James Maclaine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1724 |
| Died | 3 October 1750 (aged 25–26) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation(s) | grocer, merchant, chandler, highwayman |
"Captain" James Maclaine (occasionally "Maclean", "MacLean", or "Maclane") (1724 – 3 October 1750) was an Irish man of a respectable presbyterian family who had a brief but notorious career as a mounted highwayman in London with his accomplice William Plunkett.[1][2] He was known as "The Gentleman Highwayman" as a result of his courteous behaviour during his robberies, and obtained a certain kind of celebrity.[3][4] Notoriously, he held up and robbed Horace Walpole at gunpoint: eventually he was hanged at Tyburn.[5][6]
The film Plunkett & Macleane was based loosely on his exploits.
- ^ A. McKenzie, 'Maclaine [Maclean], James (1724–1750)' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford 2004), superseding Carlyle, Seccombe (1893). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 35. pp. 191–192.
- ^ Dr. Allen, An Account of the Behaviour of Mr James Maclaine, from the time of his condemnation to the day of his execution (J. Noon and A. Millar, London 1750). Read at Google. Abbreviated version in Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XX (for October 1750), pp. 435-37 (Hathi Trust).
- ^ 'James Maclaine', in C. Johnson, revised by C. Whitehead, Lives and Exploits of English Highwaymen, Pirates, and Robbers: drawn from the most authentic sources (Henry G. Bohn, London 1842), pp. 247-60 (Google).
- ^ T. Hitchcock and R. Shoemaker, 'Chapter 5: Reformers, Discontents (1748-1763), Part 3: The Celebrity Highwayman', in Poverty, Crime and the Making of a Modern City 1690-1800 (Cambridge University Press 2015), read at Open Access Digital Edition (2020) (London Lives website).
- ^ 'James Macleane', in J. Caulfield, Portraits, Memoirs and Characters of Remarkable Persons, 4 volumes (T.H. Whiteley, London 1820), IV, pp. 87-96 (Google).
- ^ N.F. Maclaine, The Gentleman Highwayman: The Life and Death of James Maclaine (1724-1750) (Pegasus Elliott Mackenzie Publishers, 2016).