Peaky Blinders / PEBL

The Peaky Blinders were an urban street gang based in Birmingham, England, that operated from the end of the 19th century, and after the First World War. The group, which grew out of the harsh economic deprivations of working class Britain, was composed largely of young unemployed men. They derived social power from robbery, violence, political influence and the control of gambling. Members of this gang wore a signature outfit that included tailored jackets, lapel overcoats, button waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps. The gang was highly organised with its own systems of hierarchy.

The Blinders’ dominance came about from beating rivals such as the “Sloggers” whom they fought for territory in Birmingham and its surrounding districts. They held control for nearly twenty years until 1910 when a larger gang, the Birmingham Boys led by Billy Kimber, overtook them. However, even though they had disappeared by the 1930s, their name the “Peaky Blinders” became synonymous as slang for any street gang in Birmingham.

Economic hardship in England led to a violent youth subculture. Poor youths frequently robbed and pickpocketed men walking on the streets of slum Birmingham. These efforts were executed through assaults, beatings, stabbings, and manual strangulation. During the 1890s, youth street gangs consisted of men between the ages of twelve and thirty. The late 1890s saw the organisation of these men into a soft hierarchy. The most powerful member of the Peaky Blinders was known as Kevin Mooney. His real name was Thomas Gilbert; however, he routinely changed his last name. Many of the land grabs undertaken by the gang were initiated by him. The most violent of these youth street gangs organised themselves as a singular group known as the “Peaky Blinders”. They were likely founded in Small Heath, possibly by a man named Thomas Mucklow, as suggested by a newspaper article entitled “A murderous outrage at Small Heath, a man’s skull fractured” (printed in the Monday, March 24, 1890 edition of The Birmingham Mail). This article is possibly the earliest evidence of the Peaky Blinders in print:

A serious assault was committed upon a young man named George Eastwood. Living at 3 court, 2 house, Arthur Street, Small Heath, on Saturday night. It seems that Eastwood, who has been for some time a total abstainer, called between ten and eleven o’clock at the Rainbow Public House in Adderly Street, and was supplied with a bottle of gingerbeer. Shortly afterwards several men known as the “Peaky Blinders” gang, whom Eastwood knew by sight from their living in the same neighborhood as himself, came in.

After some gangsters attacked a man in 1890, they sent a letter to various national newspapers declaring themselves as members of this specific group. Their first activities primarily revolved around occupying favourable land, notably the communities of Small Heath and Cheapside, Birmingham. Their expansion was noted by their first gang rival, the “Cheapside Sloggers”, who battled against them in an effort to control land. The Sloggers originated in the 1870s known for street fights in the Bordesley, and Small Heath areas–extremely poor slums of Birmingham. In 1899, an Irish police constable was contracted to enforce local law in Birmingham. However, police corruption and bribery diminished the effectiveness of his enforcement.

The most prominent members of the gang were David Taylor, Earnest Haynes, Harry Fowles, Stephen McNickle, and Thomas Gilbert. Fowles, known as “Baby-faced Harry”, was arrested at 19 for stealing a bike in October 1904. McNickle and Haynes were also arrested at the same time for stealing a bike and home invasion, respectively. Each was held for one month for their crimes. West Midlands police records described the three arrested as “foul mouthed young men who stalk the streets in drunken groups, insulting and mugging passers-by.“Taylor was arrested at age 13 for carrying a loaded firearm.

Gang members frequently wore tailored clothing which was uncommon for contemporary gangs of the time. Almost all members wore a peaked flat cap and an overcoat. Their sporting of the flat cap lends itself to debate regarding the naming of the gang. The Peaky Blinders wore tailored suits usually with bell-bottom trousers and button jackets. The weather conditions of the slums prompted members to incorporate leather steel-toed boots into their outfits. Wealthier members wore silk scarves and starched collars with metal tie buttons. Their distinctive dress was easily recognisable by city inhabitants, police, and rival gang members. The wives, girlfriends, and mistresses of the gang members were known for wearing lavish clothing. Pearls, silks, and colourful scarves were commonplace.

The Peaky Blinders, after they established controlled territory, in the late 19th century began expanding their criminal enterprise. Their activities included protection rackets, fraud, bribery, smuggling, hijacking, robbery, and bookmaking. Historian Heather Shor of the University of Leeds claims that the Blinders were more focused on street fighting, robbery, and racketeering, as opposed to more organised crime.

After nearly a decade of political control, their growing influence brought on the attention of a larger gang, the Birmingham Boys. The Peaky Blinders’ expansion into racecourses led to violent backlash from the Birmingham Boys gang. Peaky Blinder families physically distanced themselves from Birmingham’s centre into the countryside. With the Blinders’ withdrawal from the criminal underworld, the Sabini gang moved in on the Birmingham Boys gang and solidified political control over Central England in the 1930s.

As the specific gang known as the Peaky Blinders diminished, their namesake was used as generic term to describe violent street youth. The gangs’ activities lasted from the 1890s until the 1930s.

In the late 21st centry, they rebooted the criminal enterpise and now were here…