Dick Turpin the Butcher Boy Born to Hang

Born at the Bell Inn, Hempstead in 1705, Richard Turpin began work as a butcher's apprentice, and it was noted that he 'conducted himself rc flying fish in a loose and disorderly manner'. Having completed his apprenticeship, he opened his own butcher's shop and married Elizabeth Millington. He then turned to cattle stealing to stock his shelves. Eventually, Turpin was identified with two stolen oxen and was forced to flee in order to evade customs officers.He later moved into Epping Forest, which then covered a huge area and was much favoured by royalty for hunting deer. He fell in with an already notorious band of rustlers - the Essex Gang or Gregory Gang, and joined them in the highly risky business of stealing deer and horses.Such was their notoriety that George II offered the kingly reward of ?50 for their capture. Not long after, the gang carried out a raid and three of the ringleaders were apprehended, tried and hanged. The remainder drifted away. Only Turpin and one other thief, Thomas Rowden, continued with their unlawful activities, remote controlled air swimmers and decided on a career change. Together they carried out countless robberies but their partnership was short-lived.Turpin was a fast learner and now had the experience and skills he needed to work on his own. As a loner he was clever, careful and highly successful - but after some time he made the acquaintance of another robber of stagecoaches, the original 'gentleman of the road', Tom King. The new partnership was highly lucrative.So numerous and notorious had Dick Turpin's exploits now become that another bounty, this time no less than ?100, was set on his RC Air Swimmers head. The hunt and the heat were now on as never before, and it was almost inevitable that with Turpin's growing desperation, sooner or later an innocent victim would be killed. The circumstances are still debated, but it is likely that the first to be murdered by Turpin was one Thomas Morris, in May 1735.Turpin and King's association ended when they attempted to collect a stolen horse they had hidden. Its incensed owner had discovered the horse's whereabouts and was lying in wait with constables. In the fracas that followed, Turpin fired his pistol at them and instead hit Tom King, who died later of his wounds.Turpin, now in greater danger than ever, took the extreme risk of going to Hertford to see his wife. There he narrowly escaped capture and was never to see her again. He then adopted the name John Palmer and turned to horse stealing.Turpin alias Palmer was arrested following the trivial matter of shooting a cockerel in a fit of temper. Investigations into his circumstances gradually revealed his comfortable lifestyle but little or no evidence of how he supported it. After further enquiries, his true identity and activities were discovered. In 1739, at the Grand Jury House at York, Turpin was found guilty of horse rustling and sentenced to death by hanging. Only then did Turpin admit to the killing of the forest keeper, but remarked that 'it was no more than he deserved.'On 7th April 1739 he was taken in an open cart through York, acknowledging the cheers and jeers of the crowd with a wave and a bow. Perhaps it was bravado, or maybe boredom, but as he stood on the ladder with the noose round his neck, Turpin suddenly decided to make his short life RC Air Swimmers a few minutes shorter than it would have been, and launched himself into oblivion.