20. She was using another name not Sue. endobj It is she replied, she was my mother. Kate Leigh photographed by police in 1930 (detail). endobj she enjoyed the Chrlstmastide festivities, admission that this jade Is still at large. endobj From the early 1920s to the 1940s, men crowded the streets outside her establishments at nightfall on Friday and Saturday nights to gain entry and purchase the alcohol she sold illegally. 35 0 obj Play it now! Emma Rolfe (aka May Mulholland, Sybil White, Jean Harris and Eileen Mulholland), 1 April 1920. <>]/P 559 0 R/Pg 555 0 R/S/Link>> The women in the case were eventually put on good behaviour bonds. The man third from the left in the same row may be the pickpocket and three-card trickster Frederick Mewson, and the man far left in the front row is likely the pickpocket Norman Smith. His entry concludes: (i) may be described as an unscrupulous criminal, who will lend his hand to any unlawful undertaking, irrespective of its nature, and invariably assaults, or endeavours to assault, police effecting his arrest. 1 0 obj Such a monster in human disguise. 233 0 obj State Library of NSW Digital Excellence Program, KATE LEIGH'S DAUGHTER MAKES AN EFFORT TO VINDICATE HERSELF, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103475918, create private tags and comments, readable only by you, and. Monday: Eiteen [?] Clever and unscrupulous enough to know that once a victim is made, she becomes a sure customer for life. Emma Kate Walton was born on Nov. 27, 1962, in London, England. Vera Crichton, 23, and Nancy Cowman, 19, are listed in the NSW Police Gazette 24 March 1924 as charged, along with three others, with conspiring together to procure a miscarriage on a third woman. endobj Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), Sun 26 Mar 1933, Sydneys Surry Hills would be unrecognisable to Kate Leigh, were she alive today. Hollywood Icons. By Leigh Straw | NewSouth | $29.99. KATE LEIGH - Queen of the Underworld, Sly Grog Trader and Drug Dealer Born as Catherine Mary Josephine Beahan in Dubbo in March 1881 to Timothy Beahan, a bootmaker and Charlotte Smith, her name later changed to Kathleen and eventually Kate. Alice Joyce Hamilton. endobj Mrs Kathleen Mary Josephine "Kate" Beahan Leigh Birth 10 Mar 1881 Dubbo, Dubbo Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia Death 4 Feb 1964 (aged 82) Darlinghurst, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Burial Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park Matraville, Randwick City, New South Wales, Australia Show Map Plot . Kate Leigh, pictured at her 2 Landsdowne Street,Surry Hills house with her second husband, sly grog dealer Teddy Barry dressed as Santa Claus for one of their generous Christmas gift givings, The walls of Kate Leigh's old house have been adorned with graffiti for many years now, Real estate agents say the house is ready for a complete renovation and is an opportunity for someone to tunr the old sly grog shop into a stunning property. He is described as being five foot seven in height, and of fresh complexion; a blacksmith by trade. She was best know for. Celebrating Kate: The criminal-celebrity of Sydney underworld figure, Kate Leigh endobj <>]/P 586 0 R/Pg 582 0 R/S/Link>> Rival gangs eroded her profits from cocaine by standing over and slashing decoys (often working prostitutes) with razors. <> View the profiles of people named Eileen Leigh. Cornford was charged with stealing watches, clothing and money from a shop and with stealing two separate motorcycles and sidecars. Her then de facto husband and bodyguard, Henry George "Jack" Baker, was shot outside this house by the well known Sydney criminal, John 'Chow' Hayes on 19 February 1938. Leigh married James Ernest 'Jack' Leigh in 1902. May 1, 2022 - 27 likes, 0 comments - Mamamia Family (@mamamia_family) on Instagram: "After her daughter Amy took her own life in 2018, Kate Everett started @dollysdreamaustralia, as . Was it really because Tilly like Kate, her rival was successful in a field where men dominated? <>]/P 655 0 R/Pg 651 0 R/S/Link>> endobj B. Smith, Gertrude Thompson and Vera McDonald The problem was that it was funded by taxpayers money, and many men complained. In 1936, newly appointed Sydney Police Commissioner MacKay warned them both to tone down the violence or else risk serious imprisonment. <>]/P 658 0 R/Pg 651 0 R/S/Link>> One of the walls in the dilapidatedhouse once occupied by the queen of the underworld, Kate Leigh, Sydney criminal Frank Green, whose prison file is pictured (above) was an associate of Kate Leigh's during her long criminal career as a drug and sly grog dealer. endobj <>]/P 510 0 R/Pg 503 0 R/S/Link>> Her father Jack was a boot- and shoemaker, her mother Charlotte worked at home (and with a family of ten to look after, worked very hard). [citation needed] The two women physically fought one another on numerous occasions and their respective gangs conducted pitched battles in Eaton Avenue and Kellet Street, King's Cross in May and August 1929. Alfred Bodmore (alias Podmore), 3 August 1923, Bodmore appears in the NSW Police Gazette of October 1923 as charged with breaking and entering two separate warehouses and stealing goods and money. <>]/P 504 0 R/Pg 503 0 R/S/Link>> <>]/P 606 0 R/Pg 602 0 R/S/Link>> By the age of 15, Kate married her first husband, Jack Lee, a half Chinese illegal bookmaker and petty criminal. <>]/P 671 0 R/Pg 664 0 R/S/Link>> 697 0 obj endobj endobj Eileen Leigh (played by Izzy Stevens) with mother Kate Leigh (played by Danielle Cormack) on Underbelly: Razor. So while all biographies require a degree of imagination, hers would demand more than most. Reputedly she was neglected and at 12 was incarcerated in Parramatta Industrial School for Girls. Kate married for the second time on 26 September 1922, to a Western Australian-born musician Edward Joseph 'Teddy' Barry (1892-1948), a sly-grog dealer and small time criminal. Ms Leigh was well-known among politicians and police officers, and well-liked by some, although she was called 'a sinister, shadowy character,' in the NSW Police Force Archives, according to an extract in Larry Writer's book. By the 1940s, Leigh was known as a larger than life character - wealthy, greedy, funny and generous to those she felt sorry for - whose name as a female criminal was rivalled only by another, Leigh's bitter foe, brothel queen Tilly Devine. 2 0 obj 36 0 obj <>]/P 635 0 R/Pg 628 0 R/S/Link>> <>]/P 566 0 R/Pg 565 0 R/S/Link>> 187 0 obj <>]/P 533 0 R/Pg 526 0 R/S/Link>> Hunter is listed in the NSW Police Gazette, 1924 as charged, along with William Munro, with receiving stolen goods to the value of 536 pounds 4 shillings and 1 penny, from Snows department store. In Larry Writer's book Razor, he writes that in the 1960s, Ms Leigh was still living at the Devonshire home but was impoverished because after hours grog had been legalised. 12. At the time, she was still studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. [19] During her heyday, Kate Leigh owned and operated more than thirty different sly grog hotels at different locations in inner Sydney that generated thousands of pounds in profit annually. endobj Izzy Stevens as Eileen Leigh, daughter of Kate Leigh Jamie Kristian as Albert Duke, Englishman and husband of Eileen Leigh Troy Planet as George "The Midnight Raper" Wallace, violent member of Bruhn's gang Jake Ryan as Constable Ray "The Blizzard" Blissett, crusading policeman Felix Jozeps as Ernest Wilson, Phil Jeffs' driver and gangster Some of its ground floor interiors resembling the original terrace which Kate Leigh inhabited until 1964 when her fortune had dwindled and she died, Graffiti on the walls and an old poker machine in the living area at the back of 212 Devonshire Street, Mug shot: Pictured at Central Police Station after one of her many arrests, Ms Liegh still cut a stylish figure, A number of musicians have lived or visited the home in the decades since Ms Leigh's 1964. Two years later she appeared at Central Police Court in Sydney charged with having phenobarbitone in her possession. Despite the concession, the venue was long the centre of Canberras lesbian subculture, especially on Friday nights. 237 0 obj endobj 31. But there's another unlikely collection of photos that allow us to get an idea of what fashion was like in the 1920s to 1930s: police mugshots. The problem lies with the sources. endobj Paragraph operations are made directly in the full article text panel located to the left.Paragraph operations include: Zone operations are made directly in the full article text panel located to the left.Zone operations include: Please choose from the following download options: The National Library of Australia's Copies Direct service lets you purchase higher quality, larger sized <>]/P 542 0 R/Pg 526 0 R/S/Link>> But we need to be super sure you aren't a robot. Leigh was also personally involved in violence, though she was never convicted of any such offense. endobj So was she a role model? For all their notoriety, and the fact that their stories are strewn through a variety of sources, neither Tilly Devine nor Kate Leigh has ever been honoured with a book-length biography before, possibly because of problems Ill come to. Catherine Mary Josephine Ryan (ne Beahan; aka Lee, Barry; preferred names Kathleen or Kate; 10 March 1881 - 4 February 1964) generally known as Kate Leigh was an Australian underworld figure who rose to prominence as an illegal trader of alcohol and cocaine dealer from her home in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia during the first half of the When cocaine was outlawed in 1927, Leigh sold both, at at huge profits. 'She plays a dominating part in the tragedy which is spelt D-O-P-E. She meets young women in cafes and hotel lounges, and she ingratiates herself with them. In the eyes of decent society, they were both bad women, and very clever to boot, and which of them was the worst was the source of endless speculation. She was previously married to Mark Pavlakovich. Her childhood and teenage years included childhood neglect, time in a girls' home at age 12, and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; her daughter Eileen May Beahan was born in 1900. endobj In stark contrast to Devine, who moved to seaside Maroubra when she could afford to, Leigh stuck with her working-class suburb, and when she died she was mourned. H/T The Justice & Police Museum/Historic Households Trust | TwistedSifter, If you like this post you may also enjoy 21 Vintage Police Mugshots That Prove 1920s Gangsters Were Really Badass, The Justice & Police Museum/Historic Households Trust. 216 0 obj C Smith, Joseph Bezzina, William J Williamson, Aiden Feutrill, George Hodder, William Thorson, 25 January 1928. uuid:c25d1d94-b261-11b2-0a00-90068915fc7f <> He appears in the NSW Criminal Register (24 September 1930) as a thief and petty larcenist. Her conviction was overturned on appeal, but the marriage was over. She was charged on 107 occasions and was sent to prison on 13 occasions. Leigh was by then in a de facto relationship with her business partner, Jack Baker, but in 1950, she married convicted West Australian criminal, Ernest 'Shiner ' Ryan, the first Australian to use a motor vehicle in a payroll hold-up. The irony is that it is only as a result of its remarkable gentrification that Leigh has finally received her due. 372 0 obj 339 0 obj [5] Leigh was famously quoted in the Australian media as stating "The bloom has gone off the grog". , Topics: The subjects are not named, but the woman on the left is believed to be Eileen Leigh, daughter of Kate Leigh. GRO Reference: 1897 Jan-Feb-Mar in Axbridge Volume 05C Page 485. Later that year a warrant was issued for her having breached those conditions and a further entry in October lists her as having been arrested and charged, but then released with a caution. <>]/P 523 0 R/Pg 513 0 R/S/Link>> The man on the far right in the back row may be Stephen Doyle, and the man to the left of him Kenneth McLelland (or McCrerrand). <>]/P 514 0 R/Pg 513 0 R/S/Link>> 485 0 obj <>]/P 661 0 R/Pg 651 0 R/S/Link>> 391 0 obj <> uuid:c25d1d93-b261-11b2-0a00-301c7d020000 37 0 obj 'Broke and embattled, Kate did her best to earn a little money, selling illegal alcohol from friends' homes and rented rooms,' the book says, but the NSW Government had put her out of business in 1955 by extending hotel trading hours to 10pm. The man on the far right in the back row is believed to be Stephen Doyle, and the man to the left of him Kenneth McLelland (or McCrerrand). 39 0 obj Harry Chapman was charged with stealing a motor cycle and side car (value 175 pounds) and a till containing money, value 17s. Facebook gives people the power to. Kate was born in 1897 in Wedmore, Somerset, England. Join Facebook to connect with Eileen Leigh and others you may know. 323 0 obj Valerie Lowe and Joseph Messenger were were charged with breaking and entering a dwelling in 1922. [10] These activitiesthe defense of these business turfsand ongoing feuds with rival organised crime leaders in NSW led Leigh to be a prominent figure in Sydney's brutal razor gang wars of the 1920s and 1930s. [8] They were separated six months later, and Ryan died in Western Australia in 1954. 197 0 obj The subjects are not named, but the woman on the left is believed to be Eileen Leigh, daughter of Kate Leigh. 15. Special Photograph no. The four bedroom, one bathroom property is where she lived and ran her criminal empire until she died. There are the police records but they are sparse; Leigh was adept at keeping clear of the law. Working on the development of this brand and custom prints allows the legacy of my late mother who passed from breast cancer and whose nickname with close friends and family was "Penny," to shine through and make all of us feel magical! It is a tragic but terribly true thing a great percentage of fallen women who walk the pavements of Sydney are drug-takers. It said she had once been the 'best looking girl' in Surry Hills and had become tremendously wealthy through being a tough businesswoman. Frank McGowan, Robert McFarlane and John Dennis McFarlane, 23 May 1921. [4] They separated in 1905 when Lee was imprisoned for assault and robbery. She was imprisoned several times, was not afraid to use a gun and did kill a man, though she claimed it was self-defence. [5], She lived in a terrace house at 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills from 1933 until the house was demolished in 1950. 'For she deals in a commodity that means the warping of the moral outlook, the damning of the eternal soul. About time, I say. For all the fascination in Leighs story, Straw has been hobbled in piecing it together. [5], Leigh was also engaged in a violent feud with her rival Tilly Devine, a Sydney madam based in Woolloomooloo that lasted 20 years. photocopies or electronic copies of newspapers pages. endobj Tv Actors. Veronica Olive Moisa. <>]/P 665 0 R/Pg 664 0 R/S/Link>> Nancy Cowman, 19, and Vera Crichton, 23, are listed in the NSW Police Gazette 24 March 1924 as charged, along with three others, with conspiring together to procure a miscarriage on a third woman. The serial numbers of this and the Mug shot of Elsie Hall, Dulcie Morgan, Jean Taylor run in sequence, suggesting they were taken on the same day and, judging from the lighting, at the same time of day. <>]/P 632 0 R/Pg 628 0 R/S/Link>> Ms Leigh was then in her late fifties and 212 Devonshire Street was one of her rougher establishments, while another Surry Hills house at 2 Landsowne Street was her largest grog shop. 340 0 obj Leigh Straw She had originally come from the central western NSW town of Dubbo where, as Kathleen Beahan, one of eight children of a Catholic bootmaker, she had been put in a girls' home at the age of 12 and gave birth to her first child, Eileen, the following year, in 1900. 267 0 obj They separated, and she lived with one of her bodyguards Wally Tomlinson, who had a reputation as a tough stand over criminal in the 1920s, the razor war years. <>]/P 603 0 R/Pg 602 0 R/S/Link>> Leigh, Kathleen Mary (Kate) (1881-1964) A former N.S.W. endstream Not long after her release, she met a petty crook and opium addict named Jimmy Lee and bore their child, a daughter, Eileen. ', A newspaper report from May 1943 reports that police have raided Kate Leigh's Surry Hills house, finding 1001 bottles of beer and 84 bottles of whisky under the floorboards, Underbelly Razor cast beautiful actresses in the roles of Tillt Devine (in the red hat ) and Kate Leigh (in the black) hat in a glamourised version of the razor gang era, The article said Ms Leigh's 'official' occupation was shop keeper of a mixed business from the Surry Hills house and that 'she gives money to the Salvation Army and to church charities. None of the names appears in the Police Gazette except for Dangar, which turns out to be an alias for Owen Patrick Brosnan, (also known as Brosnahan, or Brosner), a false pretender and suspected person. endobj Ms Leigh was by then in a de facto relationship with her business partner, Jack Baker, but in 1950, she married convicted West Australian criminal, Ernest 'Shiner ' Ryan the first Australian to use a motor vehicle in a payroll hold-up. She anglicised her name to Lee and by 1922 she was married to sly grog dealer Teddy Barry. Smith and Jones were charged with stealing seven packages of twine valued at 14 pounds. More good than evil? The Worst Woman in Sydney: The Life and Crimes of Kate Leigh <>]/P 687 0 R/Pg 677 0 R/S/Link>> Leigh . 1 215 0 obj <>]/P 517 0 R/Pg 513 0 R/S/Link>> This photograph was apparently taken in the aftermath of a raid led by CIB Chief Bill Mackay later to be Commissioner of Police on a house at 74 Riley Street, lower Darlinghurst. 238 0 obj Dubbo . The subjects are not named, but the woman on the left is believed to be Eileen Leigh or Barry (daughter of Kate Leigh). 691 0 obj <> Kathleen Mary Josephine (Kate) Leigh (1881-1964), crime entrepreneur, was born on 10 March 1881 at Dubbo, New South Wales, eighth child of native-born parents Timothy Beahan, bootmaker, and his wife Charlotte, ne Smith. They were called 'Mum's' as an allusion to the pass code of calling around 'to see Mum'. Fitch also went on to become an active member of the Sydney underworld (see Mug shot of Alfred Fitch in this collection). On 1 May 1922, a month after this photograph was taken, Albert Sing was sentenced to 18 months hard labour on three counts of receiving stolen goods, including fountain pens, cutlery and clothing. Tilleys was the quintessential feminist project; the tables, so to speak, were turned. 'Kate's only income was what she could scrounge occasionally hiring out hand-carts to vegetabel and fruit hawkers for twp shilings and sixpence a day.'. Tarlington went on to become a well-known criminal and was eventually shot dead in St Peters by Myles Henry Face McKeon, who was himself later shot dead in Chippendale. Kate Leigh is a brand that celebrates women and girls, but also especially mothers and daughters. Leigh had established her lucrative sly grog business well before then, capitalising on the 1916 edict by the then NSW Premier, who following a riot of pub crawling World War I soldiers, called a state of emergency and closed Sydney's pubs after 6pm. Filter . 370 0 obj [5], Continuing to live at Surry Hills, she suffered a severe stroke on 31 January 1964 at her residence at 212 Devonshire Street and was rushed to hospital. 437 0 obj The subjects are not named, but the woman on the left is believed to be Eileen Leigh or Barry (daughter of Kate Leigh). Even Eileen Leigh, daughter of notorious sly-grog queen and crime boss Kate Leigh, couldn't escape being fined 1 (or seven days' imprisonment) for being on a tram without a mask. Kate Leigh was imprisoned for five years for perjury and had to place her daughter, Eileen, in a convent while she served her time.12 When Kate Leigh was released from prison in 1919, she set about running her own business through the sly-grog trade. Cowman (alias Divvers, alias Denvers) was eventually acquitted. endobj <>]/P 629 0 R/Pg 628 0 R/S/Link>> This photograph was taken after she was arrested for defrauding one Henry Placings in Sydney of 106 pounds, by borrowing against a forged cheque, for which she received a years imprisonment. [25], Leigh was undoubtedly one of Sydney's wealthiest women during the 1930s and 1940s but the Taxation Office sent her into bankruptcy in 1954 for unpaid income tax and fines dating back to 1942. photocopies or electronic copies of newspapers pages. The defence, on the other hand, described a quiet party, a few drinks, some singing violently interrupted by a squad of hostile, brawling police (Truth, 29 January 1928). Safeblower., 32. Chapman was sentenced to two years hard labour for the motor cycle theft. After divorcing him, she became a factory worker, a sex worker, stole, fenced goods, and would provide false alibis for money. She had a daughter, Eileen, with the first guy, around 1903. father. Safe-blower &c and he appears again in a photo supplement of 1927 as Podmore, Alfred alias Matthew Campbell. endobj He received 12 months hard labour on each charge. 420 0 obj Thomas Sutherland Jones and William Smith, 15 July 1921. <>]/P 668 0 R/Pg 664 0 R/S/Link>> By <>]/P 625 0 R/Pg 621 0 R/S/Link>> By Brianne Tolj and Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia, Published: 22:24 EDT, 14 November 2015 | Updated: 03:35 EDT, 15 November 2015. Page 6 - KATE LEIGH'S DAUGHTER MAKES AN EFFORT TO VINDICATE HERSELF. [6], During the late 1920s Kate lived with Walter "Wally" Tomlinson (or Thomlinson) (c.1899-1968), whom she had employed as one of her bodyguards. <> Prince 12.5 (www.princexml.com) 459 0 obj endobj Although she never drank alcohol or took drugs, Ms Leigh happily dealt in both and acted as a stand over merchant, sold stolen property and occasionally shoplifted. 1894 - 1954), Sun 26 Mar 1933, Page 11 - EILEEN LEIGH STILL HERE. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to get the full Trove experience. endobj The man on the far right in the back row may be Stephen Doyle, and the man to the left of him Kenneth McLelland (or McCrerrand). endobj 406 0 obj Some of the most popular drinks can be awful for your health - with the sweetest ones doing the most damage, Wife of 39-year-old killed during Army helicopter crash in Alaska along with two other soldiers, aged 28 and 32, posts touching tribute online to fallen fighter, White councilman in Indiana sparks outrage after proclaiming himself a 'lesbian woman of color' who is 'living life as my true self' - but angry trans local calls for him to resign, Super Mario Bros. Movie starring Chris Pratt continues to lead box office for fourth straight week and surpasses $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide, The screen for King Charles' coronation anointing is revealed, Devastating tornado picks up car and hurls it through air in Florida, Ukraine drone strike hits major fuel depot in port Sevastopol, Women's rights activists and pro-trans campaigners separated, Historic chairs to be reused by the King for the coronation service, Hundreds of Household Division members rehearse for coronation, Russian freight train derails and bursts into flames after explosion, Cambridge students party in the park during annual celebrations, 'You motherf***ers don't understand': Bam Margera details 'turmoil', Moment large saltwater crocodile snatches pet dog off beach in QLD, Monstrous tornado seen bearing down on Palm Beach, Braverman: People crossing Channel are 'at odds with British values'. <>]/P 583 0 R/Pg 582 0 R/S/Link>> An era had truly ended. Nancy was nine-months-old when she was brought in the arms of her parents all the way from Korea. Kate anglicised her part-Asian surname from Lee to Leigh, and she was mostly known by that name for the rest of her life, regardless of future marriages. She married three times but, unsurprisingly, none of the marriages stuck. 293 0 obj endobj <>]/P 599 0 R/Pg 592 0 R/S/Link>> The NSW Police Gazette 29 October 1930, p. 827 lists Blake as charged with having cocaine unlawfully in her possession. She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and fined 250 pounds. "I'm Mrs. Eileen Earle, and daughter of Kate Leigh," she . She said she had been to prison 13 times, but 'never for prostitution' and that the police left her alone now because everything was legitimate. An earlier mug shot of Brosnan shows him to be not the man on the right in this group of three, as inscribed, but rather the offhand individual in the centre, here identified as A Wyatt. 371 0 obj Was Kate Leigh a bad woman, the worst in Sydney? endobj Munro is listed in the NSW Police Gazette, 1924 as charged, along with Harris Hunter, with receiving stolen goods to the value of 536 pounds 4 shillings and 1 penny, from Snows department store. The article described Leigh - then aged 63 - as 'stooped, fat and blowsy'but with 'little piercing eyes' which 'indicate her tremendous vitality'. (ii) Addicted to drink, a constant companion of prostitutes, frequents houses of ill-fame, wine bars and hotels in the city and its immediate surroundings, generally Surry Hills and Darlinghurst particularly. Every school lunch hour they cram her shop, laughing at her jokes.
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