Claude Duval
Encyclopedia
For other uses, see Claude Duval (disambiguation)
Claude Du Vall (1643 – 21 January 1670) was a French
-born gentleman
highwayman
in post-Restoration Britain
.
, Normandy
, France
in 1643 to a noble family stripped of title and land. His origin and parentage are in dispute. He did however have a brother Daniel Du Val. At the age of 14 he was sent to Paris
where he worked as a domestic servant. He later became a stable boy for a group of English royalist
s and moved to England in the time of the English Restoration
as a footman
of the Duke of Richmond
(possible relation) and rented a house in Wokingham
.
who robbed the passing stagecoach
es in the roads to London
, especially Holloway
between Highgate
and Islington
. However, unlike most other brigands, he distinguished himself with rather gentlemanly behaviour and fashionable clothes. He reputedly never used violence. One of his victims was squire Roper, Master of the Royal Buckhounds, whom he relieved of 50 guinea
s and tied to a tree.
There are many tales about Du Val. One particularly famous one—placed in more than one location and later published by William Pope
—claims that he took only a part of his potential loot from a gentleman when his wife agreed to dance with him in the wayside, a scene immortalised by William Powell Frith
in his 1860 painting Claude Du Val.
If his intention was to deter pursuit by his non-threatening behaviour, he did not totally succeed. After the authorities promised a large reward, he fled to France for some time but returned a few months later. Shortly afterwards he was arrested in the Hole-in-the-Wall tavern in London
's Chandos Street, Covent Garden
.
found him guilty of six robberies (others remained unproven) and sentenced him to death. Despite many attempts to intercede, the king did not pardon him and he was executed
on 21 January at Tyburn
. When his body was cut down and exhibited in Tangier Tavern, it drew a large crowd and was later removed to St Paul's church
, Covent Garden, where it was buried under the centre aisle. His memorial inscription
reads:
The apparently gallant highwayman inspired a number of biographers and playwright
s to add to his legend
, including claims of alchemy
, gambling, and much womanising.
He is reported to haunt the Holt Hotel
along the A4260 (Oxford Road) in Oxfordshire, a hotel where he spent many nights when it was a small coaching inn.
Claude Duval (disambiguation)
- People :*Claude Duval , French-born gentleman highwayman in post-Restoration Britain*Claude B. Duval , Louisiana state senator- Other :*Claude Duval , a competitor who finished fourth in the 1843 Grand National...
Claude Du Vall (1643 – 21 January 1670) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-born gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
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...
in post-Restoration Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Early life
Du Val was born in Domfront, OrneDomfront, Orne
Domfront is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.Beginning from the strategically sited castle of Domfront, the dispossessed count Henry, youngest son of William the Conqueror, rallied support among local lords and eventually ruled the Anglo-Norman dominions as Henry I of...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1643 to a noble family stripped of title and land. His origin and parentage are in dispute. He did however have a brother Daniel Du Val. At the age of 14 he was sent to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he worked as a domestic servant. He later became a stable boy for a group of English royalist
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
s and moved to England in the time of the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
as a footman
Footman
A footman is a male servant, notably as domestic staff.-Word history:The name derives from the attendants who ran beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats, many of whom were chosen for their physical attributes. They ran alongside the coach to make sure it was not overturned by such obstacles...
of the Duke of Richmond
Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond
Esmé Stuart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox was the son of James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond and Mary Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham....
(possible relation) and rented a house in Wokingham
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
.
Highwayman
Before long Du Val became a successful highwaymanHighwayman
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...
who robbed the passing stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
es in the roads to 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...
, especially Holloway
Holloway, London
Holloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington located north of Charing Cross and follows for the most part, the line of the Holloway Road . At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head area...
between Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
and Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
. However, unlike most other brigands, he distinguished himself with rather gentlemanly behaviour and fashionable clothes. He reputedly never used violence. One of his victims was squire Roper, Master of the Royal Buckhounds, whom he relieved of 50 guinea
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
s and tied to a tree.
There are many tales about Du Val. One particularly famous one—placed in more than one location and later published by William Pope
William Pope
William Pope may refer to:* William Henry Pope , Texas state senator* William Henry Pope * William Hayes Pope , U.S...
—claims that he took only a part of his potential loot from a gentleman when his wife agreed to dance with him in the wayside, a scene immortalised by William Powell Frith
William Powell Frith
William Powell Frith , was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1852...
in his 1860 painting Claude Du Val.
If his intention was to deter pursuit by his non-threatening behaviour, he did not totally succeed. After the authorities promised a large reward, he fled to France for some time but returned a few months later. Shortly afterwards he was arrested in the Hole-in-the-Wall tavern 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...
's Chandos Street, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
.
Execution
On 17 January 1670, judge Sir William MortonWilliam Morton (judge)
Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Morton KS was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and from 1663 to 1665. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War....
found him guilty of six robberies (others remained unproven) and sentenced him to death. Despite many attempts to intercede, the king did not pardon him and he was executed
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
on 21 January at Tyburn
Tyburn, London
Tyburn was a village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch in present-day London. It took its name from the Tyburn or Teo Bourne 'boundary stream', a tributary of the River Thames which is now completely covered over between its source and its outfall into the...
. When his body was cut down and exhibited in Tangier Tavern, it drew a large crowd and was later removed to St Paul's church
St Paul's, Covent Garden
St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden, London, England.As well...
, Covent Garden, where it was buried under the centre aisle. His memorial inscription
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
reads:
- Here lies DuVall: Reder, if male thou art,
- Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart.
- Much havoc has he made of both; for all
- Men he made to stand, and women he made to fall
- The second Conqueror of the Norman race,
- Knights to his arm did yield, and ladies to his face.
- Old Tyburn’s glory; England’s illustrious Thief,
- Du Vall, the ladies’ joy; Du Vall, the ladies’ grief.http://www.stand-and-deliver.org.uk/highwaymen/claude_duval.htm
The apparently gallant highwayman inspired a number of biographers and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
s to add to his legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, including claims of alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, gambling, and much womanising.
He is reported to haunt the Holt Hotel
Holt Hotel (Oxfordshire)
The Holt Hotel is an historic hotel near Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the corner of the crossroads between the A4260 Oxford Road and the B4030, about southwest of Steeple Aston opposite a fuel station. It was founded in 1475 as a coaching inn in 1475 with six rooms and now has 86...
along the A4260 (Oxford Road) in Oxfordshire, a hotel where he spent many nights when it was a small coaching inn.
Popular culture
- Claude Du Vall appears as a suspect in Ace Murder Mystery's 17th Century English murder mystery dinner party game 'Power Plots and Pistols' (link below).
- A 2005 Travel ChannelTravel ChannelThe Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
Haunted Hotels documentaryDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on hauntingsGhostIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
claims that Claude Duval's ghost presently haunts the tavern wherein he was arrested before being condemned to death. This same documentary also claims several people were murdered by Duval, despite scant evidence.
- A comic operaComic operaComic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
called Claude Duval was written in 1881 by Edward SolomonEdward SolomonEdward Solomon was a prolific English composer, as well as a conductor, orchestrator and pianist. Though he died before his fortieth birthday, he wrote dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, such as The Nautch Girl, among others.-Early...
and Henry Pottinger StephensHenry Pottinger StephensHenry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp , was an English dramatist and journalist. With a variety of partners, he wrote burlesques, comic operas and musical comedies that briefly rivalled the Savoy Operas in popular esteem.-Life and career:"Pot" Stephens was born in Barrow-on-Soar,...
and enjoyed success both in Britain and in America.
- In the Mary Hooper book "The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose" Duval is stated as being a friend of Nell GwynNell GwynEleanor "Nell" Gwyn was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of...
and credited with saving King Charles II of England's life.
- "As he reached this spot, a man started from the obscurity, and requested with the politeness of a Claude Duval to know the time." From Mountains and Molehills; or, Recollections of a Burnt Journal, 1855, by Francis Samuel Marryat, (1826–1855).
- A public house in the town of CamberleyCamberleyCamberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles southwest of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. The town lies close to the borders of both Hampshire and Berkshire; the boundaries intersect on the western edge of the town where all three counties...
in SurreySurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
is named in his honour.
- Claude Duval is the subject of Michael Scott Smith's song "The Highwayman Waltz"; recorded by folk group The Band of Brothers in their 2006 album "Railroads, Hobos & Cowboys".
External links
- Duval in Stand and Deliver
- Highwaymen at Historic UK
- Claude Duval as a murder mystery game suspect
- Short radio episode Every Man A Rogue mentions "the politeness of a Claude Duval." California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
.