Violet Charlesworth, who 'died' in a car crash in 1909, swindled loved ones and creditors out of thousands of pounds by pretending to be heiress to a large fortune

As fake heiress Anna ‘Delvey’ Sorokin tangoes under the glitterball in Dancing With the Stars, many have been left wondering how a criminal can be allowed to enjoy such fame.

However, a new BBC Sounds podcast, Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley, also featuring Prof Rosalind Crone, reveals that Sorokin is not the first con-woman to go on to find national fame; as far back as the early 20th century, in fact.

Violet Charlesworth was just two weeks away from her 25th birthday when she disappeared in a car accident in Conwy, north Wales on January 2, 1909. Presumed dead at first, her apparent tragic end sent a whole community in Bangor into mourning – until details emerged that cast doubt on her fate and her entire identity.

An investigation into Violet and her disappearance uncovered her as a fraudster who claimed she’d inherit an enormous fortune when she turned 25 – and used this fake plot to swindle people close to her out of thousands of pounds in the promise she would pay them back after receiving the inheritance.

As police and the press began to realise Violet’s story was not all it seemed, the nation was sent into a frenzy wanting to know all they could about her true identity – and when she finally turned up, very much alive, in Scotland; she was rewarded with a stage show, a silent film and myriad press interviews.

Violet Charlesworth, who 'died' in a car crash in 1909, swindled loved ones and creditors out of thousands of pounds by pretending to be heiress to a large fortune

Violet Charlesworth, who ‘died’ in a car crash in 1909, swindled loved ones and creditors out of thousands of pounds by pretending to be heiress to a large fortune

Violet and her sister Lilian had been for afternoon tea at a tea house in Bangor on January 2, 1909, before Violet’s car swerved off the road going round a sharp bend on the way home and crashed on a cliff. When the wreckage was discovered, Violet was nowhere to be seen and the 24-year-old was presumed dead after falling into the sea below.

Speaking about the reaction to Violet’s death, Lucy and the podcast co-hosts reveal there was genuine mourning within the community and the local press.  

‘Journalists seemed to be genuinely deeply saddened by the fact that such a beautiful young woman has met such an awful end,’ they explain.

Violet, pictured in 1910 shortly before her arrest and imprisonment, fascinated the nation with her vanishing

Violet, pictured in 1910 shortly before her arrest and imprisonment, fascinated the nation with her vanishing 

Violet's car, which crashed on a sharp bend in Conwy, north Wales, was largely undamaged - which led to suspicion from police and the press

Violet’s car, which crashed on a sharp bend in Conwy, north Wales, was largely undamaged – which led to suspicion from police and the press

However, they add: ‘Within a few days there is a very clear change of tone.’

The presenters explain that there was something ‘not right’ about the crash, which left not a single trace of blood in the car or on the cliff.

They add: ‘Her family don’t seem at all anxious about finding Violet’s body.’ 

Additionally, the car is relatively unscathed apart from a smashed windscreen on the driver’s side.

The presenters also discuss Violet’s image within society, as a fiercely independent woman who drove a car by herself, often for long distances and at night, which was considered ‘racy’ in the Edwardian era.

She is described as an ‘Edwardian influencer’ who donned ‘high fashion’ and wore what appeared to be expensive jewellery and firs.

Additionally, and very unusually for an Edwardian woman, Violet invested in the stock market, and was described by one contemporary financier as having a ‘masculine grasp of business’.

As police began to dig into Violet’s background a new theory emerged; that she was not dead, but she had run away from someone.

Their investigation eventually revealed that the 24-year-old had funded her lavish lifestyle through taking out loans; sometimes from people who could not really afford to give her money but were promised they’d make a return on their investment in her when she received her ‘inheritance’.

Pictured: The site of the crash in Conwy, north Wales, where Violet's car was found but she was nowhere to be seen

Pictured: The site of the crash in Conwy, north Wales, where Violet’s car was found but she was nowhere to be seen

One such victim of Violet’s scam was a former neighbour and widow named Mrs Smith, who loaned the fraudster £400 – virtually all she had saved in her life.

Another was Dr James, Violet’s former fiancé, who loaned her £5,000 while they were together. However, the relationship ended over Violet’s reckless spending.

The reason people continued to loan Violet money? She constantly boasted about being ‘fabulously wealthy’ when she reached the age of 25.

However, the podcast hosts explain, just two weeks before she was set to inherit this enormous fortune, Violet’s car crashed and she vanished.

Additionally, they reveal: ‘A private investigator has been pursuing her and on new year’s day, the day before the crash, she was issued a summons for defaulting on a loan.’

As the police and press search for Violet continued, the podcast explains how her parents, sister and brother Fred, barricaded themselves into the family home and refused to allow anyone in – including creditors, who were after money Violet owed, and police officers, who wanted to seize her property.

Two weeks after Violet’s disappearance, her 25th birthday comes around and, as the podcast presenters explain, ‘it becomes abundantly clear that there is no inheritance, it was a bogus fortune, Violet is a fake heiress’.

As the investigation into Violet’s whereabouts deepened, a woman named Margaret McLeod checked into a hotel in Scotland (a place close to Violet’s heart) for a few days, before leaving and heading further south without paying her bill.

The podcast reveals how rumours began to circulate that Margaret was in fact Violet Charlesworth; before Margaret took the astonishing step of sitting down with a newspaper to give an interview in which she denied the rumours, drawing national attention to herself.

A few days after strenuously denying that she was in fact Violet, Margaret had a change of heart and sat for another interview where she confirmed she was the missing ‘heiress’. 

‘Her plan seems to be to take control of the story and cash in on her new found celebrity,’ the podcast claims.

For a brief time, the nation became obsessed with Violet as she gave interviews with several national newspapers, including the Daily Mail, and was paid large fees to do so.

She also wrote a song about her faked death, called Goodbye Girlie, which was printed in newspapers.

A stage show was written about Violet, which debuted at the London Hippodrome and cast her as herself. Additionally, she signed a silent movie deal in which she, again, was the star. 

As the podcast hosts discuss Violet’s fake lavish lifestyle and her new-found fame, they liken her to New York-based socialite Anna Delvey, who claimed to be a Russian billionaire and swindled creditors out of an estimated $275,000 before she was finally arrested and jailed. She is currently under house arrest and is a contestant on Dancing With the Stars.

However in the background, the police investigation continued, which found she owed a total of £12,000 to people from whom she had borrowed money and another £12,000 in stock market liabilities. She was eventually declared bankrupt.

And the excitement surrounding her fame also began to wane as she suffered from stage fright while performing in the play about her own story – and she was also routinely booed off stage by audiences.

A year after the crash first happened, Violet and her mother Miriam were arrested and charged with fraud. They were both convicted and sentenced to three years in prison. 

In 1912, Violet was released on license and made her way to Scotland. From then on, there is no record of her. 

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