The Sydney Nick-Name War Infographic

I was a London resident when I originally wrote this in 2010, but being a Sydney resident now, I suppose this is local history.

©2010 James Mathurin

Mass suicide at Museum station

This photo is the earliest image of a mass suicide, taken on October 17th 1924 at Museum Station in Sydney, Australia. It began when some 16 men climbed onto the tracks, while another, (Frank Hardbunt, 24) photographed them before jumping down onto the tracks himself, leaving his camera apparatus on the platform.

As the picture shows, the station was still under contruction at the time, and this was, in fact, merely a test run for the electrical system, leading many to suspect some kind of 'suicide cult', as only 3 of the men, Terry Bosforth, Henry Turner and Samuel Gishop, had any business being at the station on this particular day.

This copy of the photograph is actually on display at Museum Station. In 1998, when asked why such a tragic image should be left on display, the station manager, Duncan Hawkins, replied, "Well, we just thought it was better than another advert for toothpaste."

©2010 James Mathurin

The Great Sydney Nick-name war

In Australia, in 1920, Sean McGrady, a renowned knife-fighter was so in demand by rival gangs that their assurances of money, power and women became so evenly matched that the only way of settling it was for each gang to use the local newspaper under their control to run a competition asking readers to send in nicknames that McGrady could have.

In a move that stunned both the readership, and the gangs in question, McGrady  was, according to friends, so impressed by the entries on either side that he decided to start his own gang, instead of joining the others, so that he could hand out the nicknames to members of his new gang. This instigated a period of violent conflict between the gangs, which came to be known as the Great Sydney Nick-name war.

McGrady's new gang came to include members like Eyebrows McGhee, the Doyle brothers, Patches and Six-Toes, Seamus The Hat, Mike "Bollock-Punching" Thomas, Trousers McGoldrick, Patrick Three-Hats, Sausages Hoolihan, 3-Card Monty O'Hanlon, Devilled Eggs O'Connor, and his sister Devilled Ham, Toe Caps Pritchard, Meat Hook O'Shaughnessy, Pickles McGuinness, Five-Beers Burlington and Terrence 'Stinky' Calhoon.

 McGrady (fourth from the right, seated on the car), pictured in 1921, with several of his lieutenants. Photo from the SMA archive.

©2010 James Mathurin