The reference was impeccable, her record of service with the nobility unblemished.

'In reply to your letter," it stated, 'I have much pleasure in saying I am sure you will find her very valuable particularly as to cleanliness and punctuality. Of a refined manner, she is superior and a nice person to deal with, honest in all her dealings, a good needlewoman and an excellent cook.

'Lady Brookwood spoke of Mrs Stroud as being an efficient housekeeper and good cook, 'Yours sincerely, Phyllis Whitfield

'P.S. She is leaving me of her own wish. I believe her to be a teetotaller.'

And on that basis, Alicia Stroud, 35, was hired.

But it was purely fiction, as Southampton magistrates were to hear in 1910 - Whitfield never existed and her new employer Mrs Francis, who had advertised for a housekeeper at her home in Brockenhurst, was to painfully learn of her dishonesty.

Stroud lived in lodgings, which led to prosecutor C A Emanual commenting in upstairs/downstairs disdain of her locality. "As a matter of fact, although Bridge Road, Itchen, is a respectable neighbourhood, the houses there are not of the class where one would find that kind of housekeeper to be engaged."

The town's magistrates' court was told Stroud initially worked satisfactorily until Francis was taken ill and had to go away. On her return, Stroud was less respectful and cruelly invented stories about her fellow maids and servants who were ultimately dismissed by Francis who was temporarily living on her own as her husband was in Scotland.

"Tales were brought to her about the servants until she eventually got rid of the whole of them. The defendant then terrorised her till her husband came back and he gave the defendant a month's money to leave. The defendant then went around the village spreading awful things, not only with reference to Mrs Francis but also her husband."

Stroud was arrested and charged with possessing or forging a false certificate of character under the now defunct Labour Laws.

But before she appeared in court, she wrote a letter to Jessie Mrs McGrath at whose home she had lived in Bridge Road, admitting she had copied the letter of recommendation and sent it, using the name of Whitfield.

Police inquiries revealed that until early 1909, Stroud, who had been widowed, was living in Terminus Terrace with a man called Whitfield. When they parted, she worked at a local hotel before taking a room at McGrath's home.

Asked by the magistrates for an explanation, Stroud admitted copying the letter and signing it, using the name of Whitfield. "But I thought no harm in it."

Complimenting Francis for the trouble she had taken in bringing Stroud to justice, chairman R A Bayford branded the defendant as "a very dangerous woman."

The court then imposed a fine of £10 with six weeks in default.