George Lyon

GEORGE LYON
On the morning of Saturday 22nd April 1815 three men went to the gallows at Lancaster castle. They were William Houghton, aged fifty three, David Bennett, thirty five, and George Lyon, who was fifty four. The men had actually been convicted of a burglary at Ince, near Wigan, although that was by no means their only crime. Lyon alone was similarly accused of eleven other such offences, but it was the burglary at the home of Charles Walmesley that finally put paid to what had become a notorious gang.

http://www.lancastercastle.com/history-heritage/people-stories/george-lyon/



http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2008/05/30/history_michael_graves.shtml

The (in)visible thief.
As retold in Wikipedia George Lyon's one major feat as a highwayman was to hold up the Liverpool mail coach. With his accomplices, who have been unknown since, he planned the robbery at the Legs of Man public house in Wigan. They then persuaded the ostler at the Bull's Head Inn in Upholland to lend them horses for a few hours. They held up the Liverpool mail coach at nearby Tawd Vale on the River Tawd, firing two shots and forcing the driver to pull up so that they could rob the passengers. The gang then returned to the Bull's Head, and when the robbed coach later arrived at the inn, Lyon and his accomplices had an alibi as people had seen them in the pub earlier in the afternoon.

George Lyon is said to have held up the Liverpool mail coach by firing shots and forcing the driver to stop. Then, having robbed the travellers, he went swiftly to the pub at Upholland, where he had been drinking earlier. The travellers arrived a little later, bringing with them their tale of robbery and their narrow escape from death, and as Lyon was in the pub both before the robbery and afterwards he was not suspected by the travellers.


The robbery at Ince.
One of George Lyon's accomplices an Edward Ford had been employed redecorating the manor at Ince and as such knew the lay out and what loot could be obtained when the owner and family were absent and only the 'live in staff' were at the house.

George Lyon and his three accomplices Edward Ford, David Bennett and William Houghton, carried out the burglary at Westwood Hall, Ince, Wigan in April 1815. Lyon was the 'lookout' who stayed outside, and even is said to have sent one of the others back to try to get more loot, which was in the form of silver items.

The loot was offered for sale in an inn but was both easily recognised and was bought by an undercover fence, thus informing the authorities and allowing the thieves to be caught and tried.
One of the thieves Ford, who it is thought had suggested robbing the house to Lyon, and had himself taken part in some 17 previous robberies, gave evidence against the others and was thus spared the death sentence given to the other three robbers.

A reproduction of George Lyon's letter (with the aid of the prison chaplain, the Reverend Cowley) to his family at Upholland to send him his suit and boots to wear at his execution was shown and in it the appeal to have his body brought back to Upholland for burial.

https://www.clhg.org.uk/index.php/blog-reports/35-20180412-george-lyon-charles-walsmley

A lot of interesting info there Lolly..will read it all later.

Lolly, some interesting local history, and some very good reads.

I once read that jails were built only to hold, temporarily, prisoners on the way to their punishment, such as hanging, transportation, etc. They were not built for the actual punishment.

George was buried with his daughter," Nanny Lion"

"George Lyon without a horse"

https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/articles/george-lyon-a-highwayman-without-a-horse

Very interesting lolly...read half of it,saving the rest for later..really enjoying it.

beltin info

I see I've read it twice,and still find it interesting.

Admin wrote:I once read that jails were built only to hold, temporarily, prisoners on the way to their punishment, such as hanging, transportation, etc. They were not built for the actual punishment.

He was transported for 7 years apparently to S Africa

Lolly wrote:George was buried with his daughter," Nanny Lion"

When I visited George Lyons grave in in the churchyard of St Thomas The Martyr Church in Unpholland I had to be shown which one was his grave and was told by the person who showed me that an enduring mystery is who keeps putting the flowers on his grave as apparantly no one seems to know.

My guess is it is someone from the church as it makes the grave easily identifiable when people come to look for it, which for anyone who dosen't know it's location it's close to the retaining wall near the road, roughly facing The White Lion public house and can be seen by looking over the railings.

Another interesting aspect of the George Lyon story is the owner of the house in Ince that he and his accomplices had burgled Charles Walmsley, was at the time or had been a JP which makes you wonder if George Lyon had some axe to grind with Charles Walmsley maybe having being brought up before him in the past and feeling he had been harshly treated by him sentence wise?

I also wonder if the house had belonged to someone less prominent at the time if his sentence would have been more lenient?

After re reading this thread the other day my memory was jogged back to a newspaper article that appeared in the Wigan Observer sometime in the 1990's possibly early 2000's regarding great excitement and speculation about what lay behind a bricked up doorway to a forgotten room that had been discovered in the cellars of one of the pubs in Upholland that it is believed George Lyons frequented.

As I recall the landlord was hoping that some of George Lyon's mythical loot lay hidden and undiscovered in this 'secret' room.
Alas when the doorway was reopened it turned out that all that lay behind the wall was a very small room that had been used for storage containing two old flintlock pistols in poor condition which the landlord liked to think had belonged to George Lyon although there was no evidence to support this and some empty beer bottles from the time when the doorway was sealed up.

Does anyone else remember this story and which pub in Upholland this was at?
My guess is it was 'The White Lion' across the road from where George Lyon is buried as he was know to drink there and is strongly connected to the pub.

Was it not The old dog pub on Alma Hill.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1291346

On my search I came across this article, it may be of interest to some

Two Graves and their Occupants
Local historian and writer Michael Finney on two of UpHolland's famous sons... one an engineer - one a scoundrel!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2008/05/30/history_michael_graves.shtml

Lolly wrote:Was it not The old dog pub on Alma Hill.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1291346

It could have been Lolly, unfortunately I don't recall the name of the pub only some of the details of what was found behind the sealed up doorway. Incidently wasn't The Old Dog the pub that George Lyon was laid out in the day/night before his funeral after being brought back from Lancaster?

In the end the story regarding George Lyon's hidden loot pretty much ended in the same way as the story of Al Capones vault over in America which had probably inspired it in the first place.

Lolly wrote:On my search I came across this article, it may be of interest to some

Two Graves and their Occupants
Local historian and writer Michael Finney on two of UpHolland's famous sons... one an engineer - one a scoundrel!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2008/05/30/history_michael_graves.shtml

I've always found it interesting that George Lyon's unmarked grave at Upholland is regularly visited by people whilst Charles Walmsley along with his grave in Ince despite the elaborate tomb is pretty much forgotten by everyone.

"Incidently wasn't The Old Dog the pub that George Lyon was laid out in the day/night before his funeral after being brought back from Lancaster?

https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/articles/george-lyon-a-highwayman-without-a-horse

Pubs were used as mortuaries in those days.