For latest book news including updates on the forthcoming film Mad Frank and Sons please like my page Beezy Marsh. 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. Fraser died at the age of 91 on November 26, 2014. 'You name it, we nicked it,' he tells the . 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. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held Eva Fraser in high regard because of her role in the gang and during the 1940s and 1950s and the Soho gang boss Billy Hill - brother of the fiery Ms Hughes - was careful not to encroach too much on their territory because he respected their right to earn their own money, free from male interference. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. Not long after being released, Hughes was involved in the Lambeth riot of Christmas 1925, when the home of Bill Britten was stormed. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. Fraser was seen kicking Richard Hart, a Kray associate, as he lay on the pavement outside. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. As a young woman, Eva became an accomplished hoister (shoplifter). For a time he was engaged to Marilyn Wisbey, daughter of the Great Train Robber Tommy Wisbey, with whom he briefly ran a massage parlour in Islington, in which Fraser made the tea. His fourth son, Francis, in Frasers joking words, let me down by having no criminal career at all. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. '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's Last Stand will be broadcast on the Crime and Investigation network on 16 June at 9pm, New TV documentary shows ex-gangland enforcer is far from mellowing with age and has few regrets about his life of crime, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Frankie Fraser has no regrets over his life of crime, which involved him being jailed for a total of 42 years for 26 offences. End-right girl on the back row is Eva.. Every old-school south Londoner knows the folklore of cockney criminal Frankie Fraser, whose violent tendencies were infamous on the streets of Walworth. A constant troublemaker in prison, attacking governors and warders over perceived injustices which inevitably resulted in floggings, bread and water and the loss of remission, Fraser had by this time been certified insane on three occasions. Frankie Fraser | The Kray Twins Wiki | Fandom Their loot would be stuffed into these 'hoister's drawers', allowing the women to leave the stores undetected. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. 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. '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. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. They also spoke, as Frank did, using the prison slang of a bygone era, which they had to translate for me. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. He then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. Notorious 1930s West End girl gang who hid stolen jewellery in Mother of [private daughter (1940s - unknown)] Died 2000s. But little by little, over weeks and months of interviews, cups of tea and chats, their life stories emerged and with that came a fascinating insight into the Fraser family history and what really made Frank tick. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. 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. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. Though like Eva, she struggled to come to terms with the choice facing women to work or marry. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. A machine costing 400 could quickly recoup its cost if well-sited, and Frasers company offered club owners 40 per cent of the take rather than the standard 35 per cent as an inducement to install their machines. ", The new documentary returns to this theme, suggesting he had a hard time in prison because there were no criminals in his family. Many started as child lookouts. His wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. At the same time Fraser was concerned to protect his West End business interests, chiefly the installation and operation (on an exclusive basis) in the clubs of Soho of one-armed bandits, or fruit machines, then growing in popularity. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. 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. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. He was moved from prison to prison more than 100 times because he was virtually impossible to control. Some became pals with young actresses as they partied in Soho nightclubs and stole dresses to order for them to wear on the red carpet. Throughout his life he denied the justice of this conviction, but he was happy to trade off it. Peggy stayed out of crime and worked for the Post Office. 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. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. [9] He was a resident at a sheltered accommodation home in Peckham. 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. 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. After trying his hand at crime as a. This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad" Frankie who was one of the leading lights in The Forty Thieves. It was almost as if the biggest thrill of all was the act of stealing itself. 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. Such were the criminal opportunities during the war, Fraser joked in a television interview years later, that he had never forgiven the Germans for surrendering. Tue 11 Jun 2013 11.55 EDT He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. 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. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to The following year, the British mobsterJack Spotand wife Rita were attacked on Billy Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. He has been part of the most infamous criminal gangs of the past 100 years, while maintaining his South London roots and deep devotion to his family. It wasnt that we chose to be thieves, said Patrick. He was a rock.. Possessed of a ready wit and good repartee, he followed this up with stage performances both in the East and West End, where he appeared with his then companion of 10 years, Marilyn Wisbey, the daughter of a Great Train Robber, Tommy Wisbey. Queen of Thieves: The gangland women who made Peaky Blinders look like Having chronicled the life of old mad Frank, author Beezy Marsh has turned her pen to Peggy, Kathleen and Eva; in her new book Keeping My Sisters Secrets. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. Two people were left dead. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. Because of Frasers behaviour in jail over the years, he forfeited almost every day of his remission. Frankie Fraser belonged to a bygone era of crime and was cut from a different cloth than so many other gangsters of his generation. His parents never knew about his illegal activities, and if they ever suspected him apparently turned a blind eye, a habit . Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dead aged 90 | Daily Mail Online His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. [26] On 21 November 2014, he fell critically ill during leg surgery at King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill[27] and was placed into an induced coma. [15] In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart, who was shot at Mr Smith's club in Catford while other Richardson associates, including Jimmy Moody, were charged with affray. People shook his hand in the street, others kissed him or asked for his autograph and taxi drivers honked their horns. She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps. She once stabbed a policeman in the eye with a hatpin, blinding him. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. After trying his hand at crime as a child, Fraser then continued into his later life. Tony Lambrianou, a one-time henchman of the rival Kray brothers, was also a fan. Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. 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. "Hill paid by the stitch if you put 50 stitches in a man's face, you could expect 50," says James Morton, Fraser's biographer. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. pre order Queen of Thieves now for just 2.99. 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. 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Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a hoister because they could outearn us men two to one,' he said. She and her friends looked like film stars when they went out down the pub. 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. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. 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. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). Eva (Fraser) Brindle. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Irish Sun In 1996 he was cast as the gangleader Pops Den in the film Hard Men, which premiered at the London film festival. '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.'. Francis Davidson Fraser, known as Mad Frankie Fraser, was the scourge of prison governors and warders up and down Britain during the periods when he served a total of more than 40 years imprisonment. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. [12], 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 at HM Prison Pentonville. Please report any comments that break our rules. Frankie Fraser - obituary - The Telegraph She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. Fraser was acquitted but received five years for affray. Beezy, from Ealing, explained that it was in prison that Eva met Diana Mosley, wife of Oswald leader of fascist Blackshirts who were a fearsome presence in London in the 1920s and 30s. His decision to join the Richardsons rather than their rivals, the Krays, has been described as "like China getting the atom bomb". 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. 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. A famous Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale, has often been associated with Fraser and the Kray twins and some aspects of the new documentary may add to this impression. She would send her girls out in teams of three or four at least three days a week, to stores all over London and as far afield as Birmingham and Brighton. Fraser has complained in the past that "I had no help from my family; my mother and father were dead straight so I had to make my own way. The Richardson Gang was an English crime gang based in South London, England in the 1960s.Also known as the "Torture Gang", they had a reputation as some of London's most sadistic gangsters. Fraser considered that Lawton had meted out cruel and vindictive punishment to him at Pentonville in 1948, and to avenge himself Fraser assumed the role of hangman. Frankie Fraser was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s. He had been shot in the face. In the early half of the 20th century one queen, Diamond, regularly appeared in the press where she was once described as a 'tall and commanding figure with a cool demeanour'. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. 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. His life of crime started aged nine when he worked for the notorious Sabini gang, which ran protection rackets at the racecourses at a time when off-course betting was illegal. Theres one account of one of Peggys colleagues pretending to still be single so she could carry on working as a Post Office manager. Whereas for Eva it was about her earning her own money on her own terms. Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. When the police arrived, they found Hart lying under a lilac tree in a nearby garden. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. Author Beezy Marsh investigates criminal matriarchs of 1950s London Beezy said: "Frank's sister Eva was the one who led him into crime as a small boy. Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. 'It was not just a man's world, despite the countless column inches still spent poring over the phenomenon that was the Kray Twins,' she added. He received a further five years when, in 1970, he was acquitted of incitement to murder but convicted of grievous bodily harm after he had led the Parkhurst prison riot the previous year. He then worked for legendary Soho crime boss Billy Hill in the 1950s, earning the nickname razor Fraser for his attacks on those who crossed him, before becoming embroiled in protection rackets in the 1960s, rising to the position of the Boss of Soho. 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