Working-Class Women and the Buying and Selling of Stolen Goods in Urban Communities in the North West of England and Belfast, 1918–1960

Abstract

Abstract The buying and selling of stolen goods by working-class women was a relatively widespread and accepted practice in some inner urban communities in the North West of England and in Belfast between 1918 and 1960. It relied on the training and engagement of children and the co-operation and compliance of neighbours, and was facilitated by the spatial dynamics within inner urban terraced homes. This article analyses local court records, memoirs and contemporary social surveys to demonstrate that, after 1918, the buying and selling of stolen goods by working-class women did not just play a part in people’s economic lives. It argues that, even outside times of poverty, in certain neighbourhoods the practice reinforced strong community bonds and allowed some women to contest the inequalities they experienced by consolidating their position within strong supportive networks against a society that afforded them little formal power. Together, these sources present a quotidian culture of minor criminality that challenges received views of working-class cultures of domesticity, family life and ‘respectability’, suggesting that trading in stolen goods could afford women offenders status and respect within their neighbourhoods. The article highlights the enduring practice of home-based buying and selling of stolen goods across the period, particularly in areas untouched by housing clearance and redevelopment. Despite significant developments in the state provision of welfare and greater scrutiny of working-class families, the offence endured as a way to bolster close-knit community bonds in protest against the harsh living conditions and persistent inequities many still experienced.