John Hatfield, who acquired the appellation of the Keswick Impostor, and
whose extraordinary villany excited universal hatred, was born in 1759,
at Mortram, in Cheshire, of low parentage, but possessing great natural
abilities. His face was handsome, his person genteel, his eyes blue, and
his complexion fair.
After some domestic depredations--for in his early days he betrayed an
iniquitous disposition--he quitted his family, and was employed as
traveller to a linen-draper in the north of England. In the course of
this service, he became acquainted with a young woman, who was nursed,
and resided at a farmer's house in the neighbourhood of his employer.
She had been, in her earlier life, taught to consider the people with
whom she lived as her parents. Remote from the gaieties and follies of
polished life, she was unacquainted with the allurements of fashion, and
considered her domestic duties as the only object of her consideration.
When this deserving girl had arrived at a certain age, the honest farmer
explained to her the secret of her birth; he told her, that,
notwithstanding she had always considered him as her parent, he was, in
fact, only her poor guardian; and that she was the natural daughter of
Lord Robert Manners, who intended to give her £1000, provided she
married with his approbation.
This discovery soon reached the ears of Hatfield; he immediately paid
his respects at the farmer's, and having represented himself as a young
man of considerable expectations in the wholesale linen business, his
visits were not discountenanced. The farmer, however, thought it
incumbent on him to acquaint his lordship with a proposal made to him
by Hatfield, that he would marry the young woman, if her relations were
satisfied with their union, but on no other terms. This had so much the
appearance of an honourable and prudent intention, that his lordship, on
being made acquainted with the circumstances, desired to see the lover.
He accordingly paid his respects to the noble and unsuspecting parent,
who, conceiving the young man to be what he represented himself, gave
his consent at the first interview; and, the day after the marriage took
place, presented the bridegroom with a draft on his banker for £1,500.
This took place about 1771 or 1772.
Shortly after the receipt of his lordship's bounty, Hatfield set off for
London; hired a small phæton; was perpetually at the coffee-houses in
Covent Garden; described himself to whatever company he chanced to meet,
as a near relation of the Rutland family; vaunted of his parks and
hounds; but as great liars have seldom good memories, he so varied in
his descriptive figures, that he acquired the appellation of _Lying
Hatfield_.
The marriage portion now exhausted, he retreated from London, and was
scarcely heard of for about ten years, when he again visited the
metropolis, having left his wife, with three daughters, to depend on the
precarious charity of her relations. Happily she did not long survive;
and the author of her calamities, during his stay in London, soon
experienced calamity himself, having been arrested, and committed to
King's Bench prison, for a debt amounting to the sum of £160. Several
unfortunate gentlemen, then confined in the same place, had been of his
parties when he flourished in Covent Garden, and perceiving him in great
poverty, frequently invited him to dinner; yet such was his
unaccountable disposition, that notwithstanding he knew there were
people present who were thoroughly acquainted with his character, still
he would continue to describe his Yorkshire park, his estate in
Rutlandshire, settled upon his wife, and generally wind up the whole
with observing how vexatious it was to be confined at the suit of a
paltry tradesman for so insignificant a sum, at the very moment when he
had thirty men employed in cutting a piece of water near the family
mansion in Yorkshire.
At the time Hatfield became a prisoner in the King's Bench, the
unfortunate Valentine Morris, formerly governor of St. Vincent's, was
confined in the same place. This gentleman was frequently visited by a
clergyman of the most benevolent and humane disposition. Hatfield soon
directed his attention to this good man, and one day earnestly invited
to attend him to his chamber; after some preliminary apologies, he
implored the worthy pastor never to disclose what he was going to
communicate. The divine assured him the whole should remain in his
bosom. "Then," said Hatfield, "you see before you a man nearly allied to
the house of Rutland, and possessed of estates (here followed the old
story of the Yorkshire park, the Rutlandshire property, &c., &c.,); yet
notwithstanding all this wealth, continued he, I am detained in this
wretched place for the insignificant sum of £160. But the truth is, Sir,
I would not have my situation known to any man in the world but my
worthy relative, his Grace of Rutland. Indeed, I would rather remain a
captive for ever. If you would have the goodness to pay your respects to
this worthy nobleman, and frankly describe how matters are, he will at
once send me the money by you; and this mighty business will not only be
instantly settled, but I shall have the satisfaction of introducing you
to a connection which may be attended with happy consequences."
The honest clergyman readily undertook the commission; paid his respects
to the Duke, and pathetically described the unfortunate situation of his
amiable relative. His Grace of Rutland, not recollecting at the moment
such a name as Hatfield, expressed his astonishment at the application.
This reduced the worthy divine to a very awkward situation, and he
faltered in his speech, when he began making an apology; which the Duke
perceiving, he very kindly observed, that he believed the whole was some
idle tale of an impostor, for that he never knew any person of the name
mentioned, although he had some faint recollection of hearing Lord
Robert Manners, his relation, say that he had married a natural daughter
of his to a tradesman in the north of England, and whose name he
believed was Hatfield.
The Reverend was so confounded that he immediately retired and proceeded
to the prison, where he gave the impostor, in the presence of Mr.
Morris, a most severe lecture. But the appearance of this venerable man,
as his friend, had the effect which Hatfield expected; for the Duke sent
to inquire if he was the man that married the natural daughter of Lord
Robert Manners, and, being satisfied as to the fact, despatched a
messenger with £200, and had him released.
In 1784, his Grace of Rutland was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland;
and shortly after his arrival in Dublin, Hatfield made his appearance in
that city. He immediately, on his landing, engaged a suite of rooms at a
hotel in College Green, and represented himself as nearly allied to the
Viceroy, but that he could not appear at the castle until his horses,
servants, and carriages were arrived, which he ordered, before leaving
England, to be shipped at Liverpool. The easy and familiar manner in
which he addressed the master of the hotel, perfectly satisfied him that
he had a man of consequence in his house, and matters were arranged
accordingly. This being adjusted, Hatfield soon found his way to Lucas's
coffee-house, a place which people of a certain rank generally frequent;
and, it being a new scene, the Yorkshire park, the Rutlandshire estate,
and the connection with the Rutland family, stood their ground very
well for about a month.
At the expiration of this time, the bill at the hotel amounted to £60
and upwards. The landlord became importunate, and after expressing his
astonishment at the non-arrival of Mr. Hatfield's domestics, etc.,
requested he might be permitted to send in his bill. This did not in the
least confuse Hatfield; he immediately told the master of the hotel,
that very unfortunately his agent, who received the rents of his estates
in the north of England, was then in Ireland, and held a public
employment; he lamented that his agent was not then in Dublin, but he
had the pleasure to know his stay in the country would not exceed three
days. This satisfied the landlord; and at the expiration of the three
days, he called upon the gentleman whose name Hatfield had given him,
and presented the account. Here followed another scene of confusion and
surprise. The supposed agent of the Yorkshire estate very frankly told
the man who delivered the bill, that he had no other knowledge of the
person who sent him than what common report furnished him with, that his
general character in London was that of a romantic simpleton whose
plausibilities had imposed on several people, and plunged himself into
repeated difficulties.
The landlord retired, highly thankful for the information, and
immediately arrested his guest who was lodged in the prison of the
Marshalsea. Hatfield had scarcely seated himself in his new lodgings,
when he visited the jailor's wife in her apartment, and in a whisper,
requested of her not to tell any person that she had in her custody a
near relation of the then Viceroy. The woman, astonished at the
discovery, immediately showed him into the best apartment in the prison,
had a table provided, and she, her husband, and Hatfield, constantly
dined together, for nearly three weeks, in the utmost harmony and good
humour.
During this time he had petitioned the Duke for another supply, who,
apprehensive that the fellow might continue his impositions in Dublin,
released him, on condition of his immediately quitting Ireland; and his
grace sent a servant, who conducted him on board the packet that sailed
the next tide for Holyhead.
In 1792, he came to Scarbro', introduced himself to the acquaintance of
several persons of distinction in that neighbourhood, and insinuated
that he was, by the interest of the Duke of Rutland, soon to be one of
the representatives in parliament for the town of Scarbro'. After
several weeks' stay at the principal inn, his imposture was detected by
his inability to pay the bill. Soon after his arrival in London, he was
arrested for this debt, and thrown into prison. He had been eight years
and a half in confinement, when a Miss Nation, of Devonshire, to whom he
had become known, paid his debts, took him from prison, and gave him her
hand in marriage.
Soon after he was liberated, he had the good fortune to prevail with
some highly respectable merchants in Devonshire to take him into
partnership with them; and, with a clergyman to accept his drafts to a
large amount. He made upon this foundation a splendid appearance in
London; and, before the general election, even proceeded to canvass the
rotten burgh of Queenborough. Suspicions in the meantime arose, in
regard to his character, and the state of his fortune. He retired from
the indignation of his creditors, and was declared a bankrupt, in order
to bring his villanies to light. Thus, having left behind his second
wife and two infant children at Tiverton, he visited other places; and,
at length, in July, 1802, arrived at the Queen's Head in Keswick, in a
handsome travelling carriage, but without any servant, where he assumed
the name of the Hon. Alexander Augustus Hope, brother of the Earl of
Hopetoun, M.P., for Linlithgow.
From Keswick, as his head-quarters, he made excursions in every
direction amongst the neighbouring valleys; meeting, generally, a good
deal of respect and attention, partly on account of his handsome
equipage, and still more from his visiting cards, which designated him
as "the Honourable Alexander Augustus Hope." Some persons had
discernment enough to doubt of this; for his breeding and deportment,
though showy, had a tinge of vulgarity about it; he was grossly
ungrammatical in his ordinary conversation. He received letters under
this assumed name--which might be through collusion with
accomplices--but he himself continually franked letters by that name.
That being a capital offence, not only a forgery, but (as a forgery on
the post-office) sure to be prosecuted, nobody presumed to question his
pretensions any longer; and henceforward, he went to all places with the
consideration attached to an earl's brother. All doors flew open at his
approach; boats, boatmen, nets, and the most unlimited sporting
privileges, were placed at the disposal of the "Honourable" gentleman;
and the hospitality of the whole country taxed itself to offer a
suitable reception to the patrician Scotchman.
Nine miles from Keswick, by the nearest route, lies the lake of
Buttermere. Its margin, which is overhung by some of the loftiest and
steepest of Cumbrian mountains, exhibits on either side few traces of
human neighbourhood; the level area, where the hills recede enough to
allow of any, is of a wild, pastoral character, or almost savage; the
waters of the lake are deep and sullen; and the barrier mountains, by
excluding the sun for much of its daily course, strengthen the gloomy
impressions. At the foot of this lake (that is, at the end where its
waters issue), lie a few unornamented fields, through which rolls a
little brook-like river, connecting it with the larger lake of Crummock;
and at the edge of this little domain, upon the roadside, stands a
cluster of cottages, so small and few, that, in the richer tracts of
the islands, they would scarcely be complimented with the name of
hamlet. One of these, the principal, belonged to an independent
proprietor, called, in the local dialect, a "Statesman;" and more,
perhaps, for the sake of gathering any little local news, than with much
view to pecuniary profit at that era, this cottage offered the
accommodations of an inn to traveller and his horse.
Rare, however, must have been the mounted traveller in those days,
unless visiting Buttermere for itself, for the road led to no further
habitations of man, with the exception of some four or five pastoral
cabins, equally humble, in Gatesgarth dale. Hither, however, in an evil
hour for the peace of this little brotherhood of shepherds, came the
cruel spoiler from Keswick, and directed his steps to the once happy
cottage of poor Mary, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, an old
couple, who kept the inn, and had, by their industry, gained a little
property. She was the only daughter, and probably her name had never
been known to the public, but for the account given of her by the author
of _A Fortnight's Ramble to the Lakes in Westmorland, Lancashire, and
Cumberland_. His errand was to witness or share in char-fishing; for in
Derwentwater (the lake of Keswick) no char is found, which breeds only
in the deeper waters, such as Windermere, Crummock, Buttermere, &c.
Hatfield now became acquainted with an Irish gentleman, an M.P., who had
been resident with his family some months at Keswick. With this
gentleman, and under his immediate protection, there was likewise a
young lady of family and fortune, and of great personal attractions. One
of the means which Hatfield used to introduce himself to this
respectable family was the following:--Understanding that the gentleman
had been a military man, he took an army list from his pocket, and
pointed to his assumed name, the Honourable Alexander Augustus Hope,
lieutenant-colonel of the 14th regiment of foot. This new acquaintance
daily gained strength; and he shortly paid his addresses to the
daughter of the above gentleman, and obtained her consent. The wedding
clothes were bought; but previously to the wedding-day being fixed, she
insisted that the pretended Colonel Hope should introduce the subject
formally to her friends. He now pretended to write letters; and, while
waiting for the answers, proposed to employ that time in a trip to Lord
Hopetoun's seat, &c.
From this time he played a double game; his visits to Keswick became
frequent, and his suit to the young lady assiduous and fervent. Still,
however, both at Keswick and Buttermere, he was somewhat shy of
appearing in public. He was sure to be engaged in a fishing expedition
on the day on which any company was expected at the public house at
Buttermere; and he never attended the church at Keswick but once.
Finding his schemes baffled to obtain this young lady and her fortune,
he now applied himself wholly to gain possession of Mary Robinson, who
was a fine young woman of eighteen, and acted as waiter. In a situation
so solitary, the stranger had unlimited facilities for enjoying her
company, and recommending himself to her favour. Among the neighbours he
made the most minute inquiries into every circumstance relating to her
and her family. Doubts about his pretensions never arose in so simple a
place as this; they were over-ruled before they could well have arisen,
by the opinion now general in Keswick, that he really was what he
pretended to be; and thus, with little demur, except in the shape of a
few natural words of parting anger from a defeated or rejected rustic
admirer, the young woman gave her hand in marriage to the showy and
unprincipled stranger. He procured a licence, and they were married in
the church of Lorton, on the 2nd of October, 1802. A romantic account of
the circumstance found its way almost immediately into the newspapers.
It thus fell under the notice of various individuals in Scotland, who
knew that Colonel Hope, who was said to have married the flower of
Buttermere, had been abroad the whole summer, and was now residing in
Vienna. Mr. Charles Hope, then Lord Justice Clerk, afterwards President
of the Court of Session (a son-in-law of the Earl of Hopetoun), made the
fact known, and prompted inquiries which led to the detection of the
imposture.
On the day previous to his marriage, Hatfield wrote to Mr. Mansfield,
informing him, that he was under the necessity of being absent for ten
days on a journey into Scotland, and sent him a draft for thirty pounds,
drawn on Mr. Crumpt, of Liverpool, desired him to cash it, and pay some
small debts in Keswick with it, and send him over the balance, as he
feared he might be short of cash on the road. This Mr. Mansfield
immediately did, and sent him ten guineas in addition to the balance. On
the Saturday, Wood, the landlord of the Queen's Head, returned from
Lorton with the public intelligence, that Colonel Hope had married the
Beauty of Buttermere. As it was clear, whoever he was, that he had acted
unworthily and dishonourably, Mr. Mansfield's suspicions were of course
awakened. He instantly remitted the draft to Mr. Crumpt, who immediately
accepted it. Mr. Mansfield wrote to the Earl of Hopetoun. Before the
answer arrived, the pretended honourable returned with his wife to
Buttermere. He went only as far as Longtown, when he received two
letters, seemed much troubled that some friends whom he had expected had
not arrived there, stayed three days, and then told his wife that he
would again go back to Buttermere.
From this she was seized with fears and suspicions. They returned,
however, and their return was made known at Keswick. The late Mr.
Harding, the barrister, and a Welsh judge, passing through Keswick,
heard of this impostor, and sent his servant over to Buttermere with a
note to the supposed Colonel Hope, who observed, "that it was a
mistake, and that it was for a brother of his." However, he sent for
four horses, and came over to Keswick; drew another draft on Mr. Crumpt
for twenty pounds, which the landlord at the Queen's Head had the
courage to cash. Of this sum he immediately sent the ten guineas to Mr.
Mansfield, who came and introduced him to the judge, as his old friend
Colonel Hope. But he made a blank denial that he had ever assumed the
name. He had said his name was Hope, but not that he was the honourable
member for Linlithgow, &c., &c.; and one who had been his frequent
intimate at Buttermere gave evidence to the same purpose.
In spite, however, of his impudent assertions, and those of his
associate, the evidence against him was decisive. A warrant was given by
Sir Frederick Vane on the clear proof of his having forged and received
several franks as the member for Linlithgow; and he was committed to the
care of a constable, but allowed to fish on the lake. Having, however,
found means to escape, he took refuge for a few days on board a sloop
off Ravenglass, and then went in the coach to Ulverston, and was
afterwards seen at a hotel in Chester. In the meantime the following
advertisement, setting forth his person and manners, was in the public
prints:--
"Notorious Impostor, Swindler, and Felon!
"John Hatfield, who lately married a young woman, commonly called
the Beauty of Buttermere, under an assumed name; height about five
feet ten inches, aged about forty-four, full face, bright eyes,
thick eyebrows, strong, but light beard, good complexion, with some
colour, thick, but not very prominent nose, smiling countenance,
fine teeth, a scar on one of his cheeks near his chin, very long
thick light hair, and a great deal of it gray, done up in a club;
stiff, square-shouldered, full breast and chest, rather corpulent,
and strong limbed, but very active; and has rather a spring in his
gait, with apparently a little hitch in bringing up one leg; the
two middle fingers of his left hand are stiff from an old wound; he
has something of the Irish brogue in his speech; fluent and elegant
in his language, great command of words, frequently puts his hand
to his heart; very fond of compliments, and generally addressing
himself to persons most distinguished by rank or situation;
attentive in the extreme to females, and likely to insinuate
himself where there are young ladies. He was in America during the
war; is fond of talking of his wounds and exploits there, and of
military subjects, as well as of Hatfield Hall, and his estates in
Derbyshire and Cheshire; and of the antiquity of his family, whom
he pretends to trace to the Plantagenets. He makes a boast of
having often been engaged in duels; he has been a great traveller
also, by his own account, and talks of Egypt, Turkey, and Italy;
and, in short, has a general knowledge of subjects, which, together
with his engaging manners, is well calculated to impose on the
credulous. He had art enough to connect himself with some very
respectable merchants in Devonshire, as a partner in business, but
having swindled them out of large sums, he was made a separate
bankrupt in June, 1802. He cloaks his deception under the mask of
religion, appears fond of religious conversation, and makes a point
of attending divine service and popular preachers."
Besides blighting the prospects of the poor girl, he had nearly
ruined her father by running up a debt of eighteen pounds. His
dressing-case, a very elegant piece of furniture, was left behind,
and on being opened at Keswick by warrant of a magistrate, was
found to contain every article that the most luxurious gentleman
could desire, but no papers tending to discover his real name.
Afterwards, Mary herself, searching more narrowly, discovered that
the box had a double bottom, and in the intermediate recess, found
a number of letters addressed to him by his wife and children,
under the name of Hatfield. The story of the detection immediately
became as notorious as the marriage had been.
Though he was personally known in Cheshire to many of the
inhabitants, yet this specious hypocrite had so artfully disguised
himself, that he quitted the town without any suspicions before the
Bow Street officers reached that place in quest of him. He was then
traced to Brielth, in Brecknockshire, and was at length apprehended
about sixteen miles from Swansea, and committed to Brecon jail. He
had a cravat on, with his initials, J. H., which he attempted to
account for by calling himself John Henry.
Before the magistrates he declared himself to be Ludor Henry; and
in order to prepossess the honest Cambrians in his favour, boasted
that he was descended from an ancient family in Wales, for the
inhabitants of which country he had ever entertained a sincere
regard. He was, however, conveyed up to town by the Bow Street
officers, where he was examined on his arrival before the
magistrates. The solicitor for his bankruptcy attended to identify
his person, and stated, that the commission of bankruptcy was
issued against Hatfield in June, 1802; that he attended the last
meeting of the commissioners, but the prisoner did not appear,
although due notice had been given in the _Gazette_, and he himself
had given notice to the prisoner's wife, at Wakefield near
Tiverton, Devon. Mr. Parkyn, the solicitor to the Post-office,
produced a warrant from Sir Frederick Vane, Bart., a magistrate for
the county of Cumberland, against the prisoner, by the name of the
Hon. Alexander Augustus Hope, charging him with felony, by
pretending to be a member of parliament of the United Kingdom, and
franking several letters by the name of A. Hope, to several
persons, which were put into the Post-office at Keswick, in
Cumberland, in order to evade the duties of postage. Another charge
for forgery, and the charge for bigamy, were explained to him, but
not entered into, as he was committed for trial for these charges
at the next assizes at Carlisle. He conducted himself with the
greatest propriety during his journey to town, and on his
examination; but said nothing more than answering a few questions
put to him by Sir Richard Ford and the solicitors, affecting to
consider himself a persecuted individual, and representing, in
particular, that, in the alliance with Mary Robinson, he had been
rather sinned against than sinning. Mary, on the other hand, who
was now announced to be likely to bear a child to her pretended
husband, refused to become accessory to his prosecution. The utmost
she could be prevailed on to do against Hatfield was to address the
following letter to Sir Richard Ford:--
"The man whom I had the misfortune to marry, and who has ruined me
and my aged parents, always told me he was the Hon. Colonel Hope,
the next brother of the Earl of Hopetoun. Your grateful and
unfortunate servant,