Edward Thonen (26 May 1827 – 3 December 1854) was a German emigrant to Australia, and one of the miners involved in the

Eureka Rebellion The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British administration of the Victoria (Australia)#Colonial Victoria, colony of Victoria, History of Au ...

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He was captain of one of the miners' divisions. When soldiers stormed the Stockade on 3 December 1854 in the

Battle of the Eureka Stockade The Battle of the Eureka Stockade was fought in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, on 3 December 1854, between gold miners and the colonial forces of Australia. It was the culmination of the 1851–1854 Eureka Rebellion during the Victorian gold rus ...

, Thonen was one of the first to be killed. Prior to his emigration to Australia in 1853, Thonen had gained notoriety in England as a jewellery thief. The story of his capture on a ship off the coast of Wales was widely publicised. It even reached Australia in the 1890s, although no one, at the time, appears to have made the connection between the diamond robbery and the events at Eureka. That connection was only made in 2022, thanks to a collaboration of researchers on the genealogy website

WikiTree WikiTree is a genealogy website that allows users to research and to contribute to family trees while building and collaborating on a singular worldwide family tree within the same system. WikiTree is free for the user and financed via adver ...

, whose results were later published by the Ballarat and District Genealogical Society.

Biography

Early life

Thonen was born Eduard Thönen, in the Rommelspütt district of

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(now part of

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

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). He was the seventh of eight children of Adolph Friedrich Thönen, a merchant, and Christina Elisabetha Braches. He was baptised on 20 July 1827 in the

Lutheran church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

in Elberfeld. Edward attended the grammar school in Elberfeld. He then served in the Prussian military for about a year.

The revolutions of 1848–1849

In an attempt to explain Edward's later role in the Eureka Rebellion, there has been some speculation about what he did during the

German revolutions of 1848–1849 The German revolutions of 1848–1849 (), the opening phase of which was also called the March Revolution (), were initially part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many European countries. They were a series of loosely coordinated p ...

, whether he was politically active, and if he got in trouble with the law. Elberfeld's citizens joined in late on the democrats' cause during the revolution. Until early 1849, the mainly

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Elberfeld had been a royalist stronghold, in contrast to the predominately

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

provincial capital of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Opinion shifted rapidly though, and on 29 April 1849, a delegation of 500 to 800 residents of Elberfeld made the trip to Düsseldorf to demand that the Prussian government accept the

Frankfurt Constitution The Frankfurt Constitution () or Constitution of St. Paul's Church (), officially named the Constitution of the German Empire () of 28 March 1849, was an unsuccessful attempt to create a unified German nation from the states of the German Confe ...

. The historian Gregory Blake states in his 2013 thesis that Edward may have been among them, although there is no proof of his participation, or that he even was in Elberfeld at the time. In 2012,

Peter FitzSimons Peter John FitzSimons (born 29 June 1961) is an Australian author, journalist, and radio and television presenter. He is a former national representative rugby union player and was the chair of the Australian Republic Movement from 2015 to 20 ...

speculated that Edward may have been expelled from Prussia and went to England as a result of his participation in the revolution. Others have pointed out that England had become a kind of safe haven for political refugees from Germany, and that Thonen may have been among those who found it more suitable, be it forcefully or on his own accord.

Travel to England, and the diamond robbery

In late 1850, Thonen travelled to England from

Ostend, Belgium Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest ...

, arriving at the Port of

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

on 10 December 1850. Shortly after arrival, he was robbed and lost all his possessions. Thonen moved to Finsbury, London. In January 1851 his hotel keeper recommended him to the diamond merchants Jacques Schwabacher and Louis Birnstingl, praising his ability to speak numerous European languages (including French, German, Dutch, and Spanish). They hired him as a clerk at a weekly wage of £1, under the condition that he could be laid off at any time if he did not suit them. They quickly found that he was not suitable as a clerk. Thonen pleaded to be kept on at a reduced salary, while offering his services as a language teacher. The merchants agreed, and Thonen stayed with them until the middle of April. Schwabacher later testified that he last saw him on 23 April, at which point Thonen left the company, claiming to take on a new job as a teacher of foreign languages in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

. At that time, the merchants kept a parcel of diamonds (jewellery, including bracelets and earrings, worth £450 in total) in their strong room, to which Thonen had free access. He had long dreamed of finding fortune in some faraway country, and had written to the British government about plans to fight the

African slave trade Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were once commonplace in parts of Africa, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient and medieval world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Red Sea s ...

. Desperate and short of money, he seized the occasion and stole the jewellery. Thonen must have thought that he had weeks until the robbery would be discovered, but on 28 April Schwabacher decided to show the diamonds to a friend. Upon finding that the seal had already been tampered with and that the jewels were missing, Schwabacher called the police. Thonen deposited the earrings with a pawnbroker for £40, and used that money to escape from London. Around 25 April, he took the train to

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, from where he continued on to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. On 2 May, he sold some more of the jewellery in Liverpool, acquiring another £25 and a gold watch. In the afternoon of 5 May, Thonen boarded a steamer, but his plans were thwarted when the vessel was struck and forced to return to port. Thonen then took the ''Sardinia'' to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, leaving Liverpool on the morning of 7 May. Around that time, Michael Haydon, a detective of the London City force, arrived in Liverpool. He had been put in charge of the case on 28 April and found that Thonen had not gone to Eastbourne, but had travelled northward. Haydon pursued him to Peterborough, where on the evening of 6 May Haydon took the overnight train to Liverpool. He was informed of Thonen's departure on the ''Sardinia'' just four hours after the ship had set sail. Haydon hired a steamer, and was able to overtake the much slower ''Sardinia'' just 100 kilometres offshore. He found Thonen on board, but the young man claimed to know nothing about the robbery. Nevertheless, Haydon convinced the ship’s captain to let him detain Thonen. Back in Liverpool, after a thorough search was conducted which revealed the remaining jewels, Thonen admitted the crime and helped the police recover the rest of the loot. Haydon then brought the fugitive back to London. While the media widely applauded the police, and detective Haydon in particular, for their work in solving the case, not everyone shared that positive opinion. Some, including the witness Thomas Dismore from Liverpool, expressed their dissent. In a letter to the editor of the Liverpool Albion, Dismore wrote that the case could have been solved much sooner if the public had been made aware of the robbery more quickly, and that it was pure luck that Thonen had not evaded prosecution. The trial commenced on 10 May. The prosecutors were sympathetic, and Thonen was recommended to mercy. The judge expressed his pity, saying: "You appear to be a young man of extraordinary talent and ability, and I very much regret seeing you in your present unhappy position. It is a pity your abilities were not directed in a proper channel." The court found that Thonen had acted without premeditation. He was given a one-year prison sentence.

Emigration to Australia

Following his release from prison, Thonen returned to Prussia. German newspapers at the time were full of enthusiastic reports of gold strikes in

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and of the rising number of Britons who returned from trips to Australia with large sums of money. In May 1852, Edward's mother passed away; his father and brother moved from Elberfeld to

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

in early 1853. It is unclear if he considered to join them, but in April 1853, Edward Thonen, then 26 years old, requested permission to emigrate to Australia. The permission was granted on 28 May 1853, and Edward arrived in Australia later that year.

The Eureka Rebellion

Thonen immigrated to the

Ballarat Goldfields The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

of Victoria, Australia. No immigration record apparently survives in Australian archives, but his death certificate indicates that he had been in Victoria for one to two years when he died in December 1854. Eyewitness accounts of the events at Eureka show that he arrived in Ballarat no later than November 1853. In 1854 Thonen was a "lemonade seller" at the goldfields. He was a leader of the southern division of miners at the Eureka Stockade.

Death

Edward Thonen was killed on 3 December 1854, during the

battle of the Eureka Stockade The Battle of the Eureka Stockade was fought in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, on 3 December 1854, between gold miners and the colonial forces of Australia. It was the culmination of the 1851–1854 Eureka Rebellion during the Victorian gold rus ...

. His cause of death is given as "gunshot wound" in the death certificate.Death Index
Victoria Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages
: accessed 6 September 2022)
Index entry for Edward THONEN
:Date: 20 June 1855 :Reg. Number: 3242/1855 :Number: 437 :When and where died: 3 December 1854 at Ballarat :Name and Surname, Rank or Profession: Edward Thonen, Lemonade Seller :Sex and Age: Male, 24 Years :Cause of Death: Gunshot wound :Name and surname of Father and Mother: Unknown :When and where buried: 5 December 1854 at Ballarat :Where born, and how long in the Australian Colonies, stating which: Elberfeldt, Prussia, 2 Years, Victoria Eyewitness accounts suggest that Edward Thonen was the first person to die at the stockade. Thonen was buried at the

Ballaarat Old Cemetery Ballaarat Old Cemetery is a cemetery located in the rural city of Ballarat, Victoria in Australia. The cemetery dates back to 1856, although records show burials took place in the area from the late 1840s. He is listed on the monument that was erected in Ballarat in 1856.

Reception

The song "German Teddy"

The Eureka Stockade in general had a huge effect on Australian history, and is remembered to this day. Edward Thonen in particular was the inspiration for a song, ''German Teddy'', probably dating to the 1880s. A manuscript of the song, dated 15 July 1889, was given to New Zealand composer Alfred Hill by Lieselotte Schreiner from Germany, a friend of his, possibly from Alfred's time at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

. The manuscript is in the Alfred Hill collection of the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...

, where it was rediscovered in the 1980s by musicologist Kay Dreyfus. That song, in turn, inspired the 1984 symphony ''German Teddy'' by Kay Dreyfus's husband

George Dreyfus George Dreyfus AM (born 22 July 1928) is an Australian contemporary classical, film and television composer. Early life and orchestral career Dreyfus was born to a Jewish family in Elberfeld, Wuppertal, Germany. He was the younger of two sons ...

, an Australian composer of Jewish descent who, like Edward Thonen, was born in Elberfeld. The symphony premiered in

in 1986, and was again performed at the

Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka Eureka Centre Ballarat is an interpretive centre in the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park. It features a small permanent exhibition on the Eureka Rebellion and houses the Eureka Flag, which has been on loan from the Art Gallery of Ballarat since 2 ...

in 2016.

Claims of Jewish descent

Prior to the discovery of Edward Thonen's birth certificate in 2021, which showed that he and his family were

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, Thonen was thought to be of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent. In a self-published 1954 article by Lazarus Morris Goldman, later reprinted in the ''Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society'', Edward was labelled as Jewish, and this was then propagated, expedited possibly by the large number of articles published for the 100th anniversary of the event. Other people of Jewish descent were also involved in the Eureka Stockade, but Edward Thonen allegedly was the only one among those killed. Over the decades, numerous sources have picked up on Edward's story in the wider context of Jewish history in Australia.

Notes

:a.Se
here
for a list of newspaper articles about the incident.

References

External links

* , with additional links to primary and secondary sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Thonen, Edward 1827 births 1854 deaths Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia People from Wuppertal German emigrants to Australia Australian people of German descent Eureka Rebellion Battle of the Eureka Stockade People of the Eureka Rebellion Deaths by firearm in Victoria (state) German robbers People convicted of theft