History is full of kings, queens, conquerors and revolutionists — but some of its most fascinating figures are the oddballs who lived life on their own bizarre terms.
From a duke who built miles of tunnels just to avoid people, to a court jester who literally farted his way to fame and fortune, here are five of the strangest, funniest and most unbelievable lives you’ve probably never heard of.
History’s oddballs
Harry Grindle Mathews
Harry Grindle Mathews was an archetypal crackpot inventor living in South Wales during the early 20th century. He is said to have created a proto-mobile phone which he claimed could communicate with a pilot flying at an altitude of 700 feet.
He became known as Death Ray Mathews thanks to another invention which he claimed could stop the engine of a moving vehicle, detonate gunpowder, or even disable incoming troops from a distance of four miles. What is interesting about Mathews is it is impossible to tell if he was a skilled conman or a troubled individual suffering from a mental illness.
Forever terrified his inventions would be taken from him, when asked to demonstrate them, he immediately shut down all tests. This cost him a number of large government contracts, and he was either never exposed as a fraud or never received the recognition he deserved.
Roland le Petour
Roland le Petour will go down in history as a man who did very little in the way of work but received a lot for what little he did. As court jester for Henry II, he was asked to perform his signature act, a whistle a fart and a jump every Christmas day. For this annual act of tomfoolery, he was awarded Hemingstone Manor in Suffolk and 30 acres of land.
Hannah Snell
Born in 1723, Hannah Snell's life would have been very different had she been born today. She was different from the other girls in her village, playing soldier games instead of holding tea parties. At 23 her husband left her; penniless and destitute, she was forced to move in with her brother-in-law.
By 25 she wanted to find her estranged husband, so put on her brothers-in-law’s clothes and travelled to Coventry where she signed up for military service (as a man). But when her sergeant had her whipped for refusing to set up an encounter between him and a local woman, she left, joined the Marines and went to sea.
Her identity was never discovered despite being wounded in battle many times, including one instance which she was shot in the groin. When she eventually returned to Britain, she revealed her gender in a tell-all book that quickly became a bestseller.
William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland
William Bentinck was such a cripplingly shy man that he built a network of tunnels and underground chambers underneath his home in Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, in an effort to avoid people. The chambers included a library, a ballroom, and an observatory with a glass roof.
Such was his life underground that it has been suggested Bentinck may have inspired Kenneth Grahame’s Mr. Badger in Wind in the Willows. In a further effort to avoid human contact, his staff and contractors were ordered to never so much as acknowledge him. When one worker had the audacity to doff his hat to the duke, he was immediately dismissed.
Mad Jack Mytton
Squire John “Mad Jack” Mytton was a drinker, gambler, and eccentric who squandered a considerable fortune in just 15 years. At one famous dinner party, he rode a bear into the dining room, and he often sat in front of the fire, inside, curled up with his horse.
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Main image: Daderot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
