American History Tellers - History Daily: The Execution of Dick Turpin

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

April 7, 1739. In York, England, the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin is hanged for stealing horses.You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for all that and more, go to IntoHistory.comHistory Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's April 7, 1739 in the north of England. On a chilly spring morning beneath skies of wintery gray, a horse-drawn cart rattles through the streets of York. Sitting in the back is a condemned prisoner, the notorious highwayman Dick Turvin. Dick glances up at a large crowd that's lined the streets to witness his execution. Following behind the cart is a group of professional mourners Dick has hired for the occasion. They weep and clutch their hats. Dick closes his eyes and listens to the sound of their tears.

Eventually, the cart reaches the scaffold at Navesmire on the Ascourts of York. The crowd falls silent as Dick steps onto the gallows, his head held high. Dick looks dapper in his new frock coat and shoes purchased specifically for this occasion. The hangman places a noose around Dick's neck as he takes a deep breath and looks out over the crowd. Pride swells in his chest that so many people have come to see him off. A smile flashes across his lips and then he steps off the scaffold. Dick Turpin is the most famous highwayman in history. In modern times, his name conjures

up images of a heroic masked bandit who performed daring and dashing feats atop his trusty steed, Black Bess. But the legend of Dick Turpin is a wildly romanticized falsehood, the result of writers and artists weaving fact with fiction and creating a hero out of the life of a villain. In reality, Dick Turpin was a brutish, hard-hearted criminal, a violent thief who terrorized the lonely roads of England during his short but eventful life, which came to an end when Dick met the hangman's noose on April 7, 1739.

You're listening ad-free on Wondery Plus. Hey, history buffs, if you can't get enough of the captivating stories we uncover on American Wondery Plus. podcast and embark on an unparalleled journey through America's most pivotal moments. From Noyzer and Airship, I'm Lindsay Grant and this is History Daily. History is made every day. On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is April 7, 1739, the execution of Dick Turpin. It's 1733, six years before Dick Turpin meets his end. In the village of Buckhurst Hill in Essex, a young butcher sharpens his cleaver. Blood splatters his apron and face as he hacks away at the carcass of a pig.

While the butcher doesn't flinch, he's grown accustomed to the sight of blood. The butcher Richard Dick Turpin is just 27 years old, but he feels much older. Dick's been married for eight years, and his marriage, like his work, has started to bore him. He makes ends meet here in Buckhurst Hill, but for an ambitious man like Dick, making ends meet just isn't enough. Dick hacks furiously at the carcass, his cleaver smashing through bone and sinew. He always has been a hard-working, law-abiding man, but he has little to show for it, and today he's had enough. He tosses down his cleaver in anger, and a shadow falls

across his chopping block. Dick looks up to see a group of strangers entering his shop. They're well dressed, in frock coats and tricorn hats, but Dick knows these aren't respectable gentlemen. He recognizes one of them, a tall, dark-haired criminal named Samuel Gregory, the leader of a notorious group of deer poachers known as the Essex Gang. Gregory has come to Dick's shop with a business proposition. Gregory needs help chopping up and selling off his stolen goods, and he wants Dick to do the dirty work. Hearing how much money Gregory is offering, Dick doesn't think twice. He says goodbye to his mundane, law-abiding existence, and hello to a new life of crime. The Essex gang gets back to terrorizing local landowners,

and Dick gets to work butchering and selling the stolen venison. Soon enough the profits start rolling in, but it doesn't take long for the authorities in Buckhurst Hill to grow suspicious of the seemingly endless supply of meat in Dick's shop. Whispers begin to circulate that Dick is in league with the Essex gang. Fearing these rumors will reach the local constable, Dick decides to skip town. He abandons his wife and becomes a full-time member of the Essex gang. By now Samuel Gregory and his band of robes have given up deer poaching and turned to the more lucrative business of armed robbery. So throughout the winter of 1734, Dick, Gregory and the gang launched violent raids in the

villages of Woodford, Croydon, and Barking. Wielding pistols and wearing black masks over their eyes, they ransacked homes and robbed the occupants. With their purses full, the robbers ride off to their hideout in nearby Epping Forest. In his new criminal occupation, Dick excels. He's ditched the butcher's apron and replaced it with a frock coat with shiny brass buttons and a black tricorn hat. People used to ignore Dick Turpin, but now they fear him.

Later that winter, on February 1, in the village of Laudan, in Essex, Dick and five other members of the Essex gang break into the home of an elderly widow. When she refuses to tell them where her money is, Dick grabs the old lady and holds her over the fireplace, threatening to burn her alive if she doesn't cough up the cash. There's a crazed look in Dick's eye, a wild exuberance that makes the other robbers howl with menacing laughter. Terrified, the widow gives up her money and the thieves gallop away. Three days later, on February 4th, Dick, Samuel Gregory, and other gang members break into the farmhouse of a 70-year-old man

named Joseph Lawrence. Once again, Dick demonstrates an aptitude for sadistic violence. He pulls Lawrence's pants down around his ankles and pours boiling water over the old man's head before making off with his money. Before long, the Essex gang has accumulated a sizable fortune, but their violent crime spree is about to come to an end. On February 11th, two members of the Essex gang are drinking in a public house in London

when one of the customers recognizes them from the robbery at Joseph Lawrence's farmhouse. Both men are arrested, and one of them starts naming the names of their fellow gang members. The next day, Dick Turpin's name and description appears in the London Gazette, alongside a warrant for his arrest. When Dick sees it, he immediately flees London, warning the other members of the Essex gang to do the same.

But while Dick will escape the authorities, the others will not be so lucky. Soon Samuel Gregory and nearly all of the rest of the gang will be rounded up, tried, and hanged, their bodies left to rot in iron-hooped gibbets. Dick, now wanted man, will return to the gang's former hideout in Epping Forest. There, Dick will take up a new racket, a crime for which he will become infamous, highway robbery. In the early hours of December 4th, 2024, CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto the streets of Midtown Manhattan.

This assailant starts firing at him. And the suspect. He has been identified as Luigi Nicholas Mangione. Became one of the most divisive figures in modern criminal history. It was meant to sow terror. He's awoken the people to a true issue. Listen to Law and Crime's Luigi exclusively on Wondery Plus.

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the series, sit down with the cast to spill all the juicy secrets. We're talking steamy stories, deep friendships, and the kind of bold choices that make life worth living. Listen to the original Dying for Sex and brand new episodes on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's August 1735, four years before Dick Turpin's execution. A stagecoach is traveling across Barnes Common, a few miles west of London. Suddenly, two masked men on horseback emerge from the trees. They force the travelers to hand over their possessions at gunpoint. Then the two highwaymen gallop off into the gathering dusk. After

putting enough distance between themselves and the stagecoach, Dick Turpin removes his mask. He looks over at his partner, the last surviving member of the Essex gang, Thomas Rowden. They tether their steeds and count their money. It's not a bad haul, but as always Dick is hungry for more. Since the breakup of the Essex gang in 1734, Dick decided raiding houses was too risky. Instead, he and Thomas began robbing lone travelers and stagecoaches passing through Epping Forest. Dick likes highway robbery.

It's quick, clean, and lucrative. Soon, authorities grow wary and offer a hefty reward for information on the masked highwaymen. But Dick and Thomas are smart, their methods are disciplined, their horses swift, and for nearly a year they evade capture and rake in a fortune. Until July 1736, when Thomas is caught trying to use counterfeit coins. Thomas is arrested, leaving Dick Turpin alone once again, But he won't be without a partner for long. In March 1737, Dick lurks by the side of a country road, ready to pounce on the next unsuspecting traveler who passes by. When he spots a wealthy-looking gentleman traveling alone,

Dick springs from behind a tree, his pistol raised. But the traveler seems neither surprised nor frightened. Instead, he smiles and introduces himself. The traveler's name is Matthew King, and like Dick, Matthew is a highwayman and a thief, and he's impressed by Dick's gumption. Soon the two men become partners carrying out multiple robberies throughout the spring of 1737. Dick and Matthew's collaboration blossoms into a genuine friendship, with Dick calling Matthew, the best fellow man I ever had in my life. But soon a bungled robbery will result in tragedy and spell the beginning of the end for Dick Turpin. It's April 29, 1737, in the village of Whitechapel.

Dick walks towards a tavern to meet his friend and partner, Matthew King. Dick and Matthew recently stole a horse named Whitestockings from outside the Green Man Pub in the nearby town of Leytonstone. Now they intend to sell Whitestockings, but as Dick approaches the tavern in Whitechapel, he hears a gunshot. He runs inside to find Matthew in a fight for his life with an unknown assailant. Unbeknownst to Dick, Whitestocking's owner reported his horse missing to the landlord of the Green Man Pub in Leytonstone, a man named Richard Bayes.

Soon Bayes got a tip that a horse fitting Whitestocking's description was stabled at a tavern in Whitechapel. So Bayaze made the journey from Leytonstone to Whitechapel, and when he arrived he found the horse in Matthew's possession. Baze confronted Matthew, but Matthew pulled out a rifle. The shot missed, and now as Dick runs inside the tavern, Baze tries to pry Matthew's rifle out of his hands. Matthew cries out, shoot him, Dick, or we are taken by God. In a hurried frenzy, Dick pulls out his weapon and fires, but he too misses and hits Matthew instead.

Dick stares in horror as his partner in crime collapses to the floor, dead. Shaken and bereft, Dick turns and runs out of the tavern. He flees to his old hideout in Epping Forest and takes shelter in the cave the Essex gang once used to stash their loot. There Dick weighs his options. He knows he's a wanted man and that if he ever shows his face again the authorities will surely arrest him. So Dick decides to lay low.

But days later, on May 4th, 1737, Dick hears a rustling outside of the mouth of the cave. Cautiously he picks up his weapon and steps out into the light, only to find a startled man pointing a rifle at him. Dick doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there, but he suspects that he's not a lawman or a bounty hunter. Dick can tell by the way his hands tremble as he grips his rifle. So Dick slowly lowers his weapon and backs away to show he means no harm. Seeing this, the frightened man starts to relax. But just as he lowers his rifle, Dick raises his gun and pulls the trigger. By the time the authorities discover the body, Dick will be long gone.

He'll move on to a new town and take up a new name. But the infamous highwayman will not be able to hide forever. In the end, the law will catch up to Dick Turpin, and he will pay the ultimate price. In the early hours of December 4th, 2024, CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto the streets of Midtown Manhattan. This assailant pulls out a weapon and starts firing at him. We're talking about the CEO of the biggest private health insurance corporation in the world and the suspect he has been identified as Luigi Nicholas manjani became one of

the most divisive figures in modern criminal history was targeted premeditated and meant to sow terror. I'm Jesse Webber host of Luigi produced by law and crime and twist this is more than a true crime investigation we explore a uniquely American moment that could change the country forever. He's awoken the people to a true issue. I mean maybe this would lead rich and powerful people to acknowledge the barbaric nature of our health care system.

Listen to law and crimes Luigi exclusively on one degree plus enjoying one degree plus in the one degree at Spotify or Apple podcasts. In the early hours of December 4th 2024 CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto the streets of Midtown Manhattan. This assailant pulls out a weapon and starts firing at him. We're talking about the CEO of the biggest private health

insurance corporation in the world and the suspect he's been identified as a weegee Nicholas manjani became one of the most divisive figures in modern criminal history was targeted premeditated in Minnesota terror. I'm Jesse Weber host of Luigi produced by law and crime and twist this is more than a true crime investigation we explore a uniquely American moment that could change the country forever.

He's awoken the people to a true issue. I mean maybe this would lead rich and powerful people to acknowledge the barbaric nature of our health care system. Listen to law and crimes Luigi exclusively on one degree plus enjoying one degree plus in the one degree app Spotify or Apple podcasts. It's October 2nd 1738 in Beverly a small market town in the east riding of Yorkshire, six months before Dick Turpin's execution.

An elegantly dressed prisoner sits in a jail cell. With his black wig, silk breeches, and knee-length boots, he doesn't look like a criminal. But this man, John Palmer, is a dangerous character. Earlier today, for no apparent reason, Palmer lost his senses. With wild-eyed exuberance, he shot his landlord's rooster before threatening to kill him too. Not long after, the local authorities placed Palmer under arrest and locked him up here at the House of Correction in Beverly. But soon the authorities discover that John Palmer is more than just a rooster killer. He's a known horse thief, a crime that's punishable by death.

So Palmer is sent to a larger, more secure prison at York Castle. Before long the authorities collect sufficient evidence to convict him for stealing horses. But what the authorities don't yet realize is that John Palmer is more than a petty horse thief. He is also the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin. As Dick languishes at York Castle, he plots his next move. He realizes the authorities don't yet know who he really is, but he also knows they have more than enough evidence to convict him and put him to death. So, in an act of desperation, Dick decides to write to his brother-in-law, who lives in Essex. Dick chooses his words carefully writing,

I am sorry to acquaint you that I am now under confinement in York Castle for horse stealing. Dick goes on begging for help, Heavenly brother do not neglect me. But Dick knows he cannot reveal his true identity. If the authorities find him out, he'll add armed robbery and murder to the list of charges against him. So Dick signs the letter, I'm yours, John Palmer. As he mails it out, Dick prays his brother will see past the pseudonym and come to his rescue. But Dick's letter will never reach his brother-in-law.

Instead, when it arrives at a local post office in Essex, a man named James Smith happens upon it and recognizes the handwriting as belonging to one of his childhood friends. Soon Smith travels to York and informs the authorities that John Palmer is actually Dick Turpin. Smith collects a handsome reward and Dick braces himself for the punishment he knows is coming. In the end, Dick is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death on three counts of

horse theft. By the time of his execution, on April 7, 1739, the name Dick Turpin is already the stuff of legends. Supposedly, his jailer at York Castle charged admission to visitors who were desperate to lay eyes on the infamous outlaw. According to some accounts, the jailer made a killing, the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars today. And after his death, Dick's legend only grows. As time marches on, the cold and ruthless criminal is recast in the popular imagination as a dashing lovable rogue, a far cry from the real Dick Turban, a notoriously violent high-women whose life of crime finally came to an end on April 7, 1739. Next on History Daily, April 8, England to New York City.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio editing and sound design by Molly Bogd. Music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written and researched by Joe Viner. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noisepro. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com

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