Luke Hutton

Luke Hutton was an English criminal and reputed author.

Identity

Luke Hutton is stated by Sir John Harington to have been a younger son of Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of York; but Thomas Fuller, whose account is adopted by Ralph Thoresby and William [Hutchinson (topographer)|William Hutchinson], asserts, with more probability, that he was the son of Robert Hutton, Rector of Houghton-le-Spring and Prebendary of Durham.

Life

Luke Hutton matriculated as a sizar of Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1582; left the University without a degree, and took to evil courses. He was 'so valiant that he feared not men nor Laws'. In 1598, for a robbery committed on St. Luke's Day, he was executed at York, the Archbishop magnanimously forbearing to intercede on his behalf.

Works

He is the reputed author of:Luke Button's Repentance, a manuscript poem dedicated to Henry, Earl of Huntingdon.The Black Dogge of Newgate, both pithie and profitable for all readers, black letter, n.d., 4to, dedicated to Lord-Chief-Justice Popham (judge)|Popham]; reprinted with additional matter in 1638. From a passage in the preface we learn that the Repentance had been printed. In the first edition the tract begins with a poem describing a vision that appeared to the author in Newgate. The poem, which treats of the harshness of gaolers and miseries of prison-life, is followed by a prose Dialogue betwixt the Author and one Zawney, concerning 'coneycatching'.

A lost play bearing the title The Black Dog of Newgate, 2 parts, by Hathway, Wentworth Smith, and Day, was produced in 1602.
After Hutton's execution appeared a broadside ballad, Luke Hutton's Lamentation which he wrote the day before his death .The discovery of a London monster.