On this day in history : 17th May 1978 – The intact coffin of Charlie Chaplin is found after it had gone missing from his grave over two months before….
Charlie Chaplin – Public domain
Chaplin had died at his home in Switzerland, at the age of 88, on Christmas Day 1977…. He had been buried four days later in the cemetery of the village of Corsier-sur-Vevey, in the hills above Lake Geneva….
On the 2nd of March 1978 his grave was found empty…. Massive media speculation followed; had Chaplin been dug up by fans – or anti-Semites objecting to a Jew in a Christian burial ground – or even pro-Nazis taking revenge for the film ‘The Great Dictator’….
Chaplin satirising Adolf Hitler in ‘The Great Dictator’, 1940 – Public domain
A ransom demand of 600,000 francs (£400K) had been made to Chaplin’s widow, 51-year-old Lady Oona Chaplin, for the return of her husband’s body…. It appeared the kidnappers were willing to negotiate, as in all 27 phone calls were made to Oona and to her lawyer…. What they didn’t know was that Oona had no intention of paying up – saying “my husband is in Heaven and in my heart”…. She added “Charlie would have thought it rather ridiculous”…. However, by keeping the dialogue open police were able to watch some 200 telephone kiosks in the area….
Chaplin, Oona and 6 of their children, 1961 – Public domain
On the 16th of May 24-year-old Roman Wardas, a Polish refugee car mechanic was arrested in a phone booth…. His accomplice, 38-year-old Bulgarian Gantscho Ganev was arrested shortly afterwards…. Chaplin’s coffin was found the following day buried in a corn field about a mile from the Chaplin family home…. It was reburied in a more secure concrete grave….
Chaplin’s grave, Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland – Silk Tork CC BY-SA 3.0
Wardas claimed he had been inspired by a similar case that he had read about in an Italian newspaper…. As the mastermind behind the crime he received four and a half years hard labour…. Ganev was given an eighteen month suspended sentence….
On this day in history : 16th May 1862 – The death of Edward Gibbon Wakefield – the British politician who in 1827 abducted a 15-year-old heiress and forced her into marriage, leading to the Shrigley Abduction case….
Edward Gibbon Wakefield by Benjamin Holl – Public domain
Wakefield was a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand and had involvement with Canada…. In 1816, at the age of 20 he eloped with 17-year-old wealthy heiress Miss Eliza Pattle…. They were married in Edinburgh; it appears to have been a marriage for love and her mother, being a party to it, settled a sum of £70K on the couple…. They were to have two children, a daughter in 1817 (who was to die later from TB) and a son in 1820…. But Eliza was to die 4 days after giving birth….
Although wealthy by normal standards, it was not enough for Wakefield – he wanted an estate and an open door into Parliament…. He began to hatch a plan….
Ellen Turner was the only child of wealthy mill owner William Turner, who lived at Shrigley Hall near to Macclesfield…. Wakefield, twice her age, decided he was going to marry the 15-year-old for her inheritance – he enlisted the help of his brother, William….
Shrigley Hall
Ellen was at boarding school in Liverpool…. On the 7th of March 1827 Wakefield sent his servant, Thevenot, with a carriage to the school…. He was to deliver a message to say that Ellen’s mother was gravely ill and wanted to see her daughter…. Thevenot took the girl to a hotel in Manchester where Wakefield was waiting – and who then told her that her father’s business had collapsed and that he had fled to escape his creditors…. Wakefield said he had been instructed to take her to her father in Carlisle….
They travelled to Kendal – and on arriving Wakefield put the next part of his plan into action…. He explained to her that although her father was now a fugitive two banks had agreed to transfer part of his estate to her – providing she was married…. Therefore, if she were to marry him, Wakefield, then her father could be saved…. He then took her to Carlisle, where they were met by William Wakefield who said he had seen Turner and who had agreed to the marriage…. Ellen consented and the couple continued over the border to Gretna Green, where they were married by blacksmith David Laing….
After returning to Carlisle Ellen asked to see her father and Wakefield promised to take her to Shrigley…. However, he took her to Leeds instead…. He claimed he had a meeting in Paris that he simply had to attend – but they would go via London so she could see her father there…. He then sent his brother to ‘invite’ Turner to London…. But on arriving at Blake’s Hotel, where the supposed rendezvous was to take place, a message had been left for them saying that William and Turner had already departed for France and that they should follow…. So, Wakefield took Ellen to Calais….
A few days later Ellen’s parents received a letter from Wakefield saying that he had married their daughter…. His line of thinking was that rather than face public scandal they would accept the marriage – but he was so wrong! Turner went to London to seek the help of the Foreign Secretary…. On learning that Ellen had been taken to France Turner despatched his brother, along with a police officer and a solicitor to find her…. It didn’t take long, Ellen and Wakefield were found in a hotel in Calais….
Although Wakefield claimed they were legally married and nothing could be done about it, after being interviewed by the French authorities Ellen was permitted to return home with her uncle…. Wakefield, after making a statement to say the marriage had not been consummated, carried on his way to Paris…. He probably thought that was the end of the matter….
However, there was a warrant out for his arrest…. A few days later, on his arrival back at Dover, he was detained and taken to Cheshire to be held at Lancaster Castle to await a court appearance…. He was later to be released on bail of £2K plus a further a further two sureties of £1K each…. When the case came to be heard on the 23rd of March 1827 at Lancaster he, his brother and their stepmother, Frances, who had also been indicted as an accomplice, all appeared…. They all pleaded not guilty…. Thevenot, who was still in France, was indicted in his absence…. All were found guilty….
On the 14th of May they appeared before the Court of the King’s Bench at Westminster Hall, London…. The brothers were each sentenced to three years imprisonment – Edward served his in Newgate, whereas William was sent to Lancaster Castle…. Frances was released….
The marriage between Wakefield and Ellen was annulled by an Act of Parliament…. She went on to marry a wealthy neighbour but died in childbirth at the age of 19…. Her daughter survived….
As for Edward Gibbon Wakefield – despite all of this he went on to have a successful career…. He became involved in prison reform and then continued his leading role of the development of Australia, Canada and New Zealand….
Wakefield circa 1850-1860 by Albert James Allom – Public domain
On this day in history : 15th May 1909 – The birth of British actor James Mason – who was to appear in more than 80 films, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Julius Caesar….
James Mason – Public domain
James was born in Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire…. He was the youngest of the three sons of Mabel Hattersley and John Mason, a wealthy textile merchant…. After attending Marlborough College James was to go on to graduate from Cambridge with a degree in architecture…. It was whilst at university that he got involved with the theatre, purely for enjoyment, he never trained as an actor….
He was to make his stage debut in 1931, in a production of The Rascal in Aldershot…. He went on to join the Old Vic theatre in London, appearing in stage productions such as Henry VIII, The Importance of Being Earnest, Measure for Measure, The Tempest and Twelfth Night among others…. He became a prominent stage actor….
James Mason – Image credit : John Irving via Flickr
James made his film debut in 1935 in Late Extra…. He was to make a lot of minor ‘quota quickie’ films – as at the time in an attempt to counter American dominance a certain percentage of films shown in cinemas in the UK had to be British made…. As a result James was to become one of Britain’s major film stars of the 1940s….It was also in the late 1930s that he appeared in early television productions of plays….
Being a strong pacifist meant James was to become a conscientious objector during WW2 – which caused a long-lasting rift between him and his family…. He married his first wife, Pamela, in February 1941 and they were to have two children, a daughter, Portland, in 1948 and a son, Morgan in 1955…. Morgan is incidentally married to singer Belinda Carlisle….
James Mason and his family from the 1957 TV program Panic!
James was very much an animal lover and in 1949 he and Pamela published a book ‘The Cats in our Lives’…. Mostly written and illustrated by James he tells the mostly humorous but sometimes sad tales of the cats he had known – and the occasional dog….
His first Hollywood film, Caught, came in 1949…. However, it wasn’t until 1951, when he was cast as General Rommel in The Desert Fox, that his Hollywood career was to really take off…. His contract with 20th Century Fox was for 7 years with the stipulation of making one film per year….
In 1952 he bought the Hollywood mansion that had once belonged to Buster Keaton….. Whilst carrying out renovation work he was to discover reels of Keaton’s films that had previously been thought lost…. Realising their historical importance James had them transferred on to cellulose acetate film, thus saving them….
James Mason in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, 1959 – Public domain
Not everything was rosy in life for James…. In 1959 he suffered a major heart attack and continuing troubles in his personal life were a persistent blight on his happiness…. His wife was particularly fond of the Hollywood social scene and was reputedly frequently unfaithful…. However, it was eventually she who sued for divorce in 1962 accusing him of unfaithfulness…. It led to her receiving a $1 million divorce settlement….
In 1963 James made his home in Switzerland, commuting transatlantic to continue his career…. He married Australian actress Clarissa Kaye in 1971 and they were on occasion to work together…. James was to suffer a further heart attack, which proved to be fatal on the 27th of July 1984, whilst in Lausanne, Switzerland….
James Mason in The Fall of the Roman Empire, 1964 – Public domain
On this day in history : 14th May 1889 – The launch in London of the children’s charity the ‘National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’….
Image : Wikipedia
It was in 1881 that Liverpool businessman Thomas Agnew travelled to New York…. Whilst he was there he visited the ‘New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’…. He was so impressed by what he saw that he wanted to create something similar for the children of Liverpool…. It was in 1883 that he founded the ‘Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ (LSPCC)….
Other towns were quick to follow and the 11th of July 1884 saw the founding of a London society – the ‘London SPCC’ – by Lord Shaftesbury along with the Reverend Edward Rudolf and the Reverend Benjamin Waugh….
At the time there was no legal protection for children in the UK…. The very first child cruelty case to be brought was actually by the RSPCA – and was successful…. After five years of campaigning by London SPCC the first law was finally passed by Parliament in 1889, to protect children against abuse and neglect….
On the 14th of May 1889 the London SPCC was renamed the ‘National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ – as by now there were branches all across England, Wales and Ireland…. On the 28th of May 1895 Queen Victoria became its first Royal Patron, the NSPCC had gained its Royal Charter…. However, it did not add ‘Royal’ to its name in order to avoid confusion with the already long established RSPCA….
After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra became the Royal Patrons – and so it continues to the present day with Her Majesty The Queen as Royal Patron….
Today the NSPCC works across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands…. Children 1st, formerly the ‘Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ is the Scottish equivalent….
On this day in history : 13th May 1995 – British mother Alison Hargreaves becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of Sherpas – only to die tragically three months later….
Mount Everest – Image credit : Pavel Novak CC BY-SA 2.5
Alison was born on the 17th of February 1962 and spent her childhood in Belper, Derbyshire where she attended Belper High School…. She married James Ballard and in 1995 they moved to Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands, close to suitable conditions for her training….
For it was Alison’s intention to climb in 1995 the three highest mountains in the world – Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga – and her aim was to do it unaided….
She arrived at base camp on Mount Everest on the 11th of April….and on the 13th of May, at 12.08 local time (7.23am) in Britain) she reached the 29,028ft summit…. She had done it without the aid of Sherpas or bottled oxygen – and was the second ever person to do so – the first being Reinhold Messner in 1980…. On reaching the summit Alison immediately radioed back to base camp as she wanted to get a message home to her husband and two children, 6-year-old Tom and 4-year-old Kate….
After a short break back in Scotland she set out in the June of 1995 for her climb of K2…. She was joining an American team who had a permit to climb the world’s second highest mountain, at 28,251ft and located in Pakistan….
K2 – Image credit : Maria Ly – CC BY 2.0
By the 13th of August the team had joined forces with teams from New Zealand and Canada…. Then on arriving at Camp 4, around 12 hours from the summit, they joined a Spanish team….
At 6.45pm on the 13th Alison and Spaniard Javier Oliver reached the summit of K2 – shortly afterwards American Rob Slater, New Zealander Bruce Grant and Javier Escartin and Lorenzo Ortiz from the Spanish team arrived…. It is unclear exactly what happened next….
The following day two other Spanish climbers were descending the mountain when they came across equipment they recognised as Alison’s – and a blood stained anorak…. In the distance a body could be seen – but it was impossible to get to and so was never formerly identified – but it was believed to be Alison….It appears she had been blown off of the mountain…. All six members of the team had been killed…. Witnesses on the mountain at the time said there was a sudden violent mountain storm with winds reaching 100mph….
Alison had died exactly three months to the day following her jubilant conquest of Mount Everest…. Her son, Tom, was to also to go on to become a climber….becoming the first to climb solo all six great north faces of the Alps in one single winter…. He died in 2019, whilst climbing the 9th highest mountain in the world, Nanga Parbat – the western anchor of the Himalayas….
Cottage Capers 