Ebenezer Scrooge
Scrooge has become a synonym for miser. Since he first appeared in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in 1843, possibly no other character has exceeded his reputation for cold-blooded miserly meanness. He has appeared in countless plays, films, cartoons, Christmas specials, radio broadcasts, recordings, and more. Seemingly a creation of Dickens’ imagination, many are surprised to learn that he was based on a real person of British history, and that person was even more miserly than Scrooge.
In letters late in life Dickens noted that the famed Christmas character was loosely based on John Elwes, a one-time Member of Parliament, who died in 1789. Elwes inherited a considerable fortune from his father upon the death of his mother, and an even larger fortune upon the death of his uncle. He invested considerable funds to the construction of many of the Georgian buildings in London still standing, including parts of Oxford Circus and Marylebone.
As a Member of Parliament Elwes was known to wear the same suit every day, despite his considerable wealth, and opposed expenses of any kind. He refused to travel in a coach, preferring to walk and when soaked by the rain he refused to take on the expense of a fire in his lodgings to dry his clothes. He ate seldom and when he did he ate alone. Travel on his parliamentary duties was by whatever route had the least amount of tolls.
Elwes hated the idea of waste and would not dispose of rotted food other than by eating it, and he made a habit of going to bed as it grew dark rather than pay for candles. His home was filled with expensive furniture which he had inherited, both the furniture and the home soon became decrepit because he would not pay for maintenance nor repairs.
Later in life he did not maintain a fixed address, choosing instead when in London to spend the night at properties he owned which sat empty because of lack of tenants. Although he did maintain some servants at his country estates he was not known to be generous to them and he took his meals with them in the kitchen in order to ensure no food was stolen or wasted, and to save the expense of another fire in the dining room to keep him warm. Unlike Scrooge, Elwes did not receive spiritual intervention. He left behind a fortune of five hundred thousand pounds when he died, about 28 million pounds today, having lived most of his life spending less than fifty pounds per year.