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Sources of figures and data

The Waterloo Rumour 1815/1846

The Rumour of Waterloo (1815/1846) / 1815, 1846 / London, Ghent, Paris, Frankfurt / Composite (multiple types are essentially mixed)

Sources of figures and data

A list of where the figures in the diagrams and text come from in which sources. Click the heading to open.

Read moreNumerical ledger (10 entries)
Night of 1815-06-21 (Gazette says "last night", article says around 11 o'clock)Date/TimeArrival of the official dispatch1815-06-21・Preamble of the GazetteThe London Gazette— PDF of The Gazette 1815 Page 1
1815-06-21 (Wednesday, afternoon according to the article)DateDay Nathan received the letter from Ghent1815-06-21・London dispatch in the Caledonian Mercury 1815-06-24 (cited in the article)The Rothschild Archive Text・Note 10
6/1 58¼・6/16 53¾ (low)・6/21 55½・6/22 56½・6/27 59⅛Price per 100 of face valueClosing price of the 3% ConsolsJune 1815・Denominator: face value 100・Table by Richardson, Goodluck & Co.The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576
6/21 Open 4¾・High near 6・Close 4¾ (via Morning Chronicle, essay) / 6/23 9½・6/26 12½・6/27 13・6/28 13 (Gentleman's Magazine)% (premium on face value)Omnium premiumJune 1815・Denominator: face value 100・Price listThe Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (6/21 is from the main text of rothschild-archive-waterloo)
“Twenty million in one fell swoop”・Total annual profit “135 million” (currency unit not specified)Pamphlet's claimProfit claimed by the pamphlet1846・A claim, not a factGeorges Dairnvaell— Paris: chez l'éditeur, rue Colbert, 4 / Imprimerie de Madame de Lacombe, 1846 1846 p. 12
4th edition・30 centimes (the satirical document is 40 centimes)CentimesPrice and edition of the pamphlet1846・CoverGeorges Dairnvaell— Paris: chez l'éditeur, rue Colbert, 4 / Imprimerie de Madame de Lacombe, 1846 1846 Cover
"30,000 copies" (satirical document) / "Tens of thousands" (article)copiesNumber of pamphlets printed1846. Stated in a contemporary satirical document and an article. No records from the publisher have been found"Junius"— Paris: Imprimerie d'A. René et Cie, rue de Seine 32, 1846 p. 30
39 (as of 1846-07-10, in the pamphlet's eyewitness account)peopleNumber of bodies from the Fampoux accident (at the time of the eyewitness account)1846-07-10. Eyewitness account in the pamphlet. The official death toll has not been confirmedGeorges Dairnvaell— Paris: chez l'éditeur, rue Colbert, 4 ／ Imprimerie de Madame de Lacombe, 1846 p. 26
Nearly 18 million poundspoundsAmount paid by the family on the Continent from the spring of 18141814–1816. Herries' reports of 1816 and 1822 (read within the scope cited by Balla; original not consulted)Ignatius Balla 1913 p. 86
"Nearly a million pounds" (Reeves 1887, Balla 1913)Biographical claimBiographical "profit"1887, 1913・No sourceJohn Reeves 1887 p. 175
Read moreSources of the figures in the diagrams
DiagramWhat the figure representsValueTime point / PeriodSource and location
Fig. 1Battle of Waterloo (Sunday)—1815-06-18The London Gazette— PDF of The Gazette 1815
Fig. 1The Duke writes the dispatch. Mr. C is present in Ghent for the victory letter.—1815-06-19The Rothschild Archive
Fig. 1In the morning, Mr. C speaks in the City. During the day, a letter from Ghent reaches Nathan. In the evening, the official dispatch arrives.—1815-06-21The Rothschild Archive
Fig. 1The dispatch is published in the official gazette.—1815-06-22The London Gazette— PDF of The Gazette 1815
Fig. 1Omnium at 13 premium—1815-06-27The Gentleman's Magazine. Table prepared by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181558.31815-06-01The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181558.31815-06-02The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181558.31815-06-03The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181558.11815-06-06The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181557.41815-06-07The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181557.61815-06-08The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181557.41815-06-09The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181557.11815-06-10The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181555.11815-06-12The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181555.01815-06-13The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181554.81815-06-14The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181553.91815-06-15The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181553.81815-06-16The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181554.31815-06-17The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181554.11815-06-19The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181554.61815-06-20The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181555.51815-06-21The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181556.51815-06-22The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181557.51815-06-23The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181558.91815-06-26The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181559.11815-06-27The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 2Closing prices of 3 per Cent Reduced Annuities, June 181559.01815-06-28The Gentleman's Magazine. Table created by Richardson, Goodluck, & Co., Bank Buildings, 1815 p. 576 (read from page image)
Fig. 3Paris pamphlet (4th ed., 30 centimes)—1846Georges Dairnvaell— Paris: chez l'éditeur, rue Colbert, 4 / Imprimerie de Madame de Lacombe, 1846
Fig. 3Reeves's biography—1887John Reeves 1887
Fig. 3Dictionary of National Biography—1897Dictionary of National Biography— Wikisource transcription 1897
Fig. 3Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition—1911Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition— Wikisource transcription 1911
Fig. 3Balla's book—1913Ignatius Balla 1913
Fig. 3Nazi propaganda film—1940The Rothschild Archive
Fig. 4Government bonds rise daily from the low on the 16th—June 1815—
Fig. 4The pamphlet: '24 hours early, twenty million in one stroke'—1846—
Read moreWhat the sources tell us

The historical sources are divided into four layers. First, official records: I read the *London Gazette Extraordinary* No. 17028 of June 22, 1815, from a copy by The Gazette. Second, contemporary printed materials: I read the daily market price table on page 576 of the June 1815 issue of *The Gentleman's Magazine* from an image of the page. Since character recognition of the table misaligns the columns, all numbers have been verified from the image. Third, an article from the family's archive, written by Brian Cathcart for the archive's annual report prior to his 2015 book. It cites letters from June 20, July 27, and August 24, 1815, the June 24 issue of the *Caledonian Mercury*, and the market price column of the *Morning Chronicle*, but I have read these within the scope cited by the article, not the originals.

Fourth, there are the sources from the side of the rumor. I read all 35 pages of the 4th edition of the 1846 pamphlet from a copy at the ETH Zurich library. I also read the satirical document by 'Junius' published in Paris in the same year, titled *Rothschild I and Satan's Last Great Lawsuit*. The latter mentions that *Reply from Rothschild I to Satan's Last* was published under the name of James Rothschild, playfully orders the suppression of the "thirty thousand copies sold to the public" of the pamphlet, and announces his own "popular edition of over a million copies". For the spread of the rumor in English, I read Reeves (1887), the *Dictionary of National Biography* (1897), the 11th edition of the *Encyclopædia Britannica* (1911), and Balla (1913).

These sources have biases. The archive's article is a publication by the family itself and is written from the perspective of refuting the rumour. The pamphlet and the satirical document were written with the aim of attacking the Rothschild family immediately after the railway accident, and they represent a historical prejudice, depicting the family with terms such as "King of the Jews" and "vampire." A dictionary from 1897 notes that "there are no authentic records concerning Nathan and the family, and published accounts are full of inaccuracies," and described Reeves as "ill-informed and uncritical." The same dictionary states that Roworth arrived in London early on the morning of June 20 with a Dutch gazette, which contradicts the archive's letters. Materials not included in the sources listed here are the original archive letters, contemporary newspapers, Victor Rothschild's 1982 privately printed edition, Kaplan 2006, Cathcart 2015, Ferguson 1998, Walters 1957 which showed the Gallatin diary to be a forgery, the 1846 'Reply', and Dairnvaell's second pamphlet.

How we know — Types of sources

Contemporary Records

Official Documents

Institutional Accounts

Popular Books

Did he profit from early information?

Essay from the archives (Cathcart)

Appears to have had early information and profited from it (Roworth's postscript). No market manipulation, not a huge profit, and less than the underwriters' profit. The offer of a knighthood indicates a lack of dishonor.

The Rothschild Archive
DNB 1897

The story that he carried it himself, held it exclusively for a long time, and made a large trade is a fabrication (Notes and Queries).

Dictionary of National Biography— Wikisource transcription 1897
Reeves 1887・Balla 1913

Used a stratagem to lower the market price before buying, and gained "nearly a million pounds" (No source. Balla adds the reservation "if it were all true").

John Reeves 1887
Read moreBibliography (12 items)

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