who offered 5_l._ as a reward to any one who would give information
regarding the robbery. Meantime he stated he would give no one into
custody. His clerks had been with him a long time. He had one man
employed in the office to pick some locks, but as he belonged to
a respectable firm, he did not believe it to be him. Meantime the
solicitor discharged his general clerks. His confidential clerk was so
indignant at this, that he gave in his resignation.
One of the most accomplished detective officers of the Bow-street
police resolved to ferret out the matter. It was arranged the
journeyman locksmith was to be sent to a certain house to pick a lock
in an apartment where some money was placed which had been marked. The
detective watched his movements from the next room. On this occasion
also, he not only picked the lock as requested, but picked other locks
in the room, and carried off part of the money which was marked.
When he went downstairs, he was detained till it was ascertained if the
money had been tampered with. On inspecting it, part was missing. He
was taken into custody, and the money got on his person. On searching
his house a waggon load of stolen property was found, belonging to
a series of robberies he had committed in the houses he visited,
amounting in value to 200_l._ All the charges against him were not
investigated. He was tried for nine acts of robbery at Clerkenwell,
convicted, and sentenced to six years’ penal servitude. He was one of
the finest locksmiths in the world, and received from his employer
higher wages than the other workmen in the establishment.
Number of cases of felony by servants
in the Metropolitan dists. for 1860, 1,790
Ditto, ditto, in the City 199
-----
1,989
Value of property thereby abstracted in
the Metropolitan districts £13,015
Ditto, ditto, in the City 612
-------
£13,627
_Area and Lobby Sneaks._--This is a large, and variegated class of
thieves, ranging from the little ragged boy of six years of age, to the
old woman of threescore and ten. Some are hanging in rags and tatters
in pitiable condition; others have a respectable appearance likely to
disarm suspicion. Some are ignorant and obtuse; others are intelligent,
and have got a tolerable education. Some are skulking and timid; others
are so venturesome as to enter dwelling-houses through open windows,
and conceal themselves in closets, waiting a favourable opportunity to
skulk off, unobserved, with plunder.
Numbers of little ragged boys sneak around the areas of dwellings,
where respectable tradesmen reside, as well as in the fashionable
streets of the metropolis. We may see them loitering about half-naked,
or fluttering in shreds and patches, sometimes alone, at other times
in small bands, looking with skulking eye into the areas, as they move
along. They are not permitted to beg at the houses, and some of them
have no ostensible errand to visit those localities, and are hunted
away by the police. During the day they generally sneak in the thorough
fares and quiet by-streets of London.
A few days ago we saw one of them skulking along Blackfriars-road. He
was about 13 years of age, and had on an old ragged coat, much too
large for him, hanging over his back in tatters, with a string to
fasten it round his waist, and a pair of old trowsers and gray cap. He
had the air of an old man, as he lazily walked along, and looked a very
pitiable object. On seeing us eying him with curiosity, he suddenly
laid aside his mendicant air, and with sharp keen eye and startled
attitude, appeared to take us for a police officer in undress. We
looked over our shoulder, as we moved on, and saw him stand for a time
looking after us, when he resumed his former downcast appearance, and
sauntered slowly along looking eagerly into the areas as he passed. He
appeared to us a very good type of the young area sneak.
These area-divers go down into the areas, and open the safes where
provisions are kept, such as roast and boiled beef, butter and bread,
and fish, and carry off the spoil. If the door is open, they enter the
kitchen, and steal anything they can find, such as clothes, wet and dry
linen, and sometimes a copper kettle, and silver spoons; or they will
take the blacking-brushes from the boothouse. Nothing comes amiss.
There is another class of area sneaks who make their daily calls at
gentlemen’s houses, ask the servants when they come in contact with
them if they have any kitchen-stuff to sell, or old clothes or glass
bottles. Should they not find the servant in the kitchen, they try to
make their way to the butler’s pantry, which generally adjoins the
kitchen, and carry off the basket of plate.
These parties are men from 20 years of age and upwards.
There is a class of women who go down the areas, under pretence of
selling combs, stay-laces, boot-laces, and other trifling commodities.
When they find a stealthy opportunity, many of them carry off articles
from the kitchen, similar to those just described. These people are of
all ages, some young, others tottering with old age. They generally
belong to London, and go their regular rounds over the streets and
squares. Many of them live in Westminster, St. Giles’s and Kent-street
in the Borough.
There are other sneaks who enter the lobbies of houses, and commit
robberies, chiefly in the West-end districts. These persons are of
the same class, with the area sneak, but perhaps a step higher in the
thievish profession. Their depredations are generally committed in
the morning between 7 and 8, when servants are busily engaged dusting
furniture and sweeping the hall and rooms. These thieves are then seen
loitering about watching a favourable opportunity to steal.
The mode of stealing is the same in the passages of the houses of
middle class people, and the entry halls of the elegant mansions of
the gentry and aristocracy. Some of these thieves are men respectably
dressed while others are in more shabby condition. They are young and
middle aged. You may see them in those quiet localities, generally
in dark clothing, having the appearance of respectable mechanics, or
warehousemen. Others are like men who hang about the streets to run
messages and assist men-servants.
They walk into the house, and pilfer any article they can find, such as
articles of clothing, umbrellas, and walking-canes. Sometimes they take
a coat off the knob and whip it under the breast of their coat, or put
it on over their own. They frequently carry off a bundle of clothes,
and sell them to some receiver of stolen property.
Such robberies are frequent in the neighbourhood of Brompton, Chelsea,
Pimlico, Paddington, Stepney, Hackney, Bayswater, Camberwell, the
Kent-road, and other similar districts.
The lobby sneaks are the same class of persons as those who enter
the areas, and contrive to get a livelihood in this way. They live
in various parts of London, such as the dirty slums, alleys, and
by-streets of Covent-garden, Drury-lane, and St. Giles’s, Somers Town,
Westminster, the Borough, Whitechapel, and Walworth Common, and other
similar neighbourhoods.
Sometimes these men are seen in public-houses with large sums of money,
no doubt got from the disposal of their plunder; and at other times
lounge in low coffee-houses, without even the scanty means of paying
for their bed, and are scarcely able to pay a penny for a cup of
coffee. They often have to ask assistance from their companions, though
a few days previous they may have been seen in possession of handfuls
of cash.
They are usually unmarried, and live an uncomfortable, homeless life;
often cohabiting with a low class of women, miserably clad, and
generally wretched in appearance.
Middle aged and elderly women are occasionally engaged in sneaking
depredations from the dwelling-houses of labouring men. An old woman
may observe a child standing at her mother’s door, and ask if her
mother is in. When the child answers, “No,” she will say, “I will mind
the house, while you go and get a halfpenny worth of sweets,” giving
the little girl a halfpenny. On the child’s return the woman has
decamped carrying away with her money, or any other portable article
she may have found in the house. This is the class of women we have
noticed stealing from the shops of the butchers and cheesemongers.
It is a strange fact, that many of these common thieves, engaged in
paltry sneaking thefts, have a more desperate and criminal appearance
than most of the daring burglars and highwaymen. Their soft and timid
natures feel more poignant misery in their debased and anxious life
than the more stern and callous ruffians of a higher class, engaged in
more extraordinary adventures.
Another class of larcenies in dwelling-houses are committed _by means
of false messages_.
This is a very ingenious mode of thieving, and is done by means of
calling at the house, and stating to the servants that they are sent
from respectable firms in the neighbourhood for some article of dress
to be repaired, or for lamps, fenders, glasses, or decanters to be
mended, with other pretences of various descriptions.
Their object is to get the absence of the servant from the hall. While
the servant is upstairs, telling a man has called sent by such and such
a firm, they walk into the dining-room on the first floor, and abstract
any articles of plate that may be exposed, silver-mounted inkstands,
books, or other property. If they don’t succeed in this, and see no
article of value, they will return to the hall, and clear the passages
of the coats hanging on the knobs, and the umbrellas and walking-sticks
from the stand, while an accomplice is generally outside to receive
the property. Should the servant come down too soon, while he has only
got a short distance off, no property is found upon his person. They
seldom take hats, as these could be easily detected.
They have an endless variety of ingenious expedients to effect this
object. A case of this kind occurred in the district of Marylebone a
short time ago, where a gentleman was in quest of a lady’s maid, and
advertised in the ‘Times’ newspaper, and at the same time answered a
number of advertisements by anonymous persons. The next day his house
was thronged by a number of people anxious to obtain the situation.
After all had left, a purse containing a large amount of money was
missing, consisting partly of bank-notes; when he gave information to
the police. Some days after, through the admirable ingenuity and tact
of a detective officer at Marylebone, a person was traced out in the
locality of Edgware-road, as having been guilty of the felony, and
the stolen purse was found on her person. Her apprehension led to the
discovery, that she had been pursuing a system of robberies of this
description over various parts of the metropolis, for twelve months
previously. She was sentenced to three years’ penal servitude, and
while in Millbank Penitentiary, committed suicide about three months
after.
These felonies abound chiefly in the west-end of the metropolis,
in the neighbourhood of Belgravia, Russell and Bedford-squares,
Oxford-square, Gloucester-square, Seymour-street, Hyde Park-street,
Gloucester-terrace, and other fashionable localities. They are often
committed by servants of worthless character out of situation, also
by lads of respectable appearance, sent out by trainers of thieves,
who often begin their despicable life in this manner, and advance to
picking of pockets and burglary.
Number of larcenies in the Metropolitan
districts for the year 1860, by doors being
left open and by false messages 2,986
Ditto, ditto, in the City 535
-----
3,521
Value of property thereby abstracted in
the Metropolitan district £9,904
Ditto, ditto, in the City 724
-------
£10,628
_Stealing by Lifting up Windows or Breaking Glass._--Area-sneaks
frequently lift up the kitchen windows to steal. Sometimes they
cannot reach the articles through the iron bars, and have recourse to
an ingenious expedient to effect their object. They tie two sticks
together, and attach a hook to the end, and seize hold of any articles
they can find and draw them through the bars; they frequently leave
their sticks behind them, which are found by the police.
There is generally an iron fastening in the centre of the window frame.
The thief inserts a small thin knife or other sharp instrument in the
opening of the frame, and forces back the iron catch. In some instances
a fastening or clasp in the inner side of the window is pushed back by
means of breaking a pane of glass. These robberies are often committed
in dwelling-houses in Queen-street, Mitre-street, and Webber-street,
near Blackfriars-road; in Tower-street, Waterloo-road, and similar
localities--generally by a man and a young lad. This young lad is
employed to enter the window of the house to be robbed, which in these
localities is often a front parlour. The window is drawn up softly, not
to excite any alarm.
The man generally keeps watch while the lad enters the house, perhaps
at the corner of the street, when both decamp with the property.
In some instances they break the glass in the same way that
star-glazers do at shop-windows, as already described. This is done
either at the front or the back window. They prefer the back window
if there is a ready access to it. These robberies are committed in
occupied houses as well as in houses while the inmates are absent for a
few days. They steal money, trinkets, linen, or anything that is easily
carried off.
Similar robberies are perpetrated by two or more persons at the
West-end fashionable houses by the area or back windows, when they
steal money, jewels, mantelpiece clocks, clothes, linen, and other
property.
Sometimes they enter by cutting the window with a diamond. These
felonies are often of considerable value.
The parlour windows are sometimes lifted up by young thieves in the
morning, when plate is laid on the table for breakfast; the servant
frequently leaves the dining-room window open for ventilation, when
they effect an entrance in this way:--one throws a cap into the area by
way of joke, or through the window into the room; another mounts the
railings and enters the window. Should any of the inmates detect him,
he will say that “a lad had thrown his cap into the house, and he came
in to fetch it.” If not disturbed, he carries off the silver plate,
and often returns through the window with the plunder without being
observed. These thieves take any article easily carried off, such as
wearing apparel, work-boxes, or fancy clocks, and are generally Irish
cockneys; they are to be found in considerable numbers in the vicinity
of King’s-cross, Waterloo-road, and other localities. They abstract any
valuable property they find lying about, but their chief object is to
get the silver plate.
There are few cases of larceny from back bedroom windows, as the
servants and inmates are generally hovering about after breakfast. This
is sometimes effected, though rarely, by the connivance of the servants.
At other times these robberies from the house are committed by means of
breaking a pane of glass, when the thieves undo the fastening of the
window and effect an entrance. This is often perpetrated during the
temporary absence of the inmates.
The statistics in this class of robberies will be given when we come to
treat on “Attic or Garret Thieves.”
_Attic or Garret Thieves._--These are generally the most expert thieves
in the metropolis. Their mode of operation is this:--They call at a
dwelling-house with a letter, or have communication with some of the
servants, for the purpose of discovering the best means of access, and
to learn how the people in the house are engaged and the time most
suitable for the depredation. They generally come to plunder the house
in the evening, when one or two of their accomplices loiter about,
watching the movements of the police, the other meanwhile proceeding to
the roof of the house.
These attic robberies are generally effected through unoccupied
houses--perhaps by the house next door, or some other on the same side
of the street. They pass through the attic to the roof, and proceed
along the gutters and coping to the attic window of the house to be
robbed. They unfasten the attic window by taking the pane of glass
out, or pushing the fastening back, and enter the dwelling. This is
generally done about 7 or 8 o’clock in the evening, when the family are
at dinner--the servants being engaged between the dining-room on the
first floor and the kitchen below, serving up the dinner.
The thieves proceed to the bedroom on the second floor, and force open
the wardrobe with a short jemmy which they carry, and try to find the
jewel-case and any other articles of value. Their object is generally
to get valuable jewels.
The dining-room is on the first floor, so that they have often full
scope for their operations without being seen or obstructed, while the
inmates are engaged below. They return the same way through the attic
window on the roof, run along the gutters, and escape by the same house
through which they entered.
A very remarkable robbery of this kind occurred in the beginning of
1861 at Loundes-square, where the thieves entered through an attic and
obtained jewels to the amount of 3,000_l._
On their return from the dwelling-house, it being a very windy night,
a hat belonging to one of them was blown from the house-top upon one
of the slanting roofs he could not reach, which afterwards led to his
detection. A short time previously it was in the hands of a hatter for
certain repairs, when he inserted a paper marked with his name within
it. The thief was arrested, tried, and got ten years’ penal servitude.
Some get to the roof by means of a ladder placed outside an unfinished
house, or house under repair, and steal in the same manner.
An ingenious attempt at a jewel robbery occurred lately by means of a
cab drawing up with a lady before a dwelling-house. The cabman, who
was evidently in collusion with the thieves, dismounted, rang the
bell, and told the butler who answered the door, that a lady wished
to see him. On his coming to the cab, it being about ten or fifteen
yards from the street-door, he was kept in conversation by a female.
Meantime he observed a respectable-looking man steal into the house
from the street, while thus engaged. He left the cab without taking any
notice of what he saw, and entered the house, when the cab drove off at
a rapid rate, which convinced him that there was something wrong. He
made his way up into the bedroom on the second floor, and found a man
of respectable appearance concealed in the apartment. An officer was
called and the man was searched. There was found on his person a jemmy,
a wax taper, and silent lights. He was taken into custody; but no trace
of the cabman or woman could be found. He was afterwards committed for
the offence.
These attic thieves generally live in Hackney-road and Kingsland-road.
On one occasion a gang was discovered in a furnished house in
Russell-square. They generally have apartments in respectable
neighbourhoods to avoid suspicion, and have servants to attend them,
who assist in disposing of the stolen property. The best attic thieves
reside in Hackney and Kingsland-roads, and many are to be found in
the neighbourhood of Shoreditch church; a few of them are known to
be residing in Waterloo-road, but not of so high a class as in the
localities referred to.
The women connected with them have an abundance of jewellery; they
live in high style, with plenty of cash, but not displayed to any
great extent at the time any robbery is committed, as it would excite
suspicion.
Many of them have a very gentleman-like appearance, and none but a
detective officer would know them. When brought before the police
courts for these felonies, it is usual to have constables brought from
all the districts to see them and make them known, which very much
annoys them.
They generally succeed in making off with their booty, and are seldom
caught. Their robberies are skilfully planned, in the same experienced
careful manner in which burglaries are effected. They have gone through
all grades of thieving from their infancy--through sneaking and picking
pockets.
This is a late system of robbery, and has been carried on rather
extensively over the west end of the metropolis.
Number of larcenies from dwelling-houses,
by lifting up windows, breaking
glass, and by attic windows through empty
houses, for 1800 515
Ditto, ditto, in the City 14
---
529
Value of property thereby abstracted in
Metropolitan districts for 1860 £3,962
Ditto, ditto, in the City 18
------
£3,980
A VISIT TO THE ROOKERY OF ST. GILES AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.
In company with a police officer we proceeded to the Seven Dials,
one of the most remarkable localities in London, inhabited by
bird-fanciers, keepers of stores of old clothes and old shoes,
costermongers, patterers, and a motley assemblage of others, chiefly of
the lower classes. As we stood at one of the angles in the centre of
the Dials we saw three young men--burglars--loitering at an opposite
corner of an adjoining dial. One of them had a gentlemanly appearance,
and was dressed in superfine black cloth and beaver hat. The other
two were attired as mechanics or tradesmen. One of them had recently
returned from penal servitude, and another had undergone a long
imprisonment.
Leaving the Seven Dials and its dingy neighbourhood, we went to
Oxford Street, one of the first commercial streets in London, and
one of the finest in the world. It reminded us a good deal of the
celebrated Broadway, New York, although the buildings of the latter
are in some places more costly and splendid, and some of the shops
more magnificent. Oxford Street is one of the main streets of London,
and is ever resounding with the din of vehicles, carts, cabs, hansoms,
broughams, and omnibuses driving along. Many of the shops are spacious
and crowded with costly goods, and the large windows of plate-glass,
set in massive brass frames, are gaily furnished with their various
articles of merchandise.
On the opposite side of the street we observed a jolly,
comfortable-looking, elderly man, like a farmer in appearance, not
at all like a London sharper. He was standing looking along the
street as though he were waiting for some one. He was a magsman (a
skittle-sharp), and no doubt other members of the gang were hovering
near. He appeared to be as cunning as an old fox in his movements,
admirably fitted to entrap the unwary.
A little farther along the street we saw a fashionably-dressed man
coming towards us, arm in arm with his companion, among the throng of
people. They were in the prime of life, and had a respectable, and even
opulent appearance. One of them was good-humoured and social, as though
he were on good terms with himself and society in general; the other
was more callous and reserved, and more suspicious in his aspect. Both
were bedecked with glittering watch chains and gold rings. They passed
by a few paces, when the more social of the two, looking over his
shoulder, met our eye directed towards him, turned back and accosted
us, and was even so generous as to invite us into a gin-palace near by,
which we courteously declined. The two magsmen (card-sharpers) strutted
off, like fine gentlemen, along the street on the outlook for their
victims.
Here we saw another young man, a burglar, pass by. He had an engaging
appearance, and was very tasteful in his dress, very unlike the rough
burglars we met at Whitechapel, the Borough, and Lambeth.