Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offences
History
Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offences
Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain -- Biography
The Paper delivered by the above mentioned criminal the day before his
execution.
I, Thomas Wilson, desire it may be known that I was in a horse-way
that lies between Highgate and Hornsey, where meeting a man and a
woman, they enquired the way to Upper Holloway. We directed them
across the fields; meantime we drank two pints of ale to hearten us,
then followed them, and robbed them of two shillings and some half
pence, the woman's apron, her hat and coloured handkerchief. We left
them without misusing them, though there were thoughts of doing it.
My companion that robbed with me is gone to Holland upon hearing I
was taken up, though I should not have impeached him, but his
friends lived in Holland. Another robbery we committed was by a barn
in the footpath near Pancras Church of a hat and tie-wig, and cane,
and some goods he was carrying, but we heard he had a considerable
sum of money about him; but he ran away and I ran after him, but I
being drunk he escaped, and I was glad to get off safe. We robbed
two other men near Copenhagen House of a coat and waistcoat. I
committed many street robberies about Lincoln's Inn. For these and
for all other sins, I pray God and Man to pardon me, especially for
shooting the pistol off before Justice Perry, at my friend's
adversary, and am very glad I did not kill him.
The Lives of ROBERT WILKINSON and JAMES LINCOLN, Murderers and Footpads
Robert Wilkinson, like abundance of other unhappy young men, contracted
in his youth a liking to idleness, and an aversion to all sorts of work
and labour, and applied himself for a livelihood hardly to anything that
was honest. The only employment he ever pretended to was that of a prize
fighter or boxer at Hockley-in-the-Hole,[20] where, as a fellow of
prodigious dexterity, though low in stature, and very small limbed, he
was much taken notice of. And as is usual for persons who have long
addicted themselves to such a way of living, he had contracted an
inhumanity of temper which made him little concerned at the greatest
miseries be saw others suffer, and even regardless of what might happen
to himself. The set of villains into whose society he had joined
himself, viz., Carrick who was executed, Carrol who made his escape into
Ireland, Lincoln of whom we shall speak afterwards, Shaw and Burridge
before mentioned, and William Lock, perpetrated together a prodigious
number of villainies often attended with cruel and bloody acts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offences — John Shaqi
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