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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. 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. For other inquiries, Contact Us. The comments below have not been moderated. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. View our online Press Pack. 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. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. During his time in prison, Fraser was involved in a number of riots and frequently fought with prison officers, fellow inmates and governors. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. 'They didn't see anything wrong in it because these things were too expensive for most people to afford and shops had insurance. She operated out of Walworth, South East London and her home was called an 'Aladdin's cave of loot'. 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. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard during the 1940s and 1950s. Though like Eva, she struggled to come to terms with the choice facing women to work or marry. Queen of Thieves: The gangland women who made Peaky Blinders look like Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. 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 funeral took place on December 18, 2014. 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. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. [10], In 1941, Fraser was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store, then given a 15-month prison sentence at HM Prison Wandsworth for shop-breaking. Many started as child lookouts. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. She was sentenced to five months. Then they were turned over to Fraser. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Sun Frankie Fraser: Died On This Day in 2014, Aged 90 - The NCS 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. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Fraser was placed into an induced coma, but just five days later, on November 26, 2014, Fraser passed away after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. He regularly led conducted tours of East End crime scenes, invariably ending up in the Blind Beggar pub where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell dead. 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. The notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. 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. 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. 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. Comments have been closed on this article. What Fraser invariably threatened was violence. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. His last jail term ended in 1989, but in 2011 he was handed an Asbo after getting into an argument with a fellow pensioner at the sheltered accommodation where he lived in Bermondsey. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. 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. After trying his hand at crime as a child, Fraser then continued into his later life. View the profiles of people named Frankie Fraser. I don't think they felt bad about it. During World War 2 he was a deserter - escaping from his barracks on several occasions. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. The criminal, who has spent almost half his life in prison, passed away earlier at King's. He emerged from jail in 1989 and has not been back since. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. Notorious 1930s West End girl gang who hid stolen jewellery in In 1996 he was cast as the gangleader Pops Den in the film Hard Men, which premiered at the London film festival. In 1945, when he was 21, he assaulted the governor at Shrewsbury prison with an ebony ruler snatched from the governors desk, for which he received 18 strokes of the cat. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. After the war, he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill, for whom he carried out razor attacks. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. 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. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. The Krays 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 Maggie 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. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. 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). Diamond's second-in-command Maggie Hughes was known as 'Babyface' for her sweet looks and made a habit of cheekily shouting back at the judge when she was sentenced to jail: 'It won't cure me! contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. 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. But she was once caught stealing stockings and was sent to prison.. She liked to earn her own money and paid her own way quite something for a young woman in the 1930s and 1940s. 'MAD' Frankie Fraser, was one of the most feared and respected West End crime lords of the 1960s. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. Both Fraser and Warren received seven-year sentences. 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. From the time of Frankie Fraser's sister Eva and the gang of hoisters The Forty Thieves, comes a book which will have you gripped this summer. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. 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. The reader is also introduced to the girls brother Jim, who became a sergeant in the army and fought in North Africa. In the second part, she reveals how Frank wasnt the only member of his family with a chequered past. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. We'll never send you spam or share your email address. Eva was a leading light in the gang in the thirties and forties, having risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. [9] The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. From then on until the end of the 1980s, Fraser was more often in jail than not. Morton was relieved that, rather than remonstrating, Fraser wanted him to write his life story. 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. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. The women were completely faithful to their leader, known as the queen, who doled out harsh punishments and carried strict rules including not helping police officers by informing. 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. Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. [25] In June 2013, the 89-year-old Fraser was served with an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) by police after a row with another resident. 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. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. He was given an asbo, one of his sons told film-makers, after getting into an argument with a fellow-resident and is unrepentant about his life of crime. Author returns with book about the fascinating lives of notorious Richardson Gang - Wikipedia It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949. As a reward, he was shown his examination answers, and thats how I come top, he later boasted. He then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. As people facedblackouts, rationing and a lack of professional policing due toconscription, Fraser had ample opportunities for criminal activities, such as stealing from houses while the occupants were hiding for safety in air-raid shelters. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. Because of the type of person I am, he wrote, in the life I led, you learn to shrug off adversity better than people whove worked hard all their lives.. Bought stolen goods and sold them on in a role known as 'the fence'. In August 1963, invited to take part in the Great Train Robbery, Fraser pulled out because he was on the run from the police. They would go through Selfridges department store in the West End and steal furs and expensive clothes. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. A keen Arsenal supporter, Fraser had four sons, the first three of whom, Frank Jr, David and Patrick, followed to an extent in his footsteps. Charles Richardson was a criminal businessman who reputedly specialised in various tortures administered at secret courts at which he presided, sometimes robed like a judge, a knife or a gun to hand. There was also kind of respect for them locally because people could get a nice dress or a pair of stockings cheaply. 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. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. They set up a fruit machine enterprise, which they would sell to pub landlords, to cover up their crimes. MAD FRANK and SONS - Home - Facebook By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. An unregenerate villain of the deepest dye, Fraser satisfied the public appetite for vicarious thrill-seeking with a series of self-exculpatory memoirs in the 1990s that launched him on a twilight career as a celebrity criminal. You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. It sounds like the worst days of Prohibition in Chicago rather than London in 1956, complained Mr Justice Donovan, but words were wasted on Fraser. Fraser, whose health has been deteriorating in recent years, turned to crime aged just nine when he and his sister, Eva, became petty thieves. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. They worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. '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. The business came to an end in 1966 when a fight in a Catford night club, Mr Smiths, left a Kray associate, Dickie Hart, dead, and Richardson and Fraser, who was charged with Harts murder, in prison. Profile manager: Evelyn Wolff [send private message] After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. 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. Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. The pair were the only ones of the children to embrace a life of crime. [5][6][7][8] His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. 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). Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. At least two home secretaries considered Fraser the most dangerous man in Britain, an image which, in old age, he only half-heartedly sought to dispel. Editors' Code of Practice. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. Frankie Fraser Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Young Frankie attended local schools, captained the football team, and acted as bookies runner to one of the teachers. He was still serving his sentence for the Catford affray when he was handed a further 10 years for his part in the Richardson torture case. MAD FRANK and SONS - Home - Facebook HP10 9TY. Frankie Fraser | The Kray Twins Wiki | Fandom This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. AS is the case with so many crime families, the key to understanding the men came through getting to know the women who cared for them. Frankie Fraser - Wikipedia