These are wife killers, petty thieves, dealers of fake opium, hustlers – plucked from the street by the police of 1920s Sydney, Australia and photographed, fresh from the scene of the crime. These photographs reveal a lot more than the usual mugshot. The suspects strike poses. A few look disheveled and deranged, but some look decidedly guilty. They lean casually into their own pockets, hats tipped, eyes scowling. They look in character, the alleged crime still fresh on their mind. There are thousands of vintage glass plates photographs taken by the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930, now hosted by the The Sydney Justice & Police Museum.
Eddie McMillan, John Frederick ‘Chow’ Hayes, Thomas Esmond Bollard, Special Photograph number 2057, 6 November 1930, Central Police Station, Sydney
Mug shot of “Silent Tom” Richards and T Ross, alias Walton, 12 April 1920, presumably Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of De Gracy (sic) and Edward Dalton. Details unknown. Central Police Station, Sydney, around 1920.
Mug shot of Frank McGowan, Robert McFarlane and John Dennis McFarlane, 23 May 1921, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Gilbert Burleigh and Joseph Delaney, 27 August 1920, possibly Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Hampton Hirscham, Cornellius Joseph Keevil, William Thomas O’Brien and James O’Brien, 20 July 1921, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Thomas Craig, Raymond Neil (aka “Gaffney the Gunman”), William Thompson and FW Wilson, 25 January 1928, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Thomas Sutherland Jones and William Smith, 15 July 1921, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Walter Smith, 15 December 1924, location unknown.
Mug shot of William Stanley Moore, 1 May 1925, Central Police Station, Sydney.
John Frederick ‘Chow’ Hayes, Special Photograph number 2051, 6 November 1930, Central Police Station, Sydney
Mug shot of E.A.R Cavendish, 31 May 1926. Location and details unknown.
Mug shot of William Cahill, 30 July 1923, Central Police Station, Sydney. Details unknown.
Mug shot of Aiden Feutrill, 4 May 1920, location inknown.
Mug shot of Albert Sing, 31 March 1922. Location unknown.
Mug shot of Albert Stewart Warnkin and Adolf Gustave Beutler, 18 October 1920, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Alfred Fitch, 18 August 1924, location unknown, but possibly Darlinghurst Police Station.
Mug shot of Alfred John (or Francis) West, 7 April 1922, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Ernest James Montague, 29 August 1927, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Ernest Joseph Coffey, 2 June 1922, location unknown.
Mug shot of George Whitehall, 24 February 1922, possibly rear of Newtown Police Station.
Mug shot of Guiseppe Fiori, alias Permontto, 5 August 1924. Location unknown.
Mug shot of Harold Price, 13 August 1923, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Frederick Schmelz, 20 June 1930, location and details unknown.
Mug shot of Frederick Edward Davies, 14 July 1921, probably Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot inscribed ‘Hayes’. No details known. Early 1920s, presumably Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Alfred Ladewig, date unknown, possibly Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of B. Moody, Newtown Court, around 1919. Details unknown.
Mug shot of Daniel Ligores, around November 1920, probably Darlinghurst Police Station.
Mug shot of Francis Flood, Central Police Station, ca. May 1920.
Mug shot of Frank Murray alias Harry Williams, 4 February 1929, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Harris Hunter, 17 September 1924, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Harry Chapman, 30 June 1924. Location unknown.
Mug shot of Herbert Ellis. Presumed Central Police Station, Sydney, around 1920.
Mug shot of John Walter Ford and Oswald Clive Nash, June 1921, possibly North Sydney Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Joseph Messenger 15 February 1922, Central police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Kong Lee, 27 November 1922, location unknown.
Mug shot of Masterman Thomas Scoringe, 29 November 1922, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Sidney Kelly, 25 June 1924, Central Police Station, Sydney.
Mug shot of Sydney Skukerman, or Skukarman, 25 September 1924, Central Police Station, Sydney
via The Sydney Justice & Police Museum
