List of highwaymen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a chronological list of highwaymen, land pirates, mail coach robbers, road agents, stagecoach robbers, and bushrangers active, along trails, roads, and highways, in Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Africa, from ancient times to the 20th century, arranged by continent and country.

List[]

Europe[]

Name Life Years active Country of origin Comments
Jerry Abershawe 1773–1795 United Kingdom last executed highwayman to have his body put on public display in England
James Aitken 1752–1777 United Kingdom mercenary who committed acts of sabotage in Royal Navy naval dockyards during the American Revolutionary War in 1776–77
John Austin d. 1783 United Kingdom last person to be publicly hanged from the gallows at Tyburn Tree, London.
Joseph "Blueskin" Blake 1700–1724 United Kingdom former associate of Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild.
Willy Brennan d. 1804 Ireland
Mary Bryant 1765–? United Kingdom
1757–1781 France renowned in Provence for his donations to the poor
Isaac Darkin 1740–1761 United Kingdom
1758–1797 United Kingdom "The Leicester Highwayman"
William Davies 1627–1689 United Kingdom robbed the rich for 40 years, otherwise known as the "Golden Farmer."
d. 1784 United Kingdom
Claude Duval 1643–1670 United Kingdom known as 'The Gallant Highwayman.'
Richard Ferguson d. 1800 United Kingdom an associate of Jerry Abershawe, known as "Galloping Dick"
Lady Katherine Ferrers 1634–1660 United Kingdom believed to be the "Wicked Lady."
Captain Gallagher d. 1818 Ireland
Louis Dominique Garthausen 1693–1721 France known as "Cartouche" or "Bourguignon" executed on the breaking wheel in Paris
Rufus Goodlove 1688–1731 United Kingdom robbed the houses of rich Oxford merchants while they were away in London, reputedly by seducing their wives. Hanged in Banbury after being arrested in Cropredy.
James Hind 1616–1652 United Kingdom
Captain Will Hollyday d. 1697 United Kingdom Captain of the Ragged Regiment of the Black Guards; hung the young Viscount Stafford
Juraj Jánošík 1688–1713 Slovakia Betyár who became legendary in Slovak, Polish, and Czech cultures.
Humphrey Kynaston d. 1534 United Kingdom
George Lyon 1761–1815 United Kingdom the last known highwayman to be hanged in Lancashire, England.
James MacLaine 1724–1750 United Kingdom
Louis Mandrin 1725–1755 France
John Nevison 1639–1684 United Kingdom known as "Swift Nick"
Neesy O'Haughan 1691–1720 Ireland
Nicolas Jacques Pelletier 1756–1792 France the first person executed by guillotine during the French Revolution
William Plunkett d. 1750 United Kingdom
John Rann 1750–1774 United Kingdom
Sándor Rózsa 1813–1878 Hungary
Hungary
1671-1713 United Kingdom Once a soldier in the 4th Regiment of Horse commanded by Major-General Cornelius Wood, an officer in John Churchill's army; Shrimpton was hanged at Gallows Acre, at the top of St. Michael's Hill in Bristol on 4 September 1713.
1700-1730 United Kingdom Son of Jack Shrimpton, and like his father he was also a soldier, Shrimpton was an associate of , the Sunderland Highwayman; Shrimpton was hanged at Tyburn in Middlesex on 17 February 1730.
Robert Snooks 1761–1802 United Kingdom last man to be executed in England for highway robbery
Jóska Sobri 1810–1837 Hungary
William Spiggot 1691–1721 United Kingdom hanged highwayman and gang leader who suffered the press ordeal for not pleading.
Philip Twysden 1714–1752 United Kingdom Bishop of Raphoe
Richard 'Dick' Turpin 1705-1739 United Kingdom also known by his alias 'John Palmer'
Hungary

North America[]

Name Life Years active Country of origin Comments
Peter Alston 1765–1804 United States highwayman, counterfeiter, and river pirate, alias James May, who was believed to be an associate of Samuel Mason and the Harpe Brothers.
d. 1818 United States lower Mississippi River/Natchez Trace highwaymen associated with and .
Robert H. "Three-Fingered" Birch 1827–1866 United States a member of the infamous, 1830s-1840s, "Banditti of the Prairie", who committed highway robbery, in northern/central Illinois and an accomplice in the 1845 torture-murder of Colonel George Davenport.
United States an associate of , "Captain Lightfoot."
Doan Brothers United States Aaron, Levi, Mahlon, and Joseph Doan and cousin, Abraham were Loyalist highwaymen who operated in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York during the American Revolutionary War.
James Ford d. 1833 United States American civic leader and business owner in western Kentucky and southern Illinois, who secretly was the leader of a gang of highwaymen and river pirates known as the "Ford's Ferry Gang."
William Goings United States Leader of highwaymen called, the "Goings Gang," from 1816-1820, along the Vincennes-St. Louis Trace, a frontier highway in southern Illinois, where Goings owned and ran a number of roadside taverns to rob and murder travelers. Samuel Young was an associate in the Goings Gang.
and d. 1818 United States lower Mississippi River/Natchez Trace highwaymen and Baltimore, mail coach robbers.
Micajah and Wiley Harpe 1768-1799 (Micajah)
1770-1804 (Wiley) 		United States America's first known serial killers, were Loyalists, in the American Revolution, who preyed on travelers along the frontier highways of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Mississippi. They were associates of Samuel Mason and Peter Alston.
d. 1821 United States last of the New England highwayman, robbed in Ireland and Massachusetts and was the legendary "Captain Lightfoot."
Samuel Mason 1739–1803 United States Samuel Mason (1739–1803), ran a gang of highwaymen along the Natchez Trace, a gang of river pirates on the Mississippi River and at Cave-In-Rock on the Ohio River, and was an associate of the Harpe Brothers and Peter Alston.
Isaiah L. Potts 1784–? United States a southern Illinois tavern owner who, allegedly, was the leader of a gang of highwaymen known as the "Potts Hill Gang," along a frontier highway, near Cave-In-Rock and was an associate of James Ford.
David Lewis 1790-1820 1806-1820 United States David Lewis A Pennsylvania counterfeiter and road agent that hid out in the area of Central Pennsylvania. The gang had as many as 30 men. Captured in Driftwood, Pa.

South America[]

Australia[]

Main article: Bushrangers

Asia[]

Name Life Years active Country of origin Comments
Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker 1825–1874 1852–1888 India fought against oppression of lower castes by the upper castes in Kerala
Ithikkara Pakki 19th century India Indian Muslim outlaw active in the Travancore Kingdom during the 19th century
Jambulingam Nadar d. 1923 –1923 India brigand active in the southern region of the Madras Presidency during the early 20th century, shot to death by police.
Kayamkulam Kochunni 1818–1859 –1859 India a heroic outlaw known as the Robin Hood of Kayamkulam who lived during the early 19th century in Travancore (present-day Kerala). His stories are often associated with his friend and fellow outlaw Ithikkara Pakki.
Papadu d. 1710 1702–1709 India a highwayman and bandit of early-18th century India who rose from humble beginnings to become a folklore hero.

Africa[]

Further reading[]

  • Ash, Russell (1970). Highwaymen, Shire Publications, ISBN 978-0-85263-101-0; revised edition (1994) ISBN 978-0-7478-0260-0
  • Brandon, David (2004). Stand and Deliver! A History of Highway Robbery, Sutton Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7509-3528-9
  • Dunford, Stephen (2000). The Irish Highwaymen, Merlin Publishing, ISBN 1-903582-02-4
  • Haining, Peter (1991). The English Highwayman: A Legend Unmasked, Robert Hale, ISBN 978-0-7090-4426-0
  • Harper, Charles George (1908). Half-hours with the Highwaymen: picturesque biographies and traditions of the "knights of the road", Chapman & Hall. Online edition, via Internet Archive.
  • Pringle, Patrick (1951). Stand and Deliver: The Story of the Highwaymen, Museum Press, ASIN B0000CHVTK
  • Seal, Graham (1996). The Outlaw Legend: a cultural tradition in Britain, America and Australia, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-55317-2 (hbk), ISBN 0-521-55740-2 (pbk)

External links[]

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