Why were so many highway robberies carried out on Hounslow Heath?

What was it that attracted highwaymen to the Heath?

Any heath was a lure for highway robbers but Hounslow Heath was especially attractive.

Hounslow Heath once covered a vast area from Teddington to Windsor.

Unfortunately the main road (highway) from London (via Hounslow and Windsor) to Bath and Exeter crossed the vast heath, which meant that there were many stretches of open road where innocent travellers could become easy targets for highway robbers.

At times Hounslow Heath was declared the most dangerous place in England to travel.

There was not an alternative route: the highway had to be used by the nobility, courtiers, officials, various local merchants and traders, and the local population. Added to that, was the lack of a national organisation in charge of roads and their repair. The roads were not tarmacked and therefore at the mercy of the weather: deep muddy ruts or dry and extremely dusty. The journey itself would have been unpleasant, also fearing at any moment that a masked robber might appear with a raised pistol.

1786 John Cary's “ Actual Survey of the Country -

15 miles round London on a scale of One Inch to a Mile”

Why were highwaymen and women viewed as romantic, dashing figures? Because many of the victims were figures of authority\nobility and deemed to be wealthy - from the general public’s view they could well afford to be robbed.

Many people have heard of Dick Turpin, the infamous highwayman. Turpin is a good example of when fact and fiction become entwined. Turpin never set foot on Hounslow Heath, and is now regarded as a nasty, vicious, low-life criminal, as were many of the highway robbers.

Hurrah, Over Hounslow Heath to roam,

Hurrah for the stilly hour,

When the moon looks pale from her lofty dome

Like a maid from her battle tow’r,

When the sparks of fire from my courser fleet,

Spring dashing at every goad,

And the distant sound of the wheels I greet,

Then hurrah, hurrah for the Road.

Stop, - stop’s the word all dread to hear,

Your Gold and your Gems resign,

With my pistols cock’d and looks severe,

For a desperate life is mine,

Now ladies scream, now with rage men glow,

While their purses I unload,

They cry good night with a smile and a bow,

And hurrah, hurrah for the road,

Hurrah &c.

What mirth at jovial house of call,

O’er wine cups our deeds to tell,

To forget one day we must pay for all,

And swing to the dismal bell.

Remorse too late – this despised heart,

Why with dungeon fetters bode,

With courage I’ve lived – so with life I part,

Then hurrah, - hurrah for the Road.

This link will take you to another ballad and this one has been recorded, as have many more on this site: English Broadside Ballad Archive: EBBA has made broadside ballads from many different holdings easily and fully accessible, gathered together on one site.

http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/20793/recording

Before the advent of daily/weekly newspapers, news of the exploits of the highway robbers would be printed on a single sheet of paper. They also contained news, prophecies, histories, moral advice, religious earnings, political arguments, satire, comedy and bawdy tales – they were large pieces of paper! Sold in large numbers on street corners, in town squares and at fairs by travelling ballad singers. Pinned on the walls of alehouses and other public places. They were sung, read and viewed with pleasure by a wide audience.

Now here are some of the highwaymen and women who roamed on Hounslow Heath:Sixteen String Jack, Moll Cut Purse and Claude du Vall

John Rann alias Sixteen String Jack 1750 – 1774

He was executed at Tyburn, aged just 24 – his body was released to his friends – rather than hung from a gibbet!

He came to be known as Sixteen String Jack because of the number of strings that he wore at the knees of his breeches.

Generally reported that the number of strings on his breeches alluded to the number of times he had been tried and acquitted – acquitted for lack of evidence!

He dressed well and was referred to as a ‘ladies’ man’. At one court appearance he is said to have worn a very large bunch of flowers on his coat and ribbons on his leg irons.

One instance of Jack’s highway robbery on Hounslow Heath: he was accused of robbing a John Devall of his watch and money. He supposedly passed the watch to his girlfriend, Miss Roche. Miss Roche is said to have then passed it on to her friend, Miss Smith. Miss Smith pawned at with Mr Hallam, a pawnbroker. Mr Hallam became suspicious, told the authorities and Jack, Roche and Smith were taken into custody, tried and acquitted.

Sixteen String Jack ‘s final criminal act, was to rob Dr Bell, Chaplain – he just happened to be the Chaplain to Princess Amelia, 2nd daughter of King George II – for that Jack was tried and found guilty.

Mary Frith alias Moll Cutpurse 1589 -1659

Moll was a well-known criminal - she managed to live a long life and to die a natural death at the age of 70!

Moll began her criminal career as a pickpocket, cutting the strings attached to purses: hence her name – Moll Cutpurse.

Moll had led an extraordinary riotous life and scandalised society from an early age. She preferred to romp with boys and to dress in male clothes. It was said of her that she was the first woman in England to smoke.

One of her arrests was when she appeared on stage in male clothes – at the time it was against the law.

She was so infamous that during her lifetime two plays were written about her. One being ‘The Roaring Girl’ – it was performed as recently as 2014 by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Moll’s life as a highway woman was short lived, or rather there is only one documented account… there may have been more.

Moll chose to attack and rob General Fairfax on Hounslow Heath. She shot Fairfax, wounded his arm, and then shot his servant’s horses. She managed to rob Fairfax of 250 jacobuses (worth 25 shillings each) and fled the scene. Fairfax managed to get to safety and alert a Company of Parliamentarian Offices, stationed in Hounslow. They pursued Moll to Turnham Green where she was arrested and conveyed to Newgate Prison. Moll was tried and found guilty. She managed to escape imprisonment by paying Fairfax £2,000.00 – an enormous sum at that time.

That episode scared Moll, she hung up her highway robber’s outfit and began on the next chapter of her criminal life: as a fence and a pimp. She would buy any valuables offered to her and it was said that victims of theft would approach Moll and end up buying back their own property.

Moll’s life came to an end through illness, she is buried in St. Bride’s Churchyard.

Claude du Vall 1643-1670

He was executed at Tyburn 21Jan1670 – age 26

Claude became infamous in his lifetime – a darling of the ladies – he targeted the wealthy and nobility – and was said to carry out his highway robberies in a gentlemanly fashion.

Claude was born in Normandy, France and came to England as a Footman.

Slough History Online https://tinyurl.com/ybgabf5s

Claude’s criminal venture on Hounslow Heath is depicted in an oil painting – the story told is that:

Claude, with a group of friend, had news of a knight and his lady, Lady Aurora Sydney, travelling across Hounslow Heath in a coach and carrying £400.00. Claude and his gang stopped and surrounded the coach – whereupon the lady whips out her trust flagolet (woodwind instrument) and began to play – Claude not only a gentleman but also musician began to accompany her.

Claude begged the pleasure of a dance with her on the Heath. The knight is said to have replied, “I dare not deny anything to a gentleman of your quality and good behaviour. You seem a man of generosity and your request is perfectly reasonable.” After the dance Claude said he should pay for the music – whereupon the knight handed him £100.00

The painting:

Behind the Lady and Duval is the carriage containing the slumped figure of a young woman who has fainted. An old woman is pleading with a highwayman. The driver of the coach has a pistol pointed at his head. One of the men cuts the harnesses of the coach horses. Crouching near the rear wheel a highwayman is emptying a chest, while pausing to look at the dancers. Behind him is a man prising open a small case with a knife. On the left a highwayman is playing a pipe. An elderly figure of a male hostage is seated on a rock, with his hands tied behind him.

Claude was arrested while drunk in a London pub.

He was buried in Covent Garden Church. A white marble stone was laid over him with an epitaph engraved upon it:

"Here lies Du Vall; reader, if male thou art,

Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart.

Much havoc hath he made of both; for all

Men he made stand, and women he made fall.“

Not all victims of highway robbery were rich, not all proceeds of robberies were of high value. As mentioned before, not all highway robbers were found guilty or executed.

Branding was used as a punishment – branding on the hand – though there are stories told of money passing hands and that the branding iron would then be cold. Branding on the face lasted only a few years, as it was assumed that the ex-criminal would have found it difficult to obtain gainful employment whilst bearing a huge scar on their face.

I have chosen a few more accounts from the late 1500s to the early 1800s.

1580: Robert Marrier robbed John Washington of twenty-one shillings on Hounslow Heath – beat him so his life was despaired of.

1687 Thomas Barns the Elder, and Thomas Barns the Younger – Branded – stole breeches and money – value six pounds in total.

1674 John Williams, alias Tho. Matchet, Francis Jackson, alias Dixie, John White, alias Fowler, Walter Parkhurst - Executed - Four highwaymen supposedly wrote a confession the day before their execution – as they didn’t want any pamphlets published with false accusations. They committed a robbery on the Windsor Coach and two days later robbed two more coaches on Hounslow Heath. I chose this account to illustrate that not all highwaymen were applauded by the public. Whilst fleeing from capture the men reached Harrow-on-the-Hill and were met by forty or fifty men with guns, pitchforks and other weapons.

1738 George Grinway - Executed – assaulted John Goodwin and robbed him of £1. 9s., also stole a horse from Jude Storer, value £4. 5s.

1787 Darcy Wentworth, Mary Wilkinson - Not guilty – Darcy Wentworth was accused of robbing William Lewer at 5 o’clock on 23^rd November near the Powder Mills. Robbed of a watch, chain, seal and key – valye £1. 6s. 2d. Wentworth was acquitted because Lewer could not identify his assailant for he had covered his face with a black silk scarf.

1798 John Mellish – Murdered – of John Gore & Co, Bishopsgate Street - returning from a royal hunt with friends – accosted by three highwaymen. The men robbed them without resistance then one man fired into the coach – the bullet entered Mellish’s forehead – he felt no ill-effect until a few days later – he died. It was commented at the time that the case was a reproach on the police of this Kingdom – were the villains ever apprehended?

1802 John Halloway, alias Oliver alias Long Will and Owen Heggarty alias Egggarty - Executed – for the murder of Mr Steel (a lavender distiller of Feltham) on Hounslow Heath – it took four years to apprehend the villains. So eager were the public to see justice served, that at the executions the crowd was so huge and squeezed into such a small space that 31 men, women and children, died.

In many cases, once execution had taken place the body was removed to a gibbet, and placed as near as possible to where the crime had taken place.

Once in the gibbet the criminal’s corpse could remain there for many years – unless the body was removed be relatives or friends. The authorities classed that as stealing – the penalty for such being transportation!

Here is a good example of the romanticising of the highway robbers - The Highwayman

by ALFRED NOYES (1880-1958) - you can read the entire poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman