Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965). Autographed t.l.s...

Hammer

£500

Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965). Autographed t.l.s. of 2pp, on Treasury Chambers writing-paper, dated 10th December, 1925, addressed to Sir William Bull, Bart., MP (1863-1931), and signed "Winston S. Churchill", while Chancellor of the Exchequer (1924-29). The letter is in response to Bull's previous letter viz. the will and disposal of the estate of Field Marshal John French, 1st Earl of Ypres (1852-1925), in which, as Churchill writes, property was "left [...] to a stranger in blood subject to an expression of his wishes", in "terms of a valid will which has been admitted to probate", and not his second son, - i.e. Gerald French (1883-1970) - and that legacy duty will be at a rate of 10% rather than 1%. The then chancellor points out that the French franc accounts of the estate and foreign assets will be subject to a duty at the market value and exchange rate at the time of death, however favourable or unfavourable. "The fact that in the present case the exchange has fallen away since the date of death and that this fall will probably not be recovered before the money is brought over to pay the duty is not a circumstance in respect of which the law allows the Board of Inland Revenue to grant relief." Churchill goes on to commiserate, however dispassionately, that "the case is completely governed by law; neither the Board of Inland Revenue nor I have any discretionary power in the matter." Upper-right margins with signs of former pin-filing, slightly later stamped: With the Compliments of Sir William Bull, 4to (2).