1953: McFadden's death (2 of 2)

Acquisition of personal property.

A little clarification of the manner of buying any of the personal property from the estate would help me to decide which items to ask for, and how to dispose of any we would not want after the end of the year. That is, may the acquisiti of such items be considered actually:

A. a gift over and above the specified bequests?

Handwritten: 4. yes.

or B. will the value of the material so acquired be deducted from the total value of the specific bequests?

The answer to this would help especially in the case of some of the more expensive items. If the answer is (B), it is a possibility, perhaps a remote one, that we might stand to lose in acquiring some things. I.e., if the valuation of them for estate purposes turns out to be higher than the figure we will actually be able to realize when we sell them. If the answer i (A) there is, of course, no problem, and I can proceed readily.

3. Mr. Hill's list of "Purchases by G.H.McF. not of record in Cyprus as donations to the Curium Expedition."

Quite a bit of the material listed here was obviously intended for expedition use. I will not be able to prove this, however, at this end if I am pressed to produce evidence to satisfy Sir P. and/or the Cypriote court.

I suspect that in most instances George would have purchased these independently of the Limassol account, using dollar checks, and that one might find such purchases included in his annual account to the Museum and in his income tax returns as contributions to the Museum. I know that the Landrover, for instance, was so purchased, and the information available here indicates that he considered it an expediti on purchase. If the Museum has any detailed records of George's contributions over the years, it might be well to send me on copies, so that I can produce evidence in these doubtful cases, if need be. Sir P. says he will not list in his inventory of the estate here anything claimed by the Museum. He probably will not be satisfied with just my personal judgment, however. If the answer to 2 above is (A) it would of course not be necessary to fuss with documentation for such items. I would merely go ahead and consider them as personal property and ask for them to be ac quired as such.

4. Mr. Hill's list: Mr. McFadden's private property in care of Groom-Gardener.

Suggest we acquire gardening and grounds equipment from the estate with the idea of turning it over the the Cyprus Museum. If we are actually paying out of pocket to acquire this (2B) we can perhaps sell it at the end to the Cyprus Museum at a state valuation, if Peter is willing. I will consult him … continues