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Squizzy and the death of William Haines

In the first of our five-part series on Squizzy Taylor, we look at the murder of taxi driver William Haines.

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NOTORIETY is a potent aphrodisiac. Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor was a short, baby-faced man, yet despite his lack of obvious masculine advantages, he was never without a female companion.

The ruler of Melbourne's underworld in the 1920s, Squizzy spiced his three marriages with numerous paramours, one or two of whom shared his newspaper headlines.

Eulogised and despised by his contemporaries in equal order, their accounts of him hint at his panache, confidence and rebelliousness - qualities that seem to have made him irresistible to many women.

Gracie Gilbert and Jared Daperis chatting in the back seat of the vintage Minerva car.

Gracie Gilbert and Jared Daperis chatting in the back seat of the vintage Minerva car. Photo: Ken Irwin

His wanted poster in the Police Gazette highlighted his fashionable appearance: ''Description: 44 years, looks 31 years, 5ft 2in., light build, dark complexion, clean shaven, dark piercing eyes, generally dresses in a blue twill suit, black overcoat with belt at back and velvet collar, black boxer hat.''

Famous Melbourne detective Superintendent Frederick Piggott described the crime czar as having ''crafty dark eyes under a rakish bowler hat''. He was ''a stocky figure always wearing the best of suits and a mouth curled into a sneer''.

In an article in the Barrier Miner newspaper, Piggott wrote: ''Irresponsible youths just entering on a career of petty thieving elevated this dapper little braggart to the stature of a sort of demi-god … Underworld girls, too, were subject to the same mannerisms.''

Squizzy taylor

Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor.

Several of these ''underworld girls'' went further than simply adopting the gangster's mannerisms. One of Squizzy's mistresses, the notorious prostitute Molly Jarvis, was dubbed ''Decoy Duck'' for helping him blackmail clients who feared the liaisons would be reported back to their wives.

Two of Squizzy's wives also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him in his criminal pursuits, working as decoys, drivers, shoplifters and perjurers.

Dolly Gray, his first wife, dispensed sexual favours to her husband's associates, took a bullet to her head and survived a severe bashing - all in acts of extreme loyalty to her man.

Lorna Kelly, who married Squizzy Taylor in May 1920.

Squizzy's first wife Lorna Kelly.

The sometime prostitute and full-time gang moll took Squizzy under her wing in 1907 (or perhaps earlier), when he was just 19 and she was in her late 20s.

Their liaison was first documented late in 1907 when the two fronted the Bendigo court on charges of having ''insufficient means''.

This rap was a variation of the old vagrancy counts, and a common weapon used by police to get petty criminals off the street. Witnesses were not needed.

Squizzy's second wife, Ida 'Babe' Pender, a jazz dancer.


Another useful charge, which wouldn't stand up today, was that of being ''a suspected person found to be loitering in a public place in order to commit a felony''.

Squizzy and Dolly were often loitering, and often with intent, usually with their criminal companions: pickpockets, enforcers, extortionists and blackmailers.

By 1913, the pair had perfected the ''honey trap'', a lucrative and seldom-reported scam which involved Dolly luring married men to quiet areas with the promise of sex. Once the victims were in a compromising state, Squizzy or an associate would burst through the door and claim to be the cuckolded husband. Wallets, watches and rings were quickly surrendered to ensure a safe exit.

In 1914, Dolly rushed to Melbourne Hospital with a gunshot wound behind her ear. According to newspapers at the time, the 37-year-old was in a serious condition.

Who pulled the trigger was, and remains, a mystery. All the gang moll and brothel manager would say to police was that the wound was self-inflicted.

It is unclear whether Dolly and Squizzy were ever legally married. Researchers from Victoria's Public Record Office have not found a wedding certificate or, for that matter, any divorce documents.

Still, when it suited him, Squizzy was quick to claim her as his wife. In one of his court appearances, Taylor was asked by the prosecutor: ''Do you know a woman named Dolly Gray?'' He replied: ''I know a woman named Mrs Taylor - I'm married to her.''

Dolly stood by Squizzy when he was charged with the murder of William Patrick Haines in early 1916, after the hire-car chauffeur had refused to assist Taylor and his associate, John Williams, in a bank heist in the Templestowe area.

Haines, whose grandfather was Victoria's first premier, Dr William Haines, was found shot dead in his vehicle in Bulleen. Taylor and Williams were identified as having been in the vehicle shortly before the execution.

At their court hearing that April, Taylor declared he was nowhere near the area on the day of the murder. Instead, he said, he was locked in the arms of his paramour, a Miss Alice Bell, barmaid at the Old England Hotel.

Squizzy's brassy alibi, who also went by the name of Bella Raynor, told the jury of their steamy relationship and the Richmond love-nest the couple frequented. The colourful evidence even touched on their choice of attire - Squizzy was a pyjama man, while she wore a kimono.

Despite the publicity about her rival, Dolly stayed strong. There was nothing Dolly would not do for her little gangster - even putting her safety on the line.

Several years later, when the vicious war between Taylor's Richmond gang and the rival Fitzroy push was making headlines, Dolly was sent to an enemy speakeasy to collect information. Her drink was spiked, and she was assaulted and then dumped unconscious and bruised in a nearby lane, minus the expensive fur and jewellery she'd been wearing.

Sly grog outlets are a haven for crime. As one newspaper police reporter described of that era: ''These speakeasys thrived in the days of early closing. The beer cost just two bob a bottle and the amenities were dank, dark and threatening. For a mug to flutter a pound note in one of those drinking dens is to flirt with a tombstone.''

Squizzy, meantime, was engaged in another flirtation. Waitress Lorna Kelly was his new love, and their liaisons were conducted at the house of his brother, Claude, in Albert Park.

Dolly objected to the liaison and paid Lorna a visit. Not surprisingly, an unseemly confrontation resulted, as Claude's wife was accused of harbouring 22-year-old Lorna.

Hugh Anderson, in his book on the life of Squizzy Taylor, tells of the hard-boiled Dolly glaring at Claude's wife.

''So you've got the little tart in smoke here,'' declared Dolly. ''A nice sister-in-law you are.''

In May 1920, Squizzy and Lorna wed. In one respect at least, it was a traditional union: Squizzy continued to build his criminal empire, while Lorna kept house. Perhaps, the set-up was too conventional for the gangster. In no time he was chasing Ida Muriel ''Babe'' Pender, the ''jazzer'' (jazz dancer) he'd met at a St Kilda dance venue.

Ida was the perfect partner-in-crime. She moved easily among Taylor's criminal cohorts and was the perfect confidante. In July 1922, aged just 17 years, Ida was arrested on shopstealing charges, accused of taking an evening gown and other clothes worth £221 during a robbery at a boutique in Elsternwick. The charges were eventually withdrawn when Squizzy took the rap.

A police description of her that was released after the robbery said that she was then 16½, but ''appears to be 25 or 26''. Squizzy and Ida's relationship was well known to police. At Squizzy's divorce hearing, a detective revealed that two years after Squizzy's marriage to Lorna, Squizzy and Ida were happily shacked up at the City Arms Hotel in Bendigo.

For a year, Squizzy and Ida went ''into smoke'', evading police after jumping bail on the theft charges. When he handed himself in to police, Squizzy gave an ''impromptu'' conference with reporters.

Asked where he'd been, Squizzy replied: ''Been living with my wife.''

''Lorna?'' inquired one journalist.

''No, Lorna is only a fair-weather friend. Ida is the best. I'm going to stick with her.''

He then added: ''Ida is the best jazzer in Australia.''

By the following year, Lorna had filed for divorce, accusing him of deserting her and their infant daughter, and naming Ida as his lover. It was a messy action and the gangster, known for splurging hundreds of pounds as a social gadfly, was dragged to court over failing to pay the agreed £300 weekly allowance to his family. In fact, he hadn't contributed for 10 months.

Conducting his own defence, Squizzy confronted his former wife, accusing her of living the high life, attending gala balls and appearing in the social pages of the society magazine, Table Talk.

''Are you keeping company with anyone?'' he grilled her. ''With a young man,'' Lorna answered.

''Do you remember me giving you £200?''

''Yes,'' replied Lorna. ''But you got that back from me for your law case.''

In the end, Squizzy was ordered to cough up the cash. The four-year marriage came to an official end in May 1924. Three weeks later, Squizzy and Ida were married in the same Congregational Church in Fitzroy where he had wed Lorna.

Ida was well and truly embedded in Squizzy's gang, and achieved her own notoriety by joining the police most-wanted list. She even starred in a wanted poster in early 1922, complete with a flattering photograph and a caption inadvertently extolling her womanly wiles.

Under the heading: ''Arrest These Persons'', she is described as ''5ft 4in in height'', ''fashionably dressed, has diamond jewellery and is fond of jazzing and skating''.

In late July 1922, she was spotted by chance window shopping in Flinders Street.

By this time Dolly is believed to have left Melbourne for interstate, possibly Adelaide, and Lorna was living a relatively quiet life with her parents in the northern suburbs.

Ida stuck by Squizzy, even during his times in jail. In one incident, Ida masqueraded as a member of a church choir performing for the prisoners in Pentridge, much to the horror of the Victorian Chief Secretary, who quickly slapped an official ban on her visits.

When Squizzy died in a hail of bullets in a shoot-out with rival gangster John ''Snowy'' Cutmore, Ida was less than forthcoming to police about her husband's movements that day.

All she said was that she'd last seen him at 11am; he'd told her he'd be back at their Richmond home at 6pm; he hadn't been drinking and he wasn't carrying any firearms.

Ida was just 22 when Taylor died on October 27, 1927. They'd been married for just three years. After burying him at Brighton Cemetery, she waited a year before marrying Mickey Powell, well-known around Australia for his ballroom routines.

Once again, Ida was back in the headlines, but not for being a notorious gangster's moll. Said one newspaper at the time: ''Ida Pender is still a striking looking girl in the full vigour of youth and anxious to forget the terrible days of her first husband's underworld career. In the days of 'Squizzy' she was one of the best-dressed women in Melbourne.''

But the marriage didn't last long and each went their separate ways. Records show that Ida went on to a number of relationships before her death in 1971, aged 66. Lorna, later remarried and settled into quiet domesticity. She died in 1980, aged 78.