The dead duke, his secret wife, and the missing corpse
Subtitle: an extraordinary Edwardian case of deception and intrigue
By: Piu Marie Eatwell
Edition: First American edition.
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 338
ISBN-13: 9781631491238
Subjects: Death and burial; Fraud; Privacy; Eccentrics and eccentricities; Biography; Secrecy; Missing persons; Trials (Fraud); History
Description: "One of the most notorious and bizarre mysteries of the Edwardian age, for readers who loved The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. At the close of the Victorian era, as now, privacy was power. The extraordinarily wealthy 5th Duke of Portland had a mania for it, hiding in his horsedrawn carriage and creating tunnels between buildings to avoid being seen. So when, in 1897, an elderly widow asked the court to exhume the grave of her late father-in-law, T.C. Druce, under the suspicion that he'd led a double life as the 5th Duke, no one could dismiss her claim. The eccentric duke, Anna Maria was sure, had faked his death as Druce, and, therefore, her son should inherit the Portland millions. A lurid, decade-long case was born. Uncovering new archival treasures and offering a 'lively account of ... the lies, deceit, and hypocrisy of Victorian society' (The Times), Piu Marie Eatwell evokes an era in transition, when the rise of sensationalist media blurred every fact into fiction, and when family secrets and fluid identities pushed class anxieties to new heights"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Dramatis personae; title: Act One: Burial; title: Scene One: Welbeck Abbey, December 1879; title: Scene Two: St. Paul's Cathedral, March 1898; title: Scene Three: Highgate Cemetery, March 1898; title: Scene Four: Baker Street and Cavendish Square, 1860s; title: Scene Five: The streets of London, Summer 1898; title: Scene Six: Featherstone Buildings, December 1898; title: Scene Seven: The New London Law Courts, three years later; title: Act Two: Resurrection; title: Scene Eight: Bury St. Edmunds, October 1816; title: Scene Nine: On board RMS Oroya, May 1903; title: Scene Ten: An office on London Wall, March 1907; title: Scene Eleven: Marylebone Police Court, October/December 1907; title: Scene Twelve: The Druce Vault, December 1907; title: Scene Thirteen: The Police Court, one week later; title: Act Three: Revelation; title: Scene Fourteen: London and Welbeck, December 1907; title: Scene Fifteen: London and Worksop, January 1908; title: Scene Sixteen: Holloway Prison, January 1908; title: Scene Seventeen: A London hotel, September 1898; title: Scene Eighteen: Sledmere House, East Riding, 1870s; title: Scene Nineteen: A library in Nottingham, October 2013; title: Scene Twenty: Welbeck Abbey, October 2013; title: Epilogue: An obscure grave, London, December 2013; title: Postscript.