To counter the growing threat of the Highwaymen, a Royal Act made bounty-hunting a profitable profession.
The Rise of the Highwayman
Although England has a long history of famous criminals and outlaws, such as Robin Hood, it was in the period 1650 to around 1800, that a certain group of criminals became living legends. They were called the Highwaymen, and they made their living robbing the coaches of the wealthy as they travelled about the English countryside. In legend, these men were dashing, romantic, masked-men, who robbed without violence, and who were always polite to woman. The truth, of course, is nothing like that. For the most part, Highwaymen were just common criminals, nasty, brutal, and desperate. They robbed because it was an easy way to make money at a time when most of the population still lived in poverty.
The Royal Response
With many of the victims of the highwaymen being rich and influential people, it was only a matter of time before an official response was made by the government. This came during the reign of William and Mary when a new Royal Act was passed. It stated that anyone who caught a robber and was able to convict said robber before a judge would be paid £40. That person would also be entitled to any property which the robber owned (unless it could be proved that this was taken in a robbery). Suddenly, the capture of robbers was big business.
The Thief-Takers
The men who went out and hunted after the highwaymen became known as thief-takers. The most famous of these was a made named John Wild “Thief-Taker General of Britain and Ireland”. John Wild was responsible for the capture and conviction of over 60 criminals. Unfortunately, since the business had no kind of regulation, it was prone to horrible amounts of corruption. Many of these thief-takers actually encouraged people to become highway robbers, so that they could capture them and turn them in for the reward money. Others became crime-bosses by running protection rackets for groups of robbers. This was true of John Wild, and he was eventually hanged for his crimes in 1725.
The end of the Highwayman Era
It soon became clear that professional bounty-hunters were often as much of a problem as the original highwayman. Slowly, over the later-half of the eighteenth century more and more professional police services were formed. This also coincided with the rise of the use of banks. Since people no longer had to carry all their money with them, there was less and less incentive to rob them.
Primary Information for this article obtained from Discovering Highwaymen by Russell Ash, Shire Publications Ltd. 1994
