It doesn't quite have the same ring
With the death of Gerald Grosvenor, the 6th Duke of Westminster, various places have been quoting his advice on how to be as rich as he was: 'Have an ancestor who was a very close friend of William the Conqueror'.
His billions come from the family's ownership of 300 acres of Mayfair and Belgravia in London. But it wasn't William who gave them to the family - he gave them a chunk of Cheshire.
Rather, it used to be the marshy farmland that made up the manor of Edbury. The owner of that left it to a nephew, a clerk, who died in the great plague of 1665. In 1677, his widow sold the sole heir, their 12 year old daughter, Mary Davies, in marriage to the highest bidder. That was the 21 year old Thomas Grosvenor, who paid £5,000.
In terms of business advice, 'Buy a 12-year old heiress' doesn't quite have the same ring, does it?
His billions come from the family's ownership of 300 acres of Mayfair and Belgravia in London. But it wasn't William who gave them to the family - he gave them a chunk of Cheshire.
Rather, it used to be the marshy farmland that made up the manor of Edbury. The owner of that left it to a nephew, a clerk, who died in the great plague of 1665. In 1677, his widow sold the sole heir, their 12 year old daughter, Mary Davies, in marriage to the highest bidder. That was the 21 year old Thomas Grosvenor, who paid £5,000.
In terms of business advice, 'Buy a 12-year old heiress' doesn't quite have the same ring, does it?