Maxwell Roth (died 1868) was an English businessman and criminal who was the leader of the notorious Blighters gang that ruled London during the mid-18th century. Roth was the owner of the Alhambra Music Hall, where he put on various acts, having been an actor in his youth. Roth's acts were intense, many of them involving the actors being harmed. He was killed onstage during one act at the Alhambra in 1868 after he set the theater on fire.
Biography[]
Maxwell Roth was born a boy named Oberon who was born and raised by loving parents who acted in a traveling theatre troupe. There, the boy learned to sing, dance, recite Shakespeare, and charm the masses. But times were tough on the nomadic thespians, and they turned instead to a life of crime in an attempt to make ends meet, thieving and defrauding between performances. With their reputation worsening as time went on and the emoitonal toll of an illegal lifestyle robbing them of their passion, the close-knit group soon disbanded and parted ways. This broke Oberon's heart. In a vain attempt to console the boy, his parents assured him that there was always "a reason for everything" and moved with him to London. Unfortunately, even there they found themselves haunted by the ghost of their past and thus unable to find steady work. Instead, the family lived on the streets, the boy in and out of workhouses.
Wistfully regarding rich families from afar, Oberon would often complain to his parents that life wasn't fair, and again they told him that there was "a reason for everything". One day, he had enough. In an attempt to recapture the happiness he recalled from his days in the troupe, he assumed the name of Maxwell Roth and ran away to join the circus, in whatever capacity they would allow. Under the Big Top he excelled, learning everything from acrobatics to boxing to sleight of hand. When this new life went the way of the former, Maxwell did not let his failure get him down; instead, he returned to London and set out to apply his skills to the criminal underworld.
As the years went on, Roth was in and out of prison, worked numerous jobs (from street cleaner to gun-for-hire), and gained a reputation as an extraordinary but dangerously uncontrollable bare-knuckle boxer. In his most emotionally charged moments, no other boxer could bring him down. Within a few years, his deadly combination of brains and brawn saw his network expand, and his infamy grow. Some men worked for him, others simply owed him money, but all feared him. Crawford Starrick offered Roth an incredible sum for his expertise and assigned him the training of seven powerful soldiers that could lead a mighty gang and dominate the streets of London. Now a rich man, Roth bought and refurbished a burnt-out theatre in The Strand, what is now called the Alhambra Music Hall. Roth made this his base of operations, all the while maintaining a legitimate facade by funding shows for the public to enjoy. As his time under Starrick's employment moved ever forward, Roth grew increasingly frustrated over Starrick's control over his life.
In 1868, he made an unlikely alliance with Jacob Frye, the leader of the rival Rooks gang who had killed many of his people. Roth and Frye both wanted to take Starrick down, but Roth kept his hidden anarchist motives hidden for the early days of their partnership. Frye assisted in taking out several of Starrick's henchmen and planted dynamite at a factory, but he became an enemy of Roth when he refused to blow up the factory due to children working there; he killed one of Roth's henchmen before rushing into the burning building and rescuing all of the children. One of Roth's men gave him a box containing a dead bird that was supposed to act as an invitation to a play at the music hall, and the man warned Frye that Roth would get angry at many people if one person angered him.
Frye headed to the Alhambra Music Hall, where he killed all of Roth's decoys and even killed one of the Blighters on the stage. Roth himself appeared on stage and had two of his henchmen blow flames from torches onto the curtains, setting the theater on fire and creating panic. Frye rushed up to the stage and quickly cut down Roth, stabbing him with his hidden blades and flooring him. Roth kissed Frye on the lips as he died, showing his very strange mentality, and he explained that he lived his life on the statement, "Why not?", explaining his violent tendencies. He died on the stage, and Frye escaped the fire.