John de Verdion

De Verdion's aunt died in 1758 and left him 1000 reichsthalers.[5] Following her death, he started working as an exchange broker, a profitable profession during the Seven Years' War. He made daily outings to counting houses in various parts of the city and wore boots during the dirtier weather. By the conclusion of the war in 1763, he had doubled his money.[5][3]

Around 1763, he moved to Bayreuth and by 1768 was living as a man, dressed as a huntsman[3] and styling himself the Baron John de Verdion.[lower-alpha 3] In 1769 he worked for German educational reformer Johann Bernhard Basedow as an amanuensis and secretary. It was suspected that de Verdion was not a man and rumours circulated about the nature of the relationship between the pair. Baselow himself was not convinced that de Verdion was a woman, but an ensuing scandal obliged him to dismiss de Verdion from his employ. In 1770, some young men from the counting house of a merchant concocted a plan to determine de Verdion's sex. They invited him to an inn and plied him with drinks. Once he was drunk, they assaulted him, tore off his clothes, and "verified her [sic] sex beyond all possibility of doubt".[3]

De Verdion always dressed in men's clothing when seen in public. He wore a bag wig and a large cocked hat. He would carry a cane and always had an umbrella regardless of the weather. Books would be stuffed in the pockets of his coat. His singular appearance was well-remembered by Londoners and made him the "jest of the company".[1]

De Verdion was a regular patron at Furnival's Inn, where he dined almost daily and was known for his excessive drinking and sizeable meals. According to Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum, he was known to drink two bottles of wine or eat three pounds of solid meat in a sitting. In a memorable instance, "A friend... was absolutely witness to her [sic] eating eighteen eggs, and a proportionate quantity of bacon, which were all broken into the frying pan at once."[3]

De Verdion drew the attention of people who suspected that he was a woman and who wanted to scare him, and would rarely venture home unattended. After one evening of heavy drinking at the inn, de Verdion had to be escorted home by two other patrons, who intruded upon his room and undressed him to sate their curiosity. The following day, de Verdion returned to the inn to request to the master there that he should never be sent home in such a manner in the future. On another occasion, a number of gentlemen at Furnival's Inn insisted that he was disguised as a man and that they would leave the premises if he was not removed from the room. Upon being informed of the situation, de Verdion called them "rogues". In yet another instance, he was accosted by a group of young men who insisted that de Verdion had picked one of their pockets.[3]

An etching of de Verdion

De Verdion taught languages to various prominent men. He taught German to Edward Gibbon, who went on to author The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.[8] He also taught English to the Prussian ambassador and German to William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland.[2] De Verdion was an admirer of John Wesley.[9][10]

De Verdion also made the acquaintance of Madame Schwellenberg, a bedchamber woman of the British queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Schwellenberg was said to be his patron, and due possibly to his knowing her, he was admitted to the court of St James's Palace and attended the queen's drawing room in full court costume,[5] along with an elegant sword.[3]