How conclusive is the evidence for Milverton being based on Howell? Other than the name, that is? There is a citation for the paragraph, but I can’t tell from the way it’s placed if it establishing that claim, or the linked reference to his having been involved with Dante Rossetti.
The Wikipedia page on Howell repeats the claim made here, but the article presents his activities more broadly, and gives character descriptions from contemporaries which paint him as everything from a bad lot to a highly entertaining braggart, who might not have been much in the business of blackmail as just being a blagger who wheedled money out of his circle by being persuasive.
I thought there was also a case that CAM was based at least in part on Maundy Gregory, who was a prolific and definitely sinister blackmailer in high society, and who was part of the eventual scandal over cash-for-honours in 1922? Jock123 (talk) 12:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)Reply
