NELSON’S LOST JEWEL
Author: Martyn Downer Publisher: The History Press Price: £20.00
THE STORY OF THE ICONIC JEWEL THAT WAS SNATCHED FROM THE NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM IN GREENWICH
It is not often that a jewel theft provokes outrage in the House of Lords, but the disappearance of Lord Horatio Nelson’s Chelengk in June 1951 gave rise to such an occasion. About 2.00am on the morning of 11 June, the prized diamond plume was stolen from the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. The police calculated it took the burglar four minutes to make off with the diamond decoration that in 1798 had been presented to Nelson by the Ottoman Emperor Sultan Selim III, after the admiral’s decisive victory at the Battle of the Nile.
The burglary was deemed to be a carefully planned smash-and-grab, commando-style operation. The thief had used a collapsible ladder to climb up to the window 3.5 metres (11 feet) above the ground to get down to the gallery where the Chelengk was on display.
In the House of Lords debate on 26 June, Lord Pakenham informed his fellow peers that a reward had been offered for the return of the Chelengk, a sum which he claimed was considerably in excess of the gem’s break-up value.
“His Majesty’s Government and all concerned greatly deplore this shocking theft of the most treasured possession of one of our greatest national heroes,” he exclaimed, “and the whole nation must hope that the reward offered and the measures now being taken may result in its return.” Alas, Lord Pakenham hoped in vain, for the jewel has never been recovered.
Viscount Mersey reminded the lords that this was not the only instance of a theft of this nature. In 1948 a London-born burglar named George ‘Taters’ Chatham stole the Duke of Wellington’s ceremonial swords, in what was to prove a long-term criminal relationship with the Victoria and Albert Museum during Chatham’s 60-year career. Lord Mersey wrapped up his speech with a practical question: “My Lords, would the reward be subject to income tax and surtax?”
In telling the story of the Chelengk, Martyn Downer takes the reader through a detailed account of the Battle of the Nile, a naval engagement that was instrumental in quashing Napoleon’s ambitions to establish a permanent presence in Egypt as a prelude to invading British India. The battle was regarded as so monumental that Nelson was rewarded with an annual pension of £2,000, an almost unheard-of sum at that time.
Downer, formerly the head of jewellery at Sotheby’s in London, unravels the tale of this gem, charting its journey through history and forging portraits of Nelson and his intimates. The author, acknowledged as a leading specialist in the life and career of Nelson, brings this mystery to life in a scholarly yet highly entertaining narrative.
Chatham admitted to the theft in 1994, a confession the police accepted as genuine. He claimed he had sold the Chelengk for “a few thousand” before it was broken up.
Yet as Downer pointed out, “The jewel stolen by Chatham was not the jewel presented by the Sultan of Turkey. As it passed down from hand to hand, several significant changes were made to the Chelengk, stripping it of some of its exoticism and strangeness, but none of its power to amaze.”
“DOWNER, FORMERLY THE HEAD OF JEWELLERY AT SOTHEBY’S IN LONDON, UNRAVELS THE TALE OF THIS GEM, CHARTING ITS JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY AND FORGING PORTRAITS OF NELSON”