The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse - Piu Marie Eatwell

Digging up the duke

The Dead Duke, his Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse is another fascinating entry into the growing genre of real-life Victorian and historical murder-mystery investigations, but there are a few unusual features that distinguish Piu Marie Eatwell's study of the strange case of William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, the 5th Duke of Portland. It all begins when a woman appears before the court with the absurd claim that the duke lived a double life as a furniture salesman Thomas Charles Druce, running a successful department store in the Baker Street Baazar. And not only that, but he also fathered three illegitimate children and a further three after he was married to a woman called Annie May. The woman claims that one of these children - her husband - consequently has claim to the Portland millions.

This however proves to be only the starting point for a complex investigation that has huge repercussions and a number of startling twists and turns over the decades. The main contention however rests on the fact that TC Druce did not die in 1864, but reverted back to his persona as the Duke of Portland, living in Welbeck Abbey for another 15 years. Witness statements testifying to the likeness of the two men are supported by the eccentric behaviour of the "burrowing duke", who led a secretive assistance and had a network of underground tunnels built to allow him to remain permanently hidden from view even from his servants. The only way to prove or disprove the contention that the duke and the furniture salesman are one and the same is to exhume a coffin in Highgate Cemetery that is claimed to contain nothing but lead.

The Dead Duke isn't exactly a companion piece to Kate Colquhoun's Mr Briggs' Hat or Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, but Piu Eatwell is similarly able through this story to touch on many other aspects of a changing Victorian society that now had advanced detective techniques as well as an investigative press to put pressure on the authorities and keep the public supplied with a regular diet of sensationalist stories. And there was clearly an abundance of material to work with, as well as plenty of scoundrels willing to go to extreme lengths to lie, twist and fabricate details towards their own ends when there is money to be made.

What is particularly interesting about this case is that it opens up the whole question not just of dual identities that were clearly common in the repressive Victorian times, but how it highlights the divides between rich and poor, the rights of women and the question of class distinctions. Ultimately, its such distinctions that have most influence over what the courts, the government and history allow us to know about the truth of the Druce affair..

What is also brought out by the case is the wealth of documentary evidence and witness statements that its long investigative process through the courts left behind. As corrupt and dysfunctional as the society appears, it was nonetheless amazingly meticulous and organised in its application of legal processes as well as in the thoroughness with which it attempted to erase the case from the records. I can't imagine how much research the author had to undertake just to cover the complexities of the case, not to mention all the associated literary references, social and political reading required for context setting, but it's beautifully laid out and voraciously readable. The author sticks mostly to relating the facts in a manner that is clear and easy to follow, but some good novelistic touches (all sourced) have an authentic feel for the period and give an additional thriller element. 

I don't know if Piu Marie Eatwell practices law, but if I were ever to be involved in a body swap/identity scandal, I'd feel a lot more confident if she were on my team of researchers and investigators. As long as it doesn't take 150 years to bring the truth to light...