Joseph Blake (criminal)

A school friend, William Blewitt, introduced him to the self-styled "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild around 1714.

By the age of 17, he was earning his living as a pickpocket, working with Edward Pollitt (or Pawlett or Pollard), and had been nicknamed "Blueskin".

The origin of his sobriquet is uncertain: it could be due to his swarthy complexion, but possibly also to excessive facial hair, a port-wine birthmark, or perhaps a punning reference to his friend Blewitt.

By 1719, Blake was working with Irish highwayman James Carrick, and, by 1722, he was a member of a gang of street robbers led by Robert Wilkinson.

Three accomplices (John Levee, Richard Oakey and Matthew Flood) were hanged on the strength of Blake's testimony in February 1723.

Blueskin expected to be released and to receive some of the reward money for securing the convictions, but he was confined in Wood Street Compter instead, under threat of deportation.

They burgled the house of William Kneebone (Sheppard's former apprentice master) on Sunday 12 July, stealing a quantity of cloth and some other trinkets, but this burglary was to prove their undoing.

Blake was arrested by Wild, Arnold and Abraham Mendez Ceixes at his lodgings in St Giles on Friday 2 October 1724.

On Wednesday 11 November 1724, the day after Sheppard's death sentence was confirmed, Blake was drawn to Tyburn along the traditional route, stopping at the Griffin tavern on Holborn for a stiff drink.

There are no contemporary pictures of Blake but he is featured in the second image of "The Last Scene" engraved by George Cruikshank in 1839 to illustrate William Harrison Ainsworth 's serialised novel, Jack Sheppard . The caption reads: "Blueskin cutting down Jack Sheppard". In reality Blueskin had himself already been executed by the time of Sheppard's execution.