Entrance to Police Court, Justice & Police Museum (detail). Photo © Hayley Richardson & Stuart Miller for Sydney Living Museums
- Unlocked
If these walls could talk: Justice & Police Museum
The Justice & Police Museum houses the Water Police Station, Water Police Court and Police Court that once made up one of the city’s busiest legal hubs. Crooks and cops, thugs and judges, locals and drifters – the guilty and the innocent have all left their stories here.
Mug shot of Kate Leigh, 1930. NSW Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums JP89/610-4
Queen of the underworld: Kate Leigh
Notorious Sydney criminal Kate Leigh has an interesting association with the Justice & Police Museum. At the beginning of her long criminal career she appeared before the Water Police Court on charges of perjury, first in 1905 and again in 1914. Leigh never gave much information to a court and so simply replied, ‘Not guilty. I reserve my defence’ when questioned by the magistrate in 1914 about some less-than-truthful statements she’d made in a previous court case. She was later found guilty by a higher court of providing a false alibi for her lover Samuel ‘Jewey’ Freeman. This conviction was a pivotal moment for Leigh – after being sentenced, she allegedly mumbled, ‘Seven years for stickin’ to a man. I’ll swing before I stick to another’.
On release from prison Leigh began making her fortune in the lucrative inner-city sly grog and cocaine trade. She dominated this illicit business and used her own hired muscle to keep rivals at bay. Leigh, however, could defend herself, as was the case in 1930 when she shot dead the gangster John ‘Snowy’ Prendergast, who had broken into her home. She was acquitted of his murder on the grounds of self-defence.
The infamous gunman John ‘Chow’ Hayes summed up her character when he said, ‘If you were sweet with Kate, she’d do anything for you and give you anything. But if you crossed her, she’d shoot you'.
Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite. The Illustrated Australian News, 28 November 1879. State Library of Victoria IAN28/11/79/180
A ‘gentlemanly-looking’ criminal: Captain Moonlite
Andrew George Scott invented the alias ‘Captain Moonlite’ during a foolish robbery he committed in Egerton, Victoria, in 1869. Wearing a simple disguise, Scott forced the local bank manager – who was a good friend of his – to open the bank safe, which contained gold and other valuables. Scott’s attempts to conceal his identity didn’t fool his friend but by the time police investigated, he’d fled to Sydney.
After depositing the stolen gold at the Mint, Scott went on a wild spending spree. Even when he ran out of money, he continued to write cheques, including one to buy a yacht on which he intended to sail to Fiji. But before he could effect his escape, he was caught by officers from the Water Police Station and locked up in its crowded cells.
On 30 November 1870, newspapers reported that Scott, a ‘gentlemanly-looking individual’, appeared before the Water Police Court on charges of obtaining money by false pretences. He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to prison. Scott next appeared before the court in 1872, charged with the Egerton robbery, and this time he was sent to a Victorian prison. Upon his release he headed back to NSW.
Scott later became a bushranger, leading a small group of outlaws. In 1879 he engaged in a desperate battle with police at Wantabadgery station, outside Wagga Wagga, which led to the deaths of a police officer and two members of the gang. Scott was found guilty of murder and hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol in 1880. His death mask now resides in the Justice & Police Museum collection.
The Notorious Criminals exhibition is currently on at the Justice & Police Museum.
The capture of Moonlite and his gang. The Illustrated Australian News, 28 November 1879, engraving. State Library of Victoria IAN28/11/79/177
About the Author
More stories from the Justice & Police Museum
A dubious defence
On 19 October 1921 Herbert Burridge, cook, 28 years of age, 5 feet 8½ inches tall, fair complexion, light brown hair and blue eyes, was listed in the New South Wales Police Gazette as a deserter from HMAS Cerberus.
A Life In Crime
Curator Nerida Campbell has got the dream job – rummaging through the grit and grime of Sydney’s criminal past to help us to come to terms with the city’s dark side.
Crooks like us
Crooks Like Us presents more than 200 stunningly reproduced images in delicate balance with their stories, creating a captivating relay between image and narrative, narrative and image. Look at the picture, read the story, then look at the picture again and see it anew.
Fallen hero of Flanders
In March 1922, Victorian-born petty criminal Arthur Ernest Noonan was arrested by Sydney police, charged on a provisional warrant and remanded to Melbourne to face charges of conspiracy to defraud. Found guilty, he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. It was not his first conviction and certainly not his last.
Femme Fatale
The female criminal has always intrigued human society. The femme fatale usually possesses an irresistible sexual allure and leads an enthralling life unpunished by the law. Scrutinised closely, the reality for most women turns out to be a hard, dysfunctional and violent life – brutalised and degraded further by stints in prison.
Finishing the interiors at Justice & Police Museum
As part of Sydney Living Museums' ongoing program of maintenance, we were delighted to renew the interior finishes at the Justice & Police Museum.
George Freeman
A charismatic and persuasive man, Freeman rose to become one of Sydney’s leading figures of organised crime, in particular dominating the racing and illegal gambling industries. In this video former colleagues, journalists and police discuss the role he played in organised crime.
Gritty business
Immerse yourself in Sydney's chilling criminal past in this unique water-front museum of policing, law and disorder - with its grizzly collection of underworld weapons along with tales of mayhem and lawlessness, aptly described as an educational resource befitting a 'professor in crime'.
If these walls could talk: Justice & Police Museum
The Justice & Police Museum houses the Water Police Station, Water Police Court and Police Court that once made up one of the city’s busiest legal hubs. Crooks and cops, thugs and judges, locals and drifters – the guilty and the innocent have all left their stories here.
Lenny McPherson as informer
Video of former Assistant Police Commissioner Geoff Schuberg discussing raiding Lenny McPherson's home and recruiting him as an informer.
Returned from active service
In July 1921 James Arthur Banfield was arrested by Sydney police, photographed and charged on three counts of larceny. He had stolen a horse, a set of harness and a lorry from Wilson’s Steam Laundry in Surry Hills.
Sensational car chase
John Talbot Wright, aged 32, a motor mechanic and former chauffeur, was arrested on 11 September 1920 by Constable Cecil Elliott after a sensational car chase through city streets.
Sydney’s Pubs: liquor, larrikins & the law
Sydney’s Pubs: liquor, larrikins & the law was an exhibition at the Justice & Police Museum in 2008 exploring the colourful and complex history of the city's watering holes.
The 1910 Collection
Beating steadily at the heart of the Justice & Police Museum is the so-called 1910 Collection. Read about the many items and the stories that lay lurking in its shadows.
The Shadow Outwits Savvy Safebreakers
A routine stocktake leads to a new display that shines a light on the battle between NSW Police and the safebreaking fraternity.
More stories from Unlocked
A Life In Crime
Curator Nerida Campbell has got the dream job – rummaging through the grit and grime of Sydney’s criminal past to help us to come to terms with the city’s dark side.
Ambition and adventure: the early life of Arthur Phillip
As we approach the bicentenary of Arthur Phillip’s death we look back at the early life of this intriguing man, who had enjoyed an extraordinary career before he even set foot on a boat bound for Botany Bay.
Ancient traditions, new insights
Since 2015, a series of new events privileges Aboriginal voices and experiences at SLM sites.
Bringing House Museums to Life
Joanna Nicholas relishes her job as curator of three house museums, working to make sure each one is presented, interpreted and conserved in the best possible way.
Conserving the Arcade
The conservation of the Rouse Hill House arcade is an ongoing process of evaluation and cautious intervention.
Dig a little deeper
Fruit seeds, fragile fragments and family history – archaeologist and curator Dr Fiona Starr shares her discoveries.
If these walls could talk: Elizabeth Farm
A century after it was built Elizabeth Farm had become a local eyesore – forlorn, tumbling down and neglected. Then along came a plucky and energetic schoolteacher who sized it up as the answer to his family’s long-running housing troubles.
If these walls could talk: Hyde Park Barracks Museum
One of the most significant convict sites in the world, the UNESCO World Heritage listed Hyde Park Barracks was converted into Sydney’s female Immigration Depot in 1848, temporarily housing an estimated 40,000 women during its 38-year history. The barracks holds evidence of these former occupants in its walls, floors and ceilings.
If these walls could talk: Justice & Police Museum
The Justice & Police Museum houses the Water Police Station, Water Police Court and Police Court that once made up one of the city’s busiest legal hubs. Crooks and cops, thugs and judges, locals and drifters – the guilty and the innocent have all left their stories here.
If these walls could talk: Rose Seidler House
… they’d tell us intriguing things about those who have lived in our places. Step inside Rose Seidler House with Curator Joanna Nicolas.
If these walls could talk: Rouse Hill House & Farm
On the evening of 28 April 1899 the first act of a concert held at Rouse Hill House finished with a song performed by the jovial host, Edwin Stephen Rouse (1849–1931).
If these walls could talk: The Mint
Charles Miller, Frederick Sydney Hoptroff, Arthur Kilgour, Edgar Upton, Oliver Whiting, Theophilus (Theo) Bowmaker and John Gilchrist were all employees of the Royal Mint’s Sydney branch.
Meet our Aboriginal Advisory Committee
A group of Indigenous advisers will guide SLM in realising our new Aboriginal Action Plan.
Muru Mittigar Education Programs at Rouse Hill House & Farm
A partnership with Aboriginal social enterprise Muru Mittigar is transforming students’ learning experiences.
Reconstructing history
If there is one architect who has shaped the way we think about Sydney, it is Harry Seidler, the visionary responsible for some of our most iconic skyscrapers and modernist houses.
Story of country: our beginning
When visiting Sydney Living Museums it can be difficult to see beyond the European colonial narrative of our past and picture these sites before the bricks and mortar were laid. But peeling back the layers of time we find ourselves immersed in a truly different landscape.
Timeless design
A new collaboration for Sydney Living Museums fuses history with distinctly contemporary design.
Tracing family connections
Using treasured objects from our collections, we chart the unique relationship between Rouse Hill House (c1813) and Meroogal (1885).
Turning the leaves of Australian garden history
The Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection comes into bloom with a beautiful collection of rare Yokohama Nursery Company catalogues.
Vaucluse House: a centenary
A century after the honorary board of trustees voted to form Vaucluse House as a museum, we celebrate their vision and pay tribute to the role Sydney Living Museums has played in preservation, conservation and interpretation.
Welcome to Unlocked
Welcome to the Winter 2014 online edition of the Sydney Living Museums' Gazette: Unlocked.