subject: York and the Story of Dick Turpin [print this page] York and the Story of Dick Turpin York and the Story of Dick Turpin
Plenty of people have an idea of who Dick Turpin was: a highwayman who held up travellers and stole their riches, often murdering them. He is generally recognised as one of the most famous highwaymen to have existed and, in spite of his various crimes, has been romanticised in popular culture to become something of a loveable villain.
Dick Turpin was born around 1705 and grew up in Essex only to eschew his father's trade as a butcher and instead become a notorious poacher, horse thief, murderer and burglar. And while he is most famous for an overnight horse journey made on his trusty steed Black Bess between York and London, this account is actually fictional - it was written into a novel by author William Harrison Ainsworth a hundred years after Turpin's death. However, that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty else that Turpin got up to with his gang of fellow crooks.
The famous criminal is best known for highway robbery thanks to his disappearance following the arrest of the majority of the gang he was part of, which was known as the Essex Gang or the Gregory Gang. In order to escape his own arrest, Turpin went into hiding several months after the event occurred during 1735, though he spent some months before doing so as a highwayman - thus sealing his reputation as a highway robber. Not much is known about what he did during the two years he was absent, but he resurfaced in 1737 with two new accomplices. However, it is believed that he may have shot one of them and fled from the scene soon after, though the reasons are unknown. Turpin was then accosted by a local, whom he shot and killed.
Determined to stay hidden, Turpin moved to Yorkshire and stayed in an inn under the alias of John Palmer. After acting strangely and violently in his new position - Turpin often went hunting with the gentlemen of the area and shot another man's cockerel, then threatened to shoot the man too while being rebuked for doing so - Turpin aroused enough suspicion to be placed in jail until the authorities knew more. His true identity was discovered when his mail was intercepted and a letter from him to his brother in law was discovered.
Turpin was then given a trial before being sentenced to death - a death which he leapt to himself, by bravely jumping from the gallows without pause for fear or to plead for his life at the last minute. Because of this death, Turpin's role in British history has been romanticised and the heroism of the man is often brought out in tales of his deeds.
Turpin fans can expect to find plenty more information in his final resting place when staying at York hotels, so they can learn all about the fascinating life of this highway robber.
