Genius Ends Career in Prison Cells

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 708, 6 July 1929, Page 12

Genius Ends Career in Prison Cells

Humble Beginning Brought Fame and Disaster SUCCESS TOO DAZZLING When Charles Albert Brandreth, aged 50, received his sentence of four ; years’ penal servitude at the Old : Bailey he accepted his face, says the “Sunday Times.” He lias always' been a believer in the “cult of the inevitable” —without emotion ho turned quietly away and, followed by two warders, disappeared down the steps to the cells below—there to begin his punishment. Brandeth won fame as the inventor of “Xer-Sag” spring mattress supports, and later by vanishing until he was discovered living at Regent’s Park in a mansion and passing under the name “J. Gordon Bell.” High finance was involved. The figures involved ran easily into hundreds of thousands. Companies had been formed and flourished. The man and his schemes “caught on." Not only was he a mechanical genius, but be had a manner of impressing people with his reliability and honesty that attracted men and money. Within the space of 12 months he had, according to the verdict of the Old Bailey jury fraudulently converted to his own use £45,000 belonging to the Ner-Sag Company; applied for his own purposes a cheque of the company of £3,768; made false entries in a ledger and circulated free statements to induce investors to take up shares. Unlike Whitaker Wright and Jabez Balfour —both swindlers in the higher circles of finance —Brandreth started with no advantages in life. He only had the education of a board school, and was then apprenticed to a branch of engineering, in which he particularly excelled. He had visions then of a future in which he was to rise to eminence. “I have ideas," he said to another youth who worked with him, “aud if there is any chance of getting ahead I shall take it.” He was then of the highest character—-hard-working, respected, strongwilled. He was immersed in mechanics, just as he had been fascinated by the pages of Smiles’s “Self Help.” He spent much of his spare time in fashioning models and working out designs. “Call of Destiny.” He had started work when only 14 years of age. He was then a sturdilybuilt lad with brown wavy hair, deepset eyes and a breezy manner which was attractive. He grew tired at length of the fitters’ bench and opened a small confectioner’s shop in Nottingham. Here he worked steadily for some time: and then feeling, as he himself often remarked, the “call of destiny,” went to London. Already he had invented and patented “Ner-Sag.” The idea came to him after hundreds of experiments. I With his wife he went reside at

: Ilford, aud there he started making the Ner-Sag spring mattress supports which were later to become so famous. The two lived in a small house, and had a hard struggle to make ends meet. Brandreth. however,, had confidence in his invention and iu himself. He determined to boom the invention; and he actually sold his furniture so that he might have money to spend in advertising. In this he showed great wisdom; for his small campaign led to the huge sales that followed and might have led to unchecked success—but for his haste to gather tremendous wealth. Hangers-on Then came the incorporation of “Ner-Sag” into a limited company and the floatation of "Seatings Limited.” The accession of riches no less than the power that they wielded were apparently too much for him. He had no education in the ways of the financier. He grew to believe that he w'as a king in the city; and this impression w'as deepened by hordes of hangers-on w'ho flattered and sponged and urged him to go ahead until he ranked with the millionaires. .Truth to say he was always easy prey for the needy adventurer. If a man told him the usual tale of the dow»n and out, he was always ready to come to the rescue. Nor did he any longer study economy. He bought motor-cars and a castle near Sheerness. He kept a retinue of servants. He entertained guests. He dined and lunched in expensive West End restaurants. All the while, however, he retained the northern dialect of his boyhood, never aping the w'ellborn and cultured. But, as he stated iu court, lie hardly realised what he was doing. He w'as dazzled —much as the winner of the Calcutta Swreep might be —by a sudden accession of w'ealth. And that was the line of demarcation between honesty and fraud. Self-made Man In sentencing him the Recorder said: "You have, for your own purpose, concealed facts, made lying statements, Invented false orders, and issued a fraudulent balance-sheet. Were It not that up to a point you had an honest business, I should give you the maximum sentence of seven years’ penal servitude.” There were many in the court who regretted that a career which had so suddenly flashed up on the financial horizon should so suddenly be quenched In the waters of dishonour. Brandreth had been in every way a self-made man. He had moulded his own fortunes and had every prospect of rising even higher. But the fever of gold w'as possessed of his soul; and it is stated that even when he knew that the end drew near he acted foolishly and as one conscious of guilt. All the w'orld know nows of his disappearance, his mystery telephone messages aud the raid by the police on his new home, where he W'as living as J. Gordon Bell. They found there a ledger with torn and mutilated pages—and this ledger played a large part iu Brandreth’s downfall. The jury were impressed by it no less than by the other statements made by prosecuting counsel. Brandreth was also ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution. These will amount to a considerable sum—and must take a big share of the fortune this unhappy genius has amassed.