Old Nichol Gang (recovered thread)

[Stewart P Evans]

Robert Sinclair

This is, perhaps, a good time to update my original argument. I have been aware of the Sinclair reference for a few years now but have not used it. East London, by Robert Sinclair, London, Robert Hale, 1950, was part of Hale's well known topographical series 'The County Books', of which I have several volumes. As noted, it pre-dates McCormick's 1959 Ripper book, The Identity of Jack the Ripper, and does use the term 'the Old Nichol gang'. This is not in connection with the Whitechapel murders and, of course, still post-dates those murders by some sixty years. I have still been unable to locate any contemporary mention of 'the Old Nichol gang' or, for that matter, 'the Hoxton Market gang'.

However, there is no doubt that 'the Old Nichol gang' as part of Ripper lore may still be firmly attributed to McCormick and is along the lines of his 'Dr Dutton' fantasy. There is no doubt that McCormick's source for the name was Sinclair as he draws from Sinclair's prose and 'SINCLAIR, Robert: East London' appears in the bibliography of McCormick's book.

McCormick was a journalist, as well as author, and his writing career certainly began many years before the appearance of Sinclair's book. Sinclair's mention of 'the Old Nichol gang', on page 269, was in connection with the rough and criminal nature of the neighbourhood as recorded by the likes of the Rev Arthur Jay, John Reeves and Arthur Morrison. It was not in relation to Jack the Ripper, or any of the East End victims. In fact Sinclair's only mention of the murders appears at the bottom of page 269 and top of page 270 where he writes, 'All London shivered at the Whitechapel murders, when "Jack the Ripper," an unidentified person who was thought to have some surgical knowledge, killed a number of women, all prostitutes, and mutilated their bodies.'

The search continues for any contemporary mention of 'the Old Nichol gang' in order to confirm that there was any such entity in the late Victorian period. 'The notorious Old Nichol gang', as portrayed by McCormick, must still remain as another of McCormick's Ripper fictions. There were, of course, street gangs in most of the rough areas of London.

[Mr Lucky]

So just to clarify, what are we looking for;-

The actual name 'Old Nichol gang', rather than evidence that there was a gang operating in the Old Nichol Street area ?

And this has to be before 1888 or just before 1950 ("East London" by Sinclair) ?

[Phil H]

The point back in 2006, Mr Lucky, was whether McCormick "invented" the name "Old Nichol Gang" or whether he drew on some unknown source.

There is no question:

a) that gangs operated in the East End;

b) that some operated out of the "Jago"/Old Nichol St area;

c) that words like Old Nichol gang might have been used in a generic (ie non-specific sense) of gangs working out of the area; and

d) that there were High Rip and other gangs who fought each other, engaged in protection rackets, pimping etc.

McCormick is known to have invented dialogue out of whole cloth. He is suspected of having invented Dr Dutton's "Chronicles of Crime" (buttressed by articles about the doctor's landlady that McCormick himself might have written years before) and... at least until now, of having sought to make his "gang" more chilling by giving it a specific name.

So the question - answered it seems a few posts above - is did McCormick have a source. It seems he did. Now, was the source based on anything contemporary, or was that just a generic wording capitalised?

By the way, I don't think anyone now regards a gang as having been responsible, except perhaps for Smith and Tabram.

Hope that explains where we are.

Phil

[Lechmere]

For those who hanker after the 'Old Nichol' - a map just before it was redeveloped...

[MrBarnett]

Here’s the Hoxton Market Gang from The Citizen, 8th June, 1882

I’’ve come across:

Lads of the Village, Nichol-street faction, Nichol-street band and Nichol mob from the 19th C, but not Old Nichol Gang.