, which was found  behind an old print of Landseer's picture "Shoeing the Bay Mare," in the house  of a dustman named HORN , in Byron Road, Margate, was submitted to a local  solicitor, who unhesitatingly pronounced it is to be " utterly worthless." In  reality, it is not a will. It is merely an unimportant deed of sale made by one  Jacob GISBY , yeoman, and dated May 25th 1795. Although it is curiously phrased,  it is strange that it could have made the foundation of so "romantic" a  story. As a matter of fact, Mrs. HORN , the dustman's wife, came across the  document eleven months ago. She made her discovery immediately after attending a  birthday party of an uncle, who is a blacksmith in Margate.  One of his  presents happened to be a print of Landseer's picture similar to the one  possessed by Mrs. HORN - which she bought at an auction for a shilling seven  years ago - except that it has a more elaborate frame. Returning home, the  dustman's wife determined that her picture should not be eclipsed in this way if  she could help it.  She would put it into a new and larger frame. So she  proceeded to cut out the picture, when, to her surprise, she saw concealed  behind it an imposing piece of paper, yellow and musty with age. "I did not  know what it was," she said, "and after putting it away on a shelf I forgot all  about it. Then, one day, during my absence, my little children - I have eight  altogether - got hold of it, and they tore off the stamps which were on it to  place them in a scrapbook." Recently Mr. H. GISBY , who is the caretaker at  the Arcade Seamen's Rooms in Margate, heard of the "find".  He remembered  his uncle, a shrimper at Sandwich saying that at one time there was "money in  the family." Consequently, the dustman's wife was sought. The document was  read and re-read; and at length it was taken to the uncle at Sandwich.  He,  too, read it eagerly, and imagined that he would no longer need to depend on  shrimps for his living. Now, unhappily, comes the true explanation of the  parchment on which rested, for a few brief hours, the hopes of so many people.  The local solicitor to whom it was submitted satisfied all concerned that the  paper was merely a deed of sale; the dream of millions has vanished; and the  descendants of Jacob GISBY , yeoman, will continue to follow faithfully their  daily toil.  ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ISLE-OF-THANET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message