Charles De Ville Wells (20 April 1841 - July 1922) was an English gambler and fraudster. In a series of successful gambles in 1891 he "broke the bank at Monte Carlo" (depleted the funds of the gaming table at which he was playing), celebrated by the song "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo". Subsequently, he was often referred to, especially in publications, as "Monte Carlo Wells". [1]
Charles De Ville Wells was born in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire on 20 April 1841. [2] [3] His father was Charles Jeremiah Wells (1799-1879), poet and lawyer, to whom John Keats once addressed a sonnet (To a Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses) [4] His mother was Emily Jane Hill, the daughter of a Hertfordshire school teacher. [5] When he was a few weeks old, the family relocated from their home in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, to France, where they lived initially at Quimper, [6] and later at Marseille. [7]
Wells found employment as an engineer at the shipyards and docks of Marseille during the 1860s. In 1868, he invented a device for regulating the speed of ships’ propellers and sold the patent for 5,000 francs (approximately five times his annual salary). In about 1879, he relocated to Paris, where he persuaded members of the public to invest in a fraudulent scheme to build a railway at Berck-sur-Mer in Pas-de-Calais. [8] He disappeared with his clients’ money and was convicted in his absence by a Paris court. [9] He relocated to Britain, where, from 1885 onwards, he persuaded members of the public to invest in what he claimed were valuable inventions of his own devising. Although he promised substantial profits, there is no evidence that any of his backers ever received a return on their outlay. One lost almost £19,000 (equivalent to £1.9m presently, allowing for inflation). [10]
Wells visited the Monte Carlo Casino in late July to early August 1891, and again during November of that year.
At the start of each day, every gaming table in the casino was funded with a cash reserve of 100,000 francs – known as "the bank". If a gambler won very large amounts, and this reserve was insufficient to pay the winnings, play at that table was suspended while extra funds were brought from the casino's vaults. A ceremony was devised by François Blanc, the former owner of the casino: a black cloth was laid over the table in question, and the successful player was said to have broken the bank. After an interval, the table was re-opened and play continued. [11] (François Blanc had died in 1877 and his son, Camille Blanc, was head of the casino at the time of Charles Wells' 1891 visits).
Considerable speculation developed concerning Wells' achievements. Some newspapers dismissed his wins as a publicity stunt, [12] but Wells claimed to have used an "infallible system" he had perfected, [13] and his past record as a fraudster caused many observers to believe that he had somehow found a way to cheat the casino (another possibility being that he was simply exceptionally lucky on these particular visits).
He used some of the money he won to purchase a ship, the Tycho Brahe, which he renamed the Palais Royal. [14] He converted this into an unusually large luxury yacht, with sumptuous accommodation which included a ballroom large enough for fifty guests. After his initial wins, he returned to Monte Carlo again in January 1892, but lost about 100,000 francs. [15] No credible evidence can be found to suggest that he ever repeated his earlier wins, though he would later claim to have won a further £2,500 in August 1910. [16]
In late 1892, he was arrested at Le Havre aboard his yacht, the Palais Royal, and extradited to Britain to be charged for crimes associated with his patent scheme. He was tried at the Old Bailey in March 1893, found guilty on 23 counts of fraud and sentenced to eight years imprisonment, [17] which he served in Portland Prison. He was released after six years due to good behaviour, though on one occasion he received two-days solitary confinement for giving a ten-ounce loaf of bread to another prisoner. Shortly before his release he played 'The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo' and 'Home Sweet Home' on the organ of Portland's Roman Catholic Chapel. [18]
In 1910, using the alias of "Lucien Rivier", he established a private bank in Paris, and promised to pay interest at 365% per annum (1% per day). [19] Some 6,000 investors deposited a total of 2m francs (about £7m presently). [20] Existing customers were paid out of the new investments which "Rivier" received in ever-increasing amounts. (Charles Ponzi, after whom such schemes came to be known, perpetrated an almost identical fraud in the United States a decade later, offering a return of 100% every 90 days.)
When the French authorities began to investigate his affairs, Charles Wells fled to Britain with his clients’ money. The scam was remarkable for its scale, both in terms of the number of investors who lost money and the amount of their total losses, and the Sûreté accordingly mounted a determined operation to find who "Lucien Rivier" was, and bring him to justice. He was finally traced to Britain and was arrested in January 1912. A court in Paris sentenced him in November 1912 to five years in prison. As a direct result of his crime, the French government introduced controls on private banks, with a strict vetting procedure for their owners. [21]
Reports vary as to the location of Wells' death. Most state that he died in Paris, but no good evidence for this has been found. Sources also differ concerning the year of his death, though the majority give this as 1922.
He was buried in London in North Sheen Cemetery. [22]
Wells’ exploits inspired Fred Gilbert to write a popular song, "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo". [23]
Other people had broken the bank before Wells, but it is probable that this song played a major part in making him famous. Subsequent reports in the press and even in the House of Commons refer to him as "Monte Carlo Wells". A biography of Charles Wells was published in 2016: The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo: Charles Deville Wells, Gambler and Fraudster Extraordinaire. [24]
In 1935, a movie was distributed named The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo , [25] and in 1983, Michael Butterworth wrote a book of the same name. [26] In 1988, a farcical musical play entitled Lucky Stiff , based on Mr. Butterworth's book, opened in New York off-Broadway. However, these fictional accounts were based only vaguely on Wells' exploits.
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave bordered by France to the north, east and west. The principality is home to 38,682 residents, of whom 9,486 are Monégasque nationals; it is recognised as one of the wealthiest and most expensive places in the world. The official language is French; Monégasque, English and Italian are spoken and understood by many residents.
Monte Carlo is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to a larger district, the Monte Carlo Quarter, which besides Monte Carlo/Spélugues also includes the wards of La Rousse/Saint Roman, Larvotto/Bas Moulins and Saint Michel. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, while that of the quarter is about 15,000. Monaco has four traditional quarters. From west to east they are: Fontvieille, Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, and Monte Carlo.
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house which is part of the Monte Carlo Casino located in the Principality of Monaco.
James Francis Harry St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn, styled Lord Loughborough until 1890, was a Scottish soldier, author and aristocrat.
Broxbourne is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census. It is located to the south of Hoddesdon and to the north of Cheshunt, 17 miles (27 km) north of London. The town is near the River Lea, which forms the boundary with Essex, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the M25 motorway. To the west of the town are Broxbourne Woods, a national nature reserve. The Prime Meridian runs just east of Broxbourne.
Lucky Stiff is a musical farce. It was the first collaboration for the team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (music). The show is based on the 1983 novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth. It was created and performed at Playwrights Horizons off-Broadway in 1988, and won the Richard Rodgers Award for that year. The musical was seen in London's West End in 1997 but has not had a Broadway production. A film version had a limited release in theatres in 2015 but received mostly negative reviews.
Colin Whitton McCallum, known by his stage name Charles Coborn, was a British music hall singer and comedian. During a long career, Coborn was known largely for two comic songs: "Two Lovely Black Eyes", and "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo."
The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
Man of the Moment is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Laura La Plante and Margaret Lockwood. It was made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The film's art direction was by Peter Proud.
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo is a 1935 American romantic comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Stephen Roberts, and starred Ronald Colman, Joan Bennett, and Colin Clive. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and Howard Smith, based on a play by Ilya Surgutchoff and Frederick Albert Swan. The film was inspired by the song of the same name popularised by Charles Coborn.
Loser Takes All is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Glynis Johns, Rossano Brazzi, and Robert Morley, with a screenplay by Graham Greene based on his 1955 novella of the same name.
The Société des Bains de Mer, officially the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco, is a publicly traded company registered in the Principality of Monaco. SBM owns and manages the Monte Carlo Casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo.
"The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" is a popular British music hall song published in 1891 by Fred Gilbert, a theatrical agent who had begun to write comic songs as a sideline some twenty years previously. The song was popularised by singer and comedian Charles Coborn.
North Sheen Cemetery is a cemetery in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is managed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo may refer to:
The Monte Carlo Casino was inaugurated in 1863. Since then the bank has been broken on a number of occasions. The expression "breaking the bank" is used when a gambler wins more money than the reserve held at that particular table in the casino. At the start of each day, every table was funded with a cash reserve of 100,000 francs – known as "the bank". If this reserve was insufficient to pay the winnings, play at that table was suspended while extra funds were brought out from the casino's vaults.
"George and Alfred" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse and a Mr. Mulliner story. It was published in Playboy magazine in the US in January 1967. The story was also included in the 1966 collection Plum Pie.
Joseph Hobson Jagger was an English textile industry businessman from Yorkshire, who in around 1881 is said to have "broken the bank at Monte Carlo" by identifying and exploiting biases in the wheels of the roulette tables there. He used his winnings to buy property in Bradford. In 2018 he was the subject of a biography by his great-great niece Anne Fletcher.
Marie Charlotte Blanc was a German socialite and businesswoman. She was a prominent member of high society in Monaco and France. After the death of her husband, François Blanc, she operated the Monte Carlo Casino.
Frederick Younge Gilbert was an English theatrical agent and writer of music hall songs.
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