CLASH OF THE TITANS I was browsing the edition of The Times for this day 125 years ago when a report about two music-hall strong-men caught my eye. On looking…
Also available to purchase at Waterstones and as an audiobook on Audible.
The incredible true story of Charles Deville Wells, gambler and fraudster extraordinaire.
Now available in paperback. Includes newly discovered material and an extra chapter.
Essential reading for lovers of Victorian true-crime stories. The book takes readers on a roller-coaster ride through Britain, France and Monaco in the company of one of the greatest swindlers of the era as he pulls off one breath-taking coup after another. His amazing win at Monte Carlo is just one of many highlights in this true story, which reaches a climax when Wells is pursued across Europe in one of the biggest man-hunts of all time.
Also available to purchase at Waterstones and as an audiobook on Audible.
In 1891, during two visits to the Casino at Monte Carlo, Charles Deville Wells broke the bank several times and won £60,000 (equivalent to £6 million today). The present owners of the Casino admit that his success has never been satisfactorily explained. In ‘The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo’, author Robin Quinn sets out the possibilities .
To ‘break the bank’ means to clean out the cash reserve of the gambling table in question. Each table was stocked with 100,000 francs in cash at the start of each day. If a player ‘broke the bank’, that table was temporarily closed and was covered with a black cloth.
Soon after he broke the bank, Charles Deville Wells bought an old cargo ship, the Tycho Brahe, and converted her into a luxury yacht, re-naming her Palais Royal. At 291 feet in length, the vessel was one of the largest pleasure craft in the world. Even today, she would be in the top-50 of yachts in terms of size.
After Charles Wells broke the bank in 1891, his exploits inspired composer Fred Gilbert to write a song entitled – naturally – The Man Who broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. This became the hit song of a generation and remained popular for well over half a century. The singer most closely associated with it, Charles Coborn, made at least five separate records featuring the tune, and once said he had performed it on stage a quarter of a million times.
CLASH OF THE TITANS I was browsing the edition of The Times for this day 125 years ago when a report about two music-hall strong-men caught my eye. On looking…
Before going to Monte Carlo to break the bank, Charles Deville Wells had committed a large-scale swindle in Britain over a period of several years. In this way he had…
Before breaking the bank at Monte Carlo, Charles Deville Wells earned fame as an inventor – though notoriety might perhaps be a better word. On this day in 1891 the…
In the London Bankruptcy Court on this day a man named Carl Westergaard, the owner of racing stables in Ostend, appeared before a judge. The Yorkshire Evening Post reported on…
CROSSING THE NIAGARA FALLS ON A CABLE A man named Samuel Dixon, of Toronto, walked across the Niagara gorge over the Whirlpool Rapids to-day on a wire cable three-fourths…
This article from the London Evening Standard of 18 July 1891 caught my eye. A NOVEL INQUIRY (From our correspondent ) Vienna, Friday Night. The question of trailing dresses, treated…
ELECTRIFYING NEWS A press report from County Carlow, Ireland, points to the growing use of electricity as a source of power: One of George Meredith’s* sons is an electric engineer,…
16 July 1891 A newspaper article this day reports a trial at Bow Street Magistrates Court. In 1891 there were stiff penalties for those accepting money on the promise that…
The German Emperor’s state visit to Britain came to an end. The Manchester Courier reported his departure on the Imperial yacht as follows: The German Emperor arrived at South Leith…
For a novelist writing a work of fiction in a familiar setting and era, the amount of research needed may be minimal – or even non-existent. But for writers of…