Comments on: A Brief Introduction To Criminality

By: molly ayton

molly ayton — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 11:44:33 +0000

excellent

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 07:38:56 +0000

First impression of the top family group photo gave me the idea the adult father figure was the Criminologist narrating this intriguing recollection. Reading on to discover he grew up in his grandparents household and the twins remained with his parents, l studied the photo closely and there it became glaringly obvious the bright demeanour of the immaculate child in the middle, with his ‘Harry Potter’ specs, was likely destined to become a professor. He certainly had a special aura in my eyes. His subject perhaps honed subliminally from the fortunate destiny of living with the grandfather who introduced him to those fascinating early encounters at the market.
I cannot wait to order the book.

By: Julia Rice

Julia Rice — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 19:23:35 +0000

Wonderful story and lovely to see the photos of you and your family.

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 18:32:50 +0000

A fascinating life, with a lot of poignancy too. My eldest brother worked the Docks for a short while and used tell me about the huge spiders that came in with the Banana shipments. My brother went on to marry a girl from Canning Town, who presumably he met while working in the area.
I also have a much treasured illustrated Dictionary given to me by a friend of my father’s, which reads on the fly ‘To My Friend Jack Hobbs. To The Past Happy Memories and Future Friendship. A.H. Richards, Dec 16th 1931’ – although this particular Jack Hobbs was the Cricketer!

By: Cherub

Cherub — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 15:06:56 +0000

It was still going on in the 80s and 90s when I lived in Essex. I knew someone who bought a VCR that turned up on Police 5, it was from a shipment that had been stolen.

We then had a neighbour who worked for a company at the docks and was a union rep. His house was full of all sorts including expensive Persian rugs. He went on to become MD of another company.
Once or twice he knocked on our door and offered us stuff but we said no thanks. Owning knock off gear didn’t appeal to us.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:41:20 +0000

Echoes of my own 50’s childhood . Not in Dockland but Stoke Newington. One memory at about 7 years old . One night at 3am we were awoken by a loud banging at the door . From our slumber We rushed to the door My uncle , my fathers brother ,who was a London cabbie stood there with badly bleeding hands. He had a fare that took him into the back streets of Wapping where two men got out of his cab and seized his money bag that he kept by his side. He got out of his cab and they attacked him. he hit the first one and then the second and left them both unconscious lying on the pavement . The memory that will always remain is my father bandaging his hands in the scullery in the early hours and seeing the deep tooth marks embedded deep in in his bruised knuckles . He remembered the boxing lessons that my dad gave him as a child and he said to him that it saved his life .

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:02:57 +0000

Totally vivid account, and the photos added so much.
Dare I say, some of this had a familiar ring…….although the activities took place in Hell’s Kitchen on Manhattan’s West Side. I married one of those street urchins, and savor every detail of his stories of his upbringing on those mean streets. The invented pavement games, the “semi-legit” neighborhood notables, the punitive nuns, the earnest priests, the tolerant
shop-keepers who put up with the boy’s loitering and noise, the diligent mothers, the tough lessons learned, the innocence lost, the back-hallway trysts, the lifelong friendships maintained. I’m enraptured hearing these tales of a childhood so unlike my own.

Thank you, GA, for always shining a light.

By: Jill Wilson

Jill Wilson — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 09:53:05 +0000

Great stuff, and a fascinating insight into East End life at the time.

It was happening over the river as well… Danny Baker’s autobiography is full of stories of all the swag his docker father used to fill their house with in Deptford!

It also reminds me of the story by Joe Lawrence called The East End Butcher Boy which shows how what begins as seemingly harmless scams can quickly degenerate into really dangerous and harmful crime.

I look forward to catching up with the rest of Dick’s blogs.

By: keithb

keithb — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 09:27:01 +0000

I saw the tail end of some of this on the banks of the Mersey in the early sixties. Milk bars rather than pubs were important, as was the supply of 78s from the Caribbean. Containerisation was happening fast though, I was very young then and did not grasp the significance of certain rituals.

Dock work was still on a casual basis despite the union organisation. The work pattern suited many people who did not fit into the 9 to 5 day 48 weeks a year norm. The so-called ‘gig economy’ perhaps needs its union organisers!

By: herry Lawford

herry Lawford — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 08:48:14 +0000

This is fascinating. I was involved with shipping and insurance and we even had an in-house team of ex-policemen who were specifically employed to try and deal with the epidemic of theft in the docks. Great story.