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The Most Deceitful Events that Played Out In History

Khalid Elhassan March 27, 2022 37 min

17. This Practitioner of Deceit Was Handsomely Rewarded for Setting Up Opponents of the Government

Deceit Facts - Counterfeiters trapped red handed — Counterfeiters trapped red-handed. Head Stuff

Being well-practiced in deceit, the side hustle of agent provocateur came easily to William Chaloner. It was easy for him to feign sympathy for the Jacobite cause, and thus draw supporters of the deposed James II into treasonous activity. He would then make a beeline for the authorities, and snitch in exchange for generous rewards. In one instance, he collected 1000 pounds – a small fortune – after he set up and then turned in a pair of Jacobite patsies, who were eventually executed.

It was not long before Chaloner decided that instead of wasting time trying to find Jacobite conspirators, it was easier to simply invent them out of thin air. In 1693, he informed the authorities that he had discovered a Jacobite plot to seize Dover Castle, and offered to infiltrate the network. As he told an accomplice, if he followed Chaloner’s lead: “they would bubble the government, who were the easiest to be cheated of any men in the world“.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.