Charles Augustus Howell
Encyclopedia
Charles Augustus Howell (10 March 1840 – 21 April 1890) was an art dealer and alleged blackmailer who is best known for persuading the poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti
to dig up the poems he buried with his wife Elizabeth Siddal
. His reputation as a blackmailer inspired Arthur Conan Doyle
's Sherlock Holmes story, Charles Augustus Milverton.
to an English
father, Alfred William Howell, and a Portuguese mother. He claimed to have aristocratic Portuguese ancestry, and would wear a red ribbon of the "Order of Christ" which he proclaimed to be an inherited family order. He moved to Britain in his youth.
In 1858 Howell left Britain shortly before his friend Felice Orsini
attempted to assassinate Napoleon III, leading to rumours that he was involved in the plot. He returned in 1864.
Howell was the friend and business agent of both Rossetti and John Ruskin
. Ruskin employed him as a secretary between 1865 and 1868. Ruskin trusted Howell with "affairs needing delicate handling and a wise discretion." This was usually to manage Ruskin's discreet charitable donations. But Howell sought increasingly to obtain complete control of Ruskin's finances. Eventually Edward Burne-Jones
persuaded Ruskin to sever his connection with Howell.
According to Rossetti's brother William Michael Rossetti
, Howell was a skillful salesman "with his open manner, his winning address, with his exhaustless gift of amusing talk, not innocent of high colouring and actual blague - Howell was unsurpassable". His ability to exploit people's "hobbies and weaknesses" secured Rossetti several commissions. Howell organised the exhumation of Siddal and the retrieval of the poems in 1869, an event that Rossetti insisted that he keep absolutely secret.
Howell's connection with the Rossetti family is said to have ended when he was alleged to have persuaded his lover Rosa Corder
to create fake Rossetti drawings. In 1883 Corder gave birth to Howell's daughter, who was christened Beatrice Ellen Howell.
public house
with his throat slit, with a ten-shilling coin in his mouth. The presence of the coin was known to be a criticism of those guilty of slander. Reports are inconsistent about whether or not he was found already dead or died in the hospital to which he was taken. The embarrassment of an inquest and police investigation was avoided when his death was ruled to have resulted from "pneumonic phthisis
", the slit throat having been inflicted perimortem or posthumously. Numerous, carefully filed, letters from high-placed people were found at his home, leading to much speculation.
described Howell as "a base, treacherous, unscrupulous and malignant fellow". Hall Caine
called him a "soldier of fortune" and Algernon Charles Swinburne
said he was "the vilest wretch I ever came across". Other artists were more generous. Ford Madox Brown
said he was "one of the biggest liars in existence" and "half mad", but also "good natured". Whistler said he was a "wonderful man... genius... splendidly flamboyant." His biographer, Helen Rossetti Angeli, could find nothing to support the accusations of blackmail.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
to dig up the poems he buried with his wife Elizabeth Siddal
Elizabeth Siddal
Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal was an English artists' model, poet and artist who was painted and drawn extensively by artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including Walter Deverell, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and most of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's early paintings of women.-Early...
. His reputation as a blackmailer inspired Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's Sherlock Holmes story, Charles Augustus Milverton.
Life
Howell was born in Oporto, PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
father, Alfred William Howell, and a Portuguese mother. He claimed to have aristocratic Portuguese ancestry, and would wear a red ribbon of the "Order of Christ" which he proclaimed to be an inherited family order. He moved to Britain in his youth.
In 1858 Howell left Britain shortly before his friend Felice Orsini
Felice Orsini
Felice Orsini was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the Carbonari who tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.-Early:Felice Orsini was born at Meldola in Romagna, then part of the Papal States....
attempted to assassinate Napoleon III, leading to rumours that he was involved in the plot. He returned in 1864.
Howell was the friend and business agent of both Rossetti and John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. Ruskin employed him as a secretary between 1865 and 1868. Ruskin trusted Howell with "affairs needing delicate handling and a wise discretion." This was usually to manage Ruskin's discreet charitable donations. But Howell sought increasingly to obtain complete control of Ruskin's finances. Eventually Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
persuaded Ruskin to sever his connection with Howell.
According to Rossetti's brother William Michael Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti was an English writer and critic.-Biography:Born in London, he was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and the brother of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Georgina Rossetti.He was one of the seven founder members of the...
, Howell was a skillful salesman "with his open manner, his winning address, with his exhaustless gift of amusing talk, not innocent of high colouring and actual blague - Howell was unsurpassable". His ability to exploit people's "hobbies and weaknesses" secured Rossetti several commissions. Howell organised the exhumation of Siddal and the retrieval of the poems in 1869, an event that Rossetti insisted that he keep absolutely secret.
Howell's connection with the Rossetti family is said to have ended when he was alleged to have persuaded his lover Rosa Corder
Rosa Corder
Rosa Frances Corder was a Victorian artist and artist's model. She was the lover of Charles Augustus Howell, who is alleged to have persuaded her to create forgeries of drawings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.-Career:...
to create fake Rossetti drawings. In 1883 Corder gave birth to Howell's daughter, who was christened Beatrice Ellen Howell.
Death
Howell died in 1890 under strange circumstances. He was found close to a ChelseaChelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
with his throat slit, with a ten-shilling coin in his mouth. The presence of the coin was known to be a criticism of those guilty of slander. Reports are inconsistent about whether or not he was found already dead or died in the hospital to which he was taken. The embarrassment of an inquest and police investigation was avoided when his death was ruled to have resulted from "pneumonic phthisis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
", the slit throat having been inflicted perimortem or posthumously. Numerous, carefully filed, letters from high-placed people were found at his home, leading to much speculation.
Reputation
The circumstances of Howell's death and the many rumours about his dishonesty and double dealings led to the accusation that he had used letters in his possession to blackmail prominent persons. His associates in the art world were divided. Edward Burne-JonesEdward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
described Howell as "a base, treacherous, unscrupulous and malignant fellow". Hall Caine
Hall Caine
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE , usually known as Hall Caine, was a Manx author. He is best known as a novelist and playwright of the late Victorian and the Edwardian eras. In his time he was exceedingly popular, and at the peak of his success his novels outsold those of his...
called him a "soldier of fortune" and Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
said he was "the vilest wretch I ever came across". Other artists were more generous. Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painting was Work...
said he was "one of the biggest liars in existence" and "half mad", but also "good natured". Whistler said he was a "wonderful man... genius... splendidly flamboyant." His biographer, Helen Rossetti Angeli, could find nothing to support the accusations of blackmail.