Quilt Arnold

Who is Quilt Arnold?

Quilt Arnold was one of the chief assistants of 18th century London's master criminal and thief-taker Jonathan Wild. Very little is known about his life and what details we do have come by way of Jonathan Wild himself. The best secondary work of reference is Gerald Howson's biography of Jonathan Wild.

We know that sometime in 1716 Arnold was taken on by Wild and given the responsible position of "Clerk of the Northern Roads". Wild would have told the authorities that Arnold's remit was to keep the Northern Roads clear of thieves but his main task was to organise crime along them.

Arnold was instrumental in the arrest of Wild's arch-rival Jack Sheppard on 22 July 1724. He nearly died when Sheppard fired a pistol at him but the pistol flashed in the pan and Sheppard was apprehended. On 22 October of the same year he arrested Joseph "Blueskin" Blake. Blake subsequently attempted to cut Jonathan Wild's throat but his pen-knife was blunt and Wild survived.

In early 1725 Arnold and Wild helped a certain Roger Johnson to escape from the custody of a constable in the "Three Crowns" at Stratford-le-Bow. It is not clear whether they started a riot or rescued Johnson with pistols. As a result of this incident, Arnold was arrested along with Wild on 15 February 1725. He applied for bail on 1 April but was refused.