Jack Sheppard

John Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724), nicknamed "Honest Jack", "Gentleman Jack" or "Jack the Lad" (the origin of the British phrase), was an English criminal who became notorious in early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter, but began committing theft and burglary in 1723 with little more than a year of his training to complete. He was arrested and imprisoned five times in 1724, but escaped four times from prison, making him notorious, though popular with the poorer classes.