The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Wild, Jonathan

WILD, Jonathan, English thief and informer: b. Wolverhampton, England, about 1682; d. London, 24 May 1725. He was a Birmingham buckle-maker who in 1706 went to London intending to engage in his trade, but becoming involved in debt was imprisoned for

four years, after which he became a receiver of stolen goods and an informer against such criminals as were not in his employ. He was hanged at Tyburn. He was the subject of Fielding's satire, &lsquo;History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great&rsquo; (1743), and also appears in Ainsworth's novel, &lsquo;Jack Shepherd,&rsquo; as well as in various other tales and pretended biographies.