13 Facts About Mavis Wheeler

Mavis Wheeler came to public notice in 1954 when she shot her lover Anthony Vivian, 5th Baron Vivian.

Mavis Wheeler was secretive about her background, saying her mother had been "stolen by gypsies" as a child.

At the age of 16, Wheeler was working as a scullery maid.

Mavis Wheeler became one of the bright young things of the 1920s, according to The Times.

Mavis Wheeler met the Welsh artist Augustus John at the Cafe Royal in 1928, when she was 19 and he was 50, and agreed to model for him.

Mavis Wheeler met John's friend, the eccentric Irish prankster William Horace de Vere Cole.

Mavis Wheeler lived with Cole for two years, and married him in January 1931 after he divorced his first wife.

Mavis Wheeler became Augustus John's mistress, and in March 1935, she gave birth to Tristan de Vere Cole, who was John's natural son.

Mavis Wheeler is believed to be the last-surviving illegitimate son of John.

Mavis Wheeler was still John's mistress at the time, and "in a desperate moment, after Mortimer Wheeler climbed into Mavis's room at Fryern, John had challenged his rival to a duel".

In July 1954, Mavis Wheeler was arrested for shooting and seriously wounding Lord Vivian at her country home, Pilgrim Cottage, at Potterne, Wiltshire.

Mavis Wheeler was found not guilty of attempted murder and shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mavis Wheeler served a six-month prison sentence at Holloway Gaol for unlawful and malicious wounding.