Newly released records give a fascinating insight into the life and crimes of some of our early outlaws.

Facing charges of theft, murder, desertion and even fortune-telling, some were acquitted while others had to endure years of hard labour for their misdemeanours.

Some, like Roy Freeman, were serial offenders, with criminal records across Australia and New Zealand.

Others seemed to be caught up in one-off run-ins with the police.

State Records of South Australia released these images to The Advertiser.

William Henry Hayes

During November 1929, Hayes committed a variety of crimes, including robbing a lolly shop and many businesses in Lameroo. He was found guilty of the crimes and sent to Yatala. He then escaped in July 1930, but was recaptured after a shootout with police — while disguised as a woman. He appeared in court still wearing the outfit in which he was captured, which included a pink garter, straw hat with flowers and high-heeled shoes. While in prison, Hayes carved out a dollhouse with a pen knife for the children’s hospital. After his release, he went to NSW where he set fire to a house with his new wife in it.

Mona May Mitchell

Arrested in 1926, Mitchell was accused of unlawful possession after being discovered with a bag of groceries, a handbag, a piece of lace, women’s hose, perfume, powder, a razor and blades. Mitchell had acquired the goods from the Adelaide Co-operative Society Store with a fraudulent order in the name of Thomas Bowen, Glenunga. Mitchell, a dressmaker, was described as a “stylish young woman”. However, at the time of her arrest she was out of work and sobbed in court as she explained that she had taken the groceries as she wanted something to eat. Newspaper reports highlighted the fact that Mitchell was living away from her husband of two years, that her mother had died when she was young and her father had since remarried. Mitchell was fined £5-10-0.

William Northy Fortescue

On January 19, 1885, Fortescue was charged with unlawfully and maliciously damaging the Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland and the Post Office London Directory 1883, which were both kept in the Public Library of South Australia. Fortescue plead guilty was sentenced to 15 months’ hard labour. He was discharged from jail on October 10, 1885, on a warrant from the Governor in Chief.

Hannah Commons

Arrested for murder in 1926, Commons was accused of killing her lover’s fiancee with rat poison. Commons lived with Robert Dennis as his housekeeper on his farm at Bute. She was employed by him shortly after his wife died and they had an illegitimate child together, and a jilted engagement. She was accused of poisoning Rita Ranke, recently engaged to Mr Dennis. She confessed to the crime in a statement saying: “If I hang I die for the man I love”. The confession was ruled ineligible for her trial as it was thought to have been obtained under duress. During the trial, the defence alleged that Mr Dennis kept Hannah as a concubine and had intimate relations with her while she was his housekeeper. The jury found her not guilty.

Roy Freeman

Freeman appears to have led a life of crime as a “traveller” throughout Australia and New Zealand. In 1926, he was convicted by the Supreme Court at Adelaide for housebreaking with intent to steal. Mrs Lena Richardson, of Medindie, found Freeman attempting to enter her house through the kitchen window, where she “smacked his face” and said “How dare you break into my house?”. A number of postmen were in the street, and one managed to chase Freeman through several houses before apprehending him. Acting Justice Richards sentenced Freeman to two years and four months’ hard labour, citing his history of similar crimes that dated back to 1909. Using aliases Harry Williams, Harry Freeman, Finsberg and Watson, SA Police were able to record interstate photograph references from WA, NSW and Victoria, as well as prior convictions in Perth, Kalgoorlie and New Zealand. His photograph used by SA Police when recording the arrest clearly shows that he wore a wig. Police also noted a number of interesting special features sported by Freeman, including tattoos of flowers and scroll with “Lucy” in the centre.

Doris Jacob

Jacob was arrested in 1928 on the charge of impersonating a police officer at Toorak Gardens. During the June 21 hearing, she was first charged over requesting free rides from taxi drivers under the guise of being a member of the Victorian Women Police. Evidence for this crime was dismissed, before a new charge of impersonating a police officer was laid. Under this charge, Jacob was accused of asking Samuel Thompson of the Yellow Cab Company for any information about a man named “Hickey”, and asserting that she was a policewoman. She was fined £2-5-0, but appears to have instead been imprisoned for 14 days. Born in Victoria, she had previously been arrested twice in NSW for stealing valuable securities and posing as a returned nurse with a Military Medal.

Lena Stevens

First arrested in January 1929, Stevens was released on a £10 good behaviour bond. Her offence? Fortune telling. She was later arrested in 1929 on the charge of larceny from the English, Scottish and Australian Bank at Tanunda. The larceny was a rather elaborate fortune-telling stunt involving reading the bank teller’s hand while also managing to steal 120 pounds from him. The teller was suspicious after Stevens left and eventually found the money was missing. Stevens was sentenced to two years of hard labour. Prison life seriously affected her health and she lost weight rapidly and, at times, refused to eat. The Prison Medical Officer ultimately gave the opinion that if she were to remain in jail she would probably die and she was discharged on a Governor’s Warrant on August 22, 1929. The conditions of her release stated that she, and others of the gypsy band to which she belonged, should leave Australia and she must also repay £120 to the bank. Stevens, along with her husband and three children, sailed from Adelaide for Naples, Italy, on August 23, 1929.

Eusope Bin Amat

A Malaysian sailor aboard the SS City of Oran, Eusope was sentenced on April 30, 1926, to two months’ imprisonment for assaulting the cook aboard the ship. On July 2, he was charged on the information of the senior boarding officer at Customs, John Charles Burford, that on June 29 at Port Adelaide, he had failed to pass a dictation test and was a prohibited immigrant. Eusope was jailed for six months pending deportation. The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 required that foreign ships’ crews be mustered prior to departure. If a crew member was not present, they were deemed to be a prohibited immigrant and subjected to the dictation test. If they failed this, they could then be deported.

Vili Hakulinen

Arrested in 1926 on two charges of housebreaking, Finnish-born Hakulinen was sentenced to nine months’ jail on one charge and was acquitted by a jury for the other. Arrested again in August 1927 for robbery under arms of a house in Hackney on the night of June 19, it was alleged he broke into the Hackney Rd home masking all but his eyes, and stole two pound of silver from Mrs Stella Murphy by making an assault on her while armed with a pistol. He was arrested after being identified from a line-up of five men by Mrs Murphy’s son. He was ordered to life imprisonment with Judge Angas Parsons recommending the sentence be reduced to seven years’ hard labour. In 1930, Hakulinen lodged an appeal and his conviction was quashed after a fellow prisoner at Yatala Labour Prison, George Christopher Percival Allen, admitted that he was in fact the one who committed the robbery back in 1927. After he was granted freedom by the Criminal Court of Appeals, Hakulinen was immediately issued with a warrant for his deportation and arrested by an officer from the Customs Department. The order for deportation was taken out before he had been convicted and sentenced for the offence, but it was not put into effect at the time on account of the conviction. He unsuccessfully sought compensation for his wrongful imprisonment and was ultimately deported to Finland in October, 1930.

Joseph Harding

Harding arrived in South Australia in 1925 at the age of 19. Arrested the following year, the labourer was tried for common assault at the Supreme Court alongside Charles Crowe and Daniel West. The three men were accused of assaulting and attempting to rob Horace Lionel Billing on the Tailem Bend Rd, near Murray Bridge. Reports of the trial suggest that witnesses did not immediately identify Harding as part of the group seen heading towards Murray Bridge before the assault. Further questioning by police revealed Harding’s confession was made in the car after the other accused had fled. Harding himself had also been punched by Billing in the attack. Crowe and West were convicted of the assault, but Harding was acquitted.

John Bruce McNamara

On September 10, 1878, McNamara was one of a group of eight men who allegedly congregated at Nelshaby, disturbed the peace and, with force, demolished the house of Dominic Sposito. Despite pleading not guilty, McNamara, a labourer, was found guilty and sentenced to seven years’ hard labour. Although it was established other people were present at the scene of the crime, they could not be identified to the Attorney-General.

Thomas Smith

Tasmanian-born Thomas Smith, who also went by the alias Donoghue, was arrested multiple times in his home state on charges of larceny and false pretences and served a total of four months’ hard labour. Smith was then arrested in Lameroo for larceny and escaping from lawful custody in 1925. He was sentenced to three months and six months (concurrent) for his crimes. Though they’re not visible in these photos, Smith had a number of tattoos that included a ship inside a lifebuoy, a full-figured girl, the Australian flag with “Australia” written above it over clasped hands, a heart and with the words “True Love”, a ship inside a wreath and anchor, a bird with a letter in its beak and the word “Love” and a faith, hope and charity emblem with the word “Lizzie”. With that collection of tattoos, it’s no surprise that Smith was a sailor.

Max Schwandt

Schwandt appeared at the Port Adelaide Police Court on November 11, 1925, on a charge of being a prohibited immigrant of German nationality, to which he pleaded guilty. He was ordered to six months’ imprisonment pending deportation to Germany. Detective Inspector J. C. Burford, of the Customs Department, stated that in Melbourne in 1924, Schwandt and three other members of a German ship deserted. Following the desertion he had been working in the country.
Gallery: Our unsual suspects