Squizzy Taylor

For other uses, see Squizzy Taylor (disambiguation).

Squizzy Taylor
Born
Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor

(1888-06-29)29 June 1888
Brighton, Colony of Victoria
Died27 October 1927(1927-10-27) (aged 39)
Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
Cause of deathGunshot
Other namesLeslie Grout, Michael McGee, David Donoghue, The Turk[1]
OccupationCriminal
Spouse(s)Irene Lorna Kelly (m. 1920; div. 1924)
Ida Muriel Pender
​
(m. 1924)​
ChildrenJune Lorraine Taylor
Lesley Taylor
Patricia Gloria Taylor

Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor (29 June 1888 – 27 October 1927)[2] 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 gang war, to his absconding from bail and hiding from the police in 1921–22, and to his involvement in a robbery where a bank manager was murdered in 1923.

Taylor enjoyed a fearsome reputation in 1920s Melbourne.[3] 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.[4]

As of 2024, Squizzy Taylor was depicted in the TV Series Vendetta 19 created by best selling author Roy Maloy which was filmed in Victoria, Australia. It stars Tom Levi as a young Squizzy Taylor in the midst of the 1908 Fitzroy Vendetta.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference adbonline.anu.edu.au was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 29 October 1927. p. 17. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  3. ^ ""SQUIZZY" TAYLOR". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 31 October 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  4. ^ "When Chicago murder methods came to Fitzroy". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 11 February 1950. p. 28 Supplement: The Argus Week-end Magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2014.