Brown, John W (2007). Dick Turpin in Croydon, Bull Croydon Nat Hist Sci Soc, 129: 2-5.

Dick Turpin in Croydon

A recent Heritage article in the Croydon Guardian1 highlighted the exploits of the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin in Croydon to mark the tricentenary of his birth, despite his baptism having taken place in September 1705.2

Having researched Dick Turpin's activities in and around Croydon some years ago I agree in principle with the statement of the spokesman from Croydon Local History Library that there is often no way to know for certain the events of 270 years ago. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that a robbery that took place in Shirley on January 18th, 1735 involved Turpin and members of the notorious Essex or Gregory Gang. A contemporary account3 of the incident tells of the horrors that befell Mr Sheldon that night:

"Last Saturday the house of — Sheldon, Esq. at Shirley at Croydon in Surrey, was entered by five rogues, masked and armed with two pair of pistols each, they knocked at the door and were let in by the servants, whom they bound, they afterwards robbed Mr Sheldon and his lady of their money, jewels, laces &c. and plundered the house of their plate and what other moveables they could carry away in five sacks, which they filled, they returned Mr Sheldon two guineas begging his pardon for what they had done and rode off with their booty. It is supposed they are the same gang who committed the late robberies in Essex and Kent."

Another account4 of the incident, written a little time later, paints a more vivid picture of events:

"On Saturday the 18th of January last, Turpin, Fielder, Walker and two others, made an appointment to rob Mr Sheldon's house near Croydon in Surrey, and for that purpose agreed to meet at the Half Moot Tavern at Croydon, which they accordingly did in the evening about 6 o'clock, and about 7 went to Mr Sheldon's. Walker having some knowledge of the house, going at the head of his companions into the yard, perceived a light in the stable, went thither, where they found the coachman dressing the horses, him they bound, and going from thence met Mr Sheldon in the yard, whom they seized, and compelled him to show them the way into the house; where, as soon as they entered, they bound Mr Sheldon, and the rest of the family, and fell to plundering the house; and took from Mr Sheldon eleven guineas, and several pieces of plate, jewels, and some other things of value, which they carried off with them; but before they left the place, they returned Mr Sheldon two guineas of the money back again, asked pardon for what they had done, and bid him Good Night."

The gang then made their escape from Sheldon's Shirley house and the following Thursday, January 23rd, two members of the group are believed to have taken part in a bungled raid at the Revd Dyde's house at Great Parnedon in Essex. Gregory's gang subsequently made their last full-scale raid in Essex. After it, on February 18th, 1735, three members were caught, one of whom, John Wheeler, turned informer and three further members of the band were in custody within the week. Samuel and Jeremy Gregory were later apprehended at Hindhead trying to flee to the continent.

Only Dick Turpin and Thomas Rawden escaped capture and they operated throughout Kent and Surrey as highwaymen until they split up just before Christmas 1735. It may be that it was during this period that Turpin hid out at the reputed home of his aunt and uncle at Heath Cottage at Thornton Heath, later to be known locally as "Dick Turpin's Cottage". At this time Thornton Heath was an isolated and desolate spot, much frequented by highwaymen. As a deterrent and a warning to felons a gallows was erected opposite the pond. It was here that numerous brigands were executed as a punishment for their crimes.

In the Croydon parish registers it is recorded that on March 31st, 1722 a mass execution took place when six men were strung up at the Thornton Heath gallows, and the following year four footpads dangled from their nooses at the same spot. Then, for April 7th, 1753 the record is that: "William Hurley executed at Thornton Heath for murder, and his body given to the surgeons to be anatomised." The gibbet was a well-known sight on the London Road and early maps refer to the area as "Gallows Green".
Dick Turpin - Artist unknown
Other local legends have Turpin seeking refuge some distance from the gallows at Thornton Heath in an old cottage in Hermitage Lane, Norbury, where relatives of his mother, Mary Parminter, were said to have lived. This dwelling faced the King's Head Inn, where Dick is said to have quenched his thirst on a number of occasions. The inn was later known as the Blackboy, then the Princes Head and subsequently as the William IV public house, under which name it survived until 2003 when it was demolished. In the 18th century, the pub's isolated position made it an ideal meeting place for a number of felons who frequented the locality. The adjacent stretch of road, lined with thick hedges and isolated fields, provided a perfect place for them to rob lonely travellers and demand that coach drivers "Stand and deliver!" When coaches travelling along the London to Brighton Road halted for refreshment at the inn, the local ne'er-do-wells would absent themselves from the bar and journey down the road to conceal themselves in the hedges ready to waylay the travellers after they had resumed their journey.

Therefore, Turpin would have been in good company had he supped pints at the old King's Head in Lower Streatham. The tavern's reputation as a haunt of felons continued into the 19th century. Part of the reason for this was that adjacent to the tavern was a forge, or blacksmith's shop. It appears5 that it was here that the highwaymen and robbers arranged for the gold and silver jewellery and watches they had stolen to be melted down. The resulting ingots were then freely sold with all traces as to their illegal source obliterated. However, when this practice was discovered in 1817 the magistrates were quick to remove the inn's license from the publican, Richard Powell. At a stroke the local villains were deprived of a meeting place and processing centre for their ill-gotten gains.

Twenty years after Turpin's execution at York in 1739 his dastardly deeds were still well remembered in and around Croydon. In 1760 a local villain, John Blundell, was nicknamed the "Young Turpin" after undertaking a spate of highway robberies in the locality. These reached their climax on September 17th of that year when he robbed three persons. However, Blundell's reign as Turpin's successor was short-lived and the following day, after robbing Joseph Solomons near his home at Streatham, the "Young Turpin" was apprehended and committed to the New Gaol to stand trial for his crimes.

John W Brown

John Brown has a question of our readers – "For over 30 years I have been trying to locate a photograph or picture of the old William IV public house mentioned above, prior to its rebuild in 1903. Should any reader be able to help me in this quest I would be very pleased to hear from them."

 

References

  1. McQueeney, K. (2006). Did dastardly Dick dwell in Croydon? Croydon Guardian, 2 August 2006.
  2. Hempstead Parish baptismal register. Entry for 21st September 1705.
  3. Read's Weekly Journal, 25 January 1735.
  4. Turpin, R. (1739). The Genuine History of the Life of Richard Turpin … communicated by Mr. Richard Bayes, at the Green-Man on Epping-Forest, and other persons of that county, J. Standen: London.
  5. H.B. [Herbert Baldwin], (1910). Streatham old and new, Neves and Biscoe.

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