Announcement

**AP Wolf** · July 12, 2007, 09:06 PM

And this is a summary of the complicated case.
Somehow the ending sounds familiar.

'
Pl L1 The Druce Case, 1896-1913
Case papers, correspondence, photographs and press cuttings in the Druce cases; 1896-1913
What is commonly called the Druce case (a more convoluted version of impersonation than that of the Tichborne claimant) was, in fact, several suits proceeding through different courts at roughly the same time. Druce v Howard de Walden and others is the principal suit, leading on to a series of perjury/forgery trials (R v Hamilton, R v Robinson and R v Caldwell - aborted with Caldwell in an asylum in New York). The same evidence and exhibits were recycled from suit to suit, and the number of prominent counsel briefed and retained was large, leading to much duplication of material.
At the heart of the original case (of 1897) and of Druce v Howard de Walden was whether Thomas Charles Druce, the wealthy co-proprietor of the Baker Street Bazaar, had indeed died in 1864, or was this a charade with a funeral service conducted over a coffin filled with lead (as his daughter-in-law, Anna Maria Druce, alleged). The medical details of what was done to Druce in his last months (see Pl L1/2/6/6) render his survival beyond the grave somewhat unlikely.
Druce was married twice; his second wife gave birth to three illegitimate children during the life of his first. Mrs A.M. Druce's late husband was the eldest legitimate child of the second marriage. Druce's surviving executor, the prominent accountant Alexander Young, was roped into the first bout of litigation which led to some establishment of who was legitimate and who not, but to no exhumation.
Mrs Druce's first allegations were that her son was in fact the heir to the Portman estate, and also Duke of Somerset. She spent her later life in an asylum.
The next development was the allegation that the eccentric, subterraneous 5th Duke of Portland sometimes posed as T.C. Druce; and then that they were one and the same, and that, in consequence, the Portland properties and title were rightly a Druce's. Enter George Hollamby Druce, a grandson of T.C. Druce by his first wife (through an arrangement with his senior first cousin whose legitimacy was in doubt). Thenceforth ever more implausible allegations made by disreputable persons from New York to Australasia clog the air, ultimately to be resolved in a string of successful prosecutions for perjury, after the principal action had been dismissed as 'frivolous and vexatious'. The Druces underwrote their legal costs by setting up a limited liability company, shareholders in which would be entitled to a share of the spoils on the successful conclusion of the principal action.
Confusingly, that action is Druce v Howard de Walden and others. Under the terms of the will of the 4th Duke of Portland and related settlements, the English provincial estates of the family were limited to the heir male. On the death of the 5th Duke his kinsman succeeded to these and his peerages. The Marylebone estate (and some portion of the Ayrshire properties) was settled on the 4th Duke's issue, his daughters succeeding (to equal quarter shares) in default of male heirs, with remainder to their male heirs. This is what happened. The 5th Duke died unmarried, as had his brothers before him. His eldest sister, Lady Harriet, was unmarried; the next, Lady Ossington, was married but childless, like the youngest, who predeceased the 5th Duke; the third sister was Lady Howard de Walden. Her descendant and trustees (including E.H. Bailey) were defendants in the action.
Had the Druce claim met with success, presumably a further action would have taken place to recover the other estates from the 6th Duke. But of course the whole business was a covetous delusion. An exhumation at Highgate Cemetery in December 1907 finally proved that T.C. Druce was not the 5th Duke of Portland in a false beard. Thus 'Mrs Hamilton', allegedly born in Rome, was born in Kendal and was never married to Captain Hamilton. 'Miss' Robinson, whose diary had been mysteriously stolen, was Mrs Robinson, born to a Wandsworth police constable 10 years earlier than to her alleged father, a tobacco planter in Virginia; her daughter was pretending, under an alias, to be her companion. Both 'Mrs Hamilton' and 'Miss' Robinson were imprisoned for perjury. Mr Caldwell had himself admitted to an asylum in New York to stay extradition proceedings.
Lesser actions involved libel and allegations of fraud in connection with the promotion of the latest of the Druce limited companies. The press had a field day, particularly the tendentious articles appearing in 'The Idler', a publication linked to the Druce interest. An unnamed publication asked how much the cemetery company would want for a photographic exclusive of the exhumation of T.C. Druce! When all was done, T.C. Druce's lawyer, one Coburn (an erstwhile Australian bankrupt), had the temerity to complain of the Duke of Portland's description of the whole business as a 'fraud'. The Portlands and Howard de Waldens, having spent in the region of £ 20,000 in legal costs, were naturally disappointed that G.H. Druce and those closest to him escaped entirely. The Director of Public Prosecutions was instructed from above not to proceed. '

**AP Wolf** · July 12, 2007, 10:26 PM

There are also some interesting references to Chief Inspector Dew in the files, perhaps indicating a closer relationship between himself and Littlechild than had previously been thought, such as this one:

'Most statements made to Chief Inspector Dew at
New Scotland Yard; many are by or about
shareholders in the Druce limited company or
others financially interested in the success of
the Druce claim; all made 13 June-22 July 1908.
Also sent were previous instructions, proofs of
Mary Robinson and 'Miss O'Neill' (see Pl L1/4/ )
and papers found at Mrs Robinson's flat (see Pl
L1/6/ ).
Attached to Pl L1/2/1/65 is a copy letter from
[Edward Phillips] to W.H. Perris giving his view
of the Druce cases, his involvement in the 1898
case as a then clerk with the firm of solicitors
[acting for Mrs A.M. Druce], doubts then about
Mrs Hamilton, attempts to involve him in the
more recent proceedings, probable perjury of Mrs
Hamilton and Robert Caldwell, affidavit with
Trewinard in proceedings involving the New Druce
Portland Company, Ltd (see Pl L1/10/3/ below).
Pl L1/2/1/84-85 are notes on the statements Pl
L1/2/1/61-62, 2 July 1908.
Pl L1/2/1/86: Statements dictated to Chief
Inspector Dew after his visit to Welbeck, 7 Aug.
1908 by: Edward Haydock, John Marshall and Adam
P. Castle of Worksop, coachmen/coach builders;
Mrs Bertha Lambourn, wife of Henry; Joseph
Johnston of Holbeck, carter; John Thomas
Whitney, proprietor of the Red Lion Hotel,
Worksop; and others.'

**AP Wolf** · July 12, 2007, 10:50 PM

This file does appear to show that Littlechild - although retired - was very much working with Dew together on this case:

'Pl L1/11/1/152-204 1.1.1908-8.7.1908 Correspondence with Messrs Freshfields relating
to the Druce case and its participants; 1 Jan.-8
July 1908 (Pl L1/11/1/155 unfit for production)
(53 items, paper)
Correspondence received by E.H. Bailey/N.C.
Bailey/Messrs Baileys, Shaw and Gillett, 5
Berners Street from Edwin Freshfield/W.H.
Leese/Messrs Freshfields, New Bank Buildings, 31
Old Jewry concerning Druce cases; exhumation of
T.C. Druce, costs and arrangements; further
information on the Eynsham Druces; documents
relating to the marriage of 'Miss' Robinson
(Mary Ann Webb), Littlechild keeping an eye on
her movements, discussions with the Director of
Public Prosecutions, Inspector Dew's activities
etc., her arrest;'

**AP Wolf** · July 13, 2007, 07:07 AM

And this file shows Littlechild and Dew passing on information to one another while Dew is still an official at Scotland Yard; and that all the Scotland Yard officers were rewarded by the Duke for their role in the case:

'Pl L1/11/6/1176-1234 1.6.1908-29.12.1908 General correspondence relating to the Druce
business; 1 June-29 Dec. 1908 (Pl
L1/11/6/1196-7, 1200 and 1227 unfit for
production)
(69 items, paper)
Correspondence addressed or forwarded to E.H.
Bailey/Norman C. Bailey/Messrs Baileys, Shaw and
Gillett, 5 Berners Street (with occasional draft
and copy relies) by: the Duke of Portland; T.
Warner Turner, Portland Estate Office, Mansfield
Woodhouse, etc.; the Treasury Solicitor/Director
of Public Prosecutions and officials; J.S. and
C.A. Whall, Worksop; George Fell, 30 Ingham
Road, West Hampstead; S.A.T. Rowlatt, 4 Temple
Gardens; W. Dew, Metropolitan Police; T.K.V.
Coburn, 6 Clements Inn, Strand; Messrs Moser and
Sons, solicitors, Kendal, Westmorland. Various
copy attendance entries.
Direction by the Attorney-General to the DPP not
to prosecute George Hollamby Druce etc.; passing
on information from the private detective,
Littlechild, to Chief Inspector Dew re Captain
Whitsun et al.; visit of Dew to Welbeck; thanks
of the Duke of Portland and Lord Howard de
Walden to the Metropolitan Police and small
presents to select officers for their help in
the Druce case; disagreement over the
contribution of the Director of Public
Prosecutions to the costs of Messrs Moser and
Sons in the Hamilton prosecution;'

**Joe Chetcuti** · January 17, 2021, 03:08 AM

You might not find a more wacky story coming from this time period. The Druce Case was reported in depth in a September 2004 Ripperologist article entitled "The Duke of Baker Street" by Jan Bondeson. It wasn't an easy story to follow along with, yet Littlechild was involved in the case from 1898-1908. Littlechild and the men in his private detective agency worked very hard and were probably paid quite well. While reading the Ripperologist article, a good picture emerges in regards to the techniques used by Littlechild.

He'd look strongly into the antecedents of the person he was investigating. And he wasn't shy about hiring spies to infiltrate and become informants. In the Druce Case, Littlechild looked into a star witness named Mrs. Margaret Hamilton and he set it up where he could intercept and steal her private mail.

Announcement

Littlechild and the 'Druce' Case.

Littlechild and the 'Druce' Case.

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment