Suggested by - Mark via Twitter
To fulfil this challenge, we are going to have to zoom back through time. Back to 1705 to be precise, as this was the year that one of the most notorious sons of Essex was born.
Dick Turpin is said to have been born in the Uttlesford village of Hempstead, son of an inn keeper, John Turpin. The inn is still in use today and is known as The Bluebell Inn. It has had a few name changes in recent years but it has now returned to the name it had for many years prior to the change, and looks fine and dandy in its blue paint.
Despite Dick Turpin sometimes being referred to as dandy, he was far from it. In fact, he had grown up to become a violent man. Having trained in the butchery business, he became involved with the Essex Gang, also known as the Gregory Gang who poached deer from the nearby Epping and Waltham forests as well as stealing sheep and cattle. Worse still, they terrorised people in their homes for their valuables. It was when Turpin fell out with this gang, that he turned to operating as a solitary highwayman. Having also shot and killed a man, he had a bounty on his head and fled to Yorkshire to avoid capture. However, he lived there under the name John Palmer but was still stealing animals and carrying out highway robberies. It was when he threatened to kill his landlord that he was taken into custody in York prison and where they found he had a string of crimes to his name.
He was tried and hanged in York in 1739 and contrary to popular myth, he never rode non-stop from London to York, and although he had a horse, it wasn't named Black Bess. A classic case of story plus time becoming legend.
Todays image and all the other images from my August Challenge will be on display in Design Essentials during September.
Dick Turpin is said to have been born in the Uttlesford village of Hempstead, son of an inn keeper, John Turpin. The inn is still in use today and is known as The Bluebell Inn. It has had a few name changes in recent years but it has now returned to the name it had for many years prior to the change, and looks fine and dandy in its blue paint.
Despite Dick Turpin sometimes being referred to as dandy, he was far from it. In fact, he had grown up to become a violent man. Having trained in the butchery business, he became involved with the Essex Gang, also known as the Gregory Gang who poached deer from the nearby Epping and Waltham forests as well as stealing sheep and cattle. Worse still, they terrorised people in their homes for their valuables. It was when Turpin fell out with this gang, that he turned to operating as a solitary highwayman. Having also shot and killed a man, he had a bounty on his head and fled to Yorkshire to avoid capture. However, he lived there under the name John Palmer but was still stealing animals and carrying out highway robberies. It was when he threatened to kill his landlord that he was taken into custody in York prison and where they found he had a string of crimes to his name.
He was tried and hanged in York in 1739 and contrary to popular myth, he never rode non-stop from London to York, and although he had a horse, it wasn't named Black Bess. A classic case of story plus time becoming legend.
Todays image and all the other images from my August Challenge will be on display in Design Essentials during September.
Tomorrow, Day 14
"Home / family"
You'll tell us he didn't shout "Stand and deliver!" next :-/
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to spoil the story ;-}
DeleteGreat Picture and Blog but totally gutted! lol :-)
DeleteSorry! :-\
Delete