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George & Joseph Weston, b in Stoke, Staffordshire in 1752 & 53. ,Highway men, hung at Tyburn, they robbed the Bristol mail. It is a story in my family that my Uncle John did some family research about 40 years ago and found these 2 forbears, he promptly gave up his research, didn't want black sheep in the family. Whether this is true or not I would like to find out. My research takes me back to William Weston. Born abt 1796, possibly in Huntingdon. In 1844 stated to be a grocer. Lived at one time in Brighton Sussex where many of his children were born. John Bray, James, Charles, mother Harriett. The following children may also be his by a different mother called Mary, namely Eliza, Mary, Elizabeth and Mary Jane.

if you google in weston brothers highwaymen there is a site telling you all about them

p.s. to the previous if you also google in old bailey online go to the search pages and put in Weston 1782 from number 5 onwards is their trial.
hope it's of interest.

George WESTON Compact Disc #133 Pin #2423511 Pedigree
Sex: M

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Event(s)
Birth: abt 1752



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Parents
Father: John WESTON Disc #133 Pin #2423507
Mother: Agnes ??? Disc #133 Pin #2423508

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Notes and Sources
Notes: None
Sources: Available on CD-ROM Disc# 133

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Submitter
David A HOLTEN
516 E 4th St So Oldtown, ID 83822


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Submission Search: 3644766-0319106214914
URL:

The Bow Street Runners concentrated all their efforts whenever the Royal Mail was robbed. They apprehended the notorious Weston brothers, George and Joseph, after their robbery of the Bristol Mail, tracing them when they retired to London with their booty. Both were hanged at Tyburn in September 1782, the usual penalty for mail robbery.

Soon after George's new appointment, a vacancy occurred for a junior clerk in the counting house, and George immediately sent for his younger brother, who was only fifteen. Joseph jumped at the chance of a taste of the capital and a reunion with his brother, to whom he was very much attached, and for some months the pair worked together and gave their employers every satisfaction.




But as in the case of many other young men, George and Joseph were soon drawn to the many dubious pleasures of the town. Women, and later gambling at cards and on horses, depleted their finances until they got themselves heavily in debt and were without so much as the price of board and lodgings.

Unhappily, large sums of the firm's money passed through George's hands, and he decided to 'borrow' some of it to get him out of his embarrassment, and fake the books. He paid all their debts, but made the fatal error of redoubling his gambling activities in the hope of recouping both his and the merchant's losses.

More and more of their employer's money was milked, and when it became apparent that even George's skilful manipulation of the accounts could not go undetected much longer, the elder brother decided to flee the country. It was resolved that George should go to Holland, while Joseph, who had not actively participated in the thefts, should remain.




George disappeared and at once took ship for Holland. Joseph pretended astonishment at the misappropriations, but when it became obvious that he was suspected of complicity and might be arrested, he fled in turn and linked up with George in Holland. During their three months in that country the brothers had difficulty in earning a bare living, and so resolved to return to England as soon as they could.




George was the first to land again, and he went to London heavily disguised. His fine head of hair had been cut off, and he wore a wig. Joseph joined him in the capital, but they soon decided to split up as the risk of recognition together was too great. George made his way to Durham, Joseph disappeared, and there was no meeting between them for at least three years. In Durham, George obtained an obscure situation in the household of a Methodist lady of considerable wealth.

He pretended to be an ardent follower of George Whitefield, the evangelist, and was careful to add a constant leavening of piety to his accomplished social graces. In this way he soon became on more than, friendly terms with his employer, and it was agreed that they, should marry. At the eleventh hour a relative of the lady's, with whom George had come into casual business contact, came to visit her and recognised him

The gentleman took the first opportunity of taking George to one side and informing him that if he did not vanish within twenty-four hours he would have to face the consequences of his frauds. There was no choice but to obey and, cursing the loss of a chance which might have set him up for life, George departed. He did not go empty-handed, helping himself to some of the lady's jewellery and valuables to augment his resources.




The shock to his intended bride must have been considerable, but George blithely turned the items into ready cash, and thought to better his fortunes by a flutter or two on the horses. He travelled to all the race meetings within easy reach of York, but it was not long before he was reduced to his last guinea and bereft of ideas. He then met a man named Whiteley, the director of a company of strolling players, and it was agreed that he should join them. Whatever George's acting abilities, he took the view that the company was a poor one and the pay little for sitting up half the night learning his lines.




Without a word of farewell, he quitted the job and set off for Manchester. In this city fortune favoured him. He set himself up as a private tutor, and became a well-liked figure in the neighbourhood, for he was always obliging and used to read the newspapers to those whose illiteracy little qualified them to keep up with current affairs. Ironically enough, his social success enabled him to become elected Constable of his locality. George immediately sought to turn this development to his own advantage. He began to forge a large number of small bills which were presented to lesser farmers and innkeepers, retaining the money he collected from them for himself.




Later he added blackmail to his activities, confident that his victims would be unlikely to expose him because the Constable could make things very difficult for anyone who opposed him. One of his duties was the billeting of soldiery upon private individuals, and few local worthies wished to have any of the unruly military of the day under their roofs. What Weston overlooked, however, was the sturdy independence of the Lancashire people, who soon tired of sitting down under this treatment.




The Constable was firmly told that unless he repaid some of the money he had appropriated and generally mended his ways, application would be made to a magistrate for a warrant for his arrest. George had no intention of losing the considerable sum he had salted away, and the next day he vanished. He went to Warwickshire and one day, while attending a fair, chanced across his brother.




There was a joyous reunion, and George found that Joseph was no less well off than himself. Since his departure from London, the younger brother had worked profitably as a horse-thief, moving around the country and never staying anywhere for more than a few days. He was at the fair for the express purpose of disposing of three fine horses which he had recently 'acquired', and after the beasts had been sold for £70, the brothers ' decided to team up.

They next turned up at King's Lynn, then known simply as 'Lynn', and took lodgings with a local farmer. They posed as representatives of a London firm of wine merchants and distillers, and ' to lend credibility to their story, they always had plenty of samples' about the place which they shared liberally with the farmer and his friends. The countryman was completely taken in by a cock-and-bull yarn that they would appoint him local representative, and that he could better his profits by watering down spirits before supplying them to local retailers.

On the strength of this promise he lent the brothers money and advanced sums for the purchase of his 'stock'. When they had squeezed more than£100 out of their host, however, the Westons disappeared once again and set out for Scotland.




Posing as brothers by the name of Gilbert, they rented a small farm over the border at Blackburn, near Linlithgow, but they had no intention of straining themselves with honest toil. Instead they stole livestock from a wide area round about and dealt in horses which they faked to appear far better than they really were. The moment suspicion seemed to be falling upon them, they packed everything they could carry, stole two more horses from a nearby farmer, and again took flight.




This time, with plenty of money in their pockets, they decided to risk London. They arrived dressed as country squires, and let it be known that they were anxious to taste the pleasures of the capital after a quiet rural life. They cautiously took separated lodgings some distance from one another, and although they admitted that they were friends, carefully concealed their true relationship. With sufficient money to act the part, they were soon admitted to a social set of some standing, and indeed became friendly with several members of the Jockey Club.




The brothers entertained lavishly, telling their friends that their incomes were derived from large estates in Yorkshire and successes on the turf. Their 'wealth', of course, was more apparent than real, despite their successful frauds, and bills piled up at the expense of gullible tradesmen who were duped by their style of living.

At this time George became very friendly with Miss Fanny Herbert, a lady of quality who lived in Queen Anne Street. He cultivated the relationship, and eventually took a house next to hers. After numerous social occasions had been enjoyed with the lady and her circle, George decided to give a dinner to return their hospitality. He explained to Fanny that there was only one problem; neither he nor his 'friend' could supply the necessary silver plate for the distinguished gathering as it would take too long to obtain these articles from their seats in Yorkshire. Nothing was more natural than that Miss Herbert should offer to help him out of his predicament by lending him her own plate.




The lavish dinner which resulted was talked of for some time to come, but not only because of the excellent fare provided. .Things had been getting rather hot for the brothers and George decided that this was a Heaven-sent opportunity to clear out. He went the morning after the dinner, and all Fanny's plate and many other items went with him. Joseph decamped at the same time, and when inquiries were made at his lodgings it was found that he had not left empty-handed either!




Following this escapade, which left them with many pleasant memories of luxurious living, the brothers wandered around from place to place, living on their considerable wits. In 1776 they had to leave Lincolnshire hurriedly after committing frauds in that county, and they went to Kent, posing as brothers named Green. From here too they fled, to reappear in another part of Lincolnshire, at a place called Bratley, under the name of Gilbert.

By this time they had passed so many forged bills that they were being closely pursued, and at one time they were arrested and taken before a magistrate named Alderman Hart at Coventry. Either they escaped from custody or the charge against them broke down, for they crossed to Ireland, living by gambling, not always honestly.




After a brawl in Dublin which came about because they had cheated at cards, they crossed to Tenby in Wales. George posed as a monied gentleman named Scott, and Joseph took the role of 'Watson', his brother's valet. It was May, 1778, and George let it be known that he intended to spend a protracted holiday in the neighbourhood. A number of local innkeepers and tradesmen accepted bills and drafts for various sums from the wealthy Mr Scott, only to discover later that these were forged and that the culprits had flown.

The brothers took themselves off to Bideford for a few weeks, and then turned up at Brecknock under different names. The hunt was on, however, and they narrowly escaped arrest in that town. The next move was to Warwickshire, where they put up at an inn at Sutton Coldfield. Here at last George fell into the hands of the law, and was imprisoned and found guilty of fraud at Warwick Assizes under an assumed name.




Joseph was more fortunate, for he had again been acting as George's 'servant' and was in no way held responsible for his 'master's' actions. George was sentenced to death, but his loyal brother stayed in the district and managed to assist George to escape from gaol only three days before the execution date. In disguise, the pair absconded to Folkestone, and began to look around for means of earning a livelihood. Smuggling was rife all along the Kent and Sussex coasts, and as they had sufficient capital to purchase a cutter they decided to find out whether this could be a way to quick profits.




They had little knowledge of the sea, but soon found several locals who were only too happy to assist. A crew was formed from fishermen and sailors, and a cutter acquired which made a number of highly profitable 'runs' from France over a period of more than a year. As one successful trip in three was considered a good percentage by smugglers of the day, everyone concerned did well. The brothers went themselves on most of the voyages, and were thus aboard on the night when an inquisitive Revenue cutter decided to investigate their craft.




There was no alternative but to run the boat ashore and abandon it, making their escape across the land, and this they reluctantly did. Stopping in Folkestone only long enough to pick up hoarded money and valuables, the brothers proceeded to put several hundred miles between themselves and the law. They went to Edinburgh, posing as linen merchants. As strangers to the businessmen of that city, credentials were essential to obtain the credits required to carry out their 'business'. This presented no problems to so cunning a forger as George, and on the strength of his forgeries they became accepted as merchants of standing.




After a succession of fraudulent activities, flight became essential once again, and this time they chose Bristol. Profits were not so easily come by in this busy seaport town, so they resolved to try London once again, and it was this decision which ensured that they would long be remembered in the history of the highwaymen.




There is no evidence that the Westons ever made any firm decision to take to the road; indeed the confidence trick was much more in their line. It is therefore probable that the mail robbery which brought them fame was no more than the result of a chance encounter. The only aspect of their attack upon the mail cart carrying the post from Bristol to London which suggests that it was planned in advance, was that George Weston was wearing a black crepe mask when he stopped the vehicle.

It was on the evening of 28 January, 1781, when the brothers, having covered most of the journey from Bristol to London on two good horses, passed the Bristol Mail as it jogged slowly towards the capital. As they went by they wished the postboy a good evening. It is a remarkable fact that despite the value of the postal packets carried, the driver, although armed, was alone on the vehicle.

After passing him, the brothers decided that this was an admirable opportunity to put themselves in funds. They continued as far as Cranford Bridge, where they stopped to refresh themselves and their mounts, and to discuss the possibility of robbing the mail. It was agreed that George should stop the cart and disarm the postboy, while Joseph remained in the background, but close, enough to hand in case anything went wrong.




The attempt was, to be postponed until the early hours of the morning in the hope that the postboy would be tired and consequently less alert. These expectations were fulfilled to the letter. Between two and three o'clock next morning, as the mail cart reached a lonely spot between the eleventh and twelfth milestones not far from Cranford Bridge, George rode out with a pistol, his face masked, to halt it. The postboy was actually asleep, having been lulled by the monotonous pace of his horses! He awoke to find George's pistol at his head, and in his befuddled state offered no resistance. He obeyed Weston's order to climb down from his driving seat, and George then disarmed him and ordered him to walk back towards Cranford Bridge without a backward glance if he valued his skin.




The postboy, whose name was Samuel Walker, started off on the long trudge to raise the alarm. As he walked away, looking neither to right nor left, he heard another man join the highwayman who had held him up, and became convinced that these must be the travellers who had passed him the previous evening. He had not given them a second glance, but even if Samuel Walker had carried away a clear picture of the brothers it would have been useless.

Before they were brought to justice and questions of identity arose Walker was dead. As the postboy's footsteps faded into the distance, George and Joseph knew that they had several hours before the alarm could be given and any effective pursuit organized.

They drove the mail cart into a side road and travelled five miles through country lanes before turning into a field which appeared to be out of sight of habitation. There they set to work to cut open the mailbags, making a careful selection of missives which seemed likely to be valuable. Before dawn they had uncovered money drafts, bills and orders worth more than their wildest dreams. When they had time to total up, the value was more than £10,000. From that moment they realized that speed was of the essence, for once the robbery was known the theft would be widely advertised so that negotiable drafts would not easily be cashable.

At the end of the eighteenth century the banking system was not so well equipped to deal with forgery as it is today, and George calculated that if he worked speedily he could convert much of the haul into ready money.




Accordingly the brothers rode hard for London, and by the time they reached Piccadilly it was decided that George should disguise himself as a naval officer, hire a fast conveyance and travel the length of the country, cashing the bills wherever he could. Within hours the plan was in operation, and George Weston - in naval uniform - was in a chaise speeding northwards out of London. His first stop was Nottingham, where he cashed documents for several large amounts. He hastened on to Derby and York, where he had further success, and thence to Newcastle, where he stopped a night. After journeying as far north as Carlisle, he went over into Westmorland, and gradually worked his way back on to the Great North Road, where he turned again towards the capital.




On the homeward journey he heard that the Bow Street Runners were already on the track of the highwayman whose exploit everyone was talking about, and he soon realized that only his disguise was shielding him from suspicion. He pressed on with all speed towards London, hoping to hide up in the capital until the hue and cry died down.




Arriving in Lincoln he learned from bar-room gossip at an inn that the Runners had actually preceded him there, but had gone off again to follow a false trail. He hastily changed his chaise to put them further off the scent, and by way of Stamford and Royston finally reached the London outskirts in the evening of Friday, 12 February. When he made contact with Joseph, he told his brother that they were already better off by more than £2,000.

The brothers had met at Enfield Highway, and between ten and eleven o'clock that evening, a chaise and four set them down by the Red Lion in Bishopsgate Street. After discussing the situation over drinks, they decided to obtain lodgings at an out-of-the-way inn, and George at once asked the ostler to call him a hackney carriage, into which he bundled himself, his portmanteau and a brace of pistols. Several postboys standing about near by noticed the young officer with his pistols and luggage.

Had George but known it, the Runners were only an hour behind him! Although they momentarily lost the trail at Lincoln, the postmaster at Newark, a Mr Clarke, had put them back on the scent. Clarke, who kept the Saracen's Head inn at Newark, had changed a note for £25 for a naval officer that very morning, and only an hour or two later, a post office notice about the robbery reached him. Mr Clarke had himself pursued the fugitive as far as Grantham, where he met the Runners, who continued the chase.




The 'naval officer' was traced as far as the Red Lion in Bishops gate Street, and the Runners, tired and travel stained, arrived there only to be told by postboys that their quarry had left an hour ago. No one had either heard the address given by the 'officer' to the hackney carriage driver or remembered the number of the carriage. George had no means of knowing just how close the chase had become, but he was not a man to neglect precautions. He told the hackney driver to put him down in Newgate Street, and took another carriage from there. The Runners eventually managed to trace him to Newgate Street, but there the trail petered out and the pursuit was temporarily abandoned.




The General Post Office had not been slow to act when news of the robbery came through. On 29 January, the day of the raid, they printed a notice which was sent out to all post offices in the country. This was published two days later in the Morning Herald and other newspapers, and it read:



'The postboy bringing the Bristol Mail this morning from Maidenhead was stop't between two and three o'clock by a single highwayman with a crepe over face, between the 11th and 12th milestones, near to Cranford Bridge, who presented a pistol to him, and after making him alight, drove away the horse and cart, which were found at seven o'clock this morning in a meadow field near Farmer Lett's at Twyford, when it appears that the greatest part of the letters were taken out of the Bath and Bristol bags and that the following bags were entirely taken away:'







A list followed, and the notice continued:





'The person who committed this robbery is supposed to have had an accomplice, as two persons passed the postboy on Cranford Bridge on horseback prior to the robbery, one of whom he thinks was the robber; but it being so extremely dark, he is not able to give any description of their persons.'






A large reward was then offered in these terms:





'Whoever shall apprehend and convict, or cause to be apprebended and convicted, the person who committed this robbery, will be entitled to a reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS, over and above the reward given by Act of Parliament for apprehending highwaymen; or if any person, whether an accomplice in the robbery, or knoweth thereof, shall make discovery whereby the person who committed the same may be apprehended and brought to justice, such discoverer will upon conviction of the party be entitled to the same reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS and will also receive His Majesty's most gracious Pardon.'






Meanwhile the officers at Bow Street had been far from idle. The noted Runner John Clarke was put in charge of the case, and at once offered a reward to the driver of the hackney carriage in which the 'naval officer' left the Red Lion, if he would come forward to help the authorities. A driver named Perry went to Bow Street with vital information. He said he had picked up a man in naval uniform at about ' eleven o'clock on the night of 12 February, and was surprised to , discover that it was a man he knew as George Weston, who had not to his knowledge joined the Navy.

Perry gave a good description of George, and when the Runners learned that he had a brother, Joseph, they were delighted to get an excellent description of this man too from the observant Perry. When others who had known the pair were winkled out, the authorities quickly built up the detail they needed,




The London Gazette, and every other London newspaper, was soon carrying a 'Wanted' notice for the brothers issued by Mr Anthony Todd, Secretary to the Postmaster-General. It read:



'George Weston is about twenty-nine years of age, five feet seven inches high, square set, round faced, fresh coloured, pitted with smallpox, has a rather thick nose, his upper lip rather thick, his hair of lightest brown colour, which is sometimes tied behind and at other times loose and curled; has much of the appearance of a country dealer or farmer. One of his thumb nails appears, from an accident, of the shape of a parrot's bill, and he is supposed to have a scar on his right hand from a stroke with a cutlass.'




That thumb-nail deformity was to be vital in trapping George later on. Next followed a description of Joseph, who occupied second place just as he had done throughout the brothers' career. It stated:



'Joseph Weston is about twenty-three years of age, five feet nine inches high, slender made, of a fair and smooth complexion, genteel person, has grey eyes and a large nose with a scar upon it; his hair is of a light brown colour, sometimes tied behind, at other times loose and curled; his voice is strong and he speaks a little through his nose; has a remarkable small hand and long fingers.'




The Westons had by this time taken obscure lodgings in the Borough and, adopting various disguises, were busily capitalizing the rest of their plunder. They exchanged bills for large quantities of silver plate, afterwards re-sold to dealers, and also dealt in the same way with jewellery. They even set up as pawnbrokers for jewellery and silver, and after items had been pledged with them, sold the goods for several times the price they had advanced.




So successful were their methods that they amassed capital of about £9,000 before the stolen bills and drafts were exhausted. Later inquiries revealed that they had sold silver plate to the value of £2,500 to Lucius Hughes, while an unnamed Jew had given them upwards of £4,000 for items of jewellery taken to his
premises in St Mary Axe. One of these pieces was a pair of diamond shoe buckles presented to one of his mistresses by the Heir Apparent, and which the Westons bought with forged bills.




Realizing that their luck could not hold much longer, the brothers decided to leave London for the country. They went to Sussex and took a mansion house called The Friars' in the historic little Cinque Port of Winchelsea. They had the place completely redecorated, and went up to New Bond Street to choose additional furnishings.




Joseph, posing as a Mr William Johnson, went to the shop of Messrs Elliott and Davis with a guarantor, Mr Samuel Watson, who was, of course, his brother. They bought items costing more than £400 on credit, and arranged that these should be delivered to Winchelsea. The brothers talked airily of their estates in Yorkshire, and the firm's principals were informed that Mr Johnson's income was £500 a year. Another New Bond Street tradesman, Mr Hanson, was given as a reference, and was able to report with truth that he had had successful dealings with William Johnson.




Before taking up residence in Winchelsea, Joseph went one day to Holborn to buy a lottery ticket and met, quite by chance, two pretty young milliners. He arranged to meet them again that evening, and they accompanied George and Joseph to Vauxhall Gardens. After a few more outings, including a trip by carriage to Windsor, the girls consented to live with the affluent young men - an understandable decision since they had been working long hours for little pay in Red

A large reward was then offered in these terms:





'Whoever shall apprehend and convict, or cause to be apprebended and convicted, the person who committed this robbery, will be entitled to a reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS, over and above the reward given by Act of Parliament for apprehending highwaymen; or if any person, whether an accomplice in the robbery, or knoweth thereof, shall make discovery whereby the person who committed the same may be apprehended and brought to justice, such discoverer will upon conviction of the party be entitled to the same reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS and will also receive His Majesty's most gracious Pardon.'






Meanwhile the officers at Bow Street had been far from idle. The noted Runner John Clarke was put in charge of the case, and at once offered a reward to the driver of the hackney carriage in which the 'naval officer' left the Red Lion, if he would come forward to help the authorities. A driver named Perry went to Bow Street with vital information. He said he had picked up a man in naval uniform at about ' eleven o'clock on the night of 12 February, and was surprised to , discover that it was a man he knew as George Weston, who had not to his knowledge joined the Navy.

Perry gave a good description of George, and when the Runners learned that he had a brother, Joseph, they were delighted to get an excellent description of this man too from the observant Perry. When others who had known the pair were winkled out, the authorities quickly built up the detail they needed,




The London Gazette, and every other London newspaper, was soon carrying a 'Wanted' notice for the brothers issued by Mr Anthony Todd, Secretary to the Postmaster-General. It read:



'George Weston is about twenty-nine years of age, five feet seven inches high, square set, round faced, fresh coloured, pitted with smallpox, has a rather thick nose, his upper lip rather thick, his hair of lightest brown colour, which is sometimes tied behind and at other times loose and curled; has much of the appearance of a country dealer or farmer. One of his thumb nails appears, from an accident, of the shape of a parrot's bill, and he is supposed to have a scar on his right hand from a stroke with a cutlass.'

That thumb-nail deformity was to be vital in trapping George later on. Next followed a description of Joseph, who occupied second place just as he had done throughout the brothers' career. It stated:



'Joseph Weston is about twenty-three years of age, five feet nine inches high, slender made, of a fair and smooth complexion, genteel person, has grey eyes and a large nose with a scar upon it; his hair is of a light brown colour, sometimes tied behind, at other times loose and curled; his voice is strong and he speaks a little through his nose; has a remarkable small hand and long fingers.'




The Westons had by this time taken obscure lodgings in the Borough and, adopting various disguises, were busily capitalizing the rest of their plunder. They exchanged bills for large quantities of silver plate, afterwards re-sold to dealers, and also dealt in the same way with jewellery. They even set up as pawnbrokers for jewellery and silver, and after items had been pledged with them, sold the goods for several times the price they had advanced.




So successful were their methods that they amassed capital of about £9,000 before the stolen bills and drafts were exhausted. Later inquiries revealed that they had sold silver plate to the value of £2,500 to Lucius Hughes, while an unnamed Jew had given them upwards of £4,000 for items of jewellery taken to his
premises in St Mary Axe. One of these pieces was a pair of diamond shoe buckles presented to one of his mistresses by the Heir Apparent, and which the Westons bought with forged bills.




Realizing that their luck could not hold much longer, the brothers decided to leave London for the country. They went to Sussex and took a mansion house called The Friars' in the historic little Cinque Port of Winchelsea. They had the place completely redecorated, and went up to New Bond Street to choose additional furnishings.




Joseph, posing as a Mr William Johnson, went to the shop of Messrs Elliott and Davis with a guarantor, Mr Samuel Watson, who was, of course, his brother. They bought items costing more than £400 on credit, and arranged that these should be delivered to Winchelsea. The brothers talked airily of their estates in Yorkshire, and the firm's principals were informed that Mr Johnson's income was £500 a year. Another New Bond Street tradesman, Mr Hanson, was given as a reference, and was able to report with truth that he had had successful dealings with William Johnson.

Before taking up residence in Winchelsea, Joseph went one day to Holborn to buy a lottery ticket and met, quite by chance, two pretty young milliners. He arranged to meet them again that evening, and they accompanied George and Joseph to Vauxhall Gardens. After a few more outings, including a trip by carriage to Windsor, the girls consented to live with the affluent young men - an understandable decision since they had been working long hours for little pay in Red Lion Square.




In November 1781 the brothers and the young women - by this time arrayed in all the finery of fashion - travelled in a carriage to Winchelsea and took up residence at 'The Friars'. Their arrival in such a small place caused a great stir. The young men were seen out frequently on fine horses, and the ladies, who had their own carriage and pair, were much admired, for they always acted with great propriety. The style of living the Westons adopted in Winchelsea involved lavish spending but it is surprising that they should have courted disaster by failing to pay for the furnishings from Messrs Elliott
and Davis.




By the middle of January, the firm's principals became worried at the absence of promised payments but, anxious not to offend a good customer, they decided to send a junior member of the firm to Sussex to make a few discreet inquiries. This man, a Mr Davis, duly went to Winchelsea and was reassured to find that Mr William Johnson was well-known as a wealthy man who lived in elegant style with his friends.




Before he returned to London, however, Mr Davis called upon Mr Johnson and tactfully suggested that his firm would be most grateful for some payment on account, although they had no wish to distress a valued customer. Mr Johnson was all affability, and explained that while he was temporarily short of money the rents from his estates should be arriving any day. When they did, he would discharge the debt.




The furnishing firm was not the only one in New Bond Street awaiting payment for goods supplied to the personable Mr Johnson. When March arrived without further word, Messrs Elliott and Davis began to consider issuing a writ, and at this very moment they were visited by a jeweller named Lucas, who asked if they could vouch for a customer of his named Johnson who lived at Winchelsea. He explained that Johnson had bought large quantities of jewellery from him, paying cash, but that he now owed £100 and had recently sent an order for items worth many times this sum. The goods were packed for transit, but he felt he should take up the reference given him by Johnson before sending them.
He had been referred to Messrs Elliott and Davis.




The result was that a writ was obtained against William Johnson, and the angry tradesmen set out for Winchelsea with a Sheriff's officer. They did not have to search far for their quarry, for when they reached Rye they saw a fine carriage containing two ladies coming towards them, escorted by two elegant young men on horseback whom they recognized as William Johnson and his friend Samuel Watson.




The Sheriff's officer stopped the fashionable cavalcade and attempted to arrest William Johnson, but George and Joseph both drew pistols, warned him and the tradesmen to stand back, and
set spurs to their horses. Their excellent mounts enabled them to get clean away, and they stopped at the Winchelsea house only long enough to pick up money and personal belongings before disappearing for good. The next morning the young milliners also left Winchelsea, and returned to a house at Brompton where they had lived with the brothers before the move to Winchelsea.




Meanwhile, George and Joseph went to Margate and put up at Benson's Hotel, posing as Londoners who had come down for a short holiday, and congratulated themselves on yet another escape. But they would not have been so confident had they known that the Sheriff's officer had taken particular notice of the deformed thumbnail on the hand of the man he knew as Samuel Watson. It was now more than a year since the Bristol Mail robbery, but the descriptions of the culprits had been so well publicized that the officer's mind clicked. He at once reported that he believed the men he had seen were George and Joseph Weston.




Back in the hotel on the Kent coast, it was this same deformity which began to cause the brothers some anxiety. While playing billiards, George noticed that his opponent was paying marked attention to that thumb, and afterwards seemed preoccupied. The pair again decided on a hurried departure, and crossed the Channel to Antwerp. It was a happy decision, for the guest also remembered the advertisements about the mail robbers, and went to London to report his suspicions to Justice Wright's office in Bow Street. The Runners went hot-foot to Margate but found that the Westons had fled.




Their inquiries did not reveal that the fugitives had gone abroad. After a week

Clarke cautiously entered the hotel and began to question the proprietress; her evasive answers soon convinced him that the brothers were probably still on the premises. Hurrying to the door, he got a passer-by to run to Bow Street for reinforcements and then returned to the hotel lobby in case the Westons were warned and attempted to escape. Within a few minutes his surmise was endorsed. George and Joseph walked down the stairs, hands placed ominously in their pockets, and Clarke, realizing this was no bluff and that they were almost certainly armed, did not attempt to detain them.




He permitted the fugitives to walk out of the door, but followed closely behind. Once the brothers got a hundred yards up the street, Clarke began to shout, 'Stop, thief!' at the top of his voice. George Weston spun round and fired a pistol at the Runner, and a chase then began through the narrow streets. Other officers joined Clarke, and although the brothers fired several more shots at their pursuers they succeeded only in hitting a butcher's boy, who was slightly wounded.




Within a few minutes they had been caught and overpowered. Taken to Bow Street for examination, both brothers acted with the greatest impudence, but this did not help them. George was sent to the New Prison and Joseph to the Bridewell, both having been committed for trial on Wednesday, 15 May.

The two young milliners were also arrested and examined, but it became apparent that they knew nothing of the attack on the Bristol Mail. The magistrate accepted their stories that they believed Mr Johnson and Mr Watson had made their fortunes overseas, and had returned to purchase estates in Yorkshire. After thorough questioning the girls were set free and their first act was to visit both prisons to see George and Joseph. It was obvious to all that the young women were greatly distressed at the plight of their beaux.




The brothers still had plenty of money, and when they made their first appearance at the Old Bailey on 15 May 1782 they might have been taken for aristocratic young bloods. Both had had their hair shampooed and curled, and they were attired in fine new clothes - George in rich dark cloth, and Joseph in a handsome red coat. Counsel for the Crown had good news for them. He told the Judge that the prosecution's principal witness, Samuel Walker, postboy with the Bristol Mail, had died suddenly.

The Judge granted an application for a remand until the first Wednesday in July, and to the delight of the brothers ordered that they both be detained in Newgate until the trial. George and Joseph had been most unhappy about their separation. In Newgate they were able to pay for all the privileges, and although chained and fettered, they wined and dined as well as any gentlemen outside and received as many visitors as they wished.




They had not been together many days, however, before determining to make a bid for freedom. In return for bribes, their gaolers removed their irons when they had visitors so that they could drink in the Lodge. It was therefore decided to make the attempt when their young mistresses visited them on the morning of Tuesday, 2 July, the day before their trial. When the milliners arrived, the Westons passed over the usual tip and were allowed to go into the Lodge to drink with them. After they had all been there for some time, one of the women asked for pen and paper, and Joseph sat down to write a letter. When it was finished, the girls told the watching turnkey that they were in a hurry, gave him money and asked him to call a coach.




The gaoler went to the prison gates, but as he could not see a cab on the rank near by, walked down the road with the women following him. He then hailed a passing hackney, and the girls drove off. While the turnkey was absent, George and Joseph, with two other prisoners named Lapierre and Francis Nichols, made a desperate bid to escape. Stealthily making their way towards the prison gate they met the turnkey's assistant, John Owen, who was sweeping a corridor. When he saw them coming towards him he realized they were trying to make a break, ran towards the gate and tried to push it shut with his broom. He failed and, as the four men were close on top of him, turned and struck with the
broom at Lapierre, who was nearest, only succeeding in breaking off the handle.




By this time George and Joseph were outside the prison gate with Nichols. The assistant turnkey ran out after the elder Weston and grappled with him until assistance came and George was overpowered. Joseph was by this time running hard towards St Sepulchre's church, and as he neared the end of Cock Lane, a broker coming from Fleet Street Market made an unsuccessful attempt to stop him. A few yards along the road, a porter named John Davis was walking along carrying a bag of peas on his head.

He dropped the sack and made a brave attempt to stop Joseph, who had managed to obtain a pistol while he was in prison and was now holding it in his hand. Joseph, finding his way blocked, threatened to shoot Davis if he did not get out of the way, but the porter tried to hold on to him and Joseph fired. Davis reeled back with gaping wounds in his neck and chin, but by this time Joseph too had been overtaken and was recaptured.




Of the four prisoners who made the street, three were back in their cells within an hour, only Francis Nichols remaining at large; what eventually happened to him no chronicler has thought fit to record. It is a sad fact, however, that if the escape attempt had not been made Joseph at least might have escaped the gallows.




The trial of the Weston brothers opened at the Old Bailey on Saturday, 6 July 1782 and they were charged with robbing the Bristol Mail cart at Cranford Bridge on 29 January 1781. Evidence of arrest was given by Runner John Clarke, who said that when Joseph was searched, bank post bills totalling more than £200 and a lottery ticket numbered 28,257, were found on him.

A clerk at Maidenhead post office, Joseph Lee, testified that he had seen the Bristol Mail leave his office on the crucial night with all the mail bags securely tied, and the Hounslow postmaster told how he awaited the mail cart long after it was due, only to see the postboy walk in exhausted with news of the hold-up.




The next witness was a Nottingham hairdresser, George Turton, who said he recognized George Weston as a man to whom he was called at the Blackamoor's Head in Nottingham during the first days of February of the previous year. While he was dressing this man's hair, he sent out a waiter to a local banker to change a bill. The waiter returned with the bill and said the banker had refused to cash it, whereupon the prisoner asked about other bankers in the town. Told of a man named Wright, he said he would go to him himself when his toilet was complete.

John Wright, partner in a Nottingham banking firm, was then called and identified George Weston as the man for whom he changed a bill for £100. Asked by the Judge how it was that he remembered one of many transactions over a long period, Wright said that when the prisoner was told he would have to pay five shillings per cent, he objected and at first refused to pay the charge. Wright added that only when he realized he could not change the bill unless he agreed, did Weston complete the transaction. The banker said such a fee was a usual charge, and this fact made him pay particular attention to his customer, who was dressed in naval uniform with white lapels.




An innkeeper at Enfield also identified George Weston as a man wearing naval uniform and travelling in a chaise and four whom he had seen at his inn on 12 February. The bill which George was alleged to have changed with Mr Wright at Nottingham was then identified by a partner in the firm of Cam and Whitehead, of Bath, as one of forty-four posted just before the robbery to Messrs Boldero, Carter and Co. of London. The witness said that none of the bills had arrived, but he was sure that the one cashed by the prisoner was one of them, although the number on it had been changed from 1063 to 1060.




Thomas Aldridge, clerk in a lottery office in Holborn, testified that he sold ticket No. 28,257 to Joseph Weston the previous autumn, and that he took particular note of the sale because the prisoner tendered a bill for £100 and he had had to go to his employer to get three £25 notes to make up the change. William Lee, a Hackney shopkeeper, gave evidence that George Weston had purchased goods worth seven pounds and about twelve shillings at
his shop, tendering a £40 bill in payment. As he did not know his customer, he asked him to endorse the bill with his name and address. This was done by the prisoner, who wrote 'John Ward, of The Dun Horse, Borough'.




The Judge at the trial was Mr Justice Buller, who - despite the strong circumstantial evidence against the prisoners - was very conscious that he was the only person in court who could defend them. His Lordship seemed troubled by the fact that the post-boy had died and that there was not a scrap of proof that the brothers had actually committed the robbery, which was the only charge against them. This anxiety was reflected in the Judge's summing up, and the jury endorsed it, bringing in a verdict of 'Not Guilty'.




The brothers' elation was short-lived, however, for they were at once taken back to Newgate while fresh charges were prepared to be preferred against them at the next sessions. When they next came before the court, George was charged with forging a bill for £40 at Hackney, and Joseph with firing at, and unlawfully wounding John Davis while attempting to escape from Newgate Prison. The first charge heard was the one against George, and upon the evidence of William Lee, the shopkeeper who testified at the previous trial, George was convicted, although he swore that he had never been to Hackney.




He was at once sentenced to death. There was little or no evidence that Joseph had been implicated in the mail robbery, and he would almost certainly have escaped death if he had bided his time in Newgate while awaiting trial. No doubt it was simply loyalty to his brother which led to the escape attempt and to his downfall. Principal witness to the charge against the younger brother was the broker, Mr Wallace, who had tried to stop him near Cock Lane. After Wallace had given a clear eye-witness account of the shooting of the porter, Joseph was also convicted and sentenced to die.




In the Condemned Hold at Newgate the brothers had no further chance to attempt a break. They were fettered twenty-four hours a day, and constantly watched over by relays of turnkeys. They refused to receive the Ordinary, declaring that they were Roman Catholics. In those times the prisoners of that persuasion were not given an opportunity of spiritual consolation - even if they felt in need of it.




On the day of the execution, Tuesday, 3 September 1782, the brothers rose early and dressed themselves carefully in mourning clothes which they had ordered specially for the occasion. Their gaolers thought them remarkably composed. When they left the prison in the grim cart, they carried on an animated conversation all the way to the gallows at Tyburn. At the gibbet they continued to talk for a few more minutes, and then signalled that they were ready. As the hangman adjusted the nooses around their necks, they made a last request that they be 'turned off' simultaneously.




When the moment came they clasped hands tightly, and were dropped. For a few seconds they swung together, hand in hand, united in the moment of death as they had been throughout their lives.

Eye-witnesses described it as one of the most pathetic scenes they had ever beheld.