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Apprentices were effectively enslaved to their masters for many years. They received only their keep, and were locked up at night and compelled to live by draconian rules. Apprentice boys had a reputation for being hooligans because they so often resorted to theft and other crimes.
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Between 1700 and 1725, nearly half of all those hanged at Tyburn were apprentice boys. One of them was Jack Sheppard (1702-24), an apprentice carpenter who, as a thief, made more money in a month than a qualified carpenter made in a year. By the time he was executed, he had become a hero, idolised for his daring escapes from prison.
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Many criminals were children who were trained as pickpockets or put through windows to burgle the houses of property owners. The advantage of using very young children was that, under the age of seven, they could not be sentenced to death.
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