The Man with the Iron Mask—Walking Round the World

A postcard addressed to W. F. Esling, 26 The Grange, Beccles, and postmarked Colchester, July 16, 1908.

Has this gentleman arrived your way yet?

Handwritten message on the other side: "Dear Fred, Has this gentleman arrived your way yet? He was in Col. a day or two ago. I don't think he will manage it, do you? Thanks for nice P.C. I don't know where we are going at L-- yet but will let you have address, that is, if you like. I am looking forward to going. Yrs., Edith. Going to Ipo. on Thurs. to have photo taken."

So who was this gentleman that Edith wrote about, and why was he traveling around England in 1908? Furthermore, why was he wearing a helmet and pushing a baby carriage with a "Walking Round the World" sign?

After some searching, I found that the man's name was Harry Bensley, and he had to walk around the world to fulfill a bet that he lost. It required him to wear an iron mask (a helmet from a suit of armor) to conceal his identity, and he also had to push a perambulator (baby carriage) throughout his travels. He called himself "The Man with the Iron Mask" (inspired by the seventeenth-century Man in the Iron Mask), and the only way he could support himself during his journey was by selling postcards and pamphlets (see my gallery showing some of his other postcards that appear on Flickr).

I don't think he will manage it, do you?

In her message on the postcard, Edith expressed doubt that the gentleman would manage to complete his walk, and her suspicions were well founded. Newspaper accounts provide documentation that Bensley did travel through part of England in 1908 (see Tim Kirby's Research for an impressive Google Map that traces his route). Some sources claim that he continued walking through other countries for the next six years, stopping only when World War I began in 1914 (see the Official Story), but there doesn't seem to be corroborating evidence for this. In any case, it's clear that he did not "walk round the world" to meet the terms of his bet.

All bets are off!

In fact, it turns out that there wasn't even a bet! Bensley made the whole thing up! See, for example, Harry Bensley - Man in the Iron Mask: Hoax, a posting on the Big Retort blog. It reproduces an article, "The Great Masked Man Hoax: The True Story of an Astounding Fraud," which appeared in Answers magazine, December 19, 1908. The article is written in the first person but doesn't identify the Masked Man as Harry Bensley.

If Bentley was the Masked Man in the article and if we can believe this story, then we learn that Bentley concocted his scheme in 1907 while he was in prison. He set off on his journey on January 1, 1908, and immediately received newspaper publicity about his walk and the alleged bet. His main motivation, as far as I can figure, was to earn money from the sale of his postcards and pamphlets. He kept up the ruse for ten months, claiming that he traveled 2,400 miles while pushing a heavy perambulator and wearing an uncomfortable helmet the entire time.

For additional details about the whole strange affair, see Iron Mask: The Story of Harry Bensley's "Walking Round the World" Hoax (Bear Alley Books, 2018), a brief, unpaginated book by Steve Holland.

Other walking wagers?

While looking for information about Harry Bensley, I came across EastMarple1's Flickr photo of John Clark of Douglas, Isle of Man alias "Marcello The Walking King," 1905, who "alleged that he was walking around the world in 1905 for a wager of £1,000." That makes me wonder whether there were other travelers besides Bensley and Clark who said they were walking for similar reasons, real or imagined.