The Cock Road Gang

Kingswood Forest in South Gloucestershire was a lawless area in the late 18th century that was used as a haven by a number of outlaws, con artists, and criminals, with the Cock Road Gang being the most infamous of all.

The Cock Road Gang, which took its name from a small hamlet close to Bristol, operated for many years and was mostly made up of members of the Caines family and their friends and associates. However, it is not known if the Caines founded the gang or if they merely seized control of it. Two family members, Joseph Fry and Samuel Ward, were executed for forgery and robbery in a Bristol Gazette article dated 1786, but the Caines family is not mentioned. The gang "kept the neighborhood in such dread that residents used to give them an annual stipend not to rob them," according to the same issue.

After breaking into a prison to free one of their own and assaulting two local constables, the year 1815 marked a turning point for the gang. After that, a group of Bristol watchmen stormed the homes of every known gang member and detained 25 people. After the majority of the Caines were put to death or deported, historian and minister H. T. Ellacombe discovered that the Cock Road Gang came to an end in 1817:

"George, the eldest son, was transported for life for breaking and entering; Thomas and Benjamin, for burglary; Thomas, Joseph, and Samuel, for burglary; James, a grandson of old Benjamin, for murder; Francis and Thomas, grandsons; other descendants transported or executed; three daughters had their respective husbands executed or transported."