by Rita Smith
joins the navy ref1
Lee, Johnny (uncle) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18
Lee, May (aunt) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17
burgled ref1
death ref1
father’s death ref1
husband’s death ref1
looks after clubs takings ref1, ref2
marries Albert Filler ref1
moves to Mansford Street ref1
and Ronnie Hart ref1
and Ronnie’s insanity ref1z1
testifies at the Old Bailey ref1
Lee, Old Joe (uncle) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18
childhood ref1
gets the twins a job ref1, ref2
Joe junior on ref1
and The Krays film ref1
loses his daughter, Connie ref1
and the Sabini boys ref1
and Violi ref1
Lee, Polly (great-aunt) ref1, ref2
Lee, Rose (aunt) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19
death ref1, ref2
and ghosts ref1
illness of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
marries Billy Wiltshire ref1
spirit of ref1
and stealing ref1
violent streak ref1, ref2
Lee Street ref1
Lee, Tom (great-uncle) ref1
Lee, Violet (mother) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18
beaten by husband ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
death ref1
generosity of ref1
and ghosts ref1
illness of ref1
job in the Blue Coat Boy ref1
meets and marries Charlie Kray ref1
miscarries baby girl ref1
moves to Bunhill row ref1
and Ronnie’s insanity ref1
and Ronnie’s three year stint ref1
and stealing ref1
gives birth to the twins ref1
and the twins life sentences ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
and the twins’ National Service ref1, ref2
violent streak ref1
in World War II ref1, ref2
Leman Street ref1
Levy, Danny ref1, ref2
Lewis, Ted “Kid” ref1
Littlewood, Joan ref1
Liverpool Street ref1
London, Jack ref1
London Road (now Dunbridge Road) ref1, ref2
London Underground ref1
Long Grove Hospital ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
McLean, Lenny ref1, ref2
McVitie, Jack ref1, ref2, ref3
Maidstone prison ref1, ref2, ref3
Manito, Bob ref1
Manor Place baths, Walworth ref1
Mansford Street ref1
Margaret, Princess ref1
Margate ref1
Martin, Terry ref1
Marwood, William ref1
Maude (wife of Johnny Lee) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
media ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Melvin, Alfie ref1
mental illness ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
Mifsud, Frank ref1
Mile End Road ref1
Miles & Hyams ref1
Mitchell, Frank ref1, ref2, ref3
money ref1, ref2, ref3
Morgan, Dickie ref1
Mullins, Dodger ref1, ref2
National Service ref1, ref2, ref3
Newgate Prison ref1, ref2
Newman, Wassle ref1
News of the World (newspaper) ref1
Norfolk ref1
Norwich hospital ref1
Old Bailey ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Ormsby Street ref1, ref2
Osbourne, Georgie ref1
Osbourne, Nipper ref1
parents see Kray, Charlie; Lee, Violet Parkhurst ref1, ref2, ref3
pets ref1
Petticoat Lane market (Middlesex Street) ref1
Phyllis, Dr ref1
Pool Wharf, Upper Thames Street ref1
Prescott Street Magistrates Court ref1
prostitution ref1
protection rackets ref1, ref2, ref3
public executions ref1
Ramsey, Bobby ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Read, Nipper ref1
Regal billiard hall, Eric Street ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Rex (family pet) ref1
Richard and Judy Show, The (TV series) ref1
Rver Thames ref1
Roberta (Reggie’s second wife) ref1, ref2, ref3
Rolfie ref1
Romford ref1
Sabini boys (Italian Mob) ref1
St James’s church ref1
St Katherine’s dock ref1
Searles, Milton ref1
Second World War ref1, ref2
second-hand car business ref1
Shay, Danny ref1
Shea, Frances ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
mental instability ref1, ref2
suicide of ref1, ref2
Shea, Frank ref1, ref2
Sheppey, Bill ref1
Shepton Mallet army prison ref1
Silvers, Bernie ref1
Skinner, Harry ref1
Sliney, Bill ref1
Smith, David ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Smith, Kimmy ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12
Smith, Rta see Filler, Rta Smith, Rtchie ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Smith, Teddy ref1
Smithfield meat market ref1, ref2
Smithson, Tommy ref1, ref2
Southend ref1
Spinks, Jimmy ref1, ref2
Spitalfields market ref1, ref2
Spot, Jack ref1, ref2
Squibbs, Johnny ref1
Standard pub, Hemming Street ref1
Stannard, Jimmy ref1
Stannard, Ted ref1
Starky family ref1
Stead, William ref1
Stean Street ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Steene, Alex ref1
Stevenson, Judge Milford ref1
Stewart, Mr ref1
Stirling, Mr & Mrs ref1
Stragglers club ref1
Sudbury ref1, ref2
Sussex Gardens ref1
Sutcliffe, Peter (Yorkshire Ripper) ref1
Taylor, Jimmy ref1, ref2
theft ref1, ref2, ref3
Tower Hamlets ref1, ref2
Tower Hill ref1
Tower of London ref1, ref2
Upminster cemetery ref1
Vallance Road ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19
Venables, Shaun ref1, ref2
Venables, Tommy ref1
Vic ref1
Victorian London ref1, ref2
Walsh, Dot ref1
Wandsworth prison ref1, ref2
Wapping docks ref1
Watney Street Mob ref1
Whitechapel foundry ref1
Whittington, Cissy (wife of Old Joe) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Whittington family ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Wilton theatre, Wellclose Square ref1
Wiltshire, Billy (cousin) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Wiltshire, Billy (husband of Rose Lee) ref1, ref2, ref3
Windsor, Barbara ref1, ref2
Wisbech ref1
Wood Close School, Dunbridge Road ref1
work ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
workhouses ref1
Pictures
GRANDAD LEE – A keep fit fanatic all his life, he’d think nothing of cycling to Manchester from the East End.
LOUISA ELIZA KRAY NÉE TURNER (grandmother) – Her mother was a well-known midwife in the Hackney area.
(Courtesy of Terry and Peter Steadman)
JAMES FREDERICK KRAY (grandfather) – Though given an exaggerated reputation for being a tough fighting man, he was in fact a quiet sort of person. The twins always called him ‘Farvie’.
(Courtesy of Terry and Peter Steadman)
GEORGE AND CHARLOTTE STEADMAN (Charlotte née Kray).
(Courtesy of Terry and Peter Steadman)
NANNY AND GRANDAD LEE – In later life they were rarely apart.
GRANDAD LEE – Manoeuvring a pair of these giant shires through the streets of the East End on a daily basis gave him strength that left him unrivalled in the bare-knuckle ring.
JOHHNY – Old Joe Lee’s brother, youngest of the five Lees. Lorry driver, mechanic, part time racing driver and, with his wife Maude, owner of Maude’s Café in Vallance Road.
ROSE – Feisty Aunt Rose was always a special favourite of both Reg and Ron.
MAY – Rita’s mother. As a pretty blonde youngster she was nicknamed “Dinah” by the Vallance Road cab drivers who cheekily sang out as she passed by “Dinah, is there anyone finer?” and it stuck with her for the rest of her life.
OLD JOE LEE, CISSY, CONNIE AND YOUNG JOE – A family trip to the coast. Sadly, Connie was to die a few years later from tuberculosis.
VIOLET – Vivacious, spirited and full of life. Things were to change when she met and married Charlie Kray.
CHARLIE’S BUSINESS CARD – No telephones for the working classes then.
CHARLIE KRAY – Handsome, silver-tongued and dapper. It’s understandable why he turned Violet’s head.
BABY RONNIE – Even at this early age he had ‘those eyes’ which later on would chill anyone summoned to his presence (8th February 1934).
BABY REGGIE – Though never dominated by his twin, throughout his life he allowed himself to be led into situations he might normally have avoided (8th February 1934).
THE TWINS – aged 2
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH – Despite how they turned out, the twins, enjoyed their schooldays and were both polite and normal children.
YOUNG RONNIE AND REGGIE – with friends while away fruit picking at Wisbech.
BILLY WILTSHIRE – A right little daredevil. If anyone was taking bets on who in the family would end up behind bars, money would have been placed on him – and lost.
JOE LEE (left) and CHARLIE KRAY – Ready to do their bit for King and Country (29th December 1943).
REGGIE – He had the skill and temperament to have been a champion boxer, but chose another path.
RONNIE – He was a slugger who wore down his opponents with brute force. Note the different ways they tied their laces.
REG AND RON – Already beginning to look different. (also see next page)
BOXING PROGRAMME AT THE ALBERT HALL – The last time the three brothers would fight on the same card together.
BILLY WILTSHIRE (third row) AND GEORGE CORNELL (bottom) in Malta doing their National Service. When this picture was taken, George Cornell could not have possibly imagined that over twenty years later he would be one of the most famous murder victims in British criminal history.
BILLY WILTSHIRE, RITA AND MAY
A YOUNG CHARLIE KRAY (14th September 1942).
MAY, RITA AND VIOLET
RITA, RON AND REG – In Nanny Lee’s back yard. Reg is holding his brother Charlie’s son Gary, then aged two.
RITA SMITH – aged 18
ALBERT FILLER – Although only related by marriage, he willingly took on the problems of his wife May’s sisters and their boys. Although only earning a working-man’s wage he never refused any request for financial help from any of them.
VIOLET, REG AND RITA – In the Double R. They made a nice couple. Hardly surprising that Reg told Rita that he would have married her if they had not been cousins.
MR AND MRS RITCHIE SMITH – When Rita married Ritchie he was an honest, hardworking man. Unfortunately this was not to last after he started mixing with the wrong crowd.
VIOLET AND MAY – On a day out in Southend.
CHARLIE AND VIOLET – Her smile for the outside world hid her true feelings about her marriage.
RONNIE – catching the sun with a friend
RONNIE – With some of “the firm” outside the club. Unlike Reg and Charlie, Ronnie had little interest in making a business of club life.
GRANDAD LEE – Whenever the twins gave him some money he’d take off to Brick Lane market and waste it, invariably on broken and tatty musical instruments, which he still managed to get a tune out of.
VIOLET, A YOUNG FRANCES AND GARY – Frances looking very much the teenager she was.
CHARLIE AND VIOLET KRAY – Must have been a good night, he’s smiling for a change.
CHARLIE – Enjoying himself – honestly.
RONNIE WITH CHARLIE’S SON GARY
CHARLIE, SON GARY AND REG
REGGIE AND FRANCES – An ill-fated romance.
FRANCES WITH RITA’S BABY KIMMY – Frances was never happier than when she could get away from the firm and the clubs and spend time with the Lees in a normal family environment.
REGGIE AND FRANCES – He placed her so high on a pedestal that their relationship was doomed from the start.
FRANCES KRAY ‘IN MEMORIAM’ – While her death was a tragedy for Reg, it must be remembered it was also a tragedy for her family.
DAVID, KIMMY, ALBERT AND REG’S DOG, REX
RITA, VIOLET AND MAY – Three good-looking blondes.
REGGIE WITH HIS AUNT ROSE – He not only had her temperament, but her looks as well. Of anyone in the family, Rose was the one that encouraged the twins in their fighting and disregard for the law.
REG WITH TOMMY BROWN (known as “The Bear”) – It is often said that he was a minder for the twins. In fact he idolized the boys and simply looked out for them.
VIOLET, NANNY LEE AND RONNNIE – Nanny’s tongue could strip paint but she had a heart of gold.
RONNIE – at Lake Lucerne.
YOUNG JOE, JOHNNY AND THE KEMP BROTHERS – At the studio while making The Krays movie.
YOUNG JOE, MAY, CHARLIE AND OLD JOE – At a wedding.
CHARLIE AND RITA – They became closer as adults. All Charlie ever wanted was to make a living. Instead he was drawn into the criminal world of his brothers.
OLD JOE LEE – In Rose’s front room, flanked by a teddy, supposedly made by Reg and sold for £10 (no family discount). On the right is the flower stand ‘nicked’ by Violet for Rose.
GANGMASTER BILL SHIPPEY – For a number of years he employed the Kray family for fruit picking contracts in the Wisbech area of the fens. A prized possession was a jewellery box “made” and given as a gift from the twins soon after they were imprisoned for life. Fond of the boys he and his wife kept in contact with them both over the years.
GRANDAD LEE AGED OVER NINETY – This photograph says it all. He was loyal and honest (apart from those scales) but upset him and he’d “up you” in a second.
CARD MADE UP BY RONNIE – This was given to Peter Gerrard as a token gift on a visit.
REGGIE WHILST IN MAIDSTONE PRISON – This was given to Peter Gerrard, again as a gift.
A PAINTING BY RONNIE – These were invariably dark and brooding, perhaps suggesting his personal feelings.
ONE OF REGGIE’S DRAWINGS – Reg always depicted a pyramid shape somewhere in his pictures. Exercise for a psychiatrist?
YOUNG JOE, OLD JOE AGED 97 AND PETER GERRARD – At Old Joe’s flat in Sussex.
RITA AT RONNIE’S FUNERAL – What might have been forgotten in the media circus surrounding the event, was the fact that the few remaining family were burying a much-loved relative.