The Great Stock Exchange Fraud exposed in London
- When
- 1814
- Where
- Dover; London; London Stock Exchange
- Episodes
- 3
The Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814 involved a hoax regarding Napoleon's death that affected the London Stock Exchange. On 21 February 1814, a man claiming to be Colonel du Bourg spread false news from Dover to London, causing government securities to rise rapidly.
Episodes
- Arrival at Dover
Colonel du Bourg arrived at the Ship Inn in Dover on 21 February 1814, claiming Napoleon was dead.
- Relay to London
Du Bourg requested the news be sent to the Admiralty in London via semaphore telegraph.
- Market Fluctuation
False news caused government securities to increase rapidly at the London Stock Exchange.
Background and detail
Background. The fraud centered on false information about the Napoleonic Wars, affecting the London Stock Exchange in 1814. In the terminology of 1814, stocks referred to interest-bearing securities, now called bonds. The London Stock Exchange, founded in 1801, is one of the world's oldest continuously operating stock exchanges.
The Hoax. On the morning of Monday, 21 February 1814, a uniformed man calling himself Colonel du Bourg arrived at the Ship Inn in Dover. He claimed to be aide-de-camp to Lord Cathcart and announced that Napoleon I had been killed and Bourbon rule restored. He requested this news be relayed to the Admiralty in London via semaphore telegraph.
Market Impact. When the false news from Dover began to circulate among traders at the London Stock Exchange, the value of government securities increased rapidly. The incident later influenced legal reforms, as public outcry over the treatment of those involved led to the limitation of the punishment of the pillory in 1816.
People involved
- Colonel du Bourg · Perpetrator of the hoax
- Lord Cathcart · Claimed superior of Colonel du Bourg
- Lord Ellenborough · Presiding judge in the case
Sources
- Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814 Wikipedia, revision of 2026-04-20
- London Stock Exchange Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.