10 eccentric cranks who spent fortunes on their quirks

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Often, really wealthy people have their own outlandish quirks. Someone does not like people, spending all the time alone, while someone adores evil jokes. Others are even ready to spend every last cent to fulfill a momentary desire. History is full of tales of British people who can be called crazy and crazy, spending money on stupid things.

1. Henry Cyril Paget

Henry Cyril Paget loved to put on a show for the public, where his main feature was not only outrageous outfits, but also quite extraordinary behavior. After the death of his father, he got a very impressive fortune, which the young man decided to waste with pleasure. During his shopping trips in London, he walked between the rows with a poodle in his arms, adorned with pink ribbons. He spent hundreds of thousands of feet on all sorts of nonsense, including making his cars smell patchouli instead of exhaust fumes. In addition, Henry was happy to spend money on jewelry, jewelry, clothes and other trinkets.

In addition to all this, he equipped a theater for one hundred and fifty seats in his own house, where he regularly performed with hired troupes, and also went on tour with them almost all over the world. His orientation has always remained in doubt, even when Henry married his cousin, because after a short time the marriage was annulled. Nevertheless, he presented her with expensive jewelry and looked at them with pleasure on her naked body.

And it is not at all surprising that, leading such a lifestyle, the "dancing marquis" went bankrupt, owing millions of pounds to creditors and shopkeepers, especially jewelers. To pay off debts, he organized a grand auction, which sold everything from silk coats and jewelry to dogs and cars.

2. Lord Roqueby

Lord Roqueby was born into the family of a wealthy landowner. He graduated, studied at Westminster and then studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge. While some of his endeavors were certainly groundbreaking, he also had his fair share of quirks. Beards weren't popular in his day, but that didn't stop him. He grew a beard down to his knees and barely cut it.

He crucified about the benefits of cold water and went swimming in the sea every day. In addition, Roqueby built a glass bath filled with water from a nearby source. The lord also believed that people should drink more water, so he installed public water fountains and paid all those who drank from them.

He refused to drink coffee, tea or alcohol, so he diluted his drink only with meat broth. And yet, he loved to sit for several hours in the bathroom, eating lamb legs. The lord did not allow his tenants to grow barley, believing that all taxes from the breweries would go to support the war in France, and he was an ardent opponent of the situation. He also strongly condemned doctors and even threatened family members who tried to hire nurses and doctors to care for him in his old age.

Despite his eccentricity, Rockby was rumored to be a relatively pleasant man who read rather boring poetry to his infrequent guests.

3. John Mitton

John Mitton was one of those children who were kicked out of Westminster for a fight with a teacher, and then kicked out of another school. Despite his distaste for academia, he eventually became party leader and continued his studies at Cambridge, bringing with him 2,000 bottles of port. Unsurprisingly, he didn't get his degree.

Receiving a very impressive income, he used this money to bribe voters and spent almost a million pounds to get into parliament … and then soon resigned.

In addition to politics, Mitton liked to stage "show shows." Once he rode a horse into the hotel, then galloped up the stairs to the balcony, where he jumped over the visitors and jumped out the window. He liked to encourage children in the city to behave recklessly by giving them money for all sorts of pranks. All this, of course, was only to pass the time until he began to hunt foxes in the nude.

Although he loved hunting, he was undoubtedly an animal lover. He had a huge kennel, in which about two thousand dogs arrived. And all would be fine, but from time to time he fed them all expensive steaks and champagne, and he allowed his beloved horse to roam the corridors of his own house.

Much of his behavior can be attributed to excessive alcohol consumption. Every day he drank about eight bottles of port and washed them down with brandy. And this is only a small part of what he got up to. John once rode a bear until it bit off a piece of his leg and attacked the servants.

4. William Cavendish

William Cavendish was the fifth Duke of Portland, and he was not a fan of social life or society. When he traveled, he did not leave his carriage, trying once again not to catch the eye of passers-by. William wore a huge hat and walked with an umbrella so people couldn't look him in the eye. He had about half a thousand workers, and if one of them offered him a cap, he would immediately be fired.

At first, William tried to block the public roads that passed through his property to keep people out. When the government intervened, he simply built an extensive network of underground passages, including one nearly 1.5 miles long.

His office had mailboxes for workers' inbound and outbound letters, so he didn't have to talk to anyone. A special apartment, which he used during the day, was equipped with a hatch in the floor, through which he could go down to the lower rooms and thus wander through his underground tunnels so that the servants did not know if he was in the house or left it.

5. Henry de la Poer Beresford

Henry de la Poer Beresford was the third Marquess of Waterford, and he was absolutely nuts. A notorious Anglo-Irish savage, drunkard and curmudgeon, he had a fondness for drinking, which further pushed him to antics. He often drank and beat the guards at night. He really enjoyed seeing other people suffer. He once wrote a letter to the railway company, offering them ten thousand pounds for organizing a train wreck so that he could laugh at the victims and take pleasure in the incident.

He was an indiscriminate troublemaker who once opened a shop in the Hay Market and handed out mugs filled with gin to people. Everyone was so drunk that a real riot broke out, which, of course, really liked the main instigator.

One of the funniest acts of tomfoolery came after Henry was summoned to the courtyard after riding a horse in a densely populated street. He came to the yard on his horse and insisted that his horse be interrogated because it was the only one who knew how fast he was going.

6. Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt Wilson

Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt Wilson was equally creative and talented, eccentric and extraordinary. But Lord Berners (as he was called) became famous for his musical and writing works mainly after his death. And throughout his life, the baronet kept strange pets, such as the giraffe, who drank afternoon tea with him. He dyed the feathers of his favorite pigeons in all colors of the rainbow, and his dogs walked around the house in pearl necklaces. One day, he threw his beloved dog out of a window to see if he could teach her to fly. It is worth noting the fact that the dog escaped with a slight fright and did not suffer much.

He hung signs all over the house with strange inscriptions: "crippled here" or "people who commit suicide from this tower do it at their own peril and risk." Hugh also surprised his guests at dinner with colored food. In addition, he donned a pig's head mask and drove around town in his Rolls Royce, frightening the locals.

7. Francis Egerton

Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater, was born to an Anglican bishop. He was known for hosting sumptuous dinners for his dogs and cats, and he dressed them in fancy clothes and petite shoes. If the dogs misbehaved, he forced them to wear the clothes of his servants and forbade them to see him for a week. When they were not sitting in the kennel, a servant was assigned to each pet to fulfill all their needs.

In addition, Francis put on a new pair of shoes every day, after lining them up. Despite the fact that Edgerton lived in France for many years, he never mastered French, so he conducted all his business in Latin. On top of that, he was an avid hunter who kept birds with clipped wings in his garden so that at any moment he could shoot down the "prey" he liked.

8. "Duffy" Daphne Guinness

"Duffy" Daphne Guinness was born into a Guinness family. As a child, she swam in Salvador Dali's pool, which he constantly filled with live lobsters. She was also friends with Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger. At forty-eight, she openly begins an affair with the married French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, almost two decades her senior.

Married at nineteen, she received twenty million dollars in a divorce and decided to re-create herself and her image.

Guinness fashion is extremely outlandish, including ten thousand dollar flat shoes. On top of that, she will never wear what someone has worn from the stars before, or what has been seen in advertising. Duffy worked with Sean Lean on the creation of armor in white gold and diamonds, because as a child, she dreamed of becoming Jeanne D'Arc.

9. George Sitwell

The heir to an aristocratic family, Sir George Sitwell was a man who created strange inventions to amuse himself. He created a toothbrush that played music while he brushed his teeth.

George was indeed obsessed with health, but his obsession was never grounded in reality. Whenever he traveled, he carried with him a huge box of medicine and deliberately mislabeled each bottle and vial to discourage anyone who might encroach on his valuable treasure.

It is also worth mentioning that the sign on the door of his house read:.

George wrote a book for insomniacs about the various positions he took during a sleepless night. In addition to all this, he insisted that his daughter do gymnastics, because, based on his own beliefs and statements, a man is able to love only that woman who is plastic and flexible.

10. Sir Tutton Sykes

Sir Tutton Sykes was an accomplished boxer and jockey. Every morning he woke up at five thirty and for a certain time paced up and down his library. After his morning walk, he ate breakfast with strong beer and heavy cream.

Despite living in the 19th century, he dressed in 18th century clothing and used outdated tools and furniture until his death. Sykes passed on some of his oddities to his son, who had a soft spot for pudding. One day his house caught fire, but he was busy enjoying pudding, so he did not rush to call the firemen until he finished his meal.

Continuing the theme of the quirks of the rich and famous, read also about Joseph Haydn's fun, Jonathan Swift, Diogenes and other famous personalities.