Twenty-Five Years of Detective Life

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-1-108-05477-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 468 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 661 g

Reihe: Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century

An inspiration behind Sherlock Holmes, Jerome Caminada (1844-1914) was probably the most well-known detective in late Victorian England. Living in Manchester his whole life, he grew up in Deansgate, notorious for its brothels and beerhouses. He joined the police in 1868 and later became Manchester's first detective superintendent. Known for his unorthodox, eccentric methods, he regularly donned disguises and once hid inside a grand piano in order to catch a thief. Despite being responsible for imprisoning over 1,000 criminals, Caminada was perhaps progressive in his belief that punishment 'strengthens evil propensities, prevents repentance and renders reform impossible'. Peopled with characters such as 'Cabbage Ann', 'Bodger' and 'One Armed Kitty', this autobiography, first published in 1895, paints an extremely vivid picture of a seedy, dilapidated and dangerous Victorian city and its criminal underworld.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Caminada, Jerome

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen
• Rechtswissenschaften Strafrecht Kriminologie, Strafverfolgung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction; 2. A beginner in uniform; 3. Little Alf; 4. How I trapped four card-sharpers; 5. Quackery exposed; 6. Oh what a surprise!; 7. A female begging impostor's boast; 8. My baptism of base coiners; 9. Next-of-kin frauds; 10. A swindler walking into the trap; 11. How thieves are made; 12. 'Diamond Sam' and his confederates; 13. How I punished a wife-beater; 14. Registry office swindles; 15. A 'ghost' in a piano case; 16. A fight with a burglar; 17. Racecourse thieves; 18. Street bullies; 19. Street cadgers; 20. The reverend quack; 21. Bogus railway bonds; 22. American bank thieves in England; 23. The Jew, the barrister and the solicitor's clerk; 24. The country bumpkin and his £200; 25. Lottery frauds on horse races; 26. Selling state secrets; 27. Picture pirates; 28. Bank note forgers; 29. Bogus charitable institutions; 30. The confidence trick; 31. Ringing the changes; 32. An armed burglar; 33. Bogus securities; 34. Diamond cut diamond; 35. How I tracked two incendiaries; 36. A scene in court; 37. Emigration extraordinary; 38. Medical conspiracy; 39. Insurance frauds; 40. Manchester anarchists at work; 41. An eloquent plea for short sentences; 42. Life insurance frauds; 43. Long firm frauds; 44. The arrest of Mr William O'Brien, M.P., in Manchester; 45. First offenders' act; 46. Flogging; 47. Ticket-of-leave question; 48. A sham heiress; 49. A queer customer; 50. 'Flying Gibb'; 51. Frauds on unemployed girls; 52. A bad case of arson; 53. Trafficking in pension papers; 54. A clever forger; 55. 'Smashers', or base coin 'pitchers' or tenderers; 56. Gambling hells; 57. Prosecution of the Ellesmere and Prince of Wales clubs.