No More Learning

Mr. Townley was descended from an ancient and honorable family, of some centuries resi dence in Lancashire, and was the son of Richard Townley, of Townley-hall, in that county, who was tried for the share he had in the rebellion of 1715, but acquitted.
Young Mr. Townley being educated in the rigid
principles of popery,* went abroad early in life, and, entering into the service of France, distinguished
himself in his military capacity, particularly at the siege of Philipsbourg. Coming to England, in 17*2,
• The Townley family have suffered great persecution on the account of religion; in the early part of the reign of Queen Eliza beth, one of their ancestors, living at Townley-hall, was compelled, for a considerable time, to pay a heavy monthly fine, to escape im prisonment as a recusant, and for having suffered the celebration of mass in his house, before hit children and domestics.
I
ti iv. --c i ii ,. a;:y
1i. . ,d k i.
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 219
he associated chiefly with those of the catholic reli gion ; and it was thought that he induced many of them to take an active part in the rebellion. When the Pretender came to Manchester, Townley offered his services; when, being accepted, he was commis sioned to raise a regiment, which he soon completed; and, from his knowledge of military tactics, might have done the royal cause much mischief, but being made a prisoner at Carlisle, he was conducted to London, in order to take his trial for high-treason.
An act of parliament having passed in the year 1746,
" to empower the king to remove the cause of action
against persons apprehended for high-treason, out of the county where the crime was committed;" his majesty granted to the judges commissions to try, in the. counties of Cumberland, York, and Surrey, such rebels as had been committed to the prisons of
those counties respectively.
On the 23d of June, 174,6, at the Sessions held at
St. Margaret's Hill, for the trials of the rebels, Colonel Francis Townley, of the Manchester regiment, was indicted for the part he had acted in the rebellion. His counsel insisted that he was not a subject of Great Britain, being an officer in the service of the French king ; but this, the judges observed, was a cir-
■
georgb ii. ]
MEMOIRS OF [ctEORGE ii,
cumstance against him, as he had quitted his native country, and engaged in the French service, without the consent of his lawful sovereign. Some other mo tions, equally frivolous, being over-ruled, he was capitally convicted, and adjudged to die. After con viction, he behaved in the most reserved manner, scarcely speaking to any one but his brethren in misfortune.
George Fletcher had been a linen-draper, at Strat ford, near Manchester, managing the business for his mother, who, on her knees, endeavoured to persuade him not to engage with the rebels ; and offered him
1000/. on the condition that he would not embark in so desperate an enterprize ; but he was deaf to her entreaties, and so ambitious of serving the Pretender, that he gave his secretary, Mr. Murray, fifty pounds for a captain's commission. Fletcher having induced a man named Maddox to enlist, he afterwards would have deserted; but Fletcher produced a handful of gold, and said he should not want money if he would fight for the Pretender, which induced Maddox to keep his station.
There were six others tried with Townley and Fletcher, at the Surrey Sessions, and after the sentence of the law was passed, they all declared that they had
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 221
acted according to the dictates of their consciences, and would again act the same parts, if they were put to the trial. When the keeper informed them, that the following day was ordered for their execution, they expressed a resignation to the will of God ; em braced each other, and took an affectionate leave of their friends.
On the following morning they breakfasted together, and having conversed till near eleven o'clock, were conveyed on three sledges from the New Goal, South wark, to Kennington-common. The gibbet was surrounded by a party of the guards, and a block and a pile of faggots were placed near it. The faggots were set on fire while the proper officers were removing
the malefactors from the sledges.
After near an hour employed in acts of devotion,
these unhappy men, having delivered to the sheriffs some papers, expressive of their political sentiments, then underwent the sentence of the law. They had not hung above five minutes, when Colonel Townley* yet alive, was cut down, and being placed on the block, the executioner, with an axe, separated his head from the body; his heart and bowels were then taken out, and thrown into the fire ; and the other
vol. iv. 2 G
george ii. ]
222 MEMOIRS OF [gkorce 11.
treated in the same manner, the executioner cried out " God save King George. " The bodies were quartered, and delivered to the
keeper of the New Goal, who buried them : the heads of some were sent to Carlisle and Manchester, where they were exposed ; but those of Townley and Fletcher were fixed on Temple-Bar, where they re mained until within these few years, when they fell down.
Among the rest that suffered with Townley and Fletcher, on Kennington-common, July 20, 1746, was young Dawson, so pathetically recorded by Shenstone. The print of the exposure of these persons* heads is extremely scarce ; the one copied in this, work is in the collection of J. Goodford, Esq. of Yeovil, Somersetshire.
parties being severally
Tnl: VKW VI*! ! K PtC-LJC LiiiiiAltY
H'- I. .
James Turner. (a Beggar. aged. 9b. )
George II. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 223
3. jameg Cutner.
JAMEs TURNER, a common beggar, whose sil vered locks and flowing beard gave him a patriarchal
appearance, raised a considerable sum of money by the veneration generally directed towards aged people
in distress. Turner, though an old man, was so well experienced in his profession, that he deemed it no
trifling advantage to appear still older than he really
money
this man obtained daily, it is necessary to state that
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Nathaniel Hone, and
many other celebrated painters, struck with the
singularly reverend character of his aspect, wished to make studies from his head, and solicited him to sit
to them. He, however, would not consent, unless
paid at the rate of one shilling per hour, which he asserted he always got by his profession of begging.
Sir Joshua has often introduced the portrait of Turner into his pictures, particularly in that of Count Uglioni, and his children, starved to death.
2G2
was. To form some estimate of how much
224 MEMOIRS OF [george n.
Hone, likewise, made Turner the prominent feature in his picture of the Conjuror;* and painted his
portrait as he generally appeared, in the year 1751, which was engraved by Captain Baillie, in the year
1762.
One White, a paviour, getting far advanced in
years, suffered his beard to grow to an immense size, and became the successor to Turner, in the service of portrait and historical painters. The Rev. Mr, Peters has introduced White's likeness in his pic ture of the Resurrection of a Pious Family. And Alefounder, the miniature-painter, has palmed on the public White's portrait for that of Peter the
* Some difference existing between Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mr. Hone, the latter, in revenge, painted the figure of an old man, with a magic wand, conjuring from the flames various designs from old masters, which Sir Joshua had taken for models of some of his best pictures; and had afterwards destroyed the originals. On the death of Mr. Hone, in 1784, the whole of his collection of paintings, prints, and drawings, were sold by auction, at Hutchins' rooms, in King-street, Covent-garden, when the
picture of the Conjuror was purchased for sixty guineas, by an agent of Sir Joshua's, and consigned to the same destructive element that had consumed the old masters.
oeorge ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 225
Wild-boy, which is engraved as such by Bartolozzi,
though there are not less than three original resem
blances of that singular person, preserved by Falconet^ Kent, and Drost.
226 MEMOIRS OF
%itijat-i, QCurpin,
RICHARD TUR PIN was the son John Turpin, farmer, Hempstead, Essex, and having received
common school-education, was apprenticed butcher Whitechapel. His early youth was dis
tinguished the impropriety
the brutality his manners; and,
of his apprenticeship, married
East Ham, Essex, named Palmer; but he had not
long been married before took the practice stealing his neighbours' cattle, which he used kill
and cut up for sale.
Having stolen two oxen belonging Mr. Giles,
Plaistow, he drove them his own house; two Giles's servants suspecting the robber, went
Turpin's, where they saw two beasts size agreeing
with those that had been lost. They could not iden tify their property, the hides were stripped off; but,
understanding that Turpin was accustomed dispose his booty Waltham-Abbey, they went thither, and saw the hides the stolen cattle. No doubt
[GeoRGE
his behaviour and the expiration
young woman
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AfWH. KM;* AND TL,l1. . fW iI
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REMARKABLE PERSONS. 227
now remained of Turpin being the robber, and a warrant was accordingly procured for his apprehen sion ; but he, learning that the peace-officers were in search of him, made his escape from the back-window of his house, at the very moment they were entering at the door. He retreated to a place of security, and found means to inform his wife where he was con cealed ; on which she furnished him with money, when he travelled into Essex, and connected himself with a gang of smugglers. For some time he was successful, but, by the vigilance of the excise-officers, he was ultimately deprived of all his ill-acquired gains.
Thrown out of this kind of business, he joined a gang of deer-stealers, whose depredations were principally committed on Epping- forest, and the parks in its neighbourhood; but this not succeeding to the expectation of the robbers,
as a more profitable pursuit, to commence house breakers. Their plan was to fix on houses that they presumed contained valuable property: and, while one of them knocked at the door, the others were to rush in, and seize whatever they might deem worthy of theif notice. The first attack of this kind was at the house of Mr. Strype, an old man, who kept a
gkorge il]
they determined,
228 MEMOIItS OF [GEORGE IT.
chandler's shop at Watford, whom they robbed of all the money in his possession, without offering him
any personal abuse. Turpin now acquainted his asso ciates that there was an old woman at Loughton,who was in possession of seven or eight hundred pounds ; whereupon they agreed to rob her. On coming to the door, one of them knocked, and the rest forcing their way into the house, tied handkerchiefs over the eyes of the old woman and her maid. Turpin then demanded what money was in the house ; and the owner hesitating to tell him, he threatened to set her
on the fire if she did not make an immediate disco very. Still, however; she declined to give the desired information, when the villains actually placed her on the fire, where she sat till the tormenting pain com pelled her to discover her hidden treasure ; and they, taking possession of above 400/. , made their escape.
Some little time after this, they agreed to rob the house of a farmer, near Barking ; and, knocking at the door, the people declined to open it ; on which they broke it open, and, having bound the farmer, his wife, his son-in-law, and the servant-maid, robbed the house of above 700/. Turpin was so much delighted, that he exclaimed, " Aye, this will do, if it would always be so and the robbers retired
they
ckorgkh. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 229
with their prize, which amounted to above eighty pounds for each of them. This desperate gang, now flushed with success, determined to attack the house Of Mr. Mason, the keeper of Epping-forest ; and the time was fixed when the plan was to be carried into execution ; but Turpin having gone to London, to spend his share of the former booty, intoxicated himself to such a degree, that he totally forgot the appointment. Nevertheless, the rest of the gang resolved that the absence of their companion should not frustrate the proposed design ; and, having taken a solemn oath to break every article of furniture in Mason's house, they set out on their expedition. On gaining admission, they discovered an old man sitting by the fire-side, whom they suffered to remain unmo lested ; but Mr. Mason they kicked and treated in a very severe manner. His daughter escaped their notice and fury, by running out of the house, and
taking shelter in a hog-stye. After ransacking the
lower part of the house, and doing great mischief
they went up-stairs, where they broke every thing that fell in their way, and, among the rest, a china punch-bowl, from which dropped one hundred and twenty guineas ; this they made a prey of, and effected their escape. They now went to London in
VOL. iv. S h
230 MEMOIRS OF [ckorgb n.
search of Turpin, with whom they shared the booty, though he had not taken an active part in the exe cution of the villany.
On the 11th of January, 173-5, Turpin and five of his companions went to the house of Mr. Saunders, a rich farmer at Charlton, in Kent, between seven and eight in the evening, and having knocked at the door, asked if Mr. Saunders was at home. Being an swered in the affirmative, they rushed into the house,
and found Mr. Saunders, with his wife and friends,
playing at cards in the parlour. They told the company that they should remain uninjured if they made no disturbance. Having made prize ofa silver snuff-box, which lay on the table, a part of the gang stood guard over the rest of the company, while the
others attended Mr. Saunders through the house, and, breaking open his escritoirs and closets, stole above a 100/. exclusive of plate. During these transactions, the servant-maid ran
up-stairs, barred the door of her room, and called out " Thieves,"
with a view of alarming the neighbourhood ; but the robbers broke open the door of her room, secured her, and then robbed the house of all the valuable property they had not before taken. Finding some mince-pies, and bottles of wine, they sat down to
«Eoaor> ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS.
regale themselves ; and. meeting with a bottle of
each of the company to drink a glass of it. Mrs. Saunders fainting through
terror, they administered some drops in water to her,
and recovered her to the use of her senses.
staid in the house a considerable time, they packed
up their booty, and departed, first declaring that
if any of the family gave the least alarm within two hours, or advertised the marks on the stolen plate, they would return at a future period and murder them. Retiring to a public-house at Woolwich, where they had concerted the robbery, they crossed the Thames
to an empty house in Ratcliffe Highway, and depo sited the stolen effects till they found a purchaser to take them off their hands.
On the 18th of the same month, they went to the house of Mr. Sheldon, near Croydon, in Surrey,
brandy, they compelled
where they arrived about seven in the
They found the coachman in the stable,
his horses, and, after having secured him, they quitted the stable, and meeting Mr. Sheldon in the
him to conduct them into the house, where they stole eleven guineas, with the
jewels, plate, and other things of value, to a consider 9h8
yard, they compelled
Having
evening. attending
2;W
MEMOIRS OF [george 11,
able amount. They then returned Mr. Sheldon two guineas, and apologized for their conduct.
The next robbery they committed was upon the house of Mr. Lawrence, of Edgware, near Stanmore, in Middlesex, for which place they set out on the 4th of February, and arrived at a public-house in that village about five o'clock in the evening. From this
place they went to Mr. Lawrence's, where they arrived about seven o'clock, just as he had discharged some people who had worked for him. Having quitted their horses "at the outer gate, one of the robbers going forward found a boy, who had just returned from folding his sheep : the rest of the gang following, a pistol was presented, and instant destruction threat ened if he made any noise. They then took off his garters, tied his hands, and desired him to direct them to the door, and when they knocked to answer
and bid the servant open in which case they would not hurt him. But, when the boy came to the door, he was so terrified that he could not speak on which, one of the gang knocked, and man-servant opening the door, imagining was one of the neighbours, they all rushed in, armed with pistols. Having seized Mr. Lawrence and his servant, they threw a
it
a
it,
;
George II. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 233
cloth over their faces, and taking the boy into another room, demanded what fire-arms were in the house;
he replied, only an old gun, which they discovered and broke in pieces. They then bound Mr. Law rence and his man, and made them by the boy; and Turpin searching the gentleman, took from him
guinea, Portugal piece, and some silver; but, not
being satisfied with this booty, they forced him
conduct them up-stairs, where they broke open
closet, and stole some money and plate. This was
not sufficient satisfy them, and they threatened
murder Mr. Lawrence, each them destining him
different death, the savageness
ture prompted him. At length one
kettle water from the fire, and threw
but providentially happened not to scald him.
his own na
them took over him
hot enough
the interim the maid-servant, who was churning butter the dairy, hearing noise the house, apprehended some mischief; which she blew out
the candle, screen herself; but being found the course their search, one of the miscreants com pelled her up-stairs, where gratified his
brutal passion force. They then robbed the house the valuable effects they could find, locked the
of all
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«34 MEMOIRS OF [okorok ii.
family into the parlour, threw the key into the garden, and took their plunder to London.
The particulars of this atrocious
presented to the king, a proclamation was issued for
the apprehension of the offenders, promising a pardon to any one of them who would impeach his accom plices, and a reward of fifty pounds was offered, to be paid on conviction. This, however, had no effect; the robbers continued their depredations as before ; and, flushed with the success they had met with, seemed to bid defiance to the laws.
On the 7th of February, six of them assembled at the White-bear Inn, in Drury-lane, where they agreed to rob the house of Mr. Francis, a farmer, near Mary-le-bone. Arriving at the place, they found a servant in the cow-house, whom they bound fast, and threatened to murder him if he was not perfectly
silent. This being done, they led him into the
stable, where finding another of the servants, bound him in the same manner. In the interim Mr. Francis happening to come home, they presented their pistols to his breast, and threatened instant des truction to him, if he made the least noise or opposi tion. Having bound the master in the stable with his servant*, they rushed into the house, tied Mrs. Fran
robbery being re
they
REMARKABLE PERSONS.
cis, her daughter, and the maid-servant, and beat them in a most cruel manner. One of the thieves stood as a sentry, while the rest rifled the house, in which they found a silver tankard, a medal of Charles the First, a gold watch, several gold rings, a consider able sum of money, and a variety of valuable linen, and other effects, which they conveyed to London.
Hereupon a reward of 100/. was offered for the apprehension of the offenders ; in consequence of which, two of them were taken into custody, tried
and convicted on the evidence of an accomplice, and hanged in chains ; and, the whole gang being dis persed, Turpin went into the country to renew his
georgb ii. ]
on the public.
On a journey towards Cambridge, he met a man
genteelly dressed, and well mounted; and expect ing a good booty, he presented a pistol and demanded his money. The person he stopped happened to be King, a celebrated highwayman, who knew Turpin ; and, when the latter threatened instant death, if he did not deliver his money, King burst into a fit of laughter, and said, " What ! dog eat dog ? —come, come, brother Turpin ; if you don't know me, I know you, and
shall be glad of your company. "
depredations
236 MEMOIRS OF [georcb it.
These brethren in iniquity soon struck a bargain, and immediately entering on business, committed a number of robberies ; till at length they were so well known, that no public-house would receive them as
Thus situated, they fixed on a spot between
guests.
the King's-oak and the Loughton-road, on Epping Forest, where they made a cave, which was large enough to receive them and their horses. This cave was inclosed within a sort of thicket of bushes and brambles, through which they could look, and see passengers on the road, while themselves remained unobserved. From this station they used to issue, and robbed such a number of persons, that at length the very pedlars, who travelled the road, carried fire arms for their defence: and, while they were in this retreat, Turpin's wife used to supply them with
necessaries, and frequently remained in the cave during the night.
Having taken a ride as far as Bungay, in Suffolk, they observed two young women receive fourteen pounds for corn ; on which, Turpin resolved to rob them of the money. King objected, saying, it was a
pity to rob such pretty girls ; but Turpin was ob stinate, and obtained the booty. Upon their return
-
george ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 237
home, on the following day, they stopped a Mr.
Bradele, of London, who was riding in his chariot
With his children. The gentleman seeing only one robber, was preparing to make resistance, when King called to Turpin to hold the horses. They took from this gentleman his watch, money, and an old mourn ing ring ; but returned the latter, as he declared that its intrinsic value was trifling, yet he was very unwil ling to part with it. Finding that they readily parted with the ring, he asked them what he must give for the watch: on which King said to Turpin, "What say ye, Jack? " a name by which he always called him, " here seems to be a good honest fellow ; shall we let him have the watch? " Turpin replied, " Do as you please on which, King said to the gentleman, "You must pay six guineas for it: we never sell for more, though the watch should be worth six and thirty. " The gentleman received the watch back, and promised that the money should be left at the Dial, in Birchin-lane, where they might receive and no questions would be asked.
Not long after this, Turpin was guilty of mur der, which arose from the following circumstance: reward of 100/. having been offered for appre hending him, the servant of gentleman, named
VOL. IV.
2 I
a
it, a
236 MEMOIRS OF [george u.
Thompson, went out with a higgler, to try ifthey could take this notorious offender. Turpin seeing them approach near his dwelling, Mr. Thompson's man having a gun, he mistook them for poachers ; on which he said, there were no hares near that thicket : " No," said Thompson's servant, " but I have found a Turpin ;" and presenting his gun, required him to surrender. Hereupon Turpin spoke to him in a
friendly manner, and gradually retreated at the same time, till having seized his own gun, he shot him dead on the spot, and the higgler ran off with the utmost precipitation.
This transaction making a great noise in the neigh bourhood, Turpin went further into the country, in search of his old companion King; and, in the mean time, sent a letter to his wife, to meet him at a public- house at Hertford.
The woman attended according to this direction; and her husband coming into the house soon after she arrived, a butcher, to whom he owed five pounds, happened to see him ; on which he
said, " Come, Dick, I know you have money now and if you will pay me, it will be of great service. "
Turpin told him that his wife was in the next room; that she had money, and that he should be paid immediately: but while the butcher was hinting
george 11. 3 REMARKABLE PERSONS.
that the person present was Turpin, and that they might take hiin into cus
tody after he had received his debt, the highwayman made his escape through a window, and rode off with
the greatest expedition.
Turpin having found King, and a man named
Potter, who had lately connected himself with them, they set off towards London in the dusk of the even ing ; but, when they came near the Green Man, on Epping-forest, they overtook a Mr. Major, who riding on a very fine horse, and Turpin's being very much
jaded, he obliged the rider to dismount, and exchanged horses. The robbers now pursued their journey towards London, and Mr. Major going to the Green Man, gave an account of the affair; on which it was
that Turpin had been the robber, and that the horse which he had exchanged must have been stolen. It was on a Saturday evening that this rob bery was committed ; but Mr. Major being advised to print hand-bills immediately, notice was given to the landlord of the Green Man, that such a horse as Mr. Major had lost had been left at the Red Lion, in Whitechapel. The landlord going there, deter mined to wait till some person came for it; and,
sbout eleven at night, King's brother came to pay for 9I2
to some of his acquaintance,
conjectured
240 MEMOIRs of [George
the horse, and take him away; which was immediately seized, and conducted into the house,
Being asked what right had the horse, had bought it; but the landlord examining
which had his hand, found button of the handle, half broken off, and the name
said whip
the end Major
the remaining half. Hereupon was given into custody constable; but was not supposed was the actual robber, he was told should have his
liberty,
he said that
for the horse
there, saw King, who drew pistol, and attempted fire but flashed the pan; then endeavoured
pull out another pistol, but could not, got entangled his pocket. At this time, Turpin was watching short distance; and riding towards the spot, King cried out, “Shoot him, we are taken;”
which Turpin fired, and shot his companion, who called out, “Dick, you have killed me,” which the
other hearing, rode off full speed. King lived week after this affair, and gave information that
Turpin might marsh; and,
had been there
found house near Hackney
would discover his employer; whereupon stout man, white coat, was waiting
Red-lion-street. The company going
inquiry,
the night that rode off, lamenting
was discovered that Turpin
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George II. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 24l
that he had killed King, who was the most faithful associate he ever had in his life. -
For a considerable time did Turpin skulk about the forest, having been deprived of his retreat in the cave,
since he shot the servant of Mr. Thompson. On the examination of this cave, there were found two shirts, two pair of stockings, a piece of ham, and part of a
bottle of wine. Some vain attempts were made to take this notorious offender into custody; and, among the rest, the huntsman of a gentleman in the neigh bourhood went in search of him with bloodhounds, Turpin perceiving them, got into a tree, under which the hounds passed, to his inexpressible terror, so that
he determined to make a retreat into Yorkshire.
he stole some horses, for which he was taken into custody; but he escaped from the constable, as he was con ducting him before a magistrate, and hastened to Welton, in Yorkshire, where he went by the name
of John Palmer, and assumed the character of a gen. . tleman. He now frequently went into Lincolnshire,
to steal horses, and either sold or exchanged them in Yorkshire. He often accompanied the neighbouring gentlemen on their parties of hunting and shooting; and one evening, on a return from an expedition of
Going first to Long Sutton, in Lincolnshire,
242
the latter kind, his landlord.
MEMOIRS OF
wantonly shot On this, Mr. Hall,
[George
cock belonging neighbour, said,
“You have done wrong shooting your landlord's
cock,” while Irritated lord
which, Turpin replied, that would stay
loaded his gun, would shoot him also.
this insult, Mr. Hall informed the land what had passed, and application being made
some magistrates, warrant was granted for the apprehension the offender; who being taken into
custody, and carried before bench justices, then assembled the quarter-sessions Beverley, they demanded security for his good behaviour, which being unable unwilling give, was committed Bridewell.
On inquiry, appeared that made frequent journeys into Lincolnshire, and his return
always abounded money, and was likewise pos
session
was trates,
several horses; that was conjectured
horse-stealer and highwayman. consequence, went him
The magis the following
had lived, substance,
day, and demanded whom was, where and his employment. He replied
“That about two years ago had lived Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, and was by trade butcher;
but that having contracted several debts for sheep that
in
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oeorgeii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 243
The magistrates not being satisfied with this tale, com missioned the clerk of the peace to write into Lin
colnshire, and make the necessary inquiries respecting the supposed John Palmer. The letter was carried by a special messenger, who brought an answer from
a magistrate in the neighbourhood, importing that John Palmer was well known, though he had never carried on trade there : that he had been accused of sheep-stealing, for which he had been in custody, but had made his escape from the peace-officers ; and that there were several informations lodged against him for horse-stealing. Hereupon the magistrates thought it prudent to remove him to York-castle, where he had not been more than a month, when two persons from Lincolnshire came and claimed a mare and foal, and likewise a horse, which he had stolen in that county. After he had been about four months in prison, he wrote the following letter to his brother in Essex :—
"Dear Brother, York, Feb. 6, 1739. M I am sorry to acquaint you that I am now under
If
proved rotten, he was obliged to abscond. "
** confinement in York-castle, for horse-stealing.
M I could procure an evidence from London to give
244 MEMOIRS OV [GEORGE II.
" me a character, that would go a great way towards " my being acquitted. I had not been long in this
" country before my being apprehended, so that it " would pass off the readier. For heaven's sake, my " dear brother, do not neglect me ; you will know " what I mean, when I say
" I am, your's,
"John Palmer. "
The brother refusing to pay the postage of the letter"* returned it to the post-office ; and Mr. Smith, a schoolmaster, who had taught Turpin to write, acci
immediately recognised his hand* on which he carried the letter to magistrate, who breaking open discovered that the supposed John
Palmer was no less than the real Richard Turpin. Hereupon the magistrates of Essex dispatched Mr. Smith to York, who immediately selected Turpin from all the other prisoners in the castle; and, with another gentleman, afterwards proved his identity on his trial. The rumour that Turpin was prisoner in York-castle, was no sooner circulated than per sons flocked from all parts of the country to take
view of the noted highwayman, and debates ran very high, whether he was the real person or not.
dentally seeing
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George II. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 245
Among others who visited him was a young fellow who pretended to know the famous Turpin, and having regarded him a considerable time, with looks of great attention, he told the keeper he would bet him half-a-guinea that he was not Turpin; on which the prisoner, whispering the keeper, said, “Lay him the wager, and I’ll go your halves. ”
When this notorious malefactor was brought to trial, he was convicted on two indictments, and received sentence of death. After conviction, he wrote to his father, imploring him to intercede with a gentleman and lady of rank, to make interest that his sentence might be remitted; and that he might be transported.
The father did what was in his power; but the notoriety of his character was such that no
persons
would exert themselves in his favor. He
lived in the most gay and thoughtless
conviction, regardless of consideration futurity,
and affecting make jest
awaited him. Not many days before his execution, he purchased new fustian frock and pair pumps,
order wear them the time of his death; and on the day before, hired five poor men, ten shillings
each,
follow the cart mourners. He gave hat
bands and gloves several other persons; and left L. IV.
manner after
the dreadful fate that
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246 MEMOIRS OF [GEORGE II.
ring, and some other articles, to a married woman in Lincolnshire, with whom he had been acquainted.
On the morning of his death he was put into a cart, and drawn to the place of execution, followed by his mourners as above-mentioned ; in his way he bowed to the spectators with the most astonishing indif
ference and intrepidity. Arriving at the fatal tree, he ascended the ladder; when his leg trembling, he stamped it down with an air of assumed courage, as if he were ashamed of discovering the least signs of fear. Having conversed with the executioner about half-an-hour, he threw himself off the ladder, and expired in a few minutes.
The spectators of the execution seemed to be much affected at the fate of this man, who was distinguished by the comeliness of his appearance. The corpse was brought to the Blue Boar, in Castle-gate, York, where it remained till the next morning, and then interred in the church-yard of St. George's parish, with an inscription on the coffin, bearing his age, and the initials of his name. The grave was made remark ably deep, and the people who acted as mourners took such measures as they thought would secure the body : yet, about three o'clock on the following morning,
some persons were observed in the church-yard, who
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 247
carried it off; and the populace, having an intimation whither it was conveyed, found it in a garden belong ing to one of the surgeons of the city. Having reco vered the coffin with the body, they laid it on a board, and, after carrying it through the street, in a trium phant manner, filled it with unslacked lime, and buried
it in the grave where it had been before deposited. Turpin suffered at York, on the 10th of April,
george ii. ]
1739.
2K2
248 MEMOIRS OF [gKonaE n;
William WLalittv*
We are frequently furnished, in the monthly obi tuaries, with instances of persons who have lived to very extraordinary ages ; and the various country, as well as London, newspapers are carefully consulted, for the purpose of perpetuating, through the medium of the Annual Registers and Monthly Magazines, the name and character of such as have arrived to the age of one hundred years, and upwards. William Walker, born in the year 1613, in a village near Ro chester, Lancashire, claims particular attention, from the circumstance of the many singular transactions he must have witnessed in the course of his very long
life ; together with the diversity of scene he expe rienced in the turbulent times in which he lived, and the different governments he saw constantly rise about him. He saw the vicissitudes of royalty, and of government, in the coronation and execution of
Charles I. ; the rise and decline of the Protectorate,
No
; ' ■;a- ') r. . . . . ji. . . . j
a
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 249
under Oliver and Richard Cromwell ; the exile and restoration of Charles II. ; the succession and abdica tion of James II. ; the revolution ; the end of the Stuart line in Queens Mary and Anne ; with the settlement of the crown of England in the House of Brunswick ; and the coronation of two of its so vereigns. On the breaking out of the civil war, he
joined the royal standard, and greatly distinguished himself in the service; he performed at the memora
ble battle of Edge-hill, where he was wounded in the
arm, and had two horses shot under him. From his
portrait, painted in his one hundred and twenty- third year, he exhibits every appearance of health, and the vigour of matured good old age ; without the debility that generally characterizes even the ad vanced period of one hundred ; for though we have instances of persons who exceeded Walker in lon
georgb ii. ]
it is recorded of Old Parr, that he was blind for many years previous to the deceit he prac tised on the son of his landlord, for the renewal of
his lease, including, with his own, the interest of his wife, in the succession for her life.
Carew, in his survey of Cornwall, assures us, upon his own knowledge, that fourscore and ten years of
gevity,
250 MEMOIRS OF
[George
age ordinary there
accompanied with
every place, and most
able use the body and says, lately living, reached
senses. One Polezew,
one hundred and thirty; kinsman his one
hundred and twelve. One Beauchamp, one hun dred and six; and the parish where dwelt,
professes
within fourteen weeks space, whose years added
have remembered the decease four
together,
forty. The same Gentleman made this epitaph upon Brawne, Irishman, but Cornish beggar:—
Here Brawn the quondam beggar lies,
Who counted his tale
Some sixscore winters, and above,
Sugh virtue ale.
Ale was his meat, his drink, his cloth,
Ale did his death deprive:
And could still have drunk his ale,
He had been still alive.
Whatever may have been William Walker's mode
made the number three hundred and
living, evidently appears
of conducing health; and the patriarchal appear
ance his hair, and flowing beard, must have ex cited every person who saw him feeling
have had the effect
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REMARKABLE PERSONS. 251
veneration and respect. He died in 1736, aged one hundred and twenty-three years, witnessing
eight reigns, exclusive of the protectorate of the Cromwell's ; from James the First to King George the Second.
george ii. ]
252 MEMOIRS OF
[GEorge
#3t, gogijua &arty,
Joshua WARD was one the younger sons ancient and respectable family, settled Guis borough, Yorkshire, where was born, some
period the seventeenth century. He seems, from
every description him,
tages from education, though indisputably pos sessed mean natural parts. The first account we
partnership with brother, named William, dry-salter,
have him that was associated
Thames-street. After they had carried this busi ness some time, fire broke out adjoining house, which communicating itself their warehouses, en tirely destroyed their property. On this occasion, Mr. Ward, with gentleman, who was visit him, escaped over the tops the houses, almost
state nudity. the year 1717, was returned member for Marlborough; but, vote the House Commons, dated May 13, was declared not duly elected. imagined that was some
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GteoRGB ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS.
measure connected with his brother, John Ward, (who is stigmatized by Mr. Pope, Dunciad iii. 34. ) in
secreting and protecting illegally the property of some of the South-sea directors. Be this as it may, he soon after fled from England, resided some years abroad, and was supposed to have adopted the Roman Catholic faith. During his exile, he acquired the knowledge of medicine and chemistry, which after wards enabled him to rise to a condition of affluence.
About the year 1733, he began to practise physic, and combated for some time the united efforts of wit,
learning, argument, ridicule, malice, and jealousy, by all of which he was opposed in every shape that can be suggested. At length, by some cures, and parti cularly one which he happily effected on a relation of
Sir Joseph Jekyl, master of the rolls, he got the better of his opponents, and was suffered to practise undisturbed. From this time his reputation was established: he was exempted, by a vote of the House
of Commons, from being visited by the censors of the College of Physicians ; and was even called in to the assistance of King George II. , whose hand he cured, and received, as a reward, a commission for his nephew, the late General Gansel. He acquired con
siderable popularity, by distributing gratuitously to VOL. IV. 2 L
MEMOIRS OF [george ii.
the poor his medicines and advice, and on many occasions pecuniary assistance. Indeed, in these par ticulars, his conduct was entitled to every degree of praise; and though his deportment was rough and forbidding, he was not wanting in the true benevo lence of mind. After a continued series of success, he died, Dec. 21, 1761, at a very advanced age, and left the secret of his medicines to Mr. Page, member for Chichester, who bestowed them on two charitable institutions. His will is printed in the Gentleman's
Magazine for 1762, p. 208.
AT: in .
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SAMUEL
WOOD, ( Tl*e Miller. )
fublishai TrynRYoiay S6. I'atirrwsta-Sffw.
GEOROfiH. ]
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 255
Samuel Wiocto.
This man, a native of Worcestershire, was em
ployed by a miller on the Isle of Dogs, nearly oppo site Greenwich. On the 15th of August, 1737, being engaged as usual in the duty of the mill, he, unfortu
at the time it was in full action, became entangled in the cogs of the wheel, which, carrying him completely round, placed him in the most immi nent peril of his life, and lacerated his arm from his body. He was providentially thrown on a quantity of meal, but lay for a considerable time in a helpless condition before he was discovered ; and, on the day following the accident, was conveyed to St. Thomas's Hospital, Southwark, where he remained until a per
fect cure was effected by surgeon Feme.
With the money he collected, and the assistsnce of
some friends, he was enabled, after his discharge from the hospital, to open a public-house in the Mile-end- road, and was living there in the year 1763. He also obtained the situation of a custom-house-officer.
2 l2
nately,
256 MEMOIRS OF [george
3Little oils,
AITER AT THE TURK's-HEAD cor FEE-Hous -*-
IN almost every coffee-house tavern within the metropolis, there general some one other
the attendants more particularly favourite with the frequenters the house than the rest; and not uncommon circumstance for principal waiter take his master's place the event his decease, case failure business. Little Will was waiter the Turk's-head Coffee-house, which his
time was very much noted for the free discussion politics; and where the affairs the nation agitated the brains the company, beyond the consideration
their own private concerns. Little Will was his person perfect Ragotin, squat figure, large head, awkward, and very clumsily limbed and,
render himself more particularly noticed, had trick of continually playing with his thumbs; yet, with these personal disadvantages, Little Will was man
sound sense and discernment. The Rev. Mr.
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LITTLE WILL, *At the Turks Head Coffee-house. )
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REMARKABLE PERSONS. 257
Huddesford, of Trinity College, Oxford, writing to Granger, author of the Biographical History of Eng land, says, " Little Will, as I have heard, was a great favorite with the gentlemen of the coffee-house ; there is a print representing him in his constant attitude, apparently insensible to every thing around him ; but swallowing every article of politics that dropped,
which, I am told, he understands better than any of his masters. "
In Will's time, waiters were not the smart spruce fellows as they are of the present day ; a clean white apron served all the purposes of a napkin to wipe the glasses ; and it is with this insignia of office, and a pair of snuffers pendent from the apron-string, that our little coffee-house politician is delineated. —His
portrait was taken in the year 1752.
geohge ii. ]
$58
MEMOIRS OF [georgb ii.
Catherine Warman, though descended from a Scotch family, was a native of Prussia ; her father, John Ross, went from the place of his nativity in the
north of Scotland, into Germany, and probably entered the seryice of the King of Prussia in a military capa city, his daughter Catherine being born a subject of that king, at Berlin, in May, 1648. Her family appear to have been enthusiastic royalists, and intimately connected with others of like description. Captain
Kettle, of Town Malden, in Kent, who followed the fortunes of King Charles II. , and attended that mo narch in several of his visits to the courts in Germany, was Catherine's godfather, and seems to have had her under his particular care and protection : for, at the restoration of Charles II. , so overjoyed was he at the event, that he caused his god-daughter's feet to be washed in claret. At what period of her life she was deprived of this friend and protector does not appear ; or, whether he made any sort of provision for her future support. Soon after the restoration, Captain
CAT HE RIXK WARMAN
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 250
Kettle returned to his native country, accompanied by his god-daughter Catherine, who afterwards married James Walker, a Scotchman, and resided with him in the city of Glasgow. After his decease she married Hugh Warman, a soldier, who was under the Duke of Monmouth, in the unfortunate engagement at Taunton, which terminated in His Grace being taken
prisoner, the total defeat of his army, and his subse quent execution on Tower-hill. What became of Hugh Warman after Monmouth's defeat is not no ticed ; but it appears he had deserted his wife long pre vious to his joining in the rising of the west, as she received alms from the parish of St. Martin's-in-the- fields, from the year 1680 to the time of her death. She was a woman of a lively disposition, and happy
in an excellent memory; and frequently diverted her self and those about her, by recounting several inci
dents which happened in the time of the memorable civil war. This she was the better enabled to do, as having learnt many interesting particulars in her child hood from her godrfather, Captain Kettle, and pro bably from the information of her father, and other friends.
Catherine Warman lived to the very advanced age of one hundred and seven years, and died on the 15th
george ii. ]
260 MEMOIRS, &c. [George
February, 1755, retaining her hearing and memory
the last. Her corpse was attended by fifteen old women, out one house, whose ages together
amounted 1911 years, the youngest being seventy
five years age. The house mentioned contain ing these venerable matrons must have been either St.
Martin’s work-house, the alms-houses belonging that parish, situate Hog-lane, now Crown-street,
Soho; but lately modern building has been erected Bayham-street, Camden Town, which the pre
sent poor alms-women have been removed; the old alms-houses Crown-street are about be taken
down, for the purpose projected improvement that neighbourhood.
the likeness preserved Catherine Warman, she represented woollen cloak, on which affixed badge, with the initial letters M. P. , for St.
Martin’s parish. To commemorate the era her birth, she holds her hand scroll, which given
portrait King Charles
END of the Fourth AND LAST VOLUME,
*"--- W. Lewis, Printer, Finch-lane, London.
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