Music: Clive Whitburn
Soprano: Laura Wolk-Lewanowicz
Baritone: Alex Roose
Harp: Alexandra King
Piano: Adam Swayne
Artwork/Animation: Grainger/Burnside
Miss Charlesworth Presents Found 11th January 1909, Wexford Bay, County Wexford, Ireland, in a tightly corked bottle. Violet Charlesworth was a 24 year old fraudster who, in January 1909, faked her own death in order to escape huge debts. Charles worth had obtained tens of thousands of pounds from numerous sources by falsely claiming to be an heiress who would receive a £100,00 estate on her 25th birthday. With that date approaching, she faked her death by pretending to fall from her motor car over a cliff and into the sea at Penmaenmawr, Conwy, Wales. Newspapers reported various apparent sightings of Charlesworth after her death, at Holyhead, Anglesea, boarding a steamer for Ireland, in Bray and then Wexford. Detectives at nearby Rosslaire regarded the message as a hoax. By the end of January, Charlesowrth had been found alive and well, in Oban, Scotland. She was charged with conspiracy to obtain money under false pretences and sentenced to five years hard labour. [Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 13th January 1909]
