Jack Sheppard in Newgate Prison

Jack Sheppard (December 1702 – 16 November 1724) was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th century London. Jack was arrested five times in 1724, but escaped four times, bringing him a degree of public notoriety in his brief criminal career. Ultimately convicted and hanged at Tyburn, he was as renowned for his attempts to escape justice as for his crimes. His repeated arrests were part of the downfall of the notorious "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild. Image File history File links Jack_Sheppard. ... Old Newgate Prison, which was replaced in the 18th century. ... Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... Robbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. ... Burglary is a crime related to United States burglary is a felony and involves trespassing, or entering a building with intent to commit any crime, not necessarily a felony or theft. ... A thief is someone or something that performs theft, a crime against property. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... This article is about the British city. ... Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Suicide by hanging. ... Tyburn is a place name, and may refer to: Tyburn, London Tyburn, Birmingham This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Jonathan Wild in the condemned cell at Newgate Prison Jonathan Wild (c. ...

Early life

A carpenter's son, John Sheppard (better known in life as Jack Sheppard, even "Gentleman Jack" or "Jack the Lad") was born in White's Row, in London's Spitalfields, in 1702. His father died while Sheppard was young and the boy worked as a servant to one William Kneebone in 1714. John and his older brother, Thomas, had received some elementary schooling at Mr. Garrett's school, Mr. Kneebone took care to increase Jack's education and apprenticed him to a carpenter in Drury Lane. He served five years of his apprenticeship, but in 1722 a Mr. Joseph Hayne, who had a shop near the carpentry shop, opened a tavern called the Black Lion ale house, and he encouraged the apprentices to attend. According to Sheppard's 'autobiography' (compiled for Applebee's Original Weekly Journal, probably by Daniel Defoe, at his hanging), Sheppard had been an innocent until going to the tavern and there beginning an attachment to strong drink and the affections of Elizabeth Lyon, a prostitute, that together would be his ruin. Lyon encouraged him to steal, and his first recorded theft was in 1722, when he engaged in petty shoplifting to steal two silver spoons while on an errand for his master. This article is about the British city. ... Christ Church, Spitalfields Spitalfields, an area in Tower Hamlets, east London near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane which gets its name from a contraction of hospital fields, as there used to be a major hospital in the area. ... Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ... A tavern is, loosely, a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and, more than likely, also be served food, though not licenced to put up guests. ... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 [?] â€“ April 1731) was an English writer, journalist and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Arrests and escapes

Sheppard quit the employ of his master in 1723, although he continued to work as a journeyman carpenter. He augmented his legitimate wages through theft, often stealing goods from the houses where he was employed. He was not suspected of the crimes, and progressed to burglary, falling in with criminals in Jonathan Wild's gang. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Tradesperson. ...

The first arrest occurred after a burglary that he committed with his brother, Thomas, and his mistress, Elizabeth Lyon in February of 1724. On April 24th, Thomas was caught, and he informed on Jack. This accounted for the first warrant against Sheppard. When he arranged to meet one James Sykes (known as "Hell and Fury") at a public house, Skyes betrayed Sheppard to a constable to gather the reward for giving information (£40). Sheppard was imprisoned in St Giles Roundhouse but escaped within three hours by sawing through a timber ceiling and lowering himself to the ground with a rope fashioned from bedclothes. Warrant has several meanings: In law, a warrant is a form of authorization, such as A writ issued by a judge. ...

He was arrested on the same warrant a few weeks later, caught in the act of picking a pocket in Liecester Fields (near present-day Leicester Square). Detained overnight in St Ann's Roundhouse, he was sent to "New prison" in Clerkenwell and then sent to the Newgate prison ward, where he was imprisoned with Elizabeth Lyon (known as "Edgworth Bess" and also Elizabeth Sheppard); she was taken to be his wife, so they were confined in the same room. They escaped the following day by filing through their manacles, making a hole in the wall, and using their knotted bed-clothes to descend to ground level. They then clambered over the 22-foot high prison gate to freedom. Pickpocketing is a crime, a form of larceny which involves the stealing of money and valuables off the person of a victim without them noticing. ... Leicester Square (pronounced Lester Square) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, United Kingdom. ... Clerkenwell (pronounced clarkenwell) is a locality in the southermost part of the London Borough of Islington. ... Old Newgate Prison, which was replaced in the 18th century. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ...

Sheppard's thieving abilities were admired by Jonathan Wild, but Wild demanded that Sheppard give over his stolen goods to Wild to fence and to take the greater profits in, and Sheppard refused. Sheppard worked briefly as a highwayman on the Hampstead Road with Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, and then he returned to burglaries. He burglarized his former master, William Kneebone, and Wild began to seek Sheppard's arrest. Some months after his second arrest, Sheppard was betrayed to Wild by his fence, and arrested a third time in Rosemary Lane on 24 July. He was convicted of the burglary of Kneebone's house at the Old Bailey on 14 August and sentenced to death. On 31 August, the night before the death warrant was due to arrive, Sheppard escaped from Newgate a second time by cutting a spike from a window used when talking to visitors. His slight build enabled him to climb through the resulting gap in the grille. Folk image of a mounted highwayman This page is about the criminal occupation of highwayman, for groups of that name, see The Highwaymen. ... In law enforcement, a fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale in a (usually) legitimate market. ... July 24 is the 205th day (206th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 160 days remaining. ... The Old Bailey by Mountford (1907) The Central Criminal Court, commonly known as The Old Bailey (a bailey being part of a castle), is a Crown Court (criminal high court) in London, dealing with major criminal cases in the UK. It stands on the site of the mediaeval Newgate Gaol... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ...

By this point, Sheppard was a working class hero (being a cockney, non-violent, and handsome). Caught again on 10 September, hiding out in Finchley, Sheppard was confined to a strong-room in Newgate known as the 'Castle', handcuffed, clapped in leg irons, and chained to a metal staple in the floor. His fame had increased with each escape, and he was visited in prison by the great, the good and the curious. Meanwhile, "Blueskin" Blake was also caught by Wild and convicted, and Elizabeth Lyon was captured in September. The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... A Cockney, in the loosest sense of the word, is a working-class inhabitant of the East End of London. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... Finchley is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, London, England. ... Rigid handcuffs in holster, as used by UK police A model cuffed with handcuffs, waist chain, and thumbcuffs Police arrest and handcuff a woman on a boat. ... Fetters, shackles or leg irons are a kind of physical restraint used on the feet or ankles. ...

Sheppard escaped from Newgate for the third time on 17 October, using a small nail that he found in his cell to unlock his handcuffs and chains. Still encumbered by his leg irons, he attempted to climb up the chimney, but his path was blocked by an iron bar set into the brickwork. He removed the bar and used it to break through a ceiling into an unused room above the 'Castle', and then into the prison chapel, then to the roof of Newgate, 60 feet (20 m) above the ground. He went back down to his cell to get a blanket, then back to the ceiling, and then he used the blanket to reach the roof of a nearby house owned by William Bird, a turner. He then broke into Turner's house and went down the stairs and out into the street without waking the occupants. His arm irons were recovered in the rooms of Catherine Cook, another of Sheppard's mistresses. The leg irons remained in place for several days until Sheppard persuaded a shoemaker to accept 20 shillings to remove them, telling him that Sheppard had escaped from Bridewell Prison, having been imprisoned there for failing to support a - non-existant - bastard son. This escape astonished everyone, and Daniel Defoe, working as a journalist, wrote an account. October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... The shilling (or informally: bob) was an English coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first English shilling. ... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 [?] â€“ April 1731) was an English writer, journalist and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Sheppard's final period of liberty lasted just two weeks. He broke into a pawnbroker's business on the night of October 29, 1724 and took his proceeds to a brandy shop. He was re-arrested a final time on 2 November, blind drunk. This time, Sheppard was placed in the centre of Newgate, where he could be observed at all times, and loaded with three hundred pounds of iron weights. He was so celebrated that the gaolers charged high society visitors to see him, and James Thornhill painted his portrait. Despite several prominent people sending a petition to the King, begging for his sentence of death to be commuted to transportation, the court confirmed its sentence on 10 November, the day after Blueskin was hanged. Modern pawnbroker storefront. ... October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 63 days remaining. ... Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Brandy pot stills at the Van Ryn Brandy Cellar near Stellenbosch, South Africa Brandy (short for brandywine, from Dutch brandewijn—fire wine) is a general term for distilled wine, usually 40–60% ethyl alcohol by volume. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... The pound is the name of a number of units of mass, all in the range of 300 to 600 grams. ... Sir James Thornhill (25 July 1675 or 1676 - May 4, 1734) was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition. ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ...

Execution

The following Monday, 16 November, Sheppard was taken to the gallows at Tyburn to be hanged. He planned one more escape, but a pen-knife, intended to cut the ropes binding him on the way to the gallows, was found by a prison warder shortly before he left Newgate for the last time. November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... These gallows in Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park are maintained by Arizona State Parks. ... Tyburn was a former village in the county of Middlesex which now forms part of Londons City of Westminster. ... Suicide by hanging. ... A penknife (or Swiss Army knife) is a small, rectangular shaped object with several attachments. ...

A joyous procession passed through the streets of London, as much as anything a celebration of Sheppard's life, and attended by crowds of up to 200,000 (one third of London's population). His slight build had aided his previous prison escapes, but it condemned him to a slow death of strangulation by the hangman's noose. His body was cut down and buried in the churchyard of St Martin's-in-the-Fields the same day to prevent dissection. Hangmans knot The hangmans knot or hangmans noose (also known as a collar during Elizabethan times) is a well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging. ... St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England church just northeast of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. ... Dissected rat showing major organs. ...

Legacy

There was a spectacular public reaction to Sheppard's exploits. He was even cited (favorably) as an example from the pulpit, and newspapers, pamphlets, broadsheets, and ballads were all devoted to going over his amazing exploits. Further, his story was adapted to the stage almost immediately. Harlequin Sheppard by one John Thurmond ran at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane a month after Sheppard's hanging. An unacted but published The Prison-Breaker was turned into The Quaker's Opera (in imitation of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera) and performed at Bartholomew Fair in 1725 and 1728. Around 1840, Sheppard's tale was revived. William Harrison Ainsworth wrote a novel entitled Jack Sheppard, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. The novel made Sheppard out as a swashbuckling hero, and censors were alarmed at the possibility that young people would emulate his behavior. There was, therefore, a ban, at least in London, on licensing any plays with "Jack Sheppard" in the title for forty years. The Sheppard story has been revived in the 20th century. The present-day Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, sketched when it was new, in 1813. ... John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 - 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist. ... Painting based on The Beggars Opera, Scene V, William Hogarth, c. ... Bartholomew Fair is a play in five acts by Ben Jonson. ... Caricature from Punch, 1881: TO THE GREATEST AXE-AND-NECK-ROMANCER OF OUR TIME, WHO IS QUITE AT THE HEAD OF HIS PROFESSION, WE DEDICATE THIS BLOCK AD MULTOS ANNOS! William Harrison Ainsworth (1805 - 1882) was a British writer. ... George Cruikshank (September 27, 1792 – February 1, 1878) was an English artist and caricaturist, well-known for his satirical illustrations of contemporary figures and events. ...

Sheppard's exploits were recalled in (among other places):

• a narrative of his life, published in 1724 by John Applebee
• Harlequin Shepperd, a pantomime by Thurmond, performed in Drury Lane in December 1724
• as the figure of Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) and The Threepenny Opera of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (1929)
• Industry and Idleness, a series of 12 engravings by William Hogarth (1747)
• Jack Sheppard the House-breaker (1825), a melodrama by W.T. Moncrieff
• Jack Sheppard, a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth (1839) (later the same year adapted into a successful play by John Buckstone) (free at Project Gutenberg) [1]
• Little Jack Sheppard, an operatta with libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley, and score by Meyer Lutz (1885)
• silent movies, The Hairbreadth Escape of Jack Sheppard (1900) [2] and Jack Sheppard (1923) [3]
• The Road to Tyburn, Christopher Hibbert (1957), (2001 Penguin reprint: ISBN 0141390239)
• a British costume drama, Where's Jack?, directed by James Clavell, with Tommy Steele in the title role (1969)
• a book The Thieves' Opera by Lucy Moore (1999), ISBN 0151003645
• an unrealised film project of FilmFour in 2000, Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild. Tobey Maguire and Harvey Keitel were slated for the main parts; Benjamin Ross, who would have been director, wrote the screenplay with John Preston.
• Invitation to a Hanging, a 2002 television drama[4]
• a novel by Neal Stephenson, The Baroque Cycle (2003, 2004), in which the character Jack Shaftoe was partly inspired by events from the life of Jack Sheppard.

Pantomime may refer to two different types of performing arts. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ... Painting based on The Beggars Opera, Scene V, William Hogarth, c. ... John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 - 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist. ... Painting based on The Beggars Opera, Scene V, William Hogarth, c. ... The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) was a revolutionary piece of musical theatre written (in German) by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht in collaboration with the composer Kurt Weill in 1928. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Kurt Weill, a photo taken in Salzburg, Austria, 1934 Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950), born in Dessau, Germany and died in New York, was a German composer active from the 1920s until his death. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... William Hogarth, self-portrait, 1745 William Hogarth (November 10, 1697 – October 26, 1764) was a major English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, and editorial cartoonist who has been credited as a pioneer in western sequential art. ... Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ... Caricature from Punch, 1881: TO THE GREATEST AXE-AND-NECK-ROMANCER OF OUR TIME, WHO IS QUITE AT THE HEAD OF HIS PROFESSION, WE DEDICATE THIS BLOCK AD MULTOS ANNOS! William Harrison Ainsworth (1805 - 1882) was a British writer. ... John Baldwin Buckstone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Operetta (literally, little opera) is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. ... Silent Movie is a 1976 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks. ... Christopher Hibbert, MC, (born 1924) is an English writer and popular historian. ... James Clavell in 1986 James Clavell, British Royal Artillery) (10 October 1924 – 7 September 1994) was a novelist, screenwriter, and World War II POW, who was famous for books such as Shogun, and such films as The Great Escape and To Sir, with Love. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Historian and writer Lucy Moore (1) was born in 1970. ... Film Four is a British film production company owned by Channel 4. ... Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975 in Santa Monica, California to Vincent Maguire and Wendy Brown) is an American film actor. ... Harvey Keitel in Clockers Harvey Keitel (born May 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ... A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (b. ... The Baroque Cycle is a series of books written by Neal Stephenson and published in 2003 and 2004. ... Jack Shaftoe is a fictional character featured in the novels of Neal Stephensons The Baroque Cycle. ...

References

• Howson, Gerald. Thief-Taker General: Jonathan Wild and the Emergence of Crime and Corruption as a Way of Life in Eighteenth-Century England. New Brunswick, NJ and Oxford, UK: 1970. ISBN 0887380328
• Sugden, Philip. "John Sheppard" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. vol. 50, 261-263. London: OUP, 2004.

The Dictionary of National Biography (or DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

External links

• Jack Sheppard, from The Complete Newgate Calendar
• Jack Sheppard, Jail-Breaker