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Violet Charlesworth - Can You Solve Her 'Vanishing Act' Mystery?

The former Derby resident Miss Violet Charlesworth in the Scottish garb she often favoured - her disappearance and subsequent trial was a national sensation

Looking every inch a wealthy young woman in this portrait signed 'Violet Gordon Charlesworth' - in fact she was all but penniless in her own name, for any money she possessed had been raised by dishonest means, and most of that was quickly spent

VIOLET CHARLESWORTH was born in Stafford in 1884, but from 1893 to 1902 lived in Derby in modest terraced houses in Joseph Street, Wolfa Street and Jackson Street. There was no outward indication during her time in Derby that her life would become in any way sensational - but it did in the most dramatic fashion. On 2 January 1909 Miss Violet Charlesworth 'disappeared' in mysterious circumstances while motoring in North Wales along the coast road near St. Asaph.

Initial reports and family witnesses suggested the vehicle had crashed and that Violet had been thrown from the car over the cliffs and into the sea, but it soon emerged that all was not as it had at first appeared. In fact Violet Charlesworth had tried unsuccesfully to feign her own death to extricate herself from a dire position entirely of her own making. Thereafter the hunt was on to find her.

The British nation became gripped by the affair in the same way that later generations would be fascinated by similar 'disappearing tricks' involving the crime writer Agatha Christie (who turned up again) and the infamous Lord Lucan (who never did reappear).

The popular press initially dubbed the story 'The Welsh Cliff Mystery' and later 'The Mystery of the Vanishing Heiress' as details of Violet Charlesworth's sensational 'double life' began to emerge. She had been living the high life to the ultimate extreme, claiming to be the heiress to a huge fortune, and on the strength of her story and her brazen manner of 'acting the part' had been granted substantial credit to pursue her lavish life style, in particular a raging passion for the thrilling new pastime of motoring.

Yet it all proved a sham. She had conned money from all and sundry - a number of men who fell for her enigmatic looks had been badly taken in, but she had also duped a trusting Derby widow - Martha Smith who lived at Victoria Terrace, 57 Macklin Street - out of her entire life savings of £500, then a tidy sum.

The full story is far too long to relate in detail here, but its essence is simple. Knowing that her debts were spiralling out of control, Violet had staged her 'death' hoping to lay low for a while and re-emerge under a new identity. The ruse had worked for a time, but with the help of huge press coverage she was eventually tracked down and brought to trial.

On Sunday 6 February 1910, Detective Inspector Albutt of Derby Police was given his own 15 minutes of fame when he was despatched to Moffatt, Scotland, to arrest Violet Charlesworth on charges of fraud. Her mother Miriam was also arrested as an accessory to the crime.

Both women were placed in Derby Gaol on Vernon Street pending their full trial which opened on 23 February 1910 at the Derby Assizes winter session at the Shire Hall on St. Mary's Gate. Seldom had Derby hosted a more newsworthy trial, and the celebrated judge Mr Justice Darling came up from London to preside. Gallery tickets were snapped up, nearly all of them by the womenfolk of Derby who were keen to be in at the kill.

They were not disappointed. Violet (26) and her mother Miriam (59) were found guilty of fraud and sentenced to three years penal servitude (prison with hard labour) in Derby Gaol. Their sentences began in February 1910 and were scheduled to end in February 1913.

And thereby transpires what is arguably the biggest mystery of all. No records of their release survive, nor has any trace of the two women been found either in the press or genealogical records after they were sentenced. So what did happen to Violet Charlesworth? Did she adopt an assumed name? She had certainly used several names in carrying out her subterfuge prior to 1909 - among them Cameron, Talbot, Gordon, Mackenzie and MacLeod!. Did she marry? Or perhaps she emigrated. And what about her mother Miriam? She too has proved elusive.

Could a 'family history' detective now stage the dramatic reappearance of Violet Charlesworth after all these years? To help, here is the basic genealogical detail already to hand.

She was born on 13 January 1884 in Stafford and was actually christened May Charlesworth. Her parents were David and Miriam Charlesworth who married in Shropshire in 1870. Miriam (nee Davies) was born in Edgmond, Shropshire. In childhood 'May' became known as Violet May Charlesworth and at the time of her fraud she had favoured the names Violet Gordon Charlesworth and Miss Margaret Macleod. She had siblings - Lillian and Frederick and also Miriam, who died when a child and is buried in Derby, and perhaps one other.

Violet is readily traceable on the census returns for 1891 and 1901, and mentioned frequently in the press from the time of her disappearance in January 1909 up to her imprisonment at Derby in February 1910. And there the trail dies......

If you are interested in family history and can add any information on Violet Charlesworth or Miriam Charlesworth or other members of the family, why not help to solve the mystery and post your findings here. Either click 'edit' to add to this article here or click the 'discussion' link to make a comment.

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County:  Derbyshire

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