Tilly Devine

Matilda Mary Devine (née Twiss) (8 September 1900 – 24 November 1970), known as Tilly Devine, was an English Australian prominent Sydney crime syndicate gangs member figure, involved in a wide range of activities, including sly-grog and razor gangs, but most notable as a madam.

Early life

Devine was born Matilda Mary Twiss, the daughter of bricklayer Edward Twiss, at 57 Hollington Street, Camberwell, London in the United Kingdom. In 1915, she and many English and Australian women were found working as prostitutes and thieves. At 16 she married an Australian serviceman, James (Jim) Edward Devine, (born Brunswick, Victoria, 1892, died Melbourne, 1966), on 12 April 1917 at the Sacred Heart Church, Camberwell, London. The couple had one son, born at Camberwell in 1919.

Her career in prostitution began when she was a teenager and continued after she was married. She and many English women were usually found soliciting on the wide footpaths on The Strand, at night. From 1915 onwards to 1919, she spent time at Bow Street Court and Lock Up for prostitution, theft and assault.