York Castle Museum

Dated: 17/07/2009

Dick Turpin – Devilishly handsome or ugly as sin?

A more realistic image of one of history’s most famous villains has been brought back from the dead thanks to new technology.

The infamous highwayman Richard Turpin has become a mythical figure - often depicted as a dashing, romantic rogue, as well as devilishly handsome.

But accounts from when he was alive show that a very different person was sent to the gallows in York exactly 270 years ago.

Now, thanks to the E-Fit technology used by North Yorkshire Police, a much more accurate picture of Turpin has been issued for the first time.

 

Dick Turpin's E-fit
The creation of the E-Fit is part of York Castle Museum’s new interpretation of its authentic cells – where Turpin spent his last night alive.

Dr Katherine Prior, researcher for the new gaol project at the York Castle Museum, said: “Richard Turpin is one of the most infamous highwaymen in the world, but interestingly very little information on what he actually looked like survives. There are no drawings or paintings of Turpin created during his life time. All we have to go on are the descriptions from newspapers which were issued to aid his capture.

“We have worked with North Yorkshire Police to create an E-Fit of Mr Turpin, just like they would do from a description of a criminal today. The results are not pretty!”

Ian Greaves, one of the E-Fit specialists at North Yorkshire Police, said:

“It is nice to think that North Yorkshire Police are able to assist in putting a true picture together of the infamous highwayman, who spent his last days in the city of York.”

The new E-Fit will appear in York Castle Prison, the museum’s latest attraction. It will give an atmospheric look at the Museum’s authentic cells and the people, like Turpin, who were imprisoned there. The gallery will open on Friday (July 17 2009).

The descriptions of Turpin used for the E-Fit appeared in papers around the country when the government offered a reward for his capture. The first of these was in 1735 with a reward of £50; then a more detailed version was issued in 1737 with a reward of £200. In this, Turpin was said to be: “Five Feet Nine Inches high, of a brown Complexion, very much marked with the Small Pox, his Cheek bones broad, his Face slimmer towards the Bottom, his Visage short, pretty upright, and broad about the Shoulders. “(Full descriptions in the notes)

The descriptions are in stark contrast to the images now associated with Turpin. It was almost 100 years after his execution that his transformation from a murderer, torturer and horse stealer to dashing heroic highwayman began, with the 1834 novel Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth. The historically inaccurate story of Turpin riding the 200 miles from London to York on Black Bess in a day captured the public’s imagination and the legend was born.