Page 19 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

Known at fist as 'Sloggers', they emerged from the downtrodden masses,
lured to the factories of the Midlands to make guns, nails and jewellery and
pressed into overcrowded slums. As the city population grew six-fold, the
gangs arose, immersed in a tradition of masculine pursuits such as bare-
knuckle prize-fighting and political and sectarian violence. They held the
streets in a grip of fear.

Philip Gooderson's landmark study is the first history of this neglected
underworld. It identifies the appearance of what became the Peakies in
around 1870, and charts their course through the Bordesley Riot of 1874 and
the antics of infamous brawlers such as the Simpson brothers of Aston, the
Harpers of Sparkbrook, and the police killer 'Cloggy' Williams, before their
eventual demise. It brings to life a vivid chapter in the bloody history of
Britain's gangland. Publisher: Milo Books; UK ed. edition (29 Jun. 2010)

Professor Carl Chinn MBE is a historian writer and broadcaster who is devoted
to exploring the social history of Birmingham. His working life has been
devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of Birmingham. He
broadcast a program on the BBC from the mid-1990s focusing on
Birmingham's history.

Carl Chinn is the author of an excellent piece of work
‘The Real Peaky Blinders’. The BBC series the 'Peaky
Blinders' is set in the backstreets of Birmingham after the
First World War and tells of the rise to power of Thomas
Shelby and his criminal gang.

Yet the real stories behind these fictional characters are
just as dramatic, bloody and compelling as the TV
series. Thomas Shelby's arch enemy Billy Kimber was in
real life a Brummie from Summer Lane. He was a feared
fighter with an astute mind and magnetic personality
which earned him the leadership of the Birmingham Gang that dominated
the highly profitable protection rackets of the racecourses of England. This
Birmingham Gang led by Billy Kimber were the Real Peaky Blinders and this is
their story.

One thing Carl Chinn and I have in common . . . our great grandfathers were
both ‘Peakies’. Born in 1879, Edward Derrick, like my great grandfather, was a
thief, a violent man who led a life of crime. In 1893 he was convicted of
vagrancy and in October 1894, he served seven days in prison for stealing
five loaves. Just weeks later, sixteen year-old Edward Derrick was sentenced
to four months’ hard labour for burglary. In 1897, he was sent down for five
months and handed a two-year supervision order for stealing a bicycle. He Page19
was not out of prison long before he was convicted of using obscene