Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross was one of Four Trustees of Queen Victoria’s Will before and After Her Death. These were Lord Cross, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Sir Fleetwood Edwards and Prince Leiningen. This Collection of Documents, deeds, letters, and Queen Victoria’s wills regarding the Claremont/Albany estate before and after her death. Includes many letters to trustee Lord Cross and Family regarding information about the estate and the debate of whether the Duchess of Albany should keep the estate in the 1900’s. Victoria bought Claremont for her fourth, and youngest, son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, when he married Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1882. The Duke and Duchess of Albany had two children—Alice and Charles. Charles, inherited the title and position of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha upon the death of his uncle, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1900. He moved to the duchy in Germany to fulfil the position, becoming a German citizen, and renouncing his claim in the British succession.

Claremont should have passed to Charles upon his mother's death in 1922, but because he served as a German general in the First World War, the British government disallowed the inheritance. Claremont was accordingly confiscated and sold by the Public Trustee to shipping magnate Sir William Corry. Provenance - From an Archive of correspondence mostly addressed to Richard Assheton Cross late 19th & early 20th century. Lord Cross was one of four of the Executers of the Will of Queen Victoria. Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross, (1823-1914), Cross was a Conservative member of the House of Commons from 1857 to 1862 and from 1868 until 1886. In 1874 Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli appointed him home secretary. The Cross Act of 1875 empowered municipalities to buy and demolish slums and to build housing for rental.Cross left office with Disraeli in 1880, served again as home secretary in the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury’s brief ministry of 1885-86, was created viscount in 1886, and held the secretaryship for India from that year until 1892. From 1895 to 1900 he was Lord Privy Seal.

He was among the small band of her ministers to whom Queen Victoria gave her close personal friendship. Cross may now be best remembered as one of the country's outstanding home secretaries. His close relationship with Queen Victoria is mentioned frequently in her journals from 1877 until 1900, often as a guest at the royal residences of Balmoral, Windsor and Osborne. Includes the following - A) An Envelope to Lord Cross Containing a Memorandum of the Will of the Queen dated in the month of her death. It details how her estate will be left to various members of the Royal Family. Includes a fascinating list of the Queens investments and how this is shared out to her children. B) A Buckingham Palace stamped list of Royal Trusteeships for the Queen which includes Viscount Cross. C) A very interesting letter from the Queen at Balmoral via her advisor Hugh Ponserby to Lord Cross with regards to Prince Leopold and the inheritance of Claremont Park Estate. Includes her concern that he will break up the estate and sell land off and also mentions issues about Richard Cross’s revolutionary measures about female inheritance that could affect future ownership. Dated 1882. D) A large Chart from 22nd Feb 1901 detailing the breakdown of Queen Victoria shares around the world, their value and which of her children will inherit what. A further document of the actual division dated 8th Oct 1903. E) Document stating the Will of Queen Victoria regarding the share of Residue of the children of the Duke of Albany. Dated 9th July 1903• F) Various letters dealing with the Claremont Estate from 1916 to 1923 .