Hello

Martin Elliget in his trawl of the LONDON GAZETTE came across a series of postings: "ROYAL NAVY AND ROYAL MARINES, UNCLAIMED BALANCES OF PAY, ETC." "Whose naval assets are held by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for distribution amongst the next of kin or others entitled." The list for very helpful on several levels for research of naval personnel.

It gives the case number, the name, rating, date of death, ship, and amount due. In some cases, the amount held is hundreds of pounds or as little as a few pence.

My question is, does anyone know, what happens to funds that are unclaimed? Do they revert to the Admiralty coffers eventually or do the sums remain outstanding forever?

Many thanks.

don

All unclaimed moneys for those who die intestate and for whom no relatives are found (civilian and military alike) currently go to the Exchequer (essentially the Treasury) after a certain period of time. Thats the rule today and I suspect applied then.

Ninety years outstanding arrears with compound interest ... oh what a thought!

I very much doubt that the Treasury would pay any interest, let alone compound!

The same applied to unclaimed soldiers' balances, and presumably airmen's too after 1918.

Ron

From memory , the entries appeared for 5 years (or until claimed) then the Government falls heir to the money.

This was how I came across a local man who was missed of our village memorial. He was a Ukranian national, residing and working in Newtongrange, with no known next of kin.

John

I was just imagining if they did!

Hello

Thank you for the participation.

Still a bit fuzzy on duration, though. The April 1940 list shows one man from 1918, one from 1920, and a third from 1929 in addition to the more contemporary ones.

I'm sure there must be a few ins and outs that allowed this.

Thanks.

All best

don

It may depend on the amounts involved which, as previous posts have mentioned, could vary from a few shillings to hundreds of pounds.

Technically, the money does not go to the Government, but to the Crown or, in Lancashire (including Manchester and Merseyside) it goes to the Duchy of Lancaster. But I'm sure it ends up in the Treasury anyway. It ends up in a fund called "Bona vacantia", i.e. unclaimed goods.

Ron