The Blighters were a London street gang that ruled most of the city during the 1860s. Led by Maxwell Roth, the gang controlled legal fronts such as the Alhambra Music Hall and had political connections with businessman Crawford Starrick and Governor of the Bank of England Philip Twopenny. By the end of 1868, however, the rival Rooks gang had taken over London from them.
History[]
Gang flag of the Blighters
Maxwell Roth founded the Blighters in Devil's Acre in the Westminster borough of London, and it quickly became the largest gang in the city. They were based at the Alhambra Music Hall in The Strand borough, and they had chiefs in each of the seven boroughs of the city. The Blighters rode in wagons on the main roads and guarded warehouses employing child labor, implementing harsh rule upon the denizens of the city. Roth forged a partnership with the powerful businessman Crawford Starrick as well as powerful people such as banker Philip Twopenny, omnibus company owners Pearl Attaway and Malcolm Millner, and the gang's members on the streets were common sights in 1860s London.
In 1868, they nearly defeated the Clinkers gang of Whitechapel, but Jacob Frye and his twin Evie Frye set out to Whitechapel to take London back from the Blighters. They rescued the last of the Clinkers and formed the Rooks gang, fighting against the Blighters across London and seizing the several boroughs from them after many gang wars and clashes. There were many murders during this time, with the Rooks attacking Blighters in the streets in common street fights, and by the end of the year, the Blighters presence in London had been wiped out, with the Rooks seizing the seven boroughs from them and killing Roth, his borough leaders, and all of his allies.