Gangs of Victorian Birmingham revealed in new book

Aug 1 2010 by Tony Larner, Sunday Mercury

THEY were the gangs who brought violence and terror to the streets of inner-city Birmingham.

Young thugs behind a crimewave of murder, riots, robberies and knife attacks that often left the police powerless – and saw locals too scared to venture outside after dark.

The gangs were split across district or neighbourhood boundary lines and thought nothing of mercilessly attacking a rival who encroached into their area.

It sounds like a description of modern-day Birmingham, where the Burger Bar Boys and Johnson Crew have been behind killings and violence.

In fact, this was the city in around 1870, when young criminals like the Peaky Blinders and the Sloggers ruled the streets.

A fascinating new book has shone a light on the murky world of youth crime in Victorian Birmingham, offering many parallels with the problems faced by the city today.

Philip Gooderson, author of The Gangs of Birmingham, reveals how ‘something sinister’ happened to West Midlands society during the boom years of the Industrial Revolution.

“While the wider Victorian public basked in the glories of Empire, the great cities of the Industrial Revolution became breeding grounds for violent young gangs of a kind never seen before,” he said.

“They emerged from overcrowded slums and tenements, where life was held cheap, many died in infancy and only the Poor Law provided a safety net against poverty and old age.

“Violence was part of the day-to-day existence and came from all directions. One way to cope was to band together, perhaps first with brothers and sisters, then later with fellow workers and neighbourhood friends.”

One of the first criminal groups to emerge in inner-city Brum was the Cheapside Slogging gang.

A newspaper report in spring 1872 revealed how ‘400 roughs’ brought indiscriminate violence to the area, smashing windows, stealing from shops and attacking store owners or locals who tried to intervene.

“The rioters remained in the neighbourhood for some time, terrorising passers-by,” reported our sister paper, the Birmingham Mail.

“A small body of police was sent to deal with them and the Slogging Gang quickly retreated to Cheapside.

“The officers dispersed the gang, making three arrests, including two very poor youths of no fixed home. One admitted to breaking glass and stealing herrings from the Market hall and the other to breaking the windows of a house and of St Jude’s Church.”