Highwaymen

Say the word “highwayman” and the first name that springs to mind has to be Dick Turpin. The scourge of the 18th century he raced around the country on his trusty steed, Black Bess, bringing stage coaches to a halt with his infamous cry of “Stand and Deliver!”. Or did he?

Most of the stories we know about Dick Turpin are half-truths and myths originating from romantic novels written long after his death. In reality he was less of a “gentleman of the road” and more of a common thief, thug and murderer.

Dick Turpin was born in Essex in 1705 and began his criminal career butchering deer poached by a local gang. He then graduated to raiding houses, robbing and terrorising any unfortunate inhabitants who got in his way. After his spree of burglaries he did go on to stalk the highways around London but there is no record of Turpin actually holding up a stagecoach, just a few lone travellers and carts, and his attempts at theft were more like muggings than highway robbery.

After killing a fellow gang member and another man who was trying to catch him Turpin changed his name to Palmer and moved through Lincoln up to York stealing horses. This is what he was finally arrested for but the authorities in York had no idea he was actually Dick Turpin until after he was jailed. He was sentenced to death in March 1739 and in the two weeks before his execution his jailer made around £100 charging visitors a fee to visit the hapless highwayman and selling them drinks to add to the entertainment.

The dashing rogue who was actually much more like our image of the highwayman was a Frenchman named Claude du Vall. Du Vall was so handsome, witty and sophisticated that during the 1660’s wealthy travellers would journey through his favourite haunts in the hope that he would rob them! Under Puritan rule Britain had become rather drab and austere and du Vall’s charm and good looks meant he achieved pop star status; he was the Elvis of his day. So popular was the dandy highwayman that when he was eventually caught and hanged at Tyburn in January 1670 he was accompanied by a crowd of wailing well-to-to ladies and his body lay in state at a nearby tavern before he was buried in St. Paul’s church, Convent Garden.

One of the first, if not the very first, highwayman was actually a woman! Moll Cutpurse was a skilful horsewoman and crack shot with a pistol. She gained fame and popularity as she robbed the rich who crossed Hounslow Heath to the west of London at the beginning of the 17th century. Many of her victims didn’t even realise they were being held up by a woman because Moll dressed in men’s clothes and smoked a pipe. And those that did know were too ashamed to admit that they had been a victim of a highwaywoman! After retiring from life on the road she set up a profitable business fencing stolen goods through a shop in London. Unlike most of her male counterparts Moll did not swing from the hangman’s rope but died of natural causes at the grand old age of 74.