Archive for the 'lord of the manor' Category

The plight of the deposed Royal Family

Published June 29th, 2009 in ice breaker, republics and lord of the manor. 0 Comments

The United Kingdom has a Royal Family, and a member of the family - the Queen - is actually a head of state.

New Royal Families haven’t been “created” for about a century, indeed activity is in the other direction, as rules, and thus Families are deposed form time to time. But Royal Families, like all families, never really die; someone carries on the name, even a 100th cousin. But once a member ceases to hold any official position the raison d’etre seems to become historic. So if we look at countries that are now republics can we really call decedents of former kings “Royal”?

* Brazilian Imperial Family (deposed)
* Bulgarian Royal Family (deposed)
* Greek Royal Family (deposed)
* Korean Imperial Family (Deposed)
* Koch Rajbongshi Royal Family India (deposed)
* Grand Ducal families of Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz) (deposed)
* Laotian Royal Family (deposed)
* Nepalese Royal Familydeposed)
* Italian Royal Family (deposed)
* Romanian Royal Family (deposed)
* Portuguese Royal Family (deposed)
* Princely Family of Schwarzenberg (mediatised)
* Yugoslavian (Serbian) Royal Family (deposed)

Let us take the example of Karel Schwarzenberg. Who? Well his full name is Karl Johannes Nepomuk Josef Norbert Friedrich Antonius Wratislaw Mena von Schwarzenberg. He is the current head of the House of Schwarzenberg, the eldest son of Prince Karl VI of Schwarzenberg and Princess Antonie von Fürstenberg. His full title is His Serene Highness The Prince of Schwarzenberg, Count of Sulz, Princely Landgrave in Klettgau, and Duke of Krumlov.

The territory once ruled by the House of Schwarzenberg is now part of the Czech Republic. The President of the Czech Republic is now the head of state of the Czech Republic. So what does Schwarzenberg’s title mean today? Well what does a hereditry British peerage mean? THe raison d’etre of a seat in the House of Lords has been removed.

To answer the question fully would be impossible but having a title retains some advantages’

*A personal sense of pride in ones family history
*Invitations to events in the former terriroty as an honoured guest
*An extra line on the CV
*A prefix on the Business Card

But the most important advantage
*Money - all Royal families were at one stage rich, and so, chances are some of that wealth still exists.

Returning to Karel Schwarzenbeg, while his status as HSH gives him no political power he did manage to get elected and was Minsiter for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic from 9th January 2007 to  8th May 2009. Could he have secured that position without his title?

apieceofireland.com review

Published March 8th, 2008 in square foot, laird, lord of the manor, leasehold, freehold, land, apieceofireland.com and review. 1 Comment

ScreenshotIt is often said that Irish people have a “yearning” for land - a deep need to own a piece of land. Well now thanks to apieceofireland.com “you can own “your very own corner of the Emerald Isle”, for the resonable fee of USD 35 - the currency choice appealing to Irish-Americans, and being available from low-cost virtual terminal providers. you can own “your very own corner of the Emerald Isle”.

Being young, and living in Ireland in the so-called Celtic Tiger years, I can only rent a house, or land. So I thought the pleasure of actual ownership was a pipedream whose realisation was postponed until the next recession. Thus apieceofireland.com interested me greately. But before parting with my hard earned cash on a seemingly too good to be true adventure in trade I had to investigate.

Why is is so cheap?
It is only a square foot of land, but still it can be your square foot.

Freehold or leasehold?
If you rent land you are said in legal terms to hold land “leasehold”, etymology thus explains why a rental agreement between a landlord and tenant is called a lease.

Now if you actually own land you are said to hold it “freehold”, and of course this is the aspirational ultimate.

apieceofireland does not specify if the sale is freehold or leasehold, so while buyers receive a certificate, is it decorative or substantive?

Web search
I then searched for apieceofireland.com. This releaved they have an affiliate scheme that may not be worthwhile. It alsorevealed a comparison to moon land sales.

The purchase
I paid by PayPal knowing that it would be easier to get a refund from then over WorldPay. But the Worldpay logo was reassuring as it is harder for a merchant to get approval.

An hard backed envelope arrived 5 calendar days later by unregistered post.

Typos

On the Cert “…Macroom Land Trust Herby grants unto [my name]”. Possibly a delibrate typo for Hereby, the resultant sentence makes no sense, there is no legal entity known as Macroom Land Trust Herby, and there is no man known as Herby.
On the Cert Barony has a capital letter, but cork doesn’t, Province does, but country doesn’t, they should all have capital letters at the start.

Cosmetics
On the cert change the “seal” is a printed image. A rubber stamp or embossing would be nicer.

The sellers signature on the introduction letter does not match his signature on the Cert. A viewing of The Companies Registration Office Form RBN1 for “Macroom Land Trust” shows the signature on the Certificate is the real one.

Land Registry
I checked the Property Registration Authority online service for the coordinates of the field. Co-ordinates 1.918167, -9.077333. I wanted to see that 1) It was owned by the seller prior to my purchase 2) It was now owned by me.

But alas

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