Who was the 18th century underworld figure known as the Thief-taker general who was executed at Tyburn in 1725?
"that could lead to their apprehension and prosecution; investigating on felonies; detecting and apprehending criminals; providing instrumental evidence against the accused, which could lead to the conviction and to the desired reward. Thief-takers also worked alongside with the city officers in searching suspects for the goods stolen, and arresting them. With the Reformation of Manners campaign, new impulse was given to prosecutions, and therefore, to become a thief-taker. Charles Hitchen and Jonathan Wild contributed substantially in increasing the amount of prosecutions of this kind in the 1720s and 1730s. Thief-takers also offered mediation services between victims and criminals, arranging the"
"Tyburn on 19 October 1660. His body, instead of being quartered, was given to his friends for burial, and is said to have been interred in the church of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, London, the advowson of which was at one time vested in the Hacker family. As with all convicted traitors, his property was forfeited to the Crown. His estate passed to the Duke of York, but was bought back by Rowland Hacker, and was still in the possession of the Hacker family in 1890. Francis Hacker Colonel Francis Hacker (died 19 October 1660) was an English soldier who"
"northwest of Otterburn village. By the beginning of the 15th century, the tower was held by Sir Robert Umfraville. It was owned by Clan Hall from at least the 1500s. One of its notable owners was Mad Jack Hall, a Jacobite rebel who was tried five times and finally executed at Tyburn for high treason on 13 July 1716, and his initials are still carved over one of the original doors. He had pleaded during the trial that as he was returning from a Justice’s meeting, he was surrounded by rebels and forced to go with them. In 1777, the"
"with prisoners processed from Newgate Prison in the City, via St Giles in the Fields and Oxford Street. After the late 18th century, when public executions were no longer carried out at Tyburn, they were carried out at Newgate Prison itself and at Horsemonger Lane Gaol in Southwark. The first recorded execution took place at a site next to the stream in 1196. William Fitz Osbert, populist leader who played a major role in an 1196 popular revolt in London, was cornered in the church of St Mary le Bow. He was dragged naked behind a horse to Tyburn, where"
"Jack Sheppard Jack Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724) was a notorious English thief and gaol-breaker of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete. He was arrested and imprisoned five times in 1724 but escaped four times from prison, making him a notorious public figure, and wildly popular with the poorer classes. Ultimately, he was caught, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, ending his brief criminal career after less than two years. The"
"the downtrodden, taking pity on some intended victims, and befriending many locals, who often assisted him in evading justice. Lewis apparently referred to himself as ""an equalizer"". Lewis and his gang frequently used a network of caves throughout central Pennsylvania as hideouts and stores for stolen goods, one of which, Indian Caverns, is open to the public. Lewis was arrested several times and broke jail on every occasion. He was finally apprehended by a posse in 1820. He died from a gunshot wound received during his capture. On his deathbed in Bellefonte Jail, he wrote an autobiography in the form"
"James MacLaine ""Captain"" James MacLaine (occasionally ""Maclean"", ""MacLean"", or ""Maclane"") (1724 – 3 October 1750) was a notorious highwayman with his accomplice William Plunkett. He was known as the ""Gentleman Highwayman"" as a result of his courteous behaviour during his robberies. He famously robbed Horace Walpole, and was eventually hanged at Tyburn. The film ""Plunkett & Macleane"" was based loosely on his exploits. MacLaine was the second of two sons of an Irish Presbyterian minister Rev. Thomas Maclaine of 1st Monaghan Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The elder son also became a minister. Educated to become a merchant, MacLaine frittered away"
"from the Tower to Tyburn, London on 23 November 1499, where he read out a confession and was hanged. Warbeck's Irish ally John Atwater was also executed at Tyburn on the same day. The Earl of Warwick was beheaded on Tower Hill on 28 November 1499. Warbeck was buried in Austin Friars, London. The presumed site of his unmarked grave still exists as the Dutch Church, Austin Friars. His story was featured in Francis Bacon's 1622 work ""History of the Reign of King Henry VII"". Perkin reportedly resembled Edward IV in appearance, which has led to speculation that he might"
"inability of the notorious ""Thief-Taker General"" Jonathan Wild to control Sheppard, and injuries suffered by Wild at the hands of Sheppard's colleague, Joseph ""Blueskin"" Blake, led to Wild's downfall. Sheppard was as renowned for his attempts to escape from prison as he was for his crimes. An autobiographical ""Narrative"", thought to have been ghostwritten by Daniel Defoe, was sold at his execution, quickly followed by popular plays. The character of Macheath in John Gay's ""The Beggar's Opera"" (1728) was based on Sheppard, keeping him in the limelight for over 100 years. He returned to the public consciousness around 1840, when"
"Progress"", painted in 1731, in which his wigbox is being stored above the bed of the female protagonist, Moll Hackabout. James Dalton (criminal) James Dalton (died 11 May 1730) was ""captain"" of a street robbery gang in 18th century London, England. His father, also James Dalton, was Irish and fought as a sergeant in the British Army in Flanders. He was convicted of street robbery on 3 March 1720 and was sentenced to transportation. On being found in London in 1721, reputedly informed upon by the self-appointed Thief-taker General, Jonathan Wild, the elder Dalton was hanged. His mother remarried a"
"as Turpin in the 1974 Carry On film ""Carry On Dick"" and LWT cast Richard O'Sullivan as Turpin in their eponymous series ""Dick Turpin"". Footnotes Notes Bibliography Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher early in his life but, by the early 1730s, he had joined a gang of deer thieves and, later, became a poacher, burglar, horse thief and killer. He is also known for a fictional overnight"
"for a number of purposes including imprisoning people awaiting execution, although it was not always secure: burglar Jack Sheppard twice escaped from the prison before he went to the gallows at Tyburn in 1724. Prison chaplain Paul Lorrain achieved some fame in the early 18th century for his sometimes dubious publication of ""Confessions"" of the condemned. In 1783, the site of London's gallows was moved from Tyburn to Newgate. Public executions outside the prison – by this time, London's main prison – continued to draw large crowds. It was also possible to visit the prison by obtaining a permit from"
"withdrew. The gang members were not only smugglers but robbers and extortionists. Arthur Gray was apprehended in 1748 and indicted on charges of felonious assembly with the intention of carrying away goods that customs duty had not been paid -- in other words smuggling. He was executed at Tyburn on Wednesday 11 May 1748. In 1748 the government issued a list of men wanted for ""murders, burglaries and robberies"" in Sussex as well as the Custom-house break-in at Poole. The list was published in the London Gazette along with a request for information leading to the arrest of the smugglers."
"was not going to be freed he made a statement claiming that he had been responsible for another crime absolving the man suspected of committing it, Black Sam, even though the stolen goods had been found at Black Sam's house. The night before his execution, he obtained a knife and hid it in his clothing, but it was found and taken from him. On the day of his execution, 17 June 1747, he dressed smartly in clean clothes and, as he mounted the cart which took the prisoners to the gallows at Tyburn, he tossed his shoes into the crowd."
"at Tyburn on 29 June 1541. An account of the execution in Hall's Chronicle says: Mantell, Frowds and Roidon were also executed for the crime. Dacre's family were stripped of their lands and title, but the title was restored to his second son Gregory in 1558 (the elder son Thomas died before the restitution, aged 15). Fiennes's case was briefly mentioned in the Showtime historical series ""The Tudors"". Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (ca. 1515 – 1541) was an English aristocrat notable for his conviction and execution for murder. Dacre was the son of Sir"
"off the execution. The second robbery provided enough time for the pardon to be secured. A Scottish ballad titled ""Cochrane's Bonny Grizzy"" was written in honor of the account. Grizel Cochrane Grizel Cochrane is a figure from 17th century Scottish lore. Cochrane's father, John Cochrane of Ochiltree, had been captured following the Monmouth Rebellion against the rule of James VI, in 1685, and was therefore scheduled to be condemned to death. According to the legend, in order to prevent the execution from being carried out, Grizel disguised herself as a man and robbed the postman who carried the death warrant,"
"others sentenced to penal transportation to Australia, and two were sentenced to death by hanging – Lewis Lewis (""Lewsyn yr Heliwr"") for robbery and Richard Lewis (""Dic Penderyn"") for stabbing a soldier (Private Donald Black of the Highland Regiment) in the leg with a seized bayonet. Lewsyn yr Heliwr's sentence was downgraded to a life sentence and penal transportation to Australia when one of the police officers who had tried to disperse the crowd testified that he had tried to shield him from the rioters. He was transported aboard the vessel John in 1832 and died 6 September 1847 in"
"from the valley. A Roman coin hoard has been found to the south of Mytholmroyd. During the late 18th century, the valley to the south, known as Cragg Vale, was home to a gang of counterfeiters known as the Cragg Coiners. The gang's leader, David Hartley, or King David as he was known, was found guilty of the 1769 murder of excise official William Dighton and was hanged at the York Tyburn on 28 April 1770. Two other gang members were also executed for their part in the murder. Built in 1851 as Canal Wharf Mill, it was home to"
"brothel keepers as well (i.e. Thomas Wright). On 9 May 1726, three men (Gabriel Lawrence, William Griffin, and Thomas Wright) were hanged at Tyburn for buggery following a raid of Margaret Clap's molly-house. Their trials are fundamental since they provide important details for the descriptions of the gay community surroundings. On 12 April 1727 Charles Hitchin was convicted of assault with sodomitical intent . References and representations of molly-houses and gay subculture during the 18th and the 19th century London can be found in several contemporary productions. TV series Theatre Molly house Molly-house was a term used in 18th- and"
"his life appears in the 1999 film ""Plunkett & Macleane"", where he was played by Jonny Lee Miller. His skeleton appears in the final plate of William Hogarth's ""The Four Stages of Cruelty"". James MacLaine ""Captain"" James MacLaine (occasionally ""Maclean"", ""MacLean"", or ""Maclane"") (1724 – 3 October 1750) was a notorious highwayman with his accomplice William Plunkett. He was known as the ""Gentleman Highwayman"" as a result of his courteous behaviour during his robberies. He famously robbed Horace Walpole, and was eventually hanged at Tyburn. The film ""Plunkett & Macleane"" was based loosely on his exploits. MacLaine was the second"
"made enquiries as to how he funded his lifestyle. Suspected of being a horse thief, ""Palmer"" was imprisoned in York Castle, to be tried at the next assizes. Turpin's true identity was revealed by a letter he wrote to his brother-in-law from his prison cell, which fell into the hands of the authorities. On 22 March 1739, Turpin was found guilty on two charges of horse theft and sentenced to death; he was executed on 7 April 1739. Turpin became the subject of legend after his execution, romanticised as dashing and heroic in English ballads and popular theatre of the"
"Thomas Griffiths Wainewright Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (October 1794 – 17 August 1847) was an English artist, author and suspected serial killer. He gained a reputation as profligate and a dandy, and in 1837, was transported to the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land (now the Australian state of Tasmania) for frauds on the Bank of England. As a convict he became a portraitist for Hobart's elite. Wainewright's life captured the imagination of renowned 19th-century literary figures such as Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, some of whom wildly exaggerated his supposed crimes, claiming among other things that he carried"
"Sam Hall (song) “Sam Hall” is an old English folk song about a bitterly unrepentant criminal condemned to death (Roud #369). Prior to the mid-19th century it was called “Jack Hall”, after an infamous English thief, who was hanged in 1707 at Tyburn. Jack Hall’s parents sold him as a climbing boy for one guinea, which is why most versions of the song identify Sam or Jack Hall as a chimney sweep. Prior to 1988, the song had been collected from about 18 singers in the oral tradition, limited to Ireland, England and the USA, and there had been only"
"paid by authorities to commit perjury"". What historian James Sharpe has characterised as a ""pleasing legend"" grew up around the circumstances of Hopkins' death, according to which he was subjected to his own swimming test and executed as a witch, but the parish registry at Mistley confirms his burial there. Notes Footnotes Bibliography Matthew Hopkins Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament. His witch-hunts mainly took place in East Anglia."
"in some way, he put a cross by the thief's name; a second cross condemned the man to be sold to the Crown for hanging. (This fabulous story is contradicted by the fact that the noun ""double cross"" did not enter English usage until 1834.) In public, Wild presented an heroic face. He was the man who returned stolen goods. He was the man who caught criminals. In 1718, Wild called himself ""Thief Taker General of Great Britain and Ireland"". By his testimony, over sixty thieves were sent to the gallows. His ""finding"" of lost merchandise was private, but his"
"Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher early in his life but, by the early 1730s, he had joined a gang of deer thieves and, later, became a poacher, burglar, horse thief and killer. He is also known for a fictional overnight ride from London to York on his horse Black Bess, a story that was made famous by the Victorian novelist William Harrison Ainsworth almost 100 years after"
"original execution date. Edward Tyrrell (priest hunter) Edward Tyrrell (died May 28, 1713) was a priest-hunter based in Ireland. He travelled the country from 1710 onwards looking for Catholic priests and bishops. Tyrrell was working to enforce the ""Act to prevent the further Growth of Popery"", commonly known as the Popery Act or the Gavelkind Act, which was an Act of parliament of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1703 and amended in 1709, one of a series of penal laws against Roman Catholics. He was convicted of bigamy and executed on May 28, 1713 having been reprieved for fifteen"
"However he was known to be one of the leaders of the Hawkhurst Gang. Gray was tried for his offences at the Old Bailey and found guilty. He was executed at Tyburn, in London on 11 May 1748 and then gibbeted at Stamford Hill. Gray’s body was hung on a double gibbet that had been used before. He was gibbeted next to the body of a murderer. Gray remained in the gibbet until 1752 when his body was finally cut down. Arthur Gray (Hawkhurst Gang) Arthur Gray (1713-1748) was one of the leaders of the notorious Hawkhurst Gang that operated,"
"Going up to the gallows he saw a man who had been arrested as a result of Simms' fictitious assassination plot, and asked his forgiveness. As they were about to be hanged, he joined hands with Mary Allen. Henry Simms Henry Simms (c. 1717 – 17 June 1747), known as Young Gentlemen Harry, was a thief and highwayman in 18th-century England who was transported to Maryland for theft, but escaped and returned to England, where he was eventually executed for highway robbery. Simms was born around 1717, in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and was orphaned at a young age. He was"
"John Austin (highwayman) John Austin (died 7 November 1783) was an English footpad who became the last person to be hanged at the Tyburn gallows outside London. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a labourer called John Spicer from Kent. The Recorder of London, James Adair, described it as a ""robbery with violence"" that involved ""cutting and wounding [...] in a cruel manner."" This hanging would mark the end of Tyburn, a village then in the county of Middlesex, being a place of executions for almost 600 years. Austin was brought from Newgate prison in the City"
"Tyburn through the City and was there hanged and let down again. His head was smitten off and his body quartered and sent to four towns and his head set on London Bridge."" Philip Scudamore and Rhys ap Tudur were also beheaded and their heads displayed at Shrewsbury and Chester (no doubt to discourage any further thoughts of rebellion). In 1412, Owain captured, and later ransomed, a leading Welsh supporter of King Henry's, Dafydd Gam (""Crooked David""), in an ambush in Brecon. These were the last flashes of the revolt. This was the last time that Owain was seen alive"
"place for execution of London criminals and convicted traitors, including many religious martyrs. It was also known as 'God's Tribunal', in the 18th century. The village was one of two manors of the parish of Marylebone, which was itself named after the stream, ""St Marylebone"" being a contraction of ""St Mary's church by the bourne"". Tyburn was recorded in the Domesday Book and stood approximately at the west end of what is now Oxford Street at the junction of two Roman roads. The predecessors of Oxford Street (called Tyburn Road in the mid 1700s) and Edgware Road were roads leading"
"to death. He was hanged at Tyburn on 29 August 1783, and buried at St Dunstan's Church in Feltham Middlesex. According to Walford, "" It is worthy of record that the last criminal executed here was one Ryland, who was hung for forgery in 1783; after which the gallows were taken down about London in order to concentrate the executions at Newgate and Horsemonger Lane"". The poet William Blake prophesied 12 years earlier that Ryland would be hung. This prophecy was made when Blake was sent to be apprenticed to Ryland, however, he refused, saying ""I do not like the"