Abstract
A WIDELY spread feeling exists, especially among Roman Catholics, that sequestrated church property carries a curse with it; that the effect of the curse is to extinguish the line of descent from its owner, and to fall most heavily on the eldest son. A lady was so much impressed with what had been told her and with the evidences adduced as to the reality of the curse, that she asked me to help in investigating the matter. It had other interesting aspects, so I consented to frame an appropriate questionnaire for starting the inquiry on proper statistical lines. This was printed, and 245 copies of it were filled up by a well-known antiquarian, the Rev. Harvey Bloom, of Whitchurch, near Stratford-on-Avon, in the order in which they happened to be entered in the works of reference that he used. Their contents were then discussed by Mr. Edgar Schuster, fellow of New College, Oxford, and formerly research fellow of the eugenics laboratory in University College, London. Finally, such of the results as seemed most appropriate are given here, Mr. Schuster's report was elaborate; it ought (as he wrote when he sent it) to be checked as regards minute particulars if published in full, but he is quite content that the broad results given in the present paper should go forth as they stand.
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GALTON, F. Sequestrated Church Property. Nature 79, 308 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/079308a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/079308a0
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