The story of Thomas Shelby and his family is at the heart of Peaky Blinders. While much of the series focuses on Tommy’s rise from a small-time gangster in Birmingham to a powerful Member of Parliament, his role as a father is a constant, often painful, thread throughout the show. With the recent release of the movie Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, now playing in theaters and arriving on Netflix on March 20, the story of Tommy’s children has reached a new chapter. This article breaks down who his children are and what happened to each of them.
The Three Shelby Children
Thomas Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, has three children. They are Charles Shelby, his first son with his beloved first wife Grace Burgess; Ruby Shelby, his daughter with his second wife Lizzie Stark; and Erasmus Duke Shelby, his secret firstborn son from a relationship before World War I.
Ruby Shelby: The Short Life That Changed Everything
Ruby was the daughter of Thomas and Lizzie Shelby. She was born after Tommy and Lizzie married in 1926, bringing a new sense of hope to the family. But her life was tragically short. In the sixth and final season of the TV series, set in 1934, Ruby falls gravely ill with tuberculosis.
Tommy, desperate to save his daughter, tries to use his Romani roots to heal her, but nothing works. Her death is a devastating blow that breaks the already fragile marriage between Tommy and Lizzie. Ruby’s death is a turning point in the series, pushing Tommy to his lowest point and leading to the final confrontation with his cousin Michael Gray.
Charles Shelby: The Son Who Chose His Stepmother
Charles is the son of Thomas and his true love, Grace. After Grace was shot and killed in Season 3, a young Charles was left to be raised by his father. However, as Tommy’s ambitions and battles grew, he became an absent parent. The responsibility of raising Charles fell largely to Lizzie, Tommy’s second wife and Charles’ stepmother.
By the end of the series, Charles is a teenager who has grown resentful of his father’s coldness and criminal life. After Ruby’s funeral, when Lizzie decides she has had enough and leaves Tommy, Charles makes a powerful choice. He tells Lizzie, “You’re not my mum… but you’re more my mum than he’s my dad. He’s never here.” Charles chooses to leave Arrow House with Lizzie, a decision Tommy accepts, acknowledging that his son would be better off without him.
Duke Shelby: The Secret Son Who Returned
Duke Shelby, whose birth name is Erasmus, is the wildcard of the Shelby family. He was conceived in 1914, just before Tommy went off to fight in World War I, with a Romani woman named Zelda. Tommy never knew he had a son because he was sent to war and never returned to Zelda.
Duke enters the story in Season 6 after Ruby’s death. Esme Shelby (John’s widow) brings him to Tommy, explaining that a “daughter lost” means a “son found.” Duke arrives as a rough, cunning, and intelligent young man who grew up on the road and has already killed a man—a man who denied his dying mother a hospital bed. Tommy immediately takes to Duke, seeing a part of himself in this son who grew up without him. In the series finale, Tommy whispers something to Duke, hinting that he is passing the torch of the Peaky Blinders to him.
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The Movie: The Immortal Man and a Father-Son Conflict
The new movie, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, picks up where the series left off. The plot brings Tommy Shelby back to Birmingham to deal with his estranged son, Duke, who has become entangled in a dangerous Nazi plot. The trailer shows Duke running the Peaky Blinders with a brutal edge, forcing Tommy to return to his old life to confront his son and protect his family.
The casting for the movie adds a fascinating layer to the story. Barry Keoghan plays the grown-up Duke Shelby. In a recent interview, Cillian Murphy revealed how Keoghan got the role—through a text message on Father’s Day. Murphy shared that he texted Keoghan asking, “Do you want to play my son in Peaky Blinders?” and Keoghan immediately agreed.
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