William Forbes-Leslie (c.1866-c.1944)
"One of the world's greatest living experts in the petroleum world", or "a dangerous and plausible criminal"?
- Geological consultant to the English & Foreign Oil Finance Co. (1916-1918)
- Geological consultant and managing director to English Oilfields Ltd (1918-1921)
- Promoter of Kilve oil works of Shaline Ltd (c.1921- c.1925)
Little is known of William Forbes-Leslie's parentage and family origins, as his early life seems to have little trace in census returns or other genealogical records.
Colonel Jonathan Forbes- Leslie of Rothienorman (1798-1877) is recorded as the first to carry the hyphened Forbes-Leslie name. He had a distinguished military career and authored a number of books, including the "The Early Races of Scotland, and their Monuments". Colonel Forbes-Leslie left no male heirs, consequently the "Forbes-Leslie" name was not carried forward.
It seems likely that the Forbes-Leslie surname was an affectation. An internet source, quoting the Aberdeen University roll of graduates, suggests that that he was born William Paterson, son of Dr. Alexander Ross Paterson, and changed his name to William Paterson Forbes-Leslie in 1892, and to William Forbes-Leslie in 1894.
The register of the British Medical Council records that William Forbes-Leslie, of Birkwood, Banchory, qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine and a Master of Surgery at the University of Aberdeen in 1891. His name was added to the register in 1893. Soon after qualifying as a doctor he travelled to South Africa to study tropical fevers. His paper "Malaria, some suggestions on its pathology and treatment" was published in the Lancet in 1898. It is said that he then worked for two years as a ship's doctor before returning to Britain to work as a medical journalist and locum.
His talent for fiction and tall tales manifested itself early on; contributing adventure stories to the Boys Own Paper such as "How we got our Edelweiss" and "Little Jim" during 1895, and subsequently "A Flight for Life; a True Story of Adventure in Madagascar" and "Leyli; a romance of the Aegean sea."
Forbes-Leslie married Adelaide Ivy Elizabeth Williams (nee Manders?) in Kensington during 1897. Adelaide was later to be described in court as "an accomplished swindler", where it was said that:
"in early life the woman married an officer of an lndian regiment, but soon eloped with a subaltern of the same regiment, who was probably richer than her husband. A divorce followed, and she became Mrs Stanley Williams. Her husband lavished his wealth upon her and she was received in the best society. She went to Monte Carlo, where she so misbehaved herself that her husband had to divorce her."
Adelaide had adopted the fictional title of "Duchess de Villanda", and following their marriage Forbes-Leslie often presented himself as the "Duc de Villanda".
In 1898 Forbes-Leslie was involved in an unsuccessful business enterprise involved in the manufacture of "bitters" or liqueur at Ucole in Belgium using a process that he had invented. He then served as a civilian doctor attached to the Army Medical Staff Corps in South Africa. As a civilian surgeon he was awarded the King's South Africa Medal, with clasps for 1901 and 1902. In 1900, he wrote to the press as an "authority on malarial diseases" to encourage "colonial women" to serve as nurses in South Africa during the ongoing Boer war. At the same time his wife, the "Duchess", seems to have been involved in a dubious scheme to encourage women to enlist in the St Patrick Sisters Volunteer Aid Corps.
Also in 1900 Forbes-Leslie, his wife, and a mysterious Princess de Lusignan appeared in court following an apparent deception in which the the defendants attempted to evade repayment of two promissory notes .
Shortly afterwards, in May 1900, Forbes-Leslie, "lately residing at Bailey's Hotel, Kensington, in the county of London, now at 4 York Gate, Marylebone Road" was declared bankrupt. His failure was attributed mainly to collapse of the Belgian bitters business.
Although Forbes-Leslie was not discharged from bankruptcy until some time after 1905, he continued various business interests in South Africa, and in 1903 was quoted as being chairman of the Main Reef Mining and Finance Corporation, a company valued at £125,000. It seems however that his property in South Africa, which was subsequently seized by his trustees, was of negligible value.
Adelaide petitioned for a judicial separation from William Forbes-Leslie in 1920, in response to which Forbes-Leslie petitioned for nullity (i.e. that the marriage had never been valid). It seems likely however that the couple had been living separately for many years beforehand. In 1906 Adelaide was convicted in France for fraud, and in 1911 she was jailed for passing fraudulent cheques to tradesmen in west London. Court proceedings also described how she had also used the respectability of her bogus title in a scam in which she advertised her services as a chaperone to young American ladies who wished to be introduced into English society.
It seems possible that William Forbes-Leslie's involvement in mining interests in South Africa fostered an interest in geology, and in 1912 he was elected to the fellowship of the Geological Society of London. At that time, with the impending threat of war, there was huge interest in developing new sources of oil to fuel the Navy from within Britain and her colonies. The existence of oil shales in parts of England were already well known; indeed in 1913 Winston Churchill, then first lord of the Admiralty spoke in parliament about the "oil beds of Lincolnshire and Dorset"
It is unclear how William Forbes-Leslie so quickly established recognition as a leading expert on oil shales. By 1916 he was geological advisor to English & Foreign Oil Finance Ltd. which began exploration work in the Setchey area of Norfolk. In 1917 he published papers on Norfolk shale and England's oil supplies in academic journals, and spoke at various public meetings, including an address to the Royal Society of Arts. Such speeches were widely reported in the press, including his claims to have been first to have discover oil shales in Norfolk, and to have been researching shales for almost a decade
On launch of English Oilfields Ltd in 1918, Forbes-Leslie was appointed a managing director and the company's principal spokesman. He proved an persuasive orator, and his presentations to shareholders were often met by applause.
The high sulphur content of oils made from Kimmeridge shale, such as that found at Setch, had thwarted previous attempts to establish viable shale oil industries in Dorset, but Forbes-Leslie's certainly that this would not prove a problem in Norfolk seemed sufficient to convince investors. The company's prospectus contained opinions from leading experts, based on information or samples supplied by Forbes-Leslie. Subsequent events cast doubt on whether some of the samples he provided actually originated from Norfolk.
The company was successful in raising capital and soon began construction of works, mines and a railway. Despite intensive experimentation with various designs of retort, it proved impossible to develop a means of extracting oil from the shale that did not retain an unacceptably high level of sulphur. While that research continued, a succession of good news stories were released to the press throughout 1920 in which Forbes-Leslie announced great new discoveries and breakthroughs that would seal the success of the company. This included a fanciful conjecture that liquid petroleum and other mineral riches lay beneath the shale throughout the company's lands. Extensive boring subsequently disproved this.
A statement by the company that Forbes-Leslie was not advising a competing concern hints at an unhappy relationship with the board. In 1921 Forbes-Leslie left English Oilfields, threatening the company with legal action. By that time Forbes-Leslie, described in the press as "one of the greatest living experts in the petroleum world" was promoting a very similar shale oil scheme at Kilve in Somerset.
Shaline Ltd. was a company with influential backers that was to have a share value of a million and a half pounds. Plans to establish a major oil works at Kilve, linked to port facilities by a new branch railway, attracted great local interest, although at no time was mention made in the press to Forbes-Leslie's earlier involvement in Norfolk. The company erected an experimental retort at Kilve, but little progress seems to have been made in raising capital, and by about 1925 the planned development seems to have been abandoned.
Forbes-Leslie next came to public attention in 1935, at which time he was described as a retired doctor, aged 70, living in London. He was found guilty, along with two other men, of conspiracy to obtain money under false pretences in a confidence trick concerning a fictional trust fund. Forbes-Leslie was described as the mastermind of the fraud and a "dangerous and plausible criminal", and was sentenced to two years imprisonment. William Forbes-Leslie "registered as of Birkwood, Banchory. Kincardineshire" was then struck off the medical register.
The death of a William Forbes-Leslie was recorded in Eastborne during 1944.
Colonial Trained Nurses.
Mr. W. Forbes Leslie, 44, Clarges-street, writes : " I have read with interest the cry of the colonial nurses for consideration by the War Office authorities. It is natural. As a medical man, and one of some experience, and an authority on malarial diseases, I can fully endorse the statement about the colonial nurses being more fit and better able in every way to nurse the sick in the country of their adoption or of which they are natives than the new arrivals from England. The nursing of disease, although comprised under certain rules common to all sickness, requires in some cases special fitness and experience, and this is exceptionally so in malaria and its modifications. I trust your mention of the fact may turn the attention of the proper authorities to the wrong done to our colonial women and lead to its rectification."
Morning Post, 15th February 1900
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ACTION AGAINST A PRINCESS.
The case of the, Staffordshire Financial Company v. the Princess de Luisignan came on for trial yesterday. before Mr. Justice Lawrence and a special jury in the Queen's Bench Division.
Mr. A T. Laurence, Q.C. and Mr. Disturnal appeared for the plaintiffs and Mr.. Witt, QC and Mr. Kimber for the defendant, for a lady owning property in Yorkshire.
Mr Lawence said that an action was brought upon two promissory notes, one for £500, and one for £200, and the defendant was a lady known as the Princess de Lusignan. The promissory notes were given on December. 23 last year. A Mr. Sanguinetti, a financial agent, applied to the plaintiff, a firm carrying on business in Staffordshire, to know if they would lend money on promissory notes They said they were willing to do so at 25 per cent. interest, and in consequence a meeting of the parties took place at the office of. Mr. Sanguinetti, on December 23.
The princess called with a friend, Mrs. Leslie Smith and besides Mr. Sanguinetti, his manager and a Mr. Humphreys, there attended Mr. William Henry Duignan, the chairman of the plaintiff company, solicitor, of Walsall. It was decided that a promissory note for £500 should be accepted, to be given by Dr. Forbes Leslie, his wife, and the defendant, the princess.
It was; pointed out that Dr. Leslie was not present, and Mr. Dunnage said they could not get on without him. The ladies replied that he would return from the Continent in a day or two, and would then sign the note. Upon that Mr Duigan give way, and said if that were the case he would accept a note. The ladies then said £500 would not be sufficient; they wanted another £200. The purpose for which it was suggested this money was needed was for some. business in which Mrs. Leslie was interested and in which the princess was financing her. The notes were then signed by Mrs Leslie and the defendant; the arrangement being that the doctor should sign when he returned from the Continent
There was also an agreement as to the amount of interest to be paid, which was signed by the ladies. A cheque was then drawn by Mr. Duignan for the amount payable, less discount, and less a saw which defendant had agreed to pay to Sanguinetti for commission on obtaining the loan for her.
Some days after Dr. Forbes Leslie arrived, saw the defendant and his wife, and then attended at Mr. Sanguinetti's office, Old Bond Street, where he signed the two promissory notes and the agreement. The two notes became due on December 26, but were not met, and the princess now set up the defence that the notes were void, because they were afterwards signed by Dr. Forbes Leslie. That seemed to him an idle defence, because it was part of the bargain upon which the loan was made that the notes should be signed by him, and until they were signed by him they were not complete.
Judgement had been signed against the Leslies, but nothing had been realised under that judgement. Under these circumstances, upon proof of the loan, the plaintiffs were entitled to judgement. Evidence was then given, and upon the end of the plaintiff's case Mr Witt intimated that he did not intend to carry the case further.
Mr. Lawrence asked for judgment for the Plaintiffs for £747 2s.- The jury returned a verdict for that sum, and judgement was entered accordingly with costs.
Birmingham Daily Post, 30th March 1900
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THE MYSTERIOUS DUCHESS, MRS FORBES LESLIE AND THE VILLANDA TITLE.
The promised solicitor's communication has not yet arrived from Mrs Forbes Leslie, who, calling herself the Duchesse di Villanda, has been asking lady helps to go, at their own expense, to South Africa, enlisted in her St Patrick Sisters' Volunteer Aid Corps.
The failure of the Spanish Ambassador in London to trace any knowledge of the existence of the Villanda title would be all the more extraordinary, if such a title really existed, from the fact that the Forbes Leslie's claim that it is a very ancient family. In a circular about their liqueur business at Ucole, near Brussels, Mr Forbes Leslie says the original receipt for their San Lazare liqueur was in possession of the old Spanish family of Villanda, who, when difficulties in 1618, sold it to holy father living near Seville. He, finding the marvellous effect it had on the sick and weak, made use of his elixir until he was banished from Spain for practising miracles. A descendant of the Villanda family in 1813, learning that the liqueur was still being made, went the monastery and demanded large sum of money from the monks or so many bottles San Lazare per year.
The gay Forbes Leslie adds, in this whimsical circular, that there is a story told of Napoleon 1st., while staying with the Duke di Villanda in 1813, that when drinking a glass of San Lazare remarked, " Another glass of this, my friend, and I will face the Russian army with a toothpick."
Dundee Evening Post, 1st May 1900
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William Forbes Leslie, lately residing at Bailey's Hotel, Kensington, in the county of London, now at 4 York Gate, Marylebone Road, in the county of London. Bankrupts receiving orders,
The London Gazette 1st May 1900
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An Imperial Yeomanry Doctor's Bankruptcy.
At the Bankruptcy Court yesterday the first meeting of creditors was held under the failure of W. Forbes-Leslie, described as of York-gate, Marylebone-road. It was stated that the defendant had not surrendered, and was said to be attached as civil doctor to a section of the Imperial Yeomanry which had sailed for South Africa. He had in a letter which he had written described himself as William Forbes-Leslie, Duc de Villanda.
A resolution for bankruptcy was passed the creditors.
St James Gazette, 9th May 1900
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A HISTORY OF AERATED WATERS. "The Evolution of Artificial Mineral Waters." By William Kirkby. 155 pp., 8vo. Jewsbury and Brown, Manchester. Here is a book, wholly untechnical and clearly expressed, which should interest general readers as well as manufacturers and traders. A curious and amusing volume might written about the folklore of healing wells. Not until the scientific age came could old-fashioned peasant folk be got to believe that holy wells owed their virtue to chemicals—which anybody could manufacture. Dr. Forbes Leslie relates how, at the end of the eighteenth century, numbers of health-seekers used to come to "drink of the waters or bathe in St. Fillan's well, at Comrie, Perthshire. All these walked or were carried three times sunrise round the well. They also threw each a white stone on an adjacent cairn, and left behind a scrap of their clothing an offering" to the "Kelpie" the genius of the water.
The London Daily News, 15th July 1902
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From a Cornishman in Johannesburg,
I hear of the discovery of another "rand" quite as big as, if not much bigger than, the present " Coronation " at Heidelberg. This discovery on the far West Rand is said to have been made by prospector acting under the instructions of the well-known geologist, Dr. J. T. Carrick, who located the Pullinger borehole. The existence this deposit has been suspected for the last seven years, and options have been procured on 50,000 morgen of ground for long period —one morgen being equal to two acres.
The name of the Company is the Main Reef Mining and Finance Corporation, Limited, the Chairman being Dr. Forbes- Leslie, and the other two directors Henry Reece Powell and R. Laughland McCowat. The Capital of the Company is £125,000, issued at £1 -premium, in all £2 per share. All the shares are said to be underwritten, and the Company will soon be floated. The more Rands discovered the merrier it will be for Cornish people.
The Cornishman, 23rd April 1903
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ABERDEEN DOCTOR AS A DUKE.
A proposal for the payment of 20s in the £1 was made and accepted in the case of W. Forbes Leslie which has just been disposed of in the London Bankruptcy Court. the course of examination the doctor said he was a Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery, York Gate, Marylebone. His statement of affairs showed liabilities £2459 14s 8d and assets not yet ascertained. It appeared that after qualifying in 1891 Aberdeen he applied himself the study fevers in South Africa; that in 1898, while in Belgium, he discovered a new bitters," or liqueur, which lie duly registered there, and for the manufacture and sale of which he opened business near Brussels. Latterly he had been engaged in the promotion and flotation of various Mining Companies. The debtor stated that his wife was the Duchess de Villanda, and therefore (in her right) was privileged to assume the title Duke de Villanda which he did on the Continent.
The Dundee Evening Telegraph, 1st March 1904
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A Doctor who made "Bitters."
In the Court of Bankruptcy—before Registrar Brougham—last week, an application for order of discharge was made by William Forbes Leslie, of York Gate, Road. W.
It was reported by the Official Receiver that proofs of debt for £3053 had been admitted, and nothing had been realised in respect of the estate. The trustee had, however, seized certain after-acquired property in South Africa, but the present time was unable to sell it.
The bankrupt, having taken his degree in 1891, applied himself for some time the study of fever South Africa. He was then for two years employed as ship's doctor, and on his return to this country became engaged in medical journalistic work and in assisting other doctors their practice. In 1898. while in Belgium, he discovered a new "bitters," which he manufactured for some time. In April, 1900, the bankrupt was sent to South Africa by the Government as a civilian surgeon and transport. Subsequently became attached the Medical Staff Corps, in connection with which he was engaged in various capacities.
The bankrupt attributed his present position to the failure of the "bitters" business, law costs, and to liability on accommodation bills for which he received no consideration. His honour, on a statutory ground, suspended the order of discharge for two years.
Aberdeen Journal, 2nd August 1905
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A LADY'S CHEQUES.
At the West London Police Court. Adelaide De Villano, said to be the Duchess Del Villano, giving an address at Maida Vale, and Gordon Rossell, living Westbourne Terrace Bayswater, and described the female prisoner's secretary, were charged on remand with conspiring to defraud certain tradesmen of Holland Park Avenue by means of worthless cheques.
Mr. G. W. H. Jones again prosecuted, and Mr. Huntly Jenkins, barrister, appeared for the female prisoner, whilst Mr. H. H, Olley, solicitor, represented Rossell. Detective-sergeant Bumie said that when he arrested the woman at Southampton she handed him a marriage certificate which she said showed that she was the Duchess Villanda. Mr. Jones called the magistrate's attention to an alteration which had been made to the certificate. The words "widowed wife" had been substituted for "divorced wife" and someone had added "Duchess De Villanda".
The magistrate would notice (continued counsel) that the name of the husband supposed to be the Duke was "William Forbes Leslie," which did not sound like an Italian. (Laughter.) Witness went on to say that when he arrested the female prisoner she was reading a book, one page of which was turned over where the word "villano" occurred. Prisoner (from the dock): That is an absolute falsehood.
Mr. Jones: At the proper time I shall be able to show that there is no such title as "Due De Villanda." Her Marriage Certificate. Sergeant Burnie went on to say that also found a number of visiting cards, some of which were in the name of the "Duchess Villano, Cladagh Court. Stewardstone," and "Mrs. Stanley Williams. 17, Via Vittoria Emanuele. Pegli," and "Belle Isle, County Tipperary," and others.
Mr. Huntley Jenkins objected to these cards being put in, and asked what was the object. Mr. Jones replied that he was suggesting that the lady had bogus on the cards. He said she had no right to the title of "Duchess," or any other title.
In cross-examination by Mr. Jenkins. Sergeant Burnie said the prisoner handed him the marriage certificate quite voluntarily, saying "this is marriage certificate.'' He admitted he did not take down everything the prisoner said at the time of her arrest; it was impossible to do so, she was talking for hour. (Laughter.)
Mr. Jenkins: You told the magistrate on the last day that she said the male prisoner was her secretary. Was it not that he had come to her for the purpose of getting a post as secretary?
Witness: No, she said he was her secretary.
Cross examined bv Mr. Olley. witness said Rossell told him that he met the Duchess in consequence of advertisement. Did he also tell you that before dealing with these cheques had satisfied himself that she had a fairly good income?— No.
The evidence of Mr. Arthur Leonard Harvey, cashier at Parr's Bank, where the female prisoner had her account, was then read over, after which the accused were further remanded till Thursday next. Mr. Jenkins said he was informed that there were no further charges against the accused, and under the circumstances he asked that the bail should reduced. Mr. Garrett, however. declined, and both prisoners were given the same bail as before.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 2nd September 1911
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CHEQUE FRAUDS. DETECTIVE'S ROMANTIC STORY.
A white-haired, short woman, heavily veiled, was indicted at London Sessions yesterday in the name of Adelaide da Villano, known also the Duchess de Villano, together with Gordon Rossell, for having conspired to obtain various sums of money from Alfred Kenyon, Henry May, and Ernest James Callard.
Both the accused pleaded not guilty. In opening the case tor the prosecution, Mr. G. W. H. Jones said that it was alleged that Villiana filled in post-dated cheques on the West End branch of Farr's Bank, and induced Rossell, her secretary, to get tradesmen to cash them. A series of five worthless cheques was cashed, the female prisoner knowing perfectly well, said counsel, that her account at the bank had been closed ten months previously
The account, counsel explained. Had been opened the name the Duchess Villano, a title to which she had no right. She had also assumed a title which was second title of the real Duchess de Villano, counsel added. Detective Sergeant Birnie gave evidence that when he arrested the female prisoner she handed him certificate which she declared showed she was the Duchess Villano. It purported to be certificate of marriage between William Forbes Leslie and Adelaide lvy Elisabeth Williams. "It had been altered since was originally copied," said Sergeant Birnie.
The witness said that he further discovered in the female prisoner's possession an Italian Peerage book, with the page turned down at an entry relating to a Neapolitan noble family called Villano. Rossell when arrested said; "She gave me the cheques and asked me to cash them. She said there was money to meet them. I gave the money to the duchess and she gave my commission." At the close of the case for the prosecution.
Mr. Wallace, K.C., ruled that there was evidence of conspiracy, but that the charge of false pretences must be answered. Mr. Jenkins, for the woman, suggested that the case was for the County Court and not for criminal proceedings. The jury, after retiring for nearly half-an-hour, returned a verdict of guilty for the woman and acquitted the man of obtaining money by false pretences.
Detective-Sergeant Birnie said that in June 1906, the " Duchess" was convicted in France of fraud, and for many years she had shown herself to be an accomplished swindler. In answer to the chairman's question the detective added that in early life the woman married an officer of lndian regiment, but soon eloped with a subaltern of the same regiment, who was probably richer than her husband
A divorce followed, and she became Mrs Stanley, Williams. Her husband lavished his wealth upon her. and was received the best society. She went to Monte Carlo, where she so misbehaved herself that her husband had to divorce her. After this she came into income of about £700.
ln 1897 she married Dr. Forbes Leslie, posed the Due de Villanda. and she exploited the title every possible occasion. From that time she appeared to have commenced her swindling practices. The detective said he most state that a bad feature of the woman's case was that she was a member of a group marriage brokers.
As the Duchess of Villano, or as a lady of title, she advertised for young American ladies, who wished to be introduced into English society and wanted chaperoning. Once they got hold of a young lady the members of the gang, the detective went on, took care to surround her with impecunious and foreign gentlemen, well not always "gentlemen", and sometimes a marriage resulted. It was suggested that the prisoner should pay the costs of the case which were heavy, and in postponing sessions until next Sessions, his Lordship said no one must assume that the usual course was going to taken.
London Daily News, 12th October 1911
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ENGLAND'S OIL FIELDS. POSIBILITY OF A HOME SUPPLY OF PETROL. OIL SHALES IN THE SOUTH-WEST. England can produce much of the oil and petrol she needs, said Dr. William Forbes-Leslie the Royal Society Arts Tuesday night. In the south of England oil shales out-cropped in the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Gloucester, Berks, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Cambridge, Norfolk, Lincoln, and York. In Norfolk investigation had just revealed the presence oil-shale basin very considerable importance. On a test from a ton of shale 40 gallons of oil had been obtained. 86lb of sulphate of ammonia, and 25,000 ft of dry gas of high illuminating properties. In the near future the oil fields of the Kimmeridge outcrop (in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset) may supplying a considerable bulk of the oil and petrol
Taunton Courier 25th October 1916
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CONSPIRACY CHARGE £3000 ALLEGED TO BE INVOLVED
Further evidence for the prosecution was given at the Old Bailey to-day in the trial of James Arthur Aspinall (38), engineer, of Notting Hill Gate; William Forbes Leslie (70), a doctor, of Granville Place, London, W.; and Robert Denholm (69), artist, of Hampstead.
They are all accused of conspiring together to obtain money by false pretences. All pleaded not guilty. Leslie, it was said, was a qualified doctor who had retired from practice, and Denholm was admitted as a solicitor in Scotland many years ago. Mr G. D. Roberts, prosecuting, alleged that accused had defrauded people by putting forward that there was in existence a French Trust Fund of approximately £400,000 sterling relating to the estate of Mr Aspinall, senior, of which they were trustees, and that the idea was to convert the securities and bring the proceeds to this country and invest them.
Certain persons, said counsel, had parted with nearly £3000. No evidence had been produced that there was any Trust at all or that if there was the Trust owned shilling's worth of securities.
" A Pure Adventurer."
Reginald Edward Colley, a solicitor and a member of the firm Blount, Lynch, Petre & Co., solicitors, of Carlos Place, Grosvenor Square, London, W., said that his firm had not acted for Joseph Aspinall, father of one of the defendants, but the late Mr Sebastian Petre had had some transactions with him.
Witness said that from his investigations he was quite satisfied that there was never a Trust in France. Witness said that Joseph Aspinall was supposed to be the representative of the Trust in France.
The Judge—What was he in fact? Witness—He was pure adventurer. Was he business man?—Oh, no, he was labourer from Lancashire.
"Could Not Spell.''
The late Mr Petre said witness advanced large sums of money to Joseph Aspinall, whom, he said, could not spell. " I saw one of his letters," added Mr Colley, "it was a fearful production." Mr Colley said that Joseph Aspinall had been made bankrupt on two occasions, and was undischarged. The affairs the supposed Aspinall Trust were now being investigated by lawyers in France, he said.
Dundee Evening Telegraph. 29th January 1935
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£400,000 TRUST THAT NEVER EXISTED. Three men were sentenced at the Old Bailey, yesterday afternoon, for a fraud in connection with mythical £400,000 French trust. James Arthur Aspinall (38), engineer; and Robert Denholm (69), artist, were each sent to 21 months' imprisonment; and William Forbes Leslie (70). a doctor, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
Western Daily Press, 1st February 1935
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MEARNS DOCTOR "STRUCK OFF"
Convicted on Fraud Charge The General Medical Council, meeting in London yesterday, directed that the name William Forbes Leslie, registered as of Birkwood, Banchory. Kincardineshire, should be erased from the Medical Register. The charge against him was that he was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on January 15 of conspiring with other persons to obtain sums of money by false pretences, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. A letter was received from Leslie asking for the adjournment of his case, and stating that he intended to meet any charges against him, but to instruct solicitors from prison was a matter of the greatest difficulty.
C. J. S. Harper, the council's solicitor, quoting from a Times report, said that two other men were charged with Leslie in regard to frauds amounting to £3000. The Common Sergeant had said the men were found guilty of impudent frauds, and Leslie was the master mind and was a " dangerous and plausible criminal." Were it not for his age he would have been sent to penal servitude.
The Dundee Courier, 30 May 1935