1749: Bosavern Penlez, whorehouse expropriator

ExecutedToday.com ^ | October 18, 2012 | Headsman

[CheshireTheCat]

On this date in 1749, Bosavern Penlez — surely one of the all-time great names to hang on a gibbet — was put to death to the sorrow of all of England. You know how they say that horse thieves are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses might not be stolen? Bosavern Penlez was hanged that whorehouses might not be torn down by mobs of angry sailors.

(Fourteen other less remarkable folk were hanged for less remarkable crimes at the same time. Just another mass execution day at Tyburn.)

On the first three days of July in 1749, the Strand in London saw a running series of riots after a mob of angry sailors descended on a whorehouse where some of their brethren had been robbed and abused. Those sailors pulled down that bordello and then moved on to the nearby bawdy-houses, eventually also ransacking the Star Tavern owned by a character named Peter Wood.

Gendarmes had to be called out to control the situation (and this done without proper legal authorization), but somehow not the mob’s ringleaders nor its inciters nor its most enthusiastic wreckers wound up in legal jeopardy.

Only two faced death: John Wilson, a journeyman shoemaker. And Bosavern Penlez, a young wig-maker who’d been out drinking in the neighborhood. And both of these seemed to have just been caught up accidentally or opportunistically in events....

[Red Badger]

Peter Wood.........................

[proxy_user]

“When first I came to Liverpool
I went upon the spree
Me money at last I spent it fast
Got drunk as drunk could be

And when my money was all gone
It was then that I wanted more
But a man must be blind to make up his mind
To go to sea once more

I spent the night with Angeline
Too drunk to roll in bed
Me watch, it was new and my money was too
In the morning with ‘em she fled

And as I roamed the streets of Bath
The whores they all would roar
There goes Jack Tarr the poor sailor
He must go to sea once more....

[blueunicorn6]

Whorehouse Expropriator

You can get a degree in that at Northwestern University.

[Tax-chick]

Bosavern Penlez is a Cornish name. There are a number of businesses in Penzance that include the name: Bosavern Garage, Bosavern Community Garden, etc.