In January 1782 a quantity of cheese was stolen from Thomas Bott of Higham. One of the thieves was William Cupit of Woolley Moor whose family lived at Locko Brook, North Wingfield. William was 27 years old, married with two children. Read on to find out how he came to be sentenced to death, and what happened to him.
Although the newspapers reported that John Jackson and John White were wanted for the theft of the cheese, eventually George Mil(l)ward and William Cupit were arrested and sent to Derby Gaol.
William Cupit and George Millward were convicted of the theft of the cheeses from Thomas Bott of Shirland. They were sentenced to transportation to the coast of Africa, but William was one of nine men who escaped from the gaol at midnight on Monday 22 April 1782.
Six were soon recaptured, including William, but by mid May three were still on the run, his co-defendant George Millward of Tupton, and two men named Joseph Stirland and Samuel Jackson.
Also wanted for aiding and abetting their escape were William Millward, Thomas Jackson and William’s wife Mrs Ann Cupit of Stretton.
In July 1782 the recaptured escapees and their accomplices were tried at Derby. William Cupit was sentenced to death. His wife Ann was spared punishment. William Cupit and one of the other escapees, Edward Johnson, then had their death sentences commuted to hard labour.
In August 1782 Cupit and Johnson were taken to work on the Thames hulks. William Cupit was put under the supervision of Mr Duncan Campbell on the Censor and Justicia hulks.
Convicts on the Thames hulks were put to work dredging, digging canals and building walls to prevent river erosion. They also worked in Woolwich dockyards and the arsenal. They worked 10 hours a day in summer and 7 hours a day in winter. They were chained up at night. Conditions were poor and the guards were brutal. Mortality was at about 30%.
For a British Library blog about the prison hulks, see https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2017/08/duncan-campbell-the-private-contractor-and-the-prison-hulk.html
By the end of 1784 William Cupit had served two years hard labour on the Thames, and a warrant was signed on the 2 December 1784 for his early release. He was shown mercy for his showing ‘signs of reformation’. The warrant stated that he had been tried and convicted at Derby on the 3 August 1782, and was a ‘capital respite’, that is to say sentenced to death and then reprieved. His sentence had been reduced to 3 years hard labour on the river Thames.
In recommending him for mercy, it was stated that he had ‘people of character’ who would enter into a recognizance for his good behaviour and that he had behaved ‘very orderly during his confinement’.
HO47 Judges’ Reports On Criminals 1784-1830 (Find My Past)
William Cupit returned to North Wingfield and seems to have lived quietly for the rest of his life. Despite the ordeal of hard labour on the prison hulks he achieved the great age of 85 and died at Locko Brook, North Wingfield on the 6th March 1841.
PS – It appears that the other North Wingfield cheese thief, George Millward, was never recaptured… unless you know otherwise?
First posted on Facebook June 2018.
North Wingfield 
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