Thomas Blood Colonel Thomas Blood ( 1618 – 24 August 1680 ) was an Anglo - Irish officer and self - styled colonel best known for his attempt to steal the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London in 1671 . Described in an American source as a " noted bravo and desperado " , he was known for his attempt to kidnap , and later , to kill his enemy , the Duke of Ormonde . He had switched allegiances from Royalist to Roundhead during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms , and despite his subsequent notoriety received a Royal free pardon and found favour at the court of King Charles II . Early life . Sources suggest that Blood was born in the County Clare , in the Kingdom of Ireland , the son of a successful land - owning blacksmith of English descent , and was partly raised at Sarney , near Dunboyne , in the County Meath . He was apparently a Protestant Presbyterian . His family was respectable and prosperous ( by the standards of the time ) ; his father held lands in the Counties Clare , Meath and Wicklow . His grandfather was a member of the Irish Parliament , and had lived at Kilnaboy Castle ( also in County Clare ) . He received his education in Lancashire , England . At the age of 20 , he married Maria Holcroft , the daughter of John Holcroft , a gentleman from Golborne , Lancashire , and returned to Ireland . At the outbreak of the First English Civil War in 1642 , Blood returned to England and initially took up arms with the Royalist forces loyal to Charles I . As the conflict progressed he switched sides and became a lieutenant in Oliver Cromwell ' s Roundheads . In 1653 at the cessation of hostilities Cromwell awarded Blood land grants as payment for his service and appointed him a justice of the peace . Following the Restoration of King Charles II to the Crowns of the Three Kingdoms in 1660 , Blood fled with his family to Ireland . The confiscations and restitutions under the Act of Settlement 1662 ( which sought to cancel and annul some of the grants of land and real properties allocated as reward to new holders being Cromwellians under the Act of Settlement 1652 ) brought Blood to financial ruin , and in return Blood sought to unite his fellow Cromwellians in Ireland to cause insurrection . Irish discontent . As part of the expression of discontent , Blood conspired to storm Dublin Castle , usurp the government , and kidnap James Butler , 1st Duke of Ormonde and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , for ransom . On the eve of the attempt , the plot was foiled . Blood managed to evade the authorities by hiding with his countrymen in the mountains , and ultimately managed to escape to the United Dutch Provinces in the Low Country . A few of Blood ' s collaborators were captured and executed . As a result , some historians speculated that Blood swore vengeance against Ormonde . While in the Dutch Republic , Blood gained the favour of Admiral de Ruyter , an opponent of the English forces in the Anglo - Dutch Wars , and was implicated in the Scottish Pentland Rising of 1666 by the Scottish Presbyterian Covenanters . At some point during this period , Blood became associated with the wealthy George Villiers , 2nd Duke of Buckingham , who 19th - century commentators believed used Blood as a means to punish his own political and social adversaries , since his own class ranking did not allow him to meet them " in the field " . In 1670 , despite his status as a wanted man , Blood returned to England and is believed to have taken the name Ayloffe and practised as a doctor or an apothecary in Romford Market , east of London . A second attempt , this time on the life of the Duke of Ormonde , followed . Since Ormonde ' s return to England , he had taken up residence at Clarendon House . Blood had followed Ormonde ' s movements and noted that he frequently returned late in the evening accompanied by a small number of footmen . On the night of 6 December 1670 , Blood and his accomplices attacked Ormonde while the latter travelled St James ' s Street . Ormonde was dragged from his coach , bound to one of Blood ' s henchmen , and taken on horseback along Piccadilly with the intention of hanging him at Tyburn . The gang pinned a paper to Ormonde ' s chest spelling out their reasons for his capture and execution . With one of his servants who had given chase on horseback , Ormonde succeeded in freeing himself and escaped . The plot ' s secrecy meant that Blood was not suspected of the crime , despite a reward being offered for the capture of the attempted assassins . In the King ' s presence , James ' s son , Thomas Butler , accused the Duke of Buckingham of being behind the crime . Thomas threatened to shoot Buckingham dead in revenge , if his father , James , was murdered . Theft of the Crown Jewels . Blood did not lie low for long , and within six months he made his notorious attempt to steal the Crown Jewels . In April or May 1671 he visited the Tower of London dressed as a parson and accompanied by a female companion pretending to be his wife . The Crown Jewels could be viewed by the payment of a fee to the custodian . While viewing the Crown Jewels , Blood ' s " wife " feigned a stomach complaint and begged the newly appointed Master of the Jewel House , 77 - year - old Talbot Edwards , to fetch her some spirits . Given the proximity of the jewel keeper ' s domestic quarters to the site of the commotion , Edwards ' wife invited them upstairs to their apartment to recover , after which Blood and his wife thanked the Edwardses and left . Over the following days Blood returned to the Tower to visit the Edwardses and presented Mrs Edwards with four pairs of white gloves as a gesture of thanks . As Blood became ingratiated with the family , an offer was made for a fictitious nephew of Blood ' s to marry the Edwardses ' daughter , whom Blood alleged would be eligible , by virtue of the marriage , to an income of several hundred pounds . On 9 May 1671 , in furtherance of the deception , Blood convinced Edwards to show the jewels to him , his supposed nephew , and two of his friends while they waited for a dinner that Mrs Edwards was to put on for Blood and his companions . The jewel keeper ' s apartment was in Martin Tower above a basement where the jewels were kept behind a metal grille . Reports suggest that Blood ' s accomplices carried canes that concealed rapier blades , daggers and pocket pistols . In entering the Jewel House , one of the men made a pretence of standing watch outside while the others joined Edwards and Blood . The door was closed and a cloak thrown over Edwards , who was struck with a mallet , knocked to the floor , bound , gagged and stabbed to subdue him . After removing the grille , Blood used the mallet to flatten St . Edward ' s Crown so that he could hide it beneath his clerical coat . Another conspirator , Blood ' s brother - in - law Hunt , filed the Sceptre with the Cross in two ( as it did not fit in their bag ) , while the third man , Parrot , stuffed the Sovereign ' s Orb down his trousers . Meanwhile Edwards refused to stay subdued and fought against his bindings . Accounts vary as to whether Edwards ' struggle caused sufficient disturbance to raise the alarm or whether the attempt was foiled in more fortuitous circumstances . Popular reports describe Edwards ' son , Wythe , returning from military service in Flanders and happening upon the attempted theft . At the door of the Jewel House , Wythe was met by the impromptu guard who challenged him before the young Edwards entered and went upstairs . The " guard " then alerted his fellow gang members . Around the same time the elder Edwards managed to free the gag and raised the alarm shouting , " Treason ! Murder ! The crown is stolen ! " As Blood and his gang fled to their horses waiting at St Catherine ' s Gate , they dropped the sceptre and fired on the warders who attempted to stop them , wounding one . One drawbridge guard was struck with fear and failed to discharge his musket . As they ran along the Tower wharf it is said they joined the calls for alarm to confuse the guards until they were chased down by Captain Beckman , brother - in - law of the younger Edwards . Although Blood shot at him , he missed and was captured before reaching the Iron Gate . Having fallen from his cloak , the crown was found while Blood refused to give up , struggling with his captors and declaring , " It was a gallant attempt , however unsuccessful ! It was for a crown ! " The globe and orb were recovered although several stones were missing and others were loose . Hunt and Perrot were also taken , but not punished . Aftermath . Following his capture , Blood refused to answer to anyone but the king and was consequently taken to the palace in chains , where he was questioned by King Charles , Prince Rupert , and others . King Charles asked Blood , " What if I should give you your life ? " , and Blood replied , " I would endeavour to deserve it , Sire ! " . To the disgust of Ormonde , Blood was not only pardoned but also given land in Ireland worth £500 a year . The reasons for the king ' s pardon are unknown . Some historians have speculated that the king may have feared an uprising in revenge by followers of Blood , who were thought to have taken an oath to their leader . Others speculate that the king had a fondness for audacious scoundrels such as Blood , and that he was amused by the Irishman ' s claim that the jewels were worth only £6 , 000 as opposed to the £100 , 000 at which the Crown had valued them . There is also a suggestion that the king was flattered and amused by Blood ' s revelation that he had previously intended to kill him while he was bathing in the Thames but had been swayed otherwise , having found himself in " awe of majesty " . It has also been suggested that his actions may have had the connivance of the king , because the king was very short of money at the time . Following his pardon , Blood became a familiar figure around London and made frequent appearances at Court , where he was employed to advocate in the claims of suitors to the Crown . In John Wilmot , 2nd Earl of Rochester ' s " History of Insipids " , he wrote of Blood : In 1679 Blood fell into dispute with the Duke of Buckingham , his former patron , and Buckingham sued Blood for £10 , 000 , for insulting remarks Blood had made about his character . In the proceedings that followed , Blood was convicted by the King ' s Bench in 1680 and granted bail , although he never paid the damages . Death . Blood was released from prison in July 1680 but had fallen into a coma by 22 August . He died on 24 August at his home in Bowling Alley , Westminster . His body was buried in the churchyard of St Margaret ' s Church ( now Christchurch Gardens ) near St . James ' s Park . It is believed that his body was exhumed by the authorities for confirmation : such was his reputation for trickery , it was suspected he might have faked his death and funeral to avoid paying his debt to Buckingham . Blood ' s epitaph read : Assuming his body was exhumed , Blood ' s grave is now alleged to be in the graveyard of St Andrew ' s church in Hornchurch . Next to the church building nearest the main road is an unmarked grave , apart from a faded skull and cross bones . Legacy . Blood ' s son Holcroft Blood became a distinguished military engineer and commanded the Duke of Marlborough ' s artillery at the Battle of Blenheim . Descendants including Bindon Blood , Maurice Petherick , and Brian Inglis , had distinguished careers in British and Irish society . Further reading . David C . Hanrahan , " Colonel Blood : The Man Who Stole The Crown Jewels " ( hardback 2003 , paperback 2004 )