Jenny Diver, née Mary Young (c.1700 – 18 March 1741) was an Irish pickpocket, one of the most famous of her day.
Born around 1700 in Ireland,[1] Diver was the illegitimate daughter of an unknown father and the lady's maid Harriet Jones.
She was a skilled seamstress, and eventually emigrated to London, where she became an apprentice of Anne Murphy, who was the leader of a gang of pickpockets.
She soon became so skilled as a thief that she became the leader of Murphy's gang and nicknamed Jenny Diver.
Perhaps the best known of her methods was to feign illness, during which she robbed people and handed over the objects to her accomplices.