John the Painter

James Aitken
1777 illustration of Aitken
Born	1752 Edinburgh
Died	1777 (aged 24–25) Portsmouth
Cause of death	Hanging
Other names	John the Painter
Criminal penalty	Death
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	Arson in royal dockyards

John the Painter (1752–10 March 1777), also known as Jack the Painter, James Aitken or John Aitkin, was a Scot who committed acts of sabotage in Royal Navy naval dockyards in 1776–77.

Aitken was born in Edinburgh in 1752, the son of a whitesmith and the eighth of twelve children.

The early death of his father assured him a good education at the charitable school of George Heriot’s Hospital, which was founded to care for the "puir, faitherless bairns" (Scots: poor, fatherless children) of Edinburgh.

Upon leaving school, he tried his hand at a variety of low-paying trades before finding that the world of criminal activity offered him more immediate rewards. He admitted in his testament to being a highwayman, burglar, shoplifter, robber, and (on at least one occasion) a rapist:

…I made the best of my way through Winchester to Basingstoke, intending to return to London. Going over a down near Basingstoke, I saw a girl watching some sheep, upon whom, with some threats and imprecations, I committed a rape, to my shame it be said.

Fearful that his crimes would soon be detected, Aitken negotiated an indenture in exchange for a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia. He, of course, had no real intention of serving the terms of the indenture, and soon escaped to North Carolina. His next two years in the colonies were spent in such locales as Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. It was during this period that he became exposed to revolutionary rhetoric, and Aitken claimed that he had been harassed by British troops for being a suspected Whig. At some point after a 1775 return trip to England he developed his scheme of political arson. Some historians have speculated that Aitken was motivated by a desire to escape his life of insignificance and poverty, and that by striking a blow on behalf of the American revolutionaries, Aitken would be recognised and handsomely rewarded for his role.