User:Kgoveas/Forty Elephants

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For the New York street gang, see Forty Thieves (New York gang).

Forty Elephants

The "Forty Elephants" were a 19th-20th century all-female crime syndicate who specialised in shoplifting
Founding location	Elephant and Castle District, West End of London, UK
Years active	late 18th century–1950s
Ethnicity	English
Membership (est.)	70
Criminal activities	shoplifting
Allies	Elephant and Castle Mob

[Introduction] The Forty Elephants or Forty Thieves were an 18th to 20th century all-female London crime syndicate who specialised in shoplifting. They terrorized London and its surrounding area for more than two hundred years and took over the underworld crime. This gang was notable for its longevity, intelligence and skill in avoiding police detection.

History

In 1862, there was a time in London when families of lower social class would turn to thievery for survival. Men were in charge of systems such as politics and had the upper hand in society where women had little to no entitlement. In addition to foreseeing everything, male gangsters ran London's underworld where a fusion of organized criminal activities took place such as robberies, murder, blackmailing and kidnapping.

During all this mishap, a woman named Mary Carr who was born from poor origins and her husband, John Carr, were both notorious criminals. Mary Carr had initiated the Forty Thieves with the help of the Elephant and Castle Gang and later became famous for managing victorious heists. Even in the 19th century, she was well-known internationally as the most dangerous women in London as well as Queen of the Forty Thieves.

The name 'Forty Elephants' partly stems from 'Forty Thieves' which was the original gang name. They operated [from] in the Elephant and Castle area of London and specifically resided within half a mile of the Elephant and Castle pub in Southwark hence partly the reason why the change was made to 'Forty Elephants'. They were allied to the Elephant and Castle Mob led by the McDonald brothers. [They] The Forty Elephants raided quality stores in the West End of London and ranged all over the country. The other reason explaining why they chose to change the name was because the women laughed at their appearances whenever they had wiggled their way out of the stores while concealing the stolen items leaving a distinct sight. They had hidden their loot underneath their specially-tailored skirts which made them look like elephants. The gang was also known to masquerade as housemaids for wealthy families before ransacking their homes, often using false references. They were in existence from at least 1873 to the 1950s with some indications that they may have been in existence since the late 18th century. During the early 20th century, the gang was led by Alice Diamond, known variously as the Queen of the Forty Thieves and as Diamond Annie and as a friend of Maggie Hill, sister to gangster Billy Hill. In addition, elephants are known to be smart and this was intentionally made to describe Alice Diamond's reputation among London police - "the cleverest of the thieves".

Their heyday was in the interwar period when the gang raided on a large scale not only in the West End of London, but also other major shopping centres across the country. They also forced smaller gangs to pay tribute on what they had stolen and would punish criminals that did not obey their rules. The gang had its own set of rules and demanded loyalty from its members and others in the supply and distribution network. Alice Diamond ruled with absolute authority with the co-operation of Maggie Hill, Gertrude Scully, the Partridge sisters, and many others. Over seventy direct members of the gang operating in the 1920s and 1930s have been identified. Reports that said the gang collapsed when their leaders were jailed for the 1925 Battle of Lambeth [are incorrect] were rumored to be false since there was released information that the gang was still in existence after World War Two as new family members replaced old hands.

They were often said to be able to meet equal numbers of men in battle and were admired by their male counterparts in the Elephant Gang for their organisation and expertise. One member of the gang, Lilian Goldstein (née Kendall), was known to police as the Bobbed-Haired Bandit due to her sophisticated yet flawless hairstyle, the lover of Elephant Gang associate Ruby Sparks (formally known as John Wilson), and a driver on his smash and grab raids.

Methods

It is unclear how long the gang operated. The earliest mention of the gang in newspapers dates to 1873, but police records from London indicate that female shoplifters were active in the area since the late [18th] 17th century. The original gang members wore women's clothing which was modified to include hidden pockets. They could hide their loot in their coats, cummerbunds, muffs, skirts, bloomers, and hats. They raided the large stores of West End of London. Due to the prude-like attitudes of their era of activity, female customers were afforded privacy from the store staff because the customers were considered to have the "means" in accordance with their appearance, leaving female shoplifters, such as the Forty Elephants, with the opportunity to escape notice. An example of knowing if the client needed privacy or not: the taller a woman's hat was and the curlier was her hair, the more wealth she owned. If she was rich, then it is better to let them shop in peace and have their privacy from the staff. Well, the Forty Elephants took advantage of this even though they didn't exactly come from affluent beginnings.

The gang stole goods worth thousands of pounds. The female gang members earned enough money to financially support their male spouses. The spouses in question included both idle men who lounged at home, and inmates of the British prison system.

The gang eventually became well-known to the area with the high-class shops which they typically targeted. Their mere presence could cause panic, eliminating the secrecy required for their activities. Their response to this challenge was to expand their activities from London to other British towns, where they were less known. They targeted rural areas and seaside towns.

During the 20th century, the gang modernized their activities. They invested in fast cars (automobiles) to transport their loot, and to use as getaway vehicles which could "outrun the police". Loot was also transferred through the British railway system. The members used trains to travel to a town and deposited their empty suitcases at railway stations. During their return trip, the suitcases were filled with stolen goods.

Besides shoplifting the gang developed sidelines, such as looting houses and blackmailing individuals. Gang members used false reference letters to get hired as maids and then robbed the houses of their employers. They also managed to seduce men into brief affairs, and then blackmailed them with threats of ruining the men's reputations.

In the picture at the top of the page, Annie used a technique called "The Decoy". It involved her entering a store that knew of her reputation and distracting the clerk by making sure all his attention was on her. Meanwhile, another woman would steal as many things as she could.

By the 1920s, the gang members started imitating the so-called bright young things group whose exploits appeared in the popular press. The gang members led an extravagant and decadent lifestyle, by imitating the exploits of the era's movie stars and flappers. Part of their earnings was used to finance party events and to "spend lavishly" at the clubs, pubs, and restaurants which the gang members frequented.

The gang was particularly territorial of their turf. Other shoplifters who stole from shops on their turf were forced to pay the gang a percentage of their takings. If the intruders refused to pay, the gang arranged beatings and kidnappings of the offenders until the payment was received.

[While various gang members were arrested and convicted at times, their prison sentences tended to be short. They could be sentenced to either 12 months of penal labour or 3 years of prison incarceration. Once released, they returned to the gang. Several of the members remained with the gang for a relatively long time. A gang member known as Ada Wellman was initially arrested in 1921. She was still with the gang when arrested for another offence in 1939.]

While the gang members often stole clothing items, they typically did not wear the stolen clothes. Their loot was distributed to a network of fences, street market traders, and pawnbrokers. Part of the stolen clothing items were sold to clothing stores, which simply replaced the labels and modified their designs. Some of the fences associated with the gang were also arrested, but could not be convicted. Ada McDonald was arrested as a suspected fence in 1910. She used ledgers of suspect authenticity to convince the authorities that the goods in her possession were the products of legitimate financial transactions. Jane Durrell, another suspected fence, and her common-law-husband Jim Bullock were both placed on trial in 1911. It was a jury trial, and the jury decided that the police evidence against them was insufficient. They were acquitted of the charges and released.

Male and Female Gangs

Shoplifting in London was first reported in the 16th century and was handled by groups of men called lifters. The word 'shoplift' first emerged at the end of the 17th century and this period was used to describe the female shoplifters as "Amazons" or "roaring girls". Although in 1873 when the Forty Elephants was publicly surfaced first in an article, apparently the all-female gang had been existing since the late 17th century. Shoplifting was believed to be predominantly a female's undertaking by the early 19th century.

Although it seemed that they were only purloining items, Mary Carr ultimately wanted the women to be independent and to break the social status of women at that time with all that wealth thus introducing the idea of becoming hoisters. Hoisters were considered to be very skilled people who avoided getting caught whenever possible by using different aliases. Alice along with the other members were known to be ruthless, but had a lavish lifestyle. This meant that they would have to dress up and act like they were of a higher social status. The reason they did this was because they would be more accepted into the upper classes and not just being able to mingle well with a financial profit. Male gangs usually have little reason when fighting cruelly for territory which usually winds up having a personal or complex side to it. It is definitely shown that the Forty Elephants were not criminals just to fight over territory, but so that they can have their own earning in the financial aspect. Therefore, female and male gangs have different motivations when being involved in the underworld crime.

As sexually abused victims, young women protected themselves from male gang members who possessed aggressive and over-sexualizing traits. Because of this sexual exploitation, there had been an increase of young women joining gangs in the UK. Although people try to separate male and female crime syndicates, studies show that there is usually no main difference. It is frequently broached that men are more 'gang material' than women are; however according to the Medina et al. study taken place in 2012, the results will astound you. The major purpose of this study was to determine whether female gang members display distinct psychological and behavioral characteristics as compared to female non-gang youth. 117 female students were recruited from all-girls’ secondary schools in London, United Kingdom and were examined on self-report evaluations of criminal activity, sexual activity, self esteem, anti-authority attitudes, their perceived importance of social status, and hypermasculinity. The findings showed that, relative to their non-gang peers, gang members registered substantially more illegal activity, sexual behavior, sexually explicit contact and had far more anti-authority tendencies. They analyzed additional important factors (e.g., trauma due to inappropriate sexual experiences) which enriched their comprehension of the membership of women in the gang, but were unable to make substantiated statements about the underlying motivation for women to join a gang. Men often join a gang, because of the negative influences around them such as the lifestyle of growing up on the streets; hence, the gang provides them the support which aids in their development. Moreover, friendship and protection supply as great motivational factors for them and hold great benefits which surface when being a part of a bigger group. This makes them not regret their decision of joining a gang.

While various female gang members were arrested and convicted at times, their prison sentences tended to be short. They could be sentenced to either 12 months of penal labour or 3 years of prison incarceration. Once released, they returned to the gang. Several of the members remained with the gang for a relatively long time. A gang member known as Ada Wellman was initially arrested in 1921. She was still with the gang when arrested for another offence in 1939. Male gangs were often harshly sentenced for prison when a trivial crime had been acted out. In 2017, a graph was demonstrated of prosecution and convictions per 1,000 people, by sex and ethnic groups which was also in line with the overall female conviction trends. Theft offences were the most common indictable offence group for each ethnic group. The difference in the quantity of custodial sentences for male and female criminals was likely owing to to a number of factors, including variations in the types of crimes they committed. The percentage of sentences for each ethnic group had remained stable. It showed on the graph that females had a shorter sentence for participating in the same unlawful activity as men.

Social Bias and Inequality

Mary Carr wanted to create more than just the Forty Elephants being viewed as thieves. Most of the thieves came from poor or middle class families due to the control of the economy. She wanted the women to be independent and break the social status of women at that time with all that wealth thus introducing the idea of becoming hoisters (skilled people who avoided getting caught by using different aliases).

After the London riots in 2011, the Ex-Prime Minister relied on a wide spectrum of stereotypes about gang constituents which led to the use of disproportionate sentencing as a method to discipline those who took part in the attacks. This showed how criminal law can be dramatically changed based on who gets the sentence. A test was done through sampling data and this was the result: the percentage of women accused for major offences in England was much lower than the percentage of men between 1663 and 1803. It was deducted that women committed fewer offences than men as well as it was done less aggressively. One of the explanations for this could be the relative physical weakness of women when being compared to men. Furthermore, women could never be observed as superior to men in crime related activities. Women were thought to be not as cruel and the "fairer sex" as compared to men and therefore, women were given shorter sentences in prison. Despite the possibility that there is still no clear proof of long-term trends in female crime in Europe, data on early modern Europe indicate that women served a much more pivotal role in crime in France, England, and the Netherlands between 1600 and 1800 than in the 20th century. Women accounted for 22 to 23 percent of those accused of crime before 1905. It was conveyed that the rate of female crime was higher as women obtained more influential roles and expanded their participation in society. The statistics of this information currently is not similar to previous figures. This social bias that has lived through mainly during the 17th to the 19th century has dwindled with the test of time. Women were also stereotyped as sexually romantic victims and asserted that women are formed as subordinate rather than core to the gang for the most part. Even though there was little scientific research being done in the UK to step away from the allegation of victimhood of women, the reality was that women were known to be just as merciless and cruel as men were. It was established that the reason women are capable of displaying such violence even more than of men is because they want to be known as someone who is bad and shouldn't be played with. They introduce tough characteristics as an effective tactic to gain respect and preserve their public image. This is similar to that of young men; however, they also present attitudes relating to hegemonic masculinity. The Cohen study in 1995 had explained that both men and women wanted to thrive but were discouraged by the lack of opportunities. Females did not encounter adjustment difficulties in the same way as males because they had not been socialized in the same way to be competitive.

See also

• Gangs in the United Kingdom
• List of British gangsters
• Elephant and Castle
• Elephant and Castle Mob

References

Category:1873 crimes Category:1873 establishments in England Category:1950s disestablishments in England Category:19th century in London Category:20th century in London Category:British female criminals Category:Former gangs in London Category:London Borough of Southwark Category:Organizations established in 1873 Category:Organizations disestablished in the 1950s Category:Shoplifters Category:Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom