When I think of crime in the eighteenth century, highway robbery immediately comes into my mind. The legend of Dick Turpin and Black Bess flood imaginations, (as does the very catchy Dick Turpin song from Horrible Histories for me), and Jonathan Wilde, the cunning master of thieves and highwaymen who stole from people and then claimed to find the very goods that he had stolen! Not many people have heard of William Peare, the seemingly innocent young blacksmith in his early twenties from the small town of Cricklade in North Wiltshire. Although Peare’s criminal career was quite short, and only spanned from 1780-1783, he turned out to be one of Wiltshire’s most notorious highwaymen.

The changing economic and social landscape of the eighteenth century allowed criminals like Peare to flourish. More traffic was on the roads, due to the increase in business and commerce and the de-localisation of trade. The emergence of the social season, where the aristocracy travelled from their country estates to Bath and London to talk of gossip and marriage (oh how very Bridgerton!), also escalated this already high volume of traffic. These changes were the perfect opportunity for highwaymen like Peare to make more than a few pennies. Highwaymen were often young, and dressed in fine clothes, so they were romanticised in the media as handsome and devilish rouges. It is unclear whether William Peare decided to become a highwayman to fit this image, but one of the earliest mentions of him in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, dated Monday 16^th October 1780, certainly portrays him in this light:

‘One day last week, Mrs. Turner, a lady of Upton Scudamore, returning from Warminster (the she had received from cash and bills) to Westbury, was accosted by a highwayman genteelly dressed, who making a low bow, desired she would deliver her money, which she did to the amount of 45I. he then thanked her, observed it was a fine morning, and bowing respectfully, rode off. It being a narrow lane, the lady’s servant had gone before to clear the way. This robbery was committed in open day, and in view of several people at work in a field, who, from the polite conduct of the robber, took him for the lady’s acquaintance, and did not interfere.’

He was however not so well mannered towards a Mr Jeffrey whom he robbed a few days earlier:

‘He came suddenly upon him out of the [rabbit] warren, and in an instant knocked him off his horse, then tore open both his breeches pockets, and took from him 500I. in bank notes, 37I. in cash.’

After the robbery of Mr. Jeffrey, sixty pounds was offered in reward money for whoever apprehended him. It wasn’t until February 1782, when Peare robbed a Chippenham mail coach, that he was finally arrested and detained in Gloucester castle. It is unknown how he managed to escape the castle, but thereafter he became more violent and often shot at carriage windows to terrify the occupants within. However, this habit did not go to plan when he tried to rob two military officers. They were ready for him and fired their pistols, but Peare was luckily unharmed.

Peare’s name is listed above in the Calendar of Prisoners. Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Archives, Q/SG/1, Calendar of Prisoners, 1753-1790 (Image source: Ancestry.com)

Peare’s luck did eventually run out on the 14^th May 1783. While him and an accomplice were digging under the wall of an adjoining building to Stroud bank, their candlelight caught the attention of a passer-by. The authorities were alerted, and they hid in the bank waiting for one of the criminals to appear. Finally, the head of Peare’s accomplice popped through the gap they had created in the wall. The authorities pounced and Peare ran for his life.  In the end, upon gathering information from the captured accomplice, Peare was discovered hiding in a constructed cell in the walls of his father’s house at number 58 the High Street in Cricklade. Peare fruitlessly tried to escape into the garden, but it was no use. He was surrounded and was again taken to Gloucester castle. This time he would not escape.

Number 58 the High Street can be seen here on the right with people standing in the doorway. Today there is a black plaque on the front of the house noting it as Peare’s hiding place. WSHC, P6636: Photograph, view from south from the top of the High Street, Cricklade, Wiltshire, 1950s or 1960s  (Copyright Wiltshire County Council)

Peare’s trial took place at the Salisbury Assizes which are mentioned in several issues of the Salisbury and Winchester Journal from August 1783. Peare was sentenced to death specifically for ‘robbing the mail’ near Chippenham for which he was previously arrested. The August 11^th issue mentions that in a desperate attempt to save himself, Peare and two others also sentenced to die, attempted to escape their prison by obtaining the keys to their chains and their cell door. Unluckily, they were caught by a prison keeper. Their fate was thus sealed.

Peare’s second escape attempt. This one was not so lucky. Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 11^th August, 1783, p. 3 (WSHC)

The day before his execution, it was noted in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal that his body was to be enclosed in chains and gibbetted in the spot where he robbed the mail coach. Knowing his terrible fate, Peare rather admirably kept his composure:

‘he has conducted himself, since his condemnation, with a fortitude that would have done him honour in a better cause.’

Peare was hanged at Fisherton gallows on 19^th August 1783. His execution is noted six days later in The Salisbury and Winchester Journal. A huge number of spectators watched as the calm and respectfully dressed 23-year-old approached the gallows. He met his end swiftly while he clutched a bunch of flowers. A heart-felt letter of advice from his father was found in his pocket when his body was removed from the noose. The issue also mentions that Peare knew the infamous highwaymen Thomas Boulter and James Caldwell, who were executed a few years earlier in 1778:

Peare’s Execution. A letter from his father was found in his pocket. Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 11^th August, 1783, p. 3 (WSHC)

As arranged, Peare’s body was hung on a gibbet near Chippenham. Peare must have sparked much interest, as 10 thousand people turned up in the wrong place for his execution, and news of the event reached as far as Berkshire and Hereford. The Herford Journal and the Reading Mercury both feature the same heartbreaking poem: ‘lamentations of a country girl, Dairy Maid in a family near Chippenham, over her lover, the noted Peare, who is hanged in chains for robbing the mail.’ Parts of the poem read:

‘Alas! That e’er these eyes should see

That much lov’d form, so ttrait and fair,

Swing lifeless on the fatal tree,

Sport of the fun and blasting air’

 

‘No sanguinary arm he rais’d

Against a friend’s-or neighbour’s blood,

For gen’rous acts his name was prais’d,

His heart was form’d for gratitude.’

 

‘At grey-clad morn, and dusky eve,

Thy faithful Mary will be here,

To give thee all her heart can give-

The Deep-felt tribute of a tear.’

Reading Mercury, 27^th October 1783, p. 4.

Hereford Journal, 30^th October, 1783, p. 4.

The Hampshire Chronicle from 10^th November 1783, indicates that Peare’s body hung on the gibbet for over two months, until late October or early November when his friends from Cricklade carried his body away in the dead of night. It is unknown for certain, but they supposedly buried their friend in an unmarked grave in St. Mary’s churchyard in Cricklade.

Despite his crimes, Peare was clearly cherished by those around him.

Find out more about the history of Cricklade by downloading the ‘Explore Wiltshire’ app. This is free and is wonderful for anyone interested in touring some wonderous locations in Wiltshire!

Sophie Bunce, Community History Advisor