18th century… From Barman to Highwayman: The Case of William Hawke (d.1774) 16 Jan 201716 Jan 2017 Not every highwayman throughout history has achieved the fame of Robin Hood (sup. fl. 12th-13th centuries), Rob Roy (1671-1734), Dick Turpin (1705-1739), or Jack Sheppard (1702-1724). The names of most…
18th century… The Victorian Underworld 24 Feb 2016 This is the text of a public talk given at Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall, Leeds on 1 March 2015 to complement their Crime and Punishment Exhibition. Introduction The history of…
17th century… Charles Johnson’s ‘Lives of the Highwaymen’ (1734) 14 Feb 20164 Sep 2016 There is no reference in any historical archives to a Captain named Charles Johnson. The name is most likely a pseudonym for a writer whose identity is now lost to…
17th century… Jackson’s Recantation (1674) 10 Dec 201510 Dec 2015 In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries crime, and in particular highway robbery, was a problem. Whether crime was actually as bad as Henry Fielding gloomily surmised, that the…
18th century… Henry Fielding’s “Joseph Andrews” (1742) 31 Jul 201531 Jul 2015 I return once again to my favourite author, Henry Fielding (1707-1754) and discuss his novel The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams.…
18th century… Greatness vs. Goodness in Henry Fielding’s “Jonathan Wild” (1743) 10 Jul 201510 Jul 2015 I have previously written on this blog about London's first mob boss, Jonathan Wild (1682-1725). He was the Thief Taker General of Britain and Ireland. In the days before the…
