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An elephant-named gangSourced

The Forty Elephants were a women’s theft gang

In late nineteenth- and twentieth-century London, a women’s crime group was known as the Forty Elephants. It targeted shops, including expensive stores, and expanded to other towns as its members became recognised locally. The elephant name belonged to a criminal group of people.

The animal-sounding name gives little clue to the group’s activities.

Summary / translation: Unbubly · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Forty Elephants · Wikimedia contributors

Forty Elephants ↗

Adapted, summarized and translated from the source. Adapted text is also available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Reviewed: 2026-10-10

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