The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue

The Victorian and Edwardian eras were not immune to media scandals, as this fantastically detailed new work from Eatwell (They Eat Horses, Don't They??) explores. The excitement starts in 1897 with a court case requesting an exhumation of T.C. Druce, who died in the 1860s, with claims that he was really the Fifth Duke of Portland (complete with wives and children, illegitimate and legitimate), a recluse with purported skin conditions and a mania for building tunnels. Welbeck Abbey, the duke's estate, still boasts miles of underground tunnels, rooms, and passageways for one to move around out of sight. Eatwell's exhaustive investigation into a case that captured the fancy of the press reveals that it was all about inheritance, class status, and, of course, money. There were multiple sets of lawyers involved, the uncovering of secret families of both Druce and the (maybe) duke, and everyone's dirty laundry getting aired in the newspapers, which were rabidly followed by the populace.