The Scuttlers

Although the majority of the gangs on this list had headquarters in or close to the city's core, gang violence was not solely a concern in London. In fact, young thugs known as the Scuttlers were responsible for a large portion of the fighting that was witnessed in Manchester and the nearby townships during the 19th century.

Technically speaking, the Scuttlers were more than one gang; rather, they were a collection of related gangs, each of which had its own locality of origin. They were mostly teens; very few of them were above 20 years old, and the majority of the guys joined as soon as they were 12 or 13. Regarding their crimes, the Scuttlers frequently engaged in brutal turf fights since the majority of them carried blades or thick belts with buckles.

Even their clothing was distinctive, which helped to identify the Scuttlers. They wore bell-bottomed pants, brass-tipped clogs, and vibrant neckerchiefs that may have been used as a show of community loyalty. Additionally, they had a characteristic "donkey fringe" hairdo with a long fringe at the front and relatively short sides.

The Rochdale Road War, a series of street fights that marked the height of the conflict between the rival gangs, took place in 1870. Over the course of a year, some 500 Scuttlers were detained, and many of them received hefty prison terms as a warning to other gang members. Even so, this did little to temper their excitement, and the Scuttlers' numbers didn't start to decline until a few decades later, when a number of clubs for working-class lads were established in the city.