Squizzy Taylor
police photos, 1907
The Age
Even after 1917, Taylor remained a key figure in an increasingly violent underworld. His lived from armed robbery, sale of illegal liquor and drugs, prostitution, race-fixing and protection rackets!
Disputes between racketeers led to the Fitzroy Vendetta of 1919 in which several men were shot. Taylor was among the principal figures in these gangland shootings. Charged in 1921 with theft from a city bond store, he eluded the police for a year but gave himself up in 1922. And was acquitted.
In 1923 bank-manager Thomas Berriman was robbed and murdered at Glenferrie railway station, where Angus Murray and Richard Buckley were charged with the murder. Taylor was charged with aiding and abetting the crime, and of assisting Murray's escape from Pentridge prison. Again, not convicted! Taylor was found guilty of harbouring Murray and sentenced to 6 months gaol.
He married Irene Lorna Kelly at St James Church Fitzroy in May 1920. In May 1924 they were divorced. In May, at St James, he married his close friend Ida Muriel Pender. He was known for his vanity, his expensive suits and cars, all hypnotic for his underlings and, presumably, his wives.
In selling cocaine, Taylor came into conflict with Sydney gangsters, especially John Snowy Cutmore. [“Snowy” because he was a peddler of cocaine aka snow]. He had been part of the Fitzroy Gang in Melbourne and a rival of Taylor's before moving to Sydney in the early 1920s. There he built his criminal reputation as part of the notorious Razor Gang, doing violent robberies and dealing drugs.
Cutmore (1895–1927) was linked to the murder of another Razor Gang member, Norman Bruhn, shot in a Darlinghurst alley, Sydney. Bruhn was a Taylor-mate and police believed Taylor had vowed revenge against the men who killed him.
Snowy Cutmore returned to Melbourne to escape the scandal of Bruhn’s death. The area around Barkly St Carlton was home to many immigrants and working-class poor living in slums. Snowy was holed up in mum Bridget's rented house at 50 Barkly St, where Taylor finally caught up with him.
Cutmore was sick in bed when Taylor visited in Oct 1927 and what happened still remains uncertain. At least a dozen shots were fired in Cutmore's bedroom, including five that struck Snowy as he lay in bed, killing him. Cutmore's mother was also struck in the shoulder.
Taylor was shot and fled, but soon died. Witnesses reported seeing another man leaving the house, and police said 3 guns had been used during the shootout, one found in Taylor's pocket. Squizzy died in Oct 1927. Survived by his wife and a child, he was buried with Anglican rites. The inquest delivered an open verdict. The police were not very engaged; they were just glad to see Taylor’s coffin.
Carlton slums in the 1920s and 30s.
For a comprehensive Squizzie Taylor Walking Tour, see Melbourne Walks .
Thank you to the ABC and to the Australian Dictionary of Biography for the history.
My questions
There was never any prohibition legislation in Australia, although it was true that during WW1 Parliament legislated to change closing times in Victorian hotels from 11.30 pm to 6pm. So why did Squizzy Taylor and other gangsters get involved in alcohol and pubs? As there were unlicensed vendors and sly grog shops in two inner suburbs, they probably felt they could profit from the illicit alcohol.
Why, when it was obvious that gangsters were killing people in Australia in the early C20th, weren’t guns banned? Certainly Squizzy Taylor could have tried to smuggle in guns from overseas, or he could have used knives instead, but the death rate would have gone right down. Exactly as Australias saw when guns were later (1996) banned from private hands
There was never any prohibition legislation in Australia, although it was true that during WW1 Parliament legislated to change closing times in Victorian hotels from 11.30 pm to 6pm. So why did Squizzy Taylor and other gangsters get involved in alcohol and pubs? As there were unlicensed vendors and sly grog shops in two inner suburbs, they probably felt they could profit from the illicit alcohol.
Why, when it was obvious that gangsters were killing people in Australia in the early C20th, weren’t guns banned? Certainly Squizzy Taylor could have tried to smuggle in guns from overseas, or he could have used knives instead, but the death rate would have gone right down. Exactly as Australias saw when guns were later (1996) banned from private hands
Nicknames are adorable and infantilising. Edward Kelly, for example, the most famous of Australia’s bushrangers, was known affectionately as Ned by everyone ever since his death in 1880. Kelly was seen as very young and constantly oppressed by the brutal police. But why does everyone still call Mr Taylor “Squizzy”? He was not oppressed by brutal police… he was actually protected by them. Yet everyone thought he was cute, loved his mum and was constantly oppressed by the authorities. But then I can't find ANY reports on police corruption.
John Snowy Cutmore
The Age
Just how terrifying was Squizzy really? Neil Boyack said that at the time of his death, Squizzy had made the error of lunging into the cocaine racket without first commanding the required clout or respect from the underworld. But Chris McConville said Taylor won lasting notoriety as key figure in Melbourne's criminal underworld in the 1920s, by imitating the fearsome style of American bootleggers
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25 comments:
This is so close to home with the American style gangland story. "Bourke St rats" are so Aussie style names.
I wonder if Squizzly was like some of the drug cartel lords in Mexico, and everyone was afraid of him.That's all I can think of. Or perhaps he had things on members of the police. That's the only reason I can think he was allowed to get away with so much. Happy weekend.
It seems very much like he had some police protection and there was some legal system corruption too. There was a story about him and something happening in the Caulfield Station pedestrian underpass but I can't remember exactly what it is. I did read about him when I was young but it was a long time ago.
The Mirror (July 1924) had a very large headline saying:
"SQUIZZY TAYLOR AS HE IS
The King of Melbourne's Underworld
Man of Fashion and Criminals' Idol"
He sounded like a tough old sweetheart.
roentare
spot on! Squizzy Taylor wanted to be classy, rich, smartly dressed and as close to a celebrity American gangster that he could be. He smoked American cigars and drove in the back of his expensive American car.
Andrew
agreed..it seems inevitable that he couldn't have survived all those charges unless he had excellent "police protection". But even if that were true, I don't suppose the police were ever going to tell what they knew, or why they protected him.
Now two more theories have emerged. Melbourne Justice Museum called Squizzy Taylor a "police informer", someone who would be well paid for his vital cooperation. Others acknowledged he was a "jury rigger" i.e he made a living from controlling juries in his own cases and in other peoples'. I wouldn't have believed this but for the Herald Sun July 2, 2013 who said: "During Squizzy’s reign, the Victorian Government passed a law to keep names, occupations and addresses of jurymen a secret".
Ex Pat
Squizzy Taylor was indeed sociable, well dressed and sexy to women, but a Man of Fashion? and The Criminals' Idol? By 1924 it was perfectly clear that he was a gambler, race fixer, sly grog and prostitution organiser, and I suspect most people were clear about his role in murder cases.
Erika
Yours are good questions because people either feared his dangerous control over the underbelly of Melbourne society or they admired him immensely and would never have challenged him. Despite Taylor dying in 1927, my aunties were still telling their daughters in the 1950s never ever go near Squizzy Taylor and his hoons in the Carlton coffee shops.
Hello Hels, It sounds as though Australia was better off without both Taylor and Cutmore. I never understood the admiration, romanticizing, and idealization of such murderous criminals, who made society less safe for everyone. Also, as you pointed out here, the depiction of vicious criminals as cute and harmless makes little sense. In the U.S. we had Billy the Kid, "sweethearts" Bonnie and Clyde, and are constantly reminded the Al Capone was good to his mother!
--Jim
Parnassus
I have studied history for a very long time, and I still have NO clue why ordinary people admire criminals. I don't mean making money from pickpocketing, avoiding tax or selling illicit alcohol (even during Prohibition). Everyone wants to make money, after all, preferably morally.
But armed robbery, bank robberies, blackmail, drive-by shootings, witness bashing and having people executed made Billy the Kid, Al Capone, Squizzy Taylor vicious criminals, not cute larrikins.
Sadly, each country has its underworld, gangster(s), police protection. I've just read an interview with a famous israeli actress about her marriage to a criminal sentenced for life. She was a young actress performing in front of convicts and hopelessly fell in love with him. They got permission to marry and have two children who are now adults.
DUTA
I wonder if there is some Naughty Boy appeal going on here. Some man who refuses to obey the normal rules of society, a man who is clever enough and determined enough to live his own life ?
Boa tarde de domingo, uma boa Páscoa e bom início de semana.
Confesso que não conhecia essa matéria.
Luiz Gomes
Luiz
I know that is true. People normally dislike talking about their _own_ nation's really bad events and really bad people. It is much easier to analyse the USA's gun culture or Iran's oppression of women than it is for me to examine Australia's cocaine rackets and witness bashing.
In answer to your first question: Maybe it was providing after hours drinking that attracted him (if pubs were closed at 6pm)?
He makes Ned Kelly look like a saint.😂
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s always abulous Blog ‘To Discover Ice’
bazza
the men were both nasty crims, but the differences were in the police and court responses.
Kelly’s (1854-80) criminal life started as an early teen for assault. The police then chased him again and arrested him for being a bushranger's accomplice. Then Kelly was chased by police again and went to gaol prison for assault and then received a 3-year prison sentence for horse stealing. In 1878, police officers went to the Kelly home to arrest Ned's brother Dan for horse stealing and gaoled Ned's brother and mother for 3 years.
Finally policemen from other states came south to Victoria to track the Ned's gang down. The gang ambushed the police camp at Stringybark Creek and shot some of the police. The gang members were either shot dead or tried and hanged.
Squizzy Taylor (1888-1927) was treated respectfully; Ned Kelly was treated like dangerous scum.
this is so interesting . My Grandfather in law who was what is euphemistically called a "colorful racing identity", knew Taylor and received ( according to several elderly relatives) a black silk tie and arm band from him on the anniversary of his daughters death each year . She died of Diphtheria a week after her little cousin , both were 4 at the time . Reuben was a bookmaker who operated off track as a lot of bookmakers did in those days because of the control exerted by the Tattersalls Club and the establishment of Melbourne .John Wren was one of the bookies who fought against this control and became a " hero" to the working classes of Collingwood and Fitzroy as a result . Reuben would have known Mr Wren well I am guessing .Because all of this activity was underground and illegal but tolerated by corrupt police , people like Taylor took advantage offering "protection" to bookies. We suspect that this is what the black tie and armband was about . A sort of sinister threat to comply with "protection" as Reuben transported his winnings around town .
I think that Taylor and Kelly were made less toxic in Australian society by the sectarianism and the rare "win " of a an ordinary bloke sticking it to the upper echelons who were seen as trying to run the joint. Police were seen as corrupt and not to be trusted and life was pretty tough if you lived in the inner suburbs . Its what happens when there is institutionalized inequality and poverty .
On a brighter not My maternal grandfather ( who loved a flutter) laid bets with Reuben when he came out from New Zealand in the post WW1years as a young man fresh off the boat . He left Melbourne never to return but about 70 years later I married Reubens grandson . My grandfather recognized his name all those years later and asked my husband if he was related !!!! What an amazing coincidence .I am also happy to report that My husband has no interest in racing and is thoroughly good bloke !
By the way there is a really good biography of Mrs. Kelly published a few years back which gives a very good insight into the social conditions of the times . I don't lionize Kelly but I can also see why there was so much sympathy for him at the time and since . I think that its complicated and certainly the hypocrisy and double standards common in society at the time had a lot to answer for .
mem
Did your grandfather in law finally live a long, healthy and productive life? :)
I also find this a difficult moral dilemma. Yes indeed Taylor and Kelly were made less toxic in Australian society by the sectarianism and the rare win of a an ordinary bloke sticking it to the wealthy and the powerful. Police were seen as corrupt and not to be trusted, and that may well still be true.. whenever inequality is blatantly obvious.
But crime gangs were there to look after their own needs, not to end sectarianism and inequality across the community. Taylor and his mates lived from illegal and unprotected booze and drugs, armed robbery and protection rackets. Just the presence of their guns had the community terrified.
mem
I forgot to ask you. Is the book "Mrs Kelly: the astonishing life of Ned Kelly's mother" by Grantlee Kieza, 2018?
hello Hels , yes that's the book . If you haven't read it try it , its very good .
poor old Rueben had a bad habit of drinking a bottle of whisky per day and smoking a box of cigars .He ended up losing his legs and his fortune which was considerable . He actually owned houses along St Kilda road. His son had to leave school and became a tailor much to his disgust . Reuben died in a boarding house in St Kilda his son and wife having been alienated from him by his bad habits and their consequences.
He seems to have had a lot of chutzpah but not a lot of emotional intelligence . A sad end at 71 years of age .
Actually another interesting and related fact is that another relative on my mothers side was actually the foreman of the jury at Ned's trial . Apparently Mrs Kelly rocked up at the front door of his home in Fitzroy north begging for Ned's life . That mans name was Samuel Lazarus . He was also quite an interesting fellow .
goodness mem
you are related to the most amazing people. OK one relative drank himself into oblivion and smoked himself into gross ill health. But the Lazarus family was very special. I read "Three Generations of the Lazarus Family in Australia" when we were looking at goldrush history at CAE.
We must meet up for coffee, and we can compare grandparents! Tel 0419001499
My number is 0411349861. I work 4 days a week in Richmond but am free on Fridays .
Hello Helen , I am not sure that my Lazarus is the the same as the more illustrious ones. he was married to my GGG grandfathers niece I became interested in him when I read Clare Wrights story about the Diary of the Eureka Stockade which was for a while attributed to Samuel but was later found to have been written by someone else whose name escapes me. Samuel though had an interesting and long life . his daughters commemorated him with a clock installed in Camberwell town Hall tower which I believe is still there .Samuels parents were missionaries to the Jews in either Manchester or Liverpool having converted to Christianity at some point in their lives.
I don't believe there are any descendants alive anymore .
I would love to meet up , I work Monday to Thursday in Richmond and live in Brunswick . my number is 0411349861.
Your posts are my interesting light relief when I am at work . I always read them and look forward to your tasty morsels.
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