Page 64 - All About History - Issue 26-15

HE & ES

VILL INS

Dick

Turpin

Immortalised as the dashing fugitive who rode

across the country in a night, the tales are far
from the truth of the man behind the legend

Written by Peter Thorpe Turpin’s father
wasjailedafterhe
istoryhaspaintedDickTurpinasaheroof Turpinon21September1705toMariaandJohn–a
romance–a‘dandyhighwayman’handsome farmer, butcher and sometime innkeeper. Little refusedtosayhowhe
enough to make ladies swoon. But, when isknownofTurpin’searlyyears,saveforthefact came by his new horse,
it comes to this notorious criminal, history he was apprenticed to a butcher in Whitechapel agiftfromhisson
Hhasbeenkind.Turpinhadbeenscarredby sometime in his teens, and by the time he was 21
smallpoxandhadadistinctlyordinaryface,he hehadhisownshop.Earlyinhiscareerofcrime
didnotridefromLondontoYorkonahorsecalled he would obtain sheep and cattle by ‘relieving’ the
BlackBess,andtodescribehimasa‘highwayman’ animals from farms in the neighbourhood.
isnotstrictlyaccurate–hedidnottaketostopping On one occasion, having stolen two bullocks
coachesuntillaterinhis‘career’. from a farmer by the name of Mr Giles of Plaistow,
DickTurpinwasacattlethief,robberand he drove the pair to his house and slaughtered
murderer who would not shy away from assaulting them. Unbeknown to Turpin, two servants of Mr
womenifhehadto.Foritheendedupdanglingat Gilessuspectedhimastheculpritandmanaged
the end of a rope. This false ‘romantic’ reputation to trace the animals to his house. The animals’
was bestowed upon him by William Harrison carcasses were seen by the two servants, but of
Ainsworth,anovelistofthe19thcenturywho coursewithouttheskinstheycouldnotbesure.
turned Turpin into a hero in his novel Rookwood. However, they knew that Turpin used to get rid of
Over the years, many films have also made Turpin hidesatthenearbytownofWalthamAbbey,and
outtobesomekindofRobinHoodcharacter. it was there that they discovered them. A warrant
ButtherealDickTurpinwasbornattheRose wasissuedforthearrestofTurpin,butasthe
andCrowninHempstead,Essex.Hewasbaptised lawofficerswereenteringhishouse,heescaped
inthevillagechurchofStAndrew’sasRichardus through a back window and fled.
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