John Rann
Encyclopedia
John "Sixteen String Jack" Rann (1750 – November 30, 1774) was an English criminal and highwayman during the mid-18th century. He was a prominent and colourful local figure renowned for his wit and charm, he would later come to be known as "Sixteen String Jack" for the 16 various coloured strings he wore on the knees of his silk breeches
Breeches
Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...

 among other eccentric costumes.

Born near Bath in Somerset, England, he served as a postillion to a local woman and during his teenage years worked as coachman in London. He soon became accustomed to living beyond his means, such as wearing expensive costumes for which to attend balls and galas of the city's social circles, and was constantly in debt as a result.

He began pick-pocketing with some success eventually stealing watches and other valuables along Hounslow Road, however soon became a highwayman and, although he was arrested several times on charges of highway robbery, six of his cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence as witnesses were unable to identify Rann.

During one trial at Bow Street
Bow Street
Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It features as one of the streets on the standard London Monopoly board....

, while wearing an unusually large number of flowers in his coat and his iron
Fetters
Legcuffs, shackles, footcuffs, fetters or leg irons are a kind of physical restraint used on the feet or ankles to allow walking but prevent running and kicking. The term "fetter" shares a root with the word "foot"....

s decorated with blue ribbons, Rann reportedly addressed the presiding magistrate Sir John Fielding
John Fielding
This article is about the London magistrate. For the soldier, see John Williams .Sir John Fielding was a notable English magistrate and social reformer of the 18th century. He was also the younger half-brother of novelist, playwright and chief magistrate Henry Fielding...

 "I know no more of the matter than you do or half as much" when he was asked if he had anything to say in his defense.

He was finally apprehended after robbing the chaplain of Princess Amelia near Brentford
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...

 in 1774 and, held in custody at Newgate Gaol where he supposedly entertained seven women at a farewell dinner, before his execution on November 30. Shortly before he was to be hanged, appearing in a specially made pea-green suit adorned by a large nosegay
Nosegay
A nosegay, tussie-mussie, or posy/posey/posie is a small flower bouquet, typically given as a gift. They have existed in some form since at least medieval times, when they were carried or worn around the head or bodice....

, he enjoyed cheerful banter with both the hangman and the crowd, then danced a jig, before being publicly executed at Tyburn
Tyburn, London
Tyburn was a village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch in present-day London. It took its name from the Tyburn or Teo Bourne 'boundary stream', a tributary of the River Thames which is now completely covered over between its source and its outfall into the...

 at the age of 24.

In Popular Culture

A play about Rann, Sixteen String Jack, was a first hit for playwright William Leman Rede
William Leman Rede
William Leman Rede was one of the many prolific and successful playwrights who composed farces, melodramas, burlettas , and travesties, primarily for theatres such as the Olympic, Strand, and Adelphi, in the early nineteenth century. He proudly proclaimed himself a follower of Thomas Frognall...

 in 1823. A novel based on his life, titled Sixteen String Jack, was published in 1841.

Further reading

  • Andrews, Williams. Historic Byways and Highways of Old England. W. Andrews & Co., 1900.
  • Gatrell, V. A. C. The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People, 1770-1868. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-285332-5
  • Thornbury, Walter and Edward Walford. Old and New London: a narrative of its history, its people and its places. Cassell & Company, 1881.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK