Thomas Blood’s Heist of the Crown Jewels in 1671
Is it still a crown if no one has ever worn it, isn’t just a fancy hat?
Today we’re continuing our heist series by going back in time to the 17th century when there were no fancy electronic devices or helicopters to assist in heists but, this also means high-value targets were usually pretty out in the open by comparison.
In the spring of 1671 Talbot Edwards, the tour guide of the Jewel House in the Tower of London gets a visit from his friend and frequent visitor, the parish priest, Parson Thomas Blood. The Jewel House housed… jewels, hence the name. But more importantly, also contained the crown jewels. A solid gold crown with 444 embedded precious stones, a golden scepter, and an orb.
Since Talbot Edwards was the Master of the Jewel House it was his job to show tourists around the Jewel House for a small fee. It was just another day on the job to show his good friend around. The two had crafted a strong friendship in the last few months after Talbot had helped take care of Blood’s ailing wife.
They even agreed to set up Blood’s bachelor nephew with Talbot’s unmarried daughter and were finally going to introduce them to each other. But just several minutes after the meeting started, Thomas Blood, his nephew, and another friend were all running from the Jewel House while Talbot lay on the ground with a sack over his head, hands over his stomach; bleeding from a stab wound.
Meanwhile, in front of him, the crown jewels were gone.
Part 1 - The Buildup
We’ve briefly mentioned in a previous article about the turbulent teenage years of England, specifically the 17th century, and one day we’ll cover the multiple civil wars of that time in great detail, but today we’re talking about a man by the name of Thomas Blood.
The Civil Wars
Thomas was born in Ireland in the early 17th century prior to the start of the Civil Wars. Sources say he was born to a pretty wealthy family allowing him to receive a good education which helped in fostering his intelligence and social skills. But in 1642 the First English Civil War broke out. King Charles I and the monarchy had been butting heads with the English Parliament and the war wasn’t a surprising outcome.
Oliver Cromwell led the army for the parliament and, at first, Thomas Blood joined forces with the Royalist forces, those loyal to the king. But Thomas was pretty mercurial because once it was apparent the Royalists weren’t going to win, Thomas switched sides and became a lieutenant for Cromwell’s army.
“Hey, you guys know we can just switch sides like whenever?”
Some sources suggest Thomas Blood used his intelligence and charisma to become a sort of spy for Cromwell and was instrumental to the army. In 1653 Cromwell was victorious and the first war was over. As a reward, Thomas was given a yearly salary, land in Ireland, and the official title “Justice of the Peace”.
But peace wouldn’t last long. In 1660 King Charles II came back to England to avenge his father. It wasn’t that dramatic but Cromwell was out and the Charlies were back in which meant Thomas, who had betrayed Charles II’s father, had to run. It wasn’t too bad, Thomas still had his land in Ireland given to him by parliament and it’s not like they were just going to take that away from him.
They took that away from him in 1662. Thomas Blood had lost everything and now wanted revenge.
Out for Blood
For the next several years Thomas became embroiled in multiple plots to take back England and get revenge on several of those higher up in the political chain, including attempts to assassinate King Charles II.
In 1663 he attempted to storm Dublin Castle, that plot was discovered before it could ever happen and his accomplices were executed. Thomas Blood escaped but, was now, a very wanted man.
Was it because of the attempted murder thing?
And yet he returned to London as a fake doctor under a different name. Historians believe Thomas Blood was working for George Villiers the Duke of Buckingham as a spy and hitman during this time. His target was James Butler the Duke of Ormond, who coincidentally had Thomas’s accomplices executed after the storming of Dublin Castle failed.
The plan to kill Butler almost worked but he was able to free himself and escape. Although Thomas Blood wasn’t implicated, George Villiers was assumed to be behind the plot which possibly caused him to have Thomas lay low for a while, you know, wait till the heat dies down.
But Thomas’s blood was boiling, he needed revenge. So he had an idea, after King Charles I lost power and was executed, the crown jewels were melted down and destroyed as it was a symbol of the monarchy. When King Charles II took back power for the monarchy, one of the first things he did was have a replica set of the crown jewels made and stored in the Tower of London.
What better way to get back at the monarchy than by stealing the symbol of its presence?
Part 2 - The Plan
Thomas Blood knew the crown jewels were kept in the Jewel House located in the basement of the Tower of London, everyone knew. There were even tours given by the official called “The Master of the Jewel House” who was an ex-soldier, the elderly Talbot Edwards. A 77-year-old man who lived with his family on the first floor.
Thomas and a crew of men couldn’t just break in though, there were guards on the outside that would immediately capture them if they saw a group of suspicious men breaking into the tower.
Thomas would need to get close enough to Talbot that he wouldn’t think twice about giving them a private tour of the jewel house. By using his spy skills he discovered Talbot had an unmarried daughter and, that, would be his opening.
Infiltration
His first step was getting close to Talbot, he accomplished this by disguising himself as a parish priest, the honorable Parson Blood. Blood then hired an actress to pretend to be his wife and then paid for a tour of the Jewel House while in disguise. After a few minutes, his fake wife became extremely ill, grasping at her stomach, dropping to the ground, and crying out in pain.
Parson Blood shouted for help and Talbot Edwards came rushing with aid. He offered to take her upstairs to his home where she could rest and be taken care of by his wife until she felt better.
Thomas Blood was in.
Execution
Several days later the fake Parson came back bearing gifts of thanks to Talbot’s wife and so began a friendship between the couples. Over the next several weeks, Blood would frequently visit the Edwards and eventually had the random idea to have his nephew meet Talbot’s daughter. Talbot and his wife thought it was a great idea and arranged to have the meeting on May 9th, 1671.
Thomas assembled a crew of four others, including his actual son to pretend to be his nephew. The plan was simple, the five would ride up to the gates on horses, one of his men would wait with the horses at the gates, another would wait outside of the Tower of London as a lookout, and Parson Blood, his son, and another accomplice would greet Talbot and enter his home. After several minutes Parson Blood would have another random idea of going to see the crown jewels while they waited.
Once Talbot agreed and unlocked the basement all they had to do it pull out a mallet, knock him over the head, gag him, take the crown jewels and walk out of the house like nothing happened. The guards on the outside wouldn’t even blink twice.
Bumps
As Talbot unlocked the basement, the plan was going smoothly, until the elderly Talbot Edwards not only didn’t get knocked out from the hit to the head, he actually put up a fight. The three beat him, put a gag in his mouth, a sack over his head, and stabbed him once in the stomach. They then turned their attention to the crown jewels, which were a little bigger than they thought.
Thomas began smashing the crown into a flat piece in order to fit it in his robes, his son started sawing the scepter in half since it was too big to fit in his clothes, and the other accomplice easily put the orb in his pants. But just when they thought they were going to get away scot-free, their lookout called out to them. Talbot’s son and his friend, both soldiers had arrived at the home unexpectedly.
The men had to leave the scepter and try to stroll out without alerting them but then things got worse. Talbot, despite his injuries, was able to untie himself, remove the sack and gag, and call out to his son from the basement, he yelled “Treason! The Crown is stolen!”
The crew started running, all were captured immediately except Thomas who was almost at the gates. He took out his pistol and started firing wildly behind him, hitting one of the guards as he reached his horse. But before he could get on the saddle, he was caught and arrested.
Part 3 - The Downfall… Kind of?
The guards dragged Thomas inside and started their interrogations but Thomas refused to answer any questions, he simply kept repeating that he would only answer to King Charles II himself.
Now you would think they scoffed at that request and executed Thomas Blood without question, right? Nope, King Charles II actually agreed to meet with him behind closed doors. And when the meeting was over, Thomas Blood was pardoned. Not only that, he gave him land back in Ireland and no one knows why.
Theories as to What the Hell
There are of course a couple of theories. The most prominent one is Thomas Blood simply amused the King with the stories of his exploits and even told the King of a time he almost killed him while the King was bathing naked in the river but was distracted by the size of his, ahem, his Charlie.
Of course, that theory is based on the retelling by Thomas Blood himself of what happened in that room, which should be taken with a grain of salt.
Another theory is the entire job was an inside job and Thomas Blood was sent by the Duke, George Villiers, to rob the crown jewels and when he was caught, the Duke pulled strings to get him pardoned. Which I still think is a bit far-fetched.
Another theory, along the same line, is the Duke sent Thomas Blood to steal the crown under the secret orders of the King himself. Some historians believe Charles II needed more funds and by selling the crown jewels he would be able to make money, He then could have a new set made using public funds.
The theory I believe is true is that Thomas Blood told the King of his abilities, telling him of his accomplishments and stories, and then offered to work for him directly as a spy in return for a pardon. Especially since that’s exactly what it appears Thomas Blood ended up doing for the rest of his life. Until 1680, Thomas was frequently in London telling all of his exploits and visiting the Royal Court often.
Old Friends
In 1680, Thomas ran into problems with his old friend Duke George Villiers after he made some disparaging remarks about him. He was arrested, convicted, and ordered to pay restitution, which he never did but in August of 1680, he fell into a coma and died shortly after.
His reputation was so well-known for being a con man, spy, and all-around deceitful person, some stories say his body was exhumed just to make sure he really was dead and not faking it to get out of paying his debts. He really was dead and as one final reminder as to what kind of man he was, his epitaph reads:
“Here lies the man who boldly hath run through
More villainies than England ever knew;
And ne'er to any friend he had was true.
Here let him then by all unpitied lie,
And let's rejoice his time was come to die.”
And that’s the story of the man who attempted to steal the Crown Jewels of England and got away with it.
