Laurence at Southampton, and Barton. The first and last are of Norman type, St. Laurence is early English. At Christ Church, Streatham, he subsequently attempted a Byzantine manner used also by him in St. Mark's Church, Alexandria, and in St. Martin's schools, Endell Street, London. He relied on the simple decoration and wide brick-wall spaces appropriate to this style to secure a characteristic building at the low figure (4l. a sitting) to which his employers restricted him. As an artist he keenly regretted their desire to subordinate propriety to cost, especially as exhibited in the restriction of colour decoration and the demand for galleries.
In 1842 Wild joined the expedition which the king of Prussia sent out under Dr. Lepsius to Egypt. From that date until 1848 he was continually abroad, travelling and sketching in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain. He is said to have been the discoverer of the method upon which the great pyramid was constructed.
Returning in 1848, he resumed practice with the above-mentioned church at Alexandria and schools at Endell Street, building at the same time the water tower at Great Grimsby, also in the Byzantine style. In 1851 he was appointed decorative architect to the Great Exhibition, and in 1853 was retained by the South Kensington Museum as an expert on Arabian art. During this employment he designed and carried out the Bethnal Green Museum, the architectural courts at South Kensington, the British legation at Teheran, and the eastern and western galleries of the Horticultural Gardens. The Bethnal Green Museum is without the forecourt and campanile intended by the architect. He designed but did not see executed the consular buildings at Alexandria (Royal Academy, 1870), and the proposed exhibition buildings on the site of the Imperial Institute. In 1878 Wild was appointed curator of the Soane Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields, which post he held till his death in that building on 7 Nov. 1892. Enlargements of the museum had been carried out under his directions and from his designs.
[Builder, 1892, lxiii. 384; R.I.B.A. Journal, 1893, ix. 275; Times, 11 Nov. 1892.]
WILD, JONATHAN (1682?–1725), receiver of stolen goods and informer, was born at Wolverhampton about 1682, his father being a wig-maker. Jonathan became a buckle-maker and married. After the birth of a son he deserted his wife and went to London to ply his trade, but getting into debt he was detained in the Wood Street prison, where he remained some considerable time. He was there brought into contact with many thieves and other criminals, including one Mary Milliner, with whom, on his release, he opened a brothel in Lewkenor's Lane, which they subsequently exchanged for a public-house in Cock Alley, Cripplegate. He soon sought a livelihood by blackmailing thieves and trafficking in stolen property. He built up a connection among the thieves, offering to sell any goods brought to him, and to hand over the proceeds less a commission. The scheme prospered, and it being found that owners of stolen property outbid ordinary dealers, Wild encouraged his thieves to steal from persons whom they were able to identify in order that he might open up communications with them for the return of their goods. The growth of Wild's business led to the passing of a statute (5 & 6 Anne c. 31, sect. 5) by which receivers of stolen property were made accessories. This act was no deterrent to Wild, who now opened his house as an office for the recovery of ‘lost’ property, the theft of which he first planned; after taking fees for inquiry he would, after delay, announce that the missing article had been traced and was to be had for a price. His business increased so much that he removed it to larger premises in the Old Bailey, and later he opened two branch offices. In vain did Hitchin publish a 3d. pamphlet openly denouncing Wild, ‘The Regulator; or a Discovery of Thieves, Thieve-takers, and Locks’ (receivers of stolen goods). Wild's house continued to be the first resort of the victims of his system. For while a part of his time was thus occupied in restoring property, the remainder went in arranging the preliminary operation of thieving it. He became the leading spirit and head of a large corporation of thieves, whom he organised into gangs, to each of which was allotted a special sphere of work. There was one for each of the main roads to London; one attended churches, another entertainments
