Moll King | |
---|---|
Born | 1670s |
Other names | Mary Gilstone, Moll Bird, Mary Godson |
Criminal charge | Pickpocketing |
Penalty | Death (commuted) Transportation to America |
Moll King was a 17th century London criminal.
Little is known of King's early life, she was probably a native Londoner and born in the 1670s. [1] In October 1693 she had one of her hands branded after robbing a house in St Giles, Cripplegate. [2] It is thought she married a City Officer in 1718. [1]
King went into business with infamous London criminal Jonathan Wild, from whom she learned pick-pocketing. [3] In October 1718, King, now using the name Mary Gilstone, was arrested for stealing a gold watch from a woman near St Anne's Church, Soho. [4] She was sentenced to death in December 1718, but this was commuted to fourteen years' transportation to America when it was confirmed by a 'Panel of Matrons' that she was pregnant. [5] After her baby was weaned, King was transported on the convict ship Susannah and Sarah, [6] to Annapolis, Maryland, arriving on 23 April 1720, but within a short time had returned to England. [7] It is assumed that King's connection with Jonathan Wild facilitated her release. [3] In Annapolis King had teamed up with fellow felon Richard Bird, originally from Whitechapel, and the pair travelled back to England together, King using the name Bird. [8] [7]
In June 1721, King was arrested robbing a house in Little Russell Street, Covent Garden and incarcerated in Newgate Prison. [7] The legal documents from this case refer to King, alias Moll Bird, alias Mary Godson. [3] Jonathan Wild was able to use his influence with "tame" magistrates for the charges to be dropped. [9] A second indictment for returning from transportation was added, [10] and in January 1722 King was again transported to America, this time on the ship Gilbert. However, by June 1722 she was back in London and in September that year was arrested and returned to Newgate. [11] She was again transported to America in June 1723. [11]
In 1723, a man named John Stanley was hanged for murdering his mistress. [12] According to a pamphlet which was published after Stanley's death, he had allegedly been intimate with Moll King as well. [12] [13]
In 1734, King was allegedly sentenced to transportation to America a final time. [3]
Historical analyst Gerald Howson argues in his 1985 book, Thief-Taker General: Jonathan Wild and the Emergence of Crime and Corruption As a Way of Life in Eighteenth-Century England, that Moll Kings' story had inspired Daniel Defoe to write his novel, Moll Flanders . [14]
While King was imprisoned at Newgate in 1721, novelist Daniel Defoe began writing about her. [15] Defoe was visiting his friend, the journalist Nathaniel Mist, when he began mentioning Moll King in his notes. [16]
Daniel Defoe, born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts and was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted with him.
Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the prison was extended and rebuilt many times, and remained in use for over 700 years, from 1188 to 1902.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1722.
Moll Flanders is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age.
Jack Sheppard, or "Honest Jack", was a notorious English thief and prison escapee 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. He was arrested and imprisoned five times in 1724 but escaped four times from prison, making him a notorious public figure, and wildly popular with the poorer classes. Ultimately, he was caught, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, ending his brief criminal career after less than two years. The inability of the notorious "Thief-Taker General" Jonathan Wild to control Sheppard, and injuries suffered by Wild at the hands of Sheppard's colleague Joseph "Blueskin" Blake led to Wild's downfall.
Jonathan Wild, also spelled Wilde, was a London underworld figure notable for operating on both sides of the law, posing as a public-spirited crimefighter entitled the "Thief-Taker General". Wild simultaneously ran a significant criminal empire, and used his crime fighting role to remove rivals and launder the proceeds of his own crimes.
Pleading the belly was a process available at English common law, which permitted a woman in the later stages of pregnancy to receive a reprieve of her death sentence until after she bore her child. The plea was available at least as early as 1387 and was eventually rendered obsolete by the Sentence of Death Act 1931, which stated that an expecting mother would automatically have her death sentence commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour.
Charles Hitchen, also mentioned as Charles Hitchin in other sources, was a "thief-taker" and under-marshal of the City of London in the early 18th century, also, famously tried for homosexual acts and sodomitical offences. Alongside his former assistant and then a major rival Jonathan Wild, against whom he later published a pamphlet and contributed to his sentencing to death, Hitchen blackmailed and bribed people and establishments irrespective of their reputation, suspicious or respectable. Despite the disgrace of the people he earned through his abusive exercising of his power, he remained in power and continued fighting against violent crime, especially after the ending of the war of the Spanish Succession and until 1727.
Joseph "Blueskin" Blake was an 18th-century English highwayman and prison escapee.
Capt. Darby Lux I (1695–1750) was a mariner, merchant, and Justice of Baltimore County, Maryland. The son of an English clergyman, was born in Kenton Parish, Devonshire, England, on June 15, 1695. He was christened on June 30, 1696, in Kenton. Darby immigrated in the early 1720s and settled in Anne Arundel County. He was a mariner by occupation from 1720–1742.
Sally Salisbury, real name Sarah Pridden and also known as Sarah Priddon, was a celebrated prostitute in early 18th-century London. She was the lover of many notable members of society, and socialised with many others.
Moll Flanders is a 1996 American period drama film starring Robin Wright and Morgan Freeman, loosley based on the novel of the same name by Daniel Defoe. The film was written and directed by Pen Densham, which vastly differs from the original novel. The original music score was composed by Mark Mancina.
The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer Charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted to Rahere by Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew; and from 1133 to 1855 it took place each year on 24 August within the precincts of the Priory at West Smithfield, outside Aldersgate of the City of London. The fair continued, after the Dissolution within the Liberty of the parish of St Bartholomew-the-Great.
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders is a 1965 British historical comedy film directed by Terence Young and starring Kim Novak, Richard Johnson, and Angela Lansbury. It is based on the 1722 novel Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe.
Damaris Page also known as Damarose Page, was a London brothel keeper, entrepreneur and property developer, one of the most successful and famous prostitutes of her time.
Colonel Jack is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. The considerably longer title under which it was originally published is The History and Remarkable Life of the truly Honourable Col. Jacque, commonly call'd Col. Jack, who was Born a Gentleman, put 'Prentice to a Pick−Pocket, was Six and Twenty Years a Thief, and then Kidnapp'd to Virginia, Came back a Merchant; was Five times married to Four Whores; went into the Wars, behav'd bravely, got Preferment, was made Colonel of a Regiment, came over, and fled with the Chevalier, is still abroad compleating a Life of Wonders, and resolves to dye a General.
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders is a 1996 British drama television film directed by David Attwood, with a screenplay by Andrew Davies and starring Alex Kingston. It is an adaptation of the novel Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe.
The Atterbury Plot was a conspiracy led by Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, aimed at the restoration of the House of Stuart to the throne of Great Britain. It came some years after the unsuccessful Jacobite Rising of 1715, at a time when the Whig government of the new Hanoverian king was deeply unpopular.
Jonathan Forward (1680–1760) was a London merchant primarily responsible for convict transportation to the American colonies from 1718 to 1739. In accordance with the Transportation Act 1717, Forward was contracted to transport felons from Newgate Prison and from numerous home counties.