The Tottenham Outrage
The Tottenham Outrage – 1909
Mike Waldren QPM
There are some events that are so unprecedented that they defy belief at the time and this was certainly the case in 1909 with what was immediately afterward called ‘The Tottenham Outrage’. Armed criminals, carrying ‘modern’ firearms which they were prepared to use, were chased through the streets over a distance of about six miles by police officers who were either unarmed or who were carrying firearms that were not only limited in number but which were out of date and badly in need of replacement. They were joined by numerous members of the public, some of whom were also armed (which says a lot about the private ownership of firearms at the time), with a few of them even lending their guns to the police.
By the early 1900s the invention of the motor car had meant that rubber was an increasingly valuable commodity and the Schnurmann factory, which described itself as ‘The Largest Rubber Buyers in the World’, was in Tottenham in North London. It employed about 150 workers and dealt in scrap rubber – an early (and lucrative) example of recycling.
In order to pay his workers every week Schnurmann sent his own car and chauffeur, 29-year-old Joseph Wilson, with a 17-year-old office boy named Albert Keyworth, to the London and South Western Bank in South Hackney.
On 23 January 1909 the two set off as usual and collected about £80 in gold, silver and bronze from the bank. However, when they returned to the factory at about 10.30 in the morning two men, named at the time as ‘Jacob’ and ‘Helfeld’, were waiting for them outside the main gates in Chestnut Road. A report to the Commissioner of the Met, Sir Edward Henry, prepared two weeks after the event by Superintendent Jenkins, describes what happened next: ‘Jacob seized the boy and bag [holding the money] and shot at him but inflicted no injury. There was a momentary struggle, they both fell but the man got up with the money. The chauffeur went promptly to the boys assistance when he was seized by Jacob, he however laid hold of the bag and grasped Jacob by the throat, both fell and struggled desperately, Helfeld shot at the chauffeur repeatedly his coat riddled with bullets and a slanting shot passed through every garment including his under vest, in the region of his stomach. Jacob released himself and discharged his revolver at him. In a miraculous and unaccountable way he escaped injury. The chauffeur cried loudly for help and a man name[d] George Smith, a gas stoker ... went and gripped Jacob and threw him [to the ground], the bag of money falling upon the pavement. Whilst struggling together Smith was shot in the chest by Helfeld. Jacob released himself and took the money at the same moment discharging his revolver at Smith. His escape from death was equally remarkable’.
‘Jacob’ was later identified as being Jacob Lepidus (sometimes spelt Lapidus) and ‘Helfeld’ as Paul Hefeld, both Latvian immigrants, although doubts were expressed at the time that these were their real names. Hefeld had previously been employed at the Schnurmann factory for a few days when he probably saw the weekly wage delivery. The ‘revolver’ carried by Lepidus was in fact a 6.5mm 1894 model Bergmann while Hefeld carried a .32 calibre Browning. Both were magazine-fed self-loading pistols. The weapons available to the Met were Webley .450 calibre gate-load revolvers which had first been supplied in 1884 and which, in theory at least, could only be issued to officers performing night duty (see Armed Burglars – The 1880s). Indeed, the force instructions on police firearms had been consolidated in April 1906 with the ‘night duty’ stipulation being repeated although of the 931 revolvers made available a quarter of a century earlier the number had reduced to 663 by 1905 due to the almost total absence of a proper maintenance regime. This number had been further reduced to 324 in August 1905, thereby leaving two at each police station ‘in case of need’, after a survey of all divisions revealed that no revolvers were actually being carried at night any more.
The choice of the robbery site was a poor one because it was almost directly opposite Tottenham Police Station which, in addition to its usual function, provided section house accommodation for unmarried police officers on its upper floors. As the two robbers ran off in the direction of Tottenham Marshes the sound of gunshots alerted the officers inside. Constables William Tyler and Albert Newman ran outside where they were told by Wilson what had happened. Newman told Wilson to get back into his car and then joined him as they went after the robbers in the vehicle while Tyler gave chase on foot. Meanwhile other officers had also been alerted. Constables Bond and Fraiser jumped through one of the windows of the police station into Chestnut Road and other officers, who were aroused from sleep, hastily put on whatever clothing immediately came to hand and ran out the front entrance to join the hue and cry. When the robbers turned and fired at them, Bond used a ‘small revolver’ he had borrowed from a passer-by to fire four shots in return but they all missed.
Newman and Wilson caught up with the robbers at Mitchley Road and were met with a fusillade of shots damaging the car’s windscreen, hood and radiator thereby rendering it useless. Newman sustained a graze to his cheek and a small wound on the lobe of his right ear. Among the crowd of people who were following the chase was 10-year-old Ralph Joscelyne who had been helping the local baker on his rounds and one of the bullets hit him in the chest. He was taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Tottenham (renamed from Tottenham Hospital in 1907) but was dead on arrival.
Lepidus and Hefeld made off toward the Dust Destructor (a huge domestic rubbish incinerator) on Tottenham Marshes. Tyler and Newman took a short cut to get ahead of them and when they confronted the robbers opposite the Dust Destructor Tyler approached them and called upon them to give up. Hefeld took deliberate aim and shot him in the head. Newman stayed with his colleague until Sub-Divisional Inspector Large arrived and together they carried Tyler to a nearby house where an ambulance was sent for. Five minutes after admission to the Prince of Wales Hospital Constable Tyler died.
According to Superintendent Jenkins: ‘The chase which had now become most desperate was continued with splendid determination. The murderers proceeded over the footbridge spanning the Great Eastern Railway, then in a north easterly direction to the west bank of the River Lea. Following this course to Chalk Bridge which spans the river just beyond the rifle butts, thence onto the Mill Stream Bridge where they held the crowd at bay for a considerable time’. It was here that Cyril Burgess was hit in the ankle. Several men who had been duck shooting on Tottenham Marshes and nearby Banbury Reservoir had joined in the chase and they used their shotguns to return fire. It was here that Constable Nicod decided that enough was enough. He too borrowed what Jenkins described as a ‘revolver’ from someone in the crowd and went forward. Kneeling down on the bank of the river he took aim and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. Although described as a ‘revolver’ it may well have been that it was a self-loading pistol and that the officer was unfamiliar with how it worked. In any event he beat a hasty retreat and both Hefeld and Lepidus fired at him. He was hit twice but subsequently recovered from his wounds.
The police and public continued the chase with both sides exchanging fire and 30-year-old Sidney Slater was wounded as was 27-year-old Frederick Baker. When the two robbers ran through a gypsy encampment they fired more shots but ‘without causing any hurt or damage’ and by the time they reached Salisbury Hall Farm they needed to catch their breath. Taking cover behind a haystack they kept their pursuers at bay with more or less continuous fire and 32-year-old William Roker, later described as being ‘a local pugilist’ who was ‘anxious to show his skill on the murderers’, was hit in both legs.
The pair must have realised that trying to escape on foot was hopeless. What they needed was transport and so they left the farm and headed for Chingford Road where they hijacked a tram. Seeing the two gunmen the driver headed upstairs to the top deck leaving the conductor behind and it was he who was now forced to drive the vehicle with a gun at his head. A passenger on the tram, 63-year-old Edward Loveday, was wounded when he tried to make his escape. Sergeant Hales stopped another tram travelling in the opposite direction and told the driver to reverse. Many of the pursuing throng climbed on board as well and the chase resumed with the occupants of both vehicles firing at each other although with little effect.
Constable Hawkings was now armed with a police revolver and he commandeered a pony-drawn cart. As he drew near to the tram he took aim but was seen by Hefeld who shot the pony. The cart overturned sending its passengers spilling into the road and although the pony survived, its owner, John Aldred, subsequently claimed £3 3s (£3.15) for depreciation in the animal’s value. However, a vet put the value of the animal at ‘about £10 and it was worth £12 before it received its injury ... [although] a shock of this kind would tend to make the animal unreliable and likely to take fright at street noises’. A settlement figure of £2 10s (£2.50) was eventually agreed.
The quick-thinking conductor realised that the tram was, by its very nature, unable to change its fixed route and so he told the pair that there was a police station just around the corner. The ruse worked and he was told to stop. The robbers got off and commandeered a horse-drawn milk cart which was stationary by the side of the road. The driver, 19-year-old George Conyard, was in a nearby shop and when he ran out to try to stop them he too was shot and wounded. However, the milk cart proved to be too slow and when it was overtaken by a horse and van being driven by a greengrocer’s assistant, Thomas White, one of the men pointed a gun at his head and he jumped off his seat.
The robbers took the van and were hotly pursued by Constable Adams who had commandeered a car to give chase. Blowing his whistle, Adams managed to attract the attention of Sergeant Jowitt and Constable Francis who were on duty at Hagger Bridge just ahead of them. Despite having no idea of what was going on they tried to stop the van and were shot at although neither was hit. The action forced the robbers to change direction and they turned into Kingsley Road driving across waste land into several more roads. A member of the public, Thomas Brown, had joined the pursuit just before the hijacking of the van and he was now a passenger in privately owned car being driven by a chauffeur, Frederick Williams, together with Constables Shakespeare and Gibb and another man who ‘happened to arrive with a breechloading gun in his possession’ which was now being used to fire at Hefeld. The man with the gun soon decided that this was not the place for him to be and so he gave the gun and some cartridges to Brown who ‘fired at our assailants ... and the tallest of the two murderers [Hefeld] who held a revolver in each hand was keeping up a furious fire on us all the time’.
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Lepidus and Hefeld abandoned their vehicle in Winchester Road and headed on foot for the River Ching with Hefeld keeping up a continuous fire with both guns at their pursuers. They clambered down a narrow bank of the river where Lepidus, who had the Bergmann pistol back by now, managed to climb over a fence. Hefeld tried to do the same but he was exhausted and when he saw the crowd behind him he called out to Lepidus ‘Go on, save yourself, I’ve only got two [bullets] left’. He then shot himself in the head but he was still alive when his pursuers overpowered him. Shakespeare picked up the pistol used by Hefeld and Brown asked if he could have it to continue the pursuit.
Lepidus was still being chased by a crowd of police and public and when 38-year-old Frederick Mortimer threw a brick at him he turned to fire at them. A bullet passed over the shoulder of Constable Zeithing and hit Mortimer in the chest. Several more shots passed through the lapels of Zeithing’s greatcoat. Lepidus was running out of options and so he decided his best bet was to go to ground and hide. He ran across Hale End Road into a field at the rear of Oak Cottage, a small two-storey house consisting of four rooms and a lean-to, and his pursuers lost sight of him. The owner of the house, Charles Rolstone, was not at home but when Mrs Rolstone saw a man looking in through the lean-to window, his face covered in blood from wounds probably caused by the shotguns fired at him during the chase, she screamed and ran out of the house crying ‘Oh my children’. Lepidus locked and bolted the lean-to door and in desperation he tried to hide in a chimney. Station Sergeant Hart saw the large crowd of people and police officers with assorted weapons and he told them not to fire until the children were out of the house. Charles Schaffer, who had been in on the chase from the beginning, with Constable Dewhurst forced open the lean-to door and went into the kitchen where they found the children and brought them out to safety. After failing in his attempt to hide in the chimney Lepidus went upstairs to the small front bedroom and took a nervous look out of the window. He was spotted and those in the crowd with guns including Brown opened fire.
Constables Charles Eagles and John Carter with Detective Constable Charles Dixon found a ladder next door and put it up against the back bedroom window. Eagles borrowed a pistol (which Jenkins again wrongly describes as being a revolver) from a member of the crowd, climbed the ladder and opened the window. Meanwhile Hart searched the lower part of the house with a dog that he had found tied up outside and he then sent it upstairs (Jenkins mistakenly attributes this action to Dixon). Eagles, from the top of the ladder, encouraged it to look under the bed. It was at that moment that he saw Lepidus pointing a gun at him through the partially open back bedroom door. Eagles tried to fire at him but he couldn’t work out how to disengage the safety catch of the pistol and so he climbed back down the ladder.
Back on the ground he swapped the pistol for a police revolver being carried by Dixon and the three officers went into the house. They climbed the narrow staircase with Eagles in front followed by Dixon. Eagles fired twice and Dixon once through the front bedroom door and there was the sound of a shot from inside the room. The police forced their way in and found Lepidus on the bed ‘in the throes of death’ with his gun beside him.
At the time Eagles and Dixon thought that one of them must have fired the fatal shot but on 26 January a coroners court returned a verdict of ‘Felo de se’ (literally ‘felon of himself’), an archaic legal term meaning suicide. Jenkins concludes his report by saying that: ‘It would be impossible for me to speak too highly of the splendid conduct of the police of N and J Divisions. In response to my call to duty they were most prompt and in action cool, tactful and fearless’.
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A special report was prepared for King Edward VII who, on 27 January, expressed his thanks to Sir Edward Henry for the ‘interesting and graphic account of the tragedy at Tottenham’ and offered his opinion that: ‘It is almost inconceivable that such a thing could have occurred in these days on the very outskirts of London. The King thinks that the police behaved with great gallantry and should you consider it desirable to do so, he would be glad if you would convey to those engaged in the affair, and especially the (two) [sic] officers who entered the house, his high appreciation of their conduct’.
Hefeld was also taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital and armed officers were posted both inside and outside in the grounds. There were fears that there might be a rescue attempt made by fellow ‘Russian anarchists’ or ‘Alien Terrorists’ as the pair were now being called by the media. He survived for three weeks before succumbing to his injury.
The funerals of Constable Tyler and Ralph Joscelyne were held together on 29 January and both were buried in Abney Park Cemetery. The joint funeral cortege passed through the streets of Tottenham which were lined by an estimated 500,000 people with police officers two deep on either side of the road.
On 23 March 1909 it was announced in force orders that Constables Dixon, Eagles, Nicod, Cater and Dewhurst would be specially promoted to the rank of sergeant, without examination, in recognition of their ‘devotion to duty and conspicuous courage’. At the same time Constables Newman and Zeithing were advanced to the highest rate of pay for their rank. Superintendent Jenkins and Sub-Divisional Inspector Large received an ‘appreciation of excellent services rendered’ from the Home Secretary. Seven officers were recommended for an award from the Bow Street Reward Fund and the names of another seventy, whose conduct appeared to merit special consideration, had their names passed to the ‘Tottenham Outrage Fund’ for an award. The incident brought about the creation of the Kings Police Medal which was awarded to Eagles, Dixon and Carter, by now promoted to sergeants, on 9 November.
One result of the incident was that on 2 February Sir Edward Henry set up a board to examine and report on the various claims for compensation being sent in by members of the public who had taken part in the pursuit. The next day he added that ‘I should be glad if this board would also make enquiry as to whether our Service Revolver is quite suitable or whether it could with advantage be replaced by some other type. They should also report whether the numbers at present attached to each station is adequate’.
The board reported in March that the Webley revolves should be withdrawn and replaced by a US-made Colt self-loading pistol but nothing happened, probably because British weapon manufacturers got wind of it and objected. In 1910 the Commissioner asked the War Office about a suitable firearm for the police and trials were conducted at the Army Inspection Department at Enfield. In due course the Chief Inspector of Small Arms (the leading authority for the critical evaluation of military weapons) suggested that a British-made weapon, the .32 calibre Webley & Scott self-loading pistol, be adopted with the same model in .22 calibre purchased for training purposes. An offer was also made for a number of officers from each division to receive training at Enfield so that they could act as instructors. By the end of 1910 none of the recommendations had been implemented but the subject was to be revived following a siege in an East London Street.
Note:
According to ‘The British Police’ by Martin Stallion and David Wall published by The Police History Society (1999), although there were single police forces in Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, there were 175 forces in England, 18 in Wales and 63 in Scotland in 1909. Were there any developments to do with police firearms in your force/area or its predecessors during this period of history? If so please contact mike.policehistory@yahoo.com.
© Mike Waldren