All of you will have heard of the Loch Ness Monster and many will be aware of the hoax involving the mythical creature, but did you know a Thornbury man is thought to be at least partially responsible?

Maurice Chambers, part of the Chambers family of Rosemount on Thornbury High Street, was born in 1881.

He was well known in Thornbury for driving through town in his yellow Rolls Royce.

Maurice also spent a lot of his time in Scotland in the area of Loch Ness.

In April 1934 The Daily Mail published a world exclusive showing the now famous ‘Surgeon’s Photograph’ of the Loch Ness Monster, supposedly taken by a Dr Wilson who was walking near the lake with the hope of photographing ducks.

It was claimed he had borrowed the camera from Maurice Chambers and was unfamiliar with how to use it.

This was supposed to explain why he only got one clear shot of the monster, along with a second just as it went back into the water that received less attention.

There was huge excitement and the photo was around the world within a couple of days.

The photograph, which appears to show a creature with an elongated neck and head looming out of the water, has been the subject of speculation ever since and there have been various accounts of the source of the photo and its validity.

In 1994 it was discovered Marmaduke Arundell Wetherell had fabricated the photograph. ‘Duke’ Wetherell, a big game hunter and film star, had previously been hired by the Daily Mail to track down the monster.

He decided to get his own back after being sacked by the newspaper after footprints he found in the mud near Loch Ness that he believed to be the monster’s turned out to be those of a baby hippopotamus.

Wetherell made a model of the monster’s head and neck and balanced it on top of a toy submarine.

Maurice Chambers is believed to have been Wetherell’s co-conspirator.

It is thought he was responsible for arranging for his friend, Dr Wilson, to take the photos to the press and convince them that they were genuine.

At the time Maurice was a co-lessee of a wildfowl shoot on the Beauly Firth near Inverness and a friend of Wetherell’s.

The Chambers family had the camera used to take the photograph at Rosemount for many years after the event.

It is believed that the photo was only intended as a bit of a joke, but it got out of hand.

During their lifetime the conspirators wouldn’t admit to their roles in it, and Maurice’s part was only revealed decades after his death in 1944.

When the Daily Telegraph publicised Maurice’s role in the hoax, journalists came to Thornbury to interview Maurice’s widow, but she would not discuss anything.

The Loch Ness monster has remained a source of intrigue ever since, with ‘sightings’ of the monster every year.

In 2016 Rockhampton author and retired scientist Gareth Williams wrote the acclaimed book, ‘A Monstrous Commotion’, about the legendary creature.

Next week he will be giving a talk to Olveston Parish Historical Society entitled ‘A Monstrous Commotion: The Mysteries of Loch Ness’.

Gareth described writing the book as the most fun research project of his career so far.

“It’s a wonderful story,” he said. “It’s arguably one of the greatest hoaxes of the 20th Century.

“There are lots of books about the monster but I hope mine is unbiased.”

“I have tried to lay out the evidence and offer a scientific explanation.

“It’s up to people to make up their own minds.”

Expect a lively, thoroughly researched and fascinating account of the story.

The talk is at 7.30pm on Wednesday, February 6 at Olveston Methodist Church.

All are welcome and visitors can enter for £2.

For those wanting to find out more about the mysteries of Loch Ness, Gareth’s book is available to buy now.

His next book, Unravelling the Double Helix: the lost heroes of DNA, is out in April.

More information about the Chambers family, and many other aspects of Thornbury’s history, can be found at thornburyroots.co.uk.