The Garotting Panic

In 1862, the action of “garotting” became sensational throughout England. Garotting is an act of mugging involving strangling victims with a rope while they rob them. This was primarily introduced to England with the mugging of Hugh Pilkington in 1862, which initiated the panic as newspapers sensationalized it. A “moral debate” was sparked over whether garotting is “British or un-British,” (Bibby). Miriam Bibby states in an article, “If press reports were to be believed, the British preferred to be robbed if the robbery was preceded by a cocked pistol and a “Stand and deliver!” rendered in a fashionable accent, rather than a choke and a grunt,” (Bibby). Dickens even joined the argument and wrote an essay about the streets of London being as unsafe as the mountains of Abruzzo, and other newspapers contributed the sentiment that garotting was a foreign influence (Bibby). Miriam Bibby also describes how children glamorized it and were known to imitate the act, which is probably the result of hyperbolic, sensationalized press.

In 1863, the Garotters Act was passed, which reintroduced corporeal punishment for violent robbery. Moreover, the Garotting Panic led to criticism towards penal reformers. The English became terrified that crime was overtaking their streets, so the idea of a rehabilitating approach was upbraided. Additionally, the police force was criticized, leading to the dismissal of some of the police force of the Metropolitan force in the later half of the decade (Bibby).

There are many ties to Oliver Twist that extend beyond Dickens’ involvement in the debate. For starters, it is described that, “Garotting gangs generally worked in groups of three, consisting of a “front-stall”, a “back-stall”, and the garotter himself, described as the “nasty-man”. The back-stall was primarily a look-out, and women were known to play this part,” (Bibby). This feels reminiscent of the criminal activity of Fagin’s gang; perhaps their kind of pickpocketing could have been the gateway to garotting. Additionally, after reading this article, criticism towards police seems to become a common sentiment among the British. This could perhaps apply to the search for Sikes and the mob during Sikes’ death. Though the crime is different, and murder seems to be regarded as the highest crime, the culmination of his execution is centered around the townspeople. Overall, though occurring decades after the publication of Oliver Twist, many of the ideas – pickpocketing, police criticism, foreign relations, children involved in crime, and the criminal class – seem relevant to Dickens’ themes in the novel.

Works Cited

Bobby, Miriam. “The 19th Century Garotting Panic.” Historic UK, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Garotting-Panic/. 

“Criminality.” Deviance, Disorder and the Self : Criminality, www7.bbk.ac.uk/deviance/criminality/english/crimes/39-7-0%20garrotters.htm. 

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Knopf, 1992.

“Victorian-Cartoons-Punch-1856.12.27.251.Tif.” Victorian Cartoons from Punch, punch.photoshelter.com/image/I0000DY_PKCMwnxQ. 

(image sourced from Punch Magazine and found in Miriam Bibby article) – The image is a political cartoon about an overcoat that can prevent garotting.