Edward Thonen
Edward Thonen (26 May 1827 – 3 December 1854) was a German emigrant to Australia, and one of the miners involved in the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, Victoria. He was captain of one of the miners' divisions. When soldiers stormed the Stockade on 3 December 1854, Thonen was one of the first to be killed in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade.
Edward Thonen | |
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| Born | 26 May 1827 Elberfeld, Prussia |
| Died | 3 December 1854 (aged 27) Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Other names | Eduard Thönen |
| Occupation(s) | Clerk, teacher of languages, lemonade seller |
| Years active | 1850–1854 |
| Known for | London diamond robbery, Eureka Rebellion |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Eureka Rebellion |
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Prior to his emigration to Australia in 1853, Thonen gained notoriety as a jewellery thief in England.a The story of his capture on a ship off the coast of Wales was widely publicised. It even reached Australia in the 1890s, although nobody at the time made the connection between the diamond robbery and the events at Eureka. The two incidents were only connected in 2022, by a collaboration of researchers on the genealogy website WikiTree, whose results were later published by the Ballarat and District Genealogical Society.