Kate Leigh
| Kate Leigh | |
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Kate Leigh in April, 1915
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| Born |
Kathleen Mary Josephine Beahan 10 March 1881 Dubbo, New South Wales |
| Died | 4 February 1964 (aged 82) St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney |
| Burial place | Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park |
| Nationality | English Australian |
| Other names |
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| Years active | circa 1920s – 1950s |
| Known for | Razor gangs, sly-grog and drug supply, philanthropy |
| Spouse(s) |
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Kathleen Mary Josephine "Kate" Leigh (née Beahan; 10 March 1881 – 4 February 1964) (other names included Kathleen Barry, and Kathleen Ryan) was an Australian underworld figure who rose to prominence as an illegal trader of alcohol and cocaine dealer in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia during the first half of the twentieth century. Kate Leigh was a leading figure in the notorious Sydney razor gang wars. She was known for her continuing feud with fellow vice regal underworld figure Tilly Devine, as well as her acts of generosity for the unemployed during a repressive era and her wartime patriotism.
Kate Leigh was born on 10 March 1881 in Dubbo, New South Wales, the eighth child of Roman Catholic parents Timothy Beahan, a boot-maker, and his wife Charlotte (née Smith). Her childhood and teenaged years included childhood neglect, time in a girls' home at age 12, and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; her daughter Eileen May Beahan was born in 1900.
Leigh married James Ernest 'Jack' Lee or Leigh (1882–1959) on 2 May 1902. 'Jack' Lee was born in Tumut to a Chinese father and an Australian born mother, and became an illegal bookmaker and petty criminal. They separated in 1905 when James Lee was imprisoned for assault and robbery. Following his trial, Kate Leigh was convicted of perjury and for being an accomplice to the assault, after being accused of lying under oath to protect her husband; her conviction was overturned on appeal. The marriage broke up soon after the trial, though they were not divorced until 1921. Kate anglicised her part-Asian surname from Lee to Leigh, and she was mostly known by that name for the rest of her life, regardless of future marriages. Kate's daughter Eileen also used the name 'Leigh' until she married in 1920.>
Kate married for the second time on 26 September 1922, to a Western Australian-born musician Edward Joseph 'Teddy' Barry (1892–1948), a sly-grog dealer and small-time criminal. The marriage only lasted for a few years, after which she reverted to using her previous surname of 'Leigh'. Though long separated, Teddy Barry died in Kate's home at 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills on 26 June 1948, and was buried at Botany Cemetery three days later.
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