TOM FLOWERS

Name: Thomas Gideon Flowers
Date of Birth: August 23, 1916 (aged 37 years old)
Place of Birth: Cheshire, Greater Manchester, England
Occupation: Entrepreneur (owns the Manc & Maiden pub and Mancunian Mint Imports & Experts)
Affiliation(s): Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), The Shaftesbury Firm
Modus Operandi: Extortion, narcotics trafficking, racketeering
Background/History:

Thomas Gideon Flowers (henceforth Tom Flowers/Tom) was born to Fraser and Susan Flowers, the former being a bricklayer, and the latter being a homemaker. As a result of the way they lived their lives, the Flowers family didn't have a great deal of wealth, which made for an uncomfortable childhood for Tom. Despite the strenuous circumstances that they lived in, the Flowers boy had a strong connection with his father - something uncharacteristic of the time, and, as a result, aspired to lay bricks like his father. But when Tom was 13, his father succumbed to a bout of pneumonia which forced his mother to remarry. Her choice of husband would prove to be an unwise one, as he turned out to be an abusive figure - both to the boy and his mother.

In an act of passion, Tom would eventually stab his mother's new husband to death in her defense, forcing him to flee when he was 13. His mother sent him to live with his uncle Clyde Daily. Daily was an affluent member of London's post-World War I society and a known gangster. He came from his own humble beginnings as he transformed the scraping-by household of a longshoreman into the wealthy estate of a businessman in under 10 years. Daily kept Tom's presence a secret for as long as he could due to him being wanted by English authorities for the murder of his mother's late husband. He succeeded in doing so for 3 years until Tom had foolishly snuck out of Daily's estate and attempted to hitchhike his way back to Cheshire to visit his mother. When he arrived in Greater Manchester, he was soon apprehended, charged, and sentenced to 10 years hard labour.

His time in prison shaped him as a man; his perception of the world was warped, but perhaps less-so than some others he shared his environment with. The reason he didn't develop a "shoot-first" mentality was because of a mentor he had in prison, with whom he shared a cell, known as Wyatt Moss. Moss was 21 years Tom's senior and was expected to die in prison as he had emphysema. As he watched the Flowers boy grow, he did his best to teach him right from wrong, social etiquette, and entry level business tactics so that he could make a living when he was released from prison. Much of the information stuck, it would seem, as Tom would find himself a rich man later in life.

Once his 10 year sentence was served in full, Tom was meant to be released under Daily's watch, but the man had died a month prior to his release. He was given to then-Constable Jon Howe for watching. It was a simple arrangement - not unlike a modern day probation arrangement in America - Flowers was expected to follower a certain set of rules, report to Howe once a week by a certain time, or a warrant would be made for his arrest. The two developed a personal friendship that would prove to stand the test of time as they remained very close friends for much of their adult lives.

Tom found work in a pub on Shaftesbury Avenue called The Crooked Cock as a bartender. He was a naturally charismatic and well-spoken young man and built many friendships with many patrons, including Mason Frayne - a high-ranking member of the Shaftesbury Firm. When Tom was given trouble by a group of drunks who had become belligerent and stabbed him in the gut, it was Frayne who had Tom identify them, and subsequently murdered them both. Nobody was ever named as the killers, but the multiple murders made the papers and called for action from the police, increasing their presence in Shaftesbury.

When Tom was 30 - 4 years after being released from prison and given a job at the pub - his boss died. Tom was the only employee that the owner kept and had no living family, so he left the establishment in Tom's hands, having known that he had knowledge of operating a business. Frayne asked Tom if he would be OK with having some of his friends drink for free in exchange for protection of the same brand he was given years ago, a la the drunks. Flowers accepted and soon found himself the dear friend of a number of London gangsters.

One of the people he`d networked with was a lounge singer who performed in The Whistling Gull in Picadilly Circus by the name of Eleanor Lipscombe. They hit it off early on in 1946 and would later marry in 1947. Eleanor died giving birth to their son Jonathan in December of 1948. The death of Tom`s wife and birth of his son would mark a turning point for him; develop a more concrete end game. Whereas before the plan was simply to work until he dies, it was now to amass a fortune large enough to promise Jon an entire life of luxury.

Tom committed himself to the Shaftesbury Firm and rose through the ranks quickly, often providing counsel to Frayne on major decisions. Some believe that Tom had a direct influence on the standing truce between the three rivaling West End gangs, and also that he is responsible for their standing streetwise, given that he was a veteran of the prison system and employed certain methods of intimidation and violence that he had witnessed and adopted while serving his murder sentence.

He made a point of saving a large portion of the earnings the pub made and eventually started an imports & exports business called Mancunian Mint Imports & Exports, paying tribute to his home with its name. He had since changed the name of the pub from The Crooked Cock to The Manc and Maiden, once again giving respect to his birthplace.

Today, Tom's name carries weight despite being a reclusive businessman. Although he prefers not to attend large scale, public social gatherings, those active in the business world, and gangland underworld, know him by name, and could pick him out of a crowd. He lives in a modest home in the West End, drives a 1951 Mercury Monterey - a car that was worth less than $3,000USD the year it was released. Breaking the pattern of humility in his character is the fact that he dawns a number of golden rings representing his membership of many prestigious clubs, including a ring signifying his membership of the Manchester United Football Club's Front Office. It's said the he was close personal friends with Stan Pearson. On top of his choice of jewelry, he also smoked expensive imported cigars.

APPLICATION (Character Information)


Name: Chasity Prudence Adler
Date of Birth: 12/25/1930
Place of Birth: London England
Occupation: Being the sister of such reputable businessmen as her brothers, Chasity finds that most of her time is taken up by attending social events and shopping. When she isn’t busy at the racetracks, parties, or out and about, she enjoys listening to Jazz music in the clubs or hanging around the various shops her brothers have a part in.

Chasity lives in the large town home that the Adler’s own along with her mother. While her brothers do not live in the house with them, it is a rare occasion that one of them is not in the house, eating, chatting, or arguing.

Chasity really enjoys singing and occasionally some of the night club owners will let her on stage for a number or two before her brothers haul her off.
Affiliation(s): Chasity is the youngest sister of The Adler Brothers, leaders of the Hyde Park Gang. She also knows many high ranking ‘businessmen’ in and around their crime syndicate as they tend to travel in similar social circles.
Modus Operandi: She does her best to toe the line with her brothers. While they are tight lipped and old fashioned when it comes to their sister’s well being/social life/clothing choices, she knows they are looking out for her best interests. This doesn’t mean she completely follows her brothers whims, merely finds her own way around them whenever she feels it is appropriate.

Chasity is charming and attractive, full of young energy and a general interest in life.
Background/History: Chasity was born well after her three older brothers, and while she has the Adler height and slender build, her bone structure is far fairer than the rest. It’s a well-known secret that she was born from one of Mr. Adler’s mistresses (rumored to be a famous singer) and brought into the family as a true Adler. Of course no one could ever confirm this story…

Being the youngest and the only girl she was always spoiled and protected. Her brothers were well within power by the time their father died and Chasity, being left to their elderly mother’s care, was quickly adopted as a semi daughter to them all. Adler’s look after their own and all that.

Given the best tutors possible and fed with a silver spoon, Chasity Adler became far gentler and sweetly dispositioned than anyone could hope. She had a temper and could be haughty at times but a stern look/word/slap would keep her in line for the most part.

This is not to say she was completely shielded from the dirtier aspects of the Hyde Park Gang. Chasity was no fool and learned quickly that her brothers and their friends didn’t exactly follow all the rules. But what did it matter? They pointedly kept her at an arms distance, and perhaps Chasity herself wasn’t too sure she wanted to know the details of the Adler men’s lives.

Name: Isidor Nestorovich Levin
Date of Birth: January 5, 1897 (57 years old)
Place of Birth: Odessa, Russian Empire
Occupation: Jeweler, pawnbroker
Affiliation: Levin Gang, subordinate to Hyde Park Gang
Modus Operandi: Protection, illegal gaming, fencing of stolen merchandise

Background/History: Isidor Levin was born into a Jewish family in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, the only son of a talented and widowed jeweler, Nestor Levin. When the pogroms of 1905 broke out, the elder Levin's store was among those vandalized and looted, while several of their friends and neighbors were killed by the Black Hundreds. Thoroughly fed up with the Russian situation and seeing no future for his son and two daughters in Russia, Nestor Levin was among the many Jews to flee Odessa in 1905, striking out for greener pastures in London.

The eight-year-old Isidor immediately fell in love with London, but it was not as kind to his father. While they did indeed know greater freedom in the new country, the Levin family found their circumstances reduced. Nestor Levin found work exactly where he wanted, in a prestigious Hatton Garden jeweler's shop, but merely as a guard. The pay was adequate but not much more. They were just another immigrant family, not the famous Levins of Odessa. Determined not to let his skill and talent go to waste, Nestor began to pass on the trade to his son Isidor.

He paid close attention to these lessons, but the lad's life took a different turn. Returning from service in the Royal Army Service Corps during the Great War (though he is proud of his service, Isidor is still humble enough to admit that he saw no combat), Isidor noticed a troubling trend in West London. Jewish-owned shops were targeted for harassment and vandalism by other returning Tommies, usually due to the names of the proprietors sounding German to untrained ears. Isidor gathered together a few neighborhood toughs and organized patrols, standing guard outside the shops and turning away anyone with ill intent. Very politely, Isidor requested a small fee for his trouble from the shopowners, citing the difficulty in getting together so many nice young men willing to stick their necks out. The shopkeepers happily paid up, most of them not even realizing that the soft-spoken, polite young Levin boy had just set up a protection racket.

That was the start of the Levin Gang, a few Jews standing in front of delis and bookstores for pocket money. Isidor carefully saved the protection money, investing in a Seven Dials pawnshop in 1921. It was then that his financial prospects really improved. Not only did the pawnshop provide a good stream of legitimate income, it also provided him an excellent opportunity to receive stolen goods and fence them to an interested buyer. Not to mention the spacious basement made a nice private setting for high-stakes games of baccarat and rummy. The money allowed him to do a lot of things- send his sister Rachel to university in Newcastle where she met a husband, send his other sister Zara back to Russia, where she met Communism. It let him buy a nice flat for his father to retire in, donations to charity and local synagogues, a couple more pawnshops, even an old run-down jewelry store.

It also bought the attention of the Adler family. Harry Adler and Levin, both reasonable men, saw the benefits in absorbing the Levin Gang into the Hyde Park set- safety in numbers and increased wealth and resources for both. Levin, unambitious and satisfied with what he was earning, and content with the respect he got from the community, remained on as a permanent lieutenant to the Adlers throughout the years. He serves as both an adviser and something of an honorary uncle to the Adlers, many of whom he watched grow up.

Name: DeShawn Lawrence Crawford
Date of Birth: May 8, 1901
Place of Birth: Southwark, City of Westminster, United Kingdom
Occupation: N/A
Affiliations: The Shaftesbury Firm
Modus Operandi: Murder-for-hire, extortion
Background:

DeShawn Crawford defied all odds when he became a prominent member of the Shaftesbury gang. Crawford, coming from a poor family saw himself having few options to make money during his teenage years. Economic prosperity and industrial job opportunities were high during the postwar period; however, as an unskilled and uneducated young man, Crawford became a pickpocket to make his bread. This was when DeShawn was at the age of sixteen, and had just met Mason Frayne. Mason spearheaded a group of pickpockets in the Shaftesbury area in Westminster, under the command and direction of Cherry Daily. He taught Crawford the art of stealing and saw the young man go from a low-down, shoe-shining mug to an A-grade thief on the streets. Yet there was more than that. DeShawn made a lot of connections fast, and developed the mindset of a business-centric conman. In fact, he made such large amounts of money so frequently that his mentor, Mason Frayne felt outshined and feared Crawford’s potential as a rising member in the gang. Instead of paying his weekly revenues in full to Cherry Daily, Mason broke the rules and kept most of Crawford’s earnings to himself. The fact that Daily’s prosperity had brewed jealousy in the younger members of the gang did little to change Mason’s mind. Save for DeShawn Crawford, who many of his and Daily’s associates alike had commented that they carried a similar kind of ‘atmosphere’ wherever they went. Word spread quickly about the friendship of DeShawn and Cherry Daily. In light of these circumstances Mason Frayne saw himself having two options: kill himself before they do, or get DeShawn out of the picture to buy himself time to think about what to do with Daily.
It’s midnight. DeShawn lay asleep on his couch with a flask on the floor next to him. The phone rings and the voice behind it is not pleasant. “Hey, hey.. I can’t hear you too good. It’s Mason. Listen mate, just get down to the Blind Beggar all right? Something we need to talk about. It won’t take a minute”. An odd request at such a time, but nonetheless, DeShawn was under Frayne’s command until due notice. The Blind Beggar was Mason Frayne’s landmark. Throughout the years of 1940 to 1942, Mason committed his first murders, scams and other crimes at this venue. Anyway, there was a new sign for the restaurant being put up at the time DeShawn arrived. It quite caught his attention. “Hey, oh! Somebody get this fucking guy a drink, yeah?” says Mason in his usual, inquisitorial tone of voice. The men approach a table in the corner and sit down facing each other. DeShawn looks at Mason with a straight face as he begins to speak. “All right, listen mate. I just want you to know that I’m no fool. You, you’re a good kid. You make good money and that’s what they’re looking for. But don’t forget who’s in charge of you. You go appeal to Cherry behind my back – come on son, who introduced you?”. DeShawn took a sip of his gin and looked around uninterestedly. However, something caught his eye. As he observed his surroundings, DeShawn saw and recognized more and more of Frayne’s men in the establishment. Some were dressed as waiters and bouncers to keep up appearances. DeShawn swallowed his pride and opened his mouth, “You’re right”.
“I’m glad we talked about this, D, I really am . I knew we could leave things on good terms”, said Mason with an obviously fraudulent smile as DeShawn stood up from the table. He nodded and shook the man’s hand, and he was on his way. It seemed like time was going in slow motion as he made his way to the exit. Frayne’s henchmen were packed in the restaurant, and they mugged at DeShawn like pitbulls. “Hey!”, shouted a familiar voice in the back of the restaurant. Mason Frayne sit at his table, drawing back on his cigarette coolly. “Don’t let your fucking mouth get you killed, all right?”, he barked and out came a roar of laughter that eventually spread from himself to what seemed like the entire restaurant. DeShawn was disrespected. He continued on to the exit, where the doorman allowed him out onto the street. DeShawn, trying to be with his thoughts, lit up a cigarette and looked out onto the street. It was a dark night, a cold night. Few cars were out on the street so late, besides gangsters and dirty politicians in black Chrysler limousines. It was late and DeShawn took a step onto the street. Out of nowhere a car drove straight in front of him in what seemed like an attempted drive-by: through the car windshield, DeShawn saw a man on top of the Blind Beggar’s roof – the man putting up the sign – and he was holding a machine gun. He drew his gun from his coat and spun on his heel, firing a shot at no logical target as a full clip of bullets came skyrocketing his way. DeShawn felt his arteries clogging with blood, followed by immense pain. Hopeless, DeShawn emptied his clip in the direction the shots were coming from. He fell to the ground, his gun lay next to him as he regurgitate on his own blood in the middle of the street. The firing had stopped. Not a minute later, a car drove by and picked up DeShawn, then disappearing. Mason Frayne and his posse stepped out onto the street. There was no body.