The Forty Elephants got their name from the Forty Thieves, a similar male gang. They were different in that they were comprised entirely of women and instead of breaking into stores they would steal while the stores were open. They were in existence from at least 1873 through the 1950s but it’s possible they were around longer.  They ran the largest shoplifting operation in Britain and made special coats, cummerbunds, muffs, skirts, bloomers and hats with hidden pockets to stuff the stolen goods into.  They would enter a store and steal from it, never keeping the goods but instead selling them off at a merchant’s.  They eventually became so well known that they needed to spread out because panic would erupt as they neared.  They would also sleep with wealthy men and then blackmail them to stay quiet and get maids positions in wealthy houses in order to rob them.  As technology advanced they invested in cars and would also leave empty suitcases on trains to deposit the stolen goods into.  If caught, they were freed using a fund that the women set up for exactly that.  Their leaders were known as Queen and their most renowned queen was Alice Diamond, she lead the group starting in 1912 after coming from a criminal background herself.  Her second in command was Margaret Hughes. Diamond would use a local male gang to ensure that her blackmail was paid. She also kept razors and diamond rings on her to use as a weapon.  Their decline started with a woman in the group named Marie Britten. She fell in love with a man outside of the group, which was against their rules. She was summoned to Diamond and brought her dad along with her. Britten refused to stop seeing the man and Hughes attacked Britten’s dad with a razor. The two escaped but Diamond went after them.  Members of the gang hurled rocks through Britten’s windows, injuring several people. The police were called and many members of the gang were arrested- Diamond and Hughes escaped though. At trial they were the only ones charged and were convicted and sentenced to hard labor.  When Diamond returned to the gang they had weakened and she gave up her leadership. They crumbled after that.