Jonathan Wilde and London’s Magistrates
Jonathan Wilde (1682 – 1725) was an 18th-century English master criminal who reigned over an underground kingdom of thieves and highwaymen, ran far-flung extortion racked, and was Britain’s biggest fence for stolen goods. After he feigned reform, the authorities turned to Wilde, gave him the title “Thief-Taker”, and set him loose on the criminals running amok and terrorizing London.
Wilde took to his new job and title with a passion, forming highly effective teams of thief catchers who fell upon the criminals with a will, breaking up gangs and sending criminals to the gallows by the dozen: during his thief-catching career, at least 120 were executed based on Wilde’s testimony and information he furnished the authorities.
He also set up a side business as a private detective, recovering stolen goods for a fee. He failed to inform his clients that it was his thieves who had stolen their goods in the first place, and “recovery” simply came down to Wilde sifting through his warehouses of stolen property. Far from having gone legit, Wilde had hoodwinked everybody, and the Thief Catcher became an even bigger kingpin, ridding himself of competitors by delivering them to the authorities.
As noted in this article’s beginning, the very term “double-cross” owes its origins to Wilde. He was finally brought down when a criminal double-crossed by Wilde accused him of fencing stolen goods. An investigation confirmed the malfeasance, and Wilde was arrested, at which point many of his underlings turned crown evidence against him until his whole scheme of simultaneously being England’s greatest crime fighter and greatest criminal came out. He was swiftly tried, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, where he had sent so many others to their doom.
