Ratsey, Gamaliel

People > Ratsey, Gamaliel

Gamaliel Ratsey, highwayman

Gamaliel Ratsey was the son of Richard Ratsey, a well to do gentleman of Market Deeping in Lincolnshire.  According to the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) he "took to evil courses as a boy" and began his criminal career with robbery and horse stealing. He soon became notorious for his exploits on the highway.

As a highway man he wore a mask in which the features were made hideously ugly.  Ben Jonson wrote in the 'Alchemist' of a "face cut...worse than Gamaliel Ratsey's".

He was also known for a certain humour; he asked a Cambridge scholar for a learned oration, while an actor held up by Norwich was forced to play a scene from 'Hamlet'.  "To the poor he showed a generosity which accorded with the best traditions of his profession" (DNB)

His career was brought to an end when he was betrayed by his partners and hanged at Bedford on the 26th March 1605.

As a result of his colourful career he was celebrated in several ballads.

Further Reading:

• Dictionary of National Biography
• The English Highwayman by Peter Haining

Gamaliel Ratsey, highwayman by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2005

Page last updated: 22nd January 2014