Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a short pole with a hook on one end, used to steal small, portable items from windows, stalls etc; note earlier filchman under filch v.¹

1610		Rowlands Martin Mark-all 42: Out budgd the Coue of the Ken, / With a ben filtch in his quarr’me.
1622		Beaumont & Fletcher Beggar’s Bush II i: Thus we throw up our nab-cheats first, for joy, / And then our filches; last we clap our fambles.
1637		Dekker Canting Song Eng. Villainies (8th edn) O3: To thy bughar and thy skew, Filch and Iybes I bid adue.
1648		Dekker Canters Dict. Eng. Villainies (9th edn).
1665		Head Eng. Rogue I 62: Providing himself and me with a good lusty Filch or Stick with a hole at the end thereof, to put in a hook.
a.1674		‘A Wenches complaint for . . . her lusty Rogue’ Head Canting Academy (1674) 17: [as cit. 1637].
1688		R. Holme Academy of Armory Ch. iii item 68c: Canting Terms used by Beggars, Vagabonds, Cheaters, Cripples and Bedlams. [...] Filch, [...] a Staff.
1688		J. Shirley Triumph of Wit 224: [as cit. 1637].
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: A good Filch, a Staff, of Ash or Hazel, with a Hole through, and a Spike at the bottom, to pluck Cloathes from a Hedge or anything out of a Casement.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1754		Scoundrel’s Dict.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.

2. a thief.

1727		J. Gay Beggar’s Opera I vi: filch: I ply’d at the Opera, Madam; and considering ’twas neither dark nor rainy [...] made a tolerable hand on’t. These seven Handkerchiefs, Madam.
1749		Caledonian Mercury 21 Mar. 1/1: Backwards rode Filch, who Pockets us'd to rifle, / And thought it hard to hang for such a trifle. / There having been no Pickpokets executed since the Guinea-filers.
1773		Rivington’s N.-Y. Gazetteer 15 July 2/3–4: Last Saturday Darcus, the rascal, who stole his Excellency Governor Tryon’s silver cups as advertised in this paper, was brought to town from New-Haven, where he was apprehended: this same Filch had likewise been tolerably successful about the house of our late commander in chief [etc.].
1811		J. Poole Hamlet Travestie II iii: A very Filch, that more deserves to hang Than any one of the light-finger’d gang.
1815		Chester Courant 28 Feb. 4/3: He puts a fine parcel of money into his own pocket! [...] quite a filch! Oh a blessed babe of grace!
1828		Western Times 12 Jan. 3/5: A Junevile [sic] 'Filch' [...] His name is Stephen Stokes, and he was only thirteen years of age.
1830		Morn. Chron. 6 Mar. 4/2: The most expert Filch upon the town [...] was most fashionably attired [with] the fawney (ring) upon the little finger of his dexter hand.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 123: Ringers burglars teefs filches dips and deedees. Scammers an’ skankers. Specialist form-fillers an’ loophole operators.

3. that which is stolen, the booty of a theft.

1798

‘Peter Pindar’ ‘Tales of Hoy’ Works (1801) V 267: He put a fine parcel of money into the pockets of the Proprietors – quite a Filch!