THE KING OF CORSICA

See Also: FOREIGN RELATIONS; THE INDENTURED EARL; THE KING OF LAMPEDUSA; REDONDA

In part, the British tradition of offering a haven to those people who are being persecuted in their own lands was born out of a wish to antagonise the French and the Spanish states and to thwart their imperial activities. For much of the 18^thC Corsican patriots were a favoured cause in London. In this instance, the colonial power was the Republic of Genoa.

Theodor von Neuhoff was born the offspring of a Westphalian aristocrat who had become declassé through his marriage to a draper's daughter. Von Neuhoff fils led a rootless, feckless, if well-connected life. His transience was sometimes prompted by his having amassed substantial debts in a particular place. His travels took him back and forth across Western Europe; he spent time in both London and Italy. In the late 1710s he was associated with Cardinal Giulio Alberoni and the Swedish-employed diplomat Baron Georg von Görtz. The men were seeking to use the Jacobite cause as a tool against King George I, Britain's newly established Hanoverian monarch.

In 1732 von Neuhoff tried to exploit the tensions between Genoa and its Corsican province. As part of the exercise, he claimed to be a British aristocrat. As a result of this episode, the Corsican rebel leadership became aware of who he was.

Drawing on his talent for inversion, von Neuhoff flipped his Jacobite associations of the late 1710s into a correspondence with King George II. In this, he sought to disavow any connection to the Stuart cause. In 1735 the monarch became besotted with Amalie von Wallmoden, who was to be his mistress for the rest of his life. She was a kinswoman of the Westphalian.

In early 1736 von Neuhoff boarded a British vessel in Tunis. The ship's captain was under the impression that the man was acting as an agent of the British Crown. The craft deposited the adventurer and a cargo of arms upon Corsica. There, von Neuhoff contacted the rebels and stated that he was willing to be their king. The Corsicans did not take him at face value but they appreciated that he might be able to raise the profile of their cause across Europe. Therefore, they played along with him. He had a coronation and then set about bestowing titles and membership of his Order of Deliverance. The rebels kept him at a distance from the substantive business of fighting the Genoese. By the autumn it was apparent that humouring him was no longer of benefit to them. The monarch appreciated the change in his circumstances and slunk off the island.

Von Neuhoff was to make two subsequent attempts to regain his throne. These were to be backed by Dutch merchants who saw the potential of developing a friendly entrepôt in the region. During his 1743 try he managed to co-opt the British representative at Leghorn and two Royal Navy vessels. This prompted Horace Mann, London senior diplomat in the region, to make it clear that the fellow s actions were in no way supported by Britain. The Westphalian's attempt failed.

In 1749 von Neuhoff moved to London. His cosmopolitan connections eased his introduction into society. For a while he was of considerable interest to the fashionable world. Among those who took note of him was Horace Walpole, who was a close friend of Mann. However, other novelties came along and the monarch ceased to be of general interest. In the interim, he had amassed debts that totalled several hundred pounds. For these, at the end of the year, he was incarcerated in the King's Bench Prison.

Walpole maintained a concern about the sovereign and in 1756 secured his release. As part of the process von Neuhoff was required to make over to his creditors his only asset - the Kingdom of Corsica. Within days of regaining his freedom he died. His corpse would have been buried in a pauper's grave but for the intervention of a Mr Wright of Compton Street, who stated that he was willing to pay the funeral expenses of a king - once. The monarch's body was interred in the graveyard of St Anne's Soho.

Von Neuhoff's death did not end the Corsican tale. While he had been in prison, one of his most frequent visitors had been Felice Frederick. Following his majesty's death, Frederick declared that he was von Neuhoff's son and thus the rightful heir to the Corsican throne. There had been no mention of any kinship in the correspondence that the pair had written to one another while the Westphalian had been alive.

That Frederick was not British was patent, however, his actual origins were a mystery. The Genoese authorities had more reason than any other party to try to ascertain who he really was. They concluded that he was a Polish-born confidence trickster. Whatever the truth of the matter was, Frederick persisted with his claim. He lobbied the government, and any other party whom he thought might be receptive, for there to be a major British intervention in Corsica. One was not forthcoming.

From time to time the monarch would disappear to Europe. Meanwhile, his regal debts accumulated. In 1797 he committed suicide. A coroner ruled that, at the time of his death, he had been in a state of lunacy. His corpse was buried next to that of his father .

Location: 91 Berwick Street, W1F 0BP. The pub used to be known as The King of Corsica. In 2003 it was called The Endurance. (turquoise, brown)

The King's Bench Prison, 203 Borough High Street, SE1 1JA. Disappeared.

Northumberland Street, WC2N 5DA (grey, blue)

Queen s Buildings, Scovell Road, SE1 1PS. The street was erected on part of the site.

St Anne's Soho, Wardour Street, W1D 6QU (orange, turquoise)

David Backhouse 2024