A ONCE-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join England’s landed gentry is up for sale with its current holder looking to pad his pension.
And if you’re not a bored former Prime Minister looking to get back to work, winning the auction could be the only way to get a title.
BPMPhillip Leigh, the Lord of Walthamstow is set to sell off his title to fund his pension[/caption]
The Lord of Walthamstow, Phillip Leigh, is auctioning off his title in December as his daughter has relinquished her claim to the title out of a lack of interest.
Leigh expects the sale to help fund his retirement alongside making some charity and community donations.
The Lordship doesn’t come with a manor or a right to enter the House of Lords, but the winner does get some perks.
“It’s very handy for organising a good table at restaurants,” Leigh told The Times.
“I’ve rung up restaurants first as plain old Phillip Leigh and it’s been ‘I’m sorry we’re full’, then I’ve called as the Lord of Walthamstow and it’s, ‘Yes my lord certainly, we’ve got a lovely table by the window’.”
Leigh bought the Walthamstow title 34 years ago in 1989 for £200,000 in today’s money.
He was born in the area and had bought his first home in Walthamstow, developing a deep connection to the area.
“It was just purely an emotional purchase with an eye to an investment,” the ex-property developer said.
“I am very keen on history and it is a great way to feel part of the country’s heritage. I’ve researched it at the Walthamstow Museum and have all the documents. I feel very proud to be part of this heritage and to hold this lordship.”
“It’s not like a normal Lordship you can buy off the peg, I think there’s about 2,000 in the UK and they can go for very small amounts of money because they have no intrinsic value or history.”
Under English law, titles are considered property and can be bought and sold freely.
What makes the Walthamstow Lordship special is it dates from before the Norman Conquest in 1066 and was one of 13,000 mentioned in the Doomsday Book in 1086.
At that time a Lord used to collect taxes and rents and dispense justice over their domain.
But, in today’s modern world being a Lord isn’t important to the running of the government.
Leigh said his main role was working with charities and he had introduced former London Mayor and Prime Minister Boris Johnson to several.
The Lord even claims to have been an advisor to Johnson and said he was quite influential in getting him elected mayor, he told Essex Live.
While Leigh said he does hope the lordship has gone up in value since he bought it he said he does not want to just sell it to anybody for a huge payout.
Instead, he’d rather have a person who could use it for community work and influence.
“If I wanted really big bucks for this I could have taken it to Sotheby’s or Christie’s and it would have attracted a lot of Arab or American money.
“It could have gone into some very serious figures. I don’t want that to happen – I want it to go to someone like myself who has community spirit and community interests and uses it for the benefit of the area.
“But it’s been a great investment, I know with the interest we’ve got at the moment it’s going to bring substantial money and that’s a bonus. But I wouldn’t want someone just to think of it as a great investment, I’d like them to appreciate the history and appreciate what good they could do with it.”
The Lordship will go up for sale at Strettons on December 13.
BPMLeigh said he bought the title for £200,000 adjusted for inflation in today’s money[/caption]
BPMLeigh says his title isn’t like any of the other junk titles you can buy online because it was mentioned in the Doomsday Book in 1086[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
