European highwaymen have long been painted as charismatic outlaws who captured the imagination of the masses. While some managed to cultivate a charming, almost heroic reputation, many were far more ruthless and cunning, earning a permanent place in the annals of history. Below you’ll meet the ten most infamous figures who rode the roads of Europe, each with a story as wild as the next.
10 Notorious Highwaymen
10 Cartouche
Born in 1693, the French bandit known as Cartouche entered the world as Louis Dominique Garthausen. He soon adopted the moniker “Cartouche” – meaning cartridge – and slipped into a life of crime during his teenage years, joining a local gang of miscreants.
By his twenties he had risen to command the Cours des Miracles, a notorious band of thieves named after the slum district they prowled. Cartouche’s raids targeted the bustling Versailles‑Paris trade route, where he brazenly redistributed the riches of the aristocracy to the impoverished, echoing a Robin Hood‑like legend while maintaining the poise of a true gentleman among his companions.
Eventually the law caught up with him. After evading capture for a time, a betrayal by a confidant left him exposed. While imprisoned in the Grand Châtelet, Cartouche attempted a daring escape by tunneling into an adjacent cellar, but the clanking of his chains alerted a household dog, whose frantic barking gave away his presence.
His flamboyant demeanor could not shield him from a brutal end. Cartouche was condemned to be skinned alive and broken upon the wheel, a punishment that mirrored the cruelty of his own deeds.
In a macabre twist, his younger brother Louison suffered a peculiar sentence: hanging by the armpits – a punishment designed to avoid immediate death but ultimately resulting in his demise.
9 Robert Snooks
Robert Snooks, originally named James Snook, entered the world in 1761. His nickname likely evolved from the phrase “that robber Snooks,” which morphed over time into the name by which history remembers him.
Snooks earned his infamy after ambushing a mail carrier loaded with six sacks of letters, one of which concealed a staggering £500 in cash – a fortune in the eighteenth‑century economy.
The theft quickly sparked a massive manhunt, and authorities posted a £300 bounty on his head – £200 from the postmaster general and £100 from the government – underscoring the seriousness of his crime.
For a while he managed to stay ahead of the law, but a careless mistake proved his undoing. While directing a servant to purchase cloth, he mistakenly handed over a £50 note, believing it to be a modest £5. The sudden appearance of such a large sum aroused the merchant’s suspicion, exposing Snooks’s hideout.
He fled to Hungerford, only to be apprehended shortly thereafter. In 1802, he became the last highwayman to be hanged in England. Legend claims that circling his grave three times while chanting his name summons his restless spirit.
8 Nicolas‑Jacques Pelletier
French outlaw Nicolas‑Jacques Pelletier first attracted the authorities’ attention after a brutal assault on a passerby, wielding a cudgel to the point of murder and then pilfering the victim’s wallet. Convicted under the penal code, he faced the death penalty.
At the same time, physicians Joseph‑Ignace Guillotin and Antoine Louis were perfecting a new execution device, the “louisette” – later known worldwide as the guillotine. After animal trials, the device was deemed ready for human use.
Consequently, Pelletier’s execution was postponed until the guillotine could be employed. When finally carried out, the swift, clean cut shocked onlookers, who demanded a return to the traditional wooden gallows in protest.
Despite the public outcry, the guillotine endured, becoming an iconic symbol of swift justice, with Pelletier remembered as its inaugural victim.
7 Captain James Hind
James Hind’s early years saw him apprenticing to a butcher, but a trip to London introduced him to a life of ale, women, and eventual imprisonment. While incarcerated, he formed a bond with fellow outlaw James Allen, promising to join forces upon release.
Stories of Hind’s exploits often highlight a surprisingly compassionate side. After robbing a man who needed funds for a cow, Hind later met the same individual, providing enough money to purchase two cows instead of one.
In another episode, Hind held up a traveler who turned out to be an old acquaintance. He returned the stolen cash, adding a bonus so the friend could afford a pair of gloves.
During England’s civil war, Hind served as a Royalist captain. Captured by Parliamentarian forces after the 1651 Battle of Worcester, he faced trial for his allegiance, though those charges were eventually dropped.
Later, a separate trial for highway robbery sentenced him to the gruesome fate of being hanged, drawn, and quartered.
6 Juro Janosik
Juro Janosik, an 18th‑century Polish bandit, led a crew that menaced dignitaries across the region. Over time, his deeds were embellished, turning him into a larger‑than‑life folk hero.
Legend claims that three witches granted Janosik magical gifts – a shirt, a belt, and an alpenstock – endowing him with resistance to arrows, bullets, and wounds, as well as super‑human speed and the ability to leave his palm imprint on stone.
These supernatural attributes, however, mask a darker reality. While folklore paints him as a Robin Hood figure, there is no concrete evidence he ever redistributed loot to the poor. In fact, accounts suggest he could be cruel, especially toward subordinates who failed him.
His downfall came through betrayal; he was captured and executed by impalement on a hook at Liptovský Mikuláš castle. To preserve his mythic aura, later stories depict him defiantly leaping onto the hook, refusing to let his executioners savor a prolonged death.
5 Jerry Abershaw
Born in 1773, Jerry Abershaw earned a reputation as the last of the classic highwaymen – a dashing, daring, and witty figure of the era.
At the age of 17, he began frequenting the Bald‑Faced Stag Inn, a notorious gathering spot for outlaws. Though not as refined as some of his peers, Abershaw distinguished himself with a sharp sense of humor, especially when circumstances turned grim.
Because highwaymen operated under layers of disguise, the exact scope of his activity remains uncertain. Nevertheless, crime reports spiked during his years, and many of his robberies were noted for the clever quips he delivered amid the theft.
His criminal career culminated when two Bow Street runners, David Price and Bernard Turner, received a tip about his identity. In a desperate bid to escape, Abershaw opened fire, killing Price and wounding Turner before being captured in 1795.
During his trial, he taunted the presiding judge and, on the way to the scaffold, tossed his shoes into the crowd, recalling his mother’s prophecy that he would die in them. After his execution, his corpse was displayed on a hill that now bears his name, drawing an estimated 100,000 spectators.
4 Joseph Blake
Joseph Blake entered the world in 1700 and quickly fell into a life of crime, landing his first jail term at age 15. By 17 he earned the nickname “Blueskin” as a pickpocket, soon joining forces with five other felons to terrorize England’s streets.
One account recounts Blake seizing eight shillings and a sword from a victim, then firing upon a woman who witnessed the act from a nearby window. His gang’s violent spree also included beating a man nearly to death with pistols for a meager sum of one guinea and one penny.
Even as his associates faced capture and execution, Blake persisted. He eventually partnered with the famed Jack Sheppard for a daring house robbery, only to be apprehended by the notorious thief‑taker Jonathan Wild.
During his trial, Blake pleaded with Wild to commute his sentence to transportation rather than hanging; Wild refused. Later, when Wild confronted Blake for a private discussion, Blake retaliated by slashing Wild’s throat with a knife. Wild survived, but Blake was ultimately sentenced to hang.
3 Thomas Boulter
Thomas Boulter was born in 1748 into a troubled English family; his father, a known horse‑thief, received a 14‑year transportation sentence in 1775.
That same year, Boulter launched his own highwayman career, initially striking around Hampshire before expanding his reach throughout England. His rapid mobility earned him the nickname “the flying highwayman.”
Despite his reputation, Boulter displayed a surprisingly compassionate streak, often jesting with his victims and, on occasion, returning stolen items if the owner pleaded in the right tone.
After a capture in Yorkshire, he was offered a full pardon on the condition of joining the army. He accepted, only to desert six days later, resuming his criminal pursuits.
Partnering later with James Caldwell, Boulter continued his spree, experiencing multiple arrests and escapes before his final capture and hanging in 1778.
2 William Page
William Page entered the world in 1730 to a poor family. At ten, a tragic incident on the frozen Thames left his father dead, forcing young Page to fend for himself.
After a series of odd jobs, he was drawn into the world of robbery while working for the aristocracy, witnessing first‑hand the lavish lifestyles of the elite. By age fifteen, he had secured enough funds for pistols and a horse, embarking on a career of highway robbery.
Page teamed up with William Darwell, and together they employed a clever ruse: they would dress as gentlemen upon entering a town, then swap clothes before executing their heists. Their partnership allegedly resulted in up to 300 robberies over four years.
During a particularly violent coach robbery, passengers opened fire, leaving Page with a severe shoulder wound. Though arrested three times, he managed to avoid conviction each time until, in April 1758, he was finally found guilty and hanged at Penenden Heath in Kent.
1 Henry Simms
Henry Simms, born in 1717, earned the moniker “Gentleman Harry” for his polished manners. He began a life of crime early, stealing from shops at ten and later joining a gang whose members frequently faced arrest and transportation.
Simms transitioned to highway robbery after acquiring pistols and a horse. In one daring raid, he stole 102 guineas, promptly taking the loot to London and squandering it in a gambling den.
His criminal career unraveled when he was caught robbing a baker’s shop. He was sentenced to transportation, sold abroad as a slave for 12 guineas, but immediately escaped by stealing his master’s horse and making his way back to England’s coast.
Back in England, Simms resumed his thieving ways across London and Epping Forest until his final capture and hanging in 1747.
S.E. Batt is a freelance writer and author. He enjoys a good keyboard, cats, and tea, even though the three of them never blend well together. You can follow his antics over at @Simon_Batt or his fiction website at www.sebatt.com.