Princess Caraboo
Encyclopedia
Mary Baker (1791 – 24 December 1864) was a noted impostor who went by the name Princess Caraboo. She pretended to be from a faraway island and fooled a British
town for some months.
in Almondsbury
in Gloucestershire
, England
, met an apparently disoriented young woman with exotic clothes who was speaking a language no one could understand. The cobbler's wife took her to the Overseer of the Poor
who left her in the hands of the local county magistrate
, Samuel Worrall, who lived in Knole Park. Worrall and his American
-born wife Elizabeth could not understand her either; all they could determine was that she called herself Caraboo and that she was interested in Chinese
imagery. They sent her to the local inn, where she identified a drawing of a pineapple
with the word ‘ananas’, which means pineapple in many Indo-European languages
, and insisted on sleeping on the floor. Samuel Worrall declared she was a beggar and should be taken to Bristol and tried for vagrancy.
During her imprisonment, a Portuguese
sailor named Manuel Eynesso (or Enes) said he knew the language and translated her story. According to Eynesso, she was Princess Caraboo from the island of Javasu in the Indian Ocean
. She had been captured by pirates and after a long voyage she had jumped overboard in the Bristol Channel
and swam ashore.
The Worralls brought Caraboo back to their home. For the next ten weeks, this representative of exotic royalty was a favourite of the local dignitaries. She used a bow and arrow, fenced, swam naked and prayed to a god, whom she termed Allah Tallah. She acquired exotic clothing and a portrait made of her was reproduced in local newspapers. Her authenticity was attested to by a Dr Wilkinson who identified her language using Edmund Fry's Pantographia
and stated that marks on the back of her head were the work of oriental surgeons.
Eventually the truth came out. A certain Mrs. Neale recognised her from the picture in the Bristol Journal and informed her hosts. The would-be princess was actually a cobbler's daughter, Mary Baker (née Willcocks) from Witheridge
, Devon
. She had been a servant girl in various places all over England but had not found a place to stay. She had invented a fictitious language out of imaginary and gypsy words and created an exotic character. The strange marks on her skin were the scars from a crude cupping operation
in a poorhouse hospital as a child. The British press had a field day at the expense of the duped rustic middle-class.
Her hosts arranged for her to leave for Philadelphia
and she departed 28 June 1817. In the USA
, she briefly continued her role, but lost contact with the Worralls after a couple of months.
There was a contemporary legend that she had visited Napoleon imprisoned on the island of Saint Helena
, but that is probably untrue.
In 1821, she had returned to Britain but her act was no longer very successful. She may have briefly travelled to France and Spain in her guise but soon returned to England and remarried. In September 1828, she was living in Bedminster with the name Mary Burgess and gave birth to a daughter the next year. In 1839, she was selling leeches to the Bristol Infirmary Hospital. She died on 24 December 1864 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Hebron Road cemetery in Bristol.
was the basis of the 1994 film Princess Caraboo
, written by Michael Austin and John Wells
, which added some fictional incidents to the true story.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
town for some months.
Biography
On 3 April 1817, a cobblerCobbler
Cobbler may refer to:* A shoemaker who repairs shoes, rather than manufacturing them .** Cobbler apron, a type of apron that covers both the front and back of the body...
in Almondsbury
Almondsbury
Almondsbury is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England.-Description:The village is split by a steep hill, part of the escarpment overlooking the Severn floodplain. At the bottom of the hill is Lower Almondsbury where a pub and hotel, The Bowl Inn, is...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, met an apparently disoriented young woman with exotic clothes who was speaking a language no one could understand. The cobbler's wife took her to the Overseer of the Poor
Overseer of the Poor
An Overseer of the Poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England.-England:...
who left her in the hands of the local county magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
, Samuel Worrall, who lived in Knole Park. Worrall and his American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-born wife Elizabeth could not understand her either; all they could determine was that she called herself Caraboo and that she was interested in Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
imagery. They sent her to the local inn, where she identified a drawing of a pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
with the word ‘ananas’, which means pineapple in many Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, and insisted on sleeping on the floor. Samuel Worrall declared she was a beggar and should be taken to Bristol and tried for vagrancy.
During her imprisonment, a Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
sailor named Manuel Eynesso (or Enes) said he knew the language and translated her story. According to Eynesso, she was Princess Caraboo from the island of Javasu in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. She had been captured by pirates and after a long voyage she had jumped overboard in the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
and swam ashore.
The Worralls brought Caraboo back to their home. For the next ten weeks, this representative of exotic royalty was a favourite of the local dignitaries. She used a bow and arrow, fenced, swam naked and prayed to a god, whom she termed Allah Tallah. She acquired exotic clothing and a portrait made of her was reproduced in local newspapers. Her authenticity was attested to by a Dr Wilkinson who identified her language using Edmund Fry's Pantographia
Pantographia
Pantographia, with the full title being Pantographia; containing accurate copies of all the known alphabets in the world; together with an English explanation of the peculiar force or power of each letter is the title of a 1799 work on writing systems and typography by Edmund Fry, one of the most...
and stated that marks on the back of her head were the work of oriental surgeons.
Witheridge
Witheridge is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. In 2001 the population of the parish was 1162. Its name is derived from the Old English for "Weather Ridge", probably as a result of its exposed location on the top of a hill, which means it and surrounding...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. She had been a servant girl in various places all over England but had not found a place to stay. She had invented a fictitious language out of imaginary and gypsy words and created an exotic character. The strange marks on her skin were the scars from a crude cupping operation
Fire cupping
Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing. Suction is created using heat or mechanical devices...
in a poorhouse hospital as a child. The British press had a field day at the expense of the duped rustic middle-class.
Her hosts arranged for her to leave for Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and she departed 28 June 1817. In the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, she briefly continued her role, but lost contact with the Worralls after a couple of months.
There was a contemporary legend that she had visited Napoleon imprisoned on the island of Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
, but that is probably untrue.
In 1821, she had returned to Britain but her act was no longer very successful. She may have briefly travelled to France and Spain in her guise but soon returned to England and remarried. In September 1828, she was living in Bedminster with the name Mary Burgess and gave birth to a daughter the next year. In 1839, she was selling leeches to the Bristol Infirmary Hospital. She died on 24 December 1864 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Hebron Road cemetery in Bristol.
Film
The hoaxHoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
was the basis of the 1994 film Princess Caraboo
Princess Caraboo (film)
Princess Caraboo is a 1994 British-American historical comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Michael Austin, based on the real-life 19th-century character Princess Caraboo, who passed herself off in British society as an exotic princess who spoke a strange foreign language; she is portrayed...
, written by Michael Austin and John Wells
John Wells (satirist)
John Wells was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
, which added some fictional incidents to the true story.
External links
- John Mathew GutchJohn Mathew Gutch-Life:John Mathew, eldest son of John Gutch, was born in 1776, probably at Oxford, and was educated at Christ's Hospital, where he was the schoolfellow of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb. He first entered business as a law stationer in Southampton Buildings, where Lamb for a time lodged...
. Caraboo: A Narrative of a Singular Imposition, at http://www.resologist.net/carabooa.htm - Mary Willcocks & the Princess Caraboo Hoax: Comprehensive article on the Mysterious People website
- Princess Caraboo: Article at the Museum of Hoaxes.