Claude Du Vall (or Duval) (c. 164321 January 1670) was a French

highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

in Restoration England. He worked in the service of exiled royalists who returned to England under King Charles II. Little else is known of his history. According to popular legend, he abhorred violence, showing courtesy to his victims and chivalry to their womenfolk, thus spawning the myth of the romantic highwayman, as taken up by many novelists and playwrights.

Early life

Per one account, Claude Duval was born in

Domfront, Orne Domfront () is a former commune in the Orne department in north-western France. It is classed as a Petites Cités de Caractère. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Domfront-en-Poiraie. Geography Domfront is situated on ...

, Normandy in about 1643 to Pierre Duval, a miller, and Marguerite, daughter of a tailor. A 'family fable suggested' they were once 'landed lords, but there was little evidence left to show for it'. His origin and parentage are in dispute. He did, however, have a brother, Daniel Duval. At the age of 14 he was sent to Paris where he worked as a

domestic servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or childcare, care for children and ...

. He later became a stable boy for a group of English

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

s and moved to England in the time of the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

as a

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

of the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

(possibly a relation) and rented a house in

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

Highwayman

The legend goes that before long, Duval became a successful

who robbed the passing

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

es on the roads to London, especially Holloway between

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

and

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

and, that unlike most other highwaymen, he distinguished himself with rather gentlemanly behaviour and fashionable clothes. He reputedly never used violence. One of his victims was Squire Roper, Master of the Royal Buckhounds, whom he relieved of 50

guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

s and tied to a tree. There are many tales about Duval. A particularly famous one – placed in more than one location and later published by William Pope – claims that he took only a part of his potential loot from a gentleman, when the man's wife agreed to dance the "courante" with him in the wayside, a scene immortalised by

William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Slee ...

in his 1860 painting '' Claude Duval''. If his intention was to deter pursuit by his non-threatening behaviour, he did not totally succeed. After the authorities promised a large reward, he fled to France for some time but returned a few months later. Shortly afterwards, he is said to have been arrested in the Hole-in-the-Wall tavern in London's Chandos Street,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

Execution

On 17 January 1670, judge Sir William Morton found him guilty of six robberies (others remained unproven) and sentenced him to death. Despite many attempts to intercede, the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

did not pardon him and he was executed on 21 January at

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

. When his body was cut down and exhibited in Tangier Tavern, it drew a large crowd. It is traditionally thought Duval was buried under the centre aisle of the church of

St Paul's, Covent Garden St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church located in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, central London. It was designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission for the 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fit for ...

; the parish register notes the burial of a "Peter Duval" in January 1670. A memorial at the church reads: :Here lies DuVall: Reder, if male thou art, :Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart. :Much havoc has he made of both; for all :Men he made to stand, and women he made to fall :The second Conqueror of the Norman race, :Knights to his arm did yield, and ladies to his face. :Old Tyburn’s glory; England’s illustrious Thief, :Du Vall, the ladies' joy; Du Vall, the ladies' grie

The apparently gallant highwayman inspired a number of biographers and playwrights to add to his

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

, including claims of

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, gambling, and much womanising. He is reported to haunt the Holt Hotel along the A4260 (Oxford Road) in Oxfordshire, a hotel where he spent many nights when it was a small coaching inn.

Popular culture

Recent historians have reappraised the legacy of Duval. James Sharpe in ''Dick Turpin'' regarded Duval as the most significant figure in the shaping of the highwayman myth. John and Philip Sugden's ''The Thief of Hearts'' reconstructs what is known of the historical Duval, using much fresh evidence, and shows that the traditions about the Frenchman were used by such literary luminaries as Samuel Butler (''A Pindarick Ode''), John Gay (''The Beggar's Opera'') and William Harrison Ainsworth (''Rookwood'' and ''Talbot Harland'') to create the iconic image of the gentleman highwayman still beloved today. * "As he reached this spot, a man started from the obscurity, and requested with the politeness of a Claude Duval to know the time." From
Mountains and Molehills; or, Recollections of a Burnt Journal
', 1855, by Francis Samuel Marryat, (1826–1855). * A

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

called '' Claude Duval'' was written in 1881 by

Edward Solomon Edward Solomon (25 July 1855 – 22 January 1895) was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianist. He died at age 39 by which time he had written dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Ope ...

and Henry Pottinger Stephens and enjoyed success both in Britain and in America. * In Mary Hooper's book ''The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose'', Duval is said to be a friend of

Nell Gwyn Eleanor Gwyn (also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne; 2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687) was an English people, English stage actress and celebrity figure of the Stuart Restoration, Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances ...

and is credited with saving King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

's life. * A public house in the town of

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

in Surrey is named in his honour. * From 1953 to 1959 the British comic '' The Comet'' ran a popular strip about Duval, making him older than in reality so that he could be a Royalist officer during the Civil War and a Royalist agent during the Commonwealth and Protectorate. ''Comet'''s "Claude Duval The Laughing Cavalier" was also published as a stand-alone Thriller Comics Library comic book in 1955. * The ''Comet'' comic strip was sufficiently successful that in 1956 film director-producer

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (184 ...

devised a television series called ''The Gay Cavalier'' featuring Duval (played by French actor

Christian Marquand Christian Henri Marquand (15 March 1927 – 22 November 2000) was a French actor. Early life Marquand was born in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, to a Spanish father and an Arab mother. He was the brother of actor Serge Marquand and filmmaker N ...

) and another character from the comic, the Cromwellian intelligence officer Major Midas Mould (played by Ivan Craig). The series was made by

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

and broadcast from May to August 1957. Despite having starred such actors as

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

and Nigel Stock, none of the 13 episodes appears to have survived. * A 2005

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

''Haunted Hotels'' documentary on

hauntings This is a list of locations that are (or have been) said to be haunted by ghosts, demons, or other supernatural beings throughout the world. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Argentina * Cinco ...

claims that Claude Duval's ghost presently haunts the Holt Hotel, the tavern wherein he was arrested before being condemned to death. This same documentary also claims several people were murdered by Duval, despite scant evidence. * Michelle Lowe's novel, Cherished Thief, published in 2012, depicts Claude DuVal's entire life story. * In

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's short story ''One Crowded Hour'', a victim of a chivalrous highway robber rebukes the robber, saying, "Don't come the Claude Duval over us." * He was the subject of

London Dungeon The London Dungeon is a tourist attraction/ haunted attraction along London's South Bank, England, which recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a gallows humour style. It uses a mixture of live actors, special effects and ...

br>exhibition
in May 2015. * Is a subject in the podcast radio-play Adventures of Sage & Savant Episode 206

References

External links

Indepth story of Claude Duvall's life with images

* Short radio episode

' mentions "the politeness of a Claude Duval."

California Legacy Project Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds t ...