DICK TURPIN HERO OR VILLAIN?
Thu, May 7th 2026 at 6:45 pm - 8:45 pm
Stephen Poulter will be talking to the club about the famous highwayman. Duty member: Martin Hall
Turpin was born in 1705 in Hempstead, Essex, and baptised on 21 September. He likely began as a butcher, following his father’s trade, but by the early 1730s he had drifted into organised crime. He joined a gang of deer thieves, then moved on to poaching, burglary, horse theft, and eventually highway robbery. His criminal career was violent and opportunistic rather than glamorous.