He is the Jackal or the thieving criminal, incapable of a master stroke.
Crookwell Gazette, 23 February 1927
Petty criminals made up the largest group of felons and committed a diverse array of crimes, ranging from stealing to using offensive language. Few people crossed the path of a crime boss but many would have met a petty criminal. They were the reason people bought home insurance, avoided dark alleys and balked at offers that seemed too good to be true. Small-time crooks were constantly on the lookout for new opportunities and targets, and their activities kept police busy.
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Arthur Caddy, 6 March 1929
Suspect, offence unknown
A fireman (or stoker) on steamships, Caddy was known to police as a shopbreaker and had previously been arrested for drinking sly grog.
Special Photograph number 1714. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Alfred James Hannington, 27 June 1922
Suspected of false pretences
Hannington claimed to be a motion picture dealer with exclusive rights to two British films titled Once upon a time and Patricia Brent, spinster. He encouraged a returned serviceman to invest money to have the films released from Customs and distributed to cinemas. When the films were not screened, the victim went to the police. After hearing about the complexities of the fledgling international film distribution business, the judge decided there was not enough evidence of wrongdoing to convict Hannington.
Special Photograph number 832. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Patrick Riley, 30 December 1922
(alias Edward Riley, Matthew Edward Riley)
Suspected of vagrancy; suspected of counterfeiting
Vagrancy – having no visible means of support – was a great ‘catch-all’ charge that could be levelled against people who police suspected were up to no good but whose exact crime proved hard to trace. In 1924, Riley was convicted of counterfeiting. He boasted to police he had spent four years learning the trade and that his finished coins were undetectable when completed.
Special Photograph number 1205. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
11 August 1924
(alias Edward Riley, Matthew Edward Riley)
Suspected of vagrancy; suspected of counterfeiting
Vagrancy – having no visible means of support – was a great ‘catch-all’ charge that could be levelled against people who police suspected were up to no good but whose exact crime proved hard to trace. In 1924, Riley was convicted of counterfeiting. He boasted to police he had spent four years learning the trade and that his finished coins were undetectable when completed.
Special Photograph number 1298. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Jean Dawson, 16 September 1926
Suspected of theft
Dawson stole a fur coat from the Imperial Fur Salon in Sydney’s Imperial Arcade. Posing as a customer, she ran out of the shop with the coat while the manageress was busy with paperwork. The magistrate described the theft as ‘most barefaced’ (The Sun (Sydney), 20 September 1926).
Special Photograph number 156A. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Thomas William Gunn (alias Arthur Bradley, Arthur Gunn, Arthur Johnson), William Carl Neilson & Albert Alfred Beck, circa 1921
Suspected of possessing housebreaking implements
Police found this trio at night carrying jemmies and other items used to break into buildings. Only Gunn was convicted of the charges.
Special Photograph number 360. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Keith Paul James Berry, 30 January 1924
(alias James Barren, James Barrow, James Barry, James Berry, Keith James Berry, John James, Trimmer)
Suspected of being a suspected person
Berry was a confidence man. He was charged multiple times with stealing but was often acquitted. At the age of 16 he laughed at police who had told him, ‘You think you are very smart – a bit of a liar – but you will find out you’re only a mug’ (The Daily Examiner, 13 May 1922).
Special Photograph number 1021. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Kathleen Joseph, 25 November 1925
Suspected of vagrancy
Special Photograph number 1440. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Lewis Lazarus, October 1 1920
(alias Leslie Bundock, Henry James)
Suspect, offence unknown
Special Photograph number 202. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Ethel Violet May Benn, 9 April 1923
Suspected of break, enter and steal
Benn was a remarkably athletic thief who had a history of escaping from police custody, even while heavily pregnant. She was known to shimmy up drainpipes to gain access to open windows – so taking her mugshot near a pipe was a risky move by police.
Special photograph number 1188. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
P Irwin, 4 December 1929
Suspect, offence unknown
Special Photograph number 1884. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Edith Stone, 31 December 1924
Suspected of stealing
Special Photograph number 1371. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums
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Charles Simmons, 20 April 1920
(alias Charles Andrews, George Carter, George Moodie, George Moody, Charles Saevers, Charles Seivers, Charles Syevers)
Suspected of break, enter and steal
Simmons was known to police as a pickpocket, housebreaker and counterfeiter. Early in his career he escaped from police custody and went on the run for three years, committing crimes up and down the eastern seaboard. He was attracted to country shows and race meets, where he could easily steal from unwary attendees before melting back into the crowd.
Special Photograph number 139. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
10 November 1921
(alias Charles Andrews, George Carter, George Moodie, George Moody, Charles Saevers, Charles Seivers, Charles Syevers)
Suspected of break, enter and steal
Simmons was known to police as a pickpocket, housebreaker and counterfeiter. Early in his career he escaped from police custody and went on the run for three years, committing crimes up and down the eastern seaboard. He was attracted to country shows and race meets, where he could easily steal from unwary attendees before melting back into the crowd.
Special Photograph number 635. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Edward Dalzell, 2 September 1922
(alias George Clampett, Thomas Edward Dalzell, Horace Holmes, Henry Smith, Ernest Thompson, Frederick Williams, Thomas Williams)
Suspected of break and enter with intent to steal
Master safebreaker Dalzell and an accomplice broke into a store intending to steal goods. They were spotted by police, who opened fire and shot the accomplice in the leg. Dalzell got away but was found the next day in bed with his lover and placed under arrest – perhaps before he had time to find his shoes. He appealed to the court by quoting the description of mercy in Shakespeare’s The merchant of Venice: ‘blesseth him that gives and him that takes’ (Evening News, 27 October 1922). The magistrate was unmoved and sentenced Dalzell to two years’ hard labour.
Special Photograph number 884. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Vera Woods, 30 April 1926
(alias Eva Wood)
Suspected of vagrancy
Special Photograph number 1484. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
William Frederick Long, circa 1920
(alias Eric Long)
Suspected of false pretences
Long was a saddler who had an eye for picking the best horses. Ever short of funds, he wrote worthless cheques as payment for the animals and riding equipment. He was found guilty of this crime five times in April 1920 and then twice more in August. He was sentenced to 12 months’ jail on the seventh charge, the courts finally having run out of patience with him.
Special Photograph number 174. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Kong Lee, 27 November 1922
Suspected of safebreaking
Kong Lee and an accomplice were caught after attempting to blow open a bank vault in the southern Sydney suburb of Kogarah. The explosion did not damage the vault but did wake the neighbours, who called the police. In court, Kong claimed the police had framed him. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years’ hard labour.
Special Photograph number 915. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Clara Brooks, 5 September 1922
Suspected of false pretences
Details of the suspected offence are unknown but as Brooks was a first-time offender, she was not sent to prison. She does not reappear in police records.
Special Photograph number 882. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
Antonius Jacobus Francisco Zetto, circa 1924
(alias Alberto Antonio Paraguolini, Alberto Antonio Parsqualini)
Suspected of stealing
Italian-born Zetto stole diamond jewellery from the home of his employer. In court, concerns were raised about his mental health, as he had attempted suicide while in police custody on this charge and had previously spent time in asylums. Zetto begged the judge to send him back to Italy where, he said, ‘Everybody loves me’. The magistrate retorted, ‘Apparently no one has found cause to love you here’ (The Sun (Sydney), 15 February 1924), and sentenced Zetto to prison.
Special Photograph number 41a. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums
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Irene Mary Gillett, 15 December 1925
(alias Armstrong, Nurse Desmond, May Gillett, Hayes, Nurse Hepburn, Hickey, Dr Howes, Thompson)
Suspected of stealing
Gillett would rent a room at a boarding house and pass herself off as a schoolteacher or a nurse, respectable professions for women in the 1920s. She would then break into other rooms and steal from the residents. Gillett had a lengthy criminal career and appears in the New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive three times – twice in the Specials and once in an entrance photograph from Long Bay jail.
Special Photograph number 1448. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
1 February 1928
(alias Armstrong, Nurse Desmond, May Gillett, Hayes, Nurse Hepburn, Hickey, Dr Howes, Thompson)
Suspected of stealing
Gillett would rent a room at a boarding house and pass herself off as a schoolteacher or a nurse, respectable professions for women in the 1920s. She would then break into other rooms and steal from the residents. Gillett had a lengthy criminal career and appears in the New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive three times – twice in the Specials and once in an entrance photograph from Long Bay jail.
Special Photograph number 179A. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums -
27 March 1928
(alias Armstrong, Nurse Desmond, May Gillett, Hayes, Nurse Hepburn, Hickey, Dr Howes, Thompson)
Suspected of stealing
Gillett would rent a room at a boarding house and pass herself off as a schoolteacher or a nurse, respectable professions for women in the 1920s. She would then break into other rooms and steal from the residents. Gillett had a lengthy criminal career and appears in the New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive three times – twice in the Specials and once in an entrance photograph from Long Bay jail.
Criminal record number 718LB, State Reformatory for Women, Long Bay. New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums