Happy Birthday, You Bastard

8th September, Tilly Devine

Matilda Mary Devine

8th September, 1900

Australia, Britain's annoying little brother, is a funny old place populated by next to nobody. The creatures who live there are wild, hostile and dangerous, scrabbling a meagre existence in the scoured, death lands of a scorched hell. And the fauna is quite dangerous, too. Badam and ptish.

Australia has that peculiar fallback the minor colonies rely on of being able to blame 'The British' for everything bad in their history, whilst simultaneously claiming any white person who did something good as, in this case, a 'Proud Aussie', even if both of the people in these examples were born in Britain and both lived at the same time. Then there are the crossover white people in their history who were British and did bad things but did them in a sort of cheeky-chappy-boisterous criminal way and so qualify as honorary Aussies even if their crimes were resolutely British. Even better if they were sort of wild-looking, vagabond, larrikin types with a lazy eye called Jethro, with two teeth and were permanently drunk, much like modern Aussies. Badam and ptish.

Anyway, transportation to Australia stopped in 1868, so everything shit that happened after that, like when they were still separating First Nations children from their families until 1970, is entirely your fault Australia.

One person who fitted quite nicely into this crossover British/Aussie sector was Tilly Devine who was a British criminal who went to Australia voluntarily for a change.

Badam and ptish.

Tilly Devine, born Matilda Mary Twiss in London on September 8, 1900, emerged as one of Australia's most notorious female criminals during the 1920s and 1930s. Her rise to power, centred in Sydney’s underworld, coincided with a period of great upheaval, including the infamous Razor Gang Wars, which defined much of the city’s criminal landscape. Devine's life, marked by her involvement in prostitution, violence, and the cocaine trade, has since become a legendary chapter in the history of Australian crime.

Devine was born into a working-class family in London, where she grew up in an environment of poverty. From a young age, she was involved in petty crimes, which eventually led her to sex work. It was during this time that she met Jim Devine, a known criminal who would later become her husband. The couple married in 1917, while Jim was on leave from World War I, and by 1920, they had emigrated to Australia, where they saw opportunities for establishing themselves in Sydney’s criminal underworld.

Upon arriving in Australia, Tilly immediately set her sights on becoming a major player in the prostitution business. Her success was largely due to a legal loophole: while the law prohibited men from running brothels, women were not subject to the same restrictions. Devine exploited this gap and quickly established herself as one of Sydney’s most powerful madams. By the mid-1920s, she owned several brothels, which became the foundation of her criminal empire.

The 1920s were a period of rapid growth for Sydney's criminal world, and Tilly was at the forefront. Not content with running brothels, she also became involved in the city's growing cocaine trade. Sydney’s cocaine market flourished after restrictions were placed on its sale in the mid-1920s, and Tilly and her husband Jim were quick to capitalize on the demand. Jim, with his connections to other criminals, ensured a steady supply, while Tilly used her brothels to distribute the drug. The profits from prostitution and drugs made Tilly a wealthy and influential figure.

The Devines’ criminal activities, however, were not without competition. The most significant rival to Tilly's empire was Kate Leigh, another notorious Sydney crime queen. While Tilly dominated prostitution and drugs, Leigh controlled the sly-grog (illegal alcohol) trade. Their rivalry was often violent, and the two women employed gangs to enforce their control over their respective territories. This tension culminated in the Razor Gang Wars, a bloody series of confrontations between criminal gangs that took place between 1927 and 1930.

The Razor Gang Wars were fueled by the introduction of the Pistol Licensing Act in 1927, which made it illegal to carry a gun without a permit. Criminals, including Tilly's henchmen, turned to razors as their weapon of choice. These weapons became synonymous with the brutal street violence of the time, and the area of Darlinghurst, where Tilly operated, earned the moniker "Razorhurst." The wars saw countless attacks, slashings, and murders as gangs battled for control of Sydney’s underworld. Tilly herself was known for her violent temper and was often involved in these confrontations. By 1931, the New South Wales government passed stricter laws, including consorting laws, which made it illegal to associate with known criminals. This, along with intensified police efforts, helped to reduce the violence, although Tilly’s operations continued largely unaffected.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Tilly’s brothels and drug trade made her one of the wealthiest women in Sydney. She was frequently in the media, often glamorized for her wealth and lifestyle, which contrasted sharply with her violent criminal activities. She was arrested multiple times for various offences, including assault, but she often avoided serious prison time due to a combination of bribes and legal loopholes. Her financial success, however, also made her a target for law enforcement. In 1955, Tilly was hit with a large tax bill from the Australian Tax Office, which demanded she pay $20,000 in unpaid taxes. The fine forced her to sell many of her properties, marking the beginning of her decline.

As the 1950s progressed, Tilly’s influence waned. A new generation of criminals began to rise, and her brothels were increasingly targeted by rival gangs. In 1968, her last remaining brothel was firebombed by these competitors, signalling the end of her reign. Around the same time, Australian laws changed, closing the loophole that had allowed women to run brothels. This, coupled with the shifting dynamics of Sydney's criminal underworld, meant that Tilly was no longer the power she once had been.

Tilly’s personal life was as turbulent as her criminal career. Her marriage to Jim Devine was notoriously violent, with both known for their fierce tempers and physical altercations. The couple eventually divorced in 1944, although Jim continued to be involved in Sydney’s criminal world until his death. Tilly remarried, but her second marriage was brief. Despite her wealth and status, Tilly’s later years were marked by declining health and financial troubles.

Tilly Devine passed away on November 24, 1970, at Concord Hospital in Sydney. She had suffered from chronic bronchitis for many years, a condition exacerbated by her heavy smoking. By the time of her death, she had lost much of her wealth, and her influence in the criminal world had long since faded. Her funeral was a quiet affair, a stark contrast to the once larger-than-life figure she had been. Some obituaries were scathing, reflecting the deep animosity many in Sydney felt towards her. One writer described her as a "high-priestess of savagery," underscoring her enduring reputation for cruelty.

In death, however, Tilly Devine’s legacy has taken on a new life. Her role in the Razor Gang Wars, her infamous rivalry with Kate Leigh, and her brutal rise to power have become the subject of numerous books, plays, and television series. In particular, her life was chronicled in Larry Writer’s book Razor, which details the bloody era of Sydney’s criminal past. Despite her many crimes, Devine has attained a certain level of mythic status, a symbol of the violent, chaotic period in Sydney’s history when women like her and Kate Leigh wielded power in an overwhelmingly male-dominated world.