Dick Turpin - Highwaymen and Highway Robbery Dick Turpin "The Spurious Highwayman" Dick Turpin is probably the most famous highwayman of all. Mention the name to most people, and they will tell you he was a daring and dashing highwayman who famously rode from London to York on his faithful mare, Black Bess, in less than 24 hours. However, the popular Turpin legend contains not a grain of truth. In reality, Turpin's fictitious great ride was made by 17th-century highwayman John 'Swift Nick' Nevison , who early one morning in 1676 robbed a homeward-bound sailor on the road outside Gads Hill, Kent. Deciding he needed to establish an alibi, Nevison set off on a ride that took him more than 190 miles in about 15 hours. In addition, it was only at the very end of his life, while waiting to be hanged at York racecourse, that Turpin exhibited any of the swaggering nonchalance, heroism, or derring-do usually attributed to him.

Prior to that, both his existence and his criminal ventures had been squalid, to say the least.ï¿½ The Essex Gang Dick Turpin was born in 1706 in rural Essex, the son of John Turpin, a small farmer and some-time keeper of the Crown Inn. Some biographers say he was born in Thackstead, others name Hempstead. Young Dick probably served an apprenticeship with a butcher in Whitechapel- in those days, a village on the fringes of the capital. During his apprenticeship he "conducted himself in a loose and disorderly manner." When his apprenticeship was over, he opened a butcher shop, and began to steal sheep, lamb and cattle. Caught in the act of stealing two oxen, he fled into the depths of the Essex countryside to save himself. After resurfacing, he tried his hand at smuggling, but proved as inept at this venture as he had at cattle rustling. Before long customs agents compelled Turpin and his gang to lay low. Many people think of Dick Turpin as a lone highwayman, however for the majority of his criminal career he was a member of the Essex Gang (also known as the Gregory Gang).

Members of Turpin's gang are known to have included: Thomas Barnfield, Mary Brazier, John Fielder, Jasper Gregory, Jeremy Gregory, Samual Gregory, Herbert Haines, John Jones, James Parkinson, Joseph Rose, Thomas Rowden, Ned Rust, William Saunders, Richard Turpin, Humphry Walker, and John Wheeler. There may have been other members who were either not identified or who were only occasional associates of the Gang.ï¿½ Turpin and his gang invaded isolated farmhouses, terrorizing and torturing the female occupants into giving up their valuables. A typical attack took place at Loughton, in Essex, where Turpin heard of an old widow woman rumoured to keep at least ï¿½700 in the house. When the woman gamely resisted all of Turpin's efforts to discover the money's hiding place, he hoisted her into the open fire until she gave up her treasure. Robbing remote farmhouses was the Gang's speciality, and it was only towards the end of his criminal career that Turpin was actually involved in highway robbery. Flushed with success-and money-Turpin and his mates proceeded to rob their way around the Home Counties, frequently employing torture as a weapon of persuasion.

By 1735, the London Evening Post regularly reported the exploits of Turpin and 'The Essex Gang' and the King had offered a reward of ï¿½50 for their capture. Eventually, local constables captured two of the gang, Turpin himself narrowly missing capture by bursting out a window.ï¿½ Epping Forest Turpin headed back into the familiar East Anglian countryside and lived rough for some time., until he began working with 'Captain' Tom King, one of the best-known highwaymen of the day and the kind of swashbuckling, devil-may-care character into which legend would later transform Turpin. From a cave in Epping Forest from which they could watch the road without being seen, they robbed virtually anyone who passed their hiding place. Even local peddlers started to carry weapons for protection. By 1737, Turpin had achieved such notoriety that another bounty of ï¿½100 was placed on his head- a reward that unwittingly transformed him from a common footpad into a murderer.

On 4th May, 1737, a gamekeeper named Morris tracked Turpin to Epping Forest, but when he challenged him at gunpoint, Turpin drew his own gun and shot Morris dead. The fugitive's next exploit was nothing less than bizarre. One night, while on the road to London, he took a fancy to a particularly fine horse ridden by a man called Major and forced him to exchange it for his own jaded mount. Mr. Major didn't take the loss lying down. He issued handbills around the pubs of London, describing the horse and naming Turpin as the thief. The horse was traced to the Red Lion pub in Whitechapel, where Turpin had stabled it. When Tom King came to collect the horse, he was arrested. Turpin, who had been waiting nearby, rode toward the constables holding King and fired at them. Unfortunately, he was a dreadful shot, and the bullets hit King rather than his captors.ï¿½ The End of the Road Before he died, King provided the constables with sufficient information to force Turpin to again live rough in Epping Forest.

Realizing that he could not long escape capture if he remained in the London area, Turpin set off for Yorkshire., where he settled under the name of John Palmer, financing his fancy lifestyle with frequent excursions into Lincolnshire for more horse and cattle rustling and the occasional highway robbery. One day, returning from an unsuccessful hunt he shot his landlord's rooster. When the landlord complained he threatened to kill the landlord as well. He was taken into custody while local authorities made enquiries as to how exactly 'Mr. Palmer' made his money, and inevitably the constables learned of several outstanding complaints made against 'John Palmer' for sheep and horse stealing in Lincolnshire. Turpin waited in the dungeons of York Castle while these charges were investigated, but even then things might not have gone too badly for him if he hadn't written a letter to his brother, requesting him to 'procure an evidence from London that could give me a character that would go a great way towards my being acquitted.'ï¿½ Unfortunately for Turpin, his brother was too mean to pay the sixpence postage due and so returned the letter to the Post Office. There, by a great coincidence, Turpin's former schoolmaster, Mr.

Smith, saw it and recognized the handwriting. He took the letter to the local magistrate and, with his permission, opened it. Despite the fact that it was signed John Palmer, Smith identified the writer as Turpin. Smith was subsequently dispatched to York to make positive identification; which he did.ï¿½ Convicted on two indictments, Turpin was sentenced to death. Pleas from his father to have the sentence commuted to transportation fell on deaf ears. Between his sentence and execution, visitors frequented Turpin's cell. He bought new clothes and shoes and hired five mourners for 10 shillings each. On 7th April, 1739, Dick Turpin rode through the streets of York in an open cart, bowing to the gawking crowds. At York racecourse he climbed the ladder to the gibbet and then sat for half an hour chatting to the guards and the executioner.

An account in the York Courant of Turpin's execution, notes his brashness even at the end, "with undaunted courage looked about him, and after speaking a few words to the topsman, he threw himself off the ladder and expired in about five minutes." Thus in death at least, Turpin attained some of the gallantry that had eluded him in life. "Rookwood": The Birth of a Legend The spurious legend of Dick Turpin was established in 1739 with the book Life of Richard Turpin, and sealed with the novel Rookwood (1834) by Harrison Ainsworth in which the highwayman 'Dauntless Dick Turpin' with his horse Black Bess is a secondary character. Ainsworth's description of an epic ride from Westminster to York caught the popular imagination and turned a fairly average pot-boiler into a runaway best-seller. During the next 50 years, replays of the Turpin story, as told by Ainsworth, appeared in magazines, cheap novels, and ballads, not just in Great Britain but around the world.

History, romance, and legend rapidly blurred and, eventually, the fictional ride of Ainsworth's Turpin totally eclipsed the villain's real exploits. The metamorphosis of Dick Turpin, house-breaker, torturer, murderer, horse-stealer and all-round real nasty piece of work into Dick Turpin, Highwayman and Knight of the Road was complete. Dick Turpin the Infamous Highway Robber : Biography Source Dick Turpin riding on Black Bess, from a Victorian era toy theatre. Legend has it that Turpin's father was acquainted with smugglers who worked off the coast of East Anglia, as times were hard and the price of ale had been rising. Although ales purchased from the smugglers may have been cheaper, their trade was illegal. Thus Dick Turpin may well have been introduced to criminal activities from an early age. When he was sixteen, Turpin moved south, and was apprenticed to a butcher in the Whitechapel district of London ï¿½ in those days, only a village on the outskirts of the capital.

It was said that during his apprenticeship, he "conducted himself in a loose and disorderly manner." Some have argued that perhaps he was simply in the wrong career, or others that he was simply lazy. Turpin married his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Millington in 1728 (at the age of 21, by other accounts), and after he finished his apprenticeship they moved north to Buckhurst Hill, Essex (on the modern boundary of Northern London). There Turpin opened his own butcher's shop. Beginning of criminal activities Comment "it is very useful for our topic on the highwaymen" Rather than rely on legitimate suppliers for his stock-in-trade, Turpin turned to stealing the sheep, lamb and cattle, which was so serious a criminal offence it was punishable by death. Scholars and historians are divided as to what caused Turpin to engage in crime in the first place. Some claim it was out of financial necessity; whilst others believe, through studying Turpin's later actions, that his notorious deeds were done through a sense of thrill-seeking. Others believe he was simply too greedy to pay for legitimate stock, and/or too lazy to earn an honest living, and thus a simple brigand.

The life of a fugitive Turpin was caught stealing two oxen, and was forced to flee the area and leave his wife and business behind. With customs officers in hot pursuit, Turpin had the common sense not to stay in a tavern or inn, where he could have been found easily. Turpin fled into the depths of the Essex countryside and lived rough and wild. For a time he lived in caves along the coast of East Anglia, and supported himself by robbing the smugglers who operated there ï¿½ perhaps the same characters he had met earlier in life. Eventually he moved on again, this time hiding in Epping Forest (which was larger and far more verdant than it is today, and often used by royalty to hunt deer). In with the Gregory Gang Turpin fell in with the Gregory Gang (also known as the Essex gang). They were a group of around twenty bandits, who operated from secret hideouts in Epping Forest. The Gregory Gang were notorious around Essex and London. They bravely, or perhaps foolishly, stole and killed royal game which had been set aside by the gamekeepers for the King's own hunts (see poaching).

If caught doing this, they would surely face the gallows, or maybe even face the Hanging, drawing and quartering method of execution. This is because it was considered high treason, as poaching the King's own deer was considered as bad as stealing the Crown Jewels. The three ringleaders of the Gregory Gang were brothers after whom the gang was named: Samuel, Jasper and Jeremy Gregory. The other gang members include Thomas Hadfield, Thomas Barnfield, Thomas Rowden, Mary Brazier, John Fielder, Herbert Haines, John Jones, James Parkinson, Joseph Rose, Ned Rust, William Saunders, Humphry Walker, and John Wheeler. There may have been other members who were either not identified or who were only occasional associates of the Gang. The gang was not limited to mere poaching. They attempted an armed robbery at a gentleman's house at Woodford, Essex, but the inhabitants of the village drove the rogues off without their being able to accomplish anything. The gang appeared unfazed by this.

In March 1735, Turpin, along with the Gregory brothers attacked the Earl of Suffolk's servant in Epping Forest and took from him his horse valued at ï¿½80 (this in a time where horses were a more valued commodity than gold). A few weeks later, Sir Caesar Child was attacked in the Forest by the gang who fired at the coachman without bidding him to stand, and shot off the tip of his nose. They robbed him of ï¿½25. Allegedly, all these acts were orchestrated by Turpin, although this is not confirmed. It is certain that Turpin learned a lot from the gang. As Turpin joined them, the Gregory Gang were entering a particularly violent phase of their criminal career. They had begun to specialise in forced entry into (usually isolated) houses around the Home Counties, and terrorising the occupants to make them reveal the whereabouts of hidden valuables. By 1735, the London Evening Post regularly reported the exploits of Turpin and 'The Essex Gang' and the King had offered a reward of ï¿½50 for their capture.

The Loughton incident During a soccer match between Scottish clubs Motherwell and Kilmarnock on 25th August 2007, Kilmarnock's Rhian Dodds scored a winning goal in the 90th minute. The stadium announcer, believing the win to be undeserved, credited the goal to 'Dick Turpin' On 8 February 1735 Read's Weekly Journal reported one such attack: 'On Saturday night last, about seven o'clock, five rogues entered the house of Widow Shelley at Loughton in Essex, having pistols. And threatened to murder the old lady, if she would not tell them where her money lay, which she obstinately refusing for some time, they threatened to lay her across the fire, if she did not instantly tell them, which she would not do. But her son being in the room, and threatened to be murdered, cried out, he would tell them, if they would not murder his mother, and did, whereupon they went upstairs, and took near ï¿½100, a silver tankard, and other plate, and all manner of household goods.

They afterwards went into the cellar and drank several bottles of ale and wine, and broiled some meat, ate the relicts of a filet of veal. While they were doing this, two of their gang went to Mr Turkles, a farmer, who rents one end of the widow's house, and robbed him of above ï¿½20, and then they all went off, taking two of the farmer's horses, to carry off their luggage, the horses were found on Sunday the following morning in Old Street, and stayed about three hours in the house.' This particular raid took place on 1 February 1735 and widow Shelly's house was in Traps Hill, Loughton. It was reported the gang had made away with ï¿½700, a huge amount of money in those days. It is the best surviving account of the Gregory Gang's activities. The Loughton Incident was also their last ever criminal activity as a gang. Although the newspaper report does not specifically mention Turpin, it seems highly likely that he was a member of the gang on this occasion.

Turpin often carried out his robberies in the company of a man named Thomas Rowden (formerly a metal-worker, now outlawed) and a report at the time states that Rowden was involved in the robbery at Loughton. A more recent author has written that the crime was conceived, planned and scouted by Turpin but no evidence is given for this. Turpin's joining the gang would prove a bad omen for them. Shortly after the Loughton incident, constables worked hard to track them down, and did so not long after. The Gregory Gang were tracked down and surprised by police officers whilst the criminals were living up the good life with their spoils in a tavern in Westminster. Turpin managed to escape by jumping out of a window, but the three ringleaders of the gang were not so lucky ï¿½ they were caught and hanged at the gallows as common thieves. Thomas Hadfield, one of Turpin's closest friends within the gang, escaped with Turpin through the tavern window, but refused to continue with criminal activity. The other gang members rapidly dispersed also, and didn't bother to regroup in the forest. They had either had enough, or were too scared of the hangman.

This was the end of the Gregory Gang. The birth of Dick Turpin the highwayman Upon the breakup of the Gregory Gang, and the capture and execution of others, the only gang members left still indulging in criminal behaviour were Turpin himself and the raucous Thomas Rowden. The duo changed their tactics from robbing isolated farmhouses to robbing stagecoaches passing through Epping Forest, which they found to be considerably easier for two men instead of a gang. At last, Turpin had become what he was destined to become ï¿½ a highwayman. Soon they had carried out hundreds of highway robberies on the outskirts of London, and Turpin got lots of experience of this type of crime. Turpin, being organised, cunning and cautious, was soon operating by himself. The ultimate fate of Thomas Rowden is unknown, although it is believed that his lack of subtlety and discretion led him to get caught and subsequently hanged, but not before he put a curse on his name stating that any child named Thomas within his family would subsequently die.

Partnership with Tom King Later Turpin went into partnership with Tom King, "the Gentleman Highwayman", who at that time was just as famous as Turpin himself, although a less well known highwayman than Turpin today. "Captain King", as he was sometimes called, was said to have had better manners, and was said to be more dashing than Turpin, and being flattering to his victims was a deliberate tactic of his. King was the kind of swashbuckling, devil-may-care character into which legend would later transform Turpin. Turpin and King met on the road one night when the former attempted to rob the latter. King responded with the words: "What is this; dog eat dog?" The two joined forces and it proved to be a highly successful partnership (unlike Turpin's previous short-lived partnership with Thomas Rowden). The pair established a hide-out at the remains of an Iron Age fort, now known as Loughton Camp. From one particular cave in Epping Forest, they could watch a road without being seen, and robbed virtually anyone who passed along it. Even local peddlers started to carry weapons for protection.

By late 1737, Turpin had achieved such notoriety that another bounty of ï¿½100 was placed on his head - a reward which was to transform him from a common footpad into a murderer. Turpin becomes a murderer Numerous acts of murder are attributed to Dick Turpin, although it is not clear which ones were actually committed by him and which weren't, due to centuries of embellishment. There is of course no doubt he did commit murder, but the questions are; how many times did he commit murder; who were his victims; and where did Turpin's murders take place? Historians have debated these questions for centuries. Turpin's first kill was probably a man named Thomas Morris, whom he killed on 4 May 1735. Morris was a servant of Henry Thomson, one of the keepers of Epping Forest, and during a routine walkabout of the forest Morris accidentally came across Turpin at Fairmead Bottom, near Loughton. Morris tried to apprehend him (there was a big reward for Turpin's capture at the time) but was immediately shot by Turpin.

Once again Turpin took to his heels, only this time with a far greater crime on his hands than theft. Despite the high risk of capture, Turpin visited his estranged wife who was now living in Hertford, possibly suspecting (accurately, as it turned out) that he would never see her again. Turpin was indeed nearly caught and only very narrowly avoided capture at this point. Black Bess Turpin's next exploit was nothing less than bizarre. One night, while on the road to London (on the way to meet with King), he took a fancy to a particularly fine and splendid black horse ridden by a man called Major and forced him to exchange it for his own jaded mount. Mr. Major didn't really have a choice, as he had a musket pointed at him. Turpin named his new pride 'Black Bess'. Mr. Major didn't take the loss lying down. His horse was a rare thoroughbred and one of the finest, quickest and most magnificent beasts in all the land. Dick Turpin had now a very fine horse and a determined enemy. The death of the "gentleman highwayman" A furious Mr.

Major issued handbills around the pubs of London, describing his magnificent black steed and naming Turpin as the thief. The horse was traced to the Red Lion pub in Whitechapel, where Turpin had stabled it. When Tom King came to collect the horse for his companion, he was recognised and arrested. Turpin, who had been waiting nearby, rode toward the constables holding King and fired at them. King broke free, and he joined his friend. By all accounts the ensuing gun fight was hellish and chaotic. At one point, it appeared as though the pair of highwaymen were winning the gunfight against the constables. However, ironically, in a heated moment of extreme panic and confusion, Turpin shot King ï¿½ not realising it was him. Shocked at what he had done, and believing his companion dead, Turpin fled the scene on Black Bess. It is known that King, as he lay dying from his gunshot wound, informed the surviving constables of the locations of his hideouts in Epping forest.

Exactly why he did we will never know, and so this is open to interpretation ï¿½ perhaps he was not in control of what he was saying due to his mortal injury, or perhaps he was deliberately trying to trap Turpin so that he would get caught in revenge for inflicting his injury. Luckily for Turpin, he was wise, intelligent and savvy enough not to return to the Epping forest hideouts, where constables were in wait. Turpin's highwayman days were over. The legendary ride to York Dick Turpin is probably the most legendary highwayman of all time, and his rapid flight from London to York is perhaps the most famous part of this legend. Mention the name of Turpin to most people, and they will tell you he was a daring and dashing rogue who famously rode this trip of two hundred miles on his faithful mare, Black Bess, in less than fifteen hours. In so doing, Turpin actually got to York before news of his misdemeanours in London. Tests on horses that specialise in endurance events have shown that this would have been totally impossible.

Various inns that still stand along the A1 (at the time called the Great North Road, the main road connecting the north of England to the south), such as the Roebuck Inn, Stevenage, claim that Turpin ate his lunch there that night, or stopped off there for a brief respite for his horse. If he had really stopped at every inn that claims this then he wouldn't have had time to ride anywhere. Harrison Ainsworth, in his famous 1834 romance Rookwood, immortalised this with a spirited account of this wonderful ride by Dick Turpin on his mare, and it is in this connection that Turpin's name has been generally remembered. However, historians have frequently argued that Turpin never actually made this speedy journey, and that, as far as Turpin is concerned, the incident is pure fiction.

They argue that such a ride was really made by John Nevison, known as "Swift Nick", born and raised at Wortley village near Sheffield and a well-known highwayman in the time of Charles II some 50 years before Turpin, who to establish an alibi rode from Gad's Hill (near Rochester, Kent) to York (some 190 miles) in about 15 hours. A popular TV series, Dick Turpin, starred Richard O'Sullivan as a fictionalised Turpin and Michael Deeks as his sidekick Swiftnick despite the large variation in time. Besides, it is well known that Turpin first rode into Lincolnshire following the Whitechapel skirmish, and that he then subsequently moved over the Humber into the Yorkshire town of Brough near Hull, before eventually making his first visit to York. Life as 'John Palmer' Turpin took up a new life in the North of England, setting up bases in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, where he would be largely, or indeed wholly, unknown.

He bought a large set of barns and stables just outside Corby with his ill-gotten gains and ï¿½ going under the assumed identity 'John Palmer' ï¿½ posed as a large-scale yet legitimate horse dealer. Outwardly, he was a wealthy and respectable member of the community. Turpin didn't know anything about horse breeding, or selling on the horse market. Accordingly, Turpin was resolved once again to theft. Little did his customers know that the horses he was selling were actually stolen from other horse owners in the two very counties he was operating in (mostly acquired during raiding incursions into Lincolnshire, as he was residing in Yorkshire). In some cases, Turpin would steal the horses from farms or enclosures or stables, wait a few months, and then sell them back onto the victim without their knowing. A risky business, but Turpin got away with it for a while, and made a small fortune too.

Final capture At some point in early 1739, 'Palmer' returned from a hunt to his lodgings in the Green Dragon Inn, at Welton, a small Yorkshire village, near Brough, 12 miles (20 km) from Hull, about 37 miles (60 km) from York. He was frustrated due to the fact he was empty-handed, and probably drunk. He was bound over to keep the peace after he took the fancy to shoot his landlord's gamecock in the street and then threatened to shoot a bystander who took exception to the act. 'Palmer' had no money on his person and accordingly was unable to provide sureties so that he would be released, and was committed to the House of Correction. As he was taken into custody, local authorities made enquiries as to how exactly 'Mr. Palmer' made his money, and inevitably the constables learned of several outstanding complaints made against 'John Palmer' for sheep and horse stealing in Lincolnshire. Turpin was transferred to the dungeons of York's Debtors' Prison (now part of the York Castle Museum).

From his cell, Turpin wrote to the sibling of his estranged wife (his brother-in-law) who still resided at Hempstead in Essex, Turpin's real birthplace. The letter was a plea for help; requesting his brother-in-law to 'procure an evidence from London that could give me a character that would go a great way towards my being acquitted' i.e. provide him with an alibi. The plan might have worked, but it backfired. In those days, postage was payable by the recipient of a letter, not the poster. Turpin's brother-in-law refused to pay the sixpence postage demanded, for what (he reckoned) was probably the 18th century equivalent of spam junk mail, and as such the letter was not delivered to him. This unpaid sixpence would prove the price of Turpin's life. The unread letter then naturally fell into the hands of John Smith, as the village postmaster (Smith was also the village schoolmaster, who had taught Turpin to read and write). Smith recognised the handwriting of his former pupil immediately and travelled to York to consult with the magistrate and identify Palmer as Turpin.

Smith, his former friend and mentor, collected a ï¿½200 reward for identifying the notorious highwayman to the authorities. Execution and burial Ironically, Turpin was never convicted of being a highwayman or a murderer. He was convicted of being a horse-rustler, something which we may today consider far less serious. However, unfortunately for Turpin, in those days horse-rustling was considered a crime so serious it was punishable by death. On 22 March 1739, 'John Palmer alias Richard Turpin' was convicted at the Grand Jury House in York of two indictments of horse-rustling. Pleas from his father to have the sentence commuted to transportation fell on deaf ears. His father had been cleared a few days earlier at the Essex assizes of horse-stealing, one of Turpin's stolen horses having been found at his alehouse. Between his sentence and execution, visitors frequented Turpin's cell as though he were something of a celebrity. He was resolved to meet his death with dignity and calm. He spent the last of his money, in which he bought new clothes and shoes and hired five mourners for 10 shillings each.

On 7 April 1739, Dick Turpin rode through the streets of York in an open cart, being theatrical and bowing to the gawking crowds. At York Knavesmire (now the racecourse) he climbed the ladder to the gibbet and then sat for half an hour addressing the crowd in the manner of an entertainer, chatting to the guards and the executioner. Ironically, the hangman was Thomas Hadfield, once Turpin's friend and a former Gregory Gang member (he had been pardoned because he had agreed to be the hangman). An account in the York Courant 7 April 1739 of Turpin's execution, notes his brashness even at the end, "with undaunted courage looked about him, and after speaking a few words to the topsman, he threw himself off the ladder and expired in about five minutes." Thus in death at least, Turpin attained some of the gallantry that had eluded him in life. And so, despite the fame of his hanging, Turpin's death was technically a suicide. He was said to have been buried in the churchyard of St George's Church, York.

However, a short time after the burial his body was dug up and stolen by body-snatchers working for anatomists, but it appears to have been subsequently recovered and reburied in the same place, this time with the addition of quicklime to destroy the remains rapidly. A headstone in the churchyard commemorates him, but is not at the precise location, which remains undiscovered. In popular culture Turpin appears in Harrison Ainsworth's romantic novel Rookwood, published in 1834. It describes Turpin making the ride to York. Historians argue that such a ride was really made by John Nevison, known as "Swift Nick" some 50 years before Turpin. In 1964, Walt Disney made a Technicolor feature film in England entitled "The Legend of Young Dick Turpin", starring David Weston as Dick Turpin and William Franklyn as Tom King, with Bernard Lee as the leader of a den of thieves and Maurice Denham as a stable owner who betrays Turpin to the authorities.

The film, made to be shown on the Disney programme on US television, but given cinema release in Europe during 1965, was a fast-paced and entertaining interpretation of the legend and bore little resemblance to the actual historical facts. Ron Grainer; Norman Newell and Robert Westerby wrote a theme song for it entitled "The Ballad of Dick Turpin", sung over the opening and end titles by Val Doonican and the lyrics of which explained the legend rather than the facts of the Turpin story. In this version of the tale, Turpin is a young farmer in Essex who falls foul of the local squire (played by Roger Booth), who, because Turpin is unable to pay a heavy fine unjustly imposed on him, seizes Turpin's farm and land and horse (Black Bess), causing Turpin to steal back his horse and go on the run as an outlaw with a price on his head, eventually meeting up with Tom King and becoming a highwayman.

At the end of the film, having been helped to escape from Newgate Prison in London by two friends (played by George Cole and a young Leonard Whiting) who have also arranged for him a passage to America on a ship, Turpin narrowly misses his rendevouz with the ship, which sails without him and, with the law hot on his heels, he sets out on his famous ride to York on Black Bess. British cinema audiences got to see this film before the Americans, as it wasn't shown on US television until February, 1966. A popular 1970s British children's television series, Dick Turpin, starred Richard O'Sullivan as a fictionalised Turpin and Michael Deeks as his sidekick Swiftnick. The show was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network (It is also noted for a memorable error in one scene where Turpin is riding his horse down a lane only for telegraph poles and wires to be clearly visible in the background) The story of Turpin is the basis of the 1974 Carry On film Carry On Dick.

The role of Turpin was played by Sid James with other roles played by Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques, Peter Butterworth, Kenneth Williams and Bernard Bresslaw. It was one of the last Carry On films and with the exception of Williams was the last to feature any of those listed stars. In this version, Turpin hides behind the alter-ego of a church rector, giving it a connection to another churchman-outlaw Doctor Syn. In Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's comedy novel, Good Omens, one of the characters names his car "Dick Turpin" because, he says, "wherever I go, I hold up traffic". The story is told in the English ballad turned folk-song "Turpin Hero", most recently recorded by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists on the album Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins. Another folk-ballad on Turpin was written by Woody Guthrie, entitled "Unwelcome Guest", which depicts him in the vein of Robin Hood. It was recorded by Billy Bragg and Wilco on the album Mermaid Avenue. In the video game Armed and Dangerous there is a village called Dick Turpin village.

Turpin is mentioned in the folk song "What I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee", as popularised by the band, Trout Fishing in America. In the book Swan Song, by Brian Stableford (part of the Hooded Swan series of books) the character Sam Parks was nicknamed Turpin because he'd always had a desire to be a space pirate. Over the course of the book they make a few other references to the story of Dick Turpin. Dick Turpin | English criminal | Britannica.com English criminal Alternative Titles: John Palmer, Richard Turpin Dick Turpin Claude Duval Dick Turpin, byname of Richard Turpin (baptized Sept. 25, 1705, Hempstead, Eng.—died April 7, 1739, Knavesmire, near York ), English robber who became celebrated in legend and fiction. Son of an alehouse keeper, Turpin was apprenticed to a butcher, but, having been detected at cattle stealing, he joined a notorious gang of deer stealers and smugglers in Essex.

When the gang was broken up, Turpin in 1735 went into partnership with Tom King, a well-known highwayman, whom he accidentally killed while firing at a constable (or, by some accounts, an innkeeper). To avoid arrest he finally left Essex for Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, where he set up under an assumed name (John Palmer) as a horse dealer. He was finally convicted at York assizes of horse stealing and hanged in 1739. Harrison Ainsworth, in his romance Rookwood (1834), gave a spirited account of a ride by Dick Turpin on his mare, Black Bess, from London to York, but the incident is pure fiction. Learn More in these related articles: Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.

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Close Date Published: July 20, 1998 URL: Access Date: January 20, 2017 Share Dick Turpin's Famous Ride from London to York Dick Turpin's Famous Ride from London to York in 1735 Dick Turpin is probably the most legendary highwayman of all time, and his rapid flight from London to York is the most famous part of this legend. Mention the name of Turpin to most people, and they will tell you he was a daring and dashing rogue who famously rode this trip of two hundred miles on his faithful mare, Black Bess, in less than fifteen hours. In so doing, Turpin actually got to York before news of his misdemeanours in London. Tests on horses that specialise in endurance events have shown that this would not have been possible. Various inns that still stand along the original route of the A1 (at the time called the Great North Road, the main road connecting the north of England to the south), such as the Roebuck Inn, Stevenage, claim that Turpin ate his lunch there that night, or stopped off there for a brief respite for his horse.

If he had really stopped at every inn that makes such claims then he wouldn't have had time to ride anywhere. (From Wikipedia .) Yet the legend persists, as the following stories show. Dick Turpin and Osbaldestone - the New York Times, 15 January 1893 Foremost among English feats of horsemanship we have one which for generations has been represented in the circus ring. Dick Turpin's famous ride from London York has taken its place among nursery legends; nevertheless, it was actually performed, and stands as a record of its kind. The highwayman, riding with the very best reason in the world - the safety of his neck - covered the distance of 200 miles in a little under twelve hours. This performance stands alone as the longest and fastest journey ever made on the same horse. Most of the long rides of which record exists have been made for wagers; such records are therefore reliable. Squire Osbaldestone's undertaking to ride 200 miles in ten hours, which he accomplished so successfully on the 5th of November, 1831, is one of the most remarkable feats of endurance in the saddle, and has the merit of freedom from cruelty.

The Squire rode his race on the Newmarket race course, changing his horse every fourth mile. Four miles is a safe limit for such a purpose, as that splendid horseman knew. Three-mile laps could have been covered in time relatively a little better, but a sound horse in fair training could do his four miles without distress in such time as to make that distance, with the consequent reduction in the number of changes, the most suitable for the purpose. Mr. Osbaldestone used sixteen horses for his task, and rode standing in his stirrups like a jockey, while he kept his mount at best speed from start to finish of its four-mile heat, having quite a "set-to" with his pacemaker at the end of each. The Squire was a hard man, and in good training, so suffered no bad effects from his exertions. The New York Times, 18 September 1910 A reader writes, "A Western friend of mine tells me that cowboys have been known to ride as far as 300 miles on a single horse in twenty-four hours. Now, it strikes me that that would be "some runnin'." Even Dick Turpin didn't come up to this mark.

Have we any records to substantiate the claims of my Western friend?" The Times is not in possession of any records to prove the greatest distance covered by a horseman on the same horse in twenty-four hours, but from time to time reports have come from the wide West telling of fabulous rides made by cowboys. How much truth may be in them cannot be said. One cowboy is said to have covered a distance of 200 miles on a pinto in twenty-four hours, but we have no proof that this is true, and the fact remains that it would seem to be rather beyond the endurance of even a "Black Bess" such as the notorious Turpin bestrode. Turpin, we are told, rode his famous mare to York, 150 miles, in a single day, and it is a source of no little satisfaction to know that the notorious English criminal was properly hanged for his deeds. He should have been hanged for the ride on "Black Bess," if for no other reason. The ride is not mentioned in the Newgate [prison] records, and the story in its original form is attributed to Maginn, although it is graphically described in Ainsworth's "Rookwood.

" Dick Turpin, Criminal • Biography & Facts Dick Turpin Criminal Richard "Dick" Turpin (bap. 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 profession as a butcher early in 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 200-mile (320 km) 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 Turpin's death.Turpin's involvement in the crime for which he is most closely associated—highway robbery—followed the arrest of the other members of his gang in 1735. He then disappeared from public view towards the end of that year, only to resurface in 1737 with two new accomplices, one of whom he may have accidentally shot and killed.

Turpin fled from the scene and shortly afterwards killed a man who attempted his capture. Later that year, he moved to Yorkshire and assumed the alias of John Palmer . While he was staying at an inn, local magistrates became suspicious of "Palmer" and 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 18th and 19th centuries and in film and television of the 20th century. BBC Inside Out - Highwaymen East Midlands: Week commencing Monday July 7, 2003 HIGHWAYMEN OF THE PEAK The Peak District was a hunting ground for highwaymen Stand and deliver!

Inside Out goes time travelling and uncovers how there were rich pickings in the East Midlands for highwaymen during the 16th and 17th centuries. Back in the 16th and 17th centuries travellers really did take their lives into their own hands trying to navigate the perilous Derbyshire Peak. Highwaymen ruled the highways, maps weren't available until 1760, and sign posts simply didn't exist. The chances of getting lost on the moors, especially during the winter months, or getting held up by a masked horseman were an all too common story. Inside Out goes time travelling - fasten your seat belts, be prepared for a bumpy ride! The wild wild Peak Derbyshire Historian Howard Smith has researched the perils of travelling on England's highways. Travellers faced a wide range of perils "The biggest dangers facing travellers on the peak was 250 years ago. Derbyshire was like the wild west. Travellers feared moving around this county like no other." Stone markers were a real turning point in navigating the Derbyshire Peak. They offered guidance and reassurance for thousands of lost and lonely travellers.

Although most travellers were illiterate, they would be able to figure out local place names, although deciphering local dialect would be another challenge entirely. The Derbyshire market town of Alfreton is a good example of the problem travellers faced. Alfreton appears on numerous stops in many different ways, variously appearing as Offerton, Allforton and Alfarton. Stand and deliver For most travellers their biggest fear was encountering a highwayman. The word 'highwayman' came into the English language in 1617 although examples of highway robbers date back to medieval and Elizabethan times. Highwaymen were common on the Peak's roads The very name of highwayman conjures up a romantic image of a bygone age where men like Dick Turpin held up stage coaches and robbed their rich passengers. The origins of modern highwaymen have their roots in the English Civil War. The execution of Charles I in 1649 left the many Royalist officers without the means of supporting themselves. These men with no trade nor skill other than soldiering were forced to take to the road - they robbed to survive. Your money or your life? A prime target for highwaymen was the road which linked Derby and Chesterfield where there were rich pickings.

Local writer Peter Elliott has researched the crimes that took place against the travellers along this ancient highway. "The stretch of road was such a hot spot for highwaymen. It gave them time to size up their victims in Derby and then ride out and wait." Highwaymen had an average life expectancy of 28, most died by hanging and then their bodies were hung in gibbets at crossroads as a warning to law breakers. Dick Turpin Dick Turpin is perhaps the most famous of highwaymen conjuring up images of a dashing and daring criminal. The truth is rather less impressive. Turpin's famous ride from London to York in less than 24 hours on his horse Black Bess is likely to have been a myth. Dick Turpin was here - the highwayman was later immortalised in the popular novel Rookwood by Harrison Ainsworth Early in his career Turpin's main speciality was robbing remote farmhouses with his gang. It was only later in his life that he turned to highway robbery. By 1737 Turpin had achieved such notoriety that a bounty of £100 was placed on his head. To escape capture, he relocated to Yorkshire, settling under the name of John Palmer.

He financed his flamboyant lifestyle with forays into the Lincolnshire countryside for horse, sheep and cattle stealing and highway robberies. Eventually the law caught up with Turpin, and he was incarcerated in York Castle dungeons under sentence of death. He was executed at York Racecourse in 1739 after being paraded around the streets of York in an open cart. Daylight robbery The old Great North Road which ran between Newark, East Retford and Tuxford was a happy hunting ground for robbers stealing from wealthy travellers. FAMOUS HIGHWAYMEN Dick Turpin - born 1706 and trained as a butcher. Tried smuggling and then joined the Essex Gang who invaded isolated farmhouses. Turned to highway robbery late in his career. John Nevison - born 1648. This flamboyant highwayman never used violence. James MacLaine - A respectable gentlemen by day and a highwayman by night. His accomplice was William Plunkett. Hanged at Tyburn in 1750. Claude Duval - renowned as a courteous rogue. Born in France in 1643. Mainly robbed around London. Hanged at Tyburn in 1670.

'Captain' Tom King - a swashbuckling highwayman who worked with Turpin later in his career. Killed accidentally by Turpin during a raid. Robin Hood - early Nottingham 'highway robber', fame for giving from the rich to the poor. The best known East Midlands highwayman was John Nevison who was nicknamed 'Swift Nick'. Some historians believe that it was Nevison, and not Dick Turpin, who made the famous London to York ride in less than 24 hours. Nevison's gang of six outlaws met at the Talbot Inn at Newark and robbed travellers along the Great North Road as far north as York. The gang were betrayed by Elizabeth Burton in 1676 when she was arrested for stealing. Nevison was transported to Tangiers, but returned to England in 1681, taking up highway robbery once again. When he was finally caught, Nevison was sentenced and hanged at York in 1684. Black Harry Black Harry was a notorious early 18th century highwayman. He robbed the pack-mule trains between Tideswell and Bakewell.

He was eventually arrested by the Castleton Bow Street Runners, and was hung, drawn and quartered on the Gallows Tree at Wardlow Mires. In 1772 the death penalty was imposed for being armed and disguised in high roads and open heaths. Gibbeting the corpse was popular right up until the mid 19th century. Gibbeting regularly took place at Wardlow in Derbyshire with executions being held in Derby. Prince Charming? The threat of attack by highwaymen continued into the 19th century, but after 1815 the crime became less common. The last mounted robbery in England is said to have taken place in 1831. By the late 19th century the highwayman had become a romanticised figure, making a brief comeback in pop culture with Adam Ant and the New Romantics in the 1980s. Today's travellers in the Peak are lucky - their journey is likely to be short, well sign-posted and uneventful. The most dramatic thing that they can expect is a rock fall or a stray mountain sheep! See also ...

Dick Turpin: Facts and Information About the Famous Highwayman | Primary Facts Dick Turpin: Facts and Information About the Famous Highwayman Posted on Here are some facts about Dick Turpin, the English highwayman. Dick Turpin was born in the early 18th century as Richard Turpin. His father was John Turpin, a small scale farmer from Essex. It is thought that Dick Turpin was an apprentice butcher. He opened his own butchers shop after completing his apprenticeship. He began to steal livestock, but was caught trying to take two oxen and he was forced to flee. Dick Turpin became a member of the Essex Gang, a group of criminals who specialised in robbing farmhouses. Other members of the Essex Gang included: Thomas Barnfield, Ned Rust, John Wheeler and Herbert Haines. The Gang often tortured the inhabitants of the houses they broke into in an attempt to get them to reveal where their valuables were hidden. By 1735 a reward of £50 was offered for the capture of the Essex Gang. Two members of the groups were caught, but Dick Turpin managed to escape. Turpin began to work with Tom King (often refered to as Captain).

They used to watch the roads through Epping Forest in Essex from their cave hideout. Once they had identified a suitable target, they would rob them. In 1737 a £100 reward was announced for the capture of Dick Turpin. An Essex gamekeeper called Morris managed to locate Dick Turpin’s base in Epping Forest. Turpin shot Morris. Dick Turpin killed Tom King by mistake. He was trying to stop King being arrested for collecting a horse that Turpin had himself stolen. Turpin realised he had to leave Essex and he decided to head for Yorkshire. He took the name John Palmer and he started to rob farmhouses and steal horses. After an unsuccessful attempt to steal some cattle, Turpin returned to the inn he was staying at and, in frustration, shot the landlord’s rooster. The landlord complained to Dick Turpin, and after Turpin threatened to kill the landlord, he was arrested. Turpin (as John Palmer) was held in the dungeons of York Castle and other charges against John Palmer were investigated. From prison, Dick Turpin wrote a letter to his brother. Unfortunately, for Turpin, his brother wouldn’t pay the postage owed on the letter and it was returned to the Post Office.

One of Dick Turpin’s former teachers happened to see the letter at the Post Office and recognise the handwriting. The teacher was sent to York to identify Dick Turpin. Turpin was given the death sentence and he was executed by hanging in York. If accounts of his death can be believed, apparently Dick Turpin was incredibly courageous and chatted to the executioner before throwing himself off the ladder to his death. Since his death, the character and life of Dick Turpin has been romanticized and the idea of Dick Turpin as a ‘gentleman highwayman’ has emerged. In a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth, a Victorian novelist, called Rookwood Dick, Turpin was portrayed as a hero, when he was, in reality, a vicious criminal. Dick Turpin (Criminal) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Dick Turpin Dick Turpin Male Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft.

Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher, burglar, horse thief and murderer.… Read More related links 50th Sunday Morning Football League Season The Press, York Google News - Aug 27, 2011 'They will now play out of the Beeswing. Division five this season will be contested between newcomers Bubwith, Drax Athletic, F1 Racing, FTR Burnholme, The <mark>Dick Turpin</mark>, Walnut Tree, York Five Lions, York Railway Institute and York St John' Godolphin Jockey Frankie Dettori Tops The Polls At York Gulfnews.Com Google News - Aug 21, 2011 '...

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&quot;We all have a lot of respect for Goldikova, but Canford Cliffs beat her at Royal Ascot and now we hope <mark>Dick Turpin</mark> can do likewise,&quot; Richard Hannon jnr told the stable&#39;s ...&nbsp;-&nbsp;-' Hold 'em Up For Dick Turpin Pontefract And Castleford Express Google News - Aug 12, 2011 'HIGHWAYMAN <mark>Dick Turpin</mark> accompanied pupils from Castleford&#39;s St Joseph&#39;s Catholic Primary School on their victorious march to class after they won Wakefield Council&#39;s historical fancy dress competition. Actor David Eliot Cooper dressed up as the' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Dick Turpin. CHILDHOOD 1705 Birth Richard "Dick" Turpin was born at the Blue Bell Inn (later the Rose and Crown) in Hempstead, Essex, the fifth of six children to John Turpin and Mary Elizabeth Parmenter. He was baptised on 21 September 1705, in the same parish where his parents had been married more than ten years earlier.

… Read More Turpin's father was a butcher and inn-keeper. Several stories suggest that Dick Turpin may have followed his father into these trades; one hints that as a teenager he was apprenticed to a butcher in the village of Whitechapel, while another proposes that he ran his own butcher's shop in Thaxted. Read Less TWENTIES 1733 28 Years Old … Turpin most likely became involved with the Essex gang of deer thieves in the early 1730s. Deer poaching had long been endemic in the Royal Forest of Waltham, and in 1723 the Black Act (so called because it outlawed the blackening or disguising of faces while in the forests) was enacted to deal with such problems. Deer stealing was a domestic offence that was judged not in civil courts, but before Justices of the peace; it was not until 1737 that the more severe penalty of seven years' transportation was introduced. However, in 1731 seven verderers became so concerned by the increase in activity that they signed an affidavit which demonstrated their worries.

The statement was lodged with Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who responded by offering a Â£10 reward to anyone who helped identify the thieves, plus a pardon for those thieves who gave up their colleagues. <br /><br />The Essex gang (sometimes called the Gregory Gang), which included Samuel Gregory, his brothers Jeremiah and Jasper, Joseph Rose, Mary Brazier (the gang's fence), John Jones, Thomas Rowden and a young John Wheeler, needed contacts to help them to dispose of the deer. Turpin, a young butcher who traded in the area, almost certainly became involved with their activities. Read Less By 1733 the changing fortunes of the gang may have prompted him to leave the butchery trade, and he became the landlord of a public house, most likely the Rose and Crown at Clay Hill. 1734 29 Years Old Although there is no evidence to suggest that Turpin was directly involved in the thefts, by summer 1734 he was a close associate of the gang, which may indicate that he had been known to them for some time.

… Read More By October 1734 several in the gang had either been captured or had fled, and the remaining members moved away from poaching, raiding the home of a chandler and grocer named Peter Split, at Woodford. Although the identities of the perpetrators are unknown, Turpin may have been involved. Two nights later they struck again, at the Woodford home of a gentleman named Richard Woolridge, a Furnisher of Small Arms in the Office of Ordnance at the Tower of London. In December Jasper and Samuel Gregory, John Jones, and John Wheeler, attacked the home of John Gladwin (a higler) and John Shockley, in Chingford. On 19 December Turpin and five other men raided the home of Ambrose Skinner, a 73-year-old farmer from Barking, leaving with an estimated Â£300.<br /><br /> Two days later, the gangâminus Turpinâattacked the home of a Keeper, William Mason, at Epping Forest. During the robbery Mason's servant managed to escape, and returned about an hour later with several neighbours, by which time the house was ransacked and the thieves long gone.

On 11 January 1735 the gang raided the Charlton home of a Mr. Saunders. For the robbery of a gentleman named Sheldon, one week later at Croydon, Turpin arrived masked and armed with pistols, with four other members of the gang. In the same month two men, possibly from the same gang, raided the home of a Reverend Dyde. Read Less THIRTIES Show Less … The clergyman was absent but the two cut his manservant around the face "in a barbarous manner". Read Less Another brutal attack occurred on 1 February 1735 at Loughton: The gang lived in or around London. For a time Turpin stayed at Whitechapel, before moving to Millbank. On 4 February 1735 he met John Fielder, Samuel Gregory, Joseph Rose, and John Wheeler, at an inn along The Broadway in London. … Read More They planned to rob the house of Joseph Lawrence, a farmer at Earlsbury Farm in Edgware. Late that afternoon, after stopping twice along the way for food and drink, they captured a shepherd boy and burst into the house, armed with pistols.

They bound the two maidservants, and brutally attacked the 70-year-old farmer. They pulled his breeches around his ankles, and dragged him around the house, but Lawrence refused to reveal the whereabouts of his money. Turpin beat Lawrence's bare buttocks with his pistols, badly bruising him, and other members of the gang beat him around the head with their pistols. They emptied a kettle of water over his head, forced him to sit bare-buttocked on the fire, and pulled him around the house by his nose, and hair. Gregory took one of the maidservants upstairs and raped her. For their trouble, the gang escaped with a haul of less than Â£30. Read Less Once Wheeler's confession became apparent, the other members of the gang fled their usual haunts. Turpin informed Gregory and the others of Wheeler's capture, and left Westminster. On 15 February 1735, while Wheeler was busy confessing to the authorities, "three or four men" (most likely Samuel Gregory, Herbert Haines, Turpin, and possibly Thomas Rowden) robbed the house of a Mrs St. John at Chingford.

… Read More On the following day Turpin (and Rowden, if present) parted company with Gregory and Haines, and headed for Hempstead to see his family. Gregory and Haines may have gone looking for Turpin, because on 17 February they stopped at an alehouse in Debden and ordered a shoulder of mutton, intending to stay for the night. However, a man named Palmer recognised them, and called for the parish constable. A fracas ensued, during which the two thieves escaped. They rejoined Turpin, and along with Jones and Rowden may have travelled to Gravesend before returning to Woodford. Another robbery was reported at Woodford toward the end of Februaryâpossibly by Gregory and his cohortsâbut with most avenues of escape cut off, and with the authorities hunting them down, the remaining members of the Essex gang kept their heads down and remained under cover, probably in Epping Forest. Read Less Show Less … With the Essex gang now smashed by the authorities, Turpin turned instead to the crime he became most noted for â highway robbery.

Although he may have been involved in earlier highway robberies on 10 and 12 April, he was first identified as a suspect in one event on 10 July, as "Turpin the butcher", along with Thomas Rowden, "the pewterer". Several days later the two struck at Epping Forest, depriving a man from Southwark of his belongings. With a further bounty of Â£100 on their heads they continued their activities through the latter half of 1735. In August they robbed five people accompanying a coach on Barnes Common, and shortly after that they attacked another coach party, between Putney and Kingston Hill. On 20 August the pair relieved a Mr Godfrey of six guineas and a pocket book, on Hounslow Heath. Fearing capture, they moved on to Blackheath in Hertfordshire, and then back to London. On 5 December the two were seen near Winchester, but in late December, following the capture of John Jones, they separated. Read Less Rowden had previously been convicted of counterfeiting, and in July 1736 he was convicted of passing counterfeit coin, under the alias Daniel Crispe.

… Read More Crispe's true name was eventually discovered and he was transported in June 1738. Jones also suffered transportation, to the Thirteen Colonies.<br /><br /> Turpin, who was waiting not far off on Horseback, hearing a Skirmish came up, when King cried out, Dick, shoot him, or we are taken by Gâd; at which Instant Turpin fir'd his Pistol, and it mist Mr. Bayes, and shot King in two Places, who cried out, Dick, you have kill'd me; which Turpin hearing, he rode away as hard as he could. Read Less Little is known of Turpin's movements during 1736. … Read More He may have travelled to Holland, as various sightings were reported there, but he may also have assumed an alias and disappeared from public view. Read Less Show Less … Richard "Dick" Turpin (bapt. 1705 â 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 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 Turpin's death. <br /><br />Turpin's involvement in the crime for which he is most closely associatedâhighway robberyâfollowed the arrest of the other members of his gang in 1735. Read Less He then disappeared from public view towards the end of that year, only to resurface in 1737 with two new accomplices, one of whom he may have accidentally shot and killed. … Read More Turpin fled from the scene and shortly afterwards killed a man who attempted his capture. Later that year, he moved to Yorkshire and assumed the alias of John Palmer. While he was staying at an inn, local magistrates became suspicious of "Palmer" and 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. Read Less In February 1737 though, he spent the night at Puckeridge, with his wife, her maid and a man called Robert Nott. … Read More Turpin arranged the meeting by letter, which was intercepted by the authorities. While Turpin eluded his enemies, making his escape to Cambridge, the others were arrested on charges of "violent suspicion of being dangerous rogues and robbing upon the highway". They were imprisoned at Hertford gaol, although the women were later acquitted (Nott was released at the next Assize). Although one report late in March suggests, unusually, that Turpin alone robbed a company of higlers, in the same month he was reported to be working alongside two other highwaymen, Matthew King (then, and since, incorrectly identified as Tom King), and Stephen Potter.

The trio were responsible for a string of robberies between March and April 1737, which ended suddenly in an incident at Whitechapel, after King (or Turpin, depending upon which report is read) had stolen a horse near Waltham Forest. Its owner, Joseph Major, reported the theft to Richard Bayes, landlord of the Green Man public house at Leytonstone. Bayes (who later wrote a biography of Turpin), tracked the horse to the Red Lion at Whitechapel. Major identified the animal, but as it was late evening and the horses had not yet been collected by their "owners", they elected to hold a vigil. John King (Matthew King's brother) arrived late that night, and was quickly apprehended by the party, which included the local constable. John King told him the whereabouts of Matthew King, who was waiting nearby. Read Less Bayes' statement regarding the death of Matthew King may have been heavily embellished.

Several reports, including Turpin's own account, offer different versions of what actually happened on that night early in May 1737; early reports claimed that Turpin had shot King, however by the following month the same newspapers retracted this claim, and stated that Bayes had fired the fatal shot. … Read More The shooting of King, however, preceded an event that changed Turpin's life completely. He escaped to a hideaway in Epping Forest, where he was seen by Thomas Morris, a servant of one of the Forest's Keepers. Turpin shot and killed Morris on 4 May with a carbine when, armed with pistols, Morris attempted to capture him. The shooting was reported in The Gentleman's Magazine: <br /><br /> Several newspapers suggested that on 6 and 7 May, he committed two highway robberies near Epping. Turpin may also have lost his mount; on 7 May an Elizabeth King attempted to secure two horses left by Matthew King, at an inn called the Red Lion. The horses were suspected as belonging to "highwaymen" and King was arrested for questioning, but was later released without charge.

Morris's killing unleashed a flood of Turpin reports, and a reward of Â£200 was offered for his capture. Read Less Sometime around June 1737 Turpin boarded at the Ferry Inn at Brough, under the alias of John Palmer (or Parmen). … Read More Travelling across the River Humber between the historic counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, he posed as a horse trader, and often hunted alongside local gentlemen. On 2 October 1738 Turpin shot another man's game cock in the street. While being rebuked by John Robinson, he then threatened to shoot him also. Three East Riding justices (JP), George Crowle (Member of Parliament for Hull), Hugh Bethell, and Marmaduke Constable, travelled to Brough and took written depositions about the incident. They threatened to bind him over, but Turpin refused to pay the required surety, and was committed to the House of Correction at Beverley. Turpin was escorted to Beverley by the parish constable, Carey Gill.

Incomprehensibly, he made no attempt at escape; Barlow (1973) surmises that at this point in his life, Turpin may have been wallowing in self-pity, depressed that his life had thus far been a failure. Read Less … Robert Appleton, Clerk of the Peace for the East Riding, and the man whose account details the above incident, later reported that the three JPs made enquiries as to how "Palmer" had made his money, suspecting that his lifestyle was funded by criminal activities. Turpin claimed that he was a butcher who had fallen into debt, and that he had levanted from his home in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. When contacted, the JP at Long Sutton (a Mr Delamere) confirmed that John Palmer had lived there for about nine months, but that he was suspected of stealing sheep, and had escaped the custody of the local constable. Delamere also suspected that Palmer was a horse-thief and had taken several depositions supporting his view, and told the three JPs that he would prefer him to be detained.

The three JPs now presumed that the case was too serious for Palmer to remain at Beverley House of Correction, and demanded sureties for his appearance at York Assizes. Turpin refused, and so on 16 October he was transferred to York Castle in handcuffs. <br /><br />Horse theft became a capital offence in 1545, punishable by death. During the 17th and 18th centuries, crimes in violation of property rights were some of the most severely punished; most of the 200 capital statutes were property offences. Robbery combined with violence was "the sort of offence, second only to premeditated murder (a relatively uncommon crime), most likely to be prosecuted and punished to law's utmost rigour". Turpin had stolen several horses while operating under the pseudonym of Palmer. Read Less In July 1737 he stole a horse from Pinchbeck in Lincolnshire, and took it to visit his father at Hempstead. … Read More When Turpin returned to Brough (stealing three horses along the way) he left the gelding with his father. The identity of John Turpin's son was well known, and the horse's identity was soon discovered.

Read Less 1738 33 Years Old On 12 September 1738 therefore, John Turpin was committed to gaol in Essex on charges of horse theft, but following his help in preventing a jailbreak, the charges were dropped on 5 March 1739. … Read More About a month after "Palmer" had been moved to York Castle, Thomas Creasy, the owner of the three horses stolen by Turpin, managed to track them down and recover them, and it was for these thefts that he was eventually tried.<br /><br /> From his cell, Turpin wrote to his brother-in-law, Pompr Rivernall, who also lived at Hempstead. Rivernall was married to Turpin's sister, Dorothy. The letter was kept at the local post office, but seeing the York post stamp Rivernall refused to pay the delivery charge, claiming that he "had no correspondent at York".

Rivernall may not have wanted to pay the charge for the letter, or he may have wished to distance himself from Turpin's affairs, and so the letter was moved to the post office at Saffron Walden where James Smith, who had taught Turpin how to write while the latter was at school, recognised the handwriting. He alerted JP Thomas Stubbing, who paid the postage and opened the letter. Smith travelled to York Castle and on 23 February identified Palmer as Turpin. Read Less

Question: Dick Turpin was famous as what sort of criminal?
Answer: Highwayman