Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs Gordon Baillie
The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs Gordon Baillie
The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs Gordon Baillie
Ebook550 pages9 hours

The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs Gordon Baillie

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

The true crime story of a master swindler and charming con-artist who became one of the most notorious female criminals of the Victorian Age.

‘The story of Mrs. Gordon Baillie is stranger than anything to be met with in the field of fiction.’

Mrs. Gordon Baillie, known throughout her life as Annie, was born in the direst poverty in the small Scottish fishing town of Peterhead in 1848. Illegitimate and illiterate, her beauty and intelligence nevertheless enabled her to overcome her circumstances and become a charming and wealthy socialite living a life of luxury while raising money for worthy causes and charitable works.

Behind her supposed perfect and contented life, however, lay one of the most notorious and compulsive swindlers of the Victorian Age. Her fraudulent fundraising and larger-than-life schemes played out across four decades and three continents, and involved land owners, crofters, aristocrats, politicians, bankers, socialist revolutionaries, operatic stars, and the cultural icons of the day.

She became mistress to a rich aristocrat, married a world-renowned male opera singer and later took as a lover a vicar’s son with anarchist tendencies. For most of her ‘career’ she kept one step ahead of the law and her nemesis, Inspector Henry Marshall of Scotland Yard, but finally becoming undone through her own compulsion for petty theft, despite her amassed fortune.

During her life she used more than forty aliases, produced four children and spent her way through millions in ill-gotten wealth. But at the turn of the twentieth century, her notoriety was such that she took refuge in America and disappeared from history.

“If you want to read about a Victorian woman who was able to hide her humble origins in Scotland to become one of the most notorious con-women in well-to-do society—an audacious figure who tried to live the life she felt she deserved rather than the one society wanted her to lead—then this book is highly recommended.” —Criminal Historian, Dr Nell Darby
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 1, 2021
ISBN9781526764874
The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs Gordon Baillie
Author

Mick Davis

Mick Davis is a lawyer by training, businessman by vocation. His law practice and work has led him to most States and Provinces of Canada and into England. He was born and raised in California, did graduate school in Oregon. Mick has resided with his wife Lin in Scottsdale, Arizona for years. This is his first attempt at writing a novel; hence his reliance on daughter, Krista.

Read more from Mick Davis

Related to The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman

Related ebooks

Con Artists & Hoaxes For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman - Mick Davis

    j~Fbbook_preview_excerpt.html}˒#בlH3T(%6VI$KRImDf G&+63k7/?{*vBbe&q~qOϟ}]OK>=/_{^N3g4>mOi0Ww?z}/SWΟVy2tC:]6MXU]ͧ}7PGg'|~_uX.ո>߶ScOmQoٞDiYm/թ%ރOcvq۹zljJU`[˥s }{lb6]}ji~>~;eo[æbXo膇 [ȩ'Uw:^Տ}[:=̖`w#ڟ XxYr ifnI; ;W`3 ,cg{gs0h?}٫1Ѥ>O;7%ITzQm'lmb4Nif)%qI"r<ء,Fo#.d~qۑ,*^:԰,,NY:;8xl`4@lϟU_i4eh!BA}/hj[o/4Zł¿L%\V:>h-/q c/ü}iZ}[qK^#Nb/(qrғ9+|ߚ.ݞ{%ҾF-3R U>{I~G<1To(,+? Oc_)[[>_ɖqo=InPX a`y|d ?<穞~eΆ NQ=W2-JmjЩ'غ&kp&&Qc I* _VMeg )zd3SP&װ2aam嶅pa$Gc:[5 {;ה :gʸ`WCv [Z]7a~c2h3%EB__RbwMEt#^j''6;<{+;80(/`ֿcálnd)q;Z5 -[@ճͣbw a,A^-]˝sCsnGlʧ~.km}ZOJKpf7ubګ87r\Fp(0{48G8 i6W͞%7LY@mC:R롴6+j C-ߡ%#7s%wp]d0\ {i2Gv6b~L')QhN-sm l$P bZxf²ԟG;>ߌۭKf%ԪY:! .[x)@f}X77]qkӅ#u?~s/w~“/~כfYlC*Ĝdzi+A幵,qeųZPr\:CGQ8Bua+Zl-( 2vF4\/>&蒸fͺ;ۿ*WTTŖ0!/p :$d"UM}D&ָ0^CejPFG82!ϙ :'~~S6H1Aš }?-k]{0uLh?<+b=/;rmÑJ69/`cB{;ƥi2f56WCnQ-} ,Dz*H'}`$&- ?jWwwd=rb#>fJy 3%yfA/u`B5}@>No{ZO=OMNucY}aC]~c!:[tw!7ƹ>COIGN4;C~IQ>(iau AYX>'% bN>鮆9<) -Y:81N8U(-v"g#Gtlkog(%3sa/UgGCj)4r<^$X`K|\~7E`EXrl;yFތcv~7ԭ;{>۟j́?u-Q6r0码i[$M%rl[MTEk@T܅ pN\Gippm-7@7(ҋ6sKy9ZyYhG۾Sj usXZsvȤ"g_w?F;/70r4vԃz(7oBI$ၫpH~Y95Wj<6;N1#` SI 뻲7s9Ŵr#>Y?W@ JSŦ(wl;&{ qISD]I&bz(n,GY)u4 sR` hC?,S ]kN4u~㉩ y}&+?8WIY W6]BM1}-"l.W,lӴSH_)xn[9K+we_QC\voB{04Y\f:JᄾlF m*m%l $,L$S!Fݫel3|`42)c6Q5o"G'jgT> v}(6Lk~Nl@/r$3D,'ּ!#![6ʶ2#Ix4,8]7TT+7`7phߴ9V$0RS"h#'2æRaYn@jjCx6ywub12RgtЀds~ }cn]'.gr`$ZN2 -3'17B2",23_k"EXbpՏݥR@o!'GG.eNx8N˩cU;mk@:|NXrUݴeS&ӏ(=SN2*AJ$='cbՁ֡BḫLأ}wA_'miPD<#+D;" |<瞉Ai#Z֞;$2?G';Hk )]yBvX>D\:":։(aBl>3 sA, NnYy݇?ٝ]낵4zNYcCa3 uHX|RՏKw=fz CB1,:dM?d褿=磟Mf)0zWƫim@RGW0E{?6IȚ<| Q`'fe/gMUu[X?{ZUj`X);B ٓ{,nċճWl5uRNqqc:_ok1E{P~ 2E:A_kiCXq*.ݞx4RZh"" Q hb žn7'SfٴEQ`UIgs>7?}ky\Gk<2{D_~Y.)HzFB*|bXnz^!3P\zqr0[:]evpdpVu|[nI+Ix} GX$@I N7U sr\%%GBǒ%8B'LHe#ܯ̂ UZR+bslK](E㫥#,n)xb2"+ *V:iVPS٪m֝qPM%LpvR|$j]޸+ 5 MinInEYuȌ24\2dl_@/D:=$ڦ`![i!JF*h1,eH"T#6ٺWs"0ϫR2%߀@ =\DcCS ,5 8uoh4Nzo'sζubkTomTJJQlpT9H_eZun&7iT?KswH%ܯE1gv'vpjvUPmMY@.Եz$@Gvb^Tw7dq6,:2NjSܼ[W3?AnPtԻޤMkOaTR?Iw$?zN.wW֨v{pvOM$-$kZ#)[0 ź$$r$hgxTĭ@cxp0O1@V M49T%偟cZ J ˲ pUav24*ڍֺ=w՗`{^|·oVBwΛPv/ϟQ*[9!RT9f:\\1Y(aݢ,V7=^ *V/Ҽɴw^#6Nt sʮW?nM_50@L. /ȖtLliS2Ekg C~6G.C{hwI\0:t[xܫkV2n@ClT;6cYuE5 )0G|]ӻ>!J 1[/˸Yٖs=̞kWb=(2xav w>!"2@`2ݰ')I'8],:Ts- QryȸpeO7O>eO-j_tJӱ$Ѱ`UڇފKY<2Eޗtv}M1iF_y"M{hKE^MzBv x 1&u2;B``Ͻҍk:))QJ$a`(~&#Y(HtRw'(TO Yj#g/>|ͤr@ԦXDp :(<"L p2tOd!`4/M9= S28v ?ȯRQ/XZ#hqoNB cdD1_7v"ȿ"{l+?׼TTm>Lj*M.ڄW2Phb3fL'LVs:Ukť T\@L=bQ̲*f?~o jP̗Fߌk3nCߚXMn @kdEaXi=6Q"|gA^>SGB=ӮDJҴt)UY2E8-<\XQMmJiIE.zeL[R}~kʃEo͉Ax6hA`+b%j+ra6[bsJu.%\,[ʙ92,''癰B=RWTF_a'&F0Eg[mB /L*4U9j="L lh<:ק GܣUu:yPD6xu>y+ʼnGB&a̡aFLI&|Iơ˅>6rT5 ',yy e7c[<uib:j@wwNVoY3YӾ3ik@8*wcaH$Պ" DnHDlHҔ Z<&>/IYwT] k~iG15μ2;e”~D:@"!bmdjBaRiqASٔLUQ BbZA0Bƾ61)o:mRPGX֠{Z'~go'K[ڲzh\Ʒ8ر&qK=V$ {K:ÅCr L1~=X.Π۶~l=CRWMBb{.Mlp96NZ?֩̚d A Nlm;49g}*Ugh@+OtlMԎG`) PQ5GVR}-3}-2p(2"yE{PfV3k* 0\d>9Ց@1Ca5BJ^s!!f!GTN5 ,$B (hqK**^kyѓkUٻqj6U8_Q2'Ws;L"F! h2EЕs{~V.X7m~,Jpۖli^ԃKFR)/\ux$o(*{e0G}A-(Pb(_mf`M}$mCFx֓-PE5 D<4$2-"H ʕ/}$cH[nښRPp[ ̣jaU{GyRZ =ݷ>-ɓk +K5,^&i SH2 APi{Ym;lmcWd``i)BiHN)8;~3l8pь/ӔF~I%6zOCǐ\˥ ބ<6-69UX9GwՇ%4jvaƈF"]Npmb;SoyK~:ZhhH2a͊3w&gah!_9VTû=Sэ)@4S%N8B| ̶mPkڗ#0ށAAoՓd>`_}qjۂ:GE…=بJ=935v^gnXvidjH0D92((UvRm K6:E`+RU"bVBIQQ]e*JKKd:QnJ <[ s^=~ %DqNm_vH,ntGU.3ue kϘLgLy"ބ:*Ru ĩDz {є#s.S@ȿ/0%q 9z¦H&<@0cWJ8Lt0aw<}PkS'Ne$Ma}s1P8 iԠn=xޔ^v'3T6PwI N^cSf>2S藱T0*bG^<C- (Pyt:SJry;VMܽҕylA&qWR23)8$HfDQYYOKm,3I8x]j_9#p<#X/ܳscd"-bj$M*!?xTy:^L g}u`}M܉sW(m 8ݾ!jw6'&##A{$[eŃT`+K7<t%I^jS:]j[Hg;A41k' لЕc.39hCG?nTӖXSl!D 0&:OӚ)s:B435~/[{783j󃪛*XjT/7]xݺk"(L?e4_|t)E:C(z3bm'.cڣ? HWumwrm^5,d S\GxES q5+;Neښ.Mf󆃗D4BQy6Po5Y+z,'iT8Cw-XczWyФnéXWr^Fج'lsi䊡mHz " t$+5NШA.WW5ߚjD4lGة;4T< O~tF+H- x{dL/L3ވvg sES5DVTR{kQt4 Bd7XP&gx]؎C* FD!cvi3'ڤj}x ̮kS[ מK ýBχq [zؾ'#KB1ä2vWy˺ڌgKd lyws1u>+c,}\ᤃ'~i#ǫT{ДmN-_ jhOpOv ?Mrk0NS>[3URQǹ8b}O'zm(jrA?w^w̸3;ՉD\0lZ:ч[Kd Gvc7yLԣz"1o '0L(eJ=|6 jx9nƢGwWQo早(U _S (*6#D mg1;zKr_gXhOC 8S=gG_Y߇r UJ u=#`OJXn6f *א mNib߄GHˊl?õ iDD!*4wW,L[+ŀEF(_;nrl<}η?¾ ?=O$=nN@OLb޽MPCCnn=bWothV(enH DuRV8t+07;sxv>ENPt)S` $2͕h7'F]r3LxrWv"3'G-ƽ=X]JRDrX OދИ~}[\, ,ȱ< Tvβ3vz[n!Y_7ΕmkdM&X^1.epYSR :R-M~mN櫠V^}u(]E:VI궹%YY`{jfsNk<.X%UzB`4㶦ė_K 8 "!6\eEG|]iu>蚐يV#h%4Jw֘U>JPATxbQ껡1᰻${9dN3Qq{Ys6FpO5Dwp1F[p?=2?ᾤ>o5ƴF7Qoyr*ZwА$XWR`_2ՑhCO P#.f/-Aq\ }BsDz5[Q`]0|WubXێWU?sXOu#oxdWEۆjegk1E5]CpK5uKˤhLebdC!*foP/8admZ)v a "(ùqeӇ/@ Nw8vծ<(9ޠGױLM2݆tBł”޴ehWŔyߗJgs,oR?x7+܅\^. y(A*dfc6k\Ҡ+?f-7n:%:U*u?hO0bzJ[ݾgbȔ9izOf^rNOhõg1(牣^SU !we>n]ߑ-ZQknׇDpǶ`{2NΊ[RXUtS@\R+g(wԊΝ`GCԢqt>)3̰: xm4n  %x=%D8%zErBrOd~%>:g7!7 P]#c<SU_rcdY uIe=-/.àpP:ݒ=z٩G1)<Ͱd.\;nkv's}Eir3pMg$qA!с߮6 k \s4zP草N;^?ɑNG4&V1I㵋j G4#ahMT1GܶZ~WXٟyF3؏\{1m;RhTJ͖iPXR@Jx坻ȒeN`q,9TxNn]k@}za1wrse:0!*B۱O =B+^: 4huq9+X#%>v,}y߬83"Ō0,ÍS Ph8;=ܜxu&ڢK|fpY~94U|*`%Ճ8HYA>F>cl$;&+*9G.H)j|T.GpK z>2yA'ဟzr~έׅ>{W QZ4UTQ4r\%$si#Ɏ|[c)BPǩ P ,]UM@s>܀dE(A;GcCGer:%)Zn/1xIpUJ&͗*1!^O^^kcX;= [*=n /"PV^I]ZԜZ9KqթNDǚ\v<Эŵv)Jvo!ؿ(8QV"ՓkcLd}}xKBя, nh×kpuW+ra,/A?7V|Q.ԟ\(Ȥҗ?4Mk,R?M^ 6{'b I7{L%\r,;`?SO,CY.k)$ A՛3ec:fwv2x'z`Qf"<4+#6+` qYt:1#(|aS1YQ1RQ@@nK@u8]tk. <_5Mʻ]- PLT ~GIkZ|y&o].8Ma-bB`SZs2N2]?~צD՞O"¦b@ĝNLX} GSا s˟\y yf$>j)am.(2L*KqR_6wS]\a/T]g,$˗)tzzR [oɺI*3giLS($ls1b~nqSQ|Wp5s"t b'X-`Ʃ(iRWe͹TVZްfݷdi4Dig Atk>Fzv5 ԕ,!#Jc(6dұj7ғ*FSDW+)QRɥOt>J-n]yrR_G GAwv+r166#f;z"}Hfjb׻%kqi9D6]~d\$;-xE}m+oQC.}fSMTq=+?Vz7wE[ uyM"B껻4MKڳ(C)Iĸz9:D /Ht=]sxf.@0| 2
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1