Talk:Dick Turpin

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Whilst there are local legend that conects Turpin with The Spaniards (which is in the Parish of Finchley not Hampstead), there is no evidence that he was born there.Hugh Petrie

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[edit] Huguenot?

Was Turpin of Huguenot descent? Turpin seems to have been a prominent Huguenot surname (and we are in the right period), and is certainly French (unless there is coincidentally a separate English etymology? ... but Turpin as a surname seems to be infrequent in England). --Mais oui! 08:24, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Black Bess

Is largely fictional, I think. Would be good if someone could either source the section, or remark that it is likely to be apocryphal. ElectricRay 08:31, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Also how is it bizarre that a thief would steal a finer horse than the one he possesses? Seems to me a pretty normal thing for a thief to do.Quadzilla99 09:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps the point is that the horse was notable. Like stealing a Rolls Royce to use as a getaway car. Rich Farmbrough, 09:32 17 October 2006 (GMT).

Black Bess was fictional, along with Turpins friend Tom King. Both were invented by the author William Harrison Ainsworth in Rookwood, who brought Turpin to light in the 18th century and created much of the legend. Even the ride to York from London was a fiction. I reality the dude was a thug, even shooting his partner, Tom King (the real one) in cold blood. scope_creep 19:26, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tone

While the article is a cracking good read, it lacks encyclopedic tone. Rich Farmbrough, 09:25 17 October 2006 (GMT).

I read in 'Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley ISN 0-8160-4086-9 that Black Bess did not belong to Dick Turpin but to another highwayman, William Nevison. Page 386-387.

[edit] Gunfight

"By all accounts the ensuing gun fight was hellish and chaotic" How long did it take to load a gun in those days? Rich Farmbrough, 09:30 17 October 2006 (GMT). Most of a minute depending upon how good the person was. For this reason most guns were double barreled and violent men might carry at least two. 145.253.108.22 15:20, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Age at marriage

If Turpin was born on 21 September 1706 then he would have turned 22 on 22 September 1727 but this article says he was 21 when he married in 1728. Something not right here. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 165.12.252.11 (talk) 04:32, 21 February 2007 (UTC).165.12.252.11 04:33, 21 February 2007 (UTC)Baxter de Wahl P.S: I had to change "formally" as in "Thomas Rowden (formally a metal-worker, now outlawed)" to "formerly" as it's the correct usage. Regards, Baxter

Maybe his age was worked out from an incorrect birth date. There’s plenty of evidence that he was baptised on 25 September 1705 [1], which is not inconsistent with a birth date of 21 September 1705, but is certainly inconsistent with any birth in 1706. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:52, 14 April 2008 (UTC)