Tom Cox (highwayman) hangman out of the cart carrying him to the gallows. Samuel Smith recorded that: He was listed in James Caulfield's "Blackguardiana: or, a dictionary of rogues, bawds, pimps, whores, pickpockets, shoplifters, &c." (1793) and features in a song sung by a character in the novel "Rookwood" (1834) by W. Harrison Ainsworth as follows: Tom Cox (highwayman) Thomas Cox (c. 1665 – 12 September 1690), known as "The Handsome Highwayman", was an English highwayman, sentenced to death and hanged at Tyburn. He had a reputation for a spirited nature and it is reported that when asked if he wished to say
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