Esoteric London

Regents Park Road, London, NW1. Photo © Roger Dean 2013

Sinks of London Laid Open A Pocket Companion for the Uninitiated, to Which is Added a Modern Flash Dictionary Containing all the Cant Words, Slang Terms, and Flash Phrases Now in Vogue, with a List of the Sixty Orders of Prime Coves – [Anon], 1848: 

Hoisters, shop-lifters, fellows who go into shops, and under the pretence of buying goods, generally conceal some article under the sleeves of the coat, mostly frequenting jeweller’s shops

Hoister mots, women who go into shops and steal some small article