Queens of the Underworld: A Journey into the Lives of Female Crooks

Popular culture is littered with famous criminal men - from Robin Hood and Dick Turpin to Ronnie Biggs and the Kray brothers - but what about all the criminal women? Where are the highwaywomen and jewel thieves, the bank robbers and gold smugglers, the motor bandits and burglars?

In Queens of the Underworld, Caitlin Davies traces the history of professional female crooks, from Moll Cutpurse who ruled the Jacobean underworld, to Noreen Harbord the postwar Queen of the Contraband Coast, and Zoe Progl, Britain's No. 1 Woman Burglar who appeared in the Bow Street dock in the autumn of 1960, recaptured after her notorious escape from Holloway Prison.

Caitlin Davies is a novelist, non-fiction writer and award-winning journalist. Her recent books focus on women in the justice system, as criminals, prisoners and detectives. Bad Girls: The Rebels and Renegades of Holloway Prison was nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing (2019).

Conditions of entry: this event is recommended for anyone over the age of 16 years.

Tickets: there are two ways to attend this event, in person at Bow Street Museum, or online via a live stream (using Zoom).