10 Great British Legacies & Their Worth In Today’s Money

National Treasures Made the most of their assets Fame, but not fortune Fortune 2014 value Fortune 2014 value Queen Victoria Head of State 1819 – 1901 Alan Turing Mathematician 1912 - 1954 Good with... colonies Good with money? Good with... complexity Good with money? Queen Victoria oversaw the expansion of the British Empire. His team at Bletchley Park broke the Enigma Code and helped win WWI| Sadly not. Conviction for homosexuality when it was illegal stopped him working. You bet. The first monarch to leave a big fortune, not a big black hole. £21,000,000 £4,600 £497,400,000 £113,000 On her death Victoria was worth some £21 million – that's around £500 million in today's money. Turing left around £4,600 when he committed suicide – about £113,000 in today's money. Charles Darwin Naturalist 1809 - 1882 William Shakespeare Playwright 1564 - 1616 Good with... animals Good with money? Good with... drama Good with money? Chuffed. Darwin's railway investments really paid dividends. One-man hit factory with a string of classics to his name. So-so. Shakespeare's modest fortune hardly reflects his literary quality. Darwin's observations led to his revolutionary “On the Origin of Species." £146,000 £363 £13,000,000 £62,000 On his death Darwin left around £146,000 – that's £13 million in today's money. Shakespeare left around £363 when he died – about £62,000 in today's money. Richard Burton Actor 1925 - 1984 Jane Austen Novelist 1775 - 1817 Good with... weddings Good with money? Good with... coquettes Good with money? Hard-drinking Richard Burton married five times – twice to Elizabeth Taylor. Spent it like water. One time Hollywood's highest-paid actor. Perceptive novelist with finely-tuned social sensibilities. Not really. Austen made little from her novels in her lifetime. £3,500,000 £668 £10,000,000 £44,000 Burton left around £3.5 million when he died – that's about £10 million in today's money. Jane Austen's total lifetime earnings were just £668 – around £44,000 in today's money. Ernest Shackleton Isambard Kingdom Brunel Engineer 1806 - 1859 Explorer 1874 - 1922 Good with... a screwdriver Good with money? Good with... icebergs Good with money? The visionary engineer built bridges, railways, steamships, canals. Not great. Investors often had a long wait before their money came back. His daring Antarctic feats captured the popular imagination. Hardly. Ran up debts and launched one failed business idea after another. £90,000 £556 £8,000,000 £27,000 Shackleton left around £556 when he died – about Brunel left around £90,000 when he died – that's about £8 million in today's money. £27,000 in today's money. Duke of Wellington Soldier 1769 - 1852 Emmeline Pankhurst Suffragette 1858 - 1928 Good with... boots Good with money? Good with... equality Good with money? Got better. Borrowed and gambled early on, but rewarded for victories. She worked tirelessly to bring in votes for women of every class. No chance. Pankhurst's rewards Beat Napoleon at Waterloo and gave us his eponymous footwear. were in changing society. £17,000 £86 £2,000,000 £4,600 Wellington left around £17,000 when he died – that's about £2 million in today's money. Pankhurst left just £86 when she died – about £4,600 in today's money. To read the article go to: http://www.barclays.co.uk/national-treasures BARCLAYS