Singleton Clan (1983: Doomsday)

The Singleton Clan is a trading company and armed merchant organization dominated by members of the Singleton family that was formed in the aftermath of Doomsday. Thanks to the diaspora of family members around the world the organization has grown from a small partnership between two in-laws to a worldwide organization with intrests in every area of transport except air.

Aftermath of Doomsday
Muriel Singleton was at her parents farm in North Yorkshire at the time of Doomsday and was effectively cut of from the world. However her fathers failing health meant that she and her mother had to travel to the nearest hospital in Scarborough which was also the home of her husbands sister Margret. However Scarborough was a smog filled disaster zone and her father died barely two months after Doomsday. Her mother died a month later and she met her sister in-law a few days after that.

The two women were disgusted by the conditions in Scarborough yet could do little to help the people. Instead they decided to return to the farm using the last drops of petrol in the 4 by 4 she had driven in with. Upon reaching the farm they saw fields which still grew with uncontaminated fresh food, the pigs roaming around and the shire horse nibbling on some hey. The local farm boy was still helping run the farm and while they had gone had set up a good trading system with the inhabitants of the nearby vilage. It was then that the idea of the clan first took hold. When they returned to Scarborough in January 1984 it was on a horse and cart with a group of heavily armed men with shotguns and over a ton of salted meats as well as fruit and veg. Proclaiming themselves to be the Singleton Clan & Co the two women had just started what would unknowingly become the largest trading company in the former UK.

Scarborough and the Kingdom Of Cleveland
For the next four years they continued to trade with Scarborough and the surrounding vilages trading food and livestock for services and mechanical equipment all the while continuing to make a profit. The goods they supplied helped bring some order to Scarborough and the Town Council was able to reassert its control on the town which ment that there was of course increased demand for luxuries. Muriel visited her brothers machine shop at this time and entered a business partnership with him which secured his and his mens mechanical services for the clan.

This allowed them to supply small luxuries along with the food as well as weapons and ammunition for their hired guards. Therefore when the Kingdom of Cleveland took control of Scarborough the Clan was more than ready to exploit the opportunities the new nation offered. They entered a pact with other farms and companies in the area allowing them to ship their goods with the Clan for a small fee and benefit from the increased protection it offered. This marked the beginning of the Clans transformation from a small farm and machine shop company into the trading company it eventually became most famous as.

Expansion into the Kingdom
In 1989 Muriel hired a group of mercenaries and ex-soldiers to go through the Kingdom of Cleveland and beyond to find other Singletons who might like a place in the organization. When they returned in 1990 they brought 23 other singletons including her oldest son Martin and her nephew Joe. She wasted no time putting the new hands to work though and assigned them as convoy managers to look after the caravans going throughout the kingdom. As well as food and small luxuries the Clan expanded in to sweets and in 1993 made a deal with Cooplands bakers to exclusively distribute thier products which efectively granted them a monopoly of pastry including the popular Eccles cake.

It wasn't all good however as the Kingdoms conscription put a burden on the company by depriving them of enforcers from time to time. It didn't perticulary slow them down however and when the Kingdom sent explorers west in 1995 the Clan insisted on having a cart with there own soldiers on it sent with them.

Looking Outwards
Between 1995 and 2000 the Clan sent traders into Lancaster and other neighboring countries bringing with it goods from most of Yorkshire. It also soon entered into a contract with farmers and other businessmen in Lancaster to ship their goods to Cleveland for a fee.