British Scoundrels, Villains and Eccentrics Quiz / Test | People

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1. According to one commentator this rogue (my description) who carried on his nefarious activities for nearly forty years 'was one of the most damaging spies ever to operate in Britain. His crimes against his country are such an indictment of wartime security that every effort has been made to cover them up.' He managed to bluff the security services for which he worked on at least eleven different occasions when his links to other known spies was investigated. Who was this traitor, spy and rogue?

Answer: Anthony Blunt

My quotation is from Chapman Pincher's book 'Their Trade is Treachery' (1981). The view that Blunt was anything but second rank as a spy was not shared by Pincher.

Blunt was a noted art historian and was rewarded with a knighthood by the Queen for his services, including his work as surveyor of the royal pictures and drawings.

Of course, he had rendered inestimably valuable service to the royal family in 1945 when he stole the German documents showing the Duke of Windsor's pro-Nazi activities and brought them back to Britain.

2. This 17th century villain, as he subsequently proved to be, was described by the famous historian Lord Macaulay as 'the greatest perjurer in history ... His voice, uplifted in accusation, instituted a period of terror unparalleled in the history of an ancient people'. Do you know who this most evil of villains was?

Answer: Titus Oates

Titus Oates (1649-1705) could be described as one of the most pernicious liars ever to live. His many false accusations helped foment the religious and civil unrest during the reigns of Charles II and James II. Despite his very dubious past, including discharge from the navy because of sodomy, expulsion from two Cambridge colleges, his so called 'Popish Plot' was at first widely believed and he was granted a substantial government pension. Eventually unmasked, he was flogged (at least 700 strokes, which he survived, fined �100,000 which was an incredible sum worth many millions of pounds in today's money values) lived to marry an heiress, went bankrupt and died a natural death.

Some historians have made the case for Israel Tonge (sometimes Tongue) to have been the real brains and Oates merely the dupe. Despite the rise and fall in his fortunes Oates was still receiving a Crown pension at his death in 1705.

The other characters Habernfeld and Munday were lesser known but all attempted to cash in on the political uncertainties in London after the Great Fire (which was universally blamed on the Jesuits).

3. This question illustrates British eccentricity but from a different angle. I'll give you the facts and you tell me the fiction. This hotel proprietor owned a hotel in Torquay. He was known to be extremely rude to guests and staff alike. Apparently a Monty Python film was being filmed nearby and, three of its stars, briefly, stayed there. His character subsequently was used to create a comedic character of some legendary status. Who was this eccentric character?

Answer: Basil Fawlty

Basil Fawlty was the principal character in the British TV classic comedy 'Fawlty Towers'.

Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese and Eric Idle had all stayed at this Torquay hotel while filming Monty Python. They all fell foul of the proprietor's sharp tongue and so the BBC classic comedy 'Fawlty towers' was born.

The proprietor's wife allegedly used to lock him in a broom cupboard when breakfast was being served as she feared the alternative was to let him in the kitchen and so abuse the staff that she would have no-one to serve dinners by the evening.

4. This insurance swindler was brought to justice in the UK in 1967 after several years of insurance frauds. He had the ability to auto simulate the symptoms of a heart attack and used this skill to escape close scrutiny on more than one occasion. He even had the gall to appear on British TV to defend his record. When his companies were forcibly wound up over 250,000 motorists were left with no insurance. So do you know who this scoundrel was?

Answer: Emile Savundra

Emile Savundra (1923-1976) appeared on British television and although cross questioned by David Frost and an audience of many of those who had lost claims still brazened out his position.

5. This barrister educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford lived from 1840 to until he drowned himself in the Thames. Allegedly a sexual deviant, his death coincided with the end of the Jack the Ripper Murders. Do you know who this rogue was?

Answer: Montague Druitt

Although not proven to be the Ripper it is interesting that Druitt's name has been removed from the records of Winchester College.

My thanks to sharp eyed benniebenbenny for correcting my error here.

6. During the seventeenth century there was a Europe-wide fear of witchcraft and there were persecutions of likely suspects in many countries including England. One particular character claimed to have been appointed by the Puritan Parliament of the day (during the English Civil War) to be a 'Witch Finder General'. He used water and other tortures to wring confessions from his victims. Can you identify this villain?

Answer: Matthew Hopkins

Matthew Hopkins mainly operated in south-east England, in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex and was responsible for the torture and deaths of many hundreds of people he accused of witchcraft.

According to legend he was eventually drowned by his own test of witchcraft by disgruntled villagers though this is unlikely to be true.

7. Throughout history pirates of course have been recognised as true villains. British pirates have been amongst the forefront of unpleasantness. This question is about the 18th century Welsh born pirate who is frequently credited by many historians to have been the origin of the phrase "The Jolly Roger" from his habit of wearing a crimson coat and for his personal flag which was black with two skulls. Do you know he was?

Answer: Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts

For four years 'Black Bart', a Pembrokeshire born Welshman, led a career of evil on the high seas, especially around Martinique (whose Governor he captured and hanged). He took over 300 ships and cargoes, ransomed passengers and murdered many others.

8. This question is about an aristocrat who was so shy that he had a private tunnel built from his ancestral home to the nearest railway station so that he could be driven in his blacked out coach through his tunnel to the station, have himself, inside his carriage, loaded aboard the train and transported to London to his town house. So do you know who this was?

Answer: Duke of Portland

Portland so disliked human beings that he banned all visitors from his home at Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. In addition to his private tunnel to the railway station he also had built a series of subterranean rooms so that he could live underground as much as possible. He had an underground ballroom was built and a billiard room so big it could house a dozen billiard tables. These rooms and various others were connected by 15 miles of tunnels. It has been estimated that these building projects cost in excess of �3 million pounds at the time which would translate to an absolutely incredible amount at today's prices. He also gave work to 18,000 staff on his construction projects.

I heartily recommend this book if you want to learn even more about his man of mystery:
'The Disappearing Duke - The Improbable Tale of an Eccentric English Family' by Andrew Crofts

9. This aristocrat liked being in the water so much that his servants sometimes had to carry him from the sea in a near unconscious state. He had a massive water chamber surmounted by a glass dome built at his home near Hythe (in Kent) and lay floating in this pool for hours at a time even entertaining his guests to dinner from this position. Can you identify this man?

Answer: Lord Rokeby

Lord Rokeby (1712-1799) studied at Westminster and at Cambridge where he was chosen a Fellow of his college. He had travelled widely and became enamoured of the German spas and Nordic ideas of saunas and cold douches. Lord Rokeby grew the most enormous beard, against the fashion of his day, ignored the embarrassment of his family and continued his obsession with water, drinking copious quantities of it daily throughout his very long life.

10. One to titillate the curiousity of our American friends. This aristocrat returned to his ancestral home from his honeymoon with his new American bride only to take to his bed for the next several weeks. An event he said every Lord ************* (not the right number of letters) had done ever since an ancestor lost the 13 Colonies. So, do you know who this was?

Answer: Lord North

To his newly married wife's surprise Lord North remained in bed from October 9th until March 22nd each year. A large dining table was brought into Lord North's bedchamber so that he could continue to entertain people to dinner during these months. Apparently no Lord North had got out of bed from October to March since his ancestor (the British Prime Minister) had lost the American Colonies.

Source: Author bracklaman

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

British Scoundrels, Villains and Eccentrics Quiz

Britain has had it share of rogues, scoundrels and eccentrics. My challenge to you is to identify the villain or eccentric from my clues.

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