THE NAPOLEON OF CRIME

See Also: CRIME; SHERLOCK HOLMES Mycroft Holmes; THE POLICE Metropolitan Police, Art Theft; THE PRUSSIAN PROFESSOR

While he was a young child, Adam Worth's family emigrated from Prussia to the United States. During the American Civil War, he repeatedly enlisted in the Union Army, accepting a payment each time that he did so. He would then disappear. His activities brought him to the notice of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which opened a file on him.

Worth settled in New York City. There he worked as a pickpocket. With the support of the fence Marm Mandelbaum, he rose up the underworld hierarchy, forming gangs, and perpetrating ever larger crimes. One of his particular trademarks was not to use violence. In 1869 he carried out a major bank robbery in Boston. In the exploit's wake, he judged it to be sensible for him to relocate to Europe. He assumed the name of Henry J. Raymond. He settled in Paris where he opened the American Bar.

After a couple of years in the city he decided it would be judicious for him to move to London. He bought a large villa that overlooked Clapham Common. He continued his criminal activities although he was careful to use intermediaries to keep his distance from the actual execution of the crimes. He was seen to be living the life of a wealthy, expatriate, American gentleman of leisure. However, one robbery he carried out in person. Thomas Gainsborough's 1787 portrait of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire exerted a strong emotional pull over him. In 1876 he stole the art work from Agnew's auction house.

Worth had too many associates for some knowledge of his activities not to make its way to Scotland Yard. His organisational insulation proved to be effective. However, in 1892, during a visit to the continent, he was apprehended while participating in an opportunistic robbery in Li ge. He was tried and convicted.

Five years later, having proven to be a model prisoner, he was released. Subsequently, he travelled to America where he had lodged Georgiana. There he had an interview with William Pinkerton. During this, he recounted his life of criminal activity. In 1901 Worth returned the painting to Agnew's by means of Pinkerton's. The auction house made a $25,000 payment. Worth returned to London, where he died the following year. His corpse was buried in a pauper's grave in Highgate Cemetery. His gravestone bears his pseudonym. His son, Harry Raymond jr. became a Pinkerton agent.

Worth s activities may have been one the models from whom Arthur Conan Doyle fashioned the character Professor Moriarty.

Location: Western Lodge, 84 Clapham Common West, SW4 9AY

43 Old Bond Street, W1S 4QT. (Agnew's former premises.) (purple, orange)

Highgate Cemetery, Swains Lane, N6 6PJ

David Backhouse 2024