Two people were left dead. There was Eva, the naughty girl of the three, who became a key figure in the all-girl gang, the Forty Thieves, who targeted the West Ends big department stores. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. "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. Ancestors . Mad Frankie Fraser - Everything2.com On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. Prior to that he was a bodyguard to notorious gangland leader Billy Hill, where he took part in bank robberies and and carried out razor blade attacks - which earned him 50 a time. 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 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. 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. This resulted in Fraser returning to prison once again - this time to serve a seven-year sentence. She was still hoisting well into her 70s.'. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. MAD FRANK and SONS - Home - Facebook 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. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. 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. 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. For latest book news including updates on the forthcoming film Mad Frank and Sons please like my page Beezy Marsh. When caught by police she replied: 'I don't know anything about it.'. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London on December 13, 1923. Whatever you nicked you could sell, they'd be queuing up to buy it off you.". Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. What Fraser invariably threatened was violence. 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. 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.. 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. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. 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). He undoubtedly had a wicked temper and a lack of empathy as seen in his capability for violence but he described that to me in terms of a soldier doing his job. But when her brother Frankie was in prison, she helped to run his protection rackets in Soho and even sent her daughters to collect payments, as the police would not stop a child. The Frasers were both contemporaries of the Hatton Garden heist gang members many of whom also came from south London and who operated on the same bank robbing scene and shared jail cells with the Fraser boys at some point. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. The Kray twins (pictured) held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard. 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. 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Both Fraser and Warren received seven-year sentences. Their alleged specialities included pulling teeth out using pliers, cutting off toes using bolt cutters and nailing victims to floors using 6-inch nails. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. Mink stoles and furs were the top prize, but some of the gang stole silverware and one even put on a maternity girdle to pinch an entire china tea set. When the police arrived, they found Hart lying under a lilac tree in a nearby garden. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. Mad Frank: Memoirs of a Life of Crime appeared in 1994, with two further volumes following in 1998 and 2001. 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. [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. 'They didn't see anything wrong in it because these things were too expensive for most people to afford and shops had insurance. Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. She liked to earn her own money and paid her own way quite something for a young woman in the 1930s and 1940s. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. 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). Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. She operated out of Walworth, South East London and her home was called an 'Aladdin's cave of loot'. 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. [5][6][7][8] His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. 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. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. Editors' Code of Practice. The pair were the only ones of the children to embrace a life of crime. Ms Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Beezy a former Sunday Times journalist whose biography Mad Frank & Sons was published last year was given unprecedented access to interview the family and learn about the three bold women, who grew up in Howley Terrace, in Waterloo during the 1930s. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Sun 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. Eva got into shoplifting, but had a heart of gold. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. She and her friends looked like film stars when they went out down the pub. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Scottish Sun During the 1940s it was not unusual for 'hoisters', a historical term for shoplifters, to be paid a hundred pounds a week - out earning men's average wages ten-to-one. The Soho gang boss Billy Hill - brother of the fiery Maggie Hughes - was also careful not to encroach too much on their territory because he respected their right to earn their own money, free from male interference. 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. It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). When Mason demurred, Fraser buried a hatchet in his skull, pinning his hand to his head. The trial which became one of the longest in British criminal history. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. [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. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. In 1938, she was sentenced for stabbing a policeman in the eye with a hatpin. If you weren't actually stealing, you were outranked by The Forty Thieves. ', As the photographs show, the women often wore beautifully designed hats , coats and dresses in order to fit in, known as 'putting on the posh'. Because of Frasers behaviour in jail over the years, he forfeited almost every day of his remission. We'll never send you spam or share your email address. 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. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. He was released from prison in 1985.[17]. Frankie Fraser: Died On This Day in 2014, Aged 90 - The NCS Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. Queen of Thieves: The gangland women who made Peaky Blinders look like She was chauffeured in a Bentley and always wore a sable coat. 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. Frankie Fraser Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Always well turned out and ineffably polite and punctual, he had a large and appreciative audience, and one woman was so impressed she named her son after him. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. 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. 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. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. After one snatch, he and his companion were arrested when their car would not start. Furs were rolled on the hanger and tucked into the women's undergarments when the store assistant was distracted, while jewellery and watches were swapped for fake versions and hidden under hats or in their hair. 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 Guardian, October 12 1980 Frank Fraser is a thorn in the Prison Department's side - a thorn so big that he is possibly the only British criminal who has become a legend simply by serving time. Sister of Frankie Davidson Fraser. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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. Photo taken in the late 1940s on a pub Beano (day out) in Walworth, before the group travelled to Margate On the back row: the girls mum, Margaret, next to daughter Kathleen. 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. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. After another, the car ran out of petrol in the Rotherhithe tunnel. 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. Hughes was famed for her red hair, a love of drink and a violent temper. '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. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser: Sweet dapper. There was American Indian blood in him; his grandfather had emigrated to Canada in the late 19th century and married a full-blooded American Indian woman. 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. In the second part, she reveals how Frank wasnt the only member of his family with a chequered past. When the heat from the cops in London got too much, they headed off to the Costa del Crime to seek their fortunes there. They set up a fruit machine enterprise, which they would sell to pub landlords, to cover up their crimes. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. 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.. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. It wasnt that we chose to be thieves, said Patrick. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. Fraser was released in 1988 and almost immediately served a two-year sentence for receiving. New biography of notorious Frankie Fraser promises to reveal the late "You name it, we nicked it," he says. 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. 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. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Their view on Hatton Garden was that the world had moved on and robbing banks now was akin to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid trying to get away on horseback, while the police gave chase in cars. 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. 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. Old London Photographs | This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad Fraser, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. 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. Fraser was the. 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. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. A Gannett Company. 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. At signing sessions of his books he was always willing to be photographed pretending to extract a tooth with pliers brought by the fan. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please Frankie Fraser was known anotorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. 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 family was hard-working and kept themselves clean [out of crime].. Frankie Fraser was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26 offences, has been issued with an asbo after an incident in his residential accommodation. Petite shoplifter Bertha Tappenden stood just over 5ft 2in tall, but was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man in Lambeth, after kicking down his front door and attacking him with razors and knives, to settle a score, aided by Diamond and another gang girl, Gertrude Scully. She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. 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. Pictured: The female cast of the hit BBC show Peaky Blinders. News reports were checked to see how much was owing. Frankie Frasers wife Doreen, with whom he had four sons, died in 1999. 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. 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. Mad' Frankie Fraser and London's Most Notorious Gangsters According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. The two Richardson brothers were convicted, and the elder, Charles, sentenced to 25 years. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. From the time of Frankie Fraser's - MAD FRANK and SONS | Facebook After the war, he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill, for whom he carried out razor attacks. Notorious for high-speed getaways, she was eventually caught stealing lingerie and sentenced to hard labour in prison. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. Photos of Frankie "Mad" Fraser - Find a Grave Memorial 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. 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. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. MAD FRANK & SONS, by David Fraser, Patrick Fraser and Beezy Marsh is published by Sidgwick and Jackson on June 2. 'It gave them a life they could never have afforded. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand (2013) - IMDb On this release, he determined to write his memoirs. Harry Styles bares his impressively toned torso and body art at gig "My father was the most honest man I've ever come across," says Fraser, who also refers to his Native American antecedents, saying that his grandmother was "a Red Indian", According to his sons, Fraser has no regrets: "He said, 'No, I wouldn't have done my life any other way. But she was once caught stealing stockings and was sent to prison.. Underneath glamorous ensembles the women wore specially-adapted petticoats with hidden pockets or baggy bloomers with elastic at the knee. 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. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. Frasers partner in this endeavour was Bobby Warren, an uncle of the boxing promoter Frank Warren.
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