The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes: v. 1

by Mayhew, Henry

  “They do not generally find stealing gentlemen’s watches so profitable as picking ladies’ pockets, for this reason, that the purse can be thrown away, some of the coins changed, and they may set to work again immediately; whereas, when they take a watch, they must go immediately to the fence with it: it is not safe to keep it on their person. A good silver watch will now bring little more than 25s., or 30s., even if the watch has cost 6l. A good gold watch will not fetch above 4l. I have worked for two or three hours, and have got, perhaps, six different purses during that time, the purses I threw away, so that the robbery may not be traced. Suppose you take a watch, and you place it in your pocket, while you have also your own watch, if you happen to be detected, you are taken and searched, and there being a second watch found on you, the evidence is complete against you.

  “The trousers-pockets are seldom picked, except in a crowd. It is almost impossible to do this on any other occasion, such as when walking in the street. A prostitute may occasionally do it, pattering with her fingers about a man’s person when he is off his guard.

  “I believe a large number of the thieves of London come from the provinces, and from the large towns, such as Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool; from Birmingham especially, more than any other town in England. There are no foreigners pickpockets in London so far as I know. The cleverest of the native London thieves, in general, are the Irish cockneys.

  “I never learned any business or trade, and never did a hard day’s work in my life, and have to take to pattering for a livelihood. When men in my position take to an honest employment, they are sometimes pointed out by some of the police as having been formerly convicted thieves, and are often dismissed from service, and driven back into criminal courses.

  “I am a sceptic in my religious opinions, which was a stumbling-block in the way of several missionaries, and other philanthropic men assisting me. I have read Paine, and Volney, and Holyoake, those infidel writers, and have also read the works of Bulwer, Dickens, and numbers of others. It gives a zest to us in our criminal life, that we do not know how long we may be at liberty to enjoy ourselves. This strengthens the attachment between pickpockets and their women, who, I believe, have a stronger liking to each other, in many cases, than married people.”

  HORSE AND DOG STEALERS.

  Horse-stea ling.—These robberies are not so extensive as they used to be in the metropolitan districts. They are generally confined to the rural districts, where horses are turned out to graze on marshes and in pasture-fields. Horses are stolen by a low unprincipled class of men, who travel the country dealing in them, who are termed “horse coupers,” and sometimes by the wandering gipsies and tinkers. They journey from place to place, and observe where there is a good horse or pony, and loiter about the neighbourhood till they get an opportunity to steal it. This is generally done in the night time, and in most cases by one man.

  After removing it from the park, they take it away by some by-road, or keep it shut up in a stable or outhouse till the “hue and cry” about the robbery has settled down. They then trim it up, and alter the appearance as much as possible, and take it to some market at a distance, and sell it—sometimes at an under price. This is their general mode of operation. Sometimes they proceed to London, and dispose of it at Smithfield market. The party that steals it does not generally take it to the market, but leaves it in a quiet stable at some house by the way, till he meets with a low horse-dealer. The thief is often connected with horse-dealers, but may not himself be one.

  Some Londoners are in the habit of stealing horses. These often frequent the Old Kent-road, and are dressed as grooms or stablemen. They are of various ages, varying from twenty to sixty years. The person who sells the horses gets part of the booty from the horse-stealer.

  The mode of stealing by gipsies is somewhat similar. They pitch their tents on some waste ground by the roadside, or on the skirt of a wood, and frequently steal a horse when they get an opportunity. One will take it away who has been keeping unobserved within the tent, and the rest will remain encamped in the locality as if nothing had happened. They may remove it to a considerable distance, and get it into the covert of a wood, such as Epping Forest, or some secluded spot, and take the first opportunity to sell it.

  Another class of persons travel about the country, dealing in small wares as Cheap Johns, who occasionally steal horses, or give information to abandoned characters who steal them.

  These robberies of horses are generally committed in rural districts, and are seldom done in the metropolis, as horses are in general looked after, or locked up in stables. They are occasionally stolen in the markets in and around the metropolis, such as Smithfield and the new market at Islington.

  Sometimes horses in carts, and cabs, and other vehicles are removed by thieves in the streets of the metropolis; but this is only done for a short time until they have rifled the goods. So soon as they have secured them, they leave the horse and vehicle, which come into the hands of the police, and are restored to the owner.

  The horses stolen are generally light and nimble, such as those used in phaetons and light conveyances, and not for heavy carts or drays.

  These robberies are detected in various ways. For example, sometimes a valuable horse is offered for sale at a reduced price in some market, which excites suspicion. At other times the appearance of the person selling the horse is not consistent with the possession of such an animal. On some occasions these robberies are detected by the police from descriptions forwarded from station to station, and are stopped on the highway.

  Horse-stealers generally take the horses through backroads, and never pass through tollbars, if they can avoid it, as they could be traced. The keeper of the toll might give information to the police, and give a clue to the way they had gone.

  London thieves have been known to go considerable distances into the country to steal horses—after having learned that horses could easily be taken away. These robberies are generally committed in the spring and summer, when horses are turned out to grass.

  Number of cases of horse-stealing in the metropolitan districts for 1860 23

  Ditto ditto in the City 0

  23

  Value of property thereby abstracted in the metropolitan districts £ 649

  Dog-stealing.—These robberies are generally committed by dog-fanciers and others who confine their attention to this class of felonies. They are persons of a low class, dressed variously, and are frequently followed by women. They steal fancy dogs ladies are fond of—spaniels, poodles, and terriers, sporting dogs, such as setters and retrievers, and also Newfoundland dogs. These robberies are generally committed by men of various ages, but seldom by boys. Their mode of operation is this:—In prowling over the metropolis, when they see a handsome dog with a lady or gentleman they follow it and see where the person resides. So soon as they have ascertained this they loiter about the house for days with a piece of liver prepared by a certain process, and soaked in some ingredient which dogs are uncommonly fond of. They are so partial to it they will follow the stranger some distance in preference to following their master. The thieves generally carry small pieces of this to entice the dog away with them, when they seize hold of it in a convenient place, and put it into a bag they carry with them.

  Another method of decoying dogs is by having a bitch in heat. When any valuable dog follows it is picked up and taken home, when they wait for the reward offered by the owner to return it, generally from 1l. to 5l. The loss of the dog may be advertized in the Times or other newspapers, or by handbills circulated over the district, when some confederate of the thief will negociate with the owner for the restoration of the dog. Information is sent if he will give a certain sum of money, such as 1l., 2l., or 5l. the dog will be restored, if not it will be killed. This is done to excite sympathy.

  Some dogs have been known to be stolen three or four times, and taken back to their owner by rewards. Sometimes when they steal dogs they fancy, they keep th
em and do not return them to the owner.

  There is a class termed dog-receivers, or dog-fanciers, who undertake to return stolen dogs for a consideration. These parties are connected with the thieves, and are what is termed “in the ring,” that is, in the ring of thieves. Dogs are frequently restored by agencies of this description. These parties receive dogs and let the owners have them back for a certain sum of money, while they receive part of the price shared with the thief.

  Dog-stealing is very prevalent, particularly in the West-end of the metropolis, and is rather a profitable class of felony. These thieves reside at the Seven Dials, in the neighbourhood of Belgravia, Chelsea, Knightsbridge, and low neighbourhoods, some of them men of mature years.

  They frequently pick up dogs in the street when their owners are not near. But their general mode is to loiter about the houses and entice them away in the manner described. Sometimes they belong to the felon class, sometimes not. They are often connected with bird-fanciers, keepers of fighting-dogs, and persons who get up rat matches.

  Some of those stolen are sent to Germany, where English dogs are sold at a high price.

  Number of cases of dog-stealing in the metropolitan districts for 1860 15

  Ditto ditto in the City 1

  16

  Value of property thereby abstracted in the metropolitan districts £ 134

  HIGHWAY ROBBERS.

  THE HIGHWAY robbers of the present day are a very different set from the bold reckless brigands who infested the metropolis and the highways in its vicinity in former times. There was a bold dash in the old highway-men, the Dick Turpins and Claud Du Vals of that day, not to be found in the thieves of our time, whether they lived in the rookeries of St. Giles’s, Westminster, and the Borough, nestling securely amid dingy lanes and alleys, densely-clustered together, where it was unsafe for even a constable to enter; or whether they roamed at large on Blackheath and Hounslow Heath, or on Wimbledon Common, and Finchley Common, accosting the passing traveller pistol in hand, with the stern command, ‘Stand and deliver.’

  The highwaymen of our day are either the sneaking thieves we have described, who adroitly slip their hands into your pockets, or low coarse ruffians who follow in the wake of prostitutes, or garotte drunken men in the midnight street, or strike them down by brutal violence with a life-preserver or bludgeon.

  These felonies are generally committed in secluded spots and by-streets, or in the suburbs of the metropolis. Many robberies are committed on the highway by snatching with violence from the person. These are generally done in the dusk, and rarely during the day. When committed early in the evening, they are done in secluded places, intersected with lanes and alleys, where the thieves have a good opportunity to escape, such as in the Borough, Spitalfields, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Drury-lane, Westminster, and similar localities. These are often done by one person, at other times by two or more in company, and generally by young men from nineteen years and upwards. The mode of effecting it is this. They see a person respectably dressed walking along the street, with a silver or gold chain, who appears to be off his guard. One of them as he passes by makes a snatch at it, and runs down one of the alleys or along one of the by-streets.

  Sometimes the thief breaks the chain with a violent wrench. At other times the swivel, or ring of the watch may give way; or a piece of the guard breaks off. The thief occasionally fails to get the watch. In these cases he can seldom be identified, because the party may not have had his eye on him, and may lose his presence of mind; and the thief may have vanished swiftly out of his sight.

  Should the person to whom the watch belongs run after him, his companions often try to intercept him, and with this view throw themselves in his way. The thief is seldom caught at the time, unless he is pursued by some person passing by, who has seen him commit the robbery, or who may have heard the cry, “Stop thief.”

  These felonies are committed by men living in low neighbourhoods, who are generally known thieves; and are in most cases done during some disturbance in the street, or in a crowd, or upon a person the worse of liquor.

  In September, 1859, Thomas Dalton, alias Thomas Davis, a stout-made man of about thirty years of age, and 5 ft. 6 inches high, in company with another man, went to the regatta at Putney, near London, when Dalton snatched the watch of Mr. Friar, formerly the ballet-master at Vauxhall-gardens. Mr. Friar, being aware of the robbery, suddenly seized hold of both the men, when they wrestled with him. The other man got away, but he retained his hold of Dalton. On a policeman coming up Dalton dropped the watch. He was committed to the Surrey Sessions, tried on 15th September, 1859, and sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude.

  Dalton was one of five prisoners tried at the Central Criminal Court in December, 1847, for the murder of Mr. Bellchambers, at Westminster, having beaten in his brains with an iron bar in Tothill-street, Westminster during the night. Dalton was then acquitted. Sales, one of the parties charged, was found guilty and hanged at Newgate.

  They were seen in the company of the deceased in a public-house in Orchard-street, Westminster on the night of the murder, and had followed him out and robbed him of his money, watch, and seals. Dalton had been several times in custody, for being concerned with other persons in plate robberies; sneaking down into areas and opening the doors by means of skeleton keys, and carrying off the plate. One of the thieves went, dressed as a butcher, with an ox’s tail, pretending the lady of the house had ordered it. While the servant went upstairs he put the plate into a basket he carried with him, and carried it away.

  On the 23rd of March, 1850, he was in custody with other three notorious housebreakers for attempting to steal plate in Woburn-square by skeleton keys along with other four thieves, when he was found guilty and got three months’ imprisonment. One of them opened an area gate about 10 o’clock in the morning, carrying a greenbaize cloth containing three French rolls. Finding the servant in the kitchen, cleaning the plate, he told her he had brought the French rolls from the baker. The servant, who was an intelligent shrewd person, refused to go upstairs to her mistress. Meantime two detective officers, who had been on the look-out, arrested the four thieves and prevented the robbery.

  On the 6th February, 1854, he was tried at Westminster, for snatching a watch from a gentleman in Parliament-street, while her Majesty was proceeding to open the Houses of Parliament. The gentleman feeling the snatch at his watch laid hold of Dalton, when he threw it down an area in front of the Treasury buildings.

  As we have already said, Dalton was afterwards sentenced to transportation.

  Another remarkable case of highway robbery took place several years ago by a man of the name of George Morris. He was above five feet nine inches high, stout made, with dark whiskers, and of gentlemanly appearance. He snatched a watch from a man near the Surrey Theatre. Immediately on seizing hold of the watch he ran round St. George’s Circus into the Waterloo-road, with the cry of stop thief ringing in his ears. In running down Waterloo-road he threw himself down intentionally into a heap of dirt in the street, when several people who were chasing him, and also a policeman, stumbled over him. He then got up as they lay on the ground and run down a turning called Webber-row, down Spiller’s-court, and got over a closet, then mounted the roof of some low cottages, and jumped off this into the garden at the other side belonging to lofty houses there under repair. Finding a crowd of people and the police close at his heels in the garden below, and being exceedingly nimble, he ran up the ladder like lightning, to the roof of the house. As the policemen were about to follow him he took hold of the ladder and threw it back, preventing all further chase. He disappeared from the top of this house and got to the roof of the Magdalen Institution, and would have made his escape but for the prompt exertions of the police. Some of them ran into a builder’s yard and got several ladders and climbed up at different parts of the building and pursued him on the roof of the house—between the chapel and the governor’s house. He stood at bay, and threatened to kill the first policeman who
approached him, and kept them at defiance for half-an-hour.

  Meantime several other policemen had mounted the back part of the chapel by means of a ladder, unperceived by Morris, while the others were keeping him in conversation. On seeing them approach he found all hope of escape was vain, and surrendered himself into the hands of the officers. He was tried at the Central Criminal Court, and sentenced to transportation for ten years.

  Not long before he had assaulted a woman in the Westminster-road. There was a cry for the police, and he ran down Duke-street, Westminster-road. On turning the corner of the street he popped into a doorway. This was in the dusk of the evening. His pursuers ran past, thinking he had gone into one of the adjoining streets. As soon as they had passed by he was seen to come out and coolly walk back, as if nothing had occurred. A neighbour who had seen this gave him into the custody of the police about half-an-hour afterwards, and he was fined 40s. for assaulting the woman.

  About this time a woman complained to a policeman at the Surrey Theatre that a tall, gentlemanly man had picked her pocket. The constable told her he had seen a well-known thief go into a neighbouring coffee-shop dressed in black. He took the woman over, and she immediately said that was not the man. She was not able to identify him, as he had turned his coat inside out. The coat he had on was black in the inside, and white on the exterior, and could be put on upon either side. He had in the meantime changed the coat, and the woman was thereby unable to recognize him. This enabled him on this occasion to escape the ends of justice.

  Highway robberies are also effected by garotting. These are done in similar localities at dusk, frequently in foggy nights at certain seasons of the year, and seldom in the summer time. They are generally done in the by-streets, and in the winter time. A ruffian walks up and throws his arm round the neck of a person who has a watch, or whom he has noticed carrying money on his person. One man holds him tightly by the neck, and generally attacks from behind, or from the side. The garotter tries to get his arm under his chin, and presses it back, while with the other hand he holds his neck firmly behind. He does it so violently the man is almost strangled, and is unable to cry out. He holds him in this position perhaps for a minute or two, while his companions, one or more, rifle his pockets of his watch and money.