The Hamlyn Trust owes its existence today to the will of the late Miss EmmaWarburton Hamlyn of Torquay, who died in 1941 at the age of eighty. She camefrom an old and well-known Devon family. Her father, William Bussell Hamlyn,practiced in Torquay as a solicitor and Justice of the Peace for many years, andit seems likely that Miss Hamlyn founded the trust in his memory. Emma Hamlynwas a woman of strong character, intelligent, and cultured, well-versed inliterature, music, and art, and a lover of her country. She traveled extensivelyin Europe and Egypt, and apparently took considerable interest in the law andethnology of the countries and cultures that she visited. An account of MissHamlyn by Professor Chantal Stebbings of the University of Exeter may be found,under the title “The Hamlyn Legacy”, in volume 42 of the publishedlectures.

Miss Hamlyn bequeathed the residue of her estate on trust in terms which it seemswere her own. The wording was thought to be vague, and the will was taken to theChancery Division of the High Court, which in November 1948 approved a Schemefor the administration of the trust. Paragraph 3 of the Scheme, which followsMiss Hamlyn’s own wording, is as follows: