History Talk: Elihu Yale and his Wicked Wife. David Ebsworth

Elihu Yale may have given his name to one of the world’s great universities, but he saved his most memorable flourish for his unfortunate wife, Catherine, whom he immortalised in his will with the deliciously vague insult “my wicked wife”—and then left a dramatic blank space for good measure. Yet Catherine was hardly the cardboard villain of his story: the spirited daughter of a Levant Company adventurer who helped bring Alicante wine to British tables, she had a pedigree as colourful as any Georgian novel. Meanwhile, Elihu—nabob, merchant prince, and occasional scandal magnet thanks to the East India Company’s murkier dealings—left behind a tale so riddled with twists, contradictions, and marital theatrics that, as author David Ebsworth insists, it remains “stranger than fiction.”

David has given us many exceptional presentations in the past. He is a master storyteller and this will be no different.