Molls, Mistresses and Machinists - The Story of the Women Surrounding the Peaky Blinders.
As in the TV show of the same name, women in the real-life Peaky Blinders were just as strong and capable as the men of the Slogging Gangs. In many of the larger scale gang confrontations, there are numerous reports of women backing up and fighting side by side with the men. They would often carry knives to hand to their men if the fights were not going their way. They were involved in assaults on the police, attempts to intimidate witnesses and in street fighting. For example, in the Summer of 1874, when a riot broke out in Digbeth involving several hundred rioters, fifteen-year-old Julia Giblin was arrested for pelting the police with stones and other missiles. Reportedly Julia had come prepared with stones in her apron, ready to throw at the local constabulary.
Disagreements between the hardened women of Birmingham and the Black Country were often settled in a brawl. Indeed, the Black Country women who often worked alongside the men at the pit head, brickyards, nail shops and ash mounds were renowned for their fighting. In May 1884, one such fight broke out between two nail makers, 43-year-old "Black Hannah" Stevenson and 23-year-old Elizabeth Chater. They fought at the base of a slag heap near Old Mill, but it was not just an unplanned brawl. It was reported that the numerous spectators fled across the border into Staffordshire when the Warwickshire Constabulary arrived and that an umpire had been present who then declared Elizabeth the winner.
Some women turned to prostitution to survive, and they, too, were often strong women who could often hold their own. Margaret Bell ran a brothel on Cross Street and made her money not only from the ladies who worked in her establishment, but also by robbing the men who frequented it. A man named Duffield was with his slogging gang in the Engine Inn in Dale End and was soon persuaded by one of Margaret's girls to go "home" with her. As she led him up the stairs, he was attacked by Margaret, another prostitute named Hawkins, and an ex-soldier called Wilkins, who worked as her pimp. Duffield managed to break loose, smash a window and shout, "Murder! Police!" into the cold night air. A local policeman heard him and, after finding some of Duffield's belongings, including a watch hidden in the cellar, arrested his three assailants. Wilkins protested his innocence, saying, "Meg Bell would lag any fellow to get out of it herself!"
The Slogging Gangs' sisters, wives and girlfriends were not opposed to violence themselves. Agnes Cullis, a music hall charwoman, reportedly threw theatre manager Arthur Hyde up against a wall and brutally scratched his face with her hairpin during a fight involving the Park Street Gang. He was then hit with a brick on the back of his head by another gang member and then savagely kicked as he fell to the floor. Agnes was heard to shout, " Settle him! If we don't do it now, we will do it tonight". She then boasted that if the men did not finish him, she would do it herself. Hyde died two days later from his injuries. Agnes and two men were tried for his murder, but only found guilty of manslaughter. They were all sentenced to serve hard labour in penal colonies, and as Agnes received her sentence, she became hysterical and had to be carried out of the courtroom.
The Peaky Blinders molls were impeccably dressed with expensive, tailored clothing, pearls, and silk handkerchiefs that imitated their boyfriends. Their fringe was long and covered all of their forehead, obscuring one eye like their boyfriends' caps and Billycocks. On their heads were elaborate hats decorated with feathers and flowers. Although many of them appeared tough, they were often also victims, with the silk scarves and crisp blouses hiding the bruises and scars of domestic violence. One Peaky Arrieta, as they were sometimes referred to, once said, "He'll pinch and punch you every time he walks out with you. And if you speak to another chap, he don't mind kicking you." Unfortunately, those pinches and punches were often much more than that. In December 1898, James Harper, a metal polisher and suspected Peaky Blinder, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Emily Pimm, his former girlfriend, who he had kicked to death with his steel-capped boots while she lay on the floor. Two months previously, he had kicked her in the stomach, causing her to miscarry their unborn child, and a warrant had been issued for his arrest, but they were to catch him too late for poor Emily.
Billy Kimber, the Peaky Blinder and Brummagen Boy was also cruel to the women in his life. His first wife, Maud and her two daughters, by Kimber, were abandoned by him in favour of a woman called Florence Brooks, who was recorded as living with Kimber in Salford in 1911. Maud, who had the two children and ageing parents to care for, made extra money by singing in the pubs and was known for her beautiful voice. Even when she died at only 43, Billy, who by then had made a substantial amount of money through extortion on the racecourses, would not pay for her funeral. Instead, she was buried in a Pauper's grave. His daughter Maudie, who did not care for her father at all after the way he had treated her mother, said, "You owed our dad money, and you paid with your life.'
It was not just those women closely associated with the members of the slogging gangs who suffered at their hands. Emily Blade worked in a refreshment room. While serving Arthur Crocton of the notorious Charles Henry Street gang, she argued with Arthur over whether or not she had short-changed him. He tried to stab her with a bread knife, but when that failed, he hit her over the head with a notice board.
Margaret Moran, A toy maker, had been a witness in a case against rioters and was said to be in fear for her life after being stabbed by one of the rioter's sisters. It was often the case that Peaky Molls were involved in intimidating witnesses so innocent women could often fall foul of other women.
Clara Burke, who was heading home from a night out escorted by the station master from Adderly Park Station, was abandoned to finish her walk home alone after the station master decided to head back to get his brother and some weapons fearing it to be too unsafe to continue. However, he unwisely left Clara alone, and as Clara walked past a pub, ten young men fell out onto the street worse for drink. By the time the station master returned, nineteen-year-old Clara had been raped.
These are just a handful of stories from the hundreds of reports of women being the victims of crimes, and they make it clear why women in Victorian and Edwardian Birmingham had to be tough to survive. Life was hard for them. They lived in unsanitary conditions, in constant fear of violence, be it from the streets or within their own home. They worked hard in the house, but also often had to go out to do hard manual jobs either because their husbands did not earn enough to support the family, spent all of their wages in the pub or on gambling or like in the case of Maud Kimber, had just abandoned them.
Some women, however, fought back and tried to improve conditions for themselves and others in the city. One of the most famous was Jessie Eden, who was portrayed in the TV Series The Peaky Blinders but was also, in fact, a real-life trade unionist.
Jessie Eden
Jessie Shrimpton was raised in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter and was the daughter of a Jeweller journeyman William Shrimpton. Her mother was also a strong, principled woman who had campaigned for women's suffrage. Jessie, who was born in 1902 on Talbot Street, began work filling shock absorbers at Joseph Lucas Motor Component factory. She briefly married Albert Eden, but the marriage that Jessie described as a "folly" did not last long because Albert did not share Jessie's political convictions.
During the General strike of 1926, Jessie convinced the non-unionised working women to walk out and join the strike. She became the shop steward for the Transport and General Worker's Union. Five years later, in 1931, she led 10,000 women out on a week-long strike after the factory set unrealistic standards for productivity-based pay. After the strike, Lucas' were forced to back down.
This strike motivated Eden to join the Communist Party, but she was laid off by the factory following the strike and seemed to disappear. In reality, Jessie had moved to the Soviet Union, where she would spend two and a half years helping the women building the Moscow Metro fight for better conditions. Nonetheless, Eden's work organising the strike and its ensuing success motivated many more women in the Midlands to unionise during a period which showed an expansion in Union Membership.
Probably Jessie's greatest success, however, was in the 1939 Birmingham Rent Strike to protest the slum conditions and extortionate rent rises on public housing. Nearly 50,000 tenants refused to pay their rent. During her time in Moscow, Jessie became an excellent public speaker, and she used these skills to rally people to her fight for housing reform. Her actions won the strikers' rent control in the public and private sectors. During the war, Jessie continued to campaign on the issue of housing and, until her death in 1986, was a constant voice for justice for the working class.
Social Reformers
Many factors led to the demise of the slogging gangs, from improved policing and stricter sentencing to improvements in living conditions such as those which Jessie Eden fought for. Still, another significant factor was the great work done by those who provided alternatives to slogging to quell the boredom of the working poor. Many of these people were women often connected to churches.
Sister Beta, who was later to become Mrs Hornbrook, was a woman from an affluent background who chose to work with those less well-off than herself. She was the daughter of a Wesleyan Minister and became a Wesleyan sister at the Central Hill Mission on Corporation Street. She started many wonderful activities, including Saturday parties for small boys who sold matches and a club for the Aston Sloggers. Despite being pelted with stones when she first arrived, she won the Aston boys over and from then on, they would form themselves into a bodyguard to protect her as she walked through the less salubrious areas.
Another group was made up of three Baptist women in Hockley who organised games of cricket in the summer and football in the winter for a group of around twenty Peaky Blinders.
Many churches set up Boys' Brigades, boxing clubs and provided opportunities for games. These activities instilled discipline into the young lads of the slogging gangs and gave them alternative outlets for their frustrations and energies.
Brave Working Class Women intent on Change
Women within the working-class communities also were, at times, brave enough to stand up to the gangs, and many of them acted as witnesses in court when the sloggers were brought before a judge. For example, Harriet Chaplin, a young woman who lived on Hurst Street, witnessed a group of ruffians assaulting anyone who came across their path. A doctor was pelted with offal, then punched, and a labourer who came to his aid was attacked with belt buckles. Harriet followed the gang and reported their actions back to the police. She identified the men and stood up in court when they were arrested and subsequently sentenced. This was incredibly brave as she lived in the area and was fully aware of reprisals which had gone before, such as previously mentioned when the sister of the accused stabbed a witness.
The women of Birmingham can be seen to be strong, hardened women determined to defend their families, be it by pelting the police with stones or helping the police to arrest those they saw to be making the streets a dangerous place. Without the women like Jessie Eden, who campaigned for better conditions, or the women of the church providing alternatives to fighting, the Slogging gang would have continued to reign supreme, bringing terror to the city's streets. By far, the bravest bringers of change, however, have to be those who stood up to the criminals in their own communities, giving them no place to hide.
THINGS TO DO IN BIRMINGHAM CONNECTED TO THE WOMEN OF THE CITY
Top Tours Global Hen Nights And Special Occasions
Here at top Tours Global we can organise a Peaky Blinder Themed Nighttime Tour or organise your whole Hen Weekend in Birmingham. Just contact us on the enquiry form under Special Occasions to find out all that we can offer.
The Swing Era
https://theswingera.co.uk
Learn to dance the dances of the 1920s and 30s at the swing era. They run one off events, classes or can be hired for events such as birthdays and hen parties
Afternoon Tea At The Edgbaston Hotel
Address: 18 Highfield Rd, Birmingham B15 3DU
Telephone: 0121 454 5212
https://www.theedgbaston.co.uk
The Edgbaston hotel is a unique boutique hotel housed in a Victorian Town House. Their cocktail lounge is a stylish art deco style room in black and gold which will transport you back to the time of the Peaky Blinders. Their Award winning afternoon tea is served Wednesday – Sunday from 12 noon until 5pm.
Bottomless Cocktails Lunch at Noel’s
Address: 22 Waterfront Walk, Birmingham B1 1SN
Telephone: 0121 389 3896
http://noelsbar.co.uk
Noel’s is a pretty bar situated on the edge of the Birmingham Canal which offers a bottomless cocktail lunch with a choice of four starters and four main courses. If the weather allows you can sit on the patio area at the front and watch the canal boats pass by. You never know you may even see the Slogging gangs heading across the canal into enemy territory.
Chocolate Master Class at the Chocolate Quarter
Address: 1A Spencer St, Birmingham B18 6DD,
Telephone: 0121 758 5151
https://www.thechocolatequarter.com
The Chocolate Quarter in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter is a great place to pick up gifts to take home after a weekend in Birmingham but they also offer private chocolate making classes on request. It is a boutique style Chocolate maker which offers high quality chocolates with a unique twist.
Floating Spa
Address: 23-24 Hall Street, Birmingham. B18 6BS
Telephone: 0121 448 7977
https://www.thefloatingspa.com
