The word highwayman is first known to be used for a thief who preyed on travelers in the year 1617. Other euphemisms included "knights of the road" and "gentlemen of the road".
Colonel Thomas Hood a Highwayman posed in 1675 as a clergyman to gain access to the Royal Treasure Room in the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels were kept. He overpowered a guard, stashed the jewels in a sack & fled. He was captured before clearing the tower but Charles II was so intrigued that he commuted the automatic death penalty and conferred upon the astonished thief an annual pension of £300.
Notorious 18th century highwayman Jack Sheppard was hanged at Tyburn, London on November 16, 1724. Until then, his daring escapes from various prisons had made him the most glamorous rogue in London.
The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered on February 23, 1739. He was discovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognized his ex pupil's handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest.
Rachel Wall was hanged on October 8, 1789 in Boston for highway robbery. She is said to have said "...into the hands of the Almighty God I commit my soul, relying on his mercy...and die an unworthy member of the Presbyterian Church, in the 29th year of my age", as her final words. Her death marked the last occasion a woman was hanged in Massachusetts.
The first execution by guillotine was carried out on highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier on April 25, 1792. He was executed in front of what is now the city hall of Paris
Dalmatians were once used by English and French aristocracy as a coach dog to trot beside carriages and protect them from highwaymen.
Colonel Thomas Hood a Highwayman posed in 1675 as a clergyman to gain access to the Royal Treasure Room in the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels were kept. He overpowered a guard, stashed the jewels in a sack & fled. He was captured before clearing the tower but Charles II was so intrigued that he commuted the automatic death penalty and conferred upon the astonished thief an annual pension of £300.
Notorious 18th century highwayman Jack Sheppard was hanged at Tyburn, London on November 16, 1724. Until then, his daring escapes from various prisons had made him the most glamorous rogue in London.
The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered on February 23, 1739. He was discovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognized his ex pupil's handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest.
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| Turpin putting a woman on the fire during a raid at Loughton |
Rachel Wall was hanged on October 8, 1789 in Boston for highway robbery. She is said to have said "...into the hands of the Almighty God I commit my soul, relying on his mercy...and die an unworthy member of the Presbyterian Church, in the 29th year of my age", as her final words. Her death marked the last occasion a woman was hanged in Massachusetts.
The first execution by guillotine was carried out on highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier on April 25, 1792. He was executed in front of what is now the city hall of Paris
Dalmatians were once used by English and French aristocracy as a coach dog to trot beside carriages and protect them from highwaymen.
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