[61] A few additional particulars concerning Wild may be of
interest. Soon after he came to London he opened a brothel in
the infamous Lewkenor's Lane, in partnership with Mary Milliner;
after a time they quitted it to take an alehouse in Cock Alley,
Cripplegate. He then drifted into business as a receiver and
instigator of thefts, organizing regular gangs which operated in
every branch of the thieving trade. On account of the number of
criminals he brought to justice (as a result of their disloyalty
to himself) the authorities winked at and tolerated his
proceedings; and in January, 1724, he had the impudence to
petition for the freedom of the City, as some recognition for
the good services he had rendered in this direction. A few
months later, however, his reputation became sadly blown upon,
and in January, 1725, he was implicated in an affair with one of
his minions, a sailor named Johnson, who had been arrested and
had appealed to Wild for help. A riot was engineered, in which
Johnson made his escape, but information was laid against the
thief-taker, himself, who, after lying in hiding for three
weeks, was arrested and committed to Newgate, which he only left
to attend his trial and to take his last ride to Tyburn.
[62] A well-known tavern in Old Bailey.
[63] This was the Poultry Compter.
[64] Her name was really Statham.
[65] See page 418.
[66] Soon after burial his body was disinterred and the head
and body separated. Wild's skull and the skeleton of his trunk
were exhibited publicly as late as 1860.