40 Elephant Gang
Back in August 2019 I used some of my unused research for a small piece of non-fiction and then hid it behind my Patreon paywall, and also printed it on postcards for higher level subscribers. None of this is likely new information if you are into crime of the 19th or early 20th century, but that's not actually a lot of people, so please enjoy...
The Forty Elephant Gang
The Forty Elephant Gang was a gang of women who operated in a number of criminal fields between the 1870s and 1950s. Their name comes from the legend of the Forty Thieves, and their home turf, around the Elephant and Castle in London.
(This is non-fiction by the way).
Their main operation was in shoplifting. Unfortunately for them they were so successful in the West End that the stores there raised an alarm whenever they were spotted. As this prevented them from stealing in expensive stores in London they would take trips to other towns in Britain, initially taking advantage of the railways, later, at the height of their reign in the 20s and 30s, in fast cars bought with the proceeds.
Other activities included blackmailing men who had brief affairs with members of the gang and using bogus reference letters to be employed as maids, then robbing the house when the owners were out. (My research did not uncover if these were combined, so the blackmailed person wrote the reference letter, which seems to me a good way to synergise the activities. If one were a criminal of course.)
Between the wars they were (mostly) allied with the (male) Elephant and Castle Mob. Both gangs were violent; the women as much as the men. In particular they were zealous in defending their turf from interlopers. The victims still got the short end of the stick; they regularly got robbed by other people, it was the distribution network they supplied with stolen goods that they protected as a monopoly.
My research has not indicated how the gang's activities came to an end.
The Forty Elephant Gang
The Forty Elephant Gang was a gang of women who operated in a number of criminal fields between the 1870s and 1950s. Their name comes from the legend of the Forty Thieves, and their home turf, around the Elephant and Castle in London.
(This is non-fiction by the way).
Their main operation was in shoplifting. Unfortunately for them they were so successful in the West End that the stores there raised an alarm whenever they were spotted. As this prevented them from stealing in expensive stores in London they would take trips to other towns in Britain, initially taking advantage of the railways, later, at the height of their reign in the 20s and 30s, in fast cars bought with the proceeds.
Other activities included blackmailing men who had brief affairs with members of the gang and using bogus reference letters to be employed as maids, then robbing the house when the owners were out. (My research did not uncover if these were combined, so the blackmailed person wrote the reference letter, which seems to me a good way to synergise the activities. If one were a criminal of course.)
Between the wars they were (mostly) allied with the (male) Elephant and Castle Mob. Both gangs were violent; the women as much as the men. In particular they were zealous in defending their turf from interlopers. The victims still got the short end of the stick; they regularly got robbed by other people, it was the distribution network they supplied with stolen goods that they protected as a monopoly.
My research has not indicated how the gang's activities came to an end.
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