Did you know that one of Australia’s most notorious illegal operations was established and run by two legendary gentlemen in Surry Hills? In an undertaking that spanned the better part of the 20th century, a secluded area at the end of Foster Lane became home to Sydney’s infamous den of iniquity, Thommo’s Two_up School.
The Game
Historically, the origins of two_up are unclear but English and Irish settlers were said to have been playing this game involving coins, a stick, and a wager since the 18th century.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The game steadily grew in popularity in the 19th century. The game was also very popular with Australian soldiers during World War I.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Thommo’s : The Early Years
In 1910, ex-boxer George Joseph Guest launched the two-up school as a mobile operation or an outdoor casino, including in boats and ferries. Despite being unlawful, the underground ring ran, thrived, expanded, and lasted until 1976.
Mr Guest called his business ‘Thommo’s Two-up School’ because he boxed under the name “Joe Thomas.”
His gambling site was frequented by both straight and crooked Sydneysiders looking for the thrill of an unsanctioned pastime.
Mr Guest’s operations flourished because this was a very exclusive boys club patronised by rich businessmen and famous celebrities. It was also enabled by corrupted government officials and the police, who were on the weekly payroll.
Mr Guest managed a strict operation. Women and photographs were not allowed at his casinos. Guests were held off from leaving the place until 20 minutes after the night’s winners left to give them a headstart, in case someone had any plans of robbing them. The big winners were also escorted by security.
At its peak, Thommo’s Two-up School was in multiple establishments on Commonwealth Street, Wentworth Avenue, and somewhere at the end of Foster Lane and Reservoir Street near Elizabeth Street. The schools’ locations were deliberately concealed and hard to find, just like a maze.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Thommo’s Under Mr Joe Taylor
When Guest died, his friend, Joe Taylor, who was also an ex-boxer, took over the business. Mr Taylor had a few nightclubs in Sydney, including the Celebrity Restaurant Club in the CBD, which had American stars as headliners, and the Carlisle Club along Kellet Street in Kings Cross.
There were illicit casinos at these establishments, with Thommo’s Two-up School adding to his string of successful businesses.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
Mr Taylor, nicknamed “The Boss,” was a gracious host to his guests and a generous person to his friends. He was known to Sydney’s Who’s Who, including then-state Premier Sir Robert Askin. Famous Australian bookmaker Bill Waterhouse once said that Mr Taylor would the gambler he feared the most because he “doesn’t give a damn about money.”
Under Mr Taylor, Thommo’s Two-up School was raided a number of times but there were impressions that these raids were staged. It was said that Mr Taylor was given advance notice of these raids so he could hire vagrants to be “arrested.”
In the late 1960s, the Premier turned gambling clubs into full fledged public casinos. However, Thommo’s Two-up School eventually closed with the death of Mr Taylor in 1976.
His funeral had more than a thousand mourners. Gangsters, the police, and politicians gathered with the ordinary folks to pay their final respects to Mr Taylor, whose death marked the end of an era for gambling in Sydney.
