Dark Stories Melbourne

Dark Stories Melbourne Dark Stories the crime company. Take a walk on the dark side and return to the scenes of the crime

The phrase sounds almost polite: 'put him out upon liking.' It means placing a boy with a tradesman on a trial basis bef...
01/09/2026

The phrase sounds almost polite: 'put him out upon liking.' It means placing a boy with a tradesman on a trial basis before formal apprenticeship. A working interview, essentially.

John Jones fails every single one.

Born in Holborn to parents who smother him with affection and never teach him to work, Jones grows into the kind of young man no master wants to keep. When his family finally cuts him off, the only doors still open lead to London's blind alehouses and narrow by-alleys; the hidden world where pickpockets learn their trade.

In the eighteenth century, stealing a detachable pocket from a woman's waist is capital in its nature. It carries the death penalty.

This is from one of the earliest true crime books in English, nearly 300 years old.

Would you say Jones is a product of bad parenting, or does the blame sit somewhere else entirely?


https://darkstories.com.au/john-jones-the-young-pickpocket-of-holborn

The thing about Nathaniel Hawes is that everyone can see the talent. He is sharp, quick witted, and full of what Georgia...
25/08/2026

The thing about Nathaniel Hawes is that everyone can see the talent. He is sharp, quick witted, and full of what Georgian writers call 'good parts.' But talent without direction is just fuel for a faster crash.

Orphaned in Norfolk, apprenticed in London, and robbing travellers on Finchley Common before he is much older; Hawes mistakes nerve for a plan and never corrects the error. His story is recorded in Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals, one of the earliest true crime books ever published.

Nearly 300 years later, the pattern is instantly recognisable: a gifted young man, bad company, easy money, and a justice system waiting at the end of the road.

Is wasted potential the darkest part of stories like this?


https://darkstories.com.au/nathaniel-hawes-the-young-highwayman-of-finchley-common

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