in may 1671 a disgruntled bitter and banished anglo-irish officer finalized his plan to steal
the crown jewels of england and scotland from the tower of london it was a plan that had been
in the making for quite some time the entire till surrounding britain's crown's jewels theft is so
bizarre that the story could easily be an upper hour theater piece rather than an actual event
the officer even used actors for the entire operation this officer the self-styled colonel
thomas blood had a lie filled with adventure conspiracy and crime and although many of
his exploits speak to the imagination he is best known simply as the man who stole the crown jewels
thomas blood was born around 1618 in sarni county meath in ireland not much documentation
about his early life survives his father was most likely a blacksmith an iron worker
thomas first turns up in historical records listed in a local irish civil survey done in the 1650s
in it he is described as a protestant owning 220 acres of land in his place of birth being in his
late 30s at this point he certainly must have served in the military at one point or another
especially because he lived through the english civil war lasting from 1641 to 52. still mainly
because of thomas's own contradictory statements about this time later in life historians have been
unable to trace his exact career path historians have attempted to piece together thomas's
whereabouts between him reaching adulthood and the 1650s for example thomas does not appear on
any of the major royalist army or regimental list during that time yet the indigent officers list of
1663 does mention a captain blood thomas himself claimed he fought during the english civil war
he served in prince rupert's army against the parliamentarians the historical manuscripts
commission sixth report reveals prince rupert remembered thomas as a very stout bald fellow
so there is a strong case to be made for thomas fighting on the royalist site at least during the
initial stages of the civil war i say initial stages because in 1650 thomas married maria
holcroft her father john holcroft was an english politician who supported the parliamentary army
it appears thomas switched sides as the tide of the war turned against king charles the first and
the royalists enlisting in the parliamentary armies he was promoted to lieutenant the
parliamentary army never promoted him to anything else than lieutenant though nevertheless thomas
would become known in history as colonel blood not in the least thanks to his regular self-promotion
when introducing himself to others initially he referred to himself as captain and as he grew
bolder in his claims he decided his person suited the rank of colonel barely any documentation about
thomas after the english civil war was concluded survives except for a few surveys pointing to
him living on his estate in ireland in 1660 the restoration of the steward monarchy took place
exiled king charles ii returned and thomas lost lands to the new ruler not in the least thanks
to him siding with the parliamentarians during the war it left him both bitter and penniless although
thomas was dead set on making sure he would get his sweet revenge the next few years thomas stood
at the center of a conspiracy carefully in the making the plan was to seize dublin castle and
expel the royalists in may 1663 the plot was uncovered however and thomas fled and hid from
authorities sailing from ireland to england he wandered through northern england until finally
settling in london and occasionally sailing to the united provinces of the netherlands he was
instrumental in organizing the escape of notable rebel captain john mason before disappearing again
he took part in multiple plots over the next few years attempting to get rid of the monarchy all
to no avail and after each one disappearing and evading capture as if it took no effort one of the
most notorious plots before his heist of the crown jewels must have been the abduction and attempted
execution of james butler first duke of armand in 1670 thomas together with several cronies abducted
him from the street with the intent to hang him later on his hatred against the duke of armand
stemmed from the earlier conspiracy to seize dublin castle which was uncovered the executing
of several conspirators led to thomas wearing vengeance against the duke who once again managed
to escape yet thomas's next crime wasn't related to ireland or usurping the throne but simply an
attempt to increase his own riches and perhaps gain a permanent place in the history books
in 1671 bitter and destitute thomas hatched the plot to steal the newly fashioned crown jewels the
parliamentarians had melted down the original ones after king charles the first was executed in 1649
king charles ii ordered the creation of a new set stealing the crown jewels was quite a strange plan
in itself mainly because of the strict security and ample guards in and around the tower of london
yet just one man guarded the jewel house the 76 year old veteran talbot edwards here is
where thomas's plan gets into so much detail and theater that it could easily be an opera
piece his plan required the use of costumes fake titles of nobility and even a fake family with the
spouse and nephew thomas himself enjoyed a raw at the center of deception as a parson although some
sources say he pretended to be a doctor the aim was to befriend all dual housekeeper edwards and
gain his trust thomas visited the tower of london disguised as a parson accompanied with his wife
this initial visit was to scout out the place security and admire the jewels once inside he
struck up conversation with edwards who revealed he lived one floor above the jewels together with
his family for a small fee edwards showed the crown jewels to thomas and the woman playing
his wife upon seeing them the woman faked stomach cramps so violent she had to lie down
the unsuspecting edwards took her upstairs to his apartment so that she could recuperate
as a sign of gratitude several days later thomas returned with a pair of gloves
they were a gift for edward's wife the edwards family warmly received him and during his visit
thomas remarked how their daughter was at an age to marry he could set her up with a
wealthy land-owning nephew of his they eagerly accepted and insisted he'd revisit them soon
on may 9 1671 thomas came by he brought his son playing his wealthy nephew and two others it would
be the last time the family friend swung by he told the edwards family his wife would join them
a little later thomas suggested edwards could show them the crown jewels in the meantime thomas son
remained upstairs to get to know their daughter while the four men made their way downstairs
once at the jewels thomas and his cronies overpowered the old edwards but although he was
old he had a lot of fight in him he made so much noise as he could kicking and screaming until he
was bashed over the head with a club and stabbed in the stomach the men now removed all regalia
from their case one of them shoved a royal orb down his pants and thomas used the club to flatten
the crown the scepter was too long to put in a bag so one of the crooks tried to saw it in half
yet unexpectedly edward's son returned home and called the thieves in the act he immediately
alerted the guards the thieves now fled to the scene with the tower guards in hot pursuit
it didn't take long for all participants of the plot to be arrested although shots were fired none
of the thieves were wounded yet even though this was undoubtedly an offence warranting execution
thomas fared rather nicely after his arrest once he called wind of the attempted theft king charles
ii demanded he'd see thomas guards took him to the palace where he and rupert and other royal
family members questioned him the king must have been impressed with thomas's demeanor because he
granted him a pardon instead of severe punishment he also restored his irish estates introduced him
as a permanent member of his courts and granted him an annual pension as for tolbert edwards his
family was awarded less than 300 pounds the family never received the full summon edwards
passed away not soon after the attempted robbery the rest of his life colonel blood enjoyed a minor
celebrity status across the kingdom of england in august 1680 he passed away at the age of 62.
because of disbelief among the public after his burial the body had to be exhumed to convince
the population he had in fact passed away now in germany a mischievous character akin to colonel
blood was pardoned by the german kaiser after an audacious heist william voight is still remembered
as a rascal and even as a statue in the tiny plunder pretending to be a prussian army captain
i've created a video about his deed if you're interested in that it should be on screen shortly
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