This is Thorgill: a tributary of the River Seven, the main drainage for Rosedale. While technically a watercourse, it is perhaps better known as a hamlet, once even managing to sustain a Methodist Chapel.
Thorgill briefly staggered into the national spotlight in the 1950s, not through any great achievement, but thanks to the antics of a peculiar individual the newspapers, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, dubbed “The Rosedale Hermit.”
George Baxter arrived from Bradford around 1932. Some claimed he had been a successful wool merchant. Others suggested an Army background, likely with a commission. Either way, he spoke clearly, appeared educated, and for a short while was taken seriously. That changed in the late 1930s, when he decided the rest of the world was beneath him and took up life as a recluse.
He fortified his modest ironstone miner’s cottage, grandly titled “The Woodlands,” and nailed up a sign proclaiming that he was Lieutenant-General Sir George Baxter, Bart. Not content with that, other bits of paper announced further upgrades: Lord Rosedale, H.M. Ali Pasha George Duval, self-appointed Shah of Zanzibar. As Shah, he saw no reason to pay rates or anything else. Apparently, mere mortals had no jurisdiction over him1Daily Mirror – Saturday 13 July 19462Bradford Observer – Saturday 13 July 1946.
But why stop at one fantasy title when you can have the full set? Lord Warwick, Rear Vice-Admiral, Lord High Judge of Britain, Chief Constable of the North Riding, and, for good measure, a lifetime general in the Japanese Army. After two years he holed himself up inside his cottage, claiming to be fending off wolves. Shopping was delegated to a local, with instructions left on the doorstep—because naturally, the Shah did not mingle3Bradford Observer – Saturday 03 November 1956.
His refusal to pay the £26 rates bill went down poorly with the council, and worse still after someone fired at the two bailiffs sent to collect. One of them was peppered with buckshot. The police, ever decisive, responded by doing absolutely nothing4Aberdeen Press and Journal – Thursday 07 April 1949.
Eventually a private detective was summoned from London. He suggested lobbing tear gas down the chimney, but the police—suddenly concerned—declined5Daily Express – Tuesday 19 October 19546Daily Express – Thursday 21 October 1954.
Baxter died in 1959 of a heart attack7Lancashire Evening Post – Saturday 07 March 19598Daily Mirror – Monday 09 March 1959. Whether the council ever got their £26 remains a mystery. The police returned, this time to stand guard outside his cottage, not in case of wolves, but because of a painting found inside—apparently worth £30,000. The image depicted Christ carrying the cross, and experts whispered that it might be a long-lost work by 16th-century master Sebastiano del Piombo9Manchester Evening News – Saturday 30 September 193310Daily Express – Friday 22 October 1954.
Baxter was said to have acquired it from a man who made his fortune in South African gold and then pottered about Italy collecting art. It had been “restored” in 1933, by Dutch experts who declared it genuine, and valued it at £35,000. It even made a fleeting appearance in Middlesbrough11Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette – Monday 02 October 1933.
- 1Daily Mirror – Saturday 13 July 1946
- 2Bradford Observer – Saturday 13 July 1946
- 3Bradford Observer – Saturday 03 November 1956
- 4Aberdeen Press and Journal – Thursday 07 April 1949
- 5Daily Express – Tuesday 19 October 1954
- 6Daily Express – Thursday 21 October 1954
- 7Lancashire Evening Post – Saturday 07 March 1959
- 8Daily Mirror – Monday 09 March 1959
- 9Manchester Evening News – Saturday 30 September 1933
- 10Daily Express – Friday 22 October 1954
- 11Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette – Monday 02 October 1933
Leave a Reply