The Damned Crew

This article takes us back in time to the early 17th century to examine a peculiar London gang made up primarily of gentlemen, roisterers, and revelers who enjoyed getting wasted and causing mayhem. They were known as the Damned Crew, sometimes known as the Cursed Crew, since they were thought to be fearless men working for the Devil.

There isn't a lot of information on this gang that is easily available, although Sir Edmund Baynham was the leader, at least for a while. A contemporary account of one of their escapades, which took place on the evening of March 18, 1600, is also available. Baynham and his men "cast off their cloaks and upper clothing, pulled rapiers and knives, [and] marched through the streets" after becoming intoxicated at the Mermaid Tavern. When they were being taken off to jail, Baynham yelled that he "cared not a fart for the lord mayor or any magistrate in London" after they got into a brawl with the city watchmen and were then arrested.

Following that, Baynham was connected to the historic Gunpowder Plot of 1605, an uprising in Essex, and other events. He was compelled to leave England and lived the remainder of his life in Europe; it's possible that the Damned Crew came to an end as well because of his escape.