As I previously reported, highway robbery was very much a part of life. Today we refer to it as “street crime”. When there was no street lighting and roads, alleys and lanes around our country were very poorly lit, these were places to steer clear of after dusk particularly.
The Yorkshire Gazette on Saturday, the 11th of January 1840 was reporting one such incident;
Daring Highway Robbery
About six o’clock in the evening of New Year’s Day, as Mr. William Whitehead, of Barwick in Elmet, maltster, was returning home from Bradford, on foot he was attacked, when near Killingbeck, by three men, who robbed him of upwards of £40, besides he or using him in a shocking manner. He returned to Leeds, and gave information to the police, in consequence of which the notorious Francis Clough, and a man named James Booksbank, were apprehended; the other man is known, and it is hoped will soon be taken. Clough and Brooksbank have been committed for trial.
Ian Waugh
Old British News
