A FUR CLOAK IN AN OUTHOUSE

 

Benjamin Bathurst was born in 1784 and entered the British diplomatic corps at an early age. He married Phillida Call in 1805. In 1809 he was sent an as an emissary to Vienna to encourage an alliance between Austria and England, and to encourage the Austrian Emperor to declare war on France - led by Napoleon. On November 25, 1809 Bathurst traveled with his courier, a man named Krause, to Perleberg, Germany. They used aliases while traveling. They stopped to order fresh horses. While they waited they dined at the White Swan Inn then retired to a sitting room. Bathurst wrote letters and burned some papers in a fireplace. At 9:00 horses were ready to be harnessed to their coach. Bathurst left the room, Krause followed behind, but by the time Krause reached the carriage, Bathurst was nowhere to be seen.

News did not reach Phillida Call for a few weeks, nor did authorities take much interest in the case. At the time Prussia was full of bandits and German revolutionaries. Travel was not a safe enterprise. Once Phillida heard her husband was missing, she hastened Perleberg and offered a reward for any information. Of course false leads poured in, as greedy citizens made an effort to attain the reward money. Bathurst's fur coat was found in the outhouse of a family named Schmidt. Two members of the Schmidt family worked at the White Swan Inn and were present when Bathurst and Krause were there. On December 16th Bathurst's pants were found by two ladies when they were walking in a forest. The pants showed bullet holes but no blood - suggesting they were shot after being removed.

On April 15, 1852 a skeleton was found under a house close to the White Swan Inn. The skull showed signs of blunt force trauma, but of course without forensic science there was no way to tell if the skeleton was in fact Bathurst. The owner reported he bought the house from a man who worked at the White Swan Inn ar the time Benjamin Bathurst disappeared. The common theory is that Benjamin Bathurst was murdered for his money (sporting a fur cape probably helped that along.) But, it is strange that Krause didn't see or hear anything, and that Bathurst could have disappeared so quickly. The mystery of Benjamin Bathurst will likely never be solved.

SOURCES :

Benjamin Bathurst. Wikipedia.

McGowan, Doug. "Benjamin Bathurst : Disappearance of a British Envoy." Historic Mysteries, 14 October 2011.