WEBVTT - Jonathan Wild: The Thief-Taker or Thief? Or Both? 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.399 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:05.359 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:14.480 People thought Jonathan Wilde was a good, upstanding kind of guy. 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.400 He was a thief taker who was very good at 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:22.360 catching criminals. The Privy Council advisers to the Crown consulted 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.240 with him on methods of controlling crime in London. Highway robbers, 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.520 who were having their own golden age of crime at 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:31.640 the time, were a scourge on the city and Jonathan 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.880 had them in his sights. But what most people did 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:38.560 not know was that Jonathan himself was actually a very 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.600 bad guy. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremarki. 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:45.839 And I'm a Holly Frye. So we thought we'd do 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.440 a one to eighty for this episode and talk not 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.320 about highway robbers, but the people who highway robbers feared 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:57.280 the thief takers. In England between roughly sixteen seventy five 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.400 and eighteen thirty, if you witnessed a crime t you 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:04.839 were legally obliged to apprehend the perpetrator if it was possible. 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.319 At a minimum, you were expected to report the crime 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:13.240 to a magistrate or other official, but citizens were uncomfortable 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:17.200 and or unwilling to police their own city. As crimes 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.880 became more and more violent in nature and more frequent. 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:25.040 Before the establishment of a professional police force in London, 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:29.639 which didn't happen until the nineteenth century, thief takers began 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:33.560 to fill the need. They were private citizens who captured 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.480 criminals and recovered stolen goods for a reward. That's it. 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.039 Those are the basics of the gig. They didn't have 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.800 the same level of training or oversight as what we 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.720 would expect from law enforcement officials or even private investigators 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:51.080 or bounty hunters of today. Often thief takers were former 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:57.120 or sometimes active criminals themselves, and many frequently used illegal, unethical, 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.840 or unscrupulous methods to get their bounty. Thief takers and 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.520 thieves they were often one and the same. 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.320 Thief takers are considered the result of legislation passed in 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.880 sixteen ninety two called an Act for Encouraging the Apprehending 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:17.560 of Highwaymen. That act established a monetary reward for the 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.119 capture and conviction of highway robbers, and it also gave 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.680 a free pardon to criminals who gave up their accomplices. 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:28.040 Records show thief takers received from the sheriff forty pounds 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.919 for each criminal they apprehended that led to a conviction, 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.680 Plus there was a bonus of one hundred pounds quote 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.400 if the crime was committed within five miles of Charing Cross. 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.560 A single capture in London would earn the thief taker 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:47.320 the equivalent of five years earnings in average employment. In addition, quote, 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.960 any crime committed by the thief taker during his apprehension 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.400 was also pardoned. So thief taking was a really attractive deal. 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:58.800 But as you may imagine, not all of those people 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.480 who chose the occupation were honest and well meaning people. 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:07.239 For instance, thief takers often used their sway to blackmail 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.320 criminals with that threat of turning them in for arrest, 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.160 or on the flip side of that, they could offer 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.920 thieves protection from being arrested. That, though came at a price. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:23.680 Thief takers also often paid known criminals to testify with 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:28.800 true or false evidence against other criminals and sometimes even 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:33.120 against innocent people, to ensure there was a conviction so 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:34.760 that they received their reward. 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.760 The act was also supposed to encourage victims of theft 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.040 to prosecute the person who had stolen from them and 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.080 to incentivize victims to try to recover their stolen property, 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:50.280 so again enter the thief takers for help when it 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.880 came to recovering that stolen property. Sometimes a thief taker 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.520 would act on behalf of the victim as a go between, 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.480 helping to negotiate the return of items from those who 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.640 stole them. Sometimes thief takers made deals with thieves turn 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:05.880 in the stolen goods in exchange for a cut of 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:10.000 the reward. Sometimes thief takers planted stolen property in order 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:14.360 to collect the reward for recovering said stolen property. Talking 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.760 about the corrupt opportunities can seem kind of dizzying, but 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.960 there's more. Thief takers were also known to extort money 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:25.279 from individuals by threatening to accuse them of thievery unless 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:28.200 they paid a fee. It wasn't rare, either, for thief 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.480 takers to be involved in violent confrontations with the criminals 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.440 they were attempting to capture. They weren't shy about using 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.839 physical force to get their mark and their reward. Some 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.760 thief takers went undercover, pretending to be thieves to infiltrate 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:45.440 criminal organizations to get their target. As You may imagine 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.440 from how we've spoken about this job so far, it 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.320 may not be a surprise to hear that a lot 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.039 of thief takers were criminals themselves who got into the 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.200 business to give their own crimes some sort of legitimacy 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:00.359 and themselves some protection. The whole set up religious seems 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.600 to have encouraged corruption, blackmail, perjury, you name it. 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:06.640 We're gonna take a break here for a word from 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.679 our sponsors, and when we're back we will talk about 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.880 Jonathan wild thief Taker General, one of the most famous 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:25.200 thief takers in England's history. 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:33.160 Welcome back to Criminalia. Now that we know about thief takers, 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.800 let's meet one of the VIPs in the job, Jonathan Wilde. 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:41.080 Jonathan Wilde was a thief taker, but he was so 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:45.760 much more. He played both sides of the law. He 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.279 was a thief, a fence, a highway robber, a smuggler, 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:54.040 a swindler, and engaged in many other nefarious acts before 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.599 he found himself at the gallows at Tiburn. 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.440 Wild grew up in Wolverhampton and Stafford. His father was 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.039 a carpenter and his mother a costermonger. That's a street bender. 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.880 Who sells fruits and vegetables. He was baptized on May sixth, 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.800 but the year is a bit in question. He was 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:17.280 likely born in sixteen eighty two, but maybe sixteen eighty three, 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:23.440 or possibly but unlikely, sixteen eighty nine. Because Jonathan was 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.280 bound in an apprenticeship to a buckle maker in Birmingham, 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:31.800 his formal education ended at age fifteen. As a bound apprentice, 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.919 Wilde was obligated to remain learning the trade for a 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.640 certain period of time. For Jonathan that may have been 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.279 as many as seven years or so. When his term ended, 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.320 he returned to Wolverhampton and married. He and his new 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:45.120 wife had a son. 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.880 But it wasn't even two years into this marriage when 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:52.400 Jonathan decided he was going to leave for London. And 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.080 there's no record of why he deserted his wife and 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.440 child for a new start in the city, but we 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.920 do know that at first when he got there, he 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:05.040 practiced his trade, or tried to. After just a few months, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.119 though he had already gotten himself so far into debt 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:12.680 that quote being of extravagant disposition. He was soon arrested 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.920 and thrown into debtors prison at Wood Street Compter during 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.240 the four years that he spent in jail, Wild listened 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.800 and learned about criminal life and its secrets from his 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:27.960 fellow prisoners, who were mainly petty thieves and tradesmen. He 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.120 also befriended the prison guards at wood Street, who sent 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.160 him on errands, but they also granted him the privilege 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.560 of what was called the liberty of the Gate. That 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.840 meant that he was allowed to be outside the prison 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:44.560 at night to help apprehend thieves. It was his first taste, 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.600 at least that we know of, of thief taking the 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.280 fact that he was allowed outside the prison walls may 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:54.600 sound surprising, but Wild was jailed for non payment of debts, 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.680 and some debtors were allowed special privileges that prisoners who 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.320 were incarcerated for criminal offenses were not. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:05.080 While Jonathan was at Wood Street, he met Mary Milliner, 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.800 a well known sex worker and pickpocket. She taught him 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:12.680 everything she knew about being a small time thief. The 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.400 pair moved in together in seventeen twelve after they were 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.880 both released from Wood Street, and she introduced him to 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.200 all of her corrupt contacts. Together, they made a tidy 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.960 bit of money, mainly using a scheme that was known 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:29.360 as the Buddock and Twang. While Mary entertained clients, Wild 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.200 hit them with a cudgel and robbed them literally with 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:35.480 their pants down. They opened a public house called the 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:40.080 King's Head, a criminal friendly establishment. Wild became a small 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.520 time fence. He often bought stolen goods from his patrons 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:47.600 and resold the items for a profit. Upstairs, Mary managed 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.400 a group of sex workers, and the couple reportedly would 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.560 rob the client tell not just of coins and jewelry, 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:57.400 but also personal letters and diaries to be used as blackmail. 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.719 Wild began to quote rapidly accumulate property and began to 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.720 think of himself a man of consequence. He dressed in 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.120 least clothes and wore a sword. 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.600 We're gonna pause here again for a word from our sponsors, 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.240 and when we return we will talk about how Wild 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:18.679 was deeply involved in London's criminal underworld while he was 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:21.920 also a thief taker, and how that was definitely a 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:35.840 conflict of interest. 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.880 Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about how Jonathan was 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.319 finally caught playing both sides of the law after more 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.600 than a decade of his two faced game. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.719 There were two celebrated thief takers in England, in the 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:56.240 eighteenth century Jonathan Wilde and Charles Hitchin. In seventeen thirteen, 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.640 Hitchin had become the under Marshal of London, a post 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.600 that made him responsible for maintaining order in the city. 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.079 It was a paid position that served under the Lord Mayor. 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.720 He wasn't a very good under marshal, though. He was 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:14.280 suspended after ten months, accused of accepting stolen goods as 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:18.440 well as engaging in other generally sketchy practices. And he 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:22.960 was doing all of that. Mostly he was forcing criminals 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:26.840 to pay him for protection from arrest, and expected businesses 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.080 to bribe him to keep the thieves away from their establishments. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:35.000 Both Hitchin and wild practiced thief taking in London. Both 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.000 men also were up to no good, and each had 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:42.120 built his own criminal empire. Hitchin recruited Jonathan to keep 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.360 the local thieves under control until his suspension was lifted 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.120 and he was reinstated to his office, which happened in 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.880 April of seventeen fourteen. The pair were known to take 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.360 late night walks together under the guise of reforming areas 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.200 of the city considered to be public nuisances. These strolls, 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.520 though were nothing more than excuses to collect protection money 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:06.600 from the locals and to traffic stolen goods. According to 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.880 the popular Newgate Calendar, a catalog of often moralized stories 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.760 about crimes and criminals, the two grew jealous of each 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.840 other and parted company. But they weren't done done with 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.000 each other, if you know what we mean. Each published 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:25.560 pamphlets attempting to selly the other's thief taking reputation. Mainly, 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.000 they just lobbed accusations at each other for engaging in 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.040 unethical and criminal dealings. 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.920 But Wild and Hitchin didn't really need each other. There 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.400 was enough to go around legally and illegally. In the 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.640 absence of any police force. They both exploited the strong 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.319 public demand for action during a deepening crime wave in 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.600 the city. It's said that Wild alone sent upwards of 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.800 one hundred and twenty people to the gallows. Based on 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.439 his testimonies and leaks from his informants to the authorities, 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:01.080 many people believed Wild performed a vital public service for 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:05.200 the city, not only by capturing criminals, but also by 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:10.959 returning lost valuables to their owners. London citizens supported him, 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.439 presenting himself as an honest Officer of the law. He 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:18.840 now self titled as thief Taker General of England and Ireland. 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.520 But Londoners didn't know that he had simultaneously built a 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.360 massive criminal empire that has been compared to a mafia 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:34.000 like enterprise, involving robbery, fencing, prostitution, racketeering and really any 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.640 other crime worth a profit, and he used his legal 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.160 crime fighting role to take down his rivals and launder 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.280 the proceeds of his own crimes. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.560 By December of seventeen fourteen, Wilde had moved to a 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.400 new house known unofficially as the Office of Intelligence for 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.760 Lost Goods, and he heavily played up his role as 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.199 a middleman who helped victims recover their stolen items from robbers. 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.080 Reported The Bridge his journal at the time, quote, as 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.520 soon as anything is missing suspected to be stolen, the 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.160 first course we steer is directly to the office of 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:09.360 mister Jonathan Wilde. 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:14.560 One technique wild used was advertisements in newspapers calling for 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:18.640 any quote unquote lost valuables to be dropped off at 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.720 his house with the promise of rewards and of course 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:26.240 no questions asked. And this went both ways. Victims too, 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.640 would advertise for help from thief takers, such as this 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.960 advertisement posted in the London Gazette. Quote robbed the tenth 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.240 of November last from mister Joseph Bullock of Bristol, on 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.880 the road between Hungerford and Newbury and Berkshire, one silver 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.840 watch in case, there being on the backside of the 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.360 case an almanac, a hangar with a plate hilt, a 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.120 buff belt with silver buckles by three men. The one 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.720 a middle sized man, full faced, a short white wig, 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.040 much curled in an old cloth color riding coat, on 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:02.520 a flea bitten horse about fourteen hands high, his brows brown. 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.199 The other a middle sized black favored on a gray 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.880 horse above fourteen hands high, with black hair or wig 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:14.600 and thin favor. The other a full set man, thin favored, 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.880 with curled dark brown hair. Whoever can discover the persons 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:22.160 aforesaid to mister Bullock of Bristol, or at the three 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.680 cups in Bread Street, London, the said robbers, having killed 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.520 one John Thomas, the said mister Bullock's servant, shall have 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:33.840 their charges and ten pounds reward. Ironically, though, when a 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.040 victim asked wild to help find a thief or recover 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:41.280 missing items, they did not know that it was highly 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.520 likely that Wild already knew the perpetrators and had the 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:49.440 items in his possession, because odds were super good that 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:51.560 he was the one that ordered the theft in the 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:52.280 first place. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.080 Regularly, as a way to increase his reputation as an 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.680 honest person, Jonathan would round up a number of known 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.920 thiefs for arrest a look at how safe the city 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.880 is because of me kind of scenario. He almost always 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.280 targeted thieves who didn't cooperate with him, and if anyone 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.720 questioned him, Wild turned them over to public officials. 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:18.960 In seventeen twenty two, Wild's decade long Lucky Street started 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:24.760 to sour after he was severely injured by highwayman Joseph Blake. Blueskin, 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.360 as Blake was known, had informed on his gang associates, 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.360 and for doing so, he expected to receive a reward 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:34.840 from Wild for that information. That was how it was 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:40.040 supposed to work, but Jonathan instead turned him in and Blueskin, 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:45.200 surprised and angry over the betrayal, slit Wild's throat. Wild 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.120 survived this attack. It was one of three serious injuries 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.960 he endured while in the thief taking business, and Blueskin 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.160 went on to be executed by hanging. 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:59.800 Jonathan's criminal and non criminal careers ended a few years 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:03.040 later when he was arrested in February of seventeen twenty 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:07.480 five for his alleged involvement and a riot engineer to 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:15.080 spring an associate from Newgate Prison. He was charged with theft, shoplifting, miscellaneous, 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:19.880 and perverting justice. His trial began on May thirteenth. While 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.080 his popularity might have led to an acquittal, and he 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:26.440 had been quite popular for keeping the streets safer, there 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:29.560 had been a recent growing change in the public's view 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.280 of him. People were beginning to think of him as 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.760 violent and maybe not the kind of person they wanted 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.800 in charge of their safety. Witness testimony at his trial 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.440 revealed that he was both a thief taker and the 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.960 leader of an organized crime organization, and that he benefited 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.920 financially from the return of stolen goods. When they realized 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.120 that their boss was not going to escape justice this time, 0:16:55.520 --> 0:17:00.520 Wilde's Underworld gang turned on him. Because he didn't employ anyone, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.520 at least not directly, it was always hard to pin 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:06.439 crimes on him, but it wasn't so hard when his 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:11.200 associates brought evidence against him. Straight to the court. Testimonies 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.800 against him painted a picture of a Jonathan Wilde, who 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:19.320 maintained long standing secret correspondence with criminals, had knowingly taken 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:22.040 possession of items that had been stolen, which is known 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.800 as receiving, and that he had found and fenced stolen 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.520 goods for his own profit. Wild was acquitted of theft, 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.120 but the jury convicted him of an offense that would 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:36.520 become known as Jonathan Wilde's Act. He was guilty of 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.720 perverting justice because he'd accepted reward without attempting to catch 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.240 or prosecute the thief. He was sentenced to execution. 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:47.280 In the History of the Life of the Late Mister 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.960 Jonathan Wilde the Great, which was a satirical novel about 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:55.159 the thief, taker Henry Fielding wrote that wild pickpocketed the 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.280 Newgate Ordinary on the way to the gallows, and quote 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:02.720 died with the eloquent Troup in his hand. That trophy 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:07.520 he describes was a corkscrew. Is this the truth, Probably not, 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:11.119 but it is an accurate nod to how Jonathan just 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:15.160 couldn't keep his hands out of anyone's pockets. Now branded 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:18.520 a so called director of a corporation of thieves, and 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:22.560 a most famous receiver. Wild was executed at Tiburn on 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:27.639 May twenty fourth, seventeen twenty five, to allegedly cheering crowds. 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:30.840 The proceedings of the Old Bailey summed up the case 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.239 quite briefly, quote the jury acquitted the prisoner of the 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.280 first indictment of theft and found him guilty of the 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:38.800 other death. 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.520 One final account of Jonathan to share with you suggests 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.560 that quote. In his gay hours, when his heart was open, 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.639 he took pleasure in recounting his past rogueries, and with 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.760 a great deal of humor, bragged of his biting the world. 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:55.520 Huh, do you need a swig from the hip flask? 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:57.240 Let's take a snap and see. 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:02.800 Okay, So Jonathan happened in terms of like when we 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.320 record at a time that was fortuitous because I had 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:10.679 been craving a particular type of alcohol and it works 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.160 for this because I wanted to think of something, because 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.520 he had this kind of dual life where people thought 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:21.000 he was one thing and then discovered he was another, 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.000 or some people knew he was both. Some people liked him, 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:26.960 some people didn't. I wanted to see if I could 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.600 come up with something that starts with a drink that 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:34.920 not everyone likes, but could disguise it in a way 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.320 that it tastes yummier to people who think they would 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:42.200 not like it. Ah, so it's sambuca time at last. 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:47.879 I know you thought it was gonna be absinthe. 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:49.520 But I actually thought that we're going to dip artoes 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:50.480 into kampari again. 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:57.240 But I mean also that uh no, So right, Sambuca, 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:02.040 like absinthe, has a strong licorice or annis note, and 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.440 that's what some people either love like me or hate, 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.080 like my beloved. So this is we have a household 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.400 where we can test this right out of the can, 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:14.080 and like there's like I love for me, which is 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:16.199 not the drink today, but it's it's the base of 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.880 it a sambuca sour where it's just like two ounces 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.120 of sambuca, an ounce of lemon juice and an ounce 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:24.320 of syrup, and like put it in a little nick 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.640 and Nora and it's perfect for me, not for everyone. 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.680 The good thing is that's not a super high ABV drink. 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.960 Sambuca is closer to a liqueur, like you don't you 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.479 just don't have as much hoot in it. But I 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:38.919 was like, how can I take this drink that I 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.240 love desperately and make it a drink that even someone 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:45.600 who's not into sambuca might like. And so here's what 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:49.040 we did. The measures are different than what I just said. 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.200 So you are going to into your shaking tin put 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:55.639 three quarters of an ounce of lemon juice, three quarters 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.320 of an ounce of simple syrup, one and a half 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.600 ounces of sambuca, and a half ounce of vanilla liqueur. 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.240 That's optional because you could also, if you love sambuca 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.680 and you don't want it sweetened up like that, switch 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:12.680 that out and use vodka instead. You'll get a harder 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:16.120 hitting drink. But if you just love sambucan don't want 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.160 that that taste obscure, that's your option here. And then 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.760 you're gonna shake that with ice until it's nice and cold, 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.440 and you're gonna strain it over fresh ice, and then 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:26.760 just kiss it with a couple ounces of club soda. 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:31.639 And this makes almost like a lemonady looking drink because 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:35.160 of the lemon or the vanilla liqueur. But here's the thing. 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:38.920 You can taste the annis note in it, but because 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:42.800 it has that rounded base note of vanilla, it just 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.320 softens it up in a way, and I gave it 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:48.320 to my husband. And usually I will say, this has 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:50.040 the thing you're not gonna like in it, blah blah 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:53.000 blah blah, and I did this time as well. And often, 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:55.280 I mean sometimes I will say, like, just try this 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:57.240 and tell me what you think, so that there's no 0:21:57.320 --> 0:21:59.679 preconceived notions. But I actually said, this has something you're 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:01.679 not gonna like in it. And I gave it to 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:04.560 him and he drank it and said, oh, that's not bad, 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.359 which is so we have made sambuca into something he 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:11.359 would drink. Oh, Like I said, if you love sambuca, 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:14.760 put in vodka instead. Listen you'll there will be more drinkies, 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:17.280 but it's not a lot more vodka, but it kicks 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.119 it up a little bit. To do a mocktail version 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:25.680 of this, we're gonna make it super simple. So you 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:29.840 just need an Annis or a licorice syrup. You can 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:34.560 find Annis syrup online. It's super easy. Again, a vanilla 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:37.480 syrup is optional. You could also if you wanted, grate 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:39.800 a little fresh vanilla in there or put a little 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:43.000 vanilla extract. You just want to kiss it with vanilla 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:46.320 so that the licorice gets grounded and then same thing, 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:49.040 lemon juice, a little simple syrup, and just I would 0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:52.479 put more soda in those, so you're essentially making like 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:56.320 an anis and vanilla soda and just let it be 0:22:56.320 --> 0:23:00.840 a nice give it a good swizzle with your barspoon, 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:02.720 or if you just want to swizzle it around with 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:06.000 your straw, that's fine. But it makes a nice summer sip. 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:08.200 It's also more than one hundred degrees here, so that's 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:11.000 part of why I wanted to do a drink that 0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:13.399 went over ice and had a little more liquid to 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:16.320 it that would be a little more hydrating, because the 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:18.399 real feel is one hundred and eight right now, and 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:23.320 I need I need something to soften that eat. And 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:25.879 we're calling this one up to no Good because that 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:29.320 seems like the only appropriate thing for a Jonathan Wild 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:32.080 drink because it includes the word good in it. But 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:36.440 that wasn't what he was actually doing, so we're remaking 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:41.200 it into something that hides it's true nature a little bit. 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:48.280 That's Jonathan Wild for you. Thank you for giving me 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:53.200 this opportunity to drink sambouca Maria. I mean, I don't 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:56.800 really need permission, but I have been craving it and 0:23:56.800 --> 0:23:59.520 it was a good excuse. So there you go. You're welcome. 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:04.439 Oh man, I love it. I'll just man put that 0:24:04.480 --> 0:24:06.280 in a poost cafe and when I get to that layer, 0:24:06.320 --> 0:24:11.640 I'm so excited and I'm so excited. If you make 0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:15.439 this you find it yummy. If you are a licorice person, 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:18.600 like I said, and you make the cocktail version, which 0:24:18.640 --> 0:24:22.040 I am, Oh man, give me black licorice everything. I 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:24.760 love it. Yeah, throw that baby together in your set 0:24:24.800 --> 0:24:27.639 for summer. We hope if you make this that you 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:30.040