John Austin (highwayman) of London by cart to the gallows. The 2½ mile journey along Tyburn Road would have taken up to three hours. Standing shackled in the cart, he would have been accompanied by two guards and a chaplain. They would traditionally stop on the way at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate and two public houses where drinks would be served. On arrival at Tyburn, Austin's cart would have been positioned under a beam and a noose attached around his head. He would then be permitted to address the crowd, his last words were: However, for Austin the noose slipped up the back of his
Highwayman Highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually traveled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads. Such criminals operated in Great Britain from the Elizabethan era until the early 19th century. In many other countries, they persisted for a few decades longer, until the mid or late 19th century. The first attestation of the word "highwayman" is from 1617. Euphemisms such as "knights of the road" and "gentlemen of the road" were sometimes used