Jabez Tepper: The cousin who thwarted JMW Turner’s bequest (Part 2)
We continue the story of Jabez Tepper, cousin of JMW Turner...
Jabez Tepper is buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, in a grave that contains several other Turner relatives.
Gravestone for Jabez Tepper at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. Photograph by author.
In January 1872, letters of administration for Tepper’s estate were granted to his cousin, William Coham Turner, as it was thought that he had died intestate. This grant was revoked in July 1872, following the discovery of a will dated January 1835 which named his mother and her heirs as beneficiaries. Tepper’s brother, Samuel, a house painter and carpenter, now the sole heir, was located in Alabama USA. He returned to England in May 1872 and stayed with William Coham Turner in St John’s Wood, London. The will was granted probate in August 1872. In the documents Tepper is described as a bachelor.
Arrival of Samuel Tepper in England from Alabama - Leeds Times 11 May 1872 British Newspaper Archive
Samuel Tepper met with Victoria Boyer, Jabez Tepper’s elder married daughter. Because they were illegitimate, neither Victoria nor Catherina had any claim on the estate, but Samuel Tepper wanted to do the right thing and gave a substantial sum to each of the sisters.
Shortly after Jabez Tepper’s death, Mary Pennell went to his offices in Bedford Row, with a friend, and arranged for the removal of furniture, a large chest of silver plate and other valuables, including a diamond snuff box, which had been a gift to JMW Turner from King Louis-Phillipe of France. She also visited and removed items from the farm in Sussex where she had lived with Tepper. She was later apprehended and taken to court, charged with theft. Mary claimed that she had a right to the property as she had lived as Tepper’s wife for sixteen years but could produce no proof of marriage. She denied the existence of any will, although there were rumours that copies had been destroyed. At the preliminary hearing it was judged that there was insufficient evidence for a successful prosecution and the case was dismissed.
Samuel Tepper returned to his home in Camden, Alabama, in October 1873, with a substantial sum of money and several Turner paintings and engraving plates. He disposed of many others before he left, not wishing to pay the duty for importing them. He suffered from ill health and probably depression and, in 1887, took his own life.
Gold snuff-box with floral and foliate ornament. On the lid is the monogram LP with crown above for Louis Philippe, all in diamonds set in silver. © The Trustees of the British Museum
After Samuel Tepper’s return from America, it appears that Mary Pennell had to return items that she had taken, including the Louis-Phillipe snuff box. The box was donated to the British Museum in 1944 by Maria Helena Turner, the great-grand-daughter of J.M.W. Turner's uncle, John Turner.
In 1877, the surviving beneficiaries of JMW Turner’s will brought a case against the estate of Jabez Tepper. Tepper had bought their shares in Turner’s engravings for what he claimed was a fair price of £500 for each beneficiary. This had netted him £2,500. When the engravings were auctioned after Tepper’s death, they fetched £35,000. The family’s lawyers produced evidence that the engravings had been valued at £5,000 for legacy duty, so Tepper had been well aware of their real value. The court found in the plaintiffs’ favour and ordered that the sale to Tepper be set aside. An appeal by the Tepper estate failed.
Report of court ruling - Brief 15 December 1877 British Newspaper Archive
There is a certain irony in the coincidence that Jabez Tepper, having thwarted Turner’s plans for his inheritance, was similarly thwarted in his own. In both cases, large portions of the estate went to people they were never intended for.
CC-BY
David Meaden
Independent Researcher
Creative Commons Attribution licence
Further reading:
British Newspaper Archive for reports on the court cases involving the Turner estate, the prosecution of Mary Pennell, and Samuel Tepper’s visit to England.
Turner’s restored house in Twickenham is open to visitors.