by James Morton
He received Holy Communion frequently: Jack Bradshaw, The True History of the Australian Bushrangers and 20 Years Experience of Prison Life in the Gaols of New South Wales.
p. 13
Suffering from cancer, he died in October 1940. Bob Good, Ketching the Kenniffs: The Origins and Exploits of the Kenniff Brothers—Patrick and James.
p. 15
If Hickman can be counted as a bushranger: Courtney Collins, The Burial; Pat Studdy-Clift, The Lady Bushranger.
CHAPTER 2
p. 17
Neither relatives nor friends claimed their bodies: The official New South Wales hangman from 1873 to 1903, Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard, so known because he had been kicked in the face by a horse, took his job seriously, and appeared on the scaffold sober and dressed in a frock coat and white necktie. He had, however, already botched the execution of 17-year-old Joe Martin, hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol in January 1887 for the rape of Mary Hicks. Howard had miscalculated the length of rope required and Martin struggled on the gallows for seventeen minutes. Overall, however, Howard did better than many of his contemporaries.
p. 17
Millidge, who started his criminal career stealing pigeons: Kent, sometimes referred to as Dyson, had been lagged to Western Australia for the great Cornhill robbery in London, when £12 000 worth of jewellery was stolen, and taken to France. He had also received two years’ imprisonment for the 1882 Tartakover robbery, when £1000 worth of jewellery was stolen in Melbourne. He later became a hawker, but when his licence was revoked, returned to his earlier career as a jewel thief.
p. 17
Another tutor was Billy Barnes: Barnes was hanged on 15 May 1885 for the murder of Slack, found with his throat cut and a razor in his right hand. At first the death was thought to be suicide, but after Barnes, in prison for other offences, began boasting of the killing, Slack’s body was exhumed. Professor Allen of Melbourne University showed that, while the cut had been made by a right-handed man, Slack was left handed.
p. 18
Demonstrating that no good deed goes unpunished: In September 1889 Hughes was set upon by Patrick McGinty and John Hamer in a lane off Little LaTrobe Street, and given a severe kicking. For their sins, they received one and two years respectively. Hughes never recovered from his injuries and died in December. Since this was within a year of the assault, the Crown could try them again, this time for murder. The jury clearly thought this was unsporting on the part of the authorities because they acquitted the pair inside fifteen minutes.
p. 18
George Raingill, also known as Shaw: During the afternoon of Sunday 12 October 1902 a neighbour complained to off-duty St Kilda police officer Richard Johnson that his 8-year-old daughter had been molested. Johnson went on a bicycle to investigate, and when he approached a man he believed to be the molester, because he had previously molested a child, the man shot him. Johnson pedalled on but collapsed and died in Brighton Road. When two other officers cornered Shaw in Rosamond Street, he stabbed, and then shot, himself. For some time, his identity was unknown and Shaw’s body was placed in a formalin bath before the deputy governor of Darlinghurst Gaol finally identified it. There was still some doubt about the dead man’s identity, though, because both his feet were deformed, with the second toe turning over the big one in claw-like fashion. Shaw’s prison records from both New South Wales and Victoria and descriptions of Shaw included nothing of this deformity. Shaw was also thought to have shot and killed Constable Denis Guilfoyle in Sydney the previous July. Guilfoyle had tried to arrest Shaw and his offsider, George Skidmore, who were passing counterfeit coins in Shepherd Street, Redfern. A Constable Maher was also shot but survived. Skidmore was never arrested and it was thought Shaw may have killed him.
p. 19
In fact, in December that year: Old Bailey Papers, t18941119-65; Gazette des Tribunaux, 30 November, 1 December 1901; ‘The Last of Montgomery and Williams’, Truth, 3 June 1894; ‘High Class Crime: Genesis of the Tobacco Gang’, National Advocate, 16 November 1911.
p. 20
Your conduct has been that of a man: Ballarat Star, 1 March 1895.
p. 21
That was a red herring: Daily Telegraph, 16 February, 1 June 1894; Australian Star, 3 February, 4 April 1894; Truth, 8 April 1894; Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 1894; Justice and Police Museum Handbook.
p. 21
When it became clear the jury: Kalgoorlie Miner, 16 June 1900.
p. 22
Charged with Tapping Tart’s Topnot Committed for Trial.’ Truth, 12 October 1902.
p. 23
Friends took him to Gippsland: ‘Who Tapped Tart?’, Truth, 12 July 1903; ‘The Hawk’s Daring Burglaries in Kalgoorlie’, Daily Mirror (Perth), 30 May 1936.
p. 24
At the second trial he was no better: Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April 1903.
p. 24
Windeyer was not only deeply unpopular: For an account of the Grand trial, see John D Fitzgerald, Studies in Australian Crime (Second Series), pp. 316 et seq. Cyril Pearl, Wild Men of Sydney; James Morton and Susanna Lobez, Dangerous to Know.
p. 26
In any case, no one was ever charged. Harry Mann, ‘Death comes to the Diamond Merchant’, Mirror (Perth), 15 December 1951.
CHAPTER 3
p. 28
He later sued P & O and received: Times, 7 January 1879.
p. 29
In the event, they received five and two years respectively. Argus, 25 June, 24 July 1879.
p. 29
He assured the police that his brother had not drowned. Portland Guardian, 4 December 1883.
p. 31
Whether, as some suggest, he was initially besotted: ‘“Friday’s” Folly’, Sydney Sportsman, 20 December 1905.
p. 32
He had shot her and then turned the gun on himself. ‘The American Sensation’, Evening News (Sydney), 21 December 1905.
p. 32
His friend JJ Wilkinson wrote: Evening Star (Boulder), 16 December 1905.
p. 33
Fremantle detective Harry Mann was sent: Mann was the investigating officer in all the celebrated Western Australian cases of the period, including the murder of Delia Clarke by her de facto John Moore, and those committed by ‘monster incarnate’ Martha Rendell. He retired in 1920, to begin a successful career in politics, and died in October 1952. For an account of both cases, see Daily News, 10 January 1920; Western Mail, 22 March 1902.
p. 35
By now, the hangman, who: Ion L. Idries, Forty Fathoms Deep; ‘A Pearl of Great Price’, Mirror (Perth), 7 June 1924; Daily News (Perth), 9 November, 13, 14, 15 December 1905; Alec Gollan ‘Recollections of Some Notable Criminals’, Daily News (Perth), 1 July 1933.
p. 35
It was never seen again. Interview with Mrs Jean Haynes, J S Battye Library of Western Australian Oral History Programme, 18 March 1977.
CHAPTER 4
p. 37
In the first twenty-five years: Advertiser, 4, 5 January 1909.
p. 37
There were also suggestions that the killers: Advertiser, 4, 5 January 1909.
p. 37
He was out for more than a year: Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 1909.
p. 39
It seemed unbelievable that a woman: ‘Woman Who Defied Law for Years’, Truth, 19 October 1930.
p. 40
For Freeman, this was followed: Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 1914; ‘Woman Who Defied Law for Years’ Truth, 19 October 1930.
p. 40
He had tried to commit suicide: ‘“Shino” Ryan Australia’s Master Criminal’, Advertiser, 18 September 1914.
p. 40–1
At first, McCall had been a prisoner: ‘Innocent but Serving Life?’ Truth, 8 June 1933; ‘Convict’s living death,’ Truth, 27 January 1935.
p. 41
In July that year there were unfounded rumours: Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 1918; Argus, 19 July 1922; West Australian, 27 July 1922; ‘How Ernie “Shiner” Ryan Broke the Adelaide St
ockade’, Smith’s Weekly, 26 January 1923.
p. 41
In 1928 he was acquitted in Brisbane: Courier, 10 October 1928.
p. 42
Instead, he received a twenty-eight month sentence. Advertiser, 4 November 1929, 7, 11 February 1930.
p. 42
In October 1932, however, Ryan: Canberra Times, 18 October 1932; Daily News (Perth), 20 January 1934.
p. 42
‘Nothing but the best will do for the wedding’: Advertiser, 29 July 1942.
p. 43
He was buried in the Anglican division: Ron Davidson, High Jinks at the Hot Pool.
CHAPTER 5
p. 44
Quite apart from minor hold-ups: For details of the poker-game robbery and subsequent shenanigans, see Geoff Caylock, Charlie: As Game as Ned Kelly.
p. 44
Of a ‘quintette’ named as ‘bad’: The others were Emily Cresswell and May Anderson, who worked the Ginger Game, and thieves Thomas de Gracie and Robert Daws.
p. 45
It was that of a youth just entering manhood: ‘The Trotter Tragedy’, Truth (M), 11 January 1913; ‘Murder Mystery Still Unsolved’, Truth (M), 18 January 1913.
p. 46
Squizzy Taylor and Dolly Gray: ‘The Fitzroy Murder’, Advertiser, 17 January 1913.
p. 46
He had with him a doll: Northern Miner, 20 August 1913.
p. 47
Jackson was 51 years of age: Western Mail (Perth), 28 January 1916.
p. 47
He had, it appears, failed: Bendigo Advertiser, 7 December 1907.
p. 49
Buckley called an alibi in the form of a mixed-race prostitute: Six months earlier, in June 1883, Thomas and Ah Ket were charged with the murder of Ah Gayong in Little Bourke Street. The alleged motive was robbery, and she and Ah Ket were the last people seen leaving Ah Gayong’s premises before his death after what the Age called ‘a disgraceful orgie’. Emma Thomas was discharged on 28 June, and in August Ah Ket was found not guilty.
p. 49
If I liked I could order you to be kept: ‘Oh !Dick! A Lifetime in Gaol’, Daily News (Perth), 10 April 1897.
p. 52
Three witnesses who had seen: Victoria Police Gazette, 2, 9 March 1916.
p. 55
As he scaled it, he touched an alarm: Victoria Police Gazette, 30 August 1923.
p. 55
The driver was to be Taylor: Alan Dower, Deadline, p. 9.
p. 56
Truth, for one, thought it was: ‘Is Buckley Dead or Alive?’, Truth (M), 12 January 1924.
p. 57
Now the wings flapped: Truth (M), 1, 23 March 1924.
p. 57
On 3 March the charge against him: Victorian State Archives, R v Murray and Taylor Case No 29 1924 30/P/0000.
p. 57
I receive no credit for: Truth (M), 7 June 1924.
p. 58
These are my parting words: I am not guilty: The Pierce brothers, James and Henry, were charged with the murder of 60-year-old David Strang Davidson, shot in the garden of 3 Tennyson Street, St Kilda, on Melbourne Cup Day 1920. They had been on a housebreaking spree. There was doubt which of them had fired the fatal shot and there were suggestions that Davidson might have accidentally shot himself. Convicted of manslaughter after a retrial, James was sentenced to twelve years and his brother to six. Advertiser, 5 April 1924.
p. 58
When he broke his dentures: Truth (M), 31 July 1948.
p. 59
Poor, wretched, wayward, careless, dangerous criminal: Truth (M), 5, 19 April 1924.
p. 59
Like so many other early-released criminals: Vince Kelly, The Charge is Murder, Chapter 12.
CHAPTER 6
p. 62
They received their fifteen strokes on 1 June: Truth (V), 9, 16, 30 April 1932, 22 February 1947.
p. 63
‘Was I not privileged to lie in the dock?’: Argus, 28 May 1932.
p. 64
He stole 30 shillings but missed: Sydney Morning Herald, 14 April 1945.
p. 64
Charged fifteen times and convicted: Courier Mail, 28 November 1934; ‘State’s Most Audacious Crook’, Truth (Q), 2 December 1934.
p. 66
Of the notes, there was no trace: ‘Conclurry Bank Loot in Buried Tin’, Truth, 4 February 1934.
p. 67
After Short’s death, Truth published: Truth (Q), 8 July 1934.
p. 67
Now came threats to blow up that gaol: Truth (Q), 5, 12 November 1933.
p. 68
You will not be tolerated in my court: Townsend Daily Bulletin, 10 February 1934.
p. 68
He then more or less turned his face: Northern Miner, 7 October 1933; Truth (Q), 2 December 1934.
p. 70
‘I cannot understand why the jury’: Truth (Q), 9 August 1931; The Advertiser (Adelaide), 11 December 1931; Courier Mail, 10 March 1932.
p. 70
Three other recently released men: Truth (Q), 1 August 1937.
p. 70
In 1934 Reynolds hanged himself: Argus, 1 March 1927.
p. 73
She had been visiting Walsh: Jack Coulter, With Malice Aforethought; West Australian, 24 September 1936; Kalgoorlie Miner, 11 January 1943.
p. 74
In the first week of April: Advertiser (Adelaide), 5 February 1943; South Australian Police Gazettes 1941–43.
p. 74
At the inquest, both Bray: For the post-war murder of Bray, see James Morton and Susanna Lobez, Gangland North South & West.
CHAPTER 7
p. 76
On the day he was sentenced: ‘The Inside Tragic Life Story of the Curious Complex Known as Royston Rennie’, Truth (WA), 24 July 1926.
p. 78
His wife, who had visited him: Tweed Daily, 4 August 1926; Western Argus, 10 August 1926.
p. 78
The credit for the expert tracking: ‘Wealth in a Rabbit Burrow’, Recorder (Port Pirie), 2 July 1948.
p. 79
This time, someone had to suffer: Register (Adelaide), 1 August 1928; Adelaide Advertiser, 31 May 1935.
p. 82
The train conductor, Boys: Vince Kelly, The Charge is Murder; Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 1936; Queenslander, 2 July 1936; Truth (Q) 17 August 1941, 12 April 1942; Truth (SA), 30 August 1941; Maryborough Chronicle, 30 March 1951; ‘Murder on the Orient Express Bundaberg Mail’, Steam Scene, Vol. 8 Issue 1, February 2011.
p. 83
In 1938, when Henry Loftus and Harry Donaldson: Loftus and Donaldson received sentences of fifty to seventy-five years.
p. 83
At the end of Walsh’s case: Townsville Daily Bulletin, 1, 21 September, 6 October 1938, 29, 30 June 1939.
p. 83
The name derived from the original robber: Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 1931.
p. 84
It read ‘Beware of the lone wolf: Sydney Morning Herald, 1 November 1929.
p. 84
‘Grey Shadows and Blue Shadows: Sydney Morning Herald, 27 September 1929.
p. 84
It was thought he had an accomplice: ‘Bail Up’, Daily Examiner, 9 September 1929.
p. 84
If it was indeed the Shadow: Sydney Morning Herald, 26 August 1929.
p. 85
Whether he was the real Shadow: Advertiser, 7 February 1930.
p. 85
Another man suspected of being: Sydney Morning Herald, 19 October 1929.
p. 89
On 2 December 1935, after the jury: Mark Tedeschi, ‘History of the New South Wales Crown Prosecutors 1901–1986’, The Forbes Flyer, Autumn 2006 (Issue 11).
p. 89
On 29 March 1944 he was found shot: On Anzac Day 1935, the arm of blackmailer and dobber Jim Smith, identified by its tattoos, was regurgitated in Coogee Baths by a captured shark. A Patrick Brady was arrested for Smith’s murder, and it was hoped that Holmes would give evidence, but he was found s
hot dead in his car on 11 June, in Hickson Road, Dawes Point, a known courting spot. The case against Brady collapsed and on 10 September he was acquitted on the chief justice’s directions. Nor was the prosecution any more successful in the cases of the two men, John Patrick Strong and Albert Stannard, who were accused of Holmes’s murder. The evidence was again weak—a flimsy identification and fingerprints found on the dashboard of Holmes’s car—and the pair were acquitted shortly before Christmas that year. Alex Castles, The Shark Arm Murders; Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April, 13, 18 May, 15 June, 11 September, 11 October, 13, 14 December 1935.
p. 90
In due course, Humby and Jordan: Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March, 4 April, 9 November 1944.
CHAPTER 8
p. 92
Truth now thought Brett had ruled: Nambucca and Bellingen News, 8 March 1926. For a fuller account of Brett’s life, crimes and later death in Sydney, see James Morton and Susanna Lobez, Gangland Queensland.
p. 94