Kate Leigh - Career

Career

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 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, 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.

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

On 27 March 1930, she shot and killed John William "Snowy" Prendergast when he and other gangsters broke into her home at 104 Riley Street, Surry Hills. She was not indicted for the killing, or for shooting Joseph McNamara 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.

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. 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. 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. The house was raided by undercover police on 4 March 1938 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". 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.