Peaky Blinders The Real Story

In his book Peaky Blinders The Real Story historian Professor Carl Chinn MBE tells the real story of The infamous Peaky Blinders gang that were active in Birmingham.

Far from the romanticised version portrayed in the popular television series, the members of the gang were not very nice people. And Professor Chinn should know. On of his ancestors was a member of the notorious gang.

And Professor Chinn should know. His great-grandfather, Edward Derrick, was a member of the gang.

He married Carl's great-grandmother, Ada Weldon. Her married life was extremely unhappy, because Derrick was and abusive, drunken bully who would often smash the house up when he was drunk. On a number of occasions his wife and child would need to seek refuge in the communal brewhouse (the washhouse)  or in the house of Lil's Granny Carey.

She was known as Old Mother Carey and she was a much loved inhabitant of Studley Street. Why wouldn't Derrick pursue his wife and child into Old Mother Carey's house? Like many thuggish bullies Derrick was a coward at heart and was fearful of her several powerful sons.

After putting up with years of his abusive and violent behaviour she took the unusual, for that time, step of divorcing him, using the "Poor Person" under the Supreme Court rules.

Ada died in 1925 aged 39 of stomach cancer, whilst Derrick lived until 1964, in the Midlands town of Nuneaton.

Carl states in his book that he has nothing but contempt for his Peaky Blinders ancestor, who he described as "wife-beater, thief, wastrel and violent ruffian., he was typical of the Peaky Blinders."

He further points out that, unlike the glamorised Peaky Blinders depicted in the television series, they were not dressed in fashionable clothing, they did not "have a certain charm" nor did they "have a certain sense of honour" and the working class of Birmingham had no respect for them and, in fact, they were "mightily relieved" when the Birmingham Police ended their reign of terror, under the direction of the then Chief Constable Charles Haughton Rafter.

Carl then goes on the point out that after the real Paky Blinders were put down, some of the members created the violent and formidable Birmingham Gang which was headed by the real Billy Kimber. 

In 1921 the gang fought a violent, bloody battle against an alliance of London gangs, led by the real life Darby Sabini. The real Alfie Solomon was also involved. They were fighting for control of protection rackets and pickpocketing groups on the racecourses of southern England. 

Interestingly Carl points out that there were no fights in Birmingham, the fights took place in southern England.

He points out that some of the Peaky Blinders gang fought in the First World War and those that returned to their home city were more law-abiding.

Carl tells the pre-history of the Peaky Blinders, of the street gangs that preceded them, the Sloggers of the 1870s, whose name derived from the 1820s bare-knuckled fights and was a term describing a person who could deliver a powerful blow.

He also reveals the story that the Peaky Blinders name was bestowed upon them because it was rumoured that they had disposable razor blades sewn in the peaks of their caps and that in a fight, they would remove their cap and slash their opponent in the face, thus trying to blind them.

The book is a detailed and highly readable account of the real story of this infamous street gang and is very well illustrated with a number of archive photographs.

There are also interviews with people who actually witnessed the events and the book has a comprehensive endnotes section.  

Incidentally, Carl Chinn's family were involved in illegal bookmaking and later legal bookmaking and I should point out that my cousin on my father's side, Ted Rogers, was also a bookmaking contemporary of the Chinn family in Birmingham. It's a small world!

The book is published by John Blake Books at £8.99 in paperback.