25th September 1706 - 7th April 1739

In the tiny village of Hempstead some seven miles beyond Duxford near Saffron Walden in the county of Essex is the birthplace of Dick Turpin at the “Old Post Cottage”.  The village is full of Turpin memorabilia, including newspaper cuttings of the day.  Turpin’s family moved into the Rose and Crown public house (then known as The Blue Bell) when he was a baby.  The son of an alehouse keeper, he trained as a butcher then opened a butchery shop at the inn.  Always short of money, Turpin took to stealing cattle at night to slaughter and sell the meat in his shop.  The cottage he then lived in with his wife (Betty Millington) is still preserved in Thaxted.  Turpin then started to rob various London-bound stagecoaches at Newport and Epping and he became landlord of the Bull-Beggars-Hole at Clayhill where he stole from his guests as they slept.

Although not from Royston, there have been many tales of the infamous Dick Turpin in the Hertfordshire area and it is believed that he frequented a Royston inn known as the “Hoops.”  Unfortunately, nothing remains of this public house as it was demolished in 1961.  The legend has it; that the local Police were seeking Turpin - possibly after another coach robbery incident, around the start of the 19th century, 16 different coaches were regularly passing through or near Royston.

According to legend Dick Turpin had two similar horses and after riding into town on one, he is believed to have hidden the perspiring horse down a well in the yard of the “Hoops.”  He then fled to his room and jumped into bed.  When his pursuers rode into Royston and demanded Turpin surrender, he calmly denied having been out and convinced them by showing his "fresh" horse in the stables, proving that it had not been ridden that night.

Later Turpin gave up robbing the coaches in favour of better pickings when he joined a notorious 17-strong group of house-robbers known as Gregory's Gang.  After leaving the gang in 1735, he teamed up with Tom King and started to rob stagecoaches again, but after a tragic accident (where he shot and killed Tom King) he decided to move north.  Now the most wanted man in England, but always one step ahead of the law and travelling under the alias of Palmer, his mother’s maiden name.  Turpin stayed in Cambridge for sometime before moving to Long Sutton in Lincolnshire and then on to Brough and Welton.

Here is where Turpin made his first mistake - when he shot a cockerel and threatened his neighbour in a moment of frustration.  He was arrested and questioned by Justices of the Peace - who made efforts to trace his real identity.  While imprisoned in York Castle, Turpin made another mistake by writing to his family in Hempstead - Turpin’s former schoolmaster who recognised the handwriting, intercepted the letter and travelled to York to formally identify Turpin.  The trial of Richard Turpin took place at Knavesmire, near York on 22nd March 1739, he was convicted and sent for execution on 7th April 1739 and finally buried in St. George's Church.

Even after death, Turpin could not rest in peace.  For two days after his burial, several grave robbers were discovered removing his body from the grave.  A mob took back Turpin's body and buried it in the same grave, having first covered it in lime to prevent it being stolen again.