Squizzy Taylor formally known as Joseph Leslie Theodore was born on 29th June 1888 at Brighton, Victoria. His father was Benjamin Isaiah Taylor and his mother was Rosina, nee Jones who were both also born in Victoria. The Taylor family moved to Richmond and Leslie attempted to make a career as a jockey. When Leslie (Squizzy) was 18 he was first convicted of assault. There was also other convictions that followed, but they weren’t that severe and he only suffered minor charges of theft. However between 1913 and 1916 Squizzy contributed too many more violent crimes which included the murder and robbery of Arthur Trotter, a commercial traveller. Taylor was tried for the murder of Haines and was found not guilty. Even though Squizzy wasn’t convicted after 1917, he remained very wealthy as well as violent in the underworld. His money came from robbery, prostitution, and the sale of illegal drugs. In 1923 bank manager Thomas Beeriman was robbed and murdered at Glenferrie railway station. Richard Buckley and Angus Murray were charged with the assault. Squizzy was charged with the aid of the crime, as well as assisting Murray’s escape from Pentridge prison. On both accounts Squizzy avoided conviction. Though eventually he was found guilty of harbouring Murray and was sentenced to six months imprisonment. Taylor married Irene Lorna Kelly at the St James Congregational Church, Fitzroy, on May 19 1920. On the 6th of May 1924 they were divorced. On the 27 of May, Squizzy re-married to Ida Muriel Pender, the woman that Squizzy has shared most of his adult life with. In 1923 they co-starred in a film about Squizzy’s life, Riding to Win; banned by the Victorian Censor. It was then released in Brisbane in 1925 as “Bound to Win”. After his release from prison, Squizzy continued with his criminal life, robbing banks and selling drugs. Squizzy was wounded in a gunfight by a Sydney gangster names John ‘Snowy’ Cutmore, at a house in Markley Street, Carlton, and died in St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, on 27 October 1927. Survived by his wife and by a daughter of his first marriage, Taylor was buried with Anglican rites in Brighton cemetery. 'Squizzy' was a colourful figure in the drinking and gambling clubs of Fitzroy, Richmond and Carlton. A dapper little man who dressed loudly, he strutted through the courts, race-courses and theatres. Jackson home While hiding from the police, he wrote letters and verse to the press. Yet he had few redeeming qualities. Taylor won lasting notoriety by imitating the style of American bootleggers; he never matched their influence or immunity from the law, and at the time of his death could no longer command fear or loyalty from the underworld.