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

by Mayhew, Henry

  An embezzlement was committed by a cashier to a commercial firm in the City. It appeared from the evidence, he had been in the service of his employers for ten years, and kept the petty cash-book; with an account of all sums paid. He had to account for the amounts given him as petty cash, and for disbursements whenever he should be called.

  From the extravagant style in which he was living, which reached the ear of the firm, their suspicions were aroused, and one of them asked him to bring his books into the counting-house, and render the customary account of the petty cash. His employer discovered the balance of some of the pages did not correspond with the balance brought forward, and asked the cashier to account for it; when he acknowledged that he had appropriated the difference to his own use.

  Several items were then pointed out, ranging over a number of months, in which he had plundered his employers of several hundred pounds. This was effected in a very simple way; by carrying the balance of the cash in hand to the top of next page 100l. less than it was on the preceding page, and by calling the disbursements when his employers checked the accounts, 100l. more than they really were.

  The books of commercial firms are frequently falsified in other modes, to effect embezzlements.

  These defalcations often arise from fast life, extravagant habits, and gambling. Many fashionable clerks in lawyers’ offices, banks, and Government offices, frequent the Oxford and Alhambra music halls, the West-end theatres, concerts, and operas. They attend the Holborn Assembly-room and the Argyle Rooms, and are frequently to be seen at masked balls, and at Cremorne Gardens during the season. They occasionally indulge in midnight carousals in the Turkish divans and supper-rooms. Some Government clerks have high salaries, and keep a mistress in fashionable style, with brougham and coachman, and footman; others maintain their family in a style their salary is unable to support, all of which lead them step by step to embezzlement and ruin.

  Number of cases of embezzlement in the Metropolitan districts for 1860 223

  Ditto, ditto, in the City 70

  293

  Value of money and property abstracted thereby in the Metropolitan districts— £ 5,271

  Ditto, ditto, in the City 2,660

  £ 7,931

  Magsmen, or Sharpers.

  This is a peculiar class of unprincipled men, who play tricks with cards, skittles, &c. &c., and lay wagers with the view of cheating those strangers who may have the misfortune to be in their company.

  Their mode of operation is this: There are generally three of them in a gang—seldom or never less. They go out together, but do not walk beside each other when they are at work. One may be on the one side of the street, and the other two arm-in-arm on the other. They generally dress well, and in various styles, some are attired as gentlemen, others as country farmers. In one gang, a sharper is dressed as a coachman in livery, and in another they have a confederate attired as a parson, and wearing green spectacles.

  Many of them start early in the morning from the bottom of Holborn Hill, and branch off in different directions in search of dupes. They frequent Fleet Street, Oxford Street, Strand, Regent Street, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Commercial Road, the vicinity of the railway stations, and the docks. They are generally to be seen wandering about the streets till four o’clock in the afternoon, unless they have succeeded in picking up a stranger likely to be a victim. They visit the British Museum, St. Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, and the Crystal Palace, &c., and on market days attend the fairs.

  The person who walks the street in front of the gang, is generally the most engaging and social; the other two keep in sight, and watch his movements. As the former proceeds along he keenly observes the persons passing. If he sees a countryman or a foreigner pass who appears to have money, or a person loitering by a shop-window, he steps up to him and probably enters into conversation regarding some object in sight.

  For instance, in passing Somerset House in the Strand, he will go up to him and ask what noble building that is, hinting at the same time that he is a stranger in London. It frequently occurs that the individual he addresses is also a stranger in London. Having entered into conversation, the first object he has in view is to learn from the person the locality to which he belongs. The sharp informs him he has some relation there, or knows some person in the town or district. (Many of the magsmen have travelled a good deal, and are acquainted with many localities, some of them speak several foreign languages.) He may then represent that he has a good deal of property, and is going back to this village to give so much money to the poor. It sometimes occurs in the course of conversation he proposes to give the stranger a sum of money to distribute among the poor of his district, as he is specially interested in them, and may at the same time produce his pocket-book, with a bundle of flash notes. This may occur in walking along the street. He will then propose to enter a beer-shop, or gin-palace to have a glass of ale or wine. They go in accordingly. When standing at the bar, or seated in the parlour, one of his confederates, enters, and calls for a glass of liquor.

  This party appears to be a total stranger to his companion. He soon enters as it were casually into conversation, and they possibly speak of their bodily strength. A bet is made that one of them cannot throw a weight as many yards as the other. They make a wager, and the stranger is asked to go with them as a referee, to decide the bet. They may call a cab, and adjourn to some well-known skittle-alley. On going there they find another confederate, who also pretends to be unacquainted with the others. One of the two who made the wager as to throwing the weight may pace the skittle-ground to find its dimensions, and pretend it is not long enough.

  They will then possibly propose to have a game at skittles, and will bet with each other that they will throw down the pins in so many throws.

  The sharp who introduced the stranger, and assumes to be his friend, always is allowed to win, perhaps from 5s. to 10s., or more, as the case may be. He plays well, and the other is not so good. Up to this time the intended victim has no hand in the game. Another bet is made, and the stranger is possibly induced to join in it with his agreeable companion, and it is generally arranged that he wins the first time.

  He is persuaded to bet for a higher amount by himself, and not in partnership, which he loses, and continues to do so every time till he has lost all he possessed.

  He is invariably called out to the bar by the man who introduced him to the house, when they have a glass together, and in the meantime the others escape.

  The sharp will say to the victim after staying there a short time, “I believe these men not to be honest; I’ll go and see where they have gone, and try and get your money back.” He goes out with the pretence of looking after them, and walks off. The victim proceeds in search of them, and finds they have decamped leaving him penniless.

  They have a very ingenious mode of finding out if the person they accost has money in his pocket. This is done after he is introduced into the public-house when getting a glass of ale. The second confederate comes in invariably. The two magsmen begin to converse as to the money they have with them. One pretends he has so much money, which the other will dispute. They possibly appear to get very angry, and one of them makes a bet that he can produce more money than any in the company. They then take out their cash, and induce the stranger to do so, to find which of them has got the highest amount. They thus learn how much money he has in his possession.

  When they find he has a sufficient sum, they adjourn to a house they are accustomed to use for the purpose of paying the sum lost by the wager. It generally happens the stranger has most, and wins the bet.

  On arriving at this house they wish a stamped receipt for the cash. Being a stranger he is asked as a security to leave something as a deposit till he returns. At the same time this sharp takes out a bag of money containing medals instead of sovereigns, or a pocket-book with flash notes.

  He soon comes back with a receipt stamp, but a dispute invariably arises whether it will do. He suggests that some one el
se should go and get one. The stranger is urged to go for one. In the same manner he leaves money on the table as a security that he will return.

  He may not know where to get the receipt stamp, and one of them proposes to accompany him. They walk along some distance together, when this man will say, “I don’t much like these two men you have left your money with; do you know them?” He will then advise him to go back, and see if his cash is all right. On his return he finds them both gone, and his money has also disappeared.

  We shall now notice several of the tricks they practise to delude their victims.

  The Card tricks.—These are not often practised in London but generally at racecourses and country fairs, or where any pastime is going on. Only three cards are used. There is one picture card along with two others. They play with them generally on the ground or on their knee. There are always several persons in a gang at this game. One works the cards, shuffling them together, and then deals them on the ground. They bet two to one no one will find the picture card (the Knave, King, or Queen). One of the confederates makes a bet that he can find it, and throws down a sovereign or half-sovereign, as the case may be.

  He picks up one of the cards, which will be the picture card, or the one they propose to find. The sharp dealing the cards bets that no one will find the same card again. Some simpleton in the crowd will possibly bet from 1l. to 10l. that he can find it. He picks up a card, which is not the picture card and cannot be, as it has been secretly removed from the pack, and another card has been substituted in its place.

  Skittles.—They generally depend on the ability of one of their gang when engaged in this game, so that he shall be able to take the advantage when wanted. When they bet and find their opponent is expert, he is expected to be able to beat him. In every gang there is generally one superior player. He may pretend to play indifferently for a time, but has generally superior skill, and wins the bet.

  Thimble and Pea.—It is done in this way. There are three thimbles and a pea. These are generally worked by a man dressed as a countryman, with a smock-frock, at country fairs, race-courses, and other places without the metropolitan police district. They commence by working the pea from one thimble to another, similar to the card trick, and bet in the same way until some person in the company—not a confederate—will bet that he can find the pea. He lifts up one of the thimbles and ascertains that it is not there. Meantime the pea has been removed. It is secreted under the thumb nail of the sharp, and is not under either of the thimbles.

  The Lock.—While the sharps are seated in a convenient house with their dupe, a man, a confederate of theirs, may come in, dressed as a hawker, offering various articles for sale. He will produce a lock which can be easily opened by a key in their presence. He throws the lock down on the table and bets any one in the room they cannot open it. One of his companions will make a bet that he can open it. He takes it up, opens it easily, and wins the wager.

  He will show the stranger how it is opened; after which, by a swift movement of his hand, he substitutes another similar lock in its place which cannot be opened. The former is induced possibly to bet that he is able to open it.

  The lock is handed to him; he thinks it is the same and tries to open it, but does not succeed, and loses his wager.

  There are various other tricks somewhat of a similar character, on which they lay wagers and plunder their dupes. They have a considerable number of moves with cards, and are ever inventing new dodges or “pulls” as they term them.

  They chiefly confine themselves on most occasions to the tricks we have noticed. Sometimes, however, they play at whist, cribbage, roulette, loo, and other card games, and manage to get the advantage in many ways. One of them will look at the cards of his opponent when playing, and will telegraph to some of the others by various signs and motions, understood among themselves, but unintelligible to a stranger.

  The same sharpers who walk the streets of London attend country fairs and racecourses, in different dress and appearance, as if they had no connexion with each other.

  LIBERATION OF PRISONERS FROM COLDBATH FIELDS HOUSE OF CORRECTION.

  It often happens one of them is arrested for these offences and is remanded. Before the expiry of the time his confederates generally manage to see the dupe, and restore his property on the condition he shall keep out of the way and allow the case to drop. The female who cohabits with him, or possibly his wife, may call on him for this purpose, and give him part or the whole of his money.

  Their ages average from twenty to sixty years. Many of them are married and have families; others cohabit with well-dressed women—pickpockets and shoplifters.

  Some are in better condition than others. They are occasionally shabbily dressed and in needy condition; at other times in most respectable attire—some appear as men of fashion.

  They are generally very heartless in plundering their dupes. Not content with stripping him of the money he may have on his person—sometimes a large sum—they try to get the cash he has deposited in the bank, and strip him of his watch and chain, leaving him without a shilling in his pocket.

  There is no formal association between the several gangs, yet from their movements there appears to be an understanding between them. For example, if a certain gang has plundered a victim in Oxford Street, it will likely remove to another district for a time, and another party of magsmen will take their place.

  Magsmen are of various grades. Some are broken-down tradesmen, others have been brokers and publicans and french-polishers, while part of their number are convicted felons. Numbers of them are betting-men and attend races; indeed most of them are connected with this disreputable class. Many of them reside in the neighbourhood of Waterloo Road and King’s Cross, and in quiet streets over the metropolis.

  They are frequently brought before the police-courts, charged with conspiracy with intent to defraud; but the matter is in general secretly arranged with the prosecutor, and the case is allowed to drop.

  Sometimes when the sharps cannot manage to defraud the strangers they meet with, they snatch their money from them with violence.

  In the beginning of November, 1861, two sharps were brought before the Croydon police-court, charged with being concerned, with others not in custody, in stealing 116l., the property of a baker, residing in the country.

  As the prosecutor, a young man, was going along a country road he met one of the sharps and a man not in custody. At this time there were four men on the road playing cards. He remained for a few minutes looking at them. The man who was the companion of the sharp asked him to accompany him to a railway hotel, and ordered a glass of ale for himself.

  A man not in custody then asked a sharp to lend him some money, saying he would get him good security; upon which the latter offered to lend him the sum of 50l. at five per cent. interest. On the stranger being represented to this person as a friend, he offered to lend him as large a sum of money as he could produce himself, to show that he was a respectable and substantial person. The sharp then told the baker to go home and get 100l. and he would lend him that sum. He did so, one of the sharps accompanying him nearly all the way to his house. The dupe returned with a 10l. note. They told him it was not enough, and wished him to leave it in their hands and to bring 100l. He went out leaving the 10l. on the table as security for his coming back with more money.

  He returned with 100l. in bank notes and gold and counted it out on the table. The sharp pretended then to be willing to lend 100l. at five per cent., but added that he must have a stamped receipt. The dupe left his money on the table covered with his handkerchief, and went out to get a stamp, and on his return found the sharps and his money had disappeared.

  A few days after, the victim happening to be in London, saw one of them in the street, and gave him into custody.

  A few weeks ago three skittle-sharps, well-dressed men, were brought before the Southwark police court, charged with robbing a country waiter of 40l. in Bank of England notes. It appeared from th
e evidence, that the prosecutor met a man in High Street, Southwark, on an afternoon, who offered to show him the way to the Borough Road. They entered a public-house on the way, when the other prisoners came in. One of them pulled out a number of notes, and said he had just come into possession of a fortune. It was suggested, in the course of conversation, they should go to another house to throw a weight, and the prosecutor was to go and see they had fair play.

  They accordingly went to another house, but instead of throwing the weight, skittles were introduced, and they played several games. The prosecutor lost a sovereign, which was all the money he had with him. One of the sharps bet 20l. that the waiter could not produce 60l. within three hours. He accepted the bet and went with two of them to Blackheath, and returned to the public house with the money, amounting to 40l. in bank notes and 20l. in gold. They went to the skittle-ground, when one of them snatched the notes out of his hand, and they all decamped.

  They were apprehended that night by Mr. Jones, detective at Tower Street station.

  The statistics of this class of crime will be given when we come to treat of swindlers.

  Swindlers.

  Swindling is carried on very extensively in the metropolis in different classes of society, from the young man who strolls into a coffeehouse in Shoreditch or Bishopsgate, and decamps without paying his night’s lodging, to the fashionable rogue who attends the brilliant assemblies in the West-end. It occurs in private life and in the commercial world in different departments of business. Large quantities of goods are sent from the provinces to parties in London, who give orders and are entirely unknown to those who send them, and fictitious references are given, or references to confederates in town connected with them.