Domestic Burglary

Liverpool's economic growth helped entrepreneurs boost their wealth through thriving business opportunities connected with shipping and its accompanying industries. Eventually the rich merchants began to move to grander houses in more affluent and isolated areas such as West Derby and Knotty Ash, free from the grime and bustle of the town centre. They were also able to fill their homes with expensive ornaments and jewellery. Some envious individuals from the backstreet slums must have looked at these grand palaces and seen their own business opportunities. In underworld parlance, these properties were simply ‘cribs’ to be ‘cracked’.

The rich were justifiably anxious about guarding their wealth from the desperate hordes. The north end of Toxteth saw 20,000 poor people crammed together in squalor. In 1816, after the Napoleonic wars, there was an economic slump that caused further misery. In response, robbers formed themselves into gangs to commit highway robbery and burglary. The wealthier southern side of Toxteth Park formed its own private patrols to protect property. It was not uncommon for people to carry a brace of pistols when travelling alone at night. During a spate of burglaries, residents not only became vigilantes for their mutual protection but also created an early form of neighbourhood watch. Householders put large bells on the top of their houses to be rung as an alarmto alert other tenants. On hearing a bell ring, they would turn out with heavy sticks to administer swift justice to the marauders.