66 The Gatehouse prison was built in 1370 as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey and first used as a prison by the abbot. It was used to detain those awaiting trial for felonies and petty offences as well as state prisoners. It was demolished in 1776 and its site is now marked by the column of Westminster School’s Crimean War and Indian Mutiny memorial, erected in 1861 in Broad Sanctuary.
67 CSP Domestic 1670, p.573.
68 HoL Record Office MS HL/PO/JO/10/1/344/352(e2 and e4). Evidence of John Buxton.
69 CSP Domestic 1670, p.573.
70 RCHM, Eighth Report, part 1, appendix, p.156.
71 HoL Record Office MS HL/PO/JO/10/1/344/352(l). Examination of Francis Johnson by Arlington, 19 December 1660.
72 This was Sebastian Jones, who had been condemned in Ireland for producing counterfeit coins and was afterwards convicted, with eight others, of stealing £1,500 of silver plate from the Earl of Meath and from Alderman Pennington’s home in Dublin. The others were executed, but Jones was due to be transported to the West Indies. He was pardoned, bailed and fled to England. He had offered a man called Sharpe, living in Soho, £50 to go to Ireland and retrieve the stolen plate ‘which was hidden underground’. Judge Morton employed Jones to find Blood and Moore in London ‘since he knew them in Ireland . . . and knew some acquaintances of theirs here’. CSP Domestic 1671, p.37.
73 Henry Davis, ‘one of the guards in the Queen’s troop’, had a sword which Thomas Peachy, one of Williamson’s informers, believed ‘to be the same as was taken from the attempted assassin of the Duke of Ormond and is deposited at Clarendon House’ (TNA, SP 29/281/24, f.28). Later, he retracted his suspicions of Davis’s involvement ‘in the horrid business connected with the Duke of Ormond’ and begged Williamson: ‘Do not inform Davis that I gave information against him.’ (TNA, SP 29/281/99, f.132.)
74 Greaves, Enemies Under His Feet, p. 208.
75 HoL Record Office MS HL/PO/JO/10/1/344/352(g1). Judge Morton to Ormond.
76 The committee was nominally led by the lord chamberlain of the royal household, the sixty-eight-year-old Edward Montague, Second Earl of Manchester. It consisted of two marquises, twenty-three earls, two viscounts, twenty-seven dukes, the archbishops of Canterbury and York and ten Anglican bishops. Not all would have attended the committee hearings.
77 ‘Lords Jnls,’ vol. 12, 1666–75, p.404.
78 CSP Domestic 1670, pp.576 and 582.
79 RCHM, Eighth Report, pt. 1, appendix, pp.156 and 158.
80 An alcoholic drink made by infusing cherries and sugar in brandy. Perhaps Dixey’s brother was an imbiber?
81 CSP Domestic 1670, pp.615–16.
82 RCHM, Eighth Report, part 1, appendix, p.156.
83 TNA, SP 29/289/283 f.284. Petition ofThomas Drayton, constable, and Henry Partridge of Lambeth for £100 reward. ? April 1671.
84 HoL Record Office MS HL/PO/JO/10/1/344/352(g4). Receipt of Thomas Hunt, dated 17 October 1670, for sword, belt and pistol, from the custody of Thomas Drayton, constable of Lambeth.
85 Abbott, Colonel Thomas Blood, p.19
86 ‘Lords Jnls’, vol. 12,1666–75, pp.447–8.
87 Carte, Life of Ormond, vol. 2, p.424.
88 Haley, The First Earl of Shaftsbury, p.188.
89 In November 1668, Sir Ellis Leighton, Buckingham’s secretary, told the French ambassador that Ormond was about to be removed and that this demonstrated the extent of Buckingham’s power and influence. (McGuire, ‘Why was Ormond Dismissed in 1669?’ Irish Historical Studies, vol. 18, p.299.)
90 Marshall, ‘Colonel Thomas Blood and the Restoration Political Scene’, Hf, vol. 32, p.565.
91 Carte, Life of Ormond, vol. 4, p.448.
92 Carte, Life of Ormond, vol. 4, p.424.
93 Carte, Life of Ormond, vol. 4, pp.447–8.
94 HoL Record Office MS HL/PO/JO/10/1/344/352(g6). Thomas Allen to Mrs Mary Hunt at Mr Davies’ house at Mortlake, Surrey, 17 November 1670.
95 Marshall, ‘Colonel Thomas Blood and the Restoration Political Scene’, Hf, vol. 32, p.566.
96 Carte, Life of Ormond, vol. 2, p.449.
97 ‘HoC Jnls’, vol. 9, 1667–87, p.188.
98 ‘Burnet’s History’, vol. 1, p.488 and Kennett, Compleat History of England . . ., vol. 3, p.280.
99 22 & 23 Caro. II, cap. 1. It was repealed in 1828.
100 Greaves, Enemies Under His Feet, p.208.
101 TNA, SP 29/281/74, f.100. Robert Pitt to Prince Rupert, 23 December 1670.
102 TNA, SP 29/281/911, f.120.
103 Greaves, Enemies Under His Feet, p.209.
CHAPTER 6: THE MOST AUDACIOUS CRIME
1 London Gazette, issue 572, 8–11 May 1671, p.2, col.2
2 Sitwell, Crown Jewels . . ., p.79.
3 ‘HoC Jnls’,vol. 6, p.276, 9 August 1649. Other royal regalia were stored in the Tower Wardrobe, the department of state that held hangings, jewellery and other items for the royal court.
4 These were purchased by a private individual at the sale of King Charles’s goods in 1649 and returned to his son Charles II after he was restored to the throne in 1660.
5 Sitwell, Crown Jewels . . ., p.79 and Cole, ‘Particulars relative to that portion of the Regalia of England which was made for the Coronation of King Charles the Second’, Archaeologia, vol. 29, p.262–5. Sitwell, Crown Jewels . . ., p.48.
6 Sitwell, Crown Jewels . . ., p.48 and p.44.
7 The ‘Black Prince’s Ruby’ was worn by Henry V on his helmet at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and was incorporated in the state crown by James I early in the seventeenth century. After the Crown Jewels were broken up under the Commonwealth, the gem was purchased by a London jeweller and goldsmith who sold it back to the monarchy at the Restoration. The Imperial State Crown was remodelled for the coronation of George VI (the present Queen’s father) in 1937, and incorporates more than 3,000 gemstones. See Treasury order for payment to Viner (BL Add. MSS 44,915, ff.1–2 and his receipt on f.3) and the list of regalia provided for Charles II’s coronation in Sir Gilbert Talbot’s custody (ibid., ff.5–12).
8 No regalia for the coronation of a queen was made as Charles II had not then married. When James II was crowned on 23 April 1685, new regalia had to be made for his queen, Mary of Modena. Lists of regalia for this coronation and their valuation are in BL Add. MSS 44,915, ff.43r.
9 Impey and Parnell, The Tower of London . . ., p.106.
10 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97.
11 Dixon, Her Majesty’s Tower, vol. 2, pp. 244–7. Eleven German spies were imprisoned in the Martin Tower in 1914–16 and executed in the Tower of London, nine of them shot in the fortress’s indoor rifle firing range. Hence, the First World War saw more executions in the Tower than occurred in the reigns of the Tudors.
12 John Talbot was the nephew of Sir Gilbert Talbot. For Wythe Edwards’ wife, see Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.98.
13 TNA, WORK 31/22. Plans of Jewel House in Tower of London, 15 August 1702, and plan of first storey showing dining room, parlour, kitchen and staircase, dated 1668, both bearing the stamp ‘I.G.F.’ for Inspector General of Fortifications. A second drawing, WORK 31/68, shows a plan and section of the Jewel Tower in the early eighteenth century.
14 ‘Remarks . . .’,p.227.
15 Charlton, Tower of London: Its Buildings and Institutions, p.63.
16 The king gave with one hand and took away with the other. Talbot expected annual profits of £1,200 from the post, but received only £200 a year.
17 Younghusband, The Jewel House: an Account of the Many Romances connected with the Royal Regalia . . ., pp.177 and 247.
18 Charlton, Tower of London: Its Buildings and Institutions, p.63.
19 The Tower’s Royal Menagerie was founded in 1200 during the reign of King John (1199–1216) and was established for 600 years, drawing hundreds of visitors each year to see the animals there. In 1251 a ‘white bear’ was brought from Norway which was allow
ed to fish in the River Thames on the end of a stout cord. Four years later, Louis IX of France donated an African elephant. Acknowledging the menagerie’s value as an attraction, James I built stone viewing platforms in 1622. Finally, in 1831–2 the animals were transferred to the Zoological Society of London’s new buildings in Regent’s Park and the menagerie was closed in 1835.
20 Herostratus sought notoriety by burning down the temple of Artemis at Ephesus in 356 BC, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He was executed and mere mention of his name thereafter was forbidden under penalty of death. ‘Herostratus’ therefore has become a metonym for anyone who commits a crime in order to become notorious.
21 ‘Remarks . . .’, p.227.
22 Harrison was hung, drawn and quartered as a regicide at Charing Cross on 13 October 1660, ‘he looking as cheerful as any man who could do in that condition’ according to the diarist Samuel Pepys, who witnessed his execution (‘Pepys Diary’, vol. 1, p.241).
23 Greaves, Enemies Under His Feet, p.209.
24 BL Lansdowne MS 1,152, vol. 1, f.238r A former parliamentary colonel, John Rathbone, and seven other New Model Army officers and soldiers were found guilty at the Old Bailey in April 1666 of conspiring the death of Charles II and the overthrow of his government. The plot involved capture of the Tower of London, setting fire to the City of London and the Horse Guards being surprised in the inns where they were quartered, several ostlers having been suborned for that purpose. Alexander, who escaped capture, had acted as paymaster for the conspirators. The date of 3 September was chosen for the attempt because Lilly’s Almanack deemed this date to be especially lucky, as a ruling planet predicted the downfall of the monarchy.
25 BL Harley MS 6859, f.1. Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A.185, f.471r.
26 ‘Remarks . . .’, p.227.
27 Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A.185, f.471r.
28 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97; Hanrahan, Colonel Blood . . ., p.110.
29 Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A.185, ff.471v–472v.
30 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97.
31 Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A.185, ff. 471v. Some accounts say it was four pairs of gloves.
32 Blood visited three or four more times, according to one account. (Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A. 185, ff. 471v).
33 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97.
34 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97.
35 BL Harley MS 6,859, f.5.
36 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97.
37 ‘Remarks . . .’, p.227.
38 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.97.
39 A wooden tool with a heavy head and handle for ramming, or driving wedges.
40 London Gazette, 8–11 May 1671, issue 572, p.2, col. 2.
41 Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A.185, ff. 471r.
42 ‘Remarks . . .’, p.228.
43 Throughout Beckman’s life he had been fascinated by loud bangs and was injured in an accidental explosion which occurred while he was rigging up a firework display to celebrate the coronation of Charles II at Westminster on 23 April 1660. Later he turned to military engineering and mapped the defences of Tangier (the Moroccan port held by the English in 1661–84 after it had been ceded as part of the dowry of Charles II’s queen, Catherine of Braganza. See BL Sloane MS 2,448, f.15 – ‘Necessities for fortifying Tangier’ by ‘T. S. Bekman’). In October 1663, he traitorously offered to help Spain capture Tangier and accepted part-payment for his information from the Duke of Medinaceli and later supplied the duke’s letters to the English consul at Cadiz. In early 1664 he returned to England, expecting a warm welcome. However, Arlington had been alerted about his dubious character, being warned by Colonel John Fitzgerald, deputy governor of Tangier, that ‘Beckman the intelligencer is to be feared’. His suspicions were confirmed when, unaware of the surveillance both he and the envoy were under, he visited the Dutch ambassador in London, offering a ‘free discourse of Tangier’. Charles himself ordered an investigation of Beckman’s movements and loyalties to be undertaken (Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MSS D.916, f.101. Marshal, Intelligence and Espionage . . ., pp.180 and 184). Beckman found himself in the Tower for six months, from where he complained: ‘I have been a near half year a close prisoner only from one person’s [?Colonel Fitzgerald’s] malicious and false tongue.’ After this period in prison, Beckman was released and sent back to Tangier to draw up plans for stronger defences of the city, together with the Dutch engineer Bernard de Gomme (Jonathan Spain, ‘Sir Martin Beckman’, ODNB, vol. 6, p.741).
44 London Gazette, 8–11 May 1671, issue 572, p.2, col. 2; de Ros,Memorials of the Tower of London, p.198.
45 BL Harley MS 6,859, f.5; Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.98.
46 Sergeant, Rogues and Scoundrels, p.142; ‘Remarks . . .’, p.228; Greaves, Enemies Under His Feet, p.210. While other gems were recovered by a yeoman warder and ‘faithfully restored’, some were lost for ever. (Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.99). See also Bod. Lib. Rawlinson MS A. 185, ff.472v and Nigel Jones, ‘Blood, Theft and Arrears: Stealing the Crown Jewels’, History Today, vol. 61, pp.10–17.
47 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.98.
48 TNA, SP 29/289/187, f.366. Newsletter to Mr Kirke at Cambridge; Kennett, A Compleat History of England . . ., vol. 3, p.283.
49 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.98.
50 Robinson (1615–80), was lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1660–79 when he was dismissed. One of his duties was acting as jailer to political prisoners and he was accused in 1664 of taking ‘excessive fees’ from them. He was lord mayor of London in 1662–3 and Samuel Pepys was scornful of his talents, describing him as ‘a talking bragging bufflehead [fat-headed, foolish or stupid] . . . as very a coxcomb as I would have thought had been in the City . . . nor has he brains to outwit any ordinary tradesman’ (‘Pepys Diary’, 16 March 1663, vol. 3, p.65).
51 The larger knife remains in the Royal Armouries at Leeds, with the number X.214a. The smaller, which had the number X.214b, has been missing since 1983 and was finally deemed lost in 2002. Both daggers were deposited in the Armouries by the Royal Literary Fund in 1926, having being bequeathed to them in 1807 by Thomas Newton, a descendant of the scientist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Isaac may have come by them through his post as firstly warden (1696) and later master of the Royal Mint (1699) located within the Tower of London. My grateful thanks are due to my good friend Philip J. Lankester and to Robert C. Woosnam-Savage, Curator of European Edged Weapons at the Royal Armouries, for much help and assistance with the issue of the daggers. See also: Ffoulkes, ‘Daggers Attributed to Colonel Blood’, Antiquaries Jnl, vol. 7, pp. 139–40 and Caldwell and Wallace, ‘Ballocks, Dudgeons and Quhingearis: Three Scottish Daggers recently acquired by the Scottish Museum’, History Scotland, November-December 2003, pp.15–19.
52 Bod. Lib. English Letters D.37, f.84.
CHAPTER 7: A ROYAL PARDON
1 Hervey Redmond Morres, Second Viscount Mountmorres, History of the Principle Transactions of the Irish Parliament, vol. 1, p.273.
2 CSP Domestic 1671, p.244.
3 TNA, SP 29/289/187, f.366. Newsletter to Mr Kirke at Cambridge. London; 9 May 1671.
4 CSP Domestic 1671, p.247.
5 CSP Venice 1671–2, p.49. Alberti to the Doge and Senate of Venice. London, 22 May 1671.
6 The belt fastening clerical garb.
7 Humanity or sympathy.
8 Egmont Papers. BL Add. MS 47,128, f.13r. Poem attributed to Andrew Marvell.
9 See copies in the papers of Dr Nehemiah Grew of London (BL Sloane MS 1,941, f.18, in English and Latin) and in the papers of Dr Walter Charleton (d.1707) of Norwi
ch (BL Sloane MS 3,413, f.29r, also in English and Latin).
10 BL Harley MSS 6,859, ff.1–17.
11 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.99.
12 Younghusband, The Jewel House . . ., p.187.
13 London Gazette, issue 572, 8–11 May 1671, p.2, col.2. HMC ‘le Fleming’, p.78. One account maintains that Perrot, not Thomas Blood junior, accompanied the colonel to the audience with Charles II.
14 Marshall, Intelligence and Espionage . . ., p.194.
15 HMC ‘le Fleming’, p.78.
16 ‘Evelyn Diary’, vol. 2, p.259, 1 March 1671.
17 See Burghclere, Life of Ormond, vol. 2, pp. 190–91.
18 Bod. Lib. MSS English Letters D.37, f.84.
19 Burghclere, Life of Ormond, vol. 2, p.190.
20 Abbott, Colonel Thomas Blood, p.76.
21 ‘Remarks . . .’, pp.228–9.
22 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.99.
23 RCHM, Sixth Report pt. 1, appendix, p.370. MSS of Sir Henry Ingilby, Ripley Castle, Yorkshire.
24 Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster . . ., vol. 1, p.99; Carte, Life of Ormond, vol. 4, pp.422–3; RCHM, Fourth Report, pt. 1, report and appendix, p.370.
25 In the seventeenth century, the waters of the River Thames were still so clean that noblemen who lived in the string of great houses along the Strand in Westminster used to bathe in it frequently. In the reign of Charles I this was the regular practice of Lord Northampton; and Sir Dudley North swam so ‘constantly that he could live in the water an afternoon with as much ease as others walk upon land’ (Thornbury, Old and New London, vol. 3, p, 309). Charles II was a keen swimmer.
26 Because the Thames was broader and shallower before it was embanked in the Victorian period, its flow was much slower and it was frequently frozen over for some days in the seventeenth centuries, as in 1663, 1666 and 1677. The mean temperatures in centigrade for November and December 1670 have been estimated at 6° and 3°, and for January, February and March 1671, 4°, 3.5° and 5° respectively (see: Gordon Manley, ‘Central England Monthly Mean Temperatures 1659–1973’, Quarterly Jnl Royal Meteorological Society, vol. 100 (1974), p.393.
The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood Page 31