If you’ve watched Peaky Blinders, you probably remember Jessie Eden as the sharp-witted, red-flag-waving activist who went toe-to-toe with Tommy Shelby. She was the one who managed to actually get under Tommy's skin for a minute there. Played by Charlie Murphy, she was a total powerhouse in Season 4. But honestly? The show did her a bit dirty.
The real Jessie Eden wasn't just some supporting character in a gangster's love life. She was a legend in Birmingham's history, a woman who terrified factory owners and basically invented mass trade unionism for women in the Midlands.
The Real Powerhouse Behind the Fiction
In the show, Jessie Eden is introduced as a union leader at the Lucas factory who leads a strike in 1924. Steven Knight, the creator of the show, actually stumbled across her name while researching Birmingham's history. He found these tiny snippets of a woman who brought every female worker in the city out on strike. It sounded like something out of a movie, so he put it in the script.
But here's the thing: the timeline is a bit wonky.
The real Jessie Eden (born Jessie Shrimpton) didn't hit her stride as a mass leader until the 1926 General Strike. At that point, she was only 24. She was working at Joseph Lucas’ motor components factory, filing shock absorbers. It was a brutal job. The management was trying to bring in the "Bedaux System," which was basically a way to time workers like they were machines. They chose Jessie to be the benchmark because she was the fastest worker on the floor.
She wasn't having it.
Instead of letting them use her speed to screw over her coworkers, she walked out. She didn't just walk out alone, though. She convinced the women in her section to join the 1926 General Strike. It was a massive deal because, at the time, unions didn't really care about women.
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That Controversial Tommy Shelby Romance
Fans of the show often debate the Jessie and Tommy "romance." In Season 4, Tommy uses his own socialist past—and a whole lot of manipulation—to get close to her. He basically seduces her to get information on the Communists and the Italians.
In reality, there is zero evidence Jessie Eden ever met a gangster like Tommy Shelby.
Historians and people who knew her were actually pretty annoyed by this storyline. Graham Stevenson, a historian who knew Jessie later in her life, was one of the loudest critics. He felt that turning a woman of her stature into just another notch on Tommy’s bedpost was, well, pretty misogynistic. The real Jessie was a lifelong Communist Party member. She wasn't some naive girl who would be easily swayed by a man in a flat cap.
What the Show Missed: The 1931 Strike
While the show focuses on her connection to the Shelbys, her biggest victory happened in 1931. This was when she led 10,000 women out on a week-long strike at the Lucas factory.
Think about that for a second.
10,000 women. In 1931.
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The management was timing their toilet breaks. Literally. They were that petty. Jessie led the walkout, and they won. The timing system was dropped. But, as often happens with activists, she paid the price. She was singled out and eventually lost her job. The Transport and General Workers' Union gave her a gold medal for her bravery, but she couldn't work in Birmingham factories anymore.
Two Years in Moscow and the Metro
This is the part of her life that sounds like a spy novel. After losing her job in 1931, Jessie vanished from British records for two years.
Where did she go? Moscow.
She traveled to the Soviet Union to help build the Moscow Metro. She wasn't just there as a tourist; she was rallying female Soviet construction workers and attending the Lenin School. When she came back to Birmingham, she was an expert public speaker. She didn't slow down, either.
By 1939, she was leading a massive rent strike. We're talking 45,000 households refusing to pay rent to protest slum conditions. She was so effective that people started calling her "The Tenants' KC" (King's Counsel). She was basically a lawyer for the poor without having the degree.
The Legacy of a "Small and Vulnerable" Firebrand
If you saw her in her later years, you might not have guessed her history. Her daughter-in-law, Andrea McCulloch, described her as looking small and vulnerable. But she had a "bang" to her. She remained an activist until the very end, even marching against the Vietnam War in her 60s.
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She died in 1986 at the age of 84.
While Peaky Blinders gave her a global platform, it’s worth remembering that the real Jessie Eden was much more than a foil for Tommy Shelby. She was a woman who actually changed the world for working-class women in Birmingham.
How to Learn More About the Real Jessie
If you're interested in the real history, skip the Netflix rewatch and check out these sources:
- The TUC 150 Stories: They have a great profile on her union work.
- Graham Stevenson’s Archives: He has written extensively on the Communist Party members of Birmingham.
- The Morning Star: They often run retrospectives on her life during International Women’s Day.
The real story of Jessie Eden is one of grit, factory floors, and red flags—no fictional gangsters required.
To get a better sense of the atmosphere she lived in, you should look into the history of the 1926 General Strike in the West Midlands. It provides the context that the show often skips in favor of slow-motion walks and cigarette smoke.