Any child who grew up in Godalming would surely know about the legend of the underwater ballroom at Witley Park.

Kids would chatter excitedly about the remarkable feat of engineering, adults would nod sagely as they passed by the park walls. The ballroom was spoken of with reverence for the man who had ordered its construction, and those who presumably used to sweep grandly around the floor in glorious ballgowns and crisp tuxedos while the band played among the potted ferns.

The popular image, unfortunately, doesn't actually meet with the facts.

The room was in fact a much smaller affair - though it was underwater - and wasn't actually a ballroom at all, but a smoking room.

And the man who had it built was far from a dashing and honourable man - in fact he was a fraudster and a conman who met his end in the cells at the Royal Courts of Justice after being found guilty of fraud.

He wasn't a total blackguard though - during his time at Witley Park he had hired local men to work on his grandiose projects, including building a 14-foot-high wall round the entire estate, putting money in their pockets and earning their undying loyalty. The wall was punctuated by a series of gate houses and lodges - we reported on the refurbishent of two of them here.

James Whitaker Wright was a buccanneer, an entrepreneur - and a fraud.

He formed the estate between 1889 and 1897 by buying up parcels of land on the outskirts of Witley, Brook and Thursley, creating a magnificent 3,000-acre estate and deer park.

With the land came the the title of Lord of the Manor, and control of Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl.

Wright then set about creating a country estate to match his aspirations and his new-found titles. He extended the existing house on the site - a mock Tudor building called Lea Park House - and added landscaped gardens, with fountains, terraces, three artificial lakes - complete with statues carved from marble brought from Italy - a boathouse, a bathing house - and the famed underwater smoking room.

Workmen were busy constructing a grand new 32-bedroomed house when he died.

But where did the money come from for all this extravagance?

James was born in Stafford, the eldest of five children to Methodist minister James Wright and his wife Matilda Whitaker.

He dabbled in various projects, including printing, and even spent time a s a Methodist minister like his father.

When her husband died in 1870 Matilda moved the family to Ontario, Canada.

Wright then travelled to Philadelphia, where he married Anna Weightman in 1878.

He started promoting silver-mining companies in Colorado and New Mexico, selling shares to investors who never saw a return on their money. Wright, however, made a fortune.

On his return to England he started investing in Australian mining businesses, becoming a major player on the London Stock Market. He had fingers in many pies, including the financing and building of London's Bakerloo underground line.

But he was a reckless financier: his companies crashed with huge debts, bankrupting his shareholders and throwing hundreds out of work. Over-extended by the extravagant way in which he had created his estate, Whitaker Wright was facing financial ruin.

His woes were compounded by the decision of prosecutors, pressured by shareholders, to bring him to trial, charged with fraud, in 1903. A warrant was issued for his arrest in March of that year.

Along with his niece, Florence, Wright fled the country, heading for France and then New York on the French Transatlantic Co's boat La Lorraine. But local police had been tipped off about his flight and he was arrested in New York and returned to England.

On January 26th 1904 Wright was found guilty at the Guildhall in London and sentenced to seven years' penal servitude.

After being sent down from the dock he asked to be left alone to use the toilet. While out of sight he took a cyanide capsule and, on rejoining his legal team and supporters, collapsed and died. In his pocket a revolver was found, presumably to finish himself off if the capsule didn't do its work.

The news of his death scandalised the nation, with the shock possibly felt greatest in Witley, as local people reeled from the news and mourned his loss - for whatever he had done to others, Wright had always been good to the locals.

Hundreds turned out for his funeral at All Saints Church in Witley on January 30th 1904. Despite the cold and the driving rain they lined the route from Lea Park House all the way to the churchyard, where hundreds more gathered to watch the burial. There was no church service, as Wright had died by his own hand.

In 1905, the estate was bought by Lord Pirrie, chairman of the Belfast shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff and partner in the White Star Line, which operated ocean-going liners including the Titanic.

Since then the estate has passed through several owners, and is now privately owned.

It is said that the underwater smoking room is still there, a concealed monument to one man's extravagance and folly, marked only by the statue of Neptune that sits atop it.