Femme fatale: 20 vintage criminals of the early 20th century

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

All the intriguing images in this survey were taken in the early 20th century in New South Wales, Australia. The femme fatale was photographed immediately after being charged.

For example, Alice Adeline Cook was convicted of double marriage and theft. At the age of 24, she had a myriad of aliases, at least two husbands, and an impressive appearance. Even the police officers described her as "pretty pretty" on a personal file.

Alice Clarke is convicted of selling alcohol without a license. Alice Clarke is an entrepreneur who took advantage of the restriction on the right to sell alcohol in pubs after 6 pm and sold expensive alcohol directly from the mansion. Clarke was arrested just weeks after the law was passed. She was 42 years old.

Doris Poole appeared in Newtown on charges of stealing jewelry and clothing. She had previously been convicted of a similar crime in North Sydney and therefore received a six-month sentence this time. She was 21 years old.

Emily Gertrude Hemsworth killed her three-week-old son, but was later unable to recall any details of the murder. She was found not guilty due to insanity. Hemsworth was taken into custody pending trial, but because she posed a threat to society, it seems that she was never released. She was 24 years old.

Prostitute Etty Sultana has worked in northern New South Wales and Queensland, Brisbane and Toowoomba for most of her career. She had several convictions for prostitution, theft, drunkenness, swearing and vagrancy. She was sentenced to six months of hard labor. She was 37 years old.

Convicted of murder, Evgenia Folleni spent most of her life disguised as a man. In 1913, Folleni "married" a widow, Annie Briquette, whom she later killed, and the case went wild, a high-profile trial of a "man-woman" that was closely watched by the public. She was 43 years old.

Evelyn Courtney was accused of stealing all sorts of little things, from an umbrella to Irish linen napkins. She was suspected of at least seven different thefts in 1920. She was 19 years old.

Janet Wright is convicted of clandestine medical activities - performing abortions. The former nurse arranged an impromptu abortion at her home. Wright was charged and sentenced to 12 months hard labor after one of her adolescent female patients nearly died as a result of "surgery." She was 68 years old.

Kathleen Ward has multiple convictions for drunkenness, profanity and theft. As you can see in this picture - she liked to "lead by the nose" of the police - it was as if she deliberately closed her eyes to ruin the long exposure photograph. She was 21 years old.

Leslie Reese was convicted of double marriage and sentenced to four months of labor. The woman was taken from the regional center in Sydney to carry out her sentence. Age is not specified.

Lillian Sproule - "the parasite in the skirt" as local journalists called her - was a cocaine dealer in Sydney with several convictions. She was sentenced to six months in prison. She was 50 years old.

Convicted of illegal medical activity - abortion. Mary Brownlee was caught during a police investigation in 1923 and sentenced to 12 months of light labor, and her accomplice was acquitted. She was 64 years old.

Matilda (Tilly) Devine slashed the client's face with a straight razor. And she was sentenced to two years in prison. She was the most famous brothel owner in Sydney, and her trial was widely reported in the press. She was 25 years old.

Nelly Cameron was one of Sydney's most famous and most desirable prostitutes. Lillian Armfield, Australia's first female policewoman, described Cameron as "always keeping her balance on this Australian day that set her apart from all other women in her circle." She was 21 years old.

Patsy Neill is convicted of stealing and possessing cocaine. Barmaid Patsy Neill has been involved in criminal activities including stealing and selling cocaine. As a result of several skirmishes, she was at gunpoint and was taken into custody. She was 26 years old.

British-born Carmer was nicknamed the Phyllis "Yankee" for her peculiar accent. During a violent quarrel, she stabbed her pimp. Carmer received a lot of sympathy in the media, where her crime was called nothing less than "justified murder." She was 32 years old.

Muriel Goldsmith looks like a schoolteacher, but she was a prolific thief with a whole list of aliases. She was found guilty of stealing money and jewelry from the Criterion Hotel in Ouagadougou, New South Wales. She was 25 years old.

Ruth Carruthers convicted of fraud. She received goods and money from the hapless shopkeepers, using her gift of persuasion. She was ultimately found guilty of four counts of fraud and sentenced to six months in Long Bay. She was 28 years old.

Dorothy Mort is convicted of murder. Mrs. Dorothy was having an affair with a young physician, Claude Tozer. When Tozer came to her house on December 21, 1920 with the intention of breaking off relations, Mort shot him, and later intended to settle scores with her own life. She was 32 years old.

Amy Lee's personal file contains the entry "I was once a beautiful woman until I became a victim of cocaine." This is evidenced by dry skin and spots on the face. She was 41 years old.

Portraits of these women are kept in The Sydney Justice & Police Museum. And they deserve special attention, as well as the portraits of the photo project. "We are not dead"where we see the faces of people in a difficult life situation.