Fraudsters and Charlatans (40 page)

Robert Caldwell never stood trial. An application for his extradition was adjourned when medical reports showed he was suffering from paranoia. His daughter revealed that she had long suspected him to be insane. For many years he had been claiming friendships with distinguished men and special knowledge of sensational cases. When he began to talk about the Druce affair she had been about to take steps for his committal, but had not done so because London solicitors arrived and said that his stories could be corroborated. In February 1908 Caldwell was sent to the Manhattan State Hospital for the insane on Ward's Island. He died on 12 January 1911, aged 76.

Thomas Coburn, afraid of prosecution, had burned all his papers. Reduced to penury, he wrote begging letters to his friends, asking for ‘a few shillings, for I am actually without money for stamps and fares' and for work: ‘If only a pound a week to keep me from actual physical want.'
³¹
What became of him later is unknown. The Director of Public Prosecutions gave serious thought to taking action against George Druce, Kimber, Henderson, Coburn and Sheridan, but eventually decided not to proceed in view of the difficulty in proving fraudulent intent.

In March 1908 George presided at a meeting of the shareholders of G.H. Druce Ltd. The company had ceased to trade, all its capital was exhausted and there were liabilities of £300. He wanted it clearly understood that the proposed liquidation would not affect the continuation of proceedings to establish his claim, adding that he was unable to answer any questions that might affect litigation involving the directors. Whether any of his listeners still believed in him was not recorded. Charles Crickmer seconded the resolution to wind up the company, which was carried without discussion. The investors received nothing. The shareholders in the two companies formed by Sheridan were more fortunate. On 6 December 1907 a restraining order had prevented the directors from parting with any of the money subscribed. The holders of the 5
s
shares eventually received 4
s
a share.

George Druce settled in Oakland California, where in 1913 he told the correspondent of the
Oakland Tribune
that there was a tunnel between the Duke of Portland's London mansion and the Baker Street Bazaar and that the coffin had contained only a dummy. He claimed to have been offered ‘ample funds . . . by several wealthy women', the consideration in return being marriage. The lawsuit he had lost he described as ‘a skirmish',
³²
and announced his intention of returning to England to continue the fight. Gradually his funds were exhausted and his dreams became wistful thoughts of what might have been. He remained in Oakland, working as a carpenter and janitor. By 1937 he was living in a rooming house at 723 Sixth Street, blind and existing on a pension. He died in 1942.

Herbert Druce died on 11 April 1913. In a deliberately low-key funeral, he was buried in the family vault. Anna Maria Druce died in the London County Asylum on 17 March 1918.

It is to Mr Plowden, the magistrate for the Druce case, that the final words can be left. ‘No-one can now doubt that Thomas Charles Druce existed in fact . . . Sufficient to say that this case is an illustration of that love of the marvellous which is so deeply ingrained in human nature, and is likely to be remembered in legal annals as affording one more striking proof of the unfathomable depths of human credulity.'
³³

Notes

Chapter 1: The Price of Omnium

1.  Anon.,
The Trial of Charles Random de Berenger, Sir Thomas Cochrane, commonly called Lord Cochrane, the Hon. Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt, Ralph Sandom, Alexander McRae, John Peter Holloway, and Henry Lyte for a conspiracy in the court of King's bench Guildhall, on Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th June 1814, with the subsequent proceedings in the court of the King's bench
(London, Butterworth and Son, 1814), p. 5.

2.  S. Johnson,
A Dictionary of the English Language
(London, Thomas Tegg, 1813), p. 762.

3.  S. Pope,
Considerations, political financial and commercial relative to the important subject of the public funds, addressed to stock-holders in general, and more particularly to the holders of Omnium
(London, Oriental Press, 1802), p. 2.

4.  
London Chronicle
, 21 February 1817, p. 176.

5.  Anon.,
The Case of Thomas Lord Cochrane K.B., Containing the History of the Hoax, the Trial, the Proceedings the House of Commons, and the Meeting of the Electors of Westminster
(Edinburgh, J. Dick, 1814), p. 8.

6.  Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sydney Lee (eds),
Dictionary of National Biography
(repr. London, Oxford University Press, 1973), vol. 10, p. 959.

7.  This is the only extant account of the conversations between de Berenger and Cochrane Johnstone, but it is consistent with what is known of both men.

8.  Baron C.R. de Berenger,
The Noble Stock-jobber, or Facts Unveiled, Irrefutably to Disprove Lord Cochrane's Affidavits
(London, R.S. Kirby, 1816), p. 49.

9.  De Berenger,
Noble Stock-jobbe
r, pp. 64–5.

10.  
Ibid
., p. 257.

11.  
Ibid
., p. 293.

12.  Anon.,
Trial of de Berenger
, p. 25.

13.
  Ibid
., p. 144.

14.  John Brown (ed.),
An Antidote to Detraction and Prejudice, respecting the Family, Character, and Loyalty, of Charles Random Baron de Berenger; with a biographical Memoir; an account of his arrest at Leith; his singular progress to, and treatment in, London, Correspondence &c
. (London, printed for the editor, 1814), p. 56.

15.  Anon.,
Trial of de Berenge
r, p. 487.

16.  De Berenger,
Noble Stock-jobber
, appendix, p. 68.

17.  
Ibid
., p. 67.

18.  ‘Court of Kings Bench, Saturday June 18',
Observer
, 19 June 1817, p. 3.

19.  Anon.,
Parliamentary Debates
(London, T.C. Hansard, 1816), vol. 32, p. 1146.

20.  
The Times
, 8 March 1817, p. 3.

21.  The National Archives (TNA): PRO TS 11/44/165, ‘The King agt Richard Gaythorne Butt', p. 2.

Chapter 2: The Princess of Javasu

1.  J.M. Gutch,
Caraboo. A Narrative of a Singular Imposition Practised upon the Benevolence of a Lady Residing in the Vicinity of the City of Bristol, by a Young Woman of the Name of Mary Willcocks, alias Baker, alias Bakerstendht, alias Caraboo, Princess of Javasu
(London, Baldwin Cradock and Joy, 1817), p. 50.

2.  Gutch,
Caraboo
, p. 51–2.

3.  
Ibid
., p. 37.

4.  
Ibid
., p. 68.

5.  
Ibid
., p. 1.

6.  
Ibid
., p 1.

7.  
Ibid
., p. 3.

8.  
Ibid
., p. 68.

9.  
Ibid
., p. 7.

10.  ‘Caraboo',
Notes and Queries
, 3rd series, vol. 7, 1 April 1865, p. 269.

11.  Gutch,
Caraboo
, p. 14.

12.  
Ibid
., p. 15.

13.  
Ibid
., n. 10 p.12.

14.  Archbishop R. Whateley, ‘Notice of the Pretended Princess Caraboo',
The Rose the Shamrock and the Thistle
, April 1863, p. 517.

15.  Gutch,
Caraboo
, p. 20.

16.  
Ibid
., p. 19.

17.  ‘Curious and Authentic Particulars of the Life and Adventures of Carraboo, Alias, Mary Baker, Alias - - !',
Bristol Mirror
, 21 June 1817, p. 3.

18.  Gutch,
Caraboo
, p. 27.

19.  
Ibid
., p. 47.

20.  
Ibid
.

21.  ‘Curious and Authentic Particulars', p. 3.

22.  ‘Caraboo',
Notes and Queries
, 3rd series, vol. 8, 29 July 1865, p. 94.

23.  ‘Inquest',
Bristol Daily Post
, 29 December 1864, p. 2.

Chapter 3: The Viscount of Canada

1.    Archibald Swinton,
Report of the Trial of Alexander Humphreys
[
sic
]
or Alexander, claiming the title of Earl of Stirling, before the High Court of Judiciary at Edinburgh for the crime of forgery
(Edinburgh, Thomas Clark, 1839), p. 189.

2.    Abel Stevens (ed.), ‘Mademoiselle Le Normand',
National Magazine
, vol. 2 (New York, Carlton and Phillips, 1853), p. 439.

3.    International Genealogical Index.

4.    William Turnbull (ed.),
The Stirling Peerage. Trial of Alexander Humphrys or Alexander styling himself Earl of Stirling
(Edinburgh, William Blackwood and Sons, 1839), footnote p. 8.

5.    Anon.,
Remarks on the trial of the Earl of Stirling by an English lawyer
(London, Lewis and Co., 1839), p. 30.

6.    Swinton,
Report of the Trial of Alexander Humphreys
, p. ix.

7.    
Ibid
.

8.    Thomas C. Banks (as Sir Thomas C. Banks Bart. N. S.),
An Analytical Statement of the Case of Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Dovan &c. &c. &c.
(London, James Cochrane and Co., 1832), p. 99, appendix 6: Copy of the Minutes of Election of the Sixteen Peers of Scotland 2 September, 1830.

9.    Banks,
An Analytical Statement
, Appendix 13, p. 118.

10.  
Ibid
., Appendix 7, p. 104.

11.  Revd Charles Rogers, ‘History of Alexander Humphrys or Alexander, Claimant of the Earldom of Stirling', in
Memorials of the Earl of Stirling and of the House of Alexander
(Edinburgh, William Patterson, 1877), vol. 2, appendix 4, p. 218.

12.  Turnbull (ed.),
The Stirling Peerage
, p. 13.

13.  
Ibid
., pp. 14–15.

14.  Banks,
An Analytical Statement
, appendix 9, p. 112.

15.  A.H. Alexander (as Earl of Stirling),
Narrative of the oppressive Law Proceedings, and other measures, resorted to by the British government, and numerous private individuals, to overpower the earl of Stirling, and subvert his lawful rights
(Edinburgh, James Walker, 1836), p. 20.

16.  Rogers, ‘History of Alexander Humphrys', p. 219.

17.  Alexander,
Narrative of the Oppressive Law Proceedings
, p. 13.

18.  
Ibid
., p. 14.

19.  Turnbull (ed.),
The Stirling Peerage
, pp. 24–5.

20.  ‘Sales by Auction',
The Times
,22 October 1832, p. 8.

21.  ‘Advertisement',
The Times
, 6 November 1832, p. 4.

22.  Turnbull (ed.),
The Stirling Peerage
, p. 30.

23.  Rogers, ‘History of Alexander Humphrys', p. 222.

24.  
Ibid
., p. 222.

25.  Turnbull (ed.),
The Stirling Peerage
, footnote p. 10.

26.  Alexander,
Narrative of the Oppressive Law Proceedings
, p. 1.

27.  
Ibid
., p. 4.

28.  
Ibid
.

29.  
Ibid
., p. 2.

30.  
Ibid
., p. 19.

31.  
Ibid
., p. 22.

32.  
Ibid
., p. 29.

33.  Swinton,
Report of the Trial of Alexander Humphreys
, appendix 8, p. xxxix.

34.  ‘Private Correspondence',
The Times
, 28 April 1838, p. 5.

35.  Swinton,
Report of the Trial of Alexander Humphreys
, p. 258.

36.  Turnbull (ed.),
The Stirling Peerage
, pp. 39–40.

37.  Swinton,
Report of the Trial of Alexander Humphreys
, p. 144.

38.  
Ibid
., p. 274.

39.  
Ibid
., p. 292.

40.  
Ibid
., p. 192.

41.  
Ibid
., p. 299.

42.  
Ibid
.

43.  
Ibid
., p. 300.

44.  
Ibid
.

45.  
Ibid
., p. 347.

46.  Joseph Babington Macaulay,
The Life of the Last Earl of Stirling
(Paignton, W.A. Axworthy, 1906), p. 62.

47.  Stevens (ed.), ‘Mademoiselle Le Normand', pp. 439–40.

48.  A.H. Alexander (as Earl of Stirling),
Two Letters Addressed to the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Denman
(Paris, J. Smith, 1845), p. 1.

49.  
Ibid
., p. 2.

Chapter 4: The Sting

1.  Anon.,
The Times Testimonial. Report of the Trial of the Action Bogle versus Lawson
(London, John Hatchard and Son, 1842), p. 8.

2.  International Genealogical Index.

3.  ‘The Times Testimonial',
The Times
, 18 August 1841, p. 2.

4.  Anon.,
The Times Testimonial
, p. 9.

5.  
Ibid
., p. 10.

6.  
Ibid
., p. 11.

7.  ‘Extraordinary and Extensive Forgery and Swindling Conspiracy on the Continent',
The Times
, 26 May 1840, p. 6.

8.  
Ibid
.

9.  
Ibid
.

10.  
Ibid
.

11.  Anon.,
The Times Testimonial
, p. 20.

12.  ‘Bogle v. Lawson',
The Times
,18 August 1841, p. 2.

13.  
Ibid
., p. 3.

14.  
Ibid
.

15.  
Ibid
.

16.  ‘Bogle v. Lawson'
, The Times
,17 August 1841, p. 7.

17.  Anon.,
The Times
Archives, Bogle Case, Litigation 2.

18.  Anon.,
The Times Testimonial
, p. 30.

19.  ‘Bogle v. Lawson',
The Times
,17 August 1841, p. 5.

20.  ‘Bogle v. Lawson',
The Times
,18 August 1841, p. 4.

21.  
Ibid
.

22.  International Genealogical Index.