Crime—Yesterday, To-Day and To-Morrow
| Published date | 01 October 1933 |
| Date | 01 October 1933 |
| Author | Cyril M. M. Cook |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3300600409 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Crime-Yesterday,
To-day
and
To-morrow
By SERGEANT CYRIL M. M. COOK
Bristol City Police
THE criminal is one of the most progressive members of
the community. He follows closely upon the heels of
scientific advancement and has always been among the first
to adopt or adapt inventions and discoveries which assist him
in his depredations. Every thief-proof device which hampers
his light-fingered skill challenges his inventive genius.
The
simple fact that designs for strong rooms and safes are being
continually improved is proof that he refuses to be beaten by
lawful mechanical ingenuity.
Naturally, the form of talent displayed by wrongdoers
changes with the changing times. But mechanical ingenuity
was not unknown to criminals some two hundred years ago.
This is made evident by the caseof Mary Young, or, as she was
more commonly called, ' Jenny Diver.' Jenny was an expert
pickpocket who, at the beginning of the eighteenth century,
specialized in workingthe congregations at fashionable churches
and chapels. Her skill and dexterity in diving into other
people's pockets and reticules earned her the nickname she
bore.Although Irish by birth and a Londoner by adoption, she
spent many profitable periods in provincial towns. Bristol
was an especially favoured city. There, on many occasions,
she stayed at one of the best inns, posing as the wife of a rich
merchant and a lady of fashion. A male confederate and
paramour acted as her footman, and this worthy always
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