Sympathy for the Criminal: The Criminal Celebrity in Eighteenth-Century London

Abstract

This article investigates the rise and fall of the criminal celebrity in London between 1660 and 1790. It explains how, through the dramatic expansion of print culture and the rise of sensibility, a small number of highwaymen, thieves and a bigamist were able to seek and receive substantial public sympathy, despite widespread concerns about the extent of crime in London. However, in the early nineteenth century, changing attitudes towards crime and new penal practices led to the disappearance of this type of positive criminal celebrity. These findings contribute to our understanding of both changing attitudes towards crime and the wider history of celebrity.