DISCOVER THE DARK AND DANGEROUS HISTORY OF SURRY HILLS: ONCE AN UNDERWORLD TEEMING WITH GANGSTERS, GAMBLING, SLY GROG, BURGLARS, PROSTITUTES & DRUG LORDS.

THE GORY STORY

Known in the 1920s and 1930s as the ‘Chicago of the South’— Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs were once famous for vicious gang rivalries; terraced slum houses; midnight robberies; destitute sex workers; razor wielding thugs; cocaine addicts and illegal sly-grog shops. From the labyrinth of laneways littered across Surry Hills and Darlinghurst, the criminal empires of an emerging underworld began to make their mark in response to a series of local laws that almost seemed made to be broken.

To make matters more unusual, the most notorious of these criminal empires were ruled by two rival mob bosses with a difference – these bosses were women. Hailed as Queens of Vice: Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh had crawled their way up from obscure origins over the bodies (sometimes literally) of men to become the most powerful women in Sydney. As they each slashed for supremacy of the Sydney underworld, they recruited every type of crook in town to protect their interests and began transforming everyday dwellings into dens of debauchery. During these roaring inter-war years, Surry Hills and its surrounds became riddled with stories of murder and mystery, and at the same time grew to be one of the most multi-cultural and interesting suburbs in Australia. Now, a century later, we are fortunate that so many of the historic houses, pubs and hang-outs of old Surry Hills still remain. On this true crime and architecture tour: we’ll dig beneath the trendiness of Surry’s contemporary surface to reveal the Gangsters, Girls and Grog that lurk below.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Join a local crime historian on a professionally guided exploration of the lesser known laneways, historic structures and secrets of Surry Hills.
• Rewind the clock to reveal a criminal empire viciously fought over by Australia’s legendary female mob bosses Tilly Devine & Kate Leigh.
• Meet the colourful collection of working girls, gangsters, drug-dealers, hit-men, cops and robbers who called this place home.
• Enjoy the chic surroundings and charming terrace houses once labelled as the worst slums in Sydney as we explore the fashionable neighbourhood that exists today.
• Finish your underworld exploration in front of a former hang-out for Surry Hills underworld with chance for an after tour drink.

TOUR DETAILS:

WHAT:  2.5 hr small group walking tour (max 14 guests) throughout the historic laneways of Surry Hills and its surrounds.

COST:  $55 per person

WHEN: check or live availability calendar or get in touch to organise a private tour on a date that suits.

WHO: You are in good hands — your host is a local crime historian and professional tour guide with a knack for great storytelling.

WHY: Because we are passionate about bringing to life one of the most notorious and interesting periods of Sydney’s criminal history on the very streets where it once all went down.

NOTE: The minimum group size for this tour to run is 2-3 pax. Our reservation system will only start to accept single guest bookings once the minimum group size has been met. Please contact us to create a pending order for any single bookings if the tour is not appearing as available for 1x person yet.