Kate Leigh was known as the 'Snow Queen' due to her being the largest supplier of cocaine in Sydney.
27 Facts About Kate Leigh
1.
2.
Kate Leigh was a leading figure in the notorious Sydney razor gang wars.
3.
Kate Leigh was known for her continuing feud with fellow vice-regal underworld figure Tilly Devine, a madam based at Woolloomooloo, as well as her acts of generosity for the unemployed during a repressive era, and her wartime patriotism.
4.
Kate Leigh was born on 10 March 1881 in Dubbo, New South Wales, the eighth child of Roman Catholic parents Timothy Beahan, a boot-maker, and his wife Charlotte.
5.
Kate Leigh's childhood and teenaged years included childhood neglect, time in a girls' home at age 12, and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; her daughter Eileen May Beahan was born in 1900.
6.
Kate Leigh married James Ernest Lee on 2 May 1902.
7.
Kate Leigh married for the second time on 26 September 1922, to a Western Australian-born musician Edward Joseph 'Teddy' Barry, a sly-grog dealer and small-time criminal.
8.
Kate Leigh was charged in 1916, at age 16, with Shooting At, With Intent To Murder and had a reputation as a tough standover criminal by the late 1920s.
9.
At its peak, Kate Leigh ran at least twenty bootleg outlets.
10.
Kate Leigh exploited the passage of the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act 1927 in NSW by providing lucrative illicit criminal distribution networks for the high-demand cocaine it criminalised.
11.
Kate Leigh derived her supplies from a corrupt network of doctors, dentists, chemists, and sailors, and amassed considerable wealth from the activity.
12.
Kate Leigh obtained loyalty and protection from a male network of gangsters, but often had to protect them and was adept with a rifle.
13.
Kate Leigh was engaged in a violent feud with her rival Tilly Devine, a Sydney madam based in Woolloomooloo that lasted 20 years.
14.
Kate Leigh was personally involved in violence, though she was never convicted of any such offense.
15.
Kate Leigh was not indicted for the killing, or for shooting Joseph McNamara nearby in Liverpool St, Darlinghurst on 9 December 1931.
16.
Kate Leigh was found in possession of cocaine and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.
17.
Kate Leigh was charged on 107 occasions and was sent to prison on 13 occasions.
18.
Kate Leigh lived in a terrace house at 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills from 1933 until the house was demolished in 1950.
19.
Kate Leigh was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment on 7 September 1942 for having sold liquor without a licence at 13 Pearl Street and 2 Lansdowne Street, Surry Hills.
20.
Kate Leigh was undoubtedly one of Sydney's wealthiest women during the 1930s and 1940s but the Taxation Office sent her into bankruptcy in 1954 for unpaid income tax and fines dating back to 1942.
21.
Kate Leigh was famously quoted in the Australian media as stating "The bloom has gone off the grog".
22.
At the time of her death, aged 82, Kate Leigh was living in virtual poverty in a small room above one of her old illegal hotels at 212 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills and was financially dependent on her nephew, William John Beahan, who ran a mixed business in the shop in the downstairs part of the premises.
23.
Kate Leigh resided at 212 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills from 1951 until her death in 1964.
24.
Kate Leigh died on 4 February 1964 at St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst, and her funeral was held on 7 February at St Peter's Catholic Church in Devonshire Street, Surry Hills and was attended by over 700 mourners.
25.
Kate Leigh was buried in Botany Cemetery, now known as Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park in the Roman Catholic Section 29K, Grave 896 as Kathleen Ryan.
26.
Kate Leigh was remembered by the press as much for her patriotism during World War II and for generous charitable acts in support of the unemployed in harsh times as for her criminal history.
27.
Kate Leigh was portrayed by Danielle Cormack, with Tilly Devine played by Chelsie Preston Crayford, the series itself was based on a Ned Kelly Award winning book written by Chris Walker.