Ferguson's Gang

Ferguson's Gang, formed during a picnic at Tothill Fields in London in 1927, was an anonymous and somewhat enigmatic group that raised funds for the National Trust from 1930 to 1947.

[1] The gang was influenced by Clough Williams-Ellis's publication England and the Octopus, which denounced insensitive building and ugly development.

As an example of their methods, in January 1933, a fully masked Red Biddy, now known to be the developmental psychologist and peace activist Rachel Pinney, deposited a large sack of Victorian coins to the value of £100 on the Trust secretary's desk.

[6] In December of the same year, another masked figure, 'Erb the Smasher, presented the secretary with 200 one-pound notes and "an illuminated sealed document" discharging the debt to the National Trust.

[2][7] In 2018, as part of its nationwide "Women in Power" campaign, the National Trust commissioned "Saved by Ferguson's Gang" flags, hand stamps for visitors, and octopus-themed graphic designs at the various historic sites they rescued.