Leigh was born on 10 March 1881 in Dubbo, New South Wales, the eighth child of Roman Catholic parents Timothy Beahan, a boot-maker, and his wife Charlotte (ne Smith). Nothing she did improved the status of women; indeed, it could be argued that she made the lives of many worse. 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. 'She is tougher than most men, can punch, bite and gouge with the fierce courage of an animal,' the magazine wrote. Hazel was given a suspended sentence. endobj 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. By Brianne Tolj and Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia, Published: 22:24 EDT, 14 November 2015 | Updated: 03:35 EDT, 15 November 2015. She also lied to protect him when he assaulted their landlord, and went to jail. Kate Leigh the sly grog queen and her criminal rival, brothel madam Tilly Devine pretend to be friendly but theirs was a bitter relationship, A 1950 magazine article described Kate Leigh, who lived at 212 Devonshire Street (pictured) for many years as ' tougher than most men, can punch, bite and gouge with the fierce courage of an animal', Kate Leigh's old house in Sydney's inner suburbs had been operating as a cafe called Sly, a nod to her old sly grog business which operated after dark on the premises in the 1920s-1940s, A People Magazine article in the 1950s described her and Ms Devine as 'the queens of Sydney's slumland' with 'an empire of brothels, gambling joints, verminous flop-houses, sly groggeries and gin mills. , updated It quoted her saying she and Ms Devine had buried their rivalry in their old age. 236 0 obj By the 1950s, in her seventies, Leigh had become a matriarch of her community, the model for Delie Stock in Ruth Parks Harp in the South. 421 0 obj <>]/P 569 0 R/Pg 565 0 R/S/Link>> Bernstein, alias L Berman, was the subject of a warrant issued in early 1929 charged with obtaining a diamond ring value 14 pounds by false pretences from an Oxford Street jeweller. 251 0 obj 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 632 0 R/Pg 628 0 R/S/Link>> endobj A mutual friend invited me over to her house which was in the bush on an island . Alfred Ladewig, also known as Wallace, John Walker, Atkins; charged on provisional warrant with stealing by trick the sum of 204AUD, at Brisbane, the property of Alfred Walter Thomlinson. daughter. Do not sell or share my personal information. 'For she deals in a commodity that means the warping of the moral outlook, the damning of the eternal soul. Leigh 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. [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. 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. Horoscope Sagittarius. [690 0 R] After decades of being banned from public bars unless escorted by men, we women had a place of our own. 371 0 obj 31. Leigh, known as the Queen of Surry Hills, was a sly groger and fence for stolen property. Zach Giroux/Staff. Thomas Bernard Hooper (39), Harold George Hooper (34), Vera Crichton, (23), and Nancy Cowman (19) are listed in the NSW Police Gazette 24 March 1924 as having been charged with conspiring together to procure a miscarriage on Isabella Higgs. Straw, a historian, is very good at setting the scene for each stage of her subjects life. endobj A lot of people have commented on how Suzanne looks more like her father, but in photos. They were called 'Mum's' as an allusion to the pass code of calling around 'to see Mum'. [24] Kate Leigh was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment on 7 September 1942 for having sold liquor without a licence at 13 Pearl Street and 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills. 391 0 obj 340 0 obj [5], Her third and last marriage was at St John's Anglican Church, Fremantle, on 18 January 1950, to old friend and convicted criminal Ernest Alexander "Shiner" Ryan. Protected by a team of bashers and gunmen, and her own fearsome reputation, Leigh was a flamboyant and sometimes vicious character who by the mid 1920s was being called 'the most evil woman in Sydney'. endobj endobj 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'. 322 0 obj harvnb error: no target: CITEREFAllen1986 (, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBlaike1980 (, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFWriter2009 (, "Underworld Crime In Surry Hills. Eventually they were allowed to come on their own. The Firefly Lane star shares daughters Naleigh, 13, and Adalaide, 11, as well as son Joshua, 6 . <>]/P 622 0 R/Pg 621 0 R/S/Link>> <>]/P 638 0 R/Pg 628 0 R/S/Link>> For reasons complex and conflicted, we do love our bad women not least because through them we recognise the bad lurking in ourselves. <>]/P 552 0 R/Pg 545 0 R/S/Link>> Born Kathleen Beehan in Dubbo in 1887, Leigh was eighth in a family of ten children. Katie Leigh was born on 16 December 1958 in Carmel, California, USA. 38. Leigh came into her own in the 1920s, when she cornered the market in cocaine. [1], Leigh was born on 10 March 1881 in Dubbo, New South Wales, the eighth child of Roman Catholic parents Timothy Beahan, a boot-maker, and his wife Charlotte (ne Smith). Leigh married James Ernest 'Jack' Leigh in 1902. [5], Leigh was also engaged in a violent feud with her rival Tilly Devine, a Sydney madam based in Woolloomooloo that lasted 20 years. endobj It's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail! 38 0 obj When we think about fashion, lifestyle magazines and ads instantly come to mind. The subjects are not named, but the woman on the left is believed to be Eileen Leigh or Barry (daughter of Kate Leigh). Since you've made it this far, we want to assume you're a real, live human. endobj Leigh derived from her supplies from a corrupt network of doctors, dentists, chemists, and sailors, and amassed considerable wealth from the activity. Books | Was Kate Leigh a bad woman, the worst in Sydney? The home where she lived on Devonshire Street - one of 20 properties she operated as sly grog shops, including three on the same Surry Hills street - is now up for sale. NOTE: Only lines in the current paragraph are shown. Facebook gives people the power to. Kate Leigh. 'No more remarkable woman ever strode upon the stage of Sydney's nightlife than this middle-aged, matronly dame,' the extract says. <>]/P 510 0 R/Pg 503 0 R/S/Link>> Newspaper stories of the time repeatedly refer to Mammone as the main suspect in the case, although he was not charged. 305 0 obj She anglicised her name to Leigh and by 1922 she was married to sly grog dealer Teddy Barry. 355 0 obj | books <>]/P 559 0 R/Pg 555 0 R/S/Link>> endobj Hollywood Icons. Moreover, she is the eldest daughter of the family and has two younger siblings; a sister and a brother. 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. Vivien Leigh and her daughter Suzanne photographed circa 1958. So was she a role model? A judge in 1933 (above, left) says that criminal Kate Leigh 'has a good side' when she appeared in court on a charge of receiving stolen goods, whereas in 1953 (above, right) a magistrate declares Leigh's Surry Hills residence' a disorderly house'. It doesnt matter how we dress, whether or not we are beautiful or comely, our very being disturbs. <>]/P 671 0 R/Pg 664 0 R/S/Link>> 422 0 obj But first, here are the bones of Kate Leighs story, as laid out in The Worst Woman in Sydney. <>]/P 661 0 R/Pg 651 0 R/S/Link>> Just a few months after Emma's birth, Andrews moved to Hollywood with then-husband Walton and her daughter to film Mary Poppins,. <>]/P 494 0 R/Pg 493 0 R/S/Link>> The home at 212 Devonshire Street - one of 20 properties she operated as sly grog shops, including three on the same Surry Hills street was purchased during an auction on Saturday afternoon for more than the initial asking price of around $1 million. Play it now! <>]/P 596 0 R/Pg 592 0 R/S/Link>> 20. Leigh and Devine are characters in the true crime book Razor by Larry Writer, which dramatises the criminal gang rivalry in Sydney's inner suburbs in the early 20th century when gang members slashed their opponents with cut throat razors. '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.'. View the profiles of people named Eileen Leigh. <>]/P 504 0 R/Pg 503 0 R/S/Link>> Join Facebook to connect with Eileen Leigh and others you may know. Despite that, detectives spoke up for Hazel McGuinness in court, arguing that she had been led into crime by her mother (the most evil woman in Sydney) who had raised her in an atmosphere of immorality and dope. endobj When cocaine was outlawed in 1927, Leigh sold both, at at huge profits. endobj son. 56 0 obj endobj endobj Thomas Maria, Arthur Wyatt, and Patrick Dangar (alias Brosnan), c. 1920. 480 0 obj <>stream
He appears in the NSW Criminal Register (24 September 1930) as a thief and petty larcenist. The home where Sydneys Queen of the Underworld sold drugs and illegal booze for decades sold on Saturday for $1.7million nearly double its listed price. Leigh, like Devine, was a consummate self-promoter and had ongoing, sometimes stormy relations with the press, which no doubt coloured the reporting. She was imprisoned several times, was not afraid to use a gun and did kill a man, though she claimed it was self-defence. The prosecution cast the raid in heroic terms the Chief of the CIB, desperately outnumbered, had struggled hand to hand in a sweltering melee in one of the most notorious thieves kitchens in Sydney. Every school lunch hour they cram her shop, laughing at her jokes. The home got its nickname 'mum's' from the pass code of calling around 'to see Mum. <>]/P 593 0 R/Pg 592 0 R/S/Link>> Leigh Straw Tilly Devine was one of two legendary Sydney crime bosses distinguished by the fact of their sex. <>]/P 562 0 R/Pg 555 0 R/S/Link>> Smith was fined 20 pounds; Jones was sentenced to 18 months hard labour. 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. '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. Cornford was charged with stealing watches, clothing and money from a shop and with stealing two separate motorcycles and sidecars. A POWERFUL car, with a chauffeur at the wheel, pulled up at "The Arrow" office one day during the week, and out stepped a woman. Spencer Cornford, 19, was one of a group of seven young men (see also Sidney Langby) convicted in early 1925 of a series of break and enters. <>]/P 589 0 R/Pg 582 0 R/S/Link>> The industrial school was merely the latest iteration of the infamous Parramatta Female Factory, established soon after white settlement to house the most refractory of the female convicts. Suzanne was born a month premature, in less than a year of the couple's marriage. 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 alcohol. 198 0 obj <>]/P 484 0 R/Pg 689 0 R/S/Link>> <> Lewis Richard Leigh. She married three times but, unsurprisingly, none of the marriages stuck. [29][30] She was buried in Botany Cemetery, now known as Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park in the Roman Catholic Section 29K, Grave 896 as Kathleen Ryan. 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. He also steals laundered articles from clothes lines. She has been married to Vincent Panzero since 2009. Robert McFarlane (the middle man in this trio) is mentioned in the Police Gazette, 7 September 1921 in connection with the theft of three clocks, two sports coats and other articles from the warehouse of Dobson Franks Ltd. Its hard to believe, entering it now, that its beginnings were so bedevilled by vilification and controversy. Special Photograph no. 352 0 obj Chapman was sentenced to two years hard labour for the motor cycle theft. She resided at 212 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills from 1951 until her death in 1964. The world would be a better place for it, for feminism is a movement about justice. Kathleen Mary Josephine Leigh (ne Beahan; 10 March 1881 - 4 February 1964) (other names included Kathleen Barry, and Kathleen Ryan) was an Australian underworld figure who rose to prominence as an illegal trader of alcohol and cocaine from her home in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia during the first half of the twentieth century. 36 0 obj endobj The controversy in Canberra, though, was not about Tilly Devines reputation. 'She is tougher than most men, can punch, bite and gouge with the fierce courage of an animal,' the magazine wrote. <> But despite the biographys shortcomings, she has succeeded in presenting us with a character whos more good than evil a woman who is the product of an impoverishment difficult for us to imagine, who had the grit to overcome it, and who repaid with loyalty the community that supported her. 3 0 obj <> The bottom floor of the building houses a caf called 'Sly' that has leased the space until July and the remaining floors of the three-floor terrace are prime for renovation, according to the realtors First national Spencer and Servi. Or was it about something more? <>]/P 500 0 R/Pg 493 0 R/S/Link>> 9. Kate's daughter Eileen also used the name 'Leigh' until she married in 1920. [2] Her childhood and teenaged years included childhood neglect, time in a girls' home at age 12,[2] and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; her daughter Eileen May Beahan was born in 1900. | ISSN 1837-0497, Sara Ahmeds celebration of the feminist killjoy continues, Australias impassioned worries about China are in tension with better relations in the Pacific. You need to login before you can save preferences. endobj Police described a raid on the McGuinnesses Darlinghurst house during which the mother Ada threw a hand bag containing packets of cocaine to her daughter, shouting, Run Hazel!. . endobj <>]/P 618 0 R/Pg 611 0 R/S/Link>> Barry (43) the daughter of Kate was shot through the right arm in her home in O'Sullivan Street, Surry Hills . Although she couldnt wait to turn eighteen and be released, as Straw observes, It was the perfect kind of training for the life that awaited her in the working-class slums of eastern Sydney.. 2021-10-05T08:39:08-07:00 . 267 0 obj Favorite Celebrities. It's the house where the woman known as the Queen of the Underworld lived and operated her criminal empire until her death. Reputedly she was neglected and at 12 was incarcerated in Parramatta Industrial School for Girls. <>]/P 655 0 R/Pg 651 0 R/S/Link>> 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 15. 323 0 obj Kate Leigh photographed by police in 1930 (detail). She had a daughter, Eileen, with the first guy, around 1903. 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. endobj 407 0 obj She gives parties.'. In April 1930 he was further charged, along with Patricia Irving, with conspiring to cheat and defraud divers members of the public of divers large sums of money, for which he received a sentence of 18 months hard labour. 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. 490 0 obj At its peak, Leigh ran at least twenty[contradictory] bootleg outlets. 697 0 obj Kate was born in 1897 in Wedmore, Somerset, England. By
5 0 obj Its true that if men shared their power with women, if there were less segregation of genders into separate spheres of activity, then men as well as women would benefit. <>stream
Eileen May Ranson formerly Beahan aka Beaham, Leigh, Earle, Byrnes Born 1900 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Ancestors Daughter of [father unknown] and Catherine Mary Josephine (Beahan) Ryan [sibling (s) unknown] [spouse (s) unknown] [children unknown] Died 12 May 1987 at about age 87 in Zetland, New South Wales, Australia 437 0 obj 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). Smith and Jones were charged with stealing seven packages of twine valued at 14 pounds. 237 0 obj Cowman (alias Divvers, alias Denvers) was eventually acquitted. Alice Joyce Hamilton. On January 31, 1964, Kate Leigh suffered a stroke at 212 Devonshire Street and she was taken to St Vincents Hospital where she died on February 4, aged 82. 216 0 obj Occasionally she was arrested for robbery, theft or, like in 1943 when police found 1001 bottles of beer, 84 bottles of whisky and one bottle of win underneath the floorboards of her Surry Hills house. Emma Rolfe better known as May Mulholland, also goes by the names Sybil White, Jean Harris and Eileen Mulholland, had numerous convictions in the period 1919-1920 for theft of jewellery and clothing from various houses around Kensington and Randwick, and from city shops. [27], At the time of her death, aged 82, Kate Leigh was living in virtual poverty in a small room above one of her old illegal hotels at 212 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills and was financially dependent on her nephew, William John Beahan,[28] who ran a mixed business in the shop in the downstairs part of the premises. 292 0 obj 370 0 obj So while all biographies require a degree of imagination, hers would demand more than most. NOTE: Only lines in the current paragraph are shown. 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. <> Leigh was also personally involved in violence, though she was never convicted of any such offense. Clever and unscrupulous enough to know that once a victim is made, she becomes a sure customer for life. endobj 6d, in league with Harold (Tarlow) Tarlington (15) and Alfred Fitch (17). Woman Discharged for Surry Hills Shooting", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kate_Leigh&oldid=1151888838, People associated with Kings Cross, New South Wales, Short description is different from Wikidata, Use Australian English from September 2013, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Self-contradictory articles from November 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Gangster, brothel madam, cocaine trafficker, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 21:30. [5], Leigh earned income, variously over these years, as a sly-grog trader, drug dealer, and as a madam;[5] she became a major New South Wales (NSW) underworld figure, and has been referred to as its "Queen of the Underworld. 390 0 obj Leigh, Kathleen Mary (Kate) (1881-1964) A former N.S.W. It was revealed at the coronial enquiry that Mammone had previously served time in Buffalo, New York, for manslaughter. Since you've made it this far, we want to assume you're a real, live human. The Police Gazette Photo Supplement of August 1925 lists him as Podmore, Alfred. . In 1905, Lee was imprisoned for assault and robbery and Kate was accused of lying under oath to protect her husband and convicted of perjury and for being an accomplice to the assault. 353 0 obj Crichton was bound over to appear for sentence if called upon within three years.. Thomas Sutherland Jones and William Smith, 15 July 1921. The man third from the left in that row may be the pickpocket and three-card trickster known as . endobj When cocaine was outlawed in 1927, Leigh sold both, at at huge profits. Safeblower., 32. And even when women are as meek as were supposed to be, theres a fascination there, all the greater perhaps because weve been conforming. Both Leigh and Devine were prominent figures during Sydneys horrific razor wars (described in Larry Writers Razor: Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh and the Razor Gangs and, more or less accurately, in the TV series Underbelly Razor). Kate Leigh is a brand that celebrates women and girls, but also especially mothers and daughters. <>]/P 539 0 R/Pg 526 0 R/S/Link>> Rival gangs eroded her profits from cocaine by standing over and slashing decoys (often working prostitutes) with razors. So a feeling bursts out now and again that if were going to be seen as bitches or witches, we may as well have the fun that goes with it. Anybody thirsty after then would come to 212 Devonshire Street, and Leigh's fleet of illegal grog shops throughout the inner suburbs. In July 1930, Leigh's house at 104 Riley Street was raided by a NSW drug squad, including Sydney's most famous policewoman, Lillian Armfield. More good than evil? The gallery was packed with friends of the accused, who loudly jeered the prosecution and police witnesses. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Was Kate Leigh a bad woman, the worst in Sydney? 39 0 obj Celebrating Kate: The criminal-celebrity of Sydney underworld figure, Kate Leigh 1 likes, 1 comments - Kasey Leigh (@kasey._._.leigh) on Instagram: " It's cover reveal day for BETWEEN NEVER AND FOREVER by @britbensonwritesbooks releasing June . Page 6 - KATE LEIGH'S DAUGHTER MAKES AN EFFORT TO VINDICATE HERSELF. 1 0 obj <>]/P 665 0 R/Pg 664 0 R/S/Link>> 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. application/pdf Sun 26 Mar 1933 - Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), of rascals and several well-known sisters, aside she would leave ihe State for three. Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia
Leigh operated in Devonshire Street, Surry Hills during the height of the razor gang era, when she built a reputation as a woman not to be messed with. "It's been a full-time dream for me, part-time dream for them," said owner Richard Leigh, a Nashville Hall of Fame country music songwriter and Grammy Award winner.
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