A down-on-his-luck laborer experienced a sudden change in fortune after he inherited a 1,536-acre country estate after a DNA test proved him to be the son of the deceased owner.
In addition, he gets a $1,200-a-week allowance.
As the heir to the aristocrat Charles Rogers, 31-year-old Jordan Adlard-Rogers moved into Penrose Estate (with an estimated worth of $63 million(£50 million) with his girlfriend Katie Hubber, 30, and their newborn son Joshua. Katie exclaimed that they were “over the moon” at having “such a gorgeous little boy.”
Charles Rogers was a reclusive drug addict who died in August at age 62. Jordan had always held the suspicion that he was Charles’ son but was only recently able to prove it thanks to a DNA test.
Jordan said: “I’m not going to forget where I’ve come from. I’ve been at the point of worrying about the next bill and have had a tough start in life.
“I’m now starting to get my feet under the table here. I don’t need to work anymore so I want to set up a charity and help the community. Now I’m here I want to help people.”
After quitting his job, Jordan and Kate went on a trip to New York. But even if he’s happy at having moved up in life, he’s still sad he didn’t get to know his father.
He said: “People say I’m lucky but I would trade anything to be able to go back and for Charles to know I was his son. Maybe then he might have taken a different path.”
Jordan’s childhood neighbors recounted how he had grown up in more spartan surroundings.
One neighbor, former bar steward Derek Richards, 76, said: “They lived next door about 25 years ago, he was only about six then. He was a lovely boy, I used to give him Mars bars through the fence.
“He was a really nice boy, he was a carer for a disabled man in town. I don’t know how he knew Charles was his father. I knew Charles too, he had his troubles.
“I heard he tried to get a DNA test done but to no success, that’s all I know. I don’t know where his mother went after she left here.”
Jordan’s mother refused to comment.
Charles had struggled with drug addiction for years and finally died in his car of overdose.
Jordan said: “I haven’t been here long and don’t know all the ins and outs but have been able to piece some of the puzzles together. Charles never actually lived in the estate. He lived in one of the estate’s farmhouses as his mum lived here. They died two weeks apart.
“It had got to the point when he gave up on himself and was living in his car instead of his house as it was such a mess.”
Jordan once even visited Charles to personally ask him for a DNA test.
He said: “When I was 18 I knocked on his door and asked if I could have the test. He told me to do it through the solicitors. I was 18 so had other priorities at the time.
“I wrote more letters in my twenties but never got a reply.”
Finally, he wrote another letter last year with an enclosed DNA kit but a lawyer replied saying Charles had died.
Even with DNA proof, Jordan still had to overcome resistance from other members of the Rogers family before he finally took up his inheritance.
But even as he shared pics of his newfound wealth in social media, he vowed not to become a stiff-upper-lipped aristocrat, even posting a picture of an old relative dancing to rap music with the caption: “Nan raving.”
The estate has been with the Rogers family for generations. In 1974, it was gifted to the National Trust for a 1,000-year lease allowing Charles and his heirs to continue staying there.
The National Trust received 46 cottages and a few farms from the Rogers family. Jordan will receive $65,000(£52,000) a year from the Rogers Family Trust.
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