⸺  Biography.

grace helen burgess was born on march first , eighteen ninety - four to patrick and hanora burgess. she was the middle of three siblings : the eldest , john , and the youngest , bridget. the burgess line traced back to anglo - irish nobility, a protestant family that long maintained land , horses and influence in county galway.at the age of eight , grace’s mother passed only days after giving birth to the youngest burgess , succumbing to complications of puerperla pyrexia. the family as a whole was devastated , the maternal chasm left to be filled by a man who was woefully unprepared for the sensitivity required for such a task.the burgess patriarch was a man who preferred to bury grief and emotion beneath the rigours of routine. the stilted household was ran more akin to the constabulary barracks he favoured. as a decorated officer with the royal irish constabulary , patrick burgess was a man who believed in king and country before all else. these convictions he instilled in his children with a heavy hand , raising them to be stewards of legacy rather than mere sons and daughters.no matter the severity of his beliefs and the methods in which he imbued them , even stalwart patrick could not ignore the tide of rebellion that was quickly rising across ireland. while john was sent to boarding school and bridget was left to lonesome playrooms , grace listened. curious and increasingly concerned ears filled with whispers of home rule and revolution.then came nineteen - sixteen.a bloody year , both for the family and ireland as a whole. in the midst of war elsewhere in europe , dublin rose in easter week. the insurrection was lead by republicans seeking an end to british rule through any means necessary. rebellion reverberated throughout the country— including closer to home.while the south burned , galway’s troubles were far less organized. rebels , lacking the arms promised to them by irish volunteer leaders , endeavoured to divert further british sympathizers from concentrating on dublin. on a that fateful day , grace’s father was with a mobile patrol at the carnmore crossroads when they were ambushed. clad in his green uniform , patrick burgess was shot dead and left to bleed out on a gravel road.the funeral was a somber affair , held in the wake of martial law and government - sanctioned executions. terror gripped the nation , but especially prominent unionists who feared further reprisals from sympathetic fenians. with houses burnt and paranoia rampant , there were very few mourners present that cloudy april day.chief amongst the missing was grace’s brother john , who remained stationed with the royal navy somewhere on the north sea. the telegram he sent in his stead was stiff and impersonal, containing only four words: regret unable to attend.it was the last grace heard from him. only a month later , another telegram arrived , only this time bearing the war office seal. john was missing , presumed dead.thankfully grace wasn't alone long.in the damp silence of her newly - shattered life , it was inspector chester campbell who swept in to help pick up the pieces. he was a familiar face at family gatherings , an acquaintance of her father— something between colleague and confidant. newly returned from the ruins of dublin , he did not come with mere condolences or empty platitudes. instead , he came with an offer.in the weeks that followed , chester campbell used honeyed words that spoke of honour , purpose , revenge , providing a much needed distraction for grace’s aching heart. after years of feeling unseen , it was as though campbell understood exactly what she was: a woman unmoored. he read her like a book , acknowledging the use her distinct upbringing could have to wider , more idealistic aims.it didn’t take much.in her grief , her lack of prospects and connection , grace was extremely pliable. easy to mold into whatever chester campbell needed of her. the opportunity he offered was to be a service. not only to her country , but to the memory of her father. a continuation of a legacy she was already trained to uphold.grace burgess did not hesitate to accept.after arranging her affairs at home , a still grieving grace relocated to london where she was placed in an military intelligence section five training program. borne of wartime necessity and imperial paranoia , it was designed for the management of growing domestic problems for the british empire.grace took to her training like a duck to water. its rigid structure the perfect fuel for a woman who only months before was on the verge of complete collapse. while she excelled in practical fields , her past — mainly her need to honour the legacy of her father — was often judged a liability in the eyes of her instructors. time and time again , it was instilled in her that this business was primarily that of cultivating relationships. successful infiltration meant living in gray. yet to grace , gray areas were incomprehensible. reprehensible , even.the individuals and ideals that made her role necessary were not abstractions to be met sympathetically. they were the same forces that had bled her father out on a roadside , they were only threats to be swiftly crushed.in the early spring of nineteen - seventeen , grace received her first assignment. she was sent to work undercover as a barmaid at a dockside pub in liverpool. already established as britain’s maritime gateway , wartime traffic cemented the city as a hub for other , far less desirable exchanges.at first , the task disgusted her. the environment and work she endured was unfamiliar , but slowly she shed her old skin , discomfort dissipating with each passing day. by the autumn , grace’s observations had helped dismantle the beginnings of a bolshevik cell. several men were arrested , with two missing. a fact that neither concerned , nor unsettled grace. by the time she was recalled back to london ,  grace’s transformation was complete. the girl that had arrived in the city two years earlier was long gone. in her place was something far harder.it was a period of change for the wider world as well , with the end of the great war. as the dust settled over french trenches , another battle was brewing , this time something far more internal. a war of empire.winston churchill , alerted to a new threat , handpicked campbell and grace for their next operation. birmingham was next. a city rife with returning veterans , whispers of gunrunning and most importantly: rumours of an irish connection. at the centre of it all: the peaky blinders.

  ❛ THERE'S BUSINESS, AND THERE'S LOVE.    : CANON VERSE
follows the canon events of peaky blinders television show with headcanon influences. refer to the above biography for more information... or you know, watch the show. you won't regret it!  ❛ AND THERE IT GOES, GRACE.    : SERIES TWO - ALTERNATE
grace's bullet finds its mark, that fateful black star day. chester campbell is killed and with his death grace steps into the role he leaves behind. rather than fleeing to new york, she takes over campbell's operations with the british foreign secretary.  ❛ IT WASN'T THE BLUE STONE, TOMMY    : HORROR VERSE
grace dies, that fateful night in nineteen - twenty - two, sapphire stone around her neck. her body rots , but a presence remains. whether she is a memory or a curse depends on who asks.  ❛ I'M AN AGENT OF THE CROWN.    : MODERN VERSE
she works as a domestic operative with military intelligence section five, dealing in counter-intelligence, surveillance and infiltration. TBD.