Squizzy Taylor
| Squizzy Taylor | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Joseph Theodore Patrick Leslie Taylor 29 June 1888 Doncaster, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 27 October 1927 (aged 39) Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia |
| Cause of death | gunshot wound |
| Other names | Leslie Grout, Michael McGee, David Donoghue, The Turk |
| Occupation | various |
| Spouse(s) | Dolly Grey (legal marriage status unknown) Irene Lorna Kelly (1920-24) Ida Muriel Pender (1924-1927, his death) |
| Children | June Lorraine Taylor |
| Parent(s) | Benjamin Isaiah Taylor Rosina Taylor (nee Jones) |
Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor (29 June 1888 – 27 October 1927) was an Australian gangster from Melbourne. He appeared repeatedly and sometimes prominently in Melbourne news media because of suspicions, formal accusations, and some convictions related to a 1919 violent gang war, to his absconding from bail and hiding from the police in 1921–22, and to his participating in a robbery where a bank manager was murdered in 1921.
Taylor enjoyed a fearsome reputation in 1920s Melbourne. A "spiv", described as the Australian equivalent of the 'American bootleggers', his crimes ranged from pickpocketing, assault and shopbreaking to armed robbery and murder. He also derived income from sly-grog selling, two-up schools, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution and, in his later years, is believed by some to have moved into cocaine dealing.
His life and times came back into public attention, with the television series on the Nine television network in Australia, Underbelly: Squizzy, which is loosely based biographic account of Taylor's life.
Born in Williamstown, Victoria, on 29 June 1888, Taylor was the second youngest child of Benjamin Isaiah Taylor, coachmaker, and Rosina Taylor (née Jones). The family struggled financially and, after the family coachmaking business was sold by creditors in 1893, they moved to the inner-Melbourne working-class suburb of Richmond.
With the death of his father in 1901, Taylor began working in the stables of a horse trainer and then as a jockey on Melbourne's inner-city pony circuit.
Taylor soon started to get into trouble with the police and in May 1905 at the age of 16 was arrested for insulting behaviour. He was discharged without conviction by the local magistrates, but this was the first of many court appearances. His first criminal conviction was recorded in March 1906 at the age of 17 when he was sentenced to 21 days imprisonment for the theft of a 'fly front grey Melton cloth overcoat'.
Although given the name 'Joseph Leslie Theodore' by his parents, Taylor preferred to use the name 'Leslie'. As a youth, Taylor became known by the nickname 'Squizzy' which stayed with him for the rest of his life. Like many nicknames, its origin is not obvious. Some people say it comes from the colloquial Australian word 'squiz' (which means 'to look or glance') and that Taylor squinted because of an ulcerated, droopy left eyelid. Other people attribute the nickname to way that Taylor ran, which they say was in a 'squizzy' motion.
His first prison sentence behind him, Taylor became part of a larrikin 'push' (or gang) that roamed the streets looking for trouble. His early convictions included theft, assault, inciting to resist arrest, offensive language, throwing missiles and vagrancy.
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Wikipedia