John Thomson Stonehouse [1925 -1988]
Famously faked his own death in 1974. Stonehouse was educated at Taunton's Grammar School and continued his education at the London School of Economics. He began his career managing cooperatives in Uganda then became a director then president of the London Cooperative Society. He was elected to parliament in 1957 and was given junior ministerial posts before becoming the Postmaster General.Stonehouse had many business interests and by 1974 he was robbing Peter to pay Paul and aware that the DTI were closing in on his activities he acquired a copy of birth certificate of Joseph Markham the dead husband of one of his constituents. Taking Markham's identity he applied for a passport and set up bank accounts in the name. He then left a pile of clothing on a beach in Florida and 'disappeared' as if he had walked into the sea. However it was more than 30 years before the British Government made serious attempts to try to prevent such an easy means of identity theft being repeated.
Stonehouse then made contact with his secretary and mistress Sheila Buckley and planned to start a new life in Australia. The Australian police picked him up by chance in Melbourne thinking that he was Lord Lucan the British peer who disappeared after his wife was found murdered. The Australian authorities were at first reluctant to hand a serving M.P. over to the British police. Stonehouse attempted to obtain political asylum from Sweden then Mauritius without success and was returned and held on remand at Brixton prison. He was still at the time still being paid an M.P.'s salary.
Stonehouse was divorced from his wife and married Sheila Buckley and they had a son.
Billy Connolly the Scottish comedian nicely summed up the situation when he composed a song for his stage act - "John Stonehouse Went Swimming."