 | |
| Founded | Late 1880s, widely accepted as 1887. |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Small Heath, Birmingham, England |
| Years active | 1880s to 1920s |
| Territory | Primarily the West Midlands of England |
| Ethnicity | English |
| Membership (est.) | c. 1,000; membership fluctuated widely with alliances and joined forces |
| Criminal activities | Bookmaking, assault, extortion, fraud, murder, rape, fencing, hooliganism, bribery, smuggling, hijacking and robbery |
| Rivals | Sabinis; Birmingham Boys; the Sloggers |
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps. Contrary to the television series of the same name, it is unlikely that they had razor blades sewn into these caps, instead gaining their name from the way they wore them with the cap tilted so that the peak covered one eye.
The Blinders' dominance came about from beating rivals, including the "Sloggers", "a pugilistic term for someone who could strike a heavy blow in the ring",[1] whom they fought for territory in Birmingham and its surrounding districts. They held "control" for 30 years until 1920, when a larger gang, the Birmingham Boys, led by Billy Kimber, overtook them. Although they had disappeared by the 1920s, the name "Peaky Blinders" became synonymous slang for any street gang in Birmingham.
In 2013, the name was reused for a BBC Television series entitled Peaky Blinders. The series, which stars Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Sam Neill, Helen McCrory and Joe Cole, is a crime story about a fictional crime family operating in Birmingham just after World War I.
- ^ Young, Graham (15 September 2019). "Origins of the Peaky Blinders shocks author of new book about Birmingham gangs". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 10 April 2022.