4105 Sjt. E. Rawlins, 2nd Dragoons.
Edward Percy Rawlins, the fifth child of Walter and Fanny Rawlins, was born in Pewsey, near Marlborough in Wiltshire, on 21st February 1876. Walter Rawlins was a farmer and cattle dealer and was prosperous enough to be able to send Edward to Newbury Grammar School, where he is listed among the scholars on the 1891 Census. Edward served an apprenticeship with a Mr Biggs of Tunbridge Wells for two years and then on 9th May 1895, at the age of 19 years and 3 months, enlisted in the Royal Scots Greys, agreeing to serve 7 years with the Colours and 5 years in the Reserve. His Attestation Papers describe him as just over 5' 11" tall, and weighing 160lbs with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He had scars on his left elbow and the palm of his left hand. His religion was given as Church of England and his profession as shopman.
Edward seems to have made slow but steady progress with his army career, being appointed Lance Corporal on 9th March 1897, granted his first Good Conduct Pay on 9th May the same year and being promoted to Corporal on 19th October 1898. In November 1899, he went with the Regiment to South Africa where he would serve for one and a half years, earning entitlement to the Queen's South Africa Medal with five clasps. He was appointed Lance Sergeant on 17th December 1900 and promoted to Sergeant on 3rd April 1901.
Edward returned to England on 25th April 1901. A further period of home service ensued during which he married Lilly Rose Wasley at St Stephen's Church, Wandsworth, on 14th September 1903. Finally, on 7th August 1905, Edward was transferred to the Army Reserve.
Following his discharge from the army, Edward and his wife moved to Hawthorn Farm, Blythburgh, near Southwold in Suffolk, where he worked as a farmer. On 9th November 1918, Edward, now aged 42, joined the Royal Air Force as a Private, Second Class, but would only serve for six days as the Great War finally came to an end and his services were no longer required. In the 1920s, trading on his experience in the Scots Greys, he successfully ran the Southwold Riding Academy and soon became a well known member of Southwold society.
Following his discharge from the army, Edward and his wife moved to Hawthorn Farm, Blythburgh, near Southwold in Suffolk, where he worked as a farmer. On 9th November 1918, Edward, now aged 42, joined the Royal Air Force as a Private, Second Class, but would only serve for six days as the Great War finally came to an end and his services were no longer required. In the 1920s, trading on his experience in the Scots Greys, he successfully ran the Southwold Riding Academy and soon became a well known member of Southwold society.
The story now jumps to the summer of 1933, when a certain Major Leonard T. Crane arrived in Southwold and checked in to the fashionable Marlborough Hotel. Good looking, urbane and with a winning smile and a military bearing, Major Crane soon made a favourable impression on the local gentry with whom he cultivated connections. The Major had an interesting story to tell. He claimed that he had been the co-litigant, together with George V, in a legal action against the National Provincial Bank for the sum of £850 million. The involvement of the monarchy had made the case politically sensitive and, as a result, it was held in camera before Lord Sankey, the Lord High Chancellor of England. Crane's successful pleading of his own case had resulted in the case being won but due to a bureaucratic mistake the £10 million coming to him had been paid into the Chancery Court. Now, Crane went on to explain, releasing his funds from Chancery would require a costly legal process, which he could not at present afford. However, anyone who wished to contribute to the legal costs would be recompensed many times over once the money was released.
Not only was Crane a most persuasive speaker but he had a wealth of official looking documents to back up his story and, at a time of serious economic depression, his story was readily accepted by people who perhaps should have known better. Around 30 of Southwold's residents, including Edward Rawlins, who invested £650 in the enterprise, were taken in by this incredible tale. It was only when Crane came into contact with the Rev. R. N. Pike, Southwold's vicar and a man with some knowledge of the law, that suspicions were aroused. Realising the game was up, Crane fled to London and disappeared. He was eventually tracked down by the "Sunday Graphic" newspaper and the truth finally emerged. Major Leonard T. Crane was a complete fiction. His real name was David Percy Caplice, a timber salesman and bricklayer. The whole sorry saga reached its conclusion in October 1934 when Caplice was found guilty of obtaining money by forgery and false pretences at Suffolk Assizes in Ipswich and sentenced to four years hard labour. His victims were left to bear their losses as stoically as possible. A detailed account of this elaborate hoax can be read here: The Wenhaston Millions.
The whole affair seems to have hit Edward Rawlins hard. He went into a slow decline and died two years later on 14th June 1936, at the age of 60. His estate was valued at £14080 5s 6d, a not inconsiderable sum in those days, and proof perhaps that he wasn't completely financially ruined by the lure of the "Wenhaston Millions."
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