Forty Elephants
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The Forty Elephants or Forty Thieves were a 19th to 20th century all-female
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
crime syndicate The Crime Syndicate or Crime Syndicate of America (CSA, with America sometimes spelled Amerika) is a team of supervillains featured in DC Comics. The team is composed of evil Multiverse (DC Comics), parallel-universe counterparts of the Justice Le ...
who specialized in
shoplifting Shoplifting (also known as shop theft, shop fraud, retail theft, or retail fraud) is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours. The terms ''shoplifting'' and ''shoplifter'' are not usually defined in law, and genera ...
, also called ''hoisting'' at the time. This gang was notable for its longevity and skill in avoiding police detection.


History

The Forty Thieves operated from the
Elephant and Castle Elephant and Castle is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station of the same name. The n ...
area of London. They were allied with the Elephant and Castle Mob led by the McDonald brothers. They raided quality stores in the
West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...
and ranged all over the country. 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 existed since the late 18th century. There are mentions of young women and girls connected with or acting as accomplices to a male gang named "The Forty Thieves" as early as 1828. The members of this gang were between the ages ten and twenty. Both the male and female members of this gang carried
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
ed marks on their hand in the form of dots made with "
indian ink India ink (British English: Indian ink; also Chinese ink) is a simple black or coloured ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing and outlining, especially when inking comic books and comic strips. In ...
" by which the gang recognized each other. It is not known for certain if this was a predecessor to the later "Forty Elephants". It's dubious whether the gang had a continuous existence under the name "The Forty Thieves", it being more likely that it existed merely as a subdivision under other gangs and under different leaders at different times and only emerging towards the end of the 19th century as a distinctive and separate organization. The name referring to an all-female gang is certainly attested in contemporary publications and documents from that period, with the earliest date being 1876.


Leadership

The first identifiable leader of the gang was Mary Carr, born in
Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...
in 1862. It is thought that Carr became involved with the gang some time in the 1870s, and that she steadily advanced through the
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy ...
to become a prominent member of the gang and eventually earning her the leadership position and the nickname "Queen of the Forty Thieves". Carr married a fellow criminal named Thomas Crane in 1888. The gang is said to have used Carr's home at 118 Stamford Street as their headquarters. The street had such a bad reputation that it was called "one of the ugliest and sordid streets in London". Carr would take on aliases such as Polly Carr, Eva Jackson, Anne Leslie and Jenny Lesley. Carr was later romantically involved with the leader of the Elephant and Castle gang, Alf Gorman. Carr was particularly known as a jewel thief in West End hotels towards the end of her career. Carr's charismatic leadership style made her so famous during her life that she was claimed to be the model for a number of famous paintings such as "The Maid With the Yellow Hair" (1895) by
Frederick Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and clas ...
and Dorothy Tennant. It has also been suggested that Carr was inspiration for '' The Worst Woman in London'', a play by Walter Melville. Contemporary headlines reported that, after Carr's trial and prison sentence for
child abduction Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a Minor (law), minor (a child under the age of Age of majority, legal adulthood) from the Child custody, custody of the child's Parent, natural parents or Legal guardian, legally appoi ...
, fellow Forty Thieves member Minnie Duggan succeeded her. But as Carr would be released three years later, it is entirely possibly that Duggan was just temporarily filling the leadership role until Carr was released. Both Duggan and Carr would be incarcerated in 1905. Helen Sheen, nicknamed "Fair Helen", then had a brief stint as leader of the gang in the years 1905-1906. Sheen was arrested and sentenced to two years after drugging and stealing from a man. Carr, having being released from her last prison sentence, afterwards moved to
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, where she died in 1924. Subesquently from 1915, the gang was led by
Alice Diamond Alice Diamond (22 June 1896 – 1 April 1952) was an English career criminal, linked to organised shoplifting. Early life Diamond was born Alice Elizabeth Black in Lambeth Workhouse Hospital to Thomas Diamond and Mary Ann Alice Black. Her pare ...
, known variously as the Queen of the Forty Thieves, Diamond Annie, and a friend of
Maggie Hill Margaret Lily Hill (1898 – 1949) was an English career criminal, linked to organised shoplifting. Born in Marylebone, London, she was the sister of notorious gangster Billy Hill who rose to prominence in the London underworld during the int ...
and Dollie Mays, sisters of gangster Billy Hill. Their heyday was in the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, 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 who did not obey their rules. The gang had its own set of rules and demanded loyalty from its members and others in their 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 the gang collapsed when their leaders were jailed for the 1925 Battle of Lambeth are incorrect. The gang was still in existence after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as new family members replaced old hands. They were said to be able to meet numbers of men in street fights, though preferring to stick to their speciality of sneak thieving, 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, the lover of Elephant Gang associate
Ruby Sparks ''Ruby Sparks'' is a 2012 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film written by Zoe Kazan and directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton. It stars Paul Dano as an anxious novelist whose fictional character, Ruby Sparks, played by Kazan, ...
, and was useful as a driver on his smash and grab raids. The gang was also associated with
Frankie Fraser Francis Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.
, whose sister Eva Fraser was a member of the "Forty Elephants". Diamond would retire from leadership of the gang in the 1930s and the role be taken over by Maggie Hill. Hill was arrested in 1939 for blinding a policeman with a hat-pin and sentenced to four years in
Holloway prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...
. On her release Hill retired from shop-lifting. Hill herself was succeeded by Shirley Pitts. Pitts had been taught to shoplift under the tutelage of Diamond and other gang members in the 1940s. Pitts was given the name "Queen of the Shoplifters" by the newspapers. She was an acquaintance of
Ronnie Knight Ronald Knight (20 January 1934 – 12 June 2023) was an English convicted criminal and nightclub owner. He became well-known through his marriage to the actress Barbara Windsor. On 4 January 1995, 16 days prior to his 61st birthday, Knight was ...
, the
Kray brothers Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arrest ...
, and Charlie Wilson. Pitts would lead the gang until her death in 1992. Its been said that the gang was named the "Forty Thieves"/"Forty Elephants" because it had forty gang members. This is unlikely, with the gang under both Carr and Diamond, at the most, having fifteen core gang members. The figures that support a larger number often made no difference between actual members and persons associated with the gang such as family members. The name has also been speculated to derive its name from the folktale ''
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popul ...
'', with the name evolving into "Forty Elephants" due to the gang's association with the Elephant and Castle gang and association with the "Elephant Boys". According to one account the name came about in the 1950s, after the current leader Maggie Hill came back from a shop-lifting spree looking so large and bulky that she resembled "the queen of forty elephants".


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 had been active in the area since the late 18th century. The original gang members wore women's clothing which was modified to include hidden pockets. They could hide their loot in their coats,
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, which serves the same purpose as an overcoat and protects the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. People in many d ...
s,
cummerbund A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets (or ''tuxedos''). The cummerbund was adopted by British military officers in colonial India, where they saw it worn by sepoys (Indian so ...
s, muffs,
skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are ...
s,
bloomers Bloomers, also called the bloomer, the Turkish dress, the American dress, or simply Victorian dress reform, reform dress, are divided women's garments for the lower body. They were developed in the 19th century as a healthful and comfortable a ...
, and
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
s. This hiding of things in their clothing was called "to clout" or "clouting". They raided the large stores of
West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...
. Due to the modest attitudes of the era, female customers were afforded privacy from the store staff, giving female shoplifters the opportunity to escape notice. However, much shoplifting by women of all classes went undetected, and even when they were caught, middle-class women shoplifters often did not suffer official prosecution. The shop assistants' hesitancy to accuse what appeared to be a respectable wealthy customer of theft therefore was of benefit for the female thieves. Another method was the gang members approaching well-to-do looking men on the street under the pretense of asking for directions. While the man was showing the young woman the way, other female gang members would appear and accuse the man of
assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
. Rather than make a scene, the man would give them money or valuables. If the man did threaten to call the police, they would make do with stealing his pocket-watch or other valuable items on his person close at hand. The gang stole goods worth thousands of
pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...
s. The female gang members earned enough money to financially support their husbands. Said husbands included both idle men who lounged at home, and inmates of the British
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...
system. The gang eventually became well-known to the area with the high-class shops which they typically targeted. Their mere presence could cause alarm, 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 area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
s and seaside towns. During the 20th century, the gang modernized their activities. They invested in fast
car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
s 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
blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...
ing individuals. Gang members used false reference letters to get hired as
maid A maid, housemaid, or maidservant is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era, domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids a ...
s and then robbed the houses of their employers. They also managed to
seduce In sexuality, seduction means enticing someone else into sexual intercourse or other sexual activity. Strategies of seduction include conversation and sexual scripts, paralingual features, non-verbal communication, and short-term behavioural ...
men into brief affairs, and then blackmailed them with threats of ruining their reputations. By the 1920s, the gang members started imitating the so-called
bright young things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a group of Bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in London during the Roaring Twenties. The name was given to them by the tabloid press. They threw flamboyant fancy dress part ...
group whose exploits appeared in the popular press. The gang members led extravagant and
decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...
lifestyles, imitating the exploits of the era's
movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and whose names ...
s and
flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee length was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their ...
s. Part of their earnings were used to finance
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
events and to "spend lavishly" at the clubs, pubs, and restaurants which the gang members frequented. The gang was particularly territorial. 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 Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included in ...
or 3 years 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 A fence is a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary. Fence or fences may also refer to: Entertainment Music * Fences (band), an Amer ...
, 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
ledger A ledger is a book or collection of accounts in which accounting transactions are recorded. Each account has: * an opening or brought-forward balance; *a list of transactions, each recorded as either a debit or credit in separate columns (usu ...
s 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. The
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
decided that the police
evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...
against them was insufficient and they were acquitted of the charges and released.


Adaptions

* Disney + 2025 show
A Thousand Blows ''A Thousand Blows'' is a British historical drama series created by Steven Knight about the Forty Elephants, an all-female crime syndicate clashing with the world of illegal bare-knuckle boxing in 1880s London. The first season premiered on 21 ...
created by
Steven Knight Steven Knight (born 5 August 1959) is a British screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Closed Circuit (2013 film), Closed Circuit'', ''Dirty Pretty Things (film), Dirty Pretty Thi ...
with
Erin Doherty Erin Rachael Doherty (; born 16 July 1992) is a British actress who played the young Princess Anne in the third and fourth seasons of the Netflix drama ''The Crown (TV series), The Crown'' (2019–2020). She has also featured in Chloe (TV series ...
playing Mary Carr.


See also

* ''
A Thousand Blows ''A Thousand Blows'' is a British historical drama series created by Steven Knight about the Forty Elephants, an all-female crime syndicate clashing with the world of illegal bare-knuckle boxing in 1880s London. The first season premiered on 21 ...
'', a television drama series about the gang *
Gangs in the United Kingdom Gang-related organised crime in the United Kingdom is concentrated around the cities of London, Manchester and Liverpool and regionally across the West Midlands region, south coast and northern England, according to the Serious Organised Crime ...
* List of British gangsters


References

{{reflist 1873 crimes in the United Kingdom 1873 establishments in England 1950s disestablishments in England 19th century in London 20th century in London British female criminals Former gangs in London London Borough of Southwark Organizations established in 1873 Organizations disestablished in the 1950s Shoplifters Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom Flappers 19th-century British criminals 1870s crimes in London 19th-century English criminals 20th-century English criminals Women of the Victorian era