Author:
‘Capt. Lahrbush’ [Frederick Lahrbush] (d. 1877), English fraudster, Australian convict, New York confidence-trickster and pretended centenarian
Publication details:
In another hand: ‘Written Oct 7. 1870.’ [New York.]
During Lahrbush’s lifetime William John Thoms, in his ‘Human Longevity’ (1873), described his claim to have been born in 1766 as ‘the most barefaced case of pretended centenarianism which has ever come under my notice’. ‘Capt. Lahrbush’, who claimed to have been born in 1766, ended his days in New York. He also claimed to have guarded Napoleon in St Helena, and to have obbained a lock of Bonaparte’s hair there. In fact he was court-martialled for fraud in 1818, and sent as a convict to Australia.
