Thomas Blood~thief of the British crown jewels
One of the most audacious rogues in history, was Colonel Blood, the man who stole the British Crown Jewels.
Thomas Blood was an Irishman, born in County Meath in 1618.
Brought up in a good family, the son of a prosperous blacksmith, where his grandfather was a prominent Member of Parliament.
Blood came to England to fight for Charles I, when the English Civil War broke out in 1642.
When it became apparent that Cromwell was going to win, Blood changed his allegiance.
He joined the Roundheads as a lieutenant.
As a reward for his services, Cromwell appointed Blood as a justice of the peace, and granted him a large estate.
When Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, Thomas Blood fled to Ireland, with his wife and son.
In Ireland Blood joined a plot with the disgruntled Cromwellians.
An attempted plot to seize Dublin Castle and take the Governor Lord Ormonde prisoner failed, and Blood high tailed it to Holland.
In spite of being one of the most wanted men in England with a sizable price on his head, Blood unashamedly returned in 1670.
Blood then concocted a hair brained scheme to steal the most protected items in the contry – the Crown Jewels.
The Crown Jewels were kept at the Tower of London, in a basement protected by a large metal grille.
The Keeper of the Jewels was Talbot Edwards, who lived with his family on the floor above the basement.
One day in 1671 Thomas Blood, disguised as a parson went to see the Crown Jewels.
He became friendly with Edwards, returning at a later date with his wife.
As the visitors were leaving, Mrs. Blood had a violent stomach-ache and was taken to Edward’s apartment to ‘rest’.
This allowed Blood to sound the place, and plan his next move.
The Edwards family and ‘Parson Blood’ became close friends, and would meet frequently.
Talbot Edwards had a very pretty daughter and was delighted when ‘Parson Blood’ proposed a meeting between his wealthy nephew, and Edward’s daughter.
On 9th May 1671, ‘Parson Blood’ arrived at 7am, with his ‘nephew’ and two other men.
While the ‘nephew’ was busy getting to know Edward’s daughter, the others in the party expressed a desire to see the Crown Jewels.
Edwards led the way downstairs and unlocked the door to the room where they were kept.
At that moment Blood knocked him unconscious with a mallet, and stabbed him with his sword.
The grille was removed from the front of the jewels and the crown, orb and sceptre were taken out.
The crown was flattened with a mallet, and stuffed into a bag.
The orb was unceremoniously stuffed down Blood’s breeches!
The sceptre was too long to go in a bag, or down anyone’s trousers, so Blood’s accomplice tried to saw it in half!
At that point Edwards regained consciousness and began to shout “Murder, Treason!”.
Blood and his accomplices dropped the sceptre and attempted to get away.
Blood was arrested as he tried to leave the Tower by the Iron-Gate, after unsuccessfully trying to shoot one of the guards.
Blood was taken to the Palace, where he was questioned by King Charles, Prince Rupert, The Duke of York and other members of the royal family.
King Charles was amused at Blood’s audacity.
Especially when Blood told the king that the Crown Jewels were not worth the £100,000 they were valued at, but only £6,000!
The king decided he quite liked Blood’s roguish charm and wit.
Blood was not only pardoned, but was given Irish lands worth £500 a year!
Thomas Blood became a familiar figure around London, and made frequent appearances at Court.
In 1679 Blood’s phenomenal Irish luck ran out.
He quarrelled with his former friend, the Duke of Buckingham.
Buckingham demanded £10,000 for some insulting remarks Blood had made about his character.
Unlucky for Buckingham, Blood died on 24th August of that year at the age of 62, without ever paying the Duke a penny!
The Crown Jewels have never been stolen since that day ~ no other thief has tried to match the audacity of Colonel Blood!
