Jonathan Wild
From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Historical figure.
Jonathan Wild (1682/1683 - 24 May 1725), was an English thief-taker and a major figure in London's criminal underworld, notable for operating on both sides of the law, posing as a public-spirited vigilante entitled the "Thief-Taker General". He simultaneously ran a significant criminal empire, and used his crimefighting role to remove rivals and launder the proceeds of his own crimes.
In the Sherlock Holmes stories
- Sherlock Holmes compared Jonathan Wild to Professor Moriarty : "He was a master criminal, and he lived last century — 1750 or thereabouts. Jonathan Wild was the hidden force of the London criminals, to whom he sold his brains and his organization on a fifteen per cent commission." (VALL 368).
