The Ballad of Ginger Liz

Meet the doyenne of Victorian Manchester's criminal elite, who had secret access behind the scenes of Minshull Street police court

Elizabeth Beecroft was best known to the police for her strawberry blonde hair and the brothel she ran in Sackville Street.

But in the criminal underworld of Victorian Manchester, Beecroft had another name.

She was known as Ginger Liz.

Ginger offered a secret service that could only be bought for the highest price — a gift reserved for city’s criminal eli…