This is the story of Arthur Andrews, a career burglar who was responsible for numerous burglaries in our area.
In the summer of 1896 he broke into 35 Christchurch Avenue in Brondesbury, 186 Willesden Lane, and 27 Anson Road in Cricklewood. He met Ada Insull while she was in service in West Hampstead and gave her presents including a clock, jewellery and flowers. Arthur promised to marry her and she gave up her job, but the next time she saw him he had been arrested and was in court. Fanny Nisbett, a laundress in Church Street Edgware Road, also became acquainted with Andrews that summer. They went to the Earls Court Exhibition with Fanny’s friend Kate Baker and her boyfriend Harry Bucking who was a sailor. On the way Andrews offered Harry a silver box with a spirit lamp for heating curlers as a present. The sailor declined saying he did not curl his hair. This caused considerable laughter in court as his hair was only the naval regulation length of an eighth of an inch. One evening at a pub Fanny said she couldn’t pay the rent. Arthur gave her share certificates which he said she could sell for cash. She gave them to a friend who took them to the address written on the shares and found there had been a burglary there. So, he gave them to the police who arrested Arthur. All the items had been stolen during his burglaries and Andrews was sentenced to nine years imprisonment.
Shortly after his release, a string of burglaries took place across Northwest London in the summer of 1905. The map shows the location of the burglaries in South Hampstead, West Hampstead, Kilburn, and Cricklewood.
In all cases the thieves watched the houses to determine when the occupants had gone on holiday. Then they gained access by breaking a window at the back of the house and slipping the catch. Once inside they took jewelry, silver items and other small objects. Alexander Miller who lived at 10 Sarre Road was burgled twice when he was away in Buxton. Other people lost silver cigar cases, silver cutlery, gold rings, coins, and a stamp collection. The police estimated the total value of the stolen items at £500 (today worth about £58,000).
While on duty at 6.20 in the morning on 12 October PC Robert Monteith saw two men in Minster Road West Hampstead who were carrying parcels and acting suspiciously. They told the policeman that the parcels contained wallpaper which they were going to hang that day and they were waiting to get into the house. But suddenly one of them ran off. Monteith grabbed the other man and blew his police whistle. Charles Ramage, a workman, was cycling up Shoot-Up Hill on his way to Hendon and heard the whistle. He pedaled after the runaway and in Exeter Road managed to pull him to the ground and hold him until PC Edward Simms arrived.
Both men were taken to Hampstead Police Station and searched. Their names were John Conway and Arthur Andrews. The police found the parcels contained stolen silver goods from Sarre Road and a stamp album taken from Hillfield Road. Conway claimed he was just carrying the parcel for Andrews who he had only met that day. Andrews gave a full statement and admitted he had committed all the burglaries and sold numerous items to the Fenigstein Brothers in Goswell Road.
Detective Inspector Elias Bower, DI Andrew Kydd, and Detective Sergeant Walter Bex went to the brothers' shop at 224 Goswell Road on 17 October. While the Inspectors waited outside, DS Bex went in and asked to see Barnett Fenigstein. He wasn’t there but Alfred Fenigstein told Bex, ‘It is all right; I will deal as fair with you as my brother. Have you got any stuff?’ Bex said he would rather deal with Barnett and left. The three officers then went back into the shop, showed their warrant cards, and searched the premises. In the safe they found two silver tankards, silver knives and forks, all with the initials filed off. Next, they took the Fenigstein brothers to 25 Rushmore Road in Lower Clapton where they lived with their parents, and discovered more stolen items.
The police knew the shop was a haunt of criminals who frequently came to sell stolen goods, so they decided to set a trap. The following day with the Fenigstein brothers now under arrest, Detective Sergeant Leach and Detective Constable Trott, wearing aprons, posed as assistants and opened the shop. Throughout the day numerous petty criminals came in to sell stolen items. One of them recognized the sergeant and said, ‘Blind me, it’s Leach’ and he and his companion ran off but were chased and caught. The people arrested in the sting were sentenced at the local magistrates’ court.
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The main protagonists in our story appeared at the Old Bailey on 13 November 1905. They were described as: Arthur Andrews (50) a painter and decorator, John Conway (28) a coach builder, Alfred Fenigstein (34) and Barnett Fenigstein (19), gold and silver refiners.
Arthur Andrews pleaded guilty to all the burglaries and was remarkably honest in his testimony. He said he was released from Dartmoor prison on 30 March on a ticket-of-leave (this was like parole today). Employed as a painter by day, he broke into the houses at night. He even stayed in the some of the properties for up to a week, drinking port and brandy and eating any food he could find. Using it as a base, he carried out break-ins on other houses nearby. He sold all the stolen items to the Fenigstein brothers at their shop in Goswell Road. Andrews cooperated with the police and gave as much detail as he could remember about each of the robberies.
The Fenigstein brothers told the court that the silver items which the police had found in their shop and at their home had been left for repair, or for sale on commission. They denied handling stolen goods.
The jury found them all guilty. John Conway was sentenced to 12 months hard labour, Alfred Feingstein got five years, and Barnett Feingstein 18 months. Presumably, for assisting the police Andrews only got an additional three years on top of his remaining time from previous sentences.
Arthur Andrews made his living from crime. At the Old Bailey he said: ‘I cannot tell you how long I have been in prison, but I have had five years, seven years, and two imprisonments of nine years concurrently; also twelve months, a month, and six months – I think that is the whole of it – I think I started about 1881, but my records will tell you’.
It was difficult to work out who Arthur Andrews really was because of his aliases such as Thomas Henry Walker or Harry Thompson. Unusually, the police records showed him as a British Citizen born in France, but we were not able to trace his family. The only address ever given for him was 29 Brooke Street Holborn in April 1896. He travelled around the country, and in addition to London we know from his criminal record that he committed burglaries in Cheltenham, Cardiff, Chelmsford, and St Albans.
After a long criminal career with most of it spent in prison, the Police Gazette said Arthur Andrews died on 27 December 1916, when we think he was in goal at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight.
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