Joseph Leslie Theodore Squizzy Taylor (1888-1927) was born in Melbourne, son of a coach-maker. Young Leslie tried to make a career as a jockey on the inner city pony circuit where he came to the notice of the police. At 18 he was convicted of assault and theft, part of a group of trouble makers police dubbed the Bourke St Rats.
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In the war years, Taylor was linked to several more violent crimes including the murder and robbery of commercial traveller, burglary of the Melbourne Trades Hall in which a policeman was killed, and the murder of William Patrick Haines who refused to participate in a bank hold-up. Taylor was tried for the murder of Haines and found not guilty.
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.
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Thank you to the ABC and to the Australian Dictionary of Biography for the history.
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.
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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