Coronel Chacon, Sir Augustin

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CORONEL CHACON, SIR AUGUSTIN

CORONEL CHACON, SIR AUGUSTIN (c. 1600–1665), Marrano merchant. Born in Portugal, Coronel settled first in Bordeaux (1630–33), then in Rouen, and finally in London, where he acted as financial agent for the exiled Charles ii. He was known on the Royal Exchange as the "little Jue," though it is doubtful whether he was circumcised or became a member of the later Jewish community. After the Restoration he acted as a Portuguese agent and is said to have first proposed the marriage of Charles ii and Catherine of Braganza, for which he was knighted, having by now severed his Jewish connections. Subsequently he became bankrupt and was expelled from the Exchange. After a term of imprisonment he left England. His place of death is unknown. His widow was supported by the London Jewish community.

bibliography:

jhset, 1 (1893–94), 70–75; 5 (1902–05), 16–18; 14 (1935–39), 60–61; L.D. Barnett, Bevis Marks Records, 1 (1940), 7; A.M. Hyamson, Sephardim of England (1951), 21–22, 58.

[Cecil Roth]

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