Seeking info about Benjamin Bathurst

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Can any doper recommend to me a book or web site that contains some accurate information about the disappearance of Benjamin Bathurst?

I did a web search a while ago, but all the sites I found were either as superficial as my own knowledge, or leaned way too much to the paranormal.

Thank you, one and all.

[Q.E.D]

The Mystery of Benjamin Bathhurst
In 1809, Sir Benjamin Bathurst was sent as the British ambassador to the court of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Vienna. Britain and Austria were forming an alliance against Napoleon, and Bathurst was helping to draft the terms of the alliance.

On 25 November 1809, Bathurst was returning to Britain, crossing the continent by coach, when he stopped at an inn in the little German town of Perleberg. As his valet and his secretary stood by the door of the coach, Bathurst went forward to examine the horses to make sure they were fit to continue the journey.

After seeing to the ones on the near side, he stepped around in front of the horses to inspect the other side. At that point, Benjamin Bathurst, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the British Empire, disappeared from history. He did not return from the far side of the coach. He did not walk away from the coach because he would have been seen by someone in the inn yard. He simply vanished.

The Mystery Deepens
To add to the Bathurst mystery, two months after he disappeared, on 23 January 1810, a notice appeared in a Hamburg newspaper saying that Bathurst was safe and well and that his friends had received a letter from him. It was not true, however; his friends had not heard from him at all, and they never did. Who put the notice in the paper and why is not known either.

From this page.

[Northern_Piper]

For an excellent fictional treatment, see “He walked around the horses” by H. Beam Piper (no relation). Complete with a twist at the end.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Q.E.D.: Thanx for your effort, but that was one of the pages I examined during my search. I’m hoping for something more detailed.

Northern Piper: I’ve read that story, and you’re right; it is excellent.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

bump

[Q.E.D]

What more information do you want? I don’t believe there is anything more known. Sort of the definition of the word “mystery”, you see.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Well, Q.E.D., I would like something that provides more details on the investigations done, any analyses of why Bonaparte’s regime would have or would not have kidnapped Bathurst, rational possibilities for the disappearance; reactions in England (if I had been George III and sane at the time, I would have been royally pissed :D). Thanx for your help. I will have to just keep on looking.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

BUMP