The romantic Dick Turpin is almost entirely a fiction. The real Richard Turpin, born 1705, began as a deer poacher before escalating to a gang that committed brutal home invasions. Historical records describe his gang torturing an elderly woman by holding her over a fire to force her to reveal hidden savings. His legendary overnight ride from London to York on Black Bess was a story stolen from another highwayman, William 'Swift Nick' Nevison, and grafted onto Turpin by author William Harrison A