Catherine Mary Josephine (Kate) Leigh (10 March 1887 – 4 February 1964) was an underworld figure who rose to prominence as an illegal trader of alcohol and cocaine dealer in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia during the first half of the twentieth century. Kate Leigh was a leading figure in the notorious Sydney razor gang wars.
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Kate Leigh was born on 10 March 1881 in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, the eighth child of Roman Catholic parents Timothy Beahan, a boot-maker, and his wife Charlotte (née Smith). After a shaky start with childhood neglect, being in a girls' home at 12, and giving birth to her daughter Eileen May Beahan in 1900,[1] she married James Ernest 'Jack' Lee (or Leigh) on the 2nd May 1902. He was an illegal bookmaker and petty criminal. They separated in 1905 when Lee was imprisoned for assault and robbery. At his trial, Kate lied under oath to protect her husband resulting in her being convicted of perjury and being an accomplice to assault. She was later acquitted at appeal. The marriage broke up soon after although they were not divorced until 1921.
Kate married for the second time on 26 September 1922, to a Western Australian born musician called Edward Joseph 'Teddy' Barry. He was a grog dealer and small time criminal. The marriage only lasted for a few years, and she reverted to her previous surname of 'Leigh'. Teddy Barry died in Kate's home at 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills on the 26 June 1948. He was buried at Botany Cemetery three days later.[2]
During the late 1920s Kate lived with Wally Tomlinson or Thomlinson (c.1899-1968) who she employed as one of her bodyguards. Walter 'Wally' Tomlinson had a tough reputation as a standover criminal in the late 1920s. He was initally charged with Shooting At, With Intent To Murder, at age 16 in 1916. [3]
Later, she had a decade long de-facto relationship with her then business partner, Henry 'Jack' Baker between 1935-1945.
Her third and final marriage was to her old friend and convicted criminal, Ernest Alexander "Shiner" Ryan on 18 January 1950, flying to Fremantle, Western Australia for the wedding. They separated six months later. Ernest Ryan died in Western Australia in 1954.[4]
Although she made her fortune mainly from the illegal sale of alcohol, it is curious to note that Kate Leigh never drank or smoked.
She went on to be a madam, sly-grog operator, drug trader and major underworld figure, often known as "Queen of the Underworld." From 1919 to 1955 Leigh's main enterprise was the highly profitable sly-grog trade, which ensued after the New South Wales State Parliament legislated for six o'clock closing as a consequence of the Liquor Act 1916 and the Liquor Licensing Act 1927. At its peak, she ran at least twenty such bootleg outlets[5] She also exploited the arrival of the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act 1927 in New South Wales, taking advantage of the new found criminalisation of cocaine to provide illicit criminal distribution networks for that drug. Cocaine had shorter period 'highs' than other drugs, which meant that it required a more continuous and lucrative supply route. Leigh amassed considerable wealth from this revenue stream[6], derived from her supplier contacts within corrupt networks of doctors, dentists, chemists and sailors.
She was a prominent figure in Sydney's brutal razor gang wars of the 1920s and 1930s.[7]
From her Surry Hills home she became an organized crime entrepreneur, charging excessive prices for a full range of illicit goods and services, including after-hours drinking venues, sly-grog, prostitution, illegal betting, gambling and, from the mid-1920s, cocaine trafficking. Leigh obtained loyalty and protection from a male network of gangsters, but often had to protect them and was adept with a rifle. Rival gangs eroded her profits from cocaine by standing over and slashing decoys (often working prostitutes) with razors. She was also engaged in a violent feud with her rival Tilly Devine, a Sydney madam based in Woolloomooloo that lasted for 20 years.
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, Sydney in May and August 1929. In 1936, newly appointed Sydney Police Commissioner MacKay warned them both to tone down the violence or else risk serious imprisonment. However, the New South Wales Police did intensively police incoming vessels for overseas cocaine suppliers in 1938-9. Naval transit restrictions meant that the Second World War saw the exhaustion of Leigh's overseas cocaine supply sources[8]
On 27 March 1930, she shot and killed John William "Snowy" Prendergast[9] when he and other gangsters broke into her home at 104 Riley Street, Surry Hills. She was not indicted for the killing,[10] or for shooting Joseph McNamara[11] at the same address in Riley Street, Surry Hills on 9 December, 1931. In July 1930, Leigh was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for possession of cocaine. Her house at 104 Riley Street was raided by the drug squad on 1 July 1930 and she was caught with the drug in her possession by Sydney's most famous policewoman, Lillian May Armfield.[12][13]
Through alleged personal connections throughout officialdom, she continued business throughout the 1930s and 40s despite frequent police raids and a mass of minor convictions. She was charged on 107 occasions and was sent to prison on 13 occasions. Appearing in courtrooms with flamboyantly expensive clothes and diamonds, her wealth was legendary. When appearing in court, Kate would wear diamond rings on every finger of both hands. 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.
She lived at a terrace house at No. 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills from 1933 until the house was demolished in 1950.[14] This house was also used by Leigh as her main illegal hotel or Sly-grog shop during this time and was known in Sydney as the Lansdowne Hotel, not to be confused with the legal 'Lansdowne Hotel' in City Road, Broadway near Darlington, New South Wales. Her then de-facto husband and bodyguard, Henry George "Jack" Baker, was shot outside this house by the well known Sydney criminal, John Frederick "Chow" Hayes on 19 February, 1938.[15][16] The house was raided by undercover police on 4 March, 1938[17] resulting in 48 bottles and 4 kegs of beer being confiscated. Three months later a police witness at Sydney Licensing Court stated that the premises at 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills was "a notorious sly grog shop – The Worst in Sydney".[18] Kate Leigh was sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment on the 7th September 1942 for having sold liquor without a licence at 13 Pearl Street and 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills.[19]
Although Kate Leigh was undoubtedly one of Sydney's wealthiest women during the 1930s and 1940s, the Taxation Department sent her into bankruptcy in 1954 for unpaid income tax and fines dating back to 1942. Leigh's Statement of Affairs was given at a Bankruptcy Court hearing in Sydney on 30 September 1954 as : Assets of £1960 consisting of furniture and three properties in Devonshire Street. Her Liabilities were shown as £7130. In 1955 the New South Wales Government changed the law to allow legal hotels to trade until 10 p.m. which virtually killed off the Sydney sly-grog trade and putting the likes of Kate Leigh out of business. Leigh was famously quoted in the Australian media as stating " The bloom has gone off the grog".[20]
At the time of her death, aged 77, 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,[21] who ran a mixed business in the shop in the downstairs part of the premises. She resided at 212 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills from 1951 until her death in 1964.[22]
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. She died on 4 February 1964 at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney. Her funeral was held on 7 February at St Peter's Catholic Church in Devonshire Street, Surry Hills and was attended by over 700 mourners.[23][24] She was buried in Botany Cemetery, now known as Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park in the Roman Catholic Section 29K, Grave 896 as Kathleen Ryan.
She was survived by her daughter, Eileen (1900–1987).
Kate Leigh was remembered for her generous charitable acts to support the unemployed in harsh times and her patriotism during World War Two by the press, who ignored her criminal connections.
Leigh and Devine's criminal feud is the subject of a true crime television drama on Australia's Channel Nine network, Underbelly: Razor, which commenced screening in August 2011.