One of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK is Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. This magnificent estate is the ancestral home of the family of the Duke of Devonshire.
The family surname of the Duke of Devonshire is Cavendish. In the 17th century, he became a powerful Duke because of the glorious revolution supporting the new king. Chatsworth Manor was built at that time.
When the 6th Duke of Devonshire succeeded in 1811, the family’s holdings of real estate reached its peak. There were 8 large estates in England and Ireland covering an area of 200,000 acres.
(Chatsworth Manor)
After this family is not so lucky, due to the depression of the environment and the poor management of the successor Devonshire Duke, these 8 large The manor is in a debt-laden situation. By 1908, when the 8th Duke of Devonshire passed away, the £500,000 estate tax almost crushed the family.
In fact, this amount of inheritance tax is considered a pediatrics for the family of the Duke of Devonshire, because 42 years later, in 1950, when the 10th Duke of Devonshire died, he left an estate of 7 million pounds. Taxes, if converted according to today's prices, this amount would be hundreds of millions.
(Andrew at Chatsworth House)
Faced with this sky-high estate tax, Andrew, the newly appointed 11th Duke of Devonshire, was dumbfounded. Andrew is the second son in the family and has always been a spare tire. In 1944, his eldest brother William was killed on the battlefield more than four months after he married Katherine Kennedy, the sister of President Kennedy. Andrew replaced the eldest brother and became the heir of the family.
may feel the impact of fate, Andrew's father, the 10th Duke of Devonshire, began to evade inheritance tax. His father packaged the family property into a trust fund and handed it over to Andrew. According to the British law at the time, from the date of transfer of the property, it must be at least 5 years before the estate tax can be exempted.
(Internal Hall of Chatsworth Manor)
When the trust fund was established in 1946, Andrew’s father was only 51 years old, and he did not worry about the five-year period at all, but death was still He was caught off guard. On November 26, 1950, with 14 weeks left before the five-year period, Andrew's father died of a heart attack at the age of 55.
What to do? This is no longer an inheritance tax that can be paid simply by selling antiques. The family's financial advisors all recommended Andrew, forget it, don't worry, and send Chatsworth Manor to the state for tax credit.
(the restroom in Chatsworth Manor)
Although he became the Duke of Devonshire, Andrew is very proud of his family and he decided not to sell it. Family sinner in the ancestral home. So Andrew and his wife, Deborah, madly counted the family collection and land deeds, calculating all kinds of ways to hold money day and night. Those auctioneers who wanted his collection and land surrounded them like vultures.
What's more tricky is that in the time when the inheritance tax is not paid, the interest is calculated, which is roughly £1,000 a day. Therefore, Andrew must race against time and pay the inheritance tax as quickly as possible, but he is reluctant to sell it, seeing that every collection and every piece of land in the family is a treasure. In the entanglement, Andrew sold part of his collection to various national institutions, so that he could check it out from time to time. As for the land, nearly 60,000 acres were sold.
(Andrew at Chatsworth Manor)
Finally, Andrew gritted his teeth and spent a lot of money to redecorate his ancestral home, Chatsworth Manor, and open it to the public. While selling tickets, the couple shouted vigorously, held various activities, sold various souvenirs, etc. Anyway, the tall ancestral home became a lively tourist attraction as we know it today. .
Andrew’s efforts paid off. In 1974, he paid the last estate tax andThe interest accrued during this period. From the sudden death of his father in 1950 to 1974, it took 24 years. People praised Andrew for setting a model for the British aristocracy in inheritance tax.
(Chatsworth Manor)
Of course, Andrew would not foolishly let his eldest son go through the astronomical estate tax again. He properly entrusted all the property to the trust. The fund, even the room he lived in the ancestral house, asked this trust fund to rent. Having said that, the money actually comes in from this pocket.
When Andrew died in 2004, his eldest son Boreklin became the 12th Duke of Devonshire, and the inheritance tax paid was just drizzle. Borreklin also inherited his father's passion for managing his ancestral home. The current Chatsworth Manor welcomes 600,000 to 700,000 visitors every year, making it the fourth most popular historical building in Britain. In order to make the ancestral house more popular, Boreklin also disguised and went to the competitor to observe on many occasions. Once when he saw a costume guide in Hampton Court, he immediately put on the guide in the ancestral house. In ancient costume.
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