On this day, the notorious pickpocket and highwayman, Joseph “Blueskin” Blake was hanged at the Tyburn Tree Gallows in London. Blake started his life of crime working for Jonathan Wild. Wild was a major figure in London’s criminal underworld who posed as a public-spirited vigilante entitled the “Thief-Taker General” while simultaneously running a significant criminal empire. When Blake split up with Wild and joined forces with the notorious thief and jail-breaker Jack Sheppard, it was Wild who had them both arrested. On the day of his trial, Blake tried to persuade Wild to put in a good word for him. When Wild refused, Blake attacked him, slashing his throat with a pocket-knife. Wild survived the attack and Blake was convicted and hanged. Shepherd was hanged five days later and the following year Wild was also hanged for organising a jailbreak.
