Hayes was born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, New South Wales on 7 September 1911, the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Hayes (although he lied about much of his early background in his biography). He was soon put into the care of his grandmother and an aunt, and was brought up by them. He lived his early years in the inner-city suburbs of Chippendale and Haymarket.
Hayes rarely attended school after his eighth birthday, and earned a living as a newspaper seller in the area around Central railway station known as Railway Square. He was caught for truancy on a number of occasions and was sent to boy reformatories. As a teenager he became involved with gang-related crime in and around his local area, namely shoplifting, petty theft and assault. Hayes was known as a major player in the Sydney Gang Wars of the late 1920s and 1930s and was known to police as an extremely violent person. In February 1939 Chow Hayes was shot at Glebe and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. In a show of bravado, he discharged himself with the bullet still inside his body to avoid police interrogation.
Incidents like this were reported widely in the national media, and Chow Hayes's hard reputation grew.[2]
Adult life
Hayes' criminal career progressed as he grew older. A biography that was written about him in 1990 by David Hickie named "Chow Hayes, Gunman", suggested that he started carrying and using firearms in his late teens. He became involved in larger robberies and stand-over extortion scams, which enriched his ego, but also gave him a very bad reputation with the general public and thus became a menace to the police.
Chow Hayes spent many years of his life in prison for a succession of crimes which included small felonies such as drunkenness to capital crimes such as murder. In 1938 he shot Henry Jack Baker, the de facto partner of Sydney crime czar Kate Leigh, but he escaped prosecution. During the mid 1940s, Chow Hayes committed many crimes with his friend William 'Joey' Hollebone.[3]
On New Year's Day 1945 he shot and killed a fellow Sydney gangster named Eddie Weyman (1915-1945), but he was later found not guilty at trial although in the David Hickie biography, Hayes admitted that he had indeed killed Weyman and got away with it.[4] In 1951 he murdered a fellow gangster William 'Bobby' Lee (1915-1951) at a Sydney inner city nightclub in retribution after Lee had shot and killed Hayes's nephew Dennis James (Danny) Simmons in a case of mistaken identity.[5] After hiding from police for six weeks, he (and his accomplice William 'Joey' Hollebone) was finally caught by the notorious Sydney detective Ray 'Gunner' Kelly. He was tried twice for this offence before he was finally found guilty at his third trial in 1952.[6] Hayes served over fifteen years in prison for the murder of Lee.[7]
He was freed from prison under licence in the mid-1960s, and was soon back extorting money from many of Sydney's most dangerous criminals, including crooked casino boss Dick Reilly and the 'king' of Sydney's brothel business Joe Borg. Hayes was initially implicated in Borg's murder in May 1968, although the police quickly determined that he was not involved.
Hayes was back in jail for another seven years in 1970 for a grievous bodily harm conviction when he sliced the face and arms of Gerald John Hutchinson with a broken glass in 1969.[8]
Family life
Chow Hayes was married on 23 December 1932[9] to his childhood sweetheart, Gladys Muriel King (1913-1969), known as 'Topsy', and they had four children, three sons and a daughter.
Last years and death
After spending over 30 years in prison at different times, Chow Hayes was released on 14 February 1977. All of his ill-gotten wealth was long gone, either wasted on gambling or on expensive legal costs. He lived out the rest of his life with no criminal convictions, and lived in a flat at Lidcombe.
After a long battle with cancer, Hayes died in Sydney on 7 May 1993.[10] His cremated ashes were placed in his wife's grave on 31 January 1994 at Rookwood Cemetery. He was survived by his daughter.[11]
References
^Tough Nuts 2 - Australia's First Gangster Chow Hayes.
john, chow, hayes, john, frederick, chow, hayes, september, 1911, 1993, australian, criminal, became, known, australia, first, gangster, john, frederick, hayeshayes, after, being, arrested, sydney, australia, november, 1930born7, september, 1911paddington, sou. John Frederick Chow Hayes 7 September 1911 7 May 1993 was an Australian criminal who became known as Australia s first gangster 1 John Frederick HayesHayes after being arrested in Sydney Australia 6 November 1930Born7 September 1911Paddington New South WalesDied7 May 1993 aged 81 Lidcombe New South WalesOther namesChow HayesOccupationStand over criminalSpouseGladys Muriel KingChildren3 sons 1 daughterConviction s Murder theft gun crimeCriminal chargeMurder gun possession theft violent offencePenaltyDeath commuted to life imprisonment Contents 1 Early life 2 Adult life 3 Family life 4 Last years and death 5 References 6 Further readingEarly life EditHayes was born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington New South Wales on 7 September 1911 the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Hayes although he lied about much of his early background in his biography He was soon put into the care of his grandmother and an aunt and was brought up by them He lived his early years in the inner city suburbs of Chippendale and Haymarket Hayes rarely attended school after his eighth birthday and earned a living as a newspaper seller in the area around Central railway station known as Railway Square He was caught for truancy on a number of occasions and was sent to boy reformatories As a teenager he became involved with gang related crime in and around his local area namely shoplifting petty theft and assault Hayes was known as a major player in the Sydney Gang Wars of the late 1920s and 1930s and was known to police as an extremely violent person In February 1939 Chow Hayes was shot at Glebe and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital In a show of bravado he discharged himself with the bullet still inside his body to avoid police interrogation Incidents like this were reported widely in the national media and Chow Hayes s hard reputation grew 2 Adult life EditHayes criminal career progressed as he grew older A biography that was written about him in 1990 by David Hickie named Chow Hayes Gunman suggested that he started carrying and using firearms in his late teens He became involved in larger robberies and stand over extortion scams which enriched his ego but also gave him a very bad reputation with the general public and thus became a menace to the police In 1929 Chow was aligned with Kate Leigh against Tilly Devine in the Razor Wars where he took part in a Razor fight at Kings Cross New South Wales which involved approximately 50 of Australia s Sydney Gangsters Chow Hayes spent many years of his life in prison for a succession of crimes which included small felonies such as drunkenness to capital crimes such as murder In 1938 he shot Henry Jack Baker the de facto partner of Sydney crime czar Kate Leigh but he escaped prosecution During the mid 1940s Chow Hayes committed many crimes with his friend William Joey Hollebone 3 On New Year s Day 1945 he shot and killed a fellow Sydney gangster named Eddie Weyman 1915 1945 but he was later found not guilty at trial although in the David Hickie biography Hayes admitted that he had indeed killed Weyman and got away with it 4 In 1951 he murdered a fellow gangster William Bobby Lee 1915 1951 at a Sydney inner city nightclub in retribution after Lee had shot and killed Hayes s nephew Dennis James Danny Simmons in a case of mistaken identity 5 After hiding from police for six weeks he and his accomplice William Joey Hollebone was finally caught by the notorious Sydney detective Ray Gunner Kelly He was tried twice for this offence before he was finally found guilty at his third trial in 1952 6 Hayes served over fifteen years in prison for the murder of Lee 7 He was freed from prison under licence in the mid 1960s and was soon back extorting money from many of Sydney s most dangerous criminals including crooked casino boss Dick Reilly and the king of Sydney s brothel business Joe Borg Hayes was initially implicated in Borg s murder in May 1968 although the police quickly determined that he was not involved Hayes was back in jail for another seven years in 1970 for a grievous bodily harm conviction when he sliced the face and arms of Gerald John Hutchinson with a broken glass in 1969 8 Family life EditChow Hayes was married on 23 December 1932 9 to his childhood sweetheart Gladys Muriel King 1913 1969 known as Topsy and they had four children three sons and a daughter Last years and death EditAfter spending over 30 years in prison at different times Chow Hayes was released on 14 February 1977 All of his ill gotten wealth was long gone either wasted on gambling or on expensive legal costs He lived out the rest of his life with no criminal convictions and lived in a flat at Lidcombe After a long battle with cancer Hayes died in Sydney on 7 May 1993 10 His cremated ashes were placed in his wife s grave on 31 January 1994 at Rookwood Cemetery He was survived by his daughter 11 References Edit Tough Nuts 2 Australia s First Gangster Chow Hayes Man Shot At Glebe Refuses Treatment Sydney Morning Herald 4 February 1939 page 12 Grim Chow Hayes Episode Woman Relives Past Nightmare Truth Sydney 14 November 1954 page 51 Acquitted of Murder Sydney Morning Herald 17 March 1945 page 5 Underworld Murder Which Was a Mistake by Selby Burt The Mirror Perth 29 May 1954 pages 8 9 Chow Hayes Spits and Yells After Murder Conviction Sydney Morning Herald 29 May 1952 page 1 Retrial of Chow Hayes Daily Advertiser Wagga Wagga 11 March 1952 page 2 Chow Hayes Gunman by David Hickie 1990 ISBN 0207160120 N S W Marriages Reference No 13432 1932 Catholic Crematorium Rookwood Office 15 July 2011 Chow Hayes Underbelly Gunman Scratching Sydney s Surface Further reading EditDavid Hickie Chow Hayes Gunman published by Angus and Robertson Books Australia 1990 ISBN 0 207 160120 N Lipson amp T Barnao As Crime Goes By The Life and Times Of Bill Jenkings Published by Ironbark Press 1992 Australia ISBN 1875471146 This Australian biographical article related to crime is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte 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