All The Historical Inaccuracies In 'Peaky Blinders' That We Just Can't Ignore

On Peaky Blinders, Tommy Shelby and other key players in the organization are portrayed as adults. In reality, however, most members were teenagers, and many were children. Historian David Cross keeps records of the adolescent crew at the West Midlands Police Museum in Birmingham.

Peaky Blinders like Charles Lambourne and David Taylor were 12 and 13, respectively. Other members like Harry Fowler and Ernest Bayles were 19 when they were taken into custody in 1904. 

On the show, the Peaky Blinders rule Birmingham. The crew evokes fear and demands respect. In the pilot episode, Tommy Shelby rides his black horse through the streets of Birmingham, prompting locals to cower and hide. He and his family control the city, and although the police and other organizations try to dethrone them, the Peaky Blinders only continue to gain power.

The idea that Shelby and his Peaky Blinders are all-powerful in Birmingham is unrealistic. Various groups fought to control small parts of the city to gain local relevance during the economic recession of the 1870s. There were several such groups in Birmingham in the late 19th century, including the Whitehouse Street and Bradford Street organizations.

The show was influenced by a real Birmingham group who supposedly got their name, the Peaky Blinders, from the razor blades members sewed into their flat caps. According to local lore, Peaky Blinders used the hats to puncture the heads of their opponents, blinding them with the blood that ran into their eyes.

In truth, it's unlikely the real Peaky Blinders ever sewed sharp objects into their headgear. According to Birmingham historian Carl Chinn, the name of the gang most likely came solely from their peaked caps. Chinn says modern razors were just entering the market in the 1890s and were "a luxury item, much too expensive for the Peaky Blinders to have used."

Additionally, Chinn says, "Any hard man would tell you it would be very difficult to get direction and power with... the soft part of a cap. It was a romantic notion brought about in John Douglas’s novel, A Walk Down Summer Lane." 

The name may have initially come from an incident involving Birmingham resident George Eastwood in 1890. After being chased by the Peaky Blinders, he fell, hit his head, and got roughed up. He was in the hospital for weeks. A letter to a London newspaper identified the perpetrators as "Peaky Blinders," and the name stuck. 

Tommy Shelby and his fellow Peaky Blinders on the BBC show commit serious offenses. The hardened group thrives on a variety of disreputable activities and rules the streets of Birmingham with a heavy hand.

While Birmingham was a city rife with unlawful activities in the late 19th century, notable Peaky Blinders - Harry Fowler, Ernest Bayles, Stephen McHickie, and Thomas Gilbert - were never taken in for anything more than petty transgressions.

Fowler and Bayles were brought in for taking an unattended bike, McHickie was charged with sneaking into a draper's shop near his house, and Gilbert was once detained for "false pretenses."

Generally, members were "foul-mouthed young men who stalk the streets in drunken groups... " 

The Peaky Blinders on the TV show grow an elaborate organization and carry out large-scale activities coordinated and controlled by Tommy Shelby and his colleagues. This level of organization may have occurred in the 1920s and '30s, but not in the late 19th century when the Peaky Blinders thrived.

The real Peaky Blinders were more concerned with controlling small areas and protecting their turf. "Slogging," a term used to describe street crew activity in late-19th-century Birmingham, was about toughness, loyalty, and controlling space. Sloggers were often associated with specific streets or areas of the city, while their offenses tended to be small. They generally clashed over territory with neighboring groups and bothered pedestrians. They did have small protection rackets and systems for gambling, but nothing on the scale shown in the series.

Peaky Blinders shows Tommy Shelby establishing alliances between his group and businesses in London. In the third season, the Peaky Blinders even act as arm sales intermediaries between the British government and Georgian Whites. They expand their business enterprise when Shelby and the Peaky Blinders set up their own gin distillery.

It wasn't unheard of in the late 19th century to travel to other English cities in the pursuit of economic opportunities. However, there's no evidence that the Sloggers or Peaky Blinders ever extended their reach outside of Birmingham or attempted to turn their activities into a legit business. 

Real-life boss William Kimber, who appears in the first season of Peaky Blinders, did have connections in London. Evidence suggests he was a legitimate bookkeeper after his years as the head of the Birmingham Boys.