He seems to have led a very bizarre life before the revolution ('seems' - some dates tally, for others there's just rumour) - including ending up in a Great Expectations/Magwich style prison hulk for that theft! I hope the stories are true - if so, he was also a french teacher at the Warrington Academy that used to exist down the road from me (the idea that there was once the need for a french teacher in Warrington - it's just an industrial wasteland these days!)