The Life of Charles Peace


"Charles Peace, or the Adventures of a Notorious Burglar," a
large volume published at the time of his death, gives a full and
accurate account of the career of Peace side by side with a story
of the Family Herald type, of which he is made the hero. "The
Life and Trial of Charles Peace" (Sheffield, 1879), "The Romantic
Career of a Great Criminal" (by N. Kynaston Gaskell, London
1906), and "The Master Criminal," published recently in London
give useful information. I have also consulted some of the
newspapers of the time. There is a delightful sketch of Peace in
Mr. Charles Whibley's "Book of Scoundrels."

I

HIS EARLY YEARS

Charles Peace told a clergyman who had an interview with him in
prison shortly before his execution that he hoped that, after he
was gone, he would be entirely forgotten by everybody and his
name never mentioned again.

Posterity, in calling over its muster-roll of famous men, has
refused to fulfil this pious hope, and Charley Peace stands out
as the one great personality among English criminals of the