Early Life
She was born Matilda Mary Twiss, from one of the numerous criminal English families, at 57 Hollington Street, Camberwell, London in the United Kingdom. In 1915, she and many English and Australian females were found working as prostitutes and thieves. At 16 she married an Australian serviceman, James Edward (Jim) Devine, (born Brunswick, Victoria, 1892, died Melbourne, 1966), on 12 April 1917 at the Sacred Heart Church, Camberwell, London. The couple had one son, born at Camberwell in 1919.
Her career in prostitution began when she was a teenager and after she was married. She and many English females were usually found soliciting on the wide footpaths on The Strand, at night. From 1915 onwards to 1919, she spent time at Bow Street Court and Lock Up for prostitution, theft and assault.
When Jim returned to Australia she followed him back on the bride ship Waimana, arriving in Sydney on 13 January 1920. Her son stayed in London and was brought up by her parents. Both Tilly and Jim Devine rapidly became prominent illegal narcotics dealers, brothel owners and crime gangs members in the Sydney criminal milieu.
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