Diamond jewellery stolen in 1851

But have you done a timeline before and after the diamond robbery? Don't think British convicts photographed quite then but no period engravings?

Debora

 

Do we know the date of the letter to Lord Palmerston?

Debora

 

Yes, we have a timeline from his arrival in England (December 10th, 1850) all the way to his transfer to prison (June 24th, 1851), and then again from documents from Germany and Australia, covering the time from early March 1853 till his death in December 1854.

There are no contemporary portraits, unfortunately. We were really trying to find one, but all we have is a single signature, and that's the only example of his handwriting known to exist. There is a photo of his older brother though, who became an industrialist in Germany in the 1870s. There are fictitious portraits in Australian school books from the 1950s and 60s, but as I said, these aren't contemporary. No engravings (these were often done in British newspapers at the time, but we haven't found one for Thonen).

There are descriptions, both from Australia, and from the prison records (the closest to the images of convicts you'd see in modern cases), which say:

5/4 [that is, 5 feet 4 inches in height], fresh [teint], black [hair], healthy, 24 [years old], [from] Elberfeld, [a] clerk [by profession]

In an 1855 book about the Eureka Rebellion, he is described like this:

EDWARD THONEN, a native of Elbertfeld, Prussia, five feet high, some thirty years old, thin, but robust, of vigorous health, used no razor. His eyes spoke determination and independence of character. One day in November, 1853, he called with his lemonade kegs at my hole in Sailors' Gully. A mate was served with a glass of lemonade—halloo! he must help at the windlass just at the moment he was tendering payment, and the shilling fell to the ground. Some words passed to the effect that six-pence a glass should be enough for lemonade. Thonen asked for his shilling; my mate directed him where the shilling lay; Thonen would see him d—d first before picking up his money like a dustman, and went away. I sent that identical shilling (stamped 1844), along with my little gold, to Rome; most astonishing! I had the presentiment at the time that I should have had occasion to relate the story. There was no mate on the gold-fields to match Thonen at chess-playing. He would turn his head, allow his opponent the move, and then he would give such a glance on the chess board, that the right piece would jump to the right place, as it were of its own accord. Shrewd, yet honest; benevolent, but scorning the knave; of deep-thought, though prompt in action; Thonen possessed the head belonging to that cast of men whose word is their bond.

No. It must have been between January and April, 1851. The whereabouts of that letter are unknown (it may no longer exist). London Metropolitan Archives doesn't have it.

 

On the employment thing. In London, and I’m thinking Hatton garden, it wasn’t uncommon for Jewish diamond merchants to employ trusted gentiles/goyim in lesser more menial roles.

(As an aside, besties father worked as a kosher butcher. He was staunch CofE! )

 

That's what I thought. Do you happen to have a good reference for that?

("Goy", plural goyim, means a non-Jewish person. I had to look it up, so I thought it may be useful to clarify it.)

 

Unfamiliar with the old New York joke? Q: "Why did God invent goyim?" A: "Somebody has to pay retail." (It refers to the number of Jewish businesses within the garment industry.)

Debora

 

LOL - not this Gentile. My running joke is the 11th Commandment is: thou shalt not pay rack rate.

 

Unfamiliar, yes. English isn't my first language (I am German).
Always good to learn a new word though. And thanks for the jokes!

 

I am attaching a first draft of my section about the jewellery and the diamond merchants. I have not yet proofread this (it has just been written), and it is to be extended, but maybe you're still interested in it.

 

I adore Jewish humour. It’s sour, cynical, self deprecating and clever. I swear I was raised Jewish Catholic given the muddle that’s my family and friends.

I don’t have one single authoritative cite for the employment thing, it’s more based on observation and things like censuses and contemporaneous accounts and books. And when I worked round Hatton Garden, talking to people. There’s some decent stuff on employment in the east end of London if I can fish it out, too.

One bestie at school’s father was in the rag trade, and her aunt had a Gown Shop on Davies street, I did a holiday stint there. Jewish owners, seamstresses not.

 

I like Ephraim Kishon. That's about all the Jewish humour I know.
(I should stop bragging about my ignorance and start reading up on it.)

I'll see what I can find, thank you.

I take from that you're from London, or have at least spent a good amount of time there. Before the pandemic, I used to be in London about once a year (always around late June and early July, actually). Fascinating place. I hope I can get back there soon, especially considering all the things I have to see because of the Thonen story!

 

I’m a Londoner born and bred, but like most Londoners, my ancestry is an almighty muddle. I know Hatton Garden well, too.

There was a brilliant series called Old Jews Telling Jokes, which might be on YouTube.

 

I'll see if I can find it on YouTube.

You may also know the location of Schwabacher's and Birnstingl's office (8 Broad Street Buildings), which is where the robbery took place. While the area has become unrecognisable since the construction of Liverpool Street station in the 1860s, the house stood right next to (and partially above) what's now the Kindertransport Memorial.

EDIT: Here's OJTJ, season 1.

 

My first job was just along from Liverpool Street, when Broad Street Station still existed. That latter was demolished in my time to become Broadgate. Liverpool Street has had several redevelopments in its history and they’re trying to do it again.

 

I was raised in a Jewish neighborhood with three synagogues in town. A lot of the early American television writers were Jewish and the humor filtered through. Picked up my share. (LOL)

 

I have an updated version. I also include the section about the claims of Thonen's Jewish identity, because that has also been brought up.

Once again, thanks everyone for your help!

 

I get the impression it was the same in Amsterdam.

When my father was a boy, he was what we call a 'sjabbesgoj', (Sabbath goy), which meant that on Sabbath he would light fires and candles for strict orthodox Jews. That's when the goyim also came in handy.
My father grew up in the Jewish neighbourhood of Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands.

I live in another part of the world, our 11th Commandment in Dutch and Belgian Brabant is: Thou shalt enjoy! (Gij zult genieten!)

 

The Shabbos goy thing still happens in our Hasidic/Charedi areas. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition in parts of London: seriously Orthodox scurrying to shul alongside hipster man buns carrying overpriced coffee and mixed in with hijabi with iPhones tucked in their headscarves.

 

I've heard of it, but I thought it wasn't "done" any more.

 

Speaking as a collector of antique diamond (and other) jewellery and an amateur jewellery and diamond historian, I would leave out this bit:

"However, the absence of other gemstones or pearls in the stolen pieces could mean that they had been specifically crafted for the purpose of transporting diamonds, possibly as a means to evade taxes imposed on loose stones."

No jewellery or diamond historian has ever made such an assumption.
It was a theory by Debora. And with all respect for her vast knowledge in other fields, she is not a period jewellery or diamond collector or jewellery or diamond (amateur) historian. She was merely trying to help as a member of Antiquers by 'thinking aloud', so to speak.
We are a forum with many members who try to help, often by just posting 'ins Blaue hinein'. Sometimes those theories help lead to an identification of an item, which is why they can be useful.
However, in your paper you are trying to get closer to the truth. You have to ask yourself if a random theory has a place in such a quest, or if you would rather stick with fact.