The False Princess: The Incredible Hoax – Part 4/7 (1791-1865)
After the unmasking of Princess Caraboo, Mrs. Worrall was still immensely curious as to who Mary Baker was, and why she would have perpetrated such a scheme. As such, she commissioned the editor from the Bristol Journal, John Matthew Gutch, to learn as much as he possibly could about the girl – either from Mary herself, or from anyone else who might know anything about her. What the editor learned was very interesting indeed – and in fact, it was published as a book in August 1817 to great success!
Mary’s parents believed that the girl’s troubles began after contracting rheumatic fever when she was fifteen years old, and from that point on, she was never quite “right in the head”. She was born in 1719, and so was 26 years old by the time she had arrived as a ‘disoriented’ woman in Gloucestershire. Her family had been very poor, and 6 brothers and sisters had died when they were still young. At eight years old, Mary had learned to spin, weave, and took work on local farms to help feed the family. When she was a little bit older, she had also worked as a maid in Exeter – but after 8 weeks at the house, she left, complaining that the work was just too hard.
She returned home to Witheridge, but after her taste of the outside world, found living at home again unbearable. Running away after only a week, Mary apparently attempted suicide by hanging herself from a tree with apron strings – but was stopped when a ‘voice’ in her head told her it was a sin. In seeming confirmation, she met a man along the road who took pity on the disheveled young woman and gave her enough money for three night’s lodging in Taunton. After her time in Taunton, she begged her way to Bristol – and then decided to walk to London.
Mary almost made it to London, however when she was about 30 miles outside of the city, she collapsed from exhaustion – and was subsequently given a ride by a waggoner to Hyde Park Corner with several other women. After being dropped off, the two women realized that Mary was quite ill, and took her to St. Giles’ Workhouse Hospital, where she was taken immediately to the fever ward.
She spent several months in the hospital, where she was treated with hot baths and other treatments to help alleviate the fever – one treatment was called ‘cupping’, which involves operation on the back of one’s head without anesthetic: the skin is cut in several places, and hot glasses are applied to these spots in an attempt to draw the blood out and alleviate fever. Finally, a Presbyterian clergyman took a liking to the eccentric young woman, who drew her into his care. The clergyman was able to find Mary a job as a nanny, and she had a relatively fruitful experience there.
Next door to the family whose children she took care of, there was a Jewish family who had a cook in their employ. Mary became good friends with him, and she developed a strong interest in Jewish prayers, the Hebrew alphabet, and their strict dietary practices – all things which would come in handy four years later as ‘Princess Caraboo’. She also learned to read and write, and frequently wrote letters home to her family. Everything seemed to be going quite well for Mary Baker…
…to be continued…
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Tomorrow: Part 12! Just kidding, Part 5.
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