James Field (criminal)

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James Field
Bornc.1714
criminal

James Field (c.1714 – 11 February 1751) was a sailor and

hanged for robbery
.

The reward of cruelty (Plate IV)

He was born in

constables were afraid of him, and rather than acting on the warrants when they saw him, they would pretend not to recognize him and pass by.[1][2]

He was eventually surprised at The Fox, overwhelmed, and arrested for theft with violence and highway robbery. He was tried before Henry Fielding on 16 January 1751.[3] He and three other men were accused of beating and robbing a man and his wife on 24 May 1750 and, despite a number of witnesses supplying Field with various alibis, he was recognized by his size and bulk. James Eklin, who had been a member of the group who had committed the crime, gave evidence against Field. Field was found guilty and Fielding sentenced him to death.[4] He was hanged at Tyburn on 11 February 1751, aged 37.[2][5]

His skeleton features in the dissection theatre in William Hogarth's Reward of Cruelty, one of the series The Four Stages of Cruelty. Field's name makes an earlier appearance in the series of prints, in Second Stage of Cruelty a poster announcing a boxing match features his name.

Notes

  1. ISBN 1-85984-638-6
    .
  2. ^ a b John Taylor (2005) [1751]. "Ordinary's Account, sessions date: 16th January, 1751. Execution date: 11th February, 1751". Old Bailey. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  3. ISBN 0-7188-2875-5
    .
  4. ^ "James Field, theft with violence : highway robbery, 16th January, 1751". Old Bailey. 2005 [1751]. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. ISBN 0-85323-630-5
    .
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