- Daniel Eliason
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Daniel Eliason was a London diamond merchant in the late 18th century and early 19th century. A blue diamond with the same shape, size, and color as the Hope Diamond was recorded in his possession in September 1812, the earliest point when the history of the Hope Diamond can be definitively fixed. John Francillon wrote a memorandum describing the large superfine blue diamond. It is often pointed out that this date was almost exactly 20 years after the theft of the French Blue, just as the statute of limitations for the crime had expired.
Eliason's diamond may have been acquired by King George IV of the United Kingdom, There is no record of the ownership in the Royal Archives at Windsor, but some secondary evidence exists in the form of contemporary writings and artwork, and George IV tended to commingle the state property of the Royal Jewels with family heirlooms and his own personal property.
It is thought that Francis Beaulieu, who came from Marseilles to London, arranged to sell the diamond to Eliason. Beaulieu fell terribly ill from jail fever and died in a poor humble lodging. When Eliason went round to pay over the money Beaulieu was dead and the money never changed hands. Eliason killed himself some months afterwards, but before he did so he sold the diamond (this was in about 1830) to Henry Thomas Hope of Deepdene, Surrey.[1][2]
References
- ^ http://www.oldandsold.com/articles02/article1130.shtml accessed January 27, 2009
- ^ Susanne Steinem Patch, Blue Mystery: The Story of the Hope Diamond (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976) 18.
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