Editing Jonathan Wild (section)

==The Jack Sheppard struggle and downfall==
[[File:Jack Sheppard - Thornhill.jpg|right|thumb|Chalk and pencil sketch of Jack Sheppard in [[Newgate Prison]], attributed to Sir [[James Thornhill]], circa 1724]]
By 1724, London political life was experiencing a crisis of public confidence. The [[South Sea Bubble]] had burst four years earlier, and the public was growing restive about corruption. Authority figures were beginning to be viewed with scepticism. In April 1724, the most famous housebreaker of the era, [[Jack Sheppard]], was apprehended by one of Wild's men, James "Hell-and-Fury" Sykes, for a burglary Sheppard had committed in Clare Market on 5 February.<ref name="moore100">Moore, p. 100.</ref> Sheppard had worked with Wild in the past, though he had struck out on his own. Consequently, as with other arrests, Wild's interests in saving the public from Sheppard were personal.

Sheppard was imprisoned in [[St Giles's Roundhouse]], but escaped within three hours.<ref name="moore104">Moore, p. 104.</ref> On 19 May, Wild again had Sheppard arrested for pickpocketing, and this time he was put in St. Ann's Roundhouse in [[Soho]], where he was visited by Elizabeth "Edgworth Bess" Lyon the next day; she too was locked up with him and, being recognised as man and wife, they were sent to the [[New Prison]] at [[Clerkenwell]]. They both escaped on 25 May.<ref name="moore105">Moore, p. 105</ref> In July, Field informed Wild about Sheppard, so Wild sought for Lyon on 22 July and plied her with drinks at [[Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar]] until she betrayed Sheppard.<ref name="moore111">Moore, p. 111.</ref>

The following day, Wild sent another one of his men, [[Quilt Arnold]], and had Sheppard arrested a third time and put into [[Newgate Prison]] to await trial.<ref name="moore112">Moore, p. 112.</ref> On 13 August Sheppard was tried on three charges of burglary, but was [[acquittal|acquitted]] of the first two due to lack of evidence. However, Wild, along with Field and William Kneebone, Sheppard's former master, presented evidence against him on the final charge of the burglary of Kneebone's house on 12 July; Sheppard was convicted, [[Capital punishment in the United Kingdom|sentenced to death]], and put in the condemned hold of Newgate Prison.<ref>{{Old Bailey
  |defendant  = Joseph Sheppard
  |id         = t17240812-52
  |trialdate  = 12 August 1724
  |accessdate = 2012-08-07
}}. Note that Sheppard's name is incorrectly recorded as Joseph Sheppard.</ref>

On the night that the death warrant arrived, 31 August, Sheppard once again escaped. By this point, he was a working class hero for apprentices (being a [[cockney]] apprentice in love, non-violent, and handsome). On 9 September, Sheppard avoided capture by Wild's men, but he was caught for a fourth time by a [[posse comitatus|posse]] from Newgate as he hid out on [[Finchley Common]].<ref name="moore209">Moore, p. 209.</ref> Sheppard was returned to Newgate and placed in the most secure room of the prison. Further, Sheppard was put in shackles and chained to the floor.

Meanwhile, on 9 October, Wild and his men arrested [[Joseph Blake (criminal)|Joseph "Blueskin" Blake]], a [[highwayman]] and Sheppard's partner-in-crime.<ref name="moore158">Moore, p. 158.</ref> On 15 October, Blueskin was tried for the same act of burglary committed on 12 July, with Wild, Field, and his men giving evidence. Their accounts were not consistent with the evidence given at Sheppard's trial, but Blueskin was convicted and sentenced to death anyway.<ref>{{Old Bailey
  |defendant  = Joseph Blake
  |id         = t17241014-43
  |trialdate  = 14 October 1724
  |accessdate = 2012-08-07
}}</ref> After the trial, Blueskin pleaded with Wild in the courtroom to have his death sentence commuted to [[penal transportation|transportation]] (since he had worked with Wild before), but Wild refused. Enraged, Blueskin attempted to murder Wild, slashing his throat with a pocketknife and causing an uproar. Wild collapsed and was taken to a surgeon for treatment.<ref name="moore159">Moore, p. 159.</ref>

Taking advantage of the disturbance that spread to Newgate next door and continued into the night, Sheppard escaped yet again on 16 October.<ref name="moore161">Moore, p. 161.</ref> He had broken the chains, padlocks, and six iron-barred doors. This escape astonished everyone, and [[Daniel Defoe]], working as a journalist, wrote an account. In the early morning on 1 November, Sheppard was found for a fifth and final time by a constable and arrested.<ref>''The London Journal'', 7 November 1724. Mullan, p. 186.</ref> This time, he was placed in the centre of Newgate, where he could be observed at all times, and loaded with three hundred pounds of iron weights. He was so celebrated that the gaolers charged high society visitors to see him, and [[James Thornhill]] painted his portrait.

On 11 November, Blueskin was hanged.<ref>''The Daily Journal'', 12 November 1724. Moore, p. 170.</ref> Five days later, Sheppard was similarly hanged at [[Tyburn, London|Tyburn]]. Wild did not attend either of the executions, as he was confined to his bed for several weeks while the injury to his throat was healing.<ref name="moore233">Moore, p. 233.</ref>

Wild's inability to control Sheppard, and his injuries at the hands of Blueskin, combined with a change of public sentiment regarding authority figures, led to his downfall. As he recuperated from his injury, his control over his criminal gang also slipped, and he became despised. After his recovery, Wild used violence to perform a [[jailbreak]] for one of his gang members. Being searched for, he went into hiding for several weeks and returned to business when he thought the affair had blown over. On 6 February 1725, Wild was summoned to [[Leicester House, Westminster|Leicester House]], where he failed to recover a gold watch for one of his attendants because of the jailbreak and the incident with Blueskin at the Old Bailey.<ref name="moore238">Moore, p. 238.</ref>