neveralarch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
neveralarch) wrote2010-08-11 04:25 pm
neveralarch) wrote2010-08-11 04:25 pm
Entry tags:
A Historical Note: Thomas Blood
It has been pointed out to me by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
birdsarecalling that misrepresenting historical characters is practically a Doctor Who tradition. However, I still feel vaguely guilty about it, the same way I often feel vaguely guilty after eating a delicious candy bar. To appease this feeling, here is some history.
Colonel Thomas Blood was a real person in the seventeenth century, even if he was not a real colonel. He was born in 1618 as part of a long line of people with awesome names (this includes his uncle, the Reverend Neptune Blood). The Bloods were minor gentry in Ireland until Parliament rebelled against the king, Charles I. Thomas Blood originally fought on the side of the crown, but soon switched over to Cromwell, becoming one of the hated Irish parliamentarians. Still, it was the winning side. His stint as lieutenant (the only military rank he ever held) lead to an expansion of his wealth and property. It also brought him to marriage - his wife, Maria Holcroft, was the sister of one of his comrades. They married in 1650, when Blood was 32. Their first son, also named Thomas, was born almost exactly nine months afterward. Immediately after their marriage, however, Blood left his new wife to attend to his business as a justice of the peace. It was a further two years before he brought her home to live with him.
In 1660 Parliament was dissolved and negotiations began to return the new king, Charles II, to the throne. Blood was now on the losing side. Rather than giving in gracefully, he began to hatch plots to kidnap the Lord Protector of Ireland, the Duke of Ormonde. The plan was to take the Duke during what amounted to a public question and answer session, during which anyone could petition the Duke. The guards were to be distracted by an accomplice posing as a clumsy baker, who would drop his load of bread. Blood was never able to test the plan - the plotters were betrayed to the authorities, and Blood had to run for it. In 1663 Blood became an outlaw.
While in hiding, Blood became adept at disguises, plans, and generally annoying the authorities. Meanwhile, Maria Blood raised an ever increasing number of children, largely while staying at other men's homes. Blood's own lands, of course, had been confiscated. Blood was not daunted by these setbacks - in 1667 he freed two anti-monarchists as they were transported to court proceedings. The success of this venture prompted him to promote himself to Captain Blood. Another (failed) attempt to kidnap the Duke of Ormonde and hang him at some gallows in 1670 led to another self-promotion to the rank of colonel.
Blood's final plot as an outlaw was the theft of the crown jewels in 1671. As this is the central plot of my story, I won't replicate the details here. The events up to Blood's capture are all accurate, as far as I know, though after that it obviously runs into fiction. Blood attempted the theft with his accomplices Jenny Blaine, Robert Perrott, and Richard Halliwell. Blood's eldest son, now calling himself by his highwayman's name, Thomas Hunt, also assisted. The thieves were caught in the act, and most were captured. The two Bloods and Perrott were sent to the Tower.
They languished there for a couple of months until Colonel Blood was granted an audience with the King. There Blood somehow managed to convince His Majesty to grant his three captives pardon, along with lands and a stipend for Blood. Several theories exist to why this happened - hypnosis isn't one of them, but it should be. It caused a great uproar at the time, leading Lord Rochester to write this great poem:
Blood that wears treason in his face,
Villain complete in parson's gown,
How much he is at court in grace
For stealing Ormonde and the crown!
Since loyalty does no man good,
Let's steal the King and outdo Blood.
Blood went on to live in Westminster for the rest of his life. He became a man of some influence, but he was often in trouble with the courts for slander, plots, and etc. Eventually a court ordered him to pay damages to the Duke of Buckingham, whom Blood was feuding with. In 1680, at the age of 62, he escaped payment by dying. A week after the funeral his creditors, understandably suspicious, dug up his body to make sure he hadn't faked it. A tentative identification was made, and there was an end to it, more or less.
Maria Blood lived a further 38 years, dying in 1718. Most of Blood's children died before him, including Thomas, but Holcroft Blood, probably his youngest son, went on to great deeds. He was the Principal Artillery Commander of the allied forces during the War of the Spanish Succession. Bloods have been common in the armed forces of both the UK and America ever since.
This is a very condensed version of Blood's history. If you're interested, I suggest Colonel Blood by David C. Hanrahan, which was my source. It's very informative, if a little dry. Blood is also the subject of many movies and novels only loosely based on his life, including a series of books by Sabatini. I was introduced to Blood by George MacDonald Fraser in his very silly book The Pyrates. Neither of these sources are as accurate as Hanrahan, but they're much more fun.
So! There you go. History.
birdsarecalling that misrepresenting historical characters is practically a Doctor Who tradition. However, I still feel vaguely guilty about it, the same way I often feel vaguely guilty after eating a delicious candy bar. To appease this feeling, here is some history.Colonel Thomas Blood was a real person in the seventeenth century, even if he was not a real colonel. He was born in 1618 as part of a long line of people with awesome names (this includes his uncle, the Reverend Neptune Blood). The Bloods were minor gentry in Ireland until Parliament rebelled against the king, Charles I. Thomas Blood originally fought on the side of the crown, but soon switched over to Cromwell, becoming one of the hated Irish parliamentarians. Still, it was the winning side. His stint as lieutenant (the only military rank he ever held) lead to an expansion of his wealth and property. It also brought him to marriage - his wife, Maria Holcroft, was the sister of one of his comrades. They married in 1650, when Blood was 32. Their first son, also named Thomas, was born almost exactly nine months afterward. Immediately after their marriage, however, Blood left his new wife to attend to his business as a justice of the peace. It was a further two years before he brought her home to live with him.
In 1660 Parliament was dissolved and negotiations began to return the new king, Charles II, to the throne. Blood was now on the losing side. Rather than giving in gracefully, he began to hatch plots to kidnap the Lord Protector of Ireland, the Duke of Ormonde. The plan was to take the Duke during what amounted to a public question and answer session, during which anyone could petition the Duke. The guards were to be distracted by an accomplice posing as a clumsy baker, who would drop his load of bread. Blood was never able to test the plan - the plotters were betrayed to the authorities, and Blood had to run for it. In 1663 Blood became an outlaw.
While in hiding, Blood became adept at disguises, plans, and generally annoying the authorities. Meanwhile, Maria Blood raised an ever increasing number of children, largely while staying at other men's homes. Blood's own lands, of course, had been confiscated. Blood was not daunted by these setbacks - in 1667 he freed two anti-monarchists as they were transported to court proceedings. The success of this venture prompted him to promote himself to Captain Blood. Another (failed) attempt to kidnap the Duke of Ormonde and hang him at some gallows in 1670 led to another self-promotion to the rank of colonel.
Blood's final plot as an outlaw was the theft of the crown jewels in 1671. As this is the central plot of my story, I won't replicate the details here. The events up to Blood's capture are all accurate, as far as I know, though after that it obviously runs into fiction. Blood attempted the theft with his accomplices Jenny Blaine, Robert Perrott, and Richard Halliwell. Blood's eldest son, now calling himself by his highwayman's name, Thomas Hunt, also assisted. The thieves were caught in the act, and most were captured. The two Bloods and Perrott were sent to the Tower.
They languished there for a couple of months until Colonel Blood was granted an audience with the King. There Blood somehow managed to convince His Majesty to grant his three captives pardon, along with lands and a stipend for Blood. Several theories exist to why this happened - hypnosis isn't one of them, but it should be. It caused a great uproar at the time, leading Lord Rochester to write this great poem:
Blood that wears treason in his face,
Villain complete in parson's gown,
How much he is at court in grace
For stealing Ormonde and the crown!
Since loyalty does no man good,
Let's steal the King and outdo Blood.
Blood went on to live in Westminster for the rest of his life. He became a man of some influence, but he was often in trouble with the courts for slander, plots, and etc. Eventually a court ordered him to pay damages to the Duke of Buckingham, whom Blood was feuding with. In 1680, at the age of 62, he escaped payment by dying. A week after the funeral his creditors, understandably suspicious, dug up his body to make sure he hadn't faked it. A tentative identification was made, and there was an end to it, more or less.
Maria Blood lived a further 38 years, dying in 1718. Most of Blood's children died before him, including Thomas, but Holcroft Blood, probably his youngest son, went on to great deeds. He was the Principal Artillery Commander of the allied forces during the War of the Spanish Succession. Bloods have been common in the armed forces of both the UK and America ever since.
This is a very condensed version of Blood's history. If you're interested, I suggest Colonel Blood by David C. Hanrahan, which was my source. It's very informative, if a little dry. Blood is also the subject of many movies and novels only loosely based on his life, including a series of books by Sabatini. I was introduced to Blood by George MacDonald Fraser in his very silly book The Pyrates. Neither of these sources are as accurate as Hanrahan, but they're much more fun.
So! There you go. History.