The boy Jones
Edward Jones (7 April 1824 – c. 1893 or 1896), also known as "the boy Jones", was an English
Jones was fourteen years old when he first broke into the palace in December 1838. He was found in possession of some items he had stolen, but was
To remove Jones from Britain, the
Jones's exploits were extensively covered in the press, and several songs, ballads, poems and cartoons were created. He has been used as the basis for fictional characters and, because of the connection to Queen Victoria, is mentioned in several history books.
Biography
Early life, 1824–1838
Edward Jones was born on 7 April 1824 in
Jones was
Break-ins, 1838–1841
December 1838
At 5:00 am on 14 December 1838 Jones was found in Buckingham Palace—the main residence of the monarch—by William Cox, one of the night porters. Among the items in Jones's possession were a regimental sword, some underwear, three pairs of trousers, some foreign coins and a likeness of Queen Victoria. She was not in residence at the time, but was staying at her country palace, Windsor Castle.[7] He was covered in bear's grease and soot, which led palace staff to think he had climbed down the chimney and tried to make his way out the same way. When he was taken to the police station, he claimed his name was Edward Cotton, the son of a tradesman. When asked where he came from, he said "I came from Hertfordshire twelve months ago, and I met a man ... who asked me to go with him to Buckingham-house. I went, and have been there ever since."[8][9][b]
Jones appeared in front of
Jones was re-apprenticed to Griffiths after the trial. Several members of the public travelled to meet Jones, paying his father for the experience. The American novelist James Fenimore Cooper was one who visited, but found Jones to be a "dull, undersized runt, remarkable only for his taciturnity and obstinacy". An offer to take the boy to the US was turned down by Jones's father.[15][16] Another offer Jones received was from a theatre manager, who was planning to stage Intrusion; or a Guest Uninvited, a comedy based on Jones's exploits. Jones was to receive a salary of £4 a week for coming on stage at the end of the night to take a bow. Jones's father, concerned his son would be a laughing stock, declined the offer.[17][18][c] Jones was sacked for a second time by Griffiths and, in 1840, began working for another chemist, but his unpunctuality led to his again losing his position.[20]
November and December 1840
On 30 November 1840 Jones scaled a wall on
Albert told me ... that a man had been found, under the sofa in my sitting room. ... The audience room, and [Baroness Louise] Lehzen's were searched first and then mine, Kinnaird, looking under one corner of the sofa, on which I had been rolled into the bedroom but said nothing. Lehzen however pushed it away, and there on the ground, lay a lad who was seized and would not speak, but he was quite unarmed. After he had been taken downstairs, he said he had meant no harm, and had only come to see the Queen! We have since heard that he was in the palace once before, was half-witted, and had merely come, out of curiosity. But supposing he had come into the bedroom – how frightened I should have been.[25]
Police based at the palace arrested Jones and took him into custody at the
During his questioning Jones said he would show the members where and how he entered, and he was taken to the palace, explained his route and method, and returned to the council to continue being questioned.[21] He told the council that his reason for entering the palace was because he wanted to write a book about the Queen and "wanted to know how they lived at the Palace" and that he thought "an account of the Palace, and of the disposition and arrangement of the chambers, and particularly of the dressing room of Her Majesty, would be very interesting".[29]
Jones's father was summoned to the council; he suggested his son was insane.
March 1841
Jones was released from Tothill on 2 March 1841. Hall suggested that he should become a sailor, but Jones and his parents refused. He tried to find a job, but his notoriety preceded him and he was unable to find employment. Less than two weeks later, on the evening of 15 March, he entered Buckingham Palace again. At 1:30 am on 16 March he was found by a police patrol near the palace's Picture Gallery, eating food stolen from the kitchens.[31][e] He was again arrested and, later that day, questioned by the Privy Council, with Hall attending in his magistrate's capacity.[33][32] No-one else was allowed into the hearing—including Jones's parents—and the only witness called was the police sergeant who had made the arrest. Unlike the previous hearing, there were no leaks of the events to the journalists waiting outside, and the only statement given was that Jones had been sent back to Tothill for a further three months' detention with hard labour.[34] Jones's father, unhappy at the treatment of his son, complained to journalists about an "un-English secret court".[29]
Later life, 1841–1893
Jones was released from Tothill on 14 June 1841. His movements were monitored by police,
Jones was persuaded to go to
Evans, James and Jones returned to London, where Evans was instructed by his superiors to get to Cork and ensure Jones was put on Diamond. The three men travelled to Cork, but the captain again refused to allow Jones on board his ship. Evans, concerned that he would be in trouble with his superiors, persuaded Tom Clancy—one of the Irish emigrants wanting to travel to Australia—to take the berth and pretend he was Jones to the other passengers. This he did, and when Clancy arrived in Melbourne, it was mentioned in the local press. His subterfuge only lasted three weeks after arrival, and newspapers in Australia reported the mistaken identity of the new immigrant to the country.[39]
Looking for another ship to take Jones, the three men travelled to
In early January 1842 Jones began work for Mr Elgar, a tobacconist, in a role organised for him by his father. After a few weeks he told his employer that there were suspicious men watching him. One of them, who was dressed like a Royal Navy midshipman, had been into the shop and, Jones said, sat grinning at him. On the way into work on 4 February he saw the man he thought of as the midshipman, and asked Elgar if he could go home. He went home, put on a clean shirt and went out again between 10:00 and 11:00 am and did not return home.[42][43] His father reported the disappearance to the police, who searched Buckingham Palace, but found no evidence that Jones had been there.[44]
Within two days of his disappearance, Jones's father had received a letter from "a Captain, and Well-wisher to your son" that said "I am requested by your son Edward to inform you he has sailed on board the ____, for America, on Friday last".
Jones served on Warspite as a second-class
Bondeson notes that little is known about Jones's life in the Royal Navy. It is recorded that in early 1844 he fell overboard while Warspite was off the North African coast, but was soon rescued. In December that year, he jumped overboard at Athens and swam to shore. He was pursued and captured by a search party and his rum ration was stopped for the remainder of his time on Warspite.[50]
In December 1845 Jones was promoted to
Britain, 1848–1853
In August 1849 several burglaries and petty thefts occurred in
Australia, 1853–1893 or 1896
In January 1853 Jones was transported on the
The only case that ever occurred of trespass in my grounds ... was when once the celebrated "boy Jones" (whose lofty aspirations towards high life had not met with success) broke out of the depot about ten o'clock to complain that the lights had been put out too early![55]
Jones returned to England in late 1855 or early 1856. He broke into the Plymouth home of Major-General George Morton Eden on 10 May 1856, but was soon arrested by the Devonport police. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to six months of hard labour.[56][57]
According to Bondeson, there is limited information about Jones after his release from hard labour, but it is probable that he returned to Australia, possibly at the suggestion of his brother, who was a civil servant in the colony.[58] The contemporary journalist Henry Lucy reports that he received a letter from a reader who told him that Jones became the town crier in Perth, Western Australia. According to this possible version, Jones died in 1896.[2][59] Lucy related that:
When he went forth, bell in hand, to perform his important functions, the naughty boys of Perth were accustomed to gather round him and make pointed inquiries as to the approaches to Buckingham Palace, the health of the Queen, and the appearance of the baby who is to-day Dowager Empress of Germany. The man Jones, angered beyond self-restraint, occasionally made dashes at the enemy, committing assaults which made his appearance in the police court familiar.[59][i]
Bondeson considers it more likely that Jones—known locally as Thomas Jones—was living near Bairnsdale, Victoria. On Boxing Day 1893, while drunk, he fell asleep on the parapet of a bridge over the Mitchell River. He rolled off, hit his head and died. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the town's cemetery.[60][61] A memorial plaque was erected by the East Gippsland Historical Society in 2005 in his memory.[62]
Coverage in the media
After Jones broke into the palace in December 1840, there was a high level of interest in him shown by the newspapers and satirical magazines, as well as gossip among the public;[29] Bondeson considers that Jones became "the media celebrity of the day".[63] The report of the events in The Times observed that "The subject engrosses public attention at the west end of town. Nothing else is talked of".[23]
The poet Samuel Rogers had alluded to the Renaissance architect Inigo Jones when he nicknamed Jones "In-i-go Jones"; the novelist Charles Dickens recorded in his literary magazine All the Year Round that Jones gained the name because of his "extraordinary powers of finding an entrance into the palace".[64][65] Charles Hindley, the biographer of the printer James Catnach, observed that Jones was the subject of satirical pieces in the press, as well as several cartoons printed for street sale. These included works such as "Her Majesty's Chimney Sweep", "The Royal Sooter", "The Buckingham Palace Hero" and "The Royal Flue Faker".[66] Jones was included in fictional stories by the humorous magazine Punch, which also included cartoons of him.[67] In 1842 George Cruikshank's The Comic Almanack published a poem about Jones after he put to sea with the Royal Navy:[68]
For though his name is Jones, and though he did
Enter the Palace, and not touch the knocker,
There is no reason why Jones's kid
Should be consigned to Davy Jones's locker.— "The boy Jones sent to sea"[68]
Legacy
Jones's notoriety and nickname became part of London slang in the mid-1800s. Initially it was used as "it's that boy Jones again!" when something unexpected happened; it changed over time to be "Boy Jones", as a nickname for an informant.[69]
Factual coverage of Jones's life has appeared in several histories of Queen Victoria,
Jones's story has been covered in works of fiction. In the mid-1840s the writer George W. M. Reynolds published the series The Mysteries of London, which includes Henry Holford, a pot-boy; this character was a combination of Jones and Edward Oxford—the man who attempted to assassinate Victoria in 1840.[73][74] Jones's story inspired the children's book The Boy Jones by Joan Howard, which was published in 1943,[75] and a 1949 novel, The Mudlark, by Theodore Bonnet.[76] The novel was adapted as a 1950 film of the same name in which Jones is portrayed by Andrew Ray.[77][78] In 2002 a two-act play, written and directed by Sky Gilbert, was staged.[79] Robert Forrest-Webb turned the story into a musical, Jones, in 2006; Peter Gritton wrote the music.[80] Jones's break-ins were dramatised in the second season of the period drama Victoria (2017), where Jones is portrayed by Tommy Rodger,[81] and in a 2021 animated short film.[82]
Jones was the subject of two ballads from the 1840s: "The Boy Wot Visits the Palace" by James Bruton and "The Boy That was Found in the Palace" by Catnach. The second of these describes the moment he was discovered under the sofa:
You have heard of the chap that they found t'other day
In Buckingham Palace, I can tell you the truth –
'Twas in the next chamber to where the Queen lay,
They found me, this very identical youth.
At first, they all thought I had come there to plunder,
But I had no notion of stealing, not I –
Pages, nurses and officers, pulled me from under
The very identical couch where she lay.— James Catnach, "The Boy That was Found in the Palace"[83]
See also
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ The historian Paul Thomas Murphy considers the identity of Jones's mother as unconfirmed, although a Mary Jones residing with Henry and Edward in 1841 was likely either his mother or stepmother.[2]
- ^ Murphy notes that despite his name and story being uncovered quickly at the time, more recent biographies and histories continued to refer to Jones as "Edward Cotton". These included Cecil Woodham-Smith, Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times, 1: 1819–1861 (1972), Stanley Weintraub, Victoria: Biography of a Queen (1987) and Robert Rhodes James, Prince Albert (1984).[2]
- ^ £4 in 1838 equates to approximately £455 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[19]
- Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.[28]
- ^ After Jones's previous break-in, fourteen constables and two police sergeants had been given night guard duty at the palace; it was one of these patrols that saw and recognised Jones.[32]
- ^ A guinea was a gold coin whose value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings. Five guineas in 1841 equates to approximately £603 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[19]
- ^ 2s 6d in 1841 equates to approximately £15 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[19]
- ^ The name of the ship had been replaced with a line in the letter.[45]
- ^ The "Dowager Empress of Germany" refers to Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal.[59]
References
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 47; Murphy 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Murphy 2010.
- ^ a b Bondeson 2012, p. 47.
- ^ "The Queen's Visitor Again!". Weekly Chronicle. 21 March 1841.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 17.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 17–18; Murphy 2010.
- ^ Murphy 2010; Bondeson 2012, pp. 9–10; "An Interloper Discovered in the Queen's Palace". The Standard; "A Singular Case". The Atlas. 15 December 1838.
- ^ "Police". The Times. 15 December 1838.
- ^ Ashton 1903, pp. 71–73.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 18.
- ^ Ashton 1903, pp. 74–76.
- ^ "Westminster Sessions, Friday, Dec. 28". The Times. 29 December 1838.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 20.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 25.
- ^ Baird 2017, p. 176.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 25–26.
- ^ "Varieties". Blackwood's Lady's Magazine, p. 282.
- ^ a b c Clark 2023.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 26.
- ^ a b c d "Apprehension of a Stranger in her Majesty's Dressing-Room". The Times. 4 December 1840.
- ^ Ashton 1903, p. 149.
- ^ a b c "The Late Intrusion into Buckingham Palace". The Times. 5 December 1840.
- ^ "We have Received from a Correspondent". The Times. 7 December 1840.
- ^ Queen Victoria. "Journal Entry: Thursday 3rd December 1840".
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 29.
- ^ Cathcart 1969, p. 68.
- ^ a b Bondeson 2012, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b c d Poole 2018, p. 203.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 37.
- ^ a b "Third Appearance of the Boy Jones at Buckingham Palace". The Times. 17 March 1841.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 39.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 38.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 51.
- ^ a b "The Boy Jones". The Times. 7 July 1841.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 56.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 57.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 63.
- ^ "The Boy Jones". The Times. 22 December 1841.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 64, 89.
- ^ a b c "Extraordinary Disappearance of the Boy Jones". The Times. 9 February 1842.
- ^ Cathcart 1969, p. 75.
- ^ a b Bondeson 2012, p. 89.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 91.
- ^ "The Boy Jones Again". The Times. 20 October 1842.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 93.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 98–100.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 101.
- ^ "The Boy Jones Again". Westmeath Independent. 6 October 1849.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 102.
- ^ Du Cane 1862, pp. 522–523.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 103.
- ^ "Devonshire". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 4 July 1856.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 104–105.
- ^ a b c Lucy 1920, p. 160.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, pp. 106–107.
- ^ "Untitled". The Bairnsdale Advertiser. 28 December 1893.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 107.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 33.
- ^ Dickens 1884, p. 236.
- ^ Raikes 1856, p. 136.
- ^ Hindley 1878, p. 329.
- ^ Ashton 1903, p. 156.
- ^ a b Cruikshank et al. 1878, p. 234.
- ^ Jones 2019, p. 191.
- ^ "That Boy Jones". BBC Genome. 26 October 1992.
- ^ de Bruxelles 2011, p. 11.
- ^ "Queen Victoria and the Stalker". Western Mail. 30 October 2010.
- ^ Pentland 2023, pp. 435–436.
- ^ Plunkett 2004, p. 24.
- ^ Helbig 1985, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Telotte 2020, p. 206.
- ^ Moss & Skinner 2015, 491.
- ^ "The Mudlark (Original)". British Film Institute.
- ^ Caldwell 2002.
- ^ Bondeson 2012, p. 116.
- ^ "Tommy Rodger". Curtis Brown.
- ^ "The Curious Case of the Boy Jones". FilmFreeway.
- ^ Hindley 1878, p. 330.
Sources
Books
- Ashton, John (1903). Gossip in the First Decade of Victoria's Reign. London: Hurst and Blackett. OCLC 1546552.
- ISBN 978-0-8129-8228-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4456-0697-2.
- Cathcart, Helen (1969). The Royal Bedside Book. London: W. H. Allen. ISBN 978-0-4910-0133-5.
- OCLC 1014105545.
- ISSN 1751-8466.
- Helbig, Alethea (1985). Dictionary of American Children's Fiction, 1859–1959: Books of Recognized Merit. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-3132-2590-1.
- Hindley, Charles (1878). The Life and Times of James Catnach (late of the Seven Dials), Ballad Monger. London: Reeves and Turner. OCLC 1114759603.
- Jones, Paul (2019). The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities: A Yearbook of Forgotten Words. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-2266-4684-8.
- Lucy, Henry (1920). The Diary of a Journalist. London: John Murray. OCLC 474306213.
- Moss, Alan; Skinner, Keith (2015). Scotland Yard's History of Crime in 100 Objects (Kindle ed.). Stroud, Glos: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6655-9.
- Plunkett, John (2004). "Regicide and Regimania: G. W. M. Reynolds and The Mysteries of London". In Maunder, Andrew; Moore, Grace (eds.). Victorian Crime, Madness and Sensation. Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate. pp. 15–30. ISBN 978-0-7546-4060-8.
- Poole, Steve (2018). The Politics of Regicide in England 1760-1850: Troublesome Subjects. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-3061-7.
- OCLC 5045780.
- Telotte, Leigh Ehlers (2020). Victoria, Queen of the Screen: From Silent Cinema to New Media. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-7904-4.
Journals and magazines
- Dickens, Charles (5 July 1884). "The Boy Jones". All the Year Round. Vol. 34, no. 814. Chapman & Hall.
- Pentland, Gordon (April 2023). "'An Offence New in Its Kind': Responses to Assassination Attempts on British Royalty, 1800–1900". Journal of British Studies. 62 (2): 418–444. .
- "Varieties". Blackwood's Lady's Magazine. Vol. X. April 1841. p. 282.
News
- "Apprehension of a Stranger in her Majesty's Dressing-Room". The Times. 4 December 1840. p. 5.
- "The Boy Jones". The Times. 22 December 1841. p. 4.
- "The Boy Jones". The Times. 7 July 1841. p. 5.
- "The Boy Jones Again". The Times. 20 October 1842. p. 5.
- "The Boy Jones Again". Westmeath Independent. 6 October 1849. p. 4.
- Caldwell, Rebecca (11 February 2002). "A Thin Palace Plot". The Globe and Mail.
- de Bruxelles, Simon (2 February 2011). "Victoria's Secret: the Boy Stalker who Stole the Queen's Knickers". The Times. p. 11.
- "Devonshire". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 4 July 1856. p. 8.
- "Extraordinary Disappearance of the Boy Jones". The Times. 9 February 1842. p. 7.
- "An Interloper Discovered in the Queen's Palace". The Standard. 15 December 1838. p. 3.
- "The Late Intrusion into Buckingham Palace". The Times. 5 December 1840. p. 4.
- "Police". The Times. 15 December 1838. pp. 6–7.
- "The Queen's Visitor Again!". Weekly Chronicle. 21 March 1841. p. 5.
- "A Singular Case". The Atlas. 15 December 1838. p. 791.
- "Queen Victoria and the Stalker". Western Mail. 30 October 2010. p. 15.
- "Third Appearance of the Boy Jones at Buckingham Palace". The Times. 17 March 1841. p. 6.
- "Untitled". The Bairnsdale Advertiser. 28 December 1893. p. 2.
- "We have Received from a Correspondent". The Times. 7 December 1840. p. 4.
- "Westminster Sessions, Friday, Dec. 28". The Times. 29 December 1838. p. 7.
Websites
- Clark, Gregory (2023). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- Murphy, Paul Thomas (2010). "Jones, Edward [nicknamed the Boy Jones]". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/98193. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Queen Victoria. "Journal Entry: Thursday 3rd December 1840". Queen Victoria's Journals. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "That Boy Jones". BBC Genome. 26 October 1992. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- "The Curious Case of the Boy Jones". FilmFreeway. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "The Mudlark (Original)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- "Tommy Rodger". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 1 October 2023.