Dredd to Thieftakers

Samuel Ward 2

Samuel broke into the property of Mr. Liptrot a grocer and tallow-chandler (candle maker) but the burglary had nothing to do with stealing. He broke in to find Mrs Liptrot and the husband may have made up the burglary story after finding Ward in his house. Ward refused to say why he was in the property but at his execution Mrs. Liptrot wept for the loss of her lover/burglar.

The Roite Sisters 1

Members of the Calverton cult of Roites named after their cult leader John Roe, a self-styled prophet. They called themselves reformed Quakers but everyone else called them deformed Quakers. They formed their own church in a barn and drew straws to see who they would marry. Isabell and Elizabeth Morris married this way by the luck of the draw. When the local church warden discovered this unholy marriage and that the women were with child they were arrested. Arguments began about the jurisdiction of the church in legal matters, but the women had married out of the official church and they refused to recant or reveal who their husbands were. Parliament even debated the mater. They were incarcerated for 12 years with out trial as the authorities couldn’t decide what to do. In the end a gaoler left a door open and just let them walk out to freedom.

 Robert Calvin 2

Calvin was the last person from Nottingham to be placed in the pillory for one hour in the marketplace. It was a punishment not seen in 60 years so wasn’t as usual as people think. The spectacle drew large crowds and because he had abused two girls he had to protected by a large contingent of constables and soldiers from the wrath of the public. He spent an hour in the rain before returning to gaol undaunted by the experience.

 Anne Meekings 1

One of many women convicted of stealing textiles from her employer in Nottingham. Ann stole lace and during the assizes was the only person in gaol awaiting trial. She was sentenced to death by Judge Buller also known as Judge thumb. He claimed a husband was in his right to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. After much crying and begging for mercy Ann had her sentenced reduced to six weeks hard labour.

Ferdinando Davis 4

The exotic sounding Ferdinando was from Sawley in Nottinghamshire and was apprentice to a blacksmith. He had robbed John Cockayne an apprentice butcher of a silver watch and some money on the Derby Road. He was described as a fine young man who may have had an accomplice, but he remained tight lipped and no offers could induce him to betray his partner. He was later executed.

Mary Brammer 4

Described as fresh good-looking woman, Mary was a thief and possible prostitute who managed to escape from gaol after making a hole through the wall and squeezing out to freedom. She was later recaptured in Sheffield picking a man’s pocket and returned to Nottingham where she became the first person in Nottingham to be given the sentence of transportation to New South Wales. Th convict ship Lady Juliana was made up of just female prisoners was nicknamed the floating brothel and took a year to get to the colonies as it kept stopping off at ports where the women made some money continuing their trade with passing sailors.

 William Pycroft and Ann Sadler 3

Pycroft was arrested for coining (stripping the metal from coins) but had a long criminal career with his partner Ann. They were con artists who used astrology to con people out of money and forgers. When the pair were arrested Ann told the authorities all about Pycrofts hidden stash of tools used for his criminal activities hidden in the thatch of their cottage. She was released and he was executed.

Richard Wheatley 3

Richard had been an apprentice framework knitter before getting Transported to Maryland America for stealing a pie. In America he was sold into domestic servitude to the captain of a ship and was later pressed into the Royal Navy. He later returned to England where he committed another act of robbery. Because had been found back in England before the end of his original sentence he was immediately executed.

Richard Bonington 4

Bonington was born in the county gaol where his father was the gaoler. He would take over the position when his father retired but it didn’t stop him getting into trouble with the law himself. During the time of the French Revolution, he sided with the Jacobin democratic supporters and got into political argument in a pub. Jacobins were persecuted for their anti-patriotic by the general population, so he opened the gaol as a refuge for those who had been attacked. He also read “The Rights of Man” which was banned to the inmates. He also shot a prisoner in the face by accident and the shot lodged in his brain. He didn’t recover. Deciding that the life of a gaoler wasn’t for him he opened an art school and became a painter before smuggling lace making machinery to France to start a new life after failing to run for local election. His son became a famous artist. Richard Parkes Bonington.

Bishop Crisp 3

During the turmoil of the French Revolution there was a fear that similar revolts would take place in England. Local butcher Nathaniel Crisp showed his patriotism by dragging anyone he suspected as a Jacobin democrat down to the river for a “baptism” where the subject was held under the water until they shouted God save the king and recanted their revolutionary ideals. Victims were sometimes held under the water pump in the marketplace much to the merriment of the loyal population. “Bishop” Crisp was finally sentenced for riotous behavior, but the Judge was on his side and gave him a shilling fine which was smallest punishment he could give.

 James Brodie 4

A blind man aged 23, Brodie was from Dublin but travelled the country with an 8-year-old boy called William Henescal who acted as his guide. After an argument Brodie struck the boy and killed him. When he was found guilty Brodie grew violent and tried to bite the gaolers in court so the placed a muzzle on his head. He was later publicly dissected in the same court room in front of the public. The viewing public acted in a disgraceful manner and tampered with his corpse. He was apparently stiff in more ways than one which led to much mirth. It was the last public dissection in that court.

Elizabeth Morton 6

A girl of just 15 years of age she worked as a domestic servant to a farmer and his family. One night she went into the nursery and strangled the infant child of her master that was just two years old. She was about to strangle the second when she was stopped. When asked why she had done such a thing she explained that a man in black had appeared at the foot of her bed and told her to do it and that if she didn’t, she would receive no rest. This haunting excuse for murder did not convince the jury and she was sentenced to death. She went to the gallows oblivious to the seriousness of her situation and acted as if it was just another day out.

Bromage and Wainer 5

A couple of good-looking young men who had been friends since childhood. After loosing their jobs decided to have a go at being highwaymen but got caught committing their first offence. Before their execution they attended a church service and on leaving the chapel saw a grave digger working on their plots. They joked that they would never fit in the holes he had dug and climbed down to try them out. They then told him they would be back in an hour and walked off to the gallows.

 William Voce 5

A 19-year-old member of a gang of ruffians who beat, and gang raped the widow Dufty when she struggled home inebriated from a summer fare. A witness heard him calling out “what great sport this is” as the gang attacked the 60-year-old woman. She died a week later of her injuries. Members of the gang fled but Voce was caught wearing the widow Dufty’s buckles on his own shoes. He was executed for his part of the murder.

Anne Castledine 6

A 28-year-old prostitute who concealed the birth of a child which she later murdered. Not knowing what to do with the body she buried it in a field but a few days later fearing it would be discovered the sewed it into her mattress. Rumer has it she continued to see men on the foul-smelling bed until a neighbor discovered the truth. After her execution a surgeon purchased her corpse for dissection. As the body lay on the table a stranger rode up and took her removed heart and squeezed a drop of blood onto a handkerchief before riding away weeping into his bloody souvenir. Perhaps a relative or lover, we will never know.

Mary Voce 5

The Sister-in-law of William Voce. Mary left her husband after getting into a relationship with another man who abandoned her after she fell pregnant. Already having one child and penniless she poisoned her baby with arsenic and blamed the local children for the crime. She would later confess and while in gaol turned to God. Methodists walked with her to the gallows singing hymns. Before she was hanged, she proclaimed that this was “the best day of her life” and that “she would soon be with the angels” and “I’m so happy I can’t shed a single tear” Her body was later dissected. She was the last woman hanged in public in Nottingham.

John Atkins 5

Found guilty of forgery with his partner in crime Abraham Whitaker. They travelled the country as hawkers of muslin, but it was a front to pass forged notes. They managed to acquire a knife and used it to remove the bars of their cell window and replaced it with painted wood to fool the turnkey. They even made a candle out of butter but made so much noise trying to escape they were caught in the act. Whitaker had his sentence reduced to transportation, but Atkins was executed. The night before the hanging the gallows were stolen by some pranksters and new gallows had to be quickly erected.

George Caunt 6

This unfortunate criminal stole some curtains from a shop on Bridlesmith gate. He was chased into a house which resulted in an armed siege. He later made a break for it shooting a constable dead as he fled the scene. He was later captured while attempting to drink poison, but the bottle was knocked from his hand. On the way to gaol his captors stopped at a tavern for lunch and George grabbed a knife and attempted to stab himself in the heart but was stopped. In gaol while waiting trial the poison he took finally took effect and he died in agony. His body was dumped in a suicide grave, but his friends later dug him up and spent two days carrying the body around town looking for a gravesite that would accept him.

Henry Green 7

This local businessman had a finger in a lot of pies. He ran mills and public houses and as a prominent man of the town was a local Magistrate and at one time the Mayor. During the French Revolution he sat back and watched as the mob attacked anyone with Jacobin democratic ideals. While the victim was being attacked Green would enter their house and take what he wanted and allowed mob rule to run its course. He encouraged the victims of these attacks to swear loyalty to king George and if they didn’t, he let the mob continue their assaults with no help from the law which he represented. He would later become a bankrupt failure shunned by society.

Should contain rules for being well connected.

Daniel Diggle 7

After losing his Job as a Framework Stocking Knitter Daniel and his friends decided to get involved in Luddite activity. He broke into the home of his former employer wearing a mask and attacked the machinery that had replaced him. He was discovered in the act and fired a shot at his ex-boss which struck him in the head but did not kill him. His voice was recognised, and his companions were later caught poaching and, in a deal, gave up Diggle as the man responsible for the attack. He was found guilty of attempted murder and hanged.

Phantom Slasher 8

This unnamed assailant preyed on women in the early evening as they made their way home. Nine women were stabbed and cut, and one was saved by the fact his knife got stuck in her whale bone corset. After the night watch was increased the attacks stopped but the culprit was never identified.

Timothy Buckley 7

A highway Robber who had led a life of crime robbing and assaulting his way across the country before he attempted to rob a carriage on the outskirts of Nottingham. Despite being armed with eight pistols he was overpowered by the carriage passengers after the coach driver unloaded a blunderbuss in his direction. His horse was killed, and he hit the ground. In the fire fight that followed Buckley fired all eight pistols and killed two men and was shot eleven times by the prepared passengers. He was taken to gaol and his wounds treated so he was well enough to be executed.

William Andrew Horne ESQ 10

74-year-old Horne was landed gentry who inherited the family fortune and was known for his cruel ways. He was a notorious womaniser getting many ladies pregnant including his own sister. The child that resulted he abandoned in a field to die wrapped in a cock bag (used to transport cocks). Over 30 years later his younger brother who had been abused by Horne for years finally testified against him. Horne also murdered a servant girl he had got pregnant and a beggar who had knocked on his door while he was in a bad mood. He was famous for his villainous ways to everyone including his own family and was finally arrested after he was found hiding in a linen chest “Without even a wig or hat on”. When told he was being charged for the murder of his bastard child, he said “Damn the Cock bag”. He was executed on his birthday on the 30^th of November 1759. His own coachman drove him to the gallows.

Horne should get a bonus to his trial because he has a barrister, but players get more points if he is

William Cook 9

A career criminal Cook resisted arrest and was beaten on his way to gaol. He used his injuries to his advantage and feigned madness. The Judge saw him as unfit for trial and after a year in gaol Cook escaped after being trusted to sweep the yard, He kept sweeping out the front door and ran for it. He was grassed up a year later and arrested but while the thief takers escorting him had a pub lunch he fled again. The following year he was captured after stealing a coat from a shop. He was recognised and returned to gaol to await execution. Within an hour he had removed his chains and was caught trying to climb the walls. He was later executed.

There should be a rule that he may escape after being caught and get shuffled back into the deck.

Coney Gang 9

This gang according to legend operated out of the Loggerheads pub in the Narrow Marsh district. Coney ran the pub with his wife Martha. His associate Lanky Dobbs the chimney sweep would find houses worth robbing for Coney who would then whistle out of the window to attract the sort of criminal he was after. A tune for a pickpocket and another for a burglar. Slimmy was the nickname given to the best of the burglars working for Coney. They worked as fences for highway man selling their stolen goods at the pub where the wife of Lanky Dobbs worked as a prostitute. Her name was Bouncing Bella.