Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. Fraser received seven years. His decision to join the Richardsons rather than their rivals, the Krays, has been described as "like China getting the atom bomb". Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. Dubbed 'The Most Dangerous Man in Britain' by two Home Secretaries, Francis Davidson Fraser was born on the 13th of December 1923, and grew up in Waterloo, London.He and his sister, Eva started their life of crime at a young age, stealing from handbags and pickpocketing. Somehow Eva found herself in the opposite company of her eldest sister Peggy, whose boyfriend was heavily involved in the Communist Party, whom the Blackshirts fought in the famous Battle of Bermondsey, and the even more famous Battle of Cable Street. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Getting them to relive their exploits had its own difficulties at the start the only time they had ever been interviewed was by the police and they were used to keeping their own counsel. Ms Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. 'In fact, she was one of the people who spotted his talent for stealing after he pinched a cigarette machine from a hotel as a small boy. Frankie Fraser: Died On This Day in 2014, Aged 90 - The NCS Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. 'Speaking to relatives of some of the original gang members during my research for Queen of Thieves, I was struck by how secretive the gang had been about its methods, and how much of a career choice it was for working class girls. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. The Forty Thieves posed as wealthy housewives innocently browsing the rails of the UK's most luxurious clothing stores before shoving stolen items down their undergarments. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. The women, who carried razors wrapped in lace handkerchiefs, were known for violent outbursts - including one furore that resulted in a woman blinding a police officer by stabbing him in the eye with her hatpin. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. He was working all the hours he got sent, but he couldnt make ends meet. You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. 'Mad Frankie' Fraser - a legend in his own gaol time As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. 'The other side of the story involves these feisty women and it is perhaps more fascinating given the limited powers such working class girls had to earn a decent wage.'. The gang's ringleaders appeared in a secret register of criminals, that is now kept by the National Archives, which then existed to help police track down the most persistent offenders. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. This resulted in Fraser returning to prison once again - this time to serve a seven-year sentence. Morton was relieved that, rather than remonstrating, Fraser wanted him to write his life story. The two Richardson brothers were convicted, and the elder, Charles, sentenced to 25 years. They enjoyed buying nice things with the money and putting on the posh. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. Frankie Fraser - Wikipedia Young Frankie attended local schools, captained the football team, and acted as bookies runner to one of the teachers. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. He was very skilled at manipulating people and he played a long game, letting people believe he was mad, with the intention of winning in the end. They didnt go to jail, they did bird or got a lagging. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. It was not that he thought he was Napoleon. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. She helped him sell on his loot. He was a member of the Richardson gang or the 'torture gang', led by brothers Charlie and Eddie Richardson, and were widely feared in Londons underworld. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Scottish Sun The family was hard-working and kept themselves clean [out of crime].. When Frankie was in prison, Eva helped to run his protection rackets in Soho and even sent her daughters to collect payments, as the police would not stop a child. Over the last decade or so he was on the cabaret circuit and ran gangland tours of the East End, taking in such sights as the Blind Beggar pub, where Ronnie Kray shot dead George Cornell, one of the Richardson gang, in 1966. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser: Sweet dapper. When she married the father of five of her seven children, Chris Hawkins, he subjected her to cruel beatings - but quickly stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. She was chauffeured in a Bentley and always wore a sable coat. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. At his funeral, one of his old prison friends summed him up: Whether he has gone upstairs or downstairs, I cant say, but wherever he is, you can be sure of this: he will be protesting about the conditions.. On this release, he determined to write his memoirs. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex. "At the races, I'd be bucket boy," says Fraser in the documentary, Frankie Fraser's Last Stand, which will be broadcast on the Crime and Investigation network on 16 June at 9pm. While still a teenager, in the spring of 1943, he took part in a daring raid to free an Army deserter from a squad sent to collect him from Wandsworth Prison. Frasers partner in this endeavour was Bobby Warren, an uncle of the boxing promoter Frank Warren. Before then, Fraser had been involved in smash-and-grab raids and wages snatches. Fraser also appeared as East End crime boss Pops Den in the feature film Hard Men, a forerunner of British gangster movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and had a documentary made of his life, Mad Frank. On his release, Fraser joined Richardsons brother Eddie in a company called Atlantic Machines, installing fruit machines at some of Sohos most profitable sites, with Sir Noel Dryden recruited as the respectable frontman. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. Fraser was the youngest of five children who were growing up in poverty - he first turned to crime at the tender age of 10, alongside his sister Eva. Mad Frank and Sons: Tougher than the Krays, Frank and his boys on News reports were checked to see how much was owing. After trying his hand at crime as a. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. An early nickname Razor Fraser reflected his penchant for shivving his enemies faces with a cut-throat blade. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. Many of the Forty Thieves were noted for their beauty as well as their shoplifting skills, such as Madeline Partridge and her sister Laura, whose mother was often used by Diamond to sell stolen goods. So it was in January 1965, when a club owner called Benny Coulston was hauled before Richardson for swindling him out of 600 over a consignment of cigarettes. If you love GANGLAND and women in crime who rubbed shoulders with Frank and the Krays, you're going to QUEEN OF CLUBS my new book set in seedy 1950s Soho and inspired by the Forty Thieves hoisters gang including Frank's sister Eva Fraser and the notorious hoister Shirley Pitts from Walworth who grew up with his sons David and Patrick. Indeed, his criminality was closely bound up with what one criminologist described as an overt almost Samurai vindication of violent action in pursuit of inverted honour. But who were the gang's most brazen members? Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. Two people were left dead. Fraser became a minor celebrity of sorts, appearing on television shows such as Operation Good Guys,[18] Shooting Stars,[19] and the satirical show Brass Eye,[20] where he said Noel Edmonds should be shot for killing Clive Anderson (an incident invented by the show's producers), and writing an autobiography. Born inLambeth, south London, Frankie committed his first crime at the age of 13, when he stole a packet of cigarettes and was sent to an approved school. She had died in 2000 but her daughter Beverley, who shared Evas reticent nature, agreed to talk to me and that revealed that Eva had been leading criminal in her own right. He then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. He saw himself as an innovator, claiming to have invented the Friday gang, robbing wages clerks carrying money from banks; he would use a starting handle to beat his victims and to deter any watching have-a-go heroes in the street. Tue 11 Jun 2013 11.55 EDT He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. Fraser treated his various brushes with death as an occupational hazard: his thigh bone was shattered by a bullet fired during the melee in Catford, and part of his mouth was shot away in an incident in May 1991 when someone botched an attempt to assassinate him outside a nightclub in Farringdon. It will only make me a worse villain!'. His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. After one snatch, he and his companion were arrested when their car would not start. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London on December 13, 1923. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand: Directed by Matt Blyth. Fraser, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. But after shoving their stolen goods into waiting cars the women would head back to the grotty slums of Waterloo and Elephant and Castle - where their 'queen' exchanged the expensive items for a generous weekly wage. Frankie Fraser was a south London gangster who knew no language but violence and spent half his life behind bars. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. The gang probably had its roots in the Victorian slums around Seven Dials, near Covent Garden, infamous in Dickens's day. After trying his hand at crime as a. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime, with the blackout and rationing, combined with the lack of professional policemen due to conscription, providing ample opportunities for criminal activities such as stealing from houses while the occupants were in air-raid shelters. A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. [9] He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. Even the gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, whose sister Eva was a leading light in the gang in the thirties and forties, spoke with great reverence about Alice Diamond. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. Nevertheless his campaigns and, on the outside, those of Eva, did bring the attention of the general public to the unpalatable conditions in which prisoners served then their sentences. On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. There was also kind of respect for them locally because people could get a nice dress or a pair of stockings cheaply. He refused to discuss the shooting with the police. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. But Beezy said: [Kathleen] experienced the slums of Waterloo as a place buzzing with excitement and the tight-knit community, with its Catholic Church parades, which gave her the chance to shine, though she instead works at the old Hartleys jam factory in Bermondsey. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . Descendants . But his greatest moment of national notoriety came a quarter of a century earlier, during what the media billed as the Torture Trial (in fact a series of trials) in 1967 that became one of the longest in British criminal history. He was released from prison in 1985.[17]. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. As he languished in jail, his sons David and Patrick and their older brother, Frank Jnr currently living quietly on the Costa del Sol carved their own careers as bank robbers and jewellery thieves in 1970s London. When he was 10, the pair stole a cigarette machine from a local pub, hauled it to some waste ground and jemmied it open. Mad Frank. To evade discovery they posted the stolen items back to London or depositing a suitcase of loot at the railway station's left luggage office, to be collected later. His parents never knew about his illegal activities, and if they ever suspected him apparently turned a blind eye, a habit . Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. Eva got six months for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. Mother of [private daughter (1940s - unknown)] Died 2000s. When caught by police she replied: 'I don't know anything about it.'. 'I felt it was time for their story to be told and it inspired my novel, which is the first in a planned trilogy for Orion about the gang, stretching from the 1920s to the 1950s.'. He stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. They worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. Francis Davidson "Frankie" Fraser, better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser,was an English gang member and criminal who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences. Fraser owed his success in the fruit machine business to Billy Hill, whose patronage Fraser courted when he attacked and almost killed Hills gangland rival Jack "Spot" Comer. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. MAD FRANK and SONS - Home - Facebook 'They didn't see anything wrong in it because these things were too expensive for most people to afford and shops had insurance. He was so attired when, in 1951, he attacked the governor of Wandsworth prison, William Lawton, as he walked his pet terrier on Wandsworth Common. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. By 20 she was leader of The Forty Thieves and wore a row of diamond rings that acted as a knuckle duster. 'It gave them a life they could never have afforded. He was said to have pulled out the teeth of one of the victims with a pair of pliers. He also claimed to have been the first bandit to wear a stocking mask. These recollections, while often disordered and jumbled, nevertheless shed light on Frasers shameless and unrepentant defiance of the liberal consensus. He appeared on pop records and in television documentaries, toured his one-man show of criminal reminiscences (flexing a pair of gilded pliers), and found himself invited into bookshops to sign copies of his memoirs. I saved myself from Royal life, Harry says & insists 'sharing's an act of service', Love Island's Olivia Hawkins breaks silence as she returns to the UK, Loose Women star lined up to be Strictly's first contestant in wheelchair, Coronation Street fans horrified as Amy Barlow is raped in disturbing scenes, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Born 1920s. The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart - who was shot at Mr Smith's club inCatfordwhile other Richardson associates, includingJimmy Moody, were charged withaffray. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. The judge, Mr Justice Griffith-Jones, complained of attempts to nobble one of the jurors, but in the case of Fraser, who was tried separately, he directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. Daughter. His wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. Frankie Fraser - obituary - The Telegraph Then they were turned over to Fraser. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. Members of The Forty Thieves worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. Both Fraser and his sister, Eva, were also active juvenile thieves. Frankie Fraser was a notorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders, including Billy Hill in the 1950s and the Richardson gang in the 1960s. Francis Davidson Fraser was born on December 13 1923 in Cornwall Road, a slum area of south London on the site of what is now the Royal Festival Hall. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. Women carried tools needed for burglaries so the police had no evidence if they stopped the men following the crime. Police reveal more details, as man remains at large after brutal attack outside school, Interview with MP Neil Coyle after Commons suspension: Why the drinking has stopped having started in childhood, but the swearing wont, plus deliberately avoiding Labour leader Keir Starmer, Read our print products (Digital Editions). If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. His gangster boss Charles Richardson remembered him as one of the most polite, mild-mannered men Ive met but he has a bad temper on him sometimes. Peggy stayed out of crime and worked for the Post Office. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In the summer of 2013 it emerged that, at the age of 89, Fraser had been served with an Antisocial Behaviour Order (Asbo) after another incident, this time at his care home in Peckham, south London. As an adult she was beaten by one of her boyfriends and the father of five of her seven children, Chris Hawkins, who was a fruit and vegetable seller in Hoxton. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. Nothing ever got to Frankie, wrote Charlie Richardson. in development with Fraser's endorsement. We'll never send you spam or share your email address. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow. The most famous 'queen', Alice Diamond (left), was the daughter of a docker and renowned for her row of diamond rings that doubled as a knuckle duster. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. The granddaughter of a member of the gang, who said she was taught how to steal in the 1970s, told Ms Marsh: 'My nan was always beautifully turned out. Frank had been active as a criminal from the 1930s and was given his first prison sentence at the outbreak of the Second World War. Frankie Frasers wife Doreen, with whom he had four sons, died in 1999. A Hoisters' Code of loyalty dictated rules such as having an early night before 'going shopping', handing over all they pinched to the Queen in return for generous weekly wages, and never stealing each other's boyfriends (bad for morale). The criminal, who has spent almost half his life in prison, passed away earlier at King's. It spent six weeks in the Sunday Times top ten and held the coveted #1 Globe and Mail chart slot in Canada for three months. Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. Frank Davidson Fraser[1] (13 December 1923 26 November 2014),[2] better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences. Fraser was one of the ringleaders of the major Parkhurst Prison riot in 1969, spending the following six weeks in the prison hospital because of his injuries. Frankie Fraser, born December 13 1923, died November 26 2014, Frankie Fraser at Repton Boxing Club in 2005, Rishi Sunak to host Coronation Big Lunch at Downing Street, Erik ten Hag: Man Utd were a mess with no rules Casemiro has helped sort them out, How Ollie Lawrence became England's missing piece, Harlequins set attendance record but rampant Exeter spoil Twickenham party, Marcus Smith sends England message to Steve Borthwick with man-of-the-match performance, Super-sub Reiss Nelson completes thrilling Arsenal fightback. Those who had incurred Richardsons displeasure were wired up to a sinister black box with a wind-up handle that administered severe electric shocks to the genitals. But the victory was pyrrhic in many senses, because by the time he finally left prison the in mid 1980s, the world had changed and gangland had moved on. After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served atHMP Pentonville. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. In the second part, she reveals how Frank wasnt the only member of his family with a chequered past. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. Notorious for high-speed getaways, she was eventually caught stealing lingerie and sentenced to hard labour in prison. However, it was in the early 1960s that Fraser began to take on even bigger crimes, when he first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang - rivals to the Kray twins. He was full of contradictions: He hated authority but at the same time he understood the need for society to have rules and was against anarchy. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard during the 1940s and 1950s. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. What saved him I think was the branch; it was supple and it bent. Although Lawton survived, the dog died. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. In 1941, Fraser was given his first taste of punishment when he was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store. His fourth son, Francis, in Frasers joking words, let me down by having no criminal career at all. Swathed in luxurious fur coats, wearing diamond rings as a knuckledusters and hats to hide their stolen wares, Britain's most notorious all-female gang ruledthe tenements of Waterloo and Elephant and Castle and earned the respect of Soho's most feared underworld bosses. But by the time of his death at the age of 90 from complications following leg surgery, Fraser had become something of a minor celebrity. There was no evidence that Fraser had fired the fatal shots, and although he claimed to have been fitted up for the killing, he was convicted of affray and sentenced to five years imprisonment. What officers didn't know then was that his crime spree would continue over a career spanning seven decades, and his offences only worsened. Frankie Fraser, who has died aged 90, was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s; he spent 42 years behind bars before achieving a certain cult status in later life as an author, after-dinner speaker, television pundit and tour guide. pre order Queen of Thieves now for just 2.99. When the police arrived, they found Hart lying under a lilac tree in a nearby garden. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser handed Asbo at the age of 89 | Metro News 'Mad' Frankie Fraser handed an asbo aged 90 - the Guardian Frank Davidson "Frankie" Fraser, better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London, he grew up in poverty and was the youngest of five children, Fraser and his sister Eva, whom he was close too, turned to crime at the age of 10, on several occasions during World War 2, Fraser would escape his barracks and deserting many a times. Frankie Fraser | The Kray Twins Wiki | Fandom It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. Frank Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 - 26 November 2014), better known as 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.
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