Rebel murderer paid for his crimes with his coat

On December 8, 1854, emmanuel barthélemy, a French exile in London, was walking through Fitzrovia wearing a voluminous blue overcoat.

In its pockets and lining were a dagger, two pistols, 24 cartridges and a boat ticket for the continent. He was on his way to assassinate napoleon III, the emperor of the French.

For some reason never fully explained at his later trial, he took a detour via 73 Warren Street, the house of George moore, his former employer and a manufacturer of fizzy drinks.

moore invited his one-time workman in and opened a bottle of his own soda water and lemonade for him. but the meeting soon descended into argument.

An infuriated barthélemy hit moore with a mallet. Then he took one of his pistols out of his overcoat and shot him in the face. moore died instantly. Fleeing through the back of the house, the Frenchman was pursued by moore’s neighbours, roused by the noise. A greengrocer named charles collard seized hold of barthélemy. He, too, was shot. ‘That is the man who shot me,’ the dying collard told police. ‘Oh, you cruel man!’ he added. barthélemy remained unmoved.

but who exactly was emmanuel barthélemy? Oxford historian marc mulholland has set himself the task of answering that question in this remarkable book. It’s an extraordinary story, full of incident, drama and dark comedy.

born into a working-class family in 1823, barthélemy lived his early life in Paris. by his teens, he was already a fledgling revolutionary, swearing an oath of ‘eternal hatred to all kings’.

At the age of 16, he was badly beaten up by police and took his revenge by shooting one of his tormentors during a street riot. The man survived, but barthélemy was sentenced to forced labour on the galleys at brest. His shoulder was branded with the letter ‘P’ for perpetuité — he was supposed to be there for life.

Luckily, the 1848 revolution in France brought some of his republican friends briefly into power. He was released and given an unlikely job in the Department of Forests and Waterways, although street fighting and revolutionary politics remained his real enthusiasms.

He once challenged a police chief to an improbable duel. Two pieces of paper, one white and one black, would be placed in a hat. Whoever drew the black would blow out his brains in front of the other. Unsurprisingly, the police chief declined the offer. When revolutionary violence