1920s Australian Mug Shots

March 26, 2012

I recently stumbled onto these amazing mugshots of Australian inmates of all kinds. Whores, gangsters, fraudsters, and crooks of every kind circa 1920. The quality that these were restored to is nothing short of astounding, capturing every detail and quirk of each prisoner. With names like Silent Tom, De Gracy and Montague, this is a fascinating look into the criminal world of yesteryear. 17 more mugshots after the jump!

Just a few examples, and you can mug on over to AwesomeRobo com for the rest.

How’d you like to cross these guys?

And watch out for this guy—we’re pretty sure has a Tommy gun and a small bulldog hidden in his hair:

And the cool thing about this photo:

…is that it allowed us to find out a lot more about this collection of photos – and a bunch more photos as well. I googled the name “Vera Chricton” and found this:

Vera Crichton, 23, and Nancy Cowman, 19, are listed in the NSW Police Gazette 24 March 1924 as charged, along with three others, with “conspiring together to procure a miscarriage” on a third woman. Crichton was “bound over to appear for sentence if called upon within three years”. This picture is one of a series of around 2500 “special photographs” taken by New South Wales Police Department photographers between 1910 and 1930.

More mug shots from Down Under and long ago.

And: These are the kind of people portrayed in the acclaimed 2011 Australian mini-series, Underbelly: Razor.