‘Truth’ was a society weekly magazine begun by Henry Labouchere in 1877 and it continued under different owners until 1957. It was read by the upper and middle classes and had a circulation of about 30,000. There was regular coverage of society events, the theatre and sport. But it also carried out investigative journalism, often focusing on exposing financial swindlers.
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| Henry Labouchere |
In 1909 Truth targeted the ‘Munich Artists’ Guild’ which they said operated the well-known free portrait trick using house to house selling. An example was given of a woman who ordered two free enlargements of her photograph and then received a demand for £3 16s for the works when framed and completed. Truth wanted its readers to know the address of the ‘Guild’ was 21 Cowper Street Leeds. Later Truth named Armin Gross as the man behind the scam, and they pursued him at every opportunity.
The 1911 census showed 31-year old Armin Gross living with his family at 21 Cowper Street Leeds. He gave his profession as a traveller in fine arts, born in Hungary. He had married Jennie Hyman in 1903 and they went on to have six children.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a photo of him.
When WWI started, the Government introduced legislation that all German aliens had to register, and on 1 January 1915 Armin Gross appeared at the Leeds Police Court charged with failing to comply with the regulations. He argued that he was British born and had married and lived in Leeds for the past 11 years. But he could not produce his birth certificate and said he had been unable to get a copy from Somerset House. Armin went on to tell the magistrate that at the time of his birth, his parents were living in Great Prescott Street, Whitechapel, East London. His father was Russian, a wine merchant who died about 13 years ago, and his mother was Hungarian. Armin was remanded on bail to prove his nationality.
He appeared again in April. The police had looked for evidence using the information Armin had given them. But Great Prescott Street had been redeveloped and no trace of his birth certificate could be found. This time his mother was in court. Mrs Rosa Gross had been in Hungary when Armin made his first appearance. She told the magistrate that she had married Armin’s father Samuel who was a Russian born in Warsaw. They had lived in Hungary and came to England about 37 years ago. Two of their children were born in Hungary and four including the prisoner were born after they arrived in England. She confirmed they had run a wine shop in Great Prescott Street. But the magistrate was not convinced, saying he could not rule that Armin was British; in fact he was inclined to think he was Russian and therefore not an alien. The case was adjourned.
It’s interesting that Rosa said the family came to England about 37-years ago and that Armin was born after they arrived. This contradicts Armin’s 1911 census statement that he was born in Hungary. Which explains why the police were unable to find a birth certificate. It looks as though Armin was trying to avoid being classified as an alien.
By 1917 Armin and his family had moved to 6 Plympton Road in Kilburn. He carried on his photographic portrait copying business, but because of the wartime anti-German feeling he had changed the name to the Imperial Artists’ Guild and then to the British Artists’ Guild.
In 1916 and 1917 Armin applied for exemption from military service on the ground of ill health and was given a six month exemption until 14 March 1918. In the meantime, he was told to find work to support the war effort so had taken an evening job at a munitions factory in White City that paid him £3 a week. On 30 January 1918, his doctor Jacob Snowman of 11 Shoot-Up Hill said he had treated Gross for severe colitis for several years, but his evening work had made him exhausted, and he was suffering from insomnia and depression. In the doctor’s opinion, Armin was on the road to becoming a physical and nervous wreck.
Gross gave up the evening work and wrote to the Willesden Tribunal saying he had continued his portrait business and was sending donations of £2 to £5 a week to several Military hospitals to support the war effort.
In October 1918 Truth reported that at the Willesden Court, Gross was fined £25 with seven guineas costs for making appeals for St Dunstan’s as an unregistered war charity. He was obtaining money for his portraits saying a proportion of the money would go to St Dunstan’s hostel for blind soldiers in Regent’s Park. Gross wrote to Truth showing that he had donated £23 to several charities and demanded an apology, which they did not give.
On 26 October 1918 Armin Gross wrote a letter to the chairman of the Appeal Tribunal at the Guildhall, expressing his regret that the chairman did not believe his previous statement, and his belief that the articles in Truth had prejudiced the views of the chairman and the Willesden Tribunal. It is not clear what happened, but it appears he avoided military service probably on the grounds of ill health.
In February 1919 Gross was up before the magistrates again, this time at Maidstone Court. He had called on a woman in Chislehurst and obtained an order for a portrait of her dead son. He charged her £87 (today worth about £4,000) for the painted portrait and the frame and said that a portion of the money would go to a charity. In court the artist said he was paid £2 for the portrait by Gross while a second witness said the frame cost £1. Gross was sentenced to six months with hard labour.
In March 1920 Truth warned its readers that Gross was still selling coloured photographs at exorbitant prices claiming they were paintings in oil or watercolour on ivory.
In the 1920s Armin and his family moved to 103 Brondesbury Villas in Kilburn, and by the 1930s they were living in Hendon. He had office addresses in the City, Islington and the West End and we think he carried on with his profitable portrait scam. Gross died in 1943 at the Jewish Home of Rest, Birchlands Avenue, Balham and was buried at the Willesden Jewish Cemetery on 30 August.
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