18th Century
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‘Four Pounds…and Reasonable Charges’: Runaway Servants from the Pennsylvania Gazette
‘ Anyone reading the Pennsylvania Gazette in the 1750s could not have missed the numerous adverts placed by subscribers offering a reward and ‘reasonable charges’ for the return of runaway servants. The Oxford Research Encyclopedia claims that between the 16th and 18th Centuries, approximately 320,000 indentured servants sailed from the British Isles and other parts Continue reading
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The Orcadian Pirate
Although he was inextricably linked with the Orkney Isles, John Gow was born on the Scottish mainland at Wick, a stone’s throw from John O’Groats, around 1698. Like numerous others of his ilk, Gow ended his days at Execution Dock on the banks of the River Thames at Wapping on 11 June 1725. Gow spent Continue reading
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The Burford Highwaymen
One night in early November 1784, the bodies of Tom and Henry (Harry) Dunsdon were removed from the gibbets, which had displayed them as a warning to others who chose the path of lawlessness. The brothers had hung in chains, their bodies open to the elements, in Wychwood Forest, just outside the west Oxfordshire village Continue reading
Hellish Fiends, and Brutish Men 