ABSTRACT
John Sheppard’s skill as a thief seems to have been fairly ordinary, but he had an aptitude for escaping from prison and this made him famous. He was born in Spitalfields in March 1702 and was hanged, for housebreaking, at Tyburn in November 1724. In September 1724, after an escape from Newgate Prison, he was described by the prison authorities as ‘about 23 Years of Age, about 5 Foot 4 Inches high, very slender, of a pale Complection, has lately been very sick, did wear a light Bobb Wigg, light colour’d Coat and white Waistcoat, has an Impediment in his Speech, and is a Carpenter by Trade.’1 According to another report at about the same time, he ‘appears to be very young, having a perfect Boy’s Countenance and Stature, and not like one of 22 Years’,2 a description which is confirmed by Sir James Thornhill’s portrait of him.
