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Captain Blood and the Crown Jewels
Episode 252

Captain Blood and the Crown Jewels

<p>Fugitive Thomas Blood sneaked his way into the Tower of London’s jewel room on 9th May, 1671 - bludgeoning the 77 year-old Keeper of the Jewels, Talbot Edwards, in the process. </p><br><p>Disguised as a parson, the Irish adventurer had cat-fished Edwards in an audacious and complex heist that involved multiple pairs of white gloves, a fake nephew and stuffing an orb down his trousers.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Blood failed to steal the jewels, but got away with a Royal pardon from Charles II; recall his earlier escapades as a fake doctor and a mock executioner; and ask why, after all that planning, the criminal gang didn’t BRING A BIGGER BAG… </p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Attempt to steal the Crown Jewels’ (The National Archives): <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/significant-events/attempt-to-steal-the-crown-jewels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/significant-events/attempt-to-steal-the-crown-jewels/</a> </p><p>• ‘Thomas Blood and the Theft of the Crown Jewels’ (Historia Magazine, 2017): <a href="https://www.historiamag.com/thomas-blood/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.historiamag.com/thomas-blood/</a></p><p>• ‘The Crown Jewels Thief - Colonel Blood’ (Historic Royal Palaces, 2021): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRmBE6B8F7I" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRmBE6B8F7I</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Alexa Weissman.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Today In History with The Retrospectors

May 9, 202211m 59s

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Show Notes

Fugitive Thomas Blood sneaked his way into the Tower of London’s jewel room on 9th May, 1671 - bludgeoning the 77 year-old Keeper of the Jewels, Talbot Edwards, in the process. 


Disguised as a parson, the Irish adventurer had cat-fished Edwards in an audacious and complex heist that involved multiple pairs of white gloves, a fake nephew and stuffing an orb down his trousers.


In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Blood failed to steal the jewels, but got away with a Royal pardon from Charles II; recall his earlier escapades as a fake doctor and a mock executioner; and ask why, after all that planning, the criminal gang didn’t BRING A BIGGER BAG… 


Further Reading:

• ‘Attempt to steal the Crown Jewels’ (The National Archives): https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/significant-events/attempt-to-steal-the-crown-jewels/ 

• ‘Thomas Blood and the Theft of the Crown Jewels’ (Historia Magazine, 2017): https://www.historiamag.com/thomas-blood/

• ‘The Crown Jewels Thief - Colonel Blood’ (Historic Royal Palaces, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRmBE6B8F7I


For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors


The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Alexa Weissman.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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