Bob Fagin (died 1837) was a British-Jewish criminal lads-men and the leader of a gang of child pickpockets in London during the 1830s.
Biography[]
Bob Fagin was born in London to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. Raised in the city's slums, he became a thief before, in his older years, turning to kidnapping orphaned children and training them to pickpocket for him. In return, he sheltered and fed them, building a gang of dozens of children based from Jacob's Island in Bermondsey. Part of Fagin's business included stealing wallets, removing the embroidered initials with a needle, and reselling the wallets as if they were his own handiwork.
His most famous pupil was the housebreaker Bill Sikes, who became the lover of his other pupil Nancy Wallis. In 1837, the "Artful Dodger" introduced Oliver Twist to Fagin, and Fagin attempted to cultivate Twist into another pickpocket. However, Oliver was taken in by Joseph Brownlow after attempting to rob him, and Fagin grew concerned that Oliver would betray the gang to the police after he came to live a life of luxury with Brownlow. Fagin had Sikes and Nancy kidnap Oliver and bring him back to Jacob's Island, where he forced Oliver to help Sikes with a house invasion. The robbery failed when Oliver accidentally awoke the occupants, and, fearing that Sikes would punish Oliver, Nancy secretly agreed to return him to Brownlow. Sikes followed her and killed her before taking Oliver hostage, and, during the chaos, Fagin and his thieves evacuated their den on Jacob's Island. In the process, Fagin accidentally dropped his prized possessions into the mud, leaving him penniless. Oliver was ultimately rescued by the police and Sikes shot dead, and, while Fagin considered going straight, he decided to resume his life of thievery after Dodger delivered a stolen wallet to him. Not long after, Fagin was arrested for his crimes and hanged.