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Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: Gangsters on the Gallows
Description: Joseph "Blueskin" Blake was hanged on 11th November, 1724. His notoriety as a highwayman was due in large part to his network of criminal associates, including ‘London’s most glamorous rogue’ Jack Sheppard (who inspired Gay’s Beggars Opera) and ‘Thief-Taker General’, Jonathan Wilde.Under the guise of law enforcement, Wilde had charged victims for retrieving their stolen goods, manipulating the criminal justice system so that he profited from crimes he had himself orchestrated. Blake found himself under Wilde's wing as a young pickpocket, but his loyalty didn’t pay off in the end, as Wilde personal...