200 Years Ago in Norwich : Conman in 1825

Back to my little series of posts about the Norwich Mercury from 200 years ago. It’s hardly a surprise that there were conmen operating in Norwich 200 years ago, but it must have been a lot harder back then to actually spot such deceit when it happened. The Earl of Caithness at the time was Alexander Campbell Sinclair, 13th Earl of Caithness, with the fraudulent man pretending to be his son. He was perhaps unfortunate to have discovered a naval officer who was able to ask penetrating questions about the Earl of Caithness, otherwise he might have gotten away with his little scam. It’s a nice little phrase from the newspaper though, “preparing for the execution of a master-stroke of swindling”, as there are some politicians that could be said about today.