The woman who caught 800 thieves

Gertrude Hunter was seen as a 'remarkably polite' female detective in the 1920s

Harding, Howell & Co - one of the world’s first department stores

Miss Gertrude Hunter may not be remembered today, but in 1927, this female private detective was lauded in the British press for her success in catching over 800 thieves.

This impressive figure was mentioned almost in passing, during a court case at Wood Green, North London, where a woman and her 14-year-old daughter were charged with shoplifting. Miss Hunter was, at this point, working for an unnamed shop as their store detective, and was the main witness for the prosecution.

She had seen the girl show items to her mother, Mary Beck, who nodded. The girl then put the items - worth £1 15s - in her bag before the couple left without paying. In court, the mother blamed her daughter, and the daughter corroborated this, saying, "Don't blame mummy - I took all the things." The court, however, saw the mother as responsible for her and her child's actions; they discharged the daughter, but convicted the mother and fined her £12.

Gertrude had, by this point, gained substantial experience of giving evidence in court, and six years earlier had been commended for her 'remarkably polite and pleasant manner' in carrying out her job. In 1921, she had given evidence as to the shoplifting of Mrs Mary Turner of Stockwell. At this time, Gertrude was working as a detective at the Bon Marché store in Brixton, and had seen Mrs Turner, 53, steal a pair of 16 shilling shoes. She stopped her as she left the store, and said,

"Excuse me, madam; I want to know how it is our assistant has not wrapped up the pair of shoes you have in your bag."

Mrs Turner quickly confessed, explaining that her own shoes were "shabby" and that she had an urge to steal a new pair. Like Mrs Beck six years later, Mrs Turner was convicted a fined.

Gertrude was herself a middle-aged woman by the 1920s. She had been born as Louisa Gertrude Hunter in Shoreditch on 14 March 1876, and seems to have spent much of her career as a store detective. The 1901 and 1911 censuses record her living at home and working as a drapery assistant, and so she may well have been asked to take on detective work from behind the drapery counter before becoming a full-time store detective. In the earlier days of lady detectives, it was common for shopgirls to be asked to take on additional work by spotting shoplifters, before dedicated store detectives were employed.

At some point between 1911 and 1917, Gertrude became a dedicated store detective, and perhaps she took on this role when World War 1 led to many men, including private detectives, enlisting with the army. In 1918, she was working for Messrs John Barker and Co in Kensington, where she caught a repeat offender - 29-year-old Joan Childs - stealing a fox fur stole. Later, she was working for Whiteley's in Bayswater, Bon Marché in South London, and the unnamed Wood Green store in North London, as well as Bentalls in Kingston and Messrs Chiesman in Lewisham.

This succession of shops, with her employment at different ones sometimes overlapping, suggests that, certainly by the late 1920s, she was self-employed but specialising in shoplifting, thus working for several shops on short-term tasks. She did not live near these shops either, with the 1921 census recording her as living in Hackney, near her birthplace; she had to travel around to earn her living.

The former Arding & Hobbs building, where Gertrude worked in 1929

(image by Stevekeiretsu and used under creative commons)

The last reference to Gertrude as a store detective in the press came in June 1929, when she was working for Messrs Arding & Hobbs at Battersea, and was described as 'vigilant' during a shoplifting case involving Stella Marshall, who had stolen a pair of stockings. The 1939 Register, taken ten years later, records Gertrude as living alone in Streatham; sadly, she is now recorded as an unemployed detective. By now in her 60s, she perhaps lacked the agility, speed, and dexterity required to be an efficient store detective. However, she lived another 16 years, dying, aged 79, in south London.