Drunks, Whores and Idle Apprentices: Criminal Biographies of the Eighteenth Century

by PHILIP RAWLINGS

  3 For an instance in which the competition between different members of a gang to give evidence for the Crown led to the publication of competing ‘confessional biographies’ see R.Wilson, A Full and Impartial Account Of all the Robberies Committed by John Hawkins, George Sympson, (lately Executed for Robbing the Bristol Mails) and their Companions, London, [1722]; J.Hawkins, A Full, True and Impartial Account Of all the Robberies Committed in City, Town, and Country, For several Years past By William Hawkins, In Company with Wilson, Wright, Butler Fox, and others not yet Taken, London, 1722.

  4 J.M.Beattie, Crime and the Courts in England, 1660–1800, Oxford, 1986, pp. 336 and 446–7.

  5 D.Hay, ‘Property, authority and the criminal law’ in D.Hay, E.P.Thompson and P.Linebaugh (eds), Albion’s Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England, Harmondsworth, 1977; P.King, ‘Decision-makers and decision-making in the English criminal law’, The Historical Journal, 1984, vol. 27(1), pp. 25–58.

  6 PRO, SP 36/123, Part 2, ff. 11–12, ff. 43–4.

  7 PRO, ASSI 23/6, Somerset Assizes, 28 August 1753; SP 44/85, fo. 362; SP 36/ 123, Part 2, ff.

  11–12; SP 44/85, fo. 364; SP 36/123, Part 2, ff. 43–4, 62, 63; SP 44/85, fo. 366; Bath 17 December 1753; PRO, SP 44/85, ff. 370, 376–7.

  8 Bath Journal, 25 February 1754.

  9 D.A.Baugh, British Naval Administration in the Age of Walpole, Princeton, 1965, p. 205; M– – – –C– – – –L N’s Cabinet broke open, London, [1750], p. 8; Whitehall Evening Post, 14 June 1748, 2 July 1748; Penny London Post, 17 October 1748; Whitehall Evening Post, 7 October 1749; P.Linebaugh, ‘Tyburn riot against the surgeons’ in D.Hay et al. (eds), Albion’s Fatal Tree, pp. 65–117; P.Linebaugh, ‘Tyburn: a study of crime and the labouring poor in London during the first half of the eighteenth century’, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Warwick University, 1975, p. 658; W.S.Lewis (ed.), Horace Walpole’s Correspondence with Sir Horace Mann, vol. IV, London, 1960, pp. 199, and 312; H.Fielding, An Enquiry into the causes of the Late Increase of Robbers, &c., London, 1751; ‘Brittanicus’, A Letter To the Honourable House of Commons, relating to The present Situation of Affairs, London, 1750; Serious Thoughts In Regard to the Publick Disorders, with Several Proposals for Remedying the Same, London, [1751]; ‘Civis’, A Method Proposed to prevent the many Robberies and Villainies Committed in and about the City of London, London, 1752; C.Jones, Some Methods Proposed Towards putting a Stop to the Flagrant Crimes of Murder, Robbery, and Perjury, London, 1752; Whitehall Evening Post, 17 January 1749, 21 January 1749, 26 January 1749, 18 February 1749; F.W.Torrington (ed.), House of Lords Sessional Papers, New York, sessions 1747–8 to 1753, pp. 334 and 388; Journals of the House of Commons, xxvi, pp. 27, 39, 155 and 158; London Evening Post, 10–12 May 1753; PRO, SP 36/125, Part 2, fo. 117.

  10 Bath Journal, 23 April 1753.

  11 London Evening Post, 17–19 April 1753; Bath Journal, 16 April 1753.

  12 Bath Journal,3 September 1753, 23 April 1753; PRO, ASSI 23/6, Somerset Assizes, 28 August 1753; ASSI 23/7, Somerset Assizes, 1 April 1754.

  13 C.D., A Letter to a Member of Parliament, Upon the Subject of the present reigning Enormities of Murders and Robberies, Bath, 1754.

  14 J.Styles, ‘Print and policing: crime advertising in eighteenth-century provincial England’ in D.Hay and F.Snyder (eds), Policing and Prosecution in Britain 1750–1850, Oxford, 1989, pp. 55–111.

  15 He had been convicted of receiving stolen property while he was the Keeper of the Gatehouse Prison in London and was listed as transported to ‘America’: OBSP, 5–9 December 1746; P.W.Coldham, English Convicts in Colonial America, 2 volumes, New Orleans, 1974–76, vol. I, p. 214. As Paley suggests, his tendency to avoid London was presumably motivated by his fear of being apprehended by London thief-takers: R.Paley, Thief-takers in London in the age of the McDaniel Gang, c. 1745–1754’ in Hay and Snyder, (eds.), Policing and Prosecution in Britain, pp. 301–41, at p. 309n. An indictment was brought against him by a thief-taker called Thomas Ind in July 1753 at Middlesex Sessions for returning from transportation.

  16 Ironically, Anger was tried, and condemned, on the evidence of Dyer, a comrade who impeached him: OBSP, 28–30 August 1723. See also PRO, SP 36, vol. II, ff. 39–40.

  17 P.Linebaugh, ‘The Ordinary and his Account’ in J.S.Cockburn (ed.), Crime in England 1550–1800, London, 1977, pp. 246–69, at pp. 264–5.

  18 The National Library of Wales has a document apparently written by a smuggler, but this seems to have been composed in prison, not during the time when the events it describes were taking place, and declares itself to be the manuscript of an autobiography, rather than, like Anger’s, a journal kept in case of arrest: The Birth, Life, Education and Transactions of Captn. William Owen the noted Smuggler Who was executed for the murder of James Lilly at Carmarthen on Saturday the 2nd Day of May 1747. Written by his own hand when under Confinementy and delivered to Mr. Daniel Jones of Carmarthen aforesaid in the presence of Mr. John Davies, the Clergyman which attended him, a few Days before his execution, NLW Ms. 21834B. For an unusual example from nineteenth-century France see M.Foucault (ed.),

  I, Pierre Riviere, having slaughtered my mother, my sister, and my brother…: A Case of Harmondsworth, 1978.

  19 Paley, ‘Thief-takers in London’, p. 338.

  8 THE DISCOVERIES OF John Poulter, alias Baxter;

  Who was apprehended for robbing Dr. HANCOCK, of Salisbury, on Clarken Down, near Bath; and thereupon discovered a most numerous Gang of Villains, many of which have been already taken.

  BEING

  A full Account of all the Robberies he has committed, and the surprizing Tricks and Frauds he has practised for the Space of five Years last past, in different Parts of England. Written wholly by HIMSELF.

  To which is added, as a Caution to prevent any unwary Persons

  from being imposed on and defrauded,

  An exact Account of the Manner in which GAMBLERS and other SHARPERS impose upon People at Fairs and other Places; wherein their whole Tricks, Behaviour and Language, is so laid open, that any one who reads it, may certainly know them at any Time, and so be upon their Guard against being cheated by them. With some Precautions to secure Houses from being broke open, very useful for all Families: And likewise some Cautions to Tradesmen, and others who travel, to prevent their being robbed. With Directions how to prevent Horses from being stolen out of Grounds and Commons.

  THE NINTH EDITION, With ADDITIONS.

  Printed for R.Goadby, in Sherborne; and sold by W.Owen,Printed for R.Goadby, in Sherborne; and sold by W.Owen, Bookseller, at Temple-Bar, London.

  MDCCLIV

  The DISCOVERIES of John Poulter alias Baxter.

  I Have followed Gambling and Defrauding these five Years last past, and lived on the Spoil of other Men’s Substance. About the Middle of February, 1749, I and John Brown, alias Dawson,1 Mary Brown,* and Mary Davis, met all accidentally at Litchfield, on a Fair Day, and after some Ceremony we all agreed to go and drink a Glass of Wine; accordingly we went to Mr. William Brooks’s, at the George Inn, in the said Town, and were shewn up Stairs; we had not been there long, before Mary Brown espied a large Chest, and said, here is a Chance the Lid being loose, and her Hand but small, she pull’d out of the said Chest one yellow Silk flower’d Damask Gown, one green Silk ditto, one brown Silk ditto, and one black flower’d Silk Capuchin,2 which Mary Brown carried out of the said House in her Apron, to the Place were our Horses were: We all made the best of our Way to the B – D – g [Bull Dog], near Westchester, where we divided the above Goods among us four. I believe the Goods were worth about sixteen Pounds; the Landlord and Landlady of the B – D – [Bull Dog] very well knew us to be Thieves, and that we lived by nothing else, and also know almost all the Thieves that travel, and harbour them.

  But what is very remarkable, at the same Time I sent for a Taylor to take Measure of me for a black Plush Waistcoat, and in his measuring of me a Pistol went off in my Waistcoat Pocket, and the Bullet went under his Arm, a
nd through the Cieling, without doing any Hurt, which very much surprized the Taylor; Brown standing by me, I said, what are you always playing your Tricks putting Crackers in my Pocket: But the Taylor was not to be so deceived, for he took home my Plush and Lining with him, and went to Westchester to the Mayor, and told him he thought [p. 4] we were all Highwaymen. The Mayor ordered him not to let me have any Thing, until he had sent to search the B – D – g [Bull Dog], and bring us before him; but we did not stay for his Coming, for I made the best of my Way for Holy Head, through Wales, and directly went for Dublin, where I took a House in Porter’s Row the lower End of Aston’s Kay; I gave thirteen Pounds a Year, and had good Custom, and drew five Barrels of Ale one

  Week with another, and lived in good Credit, till a very unhappy Affair happened in London, and so it proved to me. General Sinclair had his Pocket pick’d of his Gold Watch at Leicester House, by William Harper and Thomas Tobin, and they were both taken and committed to the Gatehouse, Westminster; and that Day Harper was rescued by a Gang of about twenty-four Irishmen, in the Middle of the Day, and they wounded one of the Keepers, but Tobin did not escape.3 A Proclamation was issued out with a great Reward for taking them, when most of them flew to Ireland, to my great Grief. One Day, as I was standing at my Door, I was seen by one James Field, one of the Gang who knew me very well; he came in and called for Liquor very plentifully, and the next Day he brought with him the Gang to my House; I desired them not to come to my House, for I would not harbour them, for if I did I should lose all my Custom, for I told them I could live without them in Credit, and without Fear; but they would not be denied, and my House was always full of Thief Catchers and Constables, which caused me to lose my Custom. Not long after, most of the Gang were taken, by one who followed them from London, to which Place they were soon transmitted; but it ruin’d me for I was forced to go away by Night, and left my Cellar full of Ale for my Brewer to take. I went to Cork and staid there about three Weeks, but could not take a House to my Liking, so embarked for Waterford with all my Household Goods, and staid there about sixteen Weeks. I found I could not live there, for Trade was dead and I but a Stranger. My Brewer sent for me to Dublin, which Place I went to again, and in a short Time took a House at the Shades of Clontarf, about two Miles from Dublin, close to the Seaside, and bought a Smack or Sloop for Fishing, and Hoylightening Ships, which I followed very hard, and sold Liquors at Home: By these Means I cleared three Pounds a Week, lived in good Credit, and got the Good will of every Body. I hardly ever missed a Tide but was at Sea, and found the Pleasure and Benefit between ill got Money, and that got honestly; for the ill-got I always wasted, and my Spirits were never at Rest Night nor Day; but when I lived by my Labour, I eat, drank, and slept at Ease, and was not afraid of any Body.

  [p. 5]The latter End of the Year 1751, Thomas Tobin and his Wife (two of the most noted Pickpockets in England) came to Dublin, and found out where I lived, and came to my House; I begged of them never to bring any Person with them, which they promised me they would not, but in a short Time half the Thieves and Thief Catchers in Ireland resorted to my House, and laid a Scheme for my Ruin, and so it proved. Gentlemen often came from Dublin, and payed me for going into the Channel with them a plovering and fishing, and going aboard of Ships in the Bay; but once among the rest, some of these Chaps came to hire my Smack, to go into the Bay, which I let them have to my Sorrow, for before they came from Dublin they told the Custom-house Boat what their Intent was to do that they might come and seize my Smack. When we were out in the Bay, trying for some Fish, the Custom-house Boat came and boarded me, and said they were sure I had prohibited Goods, for I had Smugglers on board. I bid them search and welcome, which they did to my Sorrow, for they found six Pounds of Tea, and twelve Yards of Callicoe and Muslin, which were secreted in my Cabin by one of the Villains that came on board to go a pleasuring. The Officers seized the Goods, and my Boat was condemned. I cannot deny but afterwards I met one of the Persons, and beat him very much; but I had no Rest in Ireland afterwards, for I was always troubled with Actions, tho’ very false ones, which obliged me to come to England again, in November 1751.

  The latter End of November, 1751, I being at Bath at J – R – ts’s [John Roberts’s],4 he came to me one Night, and to Richard Branning, and told us both in about a Fortnight’s Time he could help us to about five or six hundred Pounds if we were both willing. I said, How, John? He answered, on the Scamp, and the Cull does not come above seven Straches of; that is, on the Highway, and the Man does not come above seven Miles off. I said, how do you know, John? He told me the Gentleman came every setting Day5 from Trowbridge to Bath, to change Bills for Money, for he is a Gentleman Clothier, and his Money is to pay his Men; he has never missed a setting Day for Years, and I have threatened him several Times before now, but could never get any of the Family to do it; Little Dick would have done it last Year, but his Partner, when the Day came, got drunk, and so it passed off; but now is your Time to make us all, for it is a great Deal of Blunt, and worth venturing your Scraggs for; that is, it is a great Deal of Money worth venturing your Necks for. I then told him I had no Pistols; and he said you must go to T – r’s [Trinder’s] at F – n [Faringdon, Oxfordshire], and send him to Oxford to buy them, and keep your Horses there until two Days before the Time; the setting Day is Tuesday the tenth of December. Accordingly we agreed, and set out for F – n [Faringdon] to T – r’s [Trinder’s], and I sent [p. 6] him to Oxford, to buy me a Brace of Pistols and a Hanger, which he bought, and we stayed there till the 8th of December, and told T – r [Trinder] what we were going to do, and that he must set up all Tuesday Night, and have two Horses ready to carry us sixty Miles further, and we told him we would be there on Wednesday Morning by four o’Clock. It was all agreed, and we set out for G –’s [Gea’s]6 at Ch – p – l Pl – r [Chapel Plaster, Box], but we did not trust him with our Design. I went to R – ts’s [Roberts’s] on the Ninth, to agree what Time we should come on the Tenth, and for him to show us the Way over the Water at Clarken Down [Claverton Down, Bath] Mills, which he did. We agreed to give him fourscore Pounds out of our Booty. R – ts [Roberts] said that he would be the last Man that would pay his Excise in at the Bar, and then said he, I shall be able to give you an Account what Money the Gentleman receives, and where he puts it, and if you come into the Inn I will show him and his Man to you, that you may not be mistaken when they come on the Down. Accordingly I did as he said, and about four o’Clock R – ts [Roberts] met me and told me that the Gentleman had changed his Bills, and had received upwards of five hundred Pounds, and he then shewed me the Gentleman and his Servant. My Horse was left at Mount Pleasant, and I did not show myself there; but just as the Gentleman was going he was persuaded not to go that Night, for it was just dark, and a Robbery was committed but on Saturday before at Stocks Bridge, in his Road home on a Farmer, and he was used very ill after being robbed by some Footpads,7 which made the Gentleman stay in Bath till the Morning. If he had went home that Night he would have lost all if it had been a thousand Pound, for we had made a Place in the Wood, just before he came to the Flower-de-luce, to take him and his Servant into and tie them, but Fortune was not on R – ts’s [Roberts’s] Side that Time. We both went to F – n[Faringdon] that Night according to our Promise, and found the Horses ready and our Landlord up, but he was disappointed. – – I advise all People that have got a Charge of Money or Bills not to travel after Sunset.

  In March 1752, I, John Brown alias Dawson, John Allen, alias Robert Jones, alias Robert Graham,8 and Thomas Tobin, went a Journey into the North Part of England, and coming through Hallifax, in Yorkshire, we overtook a Minister; and we rode with him till we came to the first Inn, where we defrauded him of twenty-two Pounds at Pricking in the Belt;9 he said it was as much as his Gown was worth to have it known, and accompanied the Loss of his Money with this Ejaculation, Alas! what have I been at? to which I answered, The Sailor10 has done by you Sir, as you would have done by him, so I wish you good Night. We came that
Night to Stockport, in Cheshire, and lay at an Inn in that Town that Night. The next Morning Tobin left [p. 7] our Company, and went for Westchester on the File:* We stayed on purpose to rob a Pack Horse, accordingly we all went to one J – n R – ts’s [John Roberts], an old Acquaintance of my Accomplices, but not of mine. We call’d for Liquor plentifully, and ask’d him when the Manchester Carrier came by, He said, To-night, and they travel best Part of the Night; but if you stay till they come by, I will shew the best Pack, but have you no Sacks; and turning to Brown said, you had three the last Pack you got. We said, J – n [John] you must let us have three of yours, and we will pay you for them: Accordingly he gave us three old Sacks, and we promis’d him Half a Guinea for his Trouble; at Night the Horse came by, and he shew’d us all, one particular Pack, and said that’s your Mark, and your best Place is beyond the Village, to take him into one of the Fields, and he will not be miss’d for an Hour or two after, so that you may get far enough by the Morning. And accordingly we went after and stole one of the Horses, but not the right, for he was the hindermost next to the Man: The Horse, as soon as the others past began to wicker, so that we were obliged to gag him. We got upwards of one thousand Yards of Callimanco, unscower’d, and rode about thirty Miles that Night before we baited, when we reach’d within four Miles of Whitchurch in Shropshire, and lay at a Flash† House. The next Day we arrived at the Rock Tavern,11 near S – r B – e [Stourbridge] in Staffordshire, kept by one E – and M – L – s [Edward and Margaret Lines], the greatest Place of Rendezvous in England for Thieves, and that Night put our Goods into a Grave in their Barn, where they lay three Days, we then fetch’d them up to the House, and cut all the Marks off both Ends of the Pieces. We sold E – d and