Florence Bravo

Florence Bravo (née Campbell; 5 September 1845 – 17 September 1878), previously known as Florence Ricardo, was an Australian-born British heiress and widow who was linked to the unsolved murder of her second husband, Charles Bravo. On 21 April 1876, after three days of agonising illness, Charles died of antimony poisoning. Although there was widespread innuendo in the press about Florence's role in his death, she was never indicted and the case never reached the courts due to lack of evidence.

During the Coroner's inquest, the lurid details of Florence's past affair with Dr James Manby Gully, a married man thirty-seven years her senior, became a topic of intense fascination, covered by newspapers ranging from The Times and The Daily Telegraph to The Illustrated Police News, as well as publications overseas. The family's affluence them to move with their eight children, a governess and three servants to England in 1852.

As a teenager, Florence traveled with her family to Canada, where she met Alexander Ricardo, a young British military officer stationed at the Royal Military College.

Death of Alexander Ricardo Ricardo made a final attempt to reconcile with Florence before the separation papers were finalised in March 1871, She wrote a letter to Gully from Brighton that their relationship had to end because she wanted to reconcile with her family. and requested that he see her husband who was "dangerously ill." Florence later explained, "I believed that if anyone could save Charles, it was Sir William. I knew that he had saved people when others had given up all hope for them." The sensational article named some of the doctors, gave details about the dinner menu on the night of Charles' death and speculated that the Burgundy wine which he alone had drunk had been poisoned. On the advice of the Buscot Park physician and her father, for one week, Florence had her solicitor advertise a reward of £500 for anyone who could produce evidence of selling antimony to a member of the Priory household staff. At first, suspicion fell on Griffiths, the coachman fired by Charles, who had reportedly shouted in a pub that "Mr Bravo would be dead in five months." Police found that a large quantity of tartar emetic had been sold by a chemist in Streatham to Griffiths in the summer of 1875, which he used on horses to eliminate worms and stored in the Priory's stables. However, press interest in Griffiths subsided after it turned out he had moved to Kent and was not in the area when Charles was poisoned.

Newspapers were soon filled with gossip about Florence's past affair with Gully and recent sightings of Gully together with Cox, as well as rumours that Cox had been fired, thus providing a motive. The accounts of Harrison and Moore were published in the Telegraph, while Johnson shared his perspective in The Lancet, noting that Cox had initially claimed that Charles admitted to swallowing poison before faintinga claim which Charles himself questioned when he woke up. On 18 May 1876, Serjean Simon, MP, asked Home Secretary R. A. Cross in the House of Commons whether he was aware of the "unsatisfactory" nature of the coroner's inquest into Charles' death. Increasingly, suspicions were raised both publicly and privately about Cox. Florence suffered a collapse and "brain fever", while Cox abruptly left for the Priory to collect her belongings and move to other accommodations in London.

On 27 May 1876, the Telegraph reported that the Treasury Solicitor, Augustus Keppel Stephenson, had concluded a preliminary inquiry of thirty witnesses, but that this did not include Florence and Cox, implying that they were both suspects. Anxious to demonstrate their innocence, Florence and Cox each submitted written statements through their solicitor. Cox stated in writing that she had perjured herself and suppressed evidence during the first inquest, leading the Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn to grant the Attorney General Sir John Holker's application to open a fresh inquiry. Florence received a torrent of anonymous hate mail through her letter box in Brighton, and could no longer look out the window toward the Promenade without seeing passersby gazing up at her window. She paid her servants a month's wages and left Brighton for Buscot Park before returning to the Priory.

Second inquest

The second coroner's inquest took place from 11 July through 11 August 1876, in the Bedford Hotel in Balham. It was attended by Holker himself, with "eminent members of the Bar" holding briefs, and was covered extensively by members of the press. Over an unprecedented twenty-three days of testimony, members of the public crowded the streets to try to catch a glimpse of the witnesses giving evidence and find out the latest news each day.

Gull, "the most celebrated physician in England", appeared on the fourth day of the inquest. He stated that Charles "did not behave like a man who thought he was being murdered" and that "he had showed no surprise" that he was dying of poison. Gull believed that Charles had swallowed antimony intentionally but lost his nerve and had asked for hot water to flush out his system, and remained convinced of Florence's complete innocence.

Interest in the case reached its peak when Florence testified for three days starting 3 August 1876. According author James Ruddick, "For Florence Bravo, the Coroner's inquest was the worst experience of her life." Rather than focusing on the circumstances leading up to Charles' death, his family's lawyers became fixated with proving that Florence had continued her affair with Gully during their marriage, and subjected Florence, Gully and other witnesses to repeated questions about her past "sexual conduct." The lurid details of her "criminal intimacy" with Gully before marrying Charles were covered in depth, in national newspapers such as the Telegraph and The Times, as well as penny newspapers such as The Illustrated Police News, and telegraphed by correspondents to newspapers overseas. Florence broke down repeatedly, but on the third day of questioning about details of her sexual history with Gully, she finally objected. According to The Times, she said "part with tragic force and part tearfully" and with "perfectly just indignation": "That attachment to Dr Gully has nothing to do with this case—the death of Mr Bravo... I have been subjected to sufficient pain and humiliation already, and I appeal to the Coroner and the jury, as men and Britons, to protect me. I think it is great shame that I should be thus questioned, and I will refuse to answer any further questions with regard to Dr Gully." The Saturday Review reported that the audience was sympathetic, and "moved their feet as if applauding." Other commentators remarked ironically that Charles' own counsel had managed to "let the dead man's own 'criminal intimacy' with a prostitute at Maidenhead remain in decent obscurity." Nevertheless, the coroner allowed lawyer George Lewis to continue this line of questioning, unchecked.

Over the course of the inquest, the likely method of transmission of poison was identified as Charles' water jug, which he drank from each night before going to bed. Although considerable suspicion of Florence remained, there was no direct evidence against her. Florence had not prepared food or given medicine to her husband, and had not signed for any poison in her name.

In the end, the inquest failed to produce any meaningful new evidence. The Coroner's jury ruled out suicide and "death by misadventure" and found that Charles had been "wilfully murdered by the administration of tartar emetic" by an unknown person or persons.

Later life Although Florence had avoided being indicted, the public shame and suspicion which persisted destroyed her life. Cox was the first to pack her bags and leave the Priory, followed by her other servants, and Florence received notice that the landlord was taking steps to evict her. Her eldest brother William urged her to move to Australia with him, but she refused. At the end of September 1876, Florence returned to the Priory and arranged for all its furnishings to be sold by auctioneers Bonham and Son. She changed her name to Florence Turner and left London permanently on 3 April 1877. She settled in Southsea, Hampshire, where she bought a property called Lumps Villa, which she renamed Coombe Lodge, and hired a housekeeper, two maids and a coachman. Florence rarely went out and eventually drank herself to death, much like her first husband, and died on 17 September 1878 at the age of 33.