A mystery officer: Part 1

The murder of Hollywood film mogul William Desmond Taylor on 1st February, 1922, was a celebrity scandal of its time. The crime has never been solved, despite several suspects being identified, including his brother, Denis Gage Deane-Tanner, an ex-officer of The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment).

 

William Deane-Tanner a.k.a. William Desmond Taylor

The Deane-Tanners were born in Ireland, sons of an ex-British Army officer, Major Kearns Deane-Tanner. William Cunninghame Deane-Tanner, as he then was, sailed for America in 1890 at the age of 18. There, he flirted briefly with a career on the New York stage before conveniently marrying an actress with a wealthy father who set him up as an antiques dealer.

After divorcing his wife he then changed his name to William Desmond Taylor and moved to Hollywood, appearing in four films before moving into directing them, starting with The Awakening (1914). Over the next few years he directed more than fifty films, such was the output of the studios in those days. In June 1918, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a private and, after basic training, was sent to England, although because of his age  he saw no active service, being instead transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps, where he was responsible for the running of a canteen at Dunkirk with the rank of Temporary Lieutenant. He was eventually demobilised while serving as a Major in the Royal Fusiliers, and returned to the burgeoning Hollywood film scene where he made his fortune.

At some time on 1st February, 1922, he was shot in the back and killed at his bungalow at Alvarado Court Apartments. Simple robbery did not appear to be the motive as valuable personal posessions were still on his person, although a large sum of money which it was known he had drawn out of a bank shortly before, was found to be missing.

Hollywood was awash with rumour and various scandalous theories did the rounds in the broadsheets. However, no-one was ever prosecuted and to-day, the murder remains unsolved. One theory aired was that it was part of a family feud and that it was his brother, Denis, who was the murderer.

I know little of Denis Gage Deane-Tanner apart from one curious fact; around 1900 he was living in the Barrow-in-Furness area and had probably been there for some time. What he was doing there I don't know, but he first appears as a member of the local Volunteer Detachment, the precursor to the Territorial Force.

After the initial reverses suffered by the British Army in the Second Anglo-Boer War  (and politically embarrassing reverses, too, given that the Kaiser's Germany was watching Britain's performance with great interest), a decision was made to increase the number of soldiers available to fight by recruiting men from within the ranks of the Volunteer Force. Each line regiment had its affiliated Volunteer Battalion(s), that of the King's Own being based at Ulverston; it was styled, naturally enough, the 1st (Volunteer) Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). This was a quintessentially Victorian organisation, the very essence of amateur soldiering, but, nevertheless the call went out for men to volunteer for a period of 1 year's service in the Regular Army.

Perhaps to the surprise of the War Council, the response was overwhelming and, of course, many who put their names forward had to be weeded out as being either too old or too unfit for the rigours of the South African campaign. One of the Volunteers who was accepted for service was Private Denis Gage Deane-Tanner.

To be continued.........