Rode between Kent and York In one day, long before Dick Turpin was ever heard of.
Swift Nicks, his real name was William Nevison and he was born in 1640 near to the Yorkshire town of Pontefract (famous for among other things, the growing of liquorish and in later years the liquorish treat known as Pontefract Cakes).
As a schoolboy Nevison was the leader of a gang of delinquent youths who were constantly causing trouble in and around Pontefract.
After being thrashed in front of his classmates for the theft of a valuable piece of cutlery, William stole ten pounds from home, took a horse belonging a schoolmaster and rode off to London. Four days later he arrived in the city and it wasn’t long before he found work. He secured a live in job with a brewer and gave up his wild ways, or so it seemed. But after working steadily for a few years he took his chance when the brewers clerk got drunk one day and stole two hundred pound. Having pocketed his ill gotten gains, Nevison fled to Holland.
After a while (No doubt having spent most of the money) he returned to Pontefract, handed back the ten pound he had originally stolen from home and made his peace with his father. When his father died shortly after his return, leaving him a small inheritance, Nevison purchase a horse and started a new career as a highwayman.
He seemed to have made a success of his new career and soon gained a reputation as a gentleman of the road. He was said to be generous to the poor and considerate to the ladies; not that this prevented him from robbing them. As his fame grew many were the tales of his exploits and the greatest of them had to be (long before the days of Dick Turpin) his ride of two hundred and thirty miles in one day, from Kent to York, to establish an alibi.
Having been recognised during a hold up at Gads Hill in Kent, he rode none stop to York, where he took part in a game of bowls and even chatted to the Mayor of York himself. Needless to say, when he was tried for the robbery in Kent, he was acquitted as the court decided that he could not have been in York so soon after the deed that he was accused of.
Word of the ride spread ( mainly through his own bragging) and it is said that he was called on to present himself before no less a personage than Charles II. The King was fascinated by the story and asked him for a detailed account.
Having nothing to lose, as he could not be tried again for the same crime, Nevison was happy to comply and described how he had ridden as fast as ‘Owd Nick’ - the Devil. The King was smitten by the account and gave him the nickname of Swift Nicks.
On another occasion after being found guilty of several robberies, he offered (In an effort to avoid the hangman) to turn kings evidence and inform on his associates. However after being reprieved he changed his mind and refused to cooperate. Upset at this the authorities gave him the choice of being held during His Majesty’s pleasure or joining the army. Nevison chose the army and then promptly deserted and joined his old associates. Unfortunately for him one of his friends informed on him, for the rather large reward now on his head, and he was locked up this time in Leicester prison.
While there, a group of friends used to visit him and one of them pretending to be a doctor, declared that Nevison had the Plague. If he thought that this would gain his release, he was wrong, the jailers simply moved him into solitary confinement. Next time the friends visited one of them painted him with blue spots, while the supposed doctor administered a sedative and declared him to be dead. The authorities buried the dead highwayman the next day or so they thought. Nevison wasn’t in the coffin, his friends had smuggled him out in their midst.
Sometime after this, reports began to reach the authorities of terrified travellers being robbed by the ghost of Swift Nicks and they realised that the man they thought dead was very much alive. To assist in his recapture a large reward was offered and it had an effect.
The landlord of one of the many inns he used on a regular basis decided to try his luck and after sending for the authorities spiked Nevison’s drink. Unfortunately for the landlord, having tasted the drug at first sip, Nevison shot him dead and made his escape.
He wasn’t so lucky however, when he visited a small village inn, thirteen miles outside York. The landlady and a few of her regulars informed the authorities and he was captured by a Captain Hardcastle and incarcerated in York. A week later he was tried, condemned and hanged. The year was 1685 and William Nevison, also known as Swift Nicks, was 45 years of age when the hangman brought his life to an end.
alibi.
Sometime after this, reports began to reach the authorities of terrified travellers being robbed by the ghost of Swift Nicks and they realised that the man they thought dead was very much alive. To assist in his recapture a large reward was offered and it had an effect.