Blueskin
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
and felon
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
.
Early life
Blake was the son of Nathaniel and Jane Blake. He was baptised at All-Hallows-the-GreatAll-Hallows-the-Great
All-Hallows-the-Great was a church in the City of London, located on what is now Upper Thames Street, first mentioned in 1235. Destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, the church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His parents had the means to send him to the parish school of St Giles-without-Cripplegate
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
St Giles-without-Cripplegate is a Church of England church in the City of London, located within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples...
for about six years.
A school friend, William Blewitt, introduced him to the self-styled "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild
Jonathan Wild
Jonathan Wild was perhaps the most infamous criminal of London — and possibly Great Britain — during the 18th century, both because of his own actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists made of them...
in around 1714. He left school and became a professional thief. By the age of 17, he was earning his living as a pickpocket, working with Edward Pollitt (or Pawlett or Pollard), and had been nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d "Blueskin". The origin of his soubriquet is uncertain: it is probably due to his swarthy complexion
Complexion
Complexion refers to the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially that of the face.-History:The word "complexion" is derived from the Late Latin complexi, which initially referred in general terms to a combination of things, and later in physiological terms, to the balance of...
, but possibly due to excessive facial hair
Facial hair
Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic of human males. Men often start developing facial hair in the later years of puberty or adolescence, approximately between 17–20 years of age, and most do not finish developing a fully adult beard until their early 20s or even later...
or a port-wine birthmark
Port-wine stain
A port-wine stain or naevus flammeus is a vascular anomaly consisting of superficial and deep dilated capillaries in the skin which produce a reddish to purplish discoloration of the skin. They are so called for their colour, resembling that of port wine...
, or perhaps a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
ning reference to his friend Blewitt.
Later life
By 1719, Blake was working with Irish highwayman James Carrick, and, by 1722, he was a member of a gang of street robbers led by Robert Wilkinson. Several of his colleagues were arrested that summer, and three were hanged in September. Blake escaped this time, perhaps due to influence deployed on his behalf by Wild, but he received a sabreSabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
cut to the head as he resisted his arrest by Wild in December 1722. He turned King's evidence against several former associates, including Blewitt. Three accomplices (John Levee, Richard Oakey and Matthew Flood) were hanged on the strength of Blake's testimony in February 1723. Blueskin expected to be released and to receive some of the reward money for securing the convictions, but he was confined in Wood Street Compter instead, under threat of deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
.
Eventually, Blake found sureties
Surety
A surety or guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults...
for his good behaviour, and was released in June 1724. He quickly joined forces with notorious thief and gaol-breaker Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete...
. They burgled
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
the house of William Kneebone (Sheppard's former apprentice master) on Sunday 12 July, stealing a quantity of cloth and some other trinkets, but this burglary was to prove their undoing. Having stored the goods near the horse ferry at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, they approached one of Wild's fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
s, William Field
William Field
William Field may refer to:*William Field *William Field , Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1855 to 1856...
, to sell the stolen goods. Word of the crime soon reached Wild, who was determined to punish Sheppard because he had refused to work for Wild. After a brief interlude as highwaymen
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
on the Hampstead Road on Sunday 19 July and Monday 20 July, Sheppard was arrested at Blueskin's mother's brandy shop in Rosemary Lane (later renamed Royal Mint Street), east of the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, on 23 July by Wild's henchman, Quilt Arnold
Quilt Arnold
Quilt Arnold was one of the chief assistants of 18th century London's master criminal and thief-taker Jonathan Wild. Very little is known about his life and what details we do have come by way of Jonathan Wild himself...
. He was detained in Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
pending trial, accused of the Kneebone robbery. Kneebone, Wild and Field gave evidence against Sheppard, and he was convicted of the burglary on 12 August.
Arrest
Meanwhile, Wild took against Blake, his former underling, probably due to his recent association with Sheppard. Blake was arrested by Wild, Arnold and Abraham Mendez Ceixes at his lodgings in St GilesSt Giles, London
St Giles is a district of London, England. It is the location of the church of St Giles in the Fields, the Phoenix Garden and St Giles Circus. It is located at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden and is part of the Midtown business improvement district.The combined parishes of St...
on Friday 2 October 1724. Blueskin was tried on Thursday 15 October, with Field and Wild again due to give evidence. Outside the courtroom, Blake tried to persuade Wild to put in a good word for him, but Wild refused. Blake attacked Wild, slashing his throat with a pocket-knife. Wild was quickly attended by passing surgeons, and taken away. Blake's attack caused an uproar which spread to the adjacent prison, and the disturbance continued into the evening. Sheppard, having escaped from Newgate on 4 September and been recaptured five days later, used the distraction inside the prison to cover his fourth, and most audacious, escape.
Despite the altercation outside the court, Blake's trial went ahead in Wild's absence. Field's evidence was enough to ensure that Blake was convicted, although his account was not consistent with the evidence that he gave at Sheppard's trial. Blake was sentenced to be hanged, but showed no remorse for his crimes. He tried to escape from Newgate without success.
Meanwhile, Sheppard was recaptured for a final time on 1 November. On Wednesday 11 November 1724, the day after Sheppard's death sentence was confirmed, Blake was drawn to Tyburn
Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
along the traditional route, stopping at the Griffin tavern on Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
for a stiff drink. In his drunkenness, he slurred his speech from the scaffold
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be from other materials...
before he was hanged. His body was laid out for a few days, and he was buried in the churchyard at St Andrew, Holborn
St Andrew, Holborn
St Andrew, Holborn is a Church of England church on the northwestern edge of the City of London, on Holborn within the Ward of Farringdon Without.-Roman and medieval:Roman pottery was found on the site during 2001/02 excavations in the crypt...
. Sheppard was hanged 5 days after Blake, on Monday 16 November.
Legacy
Blake is best remembered for his vicious attack on Wild. Wild was lucky to survive, protected by the stock worn about his neck. He was incapacitated for weeks, and his grip over his criminal empire started to slip while he recuperated. He quickly lost the confidence of his "customers" and the grudging respect of the general populace, and he was himself convicted and hanged in 1725.Blake was overshadowed by Sheppard's fame. His attack on Wild inspired John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
's ballad "Newgate's Garland", also called "Blueskin's Ballad", which appears in John Thurmond's play, Harlequin Sheppard. Blake appears in many accounts of Sheppard's life, although the characterisation often bears little resemblance to the reality.