3 – Claude Duval (1643 -1670)
Unlike robbers such as Dick Turpin, Duval was the gallant highwayman of lore. As always, his deeds are certainly embellished, but there is evidence to suggest that he was the genuine article when it came to ‘gentleman thieves.’ Duval was born in Normandy, France in 1643 and he moved to Paris aged 14 to work as a domestic servant. A few years later, he worked as a stable boy for English Royalists and eventually moved to England after Charles II was restored to the throne. His first job in England was as a footman to the Duke of Richmond.
What drove him into a life of crime is unclear but soon after arriving in England, he began his career as a highwayman. He typically stole from stagecoaches that traveled between Highgate and Islington and unlike most robbers of the day, Duval acquitted himself well and became famed for his polite manner when relieving people of their valuables and for his fashionable clothing.
According to legend, he did not physically injure any of his victims although he reportedly tied the Master of the Buckhounds to a tree and stole 50 guineas. One of the most famous tales involving Duval related to an occasion when he stopped a stagecoach containing a nobleman and his wife. The lady played a tune on her flageolet as a means of showing the thief that she wasn’t frightened. Apparently, Duval told the lady that he admired her musical ability and suggested that she could dance just as well. Then she exited the carriage and danced with the robber. One version of the story says Duval only took £100 when the couple had £400. Another version states that he demanded £400 for the dance.
Like every other highwayman of the time, Duval was a wanted man, and he wisely fled to France to avoid capture. However, he only stayed away from England for a few months and was apparently arrested in a London tavern soon after his return. According to the historical record, Sir William Morton sentenced him to death on January 17, 1670, after finding him guilty of perpetrating six robberies. Despite appeals for clemency, Duval was hanged at Tyburn four days later, and his body was buried beneath the church of St Paul’s in Covent Garden. Tales of his exploits have inspired many legends, and his ghost is said to haunt the Holt Hotel in Oxfordshire.