Edward Dando: The Celebrated Oyster Eater

There was time in 1820s London when the name of Edward Dando sent panic through the hearts of tavern and oyster shop owners. This young man, in a few short years, had built up a reputation as Britain’s leading restaurant bill swindler. Dando would walk into a restaurant, usually an oyster stall, and eat to his heart’s content before telling the perplexed owner that he was penniless. Predictably, he would be thrashed and thrown out into the streets, and often times handed over to the police. But as incorrigible as he was, Dando, once released, would head straight to the nearest oyster stall and do it all over again.