George Henry "Taters" Chatham (3 April 1912 – 5 June 1997) was a British thief and burglar. Born to a middle-class family, he aspired to become a professional footballer but despite a trial at Queen's Park Rangers, nothing came of it. Chatham turned to crime and was first convicted of theft in 1931. By the end of that decade he was burgling the houses of wealthy Londoners, carefully selecting his targets from society magazines. His calm-headedness led to his nickname from the Cockney rhyming slang for cold.
After the Second World War Chatham became more prolific. His crimes included the theft of two jewelled swords, awarded to the Duke of Wellington, from the Victoria & Albert Museum and a jewelled chelengk, awarded to Lord Nelson, from the National Maritime Museum. Chatham gambled away most of the proceeds from his crimes, often in the casino of London gangster Billy Hill. He was part of Hill's gang that carried out the 1952 Eastcastle Street robbery on a Post Office van. In 1957 he began a 30-year association with fellow thief Peter Scott.
Chatham's gambling led him to become increasingly reckless later in his career, though he was a famous cat burglar by the late 1950s and his raids on art galleries were attributed to a sophisticated international gang of art thieves. Chatham remained active late in life carrying out thefts and burglaries well into his 70s; his last crime was an attempted theft from an art gallery at the age of 81.
Early life
Chatham was born in Fulham, London, on 3 April 1912. He was the son of George Chatham, who was then a coffee house waiter, and his wife Jenny (née Hewson). Chatham's father came from a middle-class background and had formerly been a civil engineer. Chatham aspired to a career as a professional footballer. He played for England Schoolboys and had a trial at Queen's Park Rangers but was not asked to join the team.
Career in crime
Chatham turned to crime and was first convicted for theft in 1931, being sentenced to three years' imprisonment. He married Elsa Johanne on 2 March 1935, stating his occupation on the marriage certificate as "hardware salesman". By the end of the 1930s he favoured burglary of the London town houses of the wealthy, often using the London smog for cover. Chatham was initially careful in his burglaries, researching his targets in Burke's Peerage, Country Life and Tatler and receiving tip-offs from insurance clerks and aristocrats. His calm-headedness led to his nickname, from the Cockney rhyming slang for cold ("taters in the mould"). Chatham's only daughter was killed in Norway during the Second World War.
In the post-war years Chatham became more prolific, becoming known as "Britain’s busiest jewel thief". He enjoyed reading the reporting of his heists in the press.
In 1948 he committed his most famous crime, the theft of two jewel-encrusted ceremonial swords from the Victoria & Albert Museum. Chatham used two ladders tied together to reach a high window to access the museum. The swords had belonged to the Duke of Wellington, one commemorated his victories in India and the other was a gift from Russian Tsar Alexander I. This was his first theft of several from the museum and Chatham was never convicted of it. The swords, which were never recovered, had an estimated value of £5 million in 1997 (). Chatham had become a gambling addict by this time and many of the jewels were lost at casinos (on one occasion he prised a jewel from a sword hilt whilst sitting at a card table), in horse-racing bets or given to girlfriends.
In 1951 Chatham broke into the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and stole a jewelled chelengk. The chelengk had been presented to the British admiral Horatio Nelson by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for his victory over the French at the 1798 Battle of the Nile. The 300-diamond piece was sold by Chatham for just a few thousand pounds and was never recovered.
Chatham became associated with the gangster Billy Hill and often lost large amounts of money at his rigged casino tables. Chatham took part in the 1952 Eastcastle Street robbery, an armed robbery (his first) of a Post Office van. The six robbers escaped with £287,000 () after assaulting three Post Office employees. Chatham's share came to £15,000 () which he quickly lost on Hill's tables. Chatham made an attempt to break into Hill's safe which was thwarted but escaped punishment as Hill knew he would return to the casino to lose more money. On another occasion Chatham threatened to shoot Hill.