Newman Chennells arrived in New Zealand from England in 1911 where he had previously been earning a living as a land agent and auctioneer . . .
According to the Auckland West electoral roll of 1911 Newman’s occupation in New Zealand was land agent which was again repeated on the 1914 roll.
According to the Auckland West electoral roll of 1911 Newman’s occupation in New Zealand was land agent which was again repeated on the 1914 roll.
On the electoral roll of 1914 their address was 32 Cromwell Street off Dominion Rd, Auckland while the 1919 roll has Newman at Opuatia as a farmer which in itself is quite interesting as he did not purchase what is now known as the Crewe farm until January 1921.
It was actually on 25 January 1921 that Newman Chennells signed a transfer of lease of 364 acres on Section 7 Block XVI located at Opuatia in the Survey District of Onewhero. The details on the Certificate of Title also shows him taking out a mortgage with the previous owner four minutes later on the same day.
This particular piece of land was later called the Crewe Farm and in my opinion could reveal what really went on when other properties were added to the mix.
Not having access to many official records has been a handicap but a lucky discovery in Cleaves Auckland Provincial Directory of April 1920 to March 1921 not only confirmed the existence of Chennells & Co in Auckland but surprisingly also in Tuakau where it confirms he was a farmer of Opuatia.
A few years later Newman purchased another property that was to play a critical part leading up to the cause of the unsolved homicides.
According to the Certificate of Title, Newman Chennells, a farmer of Opuatia, took out a mortgage with Bank NSW to purchase Section 4 Block XIII Maramarua SD (and being part of Opuatia No 2 Block) of 354 acres in September 1924.
This property was a neighbouring one to Section 7 that he had purchased in January 1921 (see also location map on pages 8 & 9).
Newman’s son-in-law Len Demler later purchased a lease to the farm (Section 2) bordering the Chennells Estate in 1937 and it is the ongoing history of these three properties that I have been endeavouring to untangle.
SECTIONS 4 & 7
But first back to the activities of Newman Chennells and his dealings with Sections 4 and 7 both of which were valuable pieces of land that were eventually to end up, after a lot of wheeling and dealing, in the hands of Jeannette Demler (later Crewe) and her younger sister Heather.
At first glance, the will of Newman looked straight forward and above board, however a second probate was sought in 1939 that changed his daughter’s entitlement.
AN UNREGISTERED SALE TO BARTZ
To explain one has to first follow the movements of Section 4. It will be found that Newman Chennells sold the land on 16 May 1936 as an unregistered sale to a local resident August Bartz for the sum of £5400 including all livestock (see extract on following page).
August was a local farmer who spent 15 years on Hallamore’s Block by the Tuakau Bridge until he shifted into Mercer Ferry Road around 1937. At the time of this unregistered sale, it was a deal he was not prepared to accept until a Certificate of Title was produced.
Newman Chennells took his time to do as he was asked and when he produced a Certificate of Title it was dated 25 September 1936 but backdated to the date of the original agreement. The sale of the farm to August Bartz proved to be a non event as Bartz failed to take up a “registered sale” as agreed.
The true facts never came to light until the second probate of Newman Chennells was produced in April 1939, less than a year later. To understand Newman’s intentions of bequeathing one has to carefully examine the contents of his will (dated 22 August 1938). The exact text being questioned is reproduced on the following page and in the section that says that “all moneys which at the time of my death be owing to me in respect of such as sale” would indicate he was still the legal owner of Section 4.
The sale to August Bartz was crucial to any future investment for his daughter Maisie Demler. However a second probate had to be filed (on 28 April 1939) to show who was the legal owner of Section 4 (and other allotments yet to be mentioned) at the time of Newman’s death.
On regaining Section 4 the probate also stated details of other allotments to be shared between his son Howard Geofrey Chennells and daughter May Constance Demler (affectionately known to everyone as “Maisie”–a name we will also be using, instead of May).
PARISH OF WAIPAREIRA
The third piece of land mentioned in the will was at Waipareira, Massey. Once discovering where the land in question was located one has to wind the clock back to 1930 when Newman purchased Lots 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 being portion of allotments 160 & 161 in the Parish of Waipareira, an old Maori place name that has disappeared from the current Auckland suburb of Massey North.
This area of land was contained in the five lots totalling almost 20 acres and was located between the Swanson and Ranui railway stations. As can be imagined, as prime real estate, this land was not going to lose value.
On 3 June 1936 (two years before his death) Newman Chennells made a very generous gift that was to get the ball rolling towards the temptations of greed and jealousy and that transfer was registered then.
He transferred “an undivided one third share” of his Waipareira holdings to his daughter Maisie as a wedding present for her forthcoming marriage to Len Demler on 7 October. However, the action commenced its legal path on 19 May 1937 largely on producing evidence of her marriage with the transfer of her share to Waipareira finally being legalised on 22 July 1937.
The foundations for a troublesome future were in the process of being laid. Len had married ‘the girl next door’ and without realising the real significance of what he was letting himself in for, Len now had his foot in one of the doors.
TRUSTEES APPOINTED
In returning to the details of Newman’s will it will be found that his first instructions were to appoint his son Howard and daughter Maisie as executors by “paying his debts and legacies” as far as the property will extend and the law binds and also as his “general trustees”.
After making a large number of bequests to be shared by his sister, eight nieces, a niece-at-law and a nephew (all residing in England), he made a significant and far reaching decision by appointing Alfred Robert Hodgson, an Opuatia Tuakau farmer, as one of his “special trustees”.
Newman’s choice was to give Hodgson “some return for his services” in acting as a special trustee by giving him, and all his other beneficiaries, £100 each “free of all legacy estate or succession duties whether such duties be payable in England or in New Zealand”.
This last statement is revealing as it again confirms the existence of land in England and while I originally thought this was certainly to be a pathway to a legacy of greed, I now feel it was switching to an unhealthy legacy of lies.
INSTRUCTIONS ARE REVEALING
The extremely important section of Newman’s will is Clause 9 which instructs the appointment of attorneys in England to obtain “Probate or Letters of Administration” to be annexed in the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice in England.”
What does this all mean? Newman is actually asking that all his English estate (presumably from various locations) along with all other legacies are to be legally combined under a single English probate.
To ensure this happened Newman made two of his relatives’ beneficiaries, one a niece-at-law and the second was a nephew, a qualified surveyor, for which he gifted £300 for his services.
Uncovering this vital information should have been straight forward but all efforts to find a copy of this probate ended in absolute frustration and disappointment.
The locations and details of any land that Newman owned in England at the time of his death remains unanswered mainly because of unhelpful bureaucrats who claimed the information did not exist. I have a receipt issued from Somerset House in 1950 that proves the opposite.
It seems strange that Newman’s two children (Howard and Maisie) were the only New Zealand beneficiaries of his will. Newman’s wife, Nellie Chennells, is not mentioned in any of the probates and her entitlement as his legal wife to his estate was obviously a separate issue.
It was not until Nellie’s will was read in 1948 that Newman’s intentions are beginning to be understood.
TRUST FUND INVESTMENTS
The second most important clause in Newman’s will was “10e” (see below) covering investments held by the Trust Fund: “To invest any moneys liable to be invested under this my will in any of the investments for the time being allowed by law for the investment of trust funds and at their discretion to invest any of such moneys on registered mortgage in conjunction with any other person or persons by way of contributory mortgage to be taken in the joint names of the contributories to the loan.”
What does all this mean? The phrase to be noted are the words “for the time being allowed by law” as it consistently refers to a legacy of family land.
The use of these key words is standard, but they consistently crop up in successive family wills and in our interpretation specifically relate to the termination of a trust and certain other conditions. Examples of these transactions will be apparent as this story progresses.
The same situation will also occur later with joint names dealing with the registered and contributory mortgages mentioned in Clause 10e.
SECOND PROBATE EXPLAINS
Because of a second probate being issued in April 1939 to deal with August Bartz, it is appropriate now to summarize the end results regarding his New Zealand property.
It was established under Newman’s second probate that he was the registered proprietor of Section 4, Section 7 and Waipareira therefore his trustees for the will were Howard, Maisie and Alf Hodgson. His daughter Maisie was to get any revenue off Section 4 under governorship of the trustees, Howard Chennells and Alfred Hodgson while Section 7 went to his son Howard.
The implications would indicate that any other part of his estate and legacies not already put through Newman’s second probate would be able to be claimed solely by his wife Nellie particularly the separate estate (or estates) in England.
ALFRED HODGSON
The name Alfred Robert Hodgson, who first appeared in Newman’s will of 1938 as a “special trustee”, requires further explanation. He was described simply as an “Opuatia Tuakau farmer” with no further detail as to his relationship with Newman or just a family friend who came from England on the same boat.
His death certificate says he was a retired dairy farmer while his death and marriage certificates record his place of birth as Berwick-on-Tweed, England. He was married in 1936 as a 46 year old bachelor to a divorcee, Rose Amy Brocas. This couple were to play major roles in the running of the estates over a very long period of time. It is usual for farmers to appoint other farmers as executors and trustees.
CAVEAT ISSUED
On 16 May 1939 Section 4 transferred to Newman’s son Howard and daughter Maisie and on 9 June 1939 Howard and Maisie took out a mortgage on Section 4 to Marie Louise Smith including a caveat entered by Nellie Chennells. This would have been registered by Nellie if she was left nothing by Newman and she was making a claim against the land. The mortgage was probably to raise money to pay her out. The identity of Marie Smith is unclear at this point although there is some evidence that she is a family member.
In layman’s terms, a caveat is a stipulation that the property can’t be dealt with unless the owners first get the caveat lifted, in this case by paying Nellie out. In this case Nellie obviously had an interest in the land as she entered the caveat on 18 August 1939 and later withdrew it in 1942 (probably when she was paid), the same year she wrote her will. Nellie’s action is not unfamiliar to her in the same area, as this was not the only caveat held by Nellie. One would have expected Nellie to register caveats on all titles owned by Newman.
ABIDING BY TERMS OF WILL
Once the second probate was legally clarified Howard and Maisie could now abide by their father’s wishes as stated in his original will.
On 22 July 1939 Maisie undertook a transmission of Waipareira to her brother Howard to hold equal shares of their father’s holdings.
On 12 September 1944, Howard and Maisie sold Section 4 to Frederick George Hoskings for £5,600, the proceeds to be held in trust by Alf Hodgson and Howard Chennells and invested.
Several years later, on 27 June 1946, another loose end was tidied up when Howard and Maisie sold Waipareira for £400 to Allan Guy, a farmer of Swanson (see document on previous page).
TRANSFER OF SECTION 7
A “transmission of lease” to Section 7 was actioned on 12 June 1939 by Howard and Maisie as trustees to pave the way for Maisie to transfer her share of Section 7 through probate, 28 July 1939, to Howard.
The significance of Section 7 is that this is where the Crewes were murdered. Remember this was the section where Newman and Nellie had been living since 1921 and where their two children were raised.
Newman Chennells arrived in New Zealand from England in 1911 where he had previously been earning a living as a land agent and auctioneer . . .
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