Green’s Dictionary of Slang

conveyancer n.

1. a thief.

1595		Shakespeare Richard II IV i: O, good! convey? Conveyers are you all, That rise thus nimbly by a true kings fall.
1753		Smollett Ferdinand Count Fathom I 125: He had therefore concerted his measures with the dexterity of an experienced conveyancer.
1830		Egan Finish to the Adventures of Tom and Jerry (1889) 130: Taking tea with a well-togged conveyancer.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1851		Leamington Spa Courier 22 Nov. 3/6: A Sudden Influx of Conveyancers — This town seems to have been the focus for a gang of petty thieves who made several bold attempts at theft, or as Shakespeare says ‘convey‘.
1852		Launceston Examiner (Tas.) 24 Dec. 862/2: The very thought is appalling [...] How shall the ‘conveyancers,’ after a certain fashion, be able to spend their Christmas in comfort in ‘our country,’ if such transactions are prohibited?
1885		L. Emanuel Jottings [...] of a Bengal ‘qui hye’ 117: Conveyancers of — other people’s — property.

2. a pickpocket.

1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1832		Egan Bk of Sports 61: The conveyancers [...] are a set of men who convey property from one to another without the use of parchment, or the aid of lawyers [...] by the vulgar sort of folks they are ignorantly alluded to as pick-pockets.
1857		J. Archbold Magistrate’s Assistant (3rd edn) 445: To pick pockets: to buzz, buzzmen, clyfakers, conveyancers.
1866		Taunton Courier 10 Jan. 3/5: A pickpocket dived into one of their pockets [...] but in so doing the unfortunate ‘conveyancer’ entangled his two fingers in some hair line and a fish hook.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 19: Conveyancer, a pickpocket.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks 25/1: Conveyer, a pickpocket.

In phrases

make a conveyance (v.)

to steal.

1851

Leamington Spa Courier 22 Nov. 3/6: Sharp-sighted rascals, who are ever on watch for an opportunity of ‘making a conveyance’.