Matilda Devine criminal record number 659LB, 27 May 1925, Long Bay Gaol. NSW Department of Prisons, Justice & Police Museum, Sydney LIving Museums Record no: 35694

Last week on 2SER, Nicole chatted about Kate Leigh the sly-grog queen, so it seemed only fair that this week I gave her nemesis Tilly Devine an airing. Tilly Devine, born Matilda Mary Twiss in London, arrived in Sydney as a war bride in 1920 and became a formidable figure in the city's underworld, particularly in Palmer Street, Darlinghurst. Known for her violence and her legendary feud with Kate Leigh, Tilly Devine was the city's leading madam until the end of the 1950s. She died, in financial ruin and unlamented, in 1970 but her legend has recently been revived in popular culture. Tilly Devine was a London prostitute, who came out to Sydney in 1919 as a war bride. She didn't turn over a new leaf in the lucky country but instead returned to her tried and true work as a prostitute. Between 1921 and 1925 Tilly Devine was arrested on seventy-nine occasions for prostitution offences, often referred to in the criminal records as 'offensive behaviour' and 'indecent language'. She was also charged with fighting and consorting with known criminals. Usually she was fined or imprisoned for a few days. Soliciting gets harder as you get older. From the 1920s Tilly Devine became a brothel madam, owning or managing a clutch of brothels in Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Paddington and Woolloomooloo. Part of the reason Tilly was able to move from soliciting to pimping was a legal loophole. The New South Wales Police Offences (Amendment) Act of 1908 made it an offence for men to operate a brothel, act as a pimp, or profit from the earnings of prostitution. But it said nothing about women. As well as a thriving brothel business, Tilly Devine also dealt in drugs, and had a sideline in sly grog. She was regularly in the courts for or assault, indecent language and consorting offences. Tilly and Kate Leigh tried to out do each other in their flamboyant court appearances. It was a part of an ongoing rivalry between the two crime queens of Sydney that was also cultivated to celebrity status in media coverage of the day - newspapers such as the Truth, the Daily Mirror and even the Sydney Morning Herald. Catie Gilchrist wrote the companion pieces on Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine. They are a great introduction to Sydney's organised crime in the interwar period. Well-illustrated with police mug shots and gaol cards, the articles also include images and summary information about many of the main players, such as Guido Calletti, Frank Green and Nellie Cameron. It's well worth a look. If you want a bit more crime action, why not come down and hear Lisa in conversation with historian Leigh Straw about her newly released book The Worst Woman in Sydney at Dymocks on George Street, Sydney at 1pm this Saturday 2 July 2016 after you vote! Visit Dymocks’ website to find out more.

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If you missed today’s segment, you can catch up here via the 2SER website. Tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.