Article Berners Street Hoax
Theodore Hook
(1788-1841)In 1810 London was the largest, wealthiest city in the world, linked by trade with every continent, and fed by the manufacturing might of northern British cities such as Liverpool and Manchester. Almost anything could be obtained in its shops, and on November 10 all of this mercantile abundance was focused for one brief day upon a single residential address located in a sleepy, middle-class neighborhood: 54 Berners Street.
It began at nine o’clock in the morning when Mrs. Tottenham, the unsuspecting occupant of that address, answered her door and was greeted by a coalman delivering her an order of coal. Mrs. Tottenham hadn’t ordered any coal, but she thought nothing of it. After all, such mix-ups occur all the time.
Then more delivery men began to arrive bearing everything imaginable from the city’s huge markets: furniture, musical instruments, flowers, bread, fish, fresh vegetables, a wedding cake, and even tanks of lager piled high on a brewer’s dray.
Just when it seemed that there was nothing left in the city to deliver to her front door, tradesmen began to show up claiming that their services had been requested: chimney sweeps, physicians, dentists, wig-makers, gardeners, housemaids, undertakers. The list went on and on.
Finally, dignitaries began to arrive. The Governor of the Bank of England showed up, searching for the widow who had written him of her intent to settle a sizeable endowment on the Bank. The Archbishop of Canterbury was close behind, followed by prominent businessmen, cabinet ministers, Dukes, and finally the Lord Mayor of London.
By this time, so many were people were crowded into the narrow street that it was hard even to move. Somehow a cart was knocked over, fighting broke out, and a near riot ensued. It was well past dark by the time the crowd began to thin out.
When the dust had all settled, two men emerged from a neighboring house, shook hands, and exchanged a guinea. The two men were Theodore Hook, a writer of popular comic operas, and his friend Samuel Beazley. Hook had bet Beazley a guinea that he could transform any house in London into the most talked about address in the city within a week. Hundreds of letters later, Hook won his bet. Although he eventually confessed to being the mastermind behind the hoax, he never faced any punishment for it.
References
- Short bio of Theodore Hook at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jhook.htm