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Dick Turpin
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For other meanings see Dick Turpin (disambiguation).
Richard (Dick) Turpin The Highwayman (September 21, 1705 in Hempstead, Essex – April 7, 1739 in York, North Yorkshire) was a legendary English rogue and highwayman. Turpin engaged in poaching, burglary, cattle rustling, horse theft, highway robbery and murder before being executed in York.
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For other meanings see Dick Turpin (disambiguation).
Richard (Dick) Turpin The Highwayman (September 21, 1705 in Hempstead, Essex – April 7, 1739 in York, North Yorkshire) was a legendary English rogue and highwayman. Turpin engaged in poaching, burglary, cattle rustling, horse theft, highway robbery and murder before being executed in York. After his death, as "Dick" Turpin, he became the subject of legend, romanticised as dashing and heroic in English ballads and popular theatre of the 18th and 19th century and in film and television of the 20th century. There is divergence between history and legend.
Early life
Turpin's early life shows how legend diverges from the facts. According to legend, Turpin was born at the Spaniards Inn near Hampstead, in Finchley, North London. However, according to parish records and notes during his trial, Turpin was baptised on September 21 1706 in Hempstead, Essex, having been born at The Bluebell Inn (later renamed the Rose and Crown), where his father was inn-keeper. Turpin was a bright and intelligent boy taught to ride a horse, to read and to write, by James Smith, the village postmaster and schoolmaster,
Legend has it that Turpin's father was acquainted with smugglers who worked off East Anglia, as times were hard and the price of ale had been rising. Although ale purchased from the smugglers may have been cheaper, its trade was illegal.
When he was 16, Turpin moved south and was apprenticed to a butcher in Whitechapel — now a district of London, but then a village. It was said that he "conducted himself in a loose and disorderly manner". Some argue that he was in the wrong career, others that he was lazy.
Turpin married his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Millington in 1728, and after his apprenticeship they moved north to Buckhurst Hill, Essex (on the modern boundary of north east London); Turpin opened a butcher's shop there.
Beginning of criminal activities
Rather than rely on legitimate suppliers, Turpin stole sheep, lambs, and cattle, an offence punishable by death. Scholars and historians are divided as to what led Turpin to crime. Some claim it was financial necessity; others believe, through studying Turpin's later actions, that his deeds were thrill-seeking. Others believe it was thrift, or that he was too greedy to pay for legitimate stock, or too lazy to earn an honest living.
The life of a fugitive
Turpin was caught stealing two oxen and fled the area and left his wife and business. With customs officers in pursuit, Turpin fled into the Essex countryside and lived rough. For a time he lived in caves along the coast of East Anglia and robbed smugglers. Eventually he hid in Epping Forest (larger and more verdant than today and 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 20 bandits who operated from hideouts in Epping Forest. The Gregory Gang were notorious around Essex and London. They stole game set aside for the King, an offence punishable by the gallows or hanging, drawing and quartering.
The leaders were brothers after whom the gang was named: Samuel, Jasper and Jeremy Gregory. The others 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. The gang attempted an armed robbery at a gentleman's house at Woodford, Essex, but the inhabitants of the village drove them off. n March 1735, Turpin, with the Gregory brothers, attacked the Earl of Suffolk's servant in Epping Forest and took his horse valued at £80. A few weeks later, Sir Caesar Child was attacked when the gang fired at the coachman and shot off the tip of his nose. They robbed him of £25. Allegedly, all these acts were orchestrated by Turpin, although this is not confirmed.
The Gregory Gang were entering a particularly violent phase. They specialised in forced entry into isolated and terrorising occupants to make them reveal valuables. By 1735, the London Evening Post regularly reported the exploits of Turpin and 'The Essex Gang' and King George II offered £50 for their capture.
The Loughton incident
On 8 February 1735 Read's Weekly Journal reported: '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 £100, 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 £20, 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 raid took place on 1 February 1735 and widow Shelley's house was in Traps Hill, Loughton. It was reported the gang made away with £700, a huge amount. It is the best account of the gang. Loughton was their last activity as a gang. Although the report does not mention Turpin, it seems likely he was a member on this occasion. Turpin often carried out his robberies in the company Thomas Rowden (formerly a metal-worker, now outlawed) and a report states Rowden was 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.
Shortly after Loughton, constables worked to track them down and did so not long after. The Gregory Gang were surprised by police in a tavern in Westminster. Turpin jumped out of a window, but the three ringleaders were hanged as thieves.
Thomas Hadfield, one of Turpin's friends within the gang, also escaped through the window, but refused to continue in crime. The other members didn't regroup in the forest. 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 from robbing isolated farmhouses to robbing stagecoaches passing through Epping Forest, which they found easier for two men instead of a gang. Turpin had become the highwayman that later tales would tell of.
Soon they had carried out hundreds of highway robberies on the outskirts of London. Turpin was soon operating by himself.
The fate of Thomas Rowden is unknown, although he may have been 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
Turpin went into partnership with Tom King, "the Gentleman Highwayman", who was as famous as Turpin although a less well known today. "Captain King", as he was sometimes called, was said to have better manners and be more dashing than Turpin, and flattering his victims was a deliberate tactic. 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: "What is this; dog eat dog?"
The two joined forces in a more successful partnership than Turpin's short-lived partnership with Rowden. The hid-out at the remains of an Iron Age fort, now known as Loughton Camp. From one cave in Epping Forest, they could watch a road without being seen and rob anyone on it. Local peddlars started to carry weapons for protection. By late 1737, Turpin had achieved such notoriety that another bounty of £100 was placed on his head - a reward which was to transform him from a footpad into a murderer.
Turpin becomes a murderer
Numerous murders have been attributed to Turpin, although centuries of embellishment make it unclear which ones were committed by him. Turpin's first killing was probably Thomas Morris, on 4 May 1735. Morris was a servant of Henry Thomson, one of the keepers of Epping Forest, who, during a walk in the forest, came across Turpin at Fairmead Bottom, near Loughton. As there was a reward offered for Turpin's capture, it is supposed Morris tried to apprehend the highwayman, whereon he was shot.
Once again Turpin took to his heels, this time with a greater crime on his hands than theft. Despite the 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 only narrowly avoided capture at this point.
Black Bess
Turpin's next exploit was on the road to London when he forced a man called Major to exchange a black horse for his own mount. Major had a musket pointed at him. Turpin named his new pride 'Black Bess'.
The death of the "gentleman highwayman"
Major issued handbills around the pubs of London, describing his steed and naming Turpin. 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. At one point, it appeared the highwaymen were winning the gunfight against the constables. However, in confusion, Turpin shot King — not realising it was him. Shocked, and believing his companion dead, Turpin fled on Black Bess.
King, as he lay dying, informed the constables of the hideouts in Epping forest. Turpin did return to the hideouts, where constables were in wait. Turpin's highwayman days were over.
The legendary ride to York
Turpin's flight from London to York is the most famous part of the legend. It says he rode 200 miles in less than 15 hours, reaching York before news of his misdemeanours. Tests on horses that specialise in endurance events show this would not have been possible
Various inns such as the Roebuck Inn, Stevenage, claim Turpin ate there that night, or stopped for a respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance Rookwood, immortalised this wonderful ride.
Historians argue that the incident is fiction. They argue that a ride was made by John Nevison, "Swift Nick", born and raised at Wortley village near Sheffield and a well-known highwayman in the time of Charles II 50 years before Turpin, who to establish an alibi rode from Gad's Hill (near Rochester, Kent) to York (190 miles) in about 15 hours.
Turpin first rode into Lincolnshire following the Whitechapel skirmish, and that he then moved over the Humber into the Yorkshire town of Brough near Hull, before making his first visit to York.
Life as 'John Palmer'
Turpin took up a new life in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, where he would be unknown. He bought barns and stables outside Corby and — going under the identity 'John Palmer' — posed as a large-scale legitimate horse dealer. Turpin did not know about horse breeding or the horse market and turned again to theft. Turpin took horses from farms or enclosures or stables, wait a few months, and then sell them back to the victim without their knowing.
Final capture
In early 1739, 'Palmer' returned from a hunt to his lodgings in the Ferry Inn, at Brough, 12 miles (20 km) from Hull, about 37 miles (60 km) from York. He was empty-handed and probably drunk. He was bound over to keep the peace after he shot his landlord's gamecock in the street and threatened a bystander. 'Palmer' had no money and was unable to provide sureties and was committed to jail. As he was taken into custody, authorities made enquiries as to how Palmer made his money and learned of outstanding complaints against 'John Palmer' for sheep and horse stealing in Lincolnshire.
Turpin was transferred to York's debtors' prison (now part of York Castle Museum). From his cell, Turpin wrote to his brother-in-law at Hempstead in Essex, Turpin's birthplace. The letter asked uesting 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 backfired. In those days, postage was payable by the recipient, not the poster. Turpin's brother-in-law refused to pay the sixpence demanded and the letter was not delivered. The unread letter fell into the hands of John Smith, the village postmaster who had taught Turpin to read and write. Smith recognised the handwriting and travelled to York to identify Turpin. Smith collected a £200 reward .
Execution and burial
Turpin was never convicted of being a highwayman or a murderer. He was convicted of being a horse-rustler, 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 penal transportation fell on deaf ears. His father had been cleared a few days earlier at Essex assizes of horse-stealing, one of Turpin's stolen horses having been found at his alehouse.
Between sentence and execution, visitors frequented Turpin's cell as though he were a celebrity. He bought new clothes and shoes and hired five mourners for 10 shillings each.
On 7 April 1739, Dick Turpin rode through York in an open cart, bowing to the crowd. At York Knavesmire (now the racecourse) he climbed to the scaffold and sat for half an hour addressing the crowd, chatting to the guards and the executioner. The hangman was Thomas Hadfield, once Turpin's friend and a former Gregory Gang member pardoned because he agreed to be the hangman.
An account in the York Courant 7 April 1739 notes Turpin's brashness: "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."
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 recovered and reburied in the same place, this time with quicklime to destroy the remains. A headstone 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.
- Dick Turpin appears as a suspect in Ace Murder Mystery's 17th Century English murder mystery dinner party game 'Power Plots and Pistols' (link below)
- During a football match between Scottish clubs Motherwell and Kilmarnock on 18 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'
- Many Public Houses across the country recall tales of Turpin having drunk there. Only one pub remaining today can claim the stories to be true, The Ferry Inn of Brough, East Yorkshire. According to Sharpe, this is based on fact rather than legend.
- 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, Turpin is a young farmer in Essex who falls foul of the 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. He eventually meets up with Tom King and becomes 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 rendezvous 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. It was shown on US television in February, 1966.
- A 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)
- In 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.
- In 1995 in an episode of Coogan's Run titles "The Curator," Steve Coogan plays the curator of a small museum in the fictional town of Ottle, which features possible artifacts from Turpin. The museum is shut to accommodate a steakhouse called Turp Inn.
- A PC and XBox game, Armed and Dangerous, has the main protagonists trying to defend Dick Turpin Village.
- A pub in Essex The Rayleigh Weir tells of "Dickers" gallavanting up and down the A127.
Further reading
- Dick Turpin: The Myth of the English Highwayman (2004), James Sharpe. ISBN 1-86197-418-3
External links
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