Care worker inherits £50m Cornwall estate after DNA test

A former care worker has inherited one of Cornwall’s finest country estates after a DNA test proved he was the rightful heir.

Jordan Adlard Rogers only officially discovered his father was aristocrat Charles Rogers following the 62-year-old’s death last year.

Mr Rogers’ family had lived in the 1,536-acre Penrose Estate - which is worth an estimated £50million - for generations.

The family gifted the estate to the National Trust in 1974 in exchange for a 1,000-year lease to live there.

Jordan said he knew from the age of eight that Mr Rogers might be his father and made several unsuccessful attempts to get a DNA test done.

The 31-year-old said it was only following his father’s death that he was able to get the test completed, which proved he was Mr Rogers' illegitimate son.

Since moving into the lavish estate, Jordan has immersed himself in his newfound family’s history and said he wants to learn more about his father.

An inquest last week heard Mr Rogers spent 40 years living as a drug addict and a recluse before dying in his car following an overdose on a heroin substitute.

Charles Rogers' brother had been a pilot with the RAF and his dad a lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy, "so he had big shoes to fill", Mr Adlard Rogers said.

The estate makes money from investments in stocks and shares and renting a number of parcels of land to local farmers.

Jordan said he plans to set up a charity to help people in nearby Porthleven and Helston with his new-found wealth.