Captain James Hind, friend of ‘Moll Cutpurse’, was the only son of a saddler. He was born in 1616, at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, and received a sound education. He travelled to London on money borrowed from his mother and soon indulged in high living. He loved the company of ladies who much admired him for his politeness and wit. After turning highwayman, he would raise his hat when robbing them, and often refrained from taking all their valuables. He also occasionally gave money to the poor. When the Civil War broke out, he joined the Royalist army and fought at the battle of Worcester. He served with courage and later self-assumed the title of ‘Captain’.

After the war, Hind joined forces with another highwayman, Thomas Allen, whom he had met before the war and they proceeded mainly to rob Parliamentarians. Once, they boldly attacked Oliver Cromwell’s coach on its way to London from Huntingdon. The ambush ended in failure because the coach was well protected by seven guards. In the ensuing fight, Allen tumbled from his horse, being captured and later hanged at Tyburn. Captain Hind managed to escape with his life but only after riding his horse to exhaustion. He then led the life of a lone highwayman, concentrating on robberies where the potential rewards would be great and spending the money on lavish living. He never used violence if it could be avoided and only resorted to it when trapped.

After his eventual capture and execution in 1652 at Worcester by hanging, drawing and quartering, his head was placed on the Bridge Gate, spanning the River Severn, and his quarters stuck on other nearby gates. Later his head was secretly removed and buried within a week.

Another ardent Royalist highwayman was John Cottington, alias ‘Mulled Sack’, born in 1614, the son of a haberdasher. He started his early working life, when eight years old, as an apprentice to a chimney sweep. Later, in his early teens, he became a pickpocket, often frequenting one of Fleet Street’s many taverns, where he drank sherry, a habit acquired from his father. His many successful highway robberies against the Parliamentarians included the stealing of a diamond-encrusted gold watch from Lady Fairfax, wife of General Thomas Fairfax; he later robbed the same lady again by removing the lynch-pin from her carriage when on her way to church, helped her to alight and at the same time relieved her of another watch. An attempted robbery of Oliver Cromwell himself, like that of Hind, ended, however, in failure. Cottington then teamed up with Thomas Cheney. The pair proceeded to rob Parliamentarians until one day disaster struck on Hounslow Heath, during an attempted hold-up of a coach belonging to a high-ranking officer in Cromwell’s army. A body of troops was following a short distance behind the coach and immediately gave chase. ‘Mulled Sack’ escaped but the unfortunate Thomas Cheney was wounded, arrested, tried and executed.

Shortly afterwards, Cottington formed a partnership with highwayman, Captain Thomas Horne. They attempted a further robbery of Oliver Cromwell and his retinue on Hounslow Heath but with a similar result. Thomas Horne was captured, sentenced and hanged at Tyburn, while ‘Mulled Sack’ escaped yet again, resolving thereafter to work alone. His exploits amassed him a considerable fortune, which stood him in good stead when he was eventually arrested because he successfully corrupted the jury to secure his acquittal. Shortly afterwards, he killed a gentleman named Sir John Bridges, with whose wife he was conducting an affair, and fled to Germany. He later returned to England but was arrested and sent to Newgate Prison. He was tried, convicted and hanged in 1659 at the remarkably good age (for a highwayman) of forty-five. The execution took place at Smithfield Rounds, a site occasionally used instead of Tyburn.

William (or John) Nevison was another Royalist supporter. His real name was John Brace or John Bracey and he was born at Worley near Pontefract, Yorkshire in 1639, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. At an early age Nevison became a thief, even robbing his own family before stealing a horse from his schoolmaster and departing to London. Continuing his career of petty crime, he eventually stole £200 from his employer, a wealthy merchant, before fleeing to Holland, where he married a rich man’s daughter. When her father discovered his son-in-law’s true character and former thieving exploits in England, he reported him to the authorities. The deserted young wife reputedly died of grief. Nevison was imprisoned but managed to escape, fleeing to Flanders where he joined the army of the Duke of York, later to become James II, King of England, who had escaped to Holland after the defeat of his father, Charles I, in the Civil War.

William Nevison returned to England in 1659 when his regiment was disbanded, evidently taking to the road after the death of his father, who left him no money. His principal victims were Parliamentarians and occasionally moneylenders and bailiffs carrying rent money from farmers. As previously mentioned, he also levied a toll on northern drovers and carriers to ensure their safe passage.

Nevison earned the nickname ‘Swift Nick’ after a remarkable exploit in May 1676. Following a robbery at Gad’s Hill, in Kent, at 4 a.m. he rode to the city of York, arriving at 7 p.m. on the same day. His route took him to Gravesend, over the River Thames by ferry to Tilbury, across the county of Essex, through Cambridge, on to God-manchester and Huntingdon, and finally along the North Road for the final 120 miles to York.

The distance travelled was approximately 200 miles, taking about fifteen hours to complete. Given the average speed of between thirteen and fourteen miles per hour, including time for rests, there must be some doubt as to whether the same horse was used for the whole journey. Much later, for example, in 1831, in order to win a bet, the Regency squire George Osbaldeston changed horses twenty-eight times to ride a distance of 200 miles in eight hours and forty-two minutes. Likewise, in 1993, Peter Scudamore, the ex-champion National Hunt jockey, changed fresh thoroughbred mounts forty-eight times to beat George Osbaldeston’s record time by just a few minutes. Although Nevison’s journey took much longer and was over a similar distance, it seems unlikely that the feat could have been possible on a single horse.

After his arrival in York in the early evening, Nevison stabled his horse, changed into fresh clothes and set off for the bowling green where he knew the mayor was playing. In order to establish an alibi for his earlier crime, he walked over and asked the mayor the time; it was about 8 p.m. The ruse worked. A few weeks later, Nevison was arrested for the hold-up in Kent, but gained an acquittal at his trial by calling upon the mayor as witness to confirm he was in York on the day of the robbery.

Nobody in court thought it possible to complete such a journey in less than a day; and Charles II personally summoned the highwayman, who subsequently bragged of having fooled the law, to explain how he had achieved the feat. Nevison replied that he had ridden so furiously that the ‘Old Nick’, the Devil himself, could not have gone faster; whereupon the King dubbed him ‘Swift Nick’.

The legendary ride from Kent to York in a single day by William Nevison (’Swift Nick’). The rest times and places were those suggested by the English novelist and journalist Daniel Defoe, in his ‘Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain’in 1726.

During the following century, the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin and his horse ‘Black Bess’ were fictitiously credited with the astonishing ride to York, actually accomplished by ‘Swift Nick’.

Nevison proved he was a true master of deception after later being arrested for another crime of robbery and placed in Leicester Gaol. He pretended to be ill and arranged for a friend, claiming to be a physician, to visit him in prison. The bogus doctor painted a series of blue spots on Nevison’s face and surreptitiously slipped him a sleeping draught; in due course the ‘physician’ called the gaoler and pronounced his patient dead of the plague. He arranged to take the body away quickly in a coffin because of the highly infectious nature of the disease. Afterwards, Nevison awoke from his drugged sleep to continue his dashing life as a highwayman. He was arrested in 1676 for robbery and horse theft and upon conviction spent about five years as a prisoner in York Castle. Due for deportation to Tangier, to serve in the military there, he escaped once more. But his luck finally deserted him when he was betrayed by informers and arrested when visiting ‘The Magpie’ inn near Wakefield in Yorkshire. He was again taken to York Castle and put in chains until his trial at York Assizes. He was sentenced to death and executed on the Knavesmire on 15 March 1684 after making a farewell speech to the large assembled crowd. The following day he was buried at St Mary’s Church, Castlegate, York.