Arthur Gray (Hawkhurst Gang)

Arthur Gray (1713–1748) along with Thomas Kingsmill were the leaders of the notorious Hawkhurst Gang that operated, from its base in Kent, along the South Coast of England from 1735 until 1750.

He was the eleventh of the thirteen children of William and Mary Gray.[1]

Gray served as an apprentice to a butcher at Malden near Maidstone, for seven years. He then returned to Hawkhurst, and there carried on his trade (as a butcher) for about three years. He then, by his own admission, spent more and more time in the company of smugglers, although denying smuggling himself. However he was known to be one of the leaders of the Hawkhurst Gang.[2]

Gray was tried for his offences at the Old Bailey and found guilty. He was executed at Tyburn, in London on 11 May 1748 and then gibbeted at Stamford Hill.[3]

Gray’s body was hung on a double gibbet that had been used before. He was gibbeted next to the body of a murderer. Gray remained in the gibbet until 1752 when his body was finally cut down.[4]

References
  1. "Arthur Gray son of William Gray and Mary Gray". The Weald of Kent Surrey and Sussex. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  2. Old Bailey Proceedings Online 1674–1913. Execution of Arthur Gray. Ordinary's Account, 11 May 1748. Reference Number: OA17480511 Version 6.0 17 Retrieved 15 December 2018
  3. Old Bailey Proceedings Online (accessed 15 December 2018), Trial of Arthur Gray. (t17480420-23, 11 May 1748).
  4. Dyndor Z. The Gibbet in the Landscape: Locating the Criminal Corpse in Mid-Eighteenth-Century England. In: Ward R, editor. A Global History of Execution and the Criminal Corpse [Internet]. Basingstoke (UK): Palgrave Macmillan; 2015. Chapter 3. Accessdate 17 December 2018.


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