WHO’D have thought there was a link between Lillie Langtry, Gargrave and Sir Mathew Wilson, the former MP whose statue stands outside Skipton library? Lillie Langtry, the most famous actress of her time, a great beauty, social darling, friend of Oscar Wilde and mistress of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, died in February, 1929. Miss Langtry left £10,000, a villa in Monte Carlo and her motor car to her friend and companion, Mathilde Peat, who just happened to be married to Thomas Peat, Sir Mathew’s long time butler. Following the death from pneumonia of the actress, and the announcement of Mathilde as a principle beneficiary in her will, and now super rich, the Craven Herald reported on the somewhat confused response of Mr Peat, who was not at the Wilson’s family seat at the time, Eshton Hall, Gargrave, but in Eaton Square, London, with his employer.
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