The Thieves of Threadneedle Street with Nicholas Booth

Join the Bidwell House Museum on May 21 at 4 p.m. for a talk about the Thieves of Threadneedle Street.

In 2008, as the world’s economies were collapsing, writer Nicholas Booth idly wondered when the first ever global economic collapse had taken place. It was 1873, and for the author himself, so began a journey which led to his unearthing the true story surrounding something known as “The Great Forgeries Upon The Bank of England”. Had the perpetrators been successful, they would have got away with daylight robbery – removing $8 million in today’s money by forging documents and impersonating respectable people.

At the heart of the story are a branch of the Bidwell family who claimed they could trace their lineage back to the Pilgrim Fathers. And while the two brothers, Austin and George, claimed they were “innocents abroad,” they were actually career criminals who had carried out crimes all over the United States. The Bank of England job was to be their swansong, their ultimate robbery and their way out of a life of crime.

Nick will tell the full story of the Bidwell brothers and his research in writing The Thieves of Threadneedle Street, the first full chronicle of an astonishing international caper with twists and turns that often defy belief. It involves a manhunt across three continents, double crosses and miraculous escapes along with a cast of improbable villains, curious coincidences, and extraordinary adventures.

This talk will be held via Zoom and the link to access the program will be sent to registrants a few days in advance.

Nicholas Booth is a writer and broadcaster who lives in Cheshire, England. After working in newspapers and television, he wrote the highly acclaimed Zigzag, about the double agent Eddie Chapman, and followed that with The Thieves of Threadneedle Street which The New York Times called “A jaunty caper”.