Charles Bronson children: Meet Michael Jonathan Peterson

Michael Gordon Peterson, later known as Charles Bronson, was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, to Eira and Joe Peterson.

Charles Bronson father later became the manager of the Conservative club in Aberystwyth, and his uncle and aunt were mayors of Luton in the 1960s and 1970s. According to his aunt, Eileen Parry, he was a kind and gentle boy who was good with children and would defend the weak.

Charles Bronson Biography

Peterson lived in Luton until his family moved to Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, when he was a teenager. Charles Bronson began to get into trouble at this time, joining a gang of robbers and getting caught stealing, which resulted in him being reprimanded in juvenile court at the age of 13. Peterson enjoyed fighting and often skipped school.

He eventually returned to Luton and started working at Tesco, but was dismissed after attacking his manager. He had several jobs before being imprisoned for the first time at Risley, serving time on remand for criminal damage. After being fined and given probation, he continued to work in various menial jobs while involved in petty crime.

At the age of 19, Peterson was convicted for his part in a smash and grab raid and received a suspended sentence. He met Irene Kelsey in 1971 and they married in 1972 when Kelsey was four months pregnant. They had a son together but divorced five years later. Peterson changed his name to Charles Bronson, taking inspiration from the actor of the same name.

Charles Bronson

Since 1999, Bronson has focused on writing poetry and creating art. He has had eleven books published and has won 11 Koestler Trust Awards for his poetry and art. In 2010, his artwork was displayed on the London Underground, but was soon removed after criticism from the National Victims’ Association.

In 2014, the sale of some of Bronson’s artworks raised money for his mother’s holiday after his reported attack on prison guards. In 2016, he auctioned one of his artworks to raise money for the treatment of a child with cerebral palsy.

In 2021, Bronson was featured on a single by the Ayia Napa-based recording act Lost Vegas. In 2023, he put his drawings up for sale at an exhibition, hoping to demonstrate his ability to have an occupation if released from prison and increase his chances for parole.

In 1974, at the age of 22, Charles Bronson was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was sent to Walton Gaol but soon ended up on the punishment block after attacking two prisoners.

He was transferred to Hull in 1975 and was sent to the punishment block again after refusing prison work and smashing up a workshop following an altercation with a prison officer. Charles Bronson was injected with the sedative chlorpromazine, which made him violently ill, and had six months added to his sentence.

He continued to be a highly challenging inmate, repeatedly placed in solitary confinement for several months. He attacked fellow prisoner John Henry Gallagher with a glass jug and was charged with grievous bodily harm. He was transferred to Armley Gaol.

Charles Bronson wife

Upon his release from Gartree, Bronson, then known as Michael Peterson, stayed with his parents in Aberystwyth for a few days. He bought a water pistol, modified it, and used it to intimidate a stranger into driving him to Luton.

Bronson began a short-lived career in illegal bare-knuckle boxing in the East End of London on the advice of his long-time friend Reggie Kray.

He changed his name to Charles Bronson in 1987 on the advice of his fight promoter, Paul Edmonds. He offered to fight Lenny McLean, but was refused. He also claimed to have killed a rottweiler with his bare hands in a £10,000 underground fight. Later he stated that he was not proud of it because he loved animals.

On New Year’s Day 1988, to the surprise of Charles Bronson’s girlfriend Alison, Bronson robbed a jewelry shop, kept a ring for her, and sold the rest. On January 7, 1988, his 69th day of freedom, he was arrested on his morning jog.

The arresting officers charged him under his fighting name, Charles Bronson, and he decided to give up the name Michael Peterson. He was returned to Leicester Prison, as Bedford Prison refused to house him due to his uncontrollable behavior during his first stretch in prison.

In 2001, Bronson married Fatema Saira Rehman, a Bangladeshi-born divorcee, while in HMP Woodhill. She had seen his picture and an article about him in a newspaper and began writing to him.

After four years, they divorced, and he renounced Islam. During this period, Bronson appealed against his life sentence, but three appeal court judges rejected the application in April 2004.

Bronson remained a Category A prisoner when he was moved to Wakefield High-Security Prison. He was due for a parole hearing in September 2008, but this was postponed when his lawyer objected to a one-hour parole interview, requesting a full day to deal with Bronson’s case.

The parole hearing took place on March 11, 2009, and the board refused parole shortly afterward.

In August 2013, a petition with 10,000 signatures was presented to 10 Downing Street calling for his release. In an enclosed note, Bronson appealed to Prime Minister David Cameron for him to be able to “live what’s left of my life and not be buried in the prison system.”

On February 28, 2014, Bronson violently attacked the prison governor in a television room in HMP Woodhill over a dispute that his mail was being withheld, including two letters from his mother.

The governor had serious bruising. In July 2014, Bronson was sentenced to two years. The prison had accepted that his mail may have been unacceptably processed.

In August of 2014, a notorious prisoner named Bronson announced that he was changing his name to Charles Salvador as a tribute to Salvador Dalí. He explained that the old version of himself had “dried up” and that Bronson had died in 2014.

Under his new name, Salvador began creating works of art that were described as “fantasy reality.” An auction was held in October of that year for a collection of his artwork.

In February of 2017, Salvador proposed to actress Paula Williamson during a prison visit and was accepted. Williamson had been visiting him for five months, and according to her, he had changed for the better.

They married in the prison chapel in November of that year. However, in July of 2018, Bronson asked for a divorce after photos of Williamson with another man were leaked to a newspaper.

In 2019, Williamson was found dead at her home in Stoke-on-Trent. Her death was not considered suspicious by the police.

In 2017, Charles Bronson contacted photographer George Bamby after recognizing his name on a documentary. Bronson gave Bamby hair samples for DNA testing, and Bamby produced a certificate claiming that there was a 99.98% chance that he was Bronson’s son.

In November of 2018, Charles Bronson was found not guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent after an incident involving the governor at Wakefield prison. He defended himself in court, stating that he never intended to be violent.

In June of 2020, Bronson won a High Court battle for the right for his parole board meeting to be held in public, citing the right to a fair trial. And in early 2023, it was reported that Bronson would go before the parole board in March of that year.