Hi All - I thought the snippet from the West Briton I posted yesterday seemed to almost suggest a "model" for Moriarity, (since he was responsible for all the burglaries for 20 years in London!), and the inclusion of the news article might have been a bluff by Sherlock to bring Jem the Penman's cohorts to justice, since the article clearly stated where the prisoners were being held, and when they'd be transferred, thereby inducing the gang to attempt to free Jem. So I had to find out a bit more about the famous criminals and discovered this - In an account of a trial at the Old Bailey the other day appeared the following: "He (the prisoner) was the last remaining pupil of the most mischievous man in London - a notorious coiner who was known under the sobriquet of Jem the Penman" What is known of this individual? . James Townshend Saward, alias Jem the Penman, appears in the formal style of the Law List of 1857 as barrister-at-law and special pleader of the Inner Temple and the Home Circuit. His date of call is stated to have been Nov. 28, 1840. Jem is said to have helped the great bullion robbers in disposing of a portion of their plunder; but that act of friendly assistance was but a trifling episode in his truly great career. At last he was convicted with others on March 5, 1857, at the Central Criminal Court, of extensive forgery of bankers' cheques, and sentenced to be transported for life. NOTES and QUOTES, 4th S.IV. Oct 2, '69 - page 277 . Jem the Penman (4th S. iv.277) "A full, true, and particular account" of this notorious person's connection with the bullion robbery on the South Eastern Railway, and of his cheque forgeries, will be found in pp. 484 to 595 of "Facts, Failures, and Frauds", by D. Morier Evans, published by Groombridge and Son, 1859 from Notes and Quotes, 4th S.IV.Oct w, '69 - page 423 ............................................................................................................ Then there was this: . James Townsend Saward, alias Jem the Penman, and James Anderson, for bank forgeries. Sentenced to transportation for life. March 5 1857. (13 Jan., trial of Pierce, Burgess, and Tester, connected with the bullion robbery - 200 lbs of gold, value GBP 12,000); Burgess and Tester sentenced to 14 years' transportation, the 1st, 12th, and 24th months to be served in solitary confinement; Pierce to 2 years' in gaol. Leopold Redpath was sentenced 16 January for frauds on the Great Northern Railway. John Paul, and the deceased Paul Manini, defrauded the City of London Union, between 1843 and 1856 to the amount of GBP 22,407; found guilty and sentenced to transportation 5 Feb.) from The Great Events of Great Britain; A chronological Record of its History, by Samuel Neil, 1866 and speaking of great robberies, the income tax rate was changed from 1s.4d to 7d per pound in 1857!! from The Great Events of Great Britain; A chronological Record of its History, by Samuel Neil, 1866 There seem to be at least 2 books regarding Jem on the Trove website, Australia's central library site. Cheers, Julia M. West Briton Transcriptions, 1836-1856 at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wbritonad St. Austell Area History and Genealogy at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~staustell