The History of Forgery

Rachael Rowe

• Publisher: Pen and Sword History
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781399056007
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

Eighteenth-century Britain's forgery and coining crimes explored through vivid historical criminal stories.

From the flamboyant preacher accused of forgery to the fourteen year old burned at the stake for coining, the eighteenth century was rife with financial crime. This book outlines the stories of men and women accused and convicted of coining and forgery at a time when the death penalty was used for over 200 crimes and society was unforgiving.

When the British government decided to produce low value paper currency in 1797 to pay for the war with France they had overlooked the consequences of a population unfamiliar with banknotes. From 1797 to 1812 over 300 people went to the gallows. This book tells the story of some of these people. The schoolmaster pressed into the Royal Navy who turned forger on discharge. The exciseman who found himself out of pocket when whisky production was regulated and forged money to pay his bills. A coining gang holed up on a farm in Birmingham who ran a successful monetary enterprise until the law caught up with them. Finally, there’s the architect who was transported to Australia for forgery whose face ended up on a (legal) banknote. All these characters and more give an insight into the crime of forgery in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

When Rachael Rowe discovered a forger in the family, her research took her on a journey to find out more about the crime and why people in the eighteenth century were intent on breaking the law. Using original records, the book highlights the scope of the crime and shows how national and global events combined to fuel an increase in forgeries with devastating effects for the criminals and their dependants.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Banking and the Bloody Code: A Lethal Combination
• Chapter Two: Desperate or Devious: The Plight of Female Coiners
• Chapter Three: Faking It: Artists as Forgers
• Chapter Four: Advocate of Literacy for the Poor: The Life and Times of Richard Rowe
• Chapter Five: Fooled by Rich Promises – The Tragic Fate of Young People
• Chapter Six: Forgers with Mental Ill Health
• Chapter Seven: A Man of the Cloth – The Tale of Dr Dodd
• Chapter Eight: The Whisky Trail and Malcolm Gillespie
• Chapter Nine: Desperate Measures
• Chapter Ten: The Freshfields Pleas
• Chapter Eleven: Judged by the Press – The Case of Henry Fauntleroy
• Chapter Twelve: Coining Gangs
• Chapter Thirteen: A New Beginning – Francis Greenway
• Epilogue: The End of Capital Punishment for Forgery
• References
• Plates