Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - "Honest" Jack Sheppard

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

In early 18th-century London, a petty criminal became one of the most celebrated people in England.  He wasn’t celebrated despite the fact that he was a criminal; he was celebrated because he was a criminal. The authorities didn’t share in the public’s enthusiasm. He was arrested several times, but he managed to escape custody each time.  However, the law finally caught up with him, and as usual, the law won. Learn more about “Honest” Jack Sheppard and how he because a sensation in 18th century London, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Newspapers.com Get 20% off your subscription to Newspapers.com Mint Mobile Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Stitch Fix Go to stitchfix.com/everywhere to have a stylist help you look your best Tourist Office of Spain Plan your next adventure at Spain.info  Stash Go to get.stash.com/EVERYTHING to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In early 18th century London, a petty criminal became one of the most celebrated people in England. He wasn't celebrated despite the fact that he was a criminal. He was celebrated because he was a criminal. The authorities didn't share in the public sentiment, however. He was arrested several times, but each time he managed to escape custody. However, the law finally caught up with him, and as usual, the law won. Learn more about honest Jack Shepard and how he became a sensation in 18th century London on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may

have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. London was a rapidly growing and bustling city in the early 18th. century. It had become the largest city in Europe and was also a hub of commerce, politics, and culture. The streets were crowded and dirty with open sewers and poor sanitation contributing to frequent outbreaks of disease. Social inequality was pronounced. The aristocracy

and the rising middle class lived in nice townhouses, whereas the urban poor crowded into slums like those in St. Giles or Whitechapel. Crime was rampant and public executions, such as those held at Tyburn, were popular spectacles. It was in this environment that Jack Shepard was born. Jack Shepard was born in Stepney, London in 1702. His family was poor, but were not criminals. After his father died when Jack was young, his mother struggled to raise him and his siblings. At the age of six, he was placed in the workhouse, which was a common fate for impoverished children.

By 14, he was apprenticed to a carpenter named Owen Wood. Jack was initially seen as bright, talented, and trustworthy, hence his nickname, Honest Jack. He proved to be a talented carpenter and served as an apprentice for five years. He might have gone on to have led an honest life, but his introduction to Elizabeth Lyon, a prostitute from Drury Lane, led him down a different path. Under her influence, Jack began frequenting taverns, and eventually turned to petty theft and burglary to supplement his income.

His path veered sharply when he began drinking in taverns in Covent Garden, where he met Joseph Blue Skin Blake, a highwayman who would become both a companion and a corrupting influence. Blake, an experienced thief, introduced him to more sophisticated criminal techniques. Together they committed a series of burglaries across London. Shepard was exceptionally skilled at slipping through narrow spaces and removing locks, skills that came from his carpentry training and his five-foot-four and very thin build. But these burglaries are not what made Jack famous.

Shepard's first major arrest came about through betrayal, not from his accomplice, Blake. In May of 1724, Shepard was arrested following information provided by a man named William Field, who was a local resident of Drury Lane and an acquaintance of Shepard. Field's motivation for betraying Shepard appears to have been because of the growing rewards being offered and feels resentment towards Shepard. Based on this information, constables located Shepard at a tavern in Drury Lane. They arrested him and Lion and took them to St. Giles Roundhouse, a small prison used to hold criminals temporarily before their formal charging and trial. The St. Giles' Roundhouse was a circular structure, hence the name Roundhouse, that served as a holding cell for the parish.

It was not designed as a high security facility, but rather as a temporary lockup for minor offenders and those awaiting transfer to more substantial prisons. Shepard and Lyon were held in separate upper floor cells, both of which were lightly guarded. Using his agility and carpentry skills, Shepard slipped out of his restraints. According to accounts, he then broke through the ceiling into Lyon's room, freeing her as well. From there, he and Lyon made their way to the roof. Using a blanket rope made of knotted bedsheets, they lowered themselves down the side of the building and slipped away into the dark London streets, undetected until morning. When the constables discovered the empty cells at dawn, it caused a stir.

The newspapers reported the escape with amazement and disapproval, but the public loved it. Shepard became an immediate folk hero, young, clever, physically gifted, and rebellious. After this escape, Shepard made no effort to flee London. Instead, he resumed his criminal activities with even greater boldness. Alongside his accomplice Joseph Blue Skin Blake, Shepard continued robbing homes and shops, including a particularly brazen burglary of a pawnbroker in Drury Lane. By July 1724, Shepard had become a known figure to London's criminal authorities. His section capture came about when he and Elizabeth Lyon were recognized while drinking at

a tavern called the cock and magpie in Drury Lane. According to contemporary counts, they were arrested by a group of constables led by a man named Quilt Arnold, who had been actively searching for Shepard. This time both Shepard and Lyon were taken to the new prison in Clerkenwell, a more substantial facility than the St. Giles' Roundhouse. Established in the 17th century, the new prison was considered more secure than many local holding facilities. At the new prison, authorities took greater precautions with Shepard, aware of his previous escape. He was placed in a strong room on the upper floor of the prison and fitted with manacles. Undeterred by these measures,

Shepard immediately began planning his escape. He managed to conceal a nail on his person during his arrest, and this simple tool would prove crucial to his efforts. Over several days, he painstakingly worked at his manacles, gradually filing through the metal whenever the guards weren't watching. Once freed from his restraints, Shepard turned his attention to the cell's window. The opening was protected by a substantial iron bar set firmly into the frame.

Using the same nail that had freed him from his manacles, Shepard managed to work the iron bar loose enough to remove it entirely from the window frame. And this created a very narrow opening. Because of his thin build, he was able to contort his body and squeeze through the opening. Rather than simply making his own escape and abandoning Elizabeth Lyon to her fate, he chose to help her escape as well. And this was no small challenge, as Lion was considerably larger than Shepard. Working from outside the cell, he methodically widened the opening by further loosening the window frame

until it was just large enough for Lion to squeeze through. He gathered the blankets and bedding from their cells and fashioned them together into a makeshift rope. Both he and Lion used this rope to descend the exterior side of the wall dropping down into the street below. They completed their escape in the middle of the night, and it wasn't until the morning check that their absence was discovered, by which time they had long since vanished.

Following his dramatic escape from New Prison, Jack Shepard's fame in London grew even more. Rather than fleeing the city or maintaining a low profile, Shepard, once again, became increasingly bold, continuing his criminal activities, and even frequencing some of the same taverns in Drury Lane. This boldness led to his third arrest in early August 1724, less than two weeks after his escape.

This time, Shepard was captured while drinking at a tavern in Mayfair. Authorities had been systematically searching taverns across London, knowing his desire for celebration after successful burglaries. When apprehended, he reportedly showed little concern, even making light remarks to his captors about his previous escapes. Given his growing reputation as an escape artist, officials took him to St. Anne's Roundhouse in Soho, another parish prison considered more secure than others.

His captors made a point of announcing that they had taken special precautions to keep him confined, including placing him in a strong room in the upper floor. Despite these measures, Shepard's third escape proved remarkably swift. Within just hours of his confinement, he had carefully examined his cell and identified structural weaknesses. Using techniques similar to his first escape, Shepard focused on the ceiling of a cell, which was made of relatively thin wooden boards. Working quietly in the night, he managed to pry loose several boards in the ceiling,

creating an opening large enough for a slight frame. Once through this opening, he found himself in a loft space above all the cells. From there, he made his way to a small window that gave access to the roof. The ease and speed of this third escape further enhanced Shepard's growing legend. London newspapers reported extensively on the event and public fascination with the young thief continued to grow. He had become not just a criminal, but a celebrity in London at this point, with broadsheets and ballads celebrating his exploits. This fame, however, would contribute significantly to his ultimate downfall.

In September 1724, Shepherd was captured for a fourth time. Despite the substantial reward offered force capture, the arrest came almost by accident. While drinking heavily at a tavern called the Shears in Clare Market, Shepard was recognized by a shop owner who had previously been one of his victims. The man alerted a constable, who happened to be nearby, and together they apprehended the intoxicated Shepherd without much difficulty. Given his now legendary escape abilities, the authorities took extraordinary measures with Shepard's fourth imprisonment.

He was taken directly to Newgate Prison, London's most secure facility. There he was placed in a special cell known as the Castle, which was specifically reinforced to hold particularly dangerous or escape-prone prisoners. He was heavily shackled with iron fetters that bound his legs and chains that secured him to the floor. Additionally, he was placed under constant surveillance with guards instructed never to leave him unintended. The seriousness of his situation intensified when Shepard was quickly brought to trial at the old Bailey. He faced multiple charges of theft and burglary with substantial evidence against him for numerous crimes.

On September 12, 1724, he was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, with the execution scheduled for early October. Despite the heightened security and his dire circumstances, Shepard managed his most spectacular escape yet on October 15th. Using a small piece of metal that he had concealed, he freed himself from his shackles, broke through the ceiling of his cell, navigated through several locked rooms, and ultimately lowered himself from the prison using a blanket rope. This escape from what was supposed to be London's most impregnable prison while under a death sentence cemented his status as a folk hero. However, Shepard's freedom would be brief.

Despite now being the most wanted man in London, he still failed to leave the city or maintain a low profile. His celebrity status had seemingly made him overconfident. On October 31, 1724, just two weeks after his dramatic Newgate escape, Shepard was captured for the fifth and final time. He was discovered drunk at the Shears Tavern in Clare Market, remarkably the same place where he had been captured before. This time, the authorities took unprecedented precautions.

He was returned to Newgate, placed in an even more secure cell known as the middle stone room, fitted with heavier irons than before, and chained directly to the floor. Arm guards were posted to watch him continuously, and visitors were strictly prohibited to prevent any outside assistance. On November 16, 1724, Jack Shepherd was taken to Tyburn for public execution. The procession to the gallows attracted one of the largest crowds ever seen in London, with estimates suggesting that 200,000 people line the streets to catch a glimpse of the famous escape artist. Somewhere between a half to a third of the entire city showed up.

Even on his final journey, there were rumors of planned rescue attempts, though none ever materialized. At Tyburn, Shepard addressed the crowd briefly before his execution, showing the same bravado that had characterized his criminal career. He was hanged, bringing an end to his short but spectacular life at the age of just 22. To prevent any posthumous escape attempts by his supporters, his body was reportedly placed under guard until burial. Jack Shepard's fame only grew after his death. He became a symbol of resistance to corrupt authority and an emblem of the clever underdog. His story was dramatized in John Gaze of the Beggar's Opera in 1728,

and in William Harrison Ainsworth's novel, Jack Shepard, in 18. His fame even led Parliament to past laws censoring plays and novels that glorified criminals, fearing it would encourage public sympathy for crime. Jack Shepard was brilliant due to his prison escapes, but he was also quite dim-witted because he kept returning to the same behavior that got him captured in the first place. While undoubtedly a criminal, Honest Jack became a folk hero, whose cleverness, charm, and defines of authority made him an enduring figure in British popular culture.

The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Oakden and Cameron Kiefer. I want to thank everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. I'd also like to thank all the members of the Everything Everywhere community who are active on the Facebook group and the Discord server. If you'd like to join in the discussion, there are links to both in the show notes. And as always, if you leave a review or send me a boostagram, you two can have it read on the show.