
The precise circumstances surrounding this picture are unknown, but Herbert Ellis is found in numerous police records of the 1910′s, 20′s and 30′s. He is variously listed as a housebreaker, a shop breaker, a safe breaker, a receiver and a suspected person. A considerably less self-assured Ellis appears in the NSW Criminal Register of 29 August 1934 (no. 206). His convictions by then include ‘goods in custody, indecent langauge, stealing, eceiving and throwing a missile. Photograph used as the cover of
Peter Doyle & Caleb Williams :: Thomas Bede, November 22, 1928 from City of Shadows (Historic Houses Trust, 2005) / source: twistedsifter
more [+] related photographs from City of Shadows