Thomas Ley

Thomas Ley
Ley in 1925
Member of theAustralian Parliament forBarton
In office 14 November 1925 – 17 November 1928
Preceded by	Frederick McDonald
Succeeded by	James Tully
Personal details
Born	(1880-10-28)28 October 1880 Bath,Somerset,England
Died	24 July 1947(1947-07-24)(aged 66) Broadmoor Asylum,Berkshire,England
Nationality	British subject (Australian)
Political party	Nationalist
Spouse	Emily Louisa Vernon
Occupation	Solicitor

Thomas John Ley(28 October 1880 – 24 July 1947) was an Australian politician who was convicted of murder in England. He is widely suspected to have been involved in the deaths of a number of people in Australia, including political rivals.

Early life

Ley was born on 28 October 1880 inBath, Somerset,England, one of four children born to Elizabeth (née Bryant) and Henry Ley. His father, who worked as a butler, died in 1882.

In 1886, Ley's mother moved the family to Australia along with his maternal grandmother. They settled inSydney,where he attendedCrown Street Public Schooluntil the age of 10. He began working as a young boy, initially as a paper-boy and messenger, then later as an assistant in his mother's grocery store and as a farm labourer atWindsor.Ley learnedshorthandwhile living in Windsor and at the age of fourteen secured a position as a junior clerk andstenographerwith a solicitor onPitt Street.He joined the office of Norton, Smith & Co. in 1901 and in 1906 became anarticled clerk.He was admitted as a solicitor in 1914.

Ley married Emily Louisa (known as "Lewie" ) Vernon in 1898, the year she emigrated to Australia from England. Both husband and wife were active in politics: she in the internationalsuffragemovement, and he as a state and federal politician from 1917 to 1928.

State politics

Ley c. 1920

Ley served in thelower houseof theNew South Wales parliament(1917–25) as member forHurstvillefrom 1917 to 1920, representing theNationalist Party,andSt Georgefrom 1920 to 1925, representing theProgressive Partyuntil 1922.He was a prominent and vocal advocate ofproportional representation,which the state adopted in 1919.Both of his electorates were in Sydney's southern suburbs.

As ateetotaler,Ley acquired the nickname "Lemonade Ley", but thetemperance movementaccused him of betrayal when he supported legislation which eased requirements for the sale of alcohol. It later emerged that Ley was being paid by the brewery lobby. Despite this, he was appointed as New South Wales Minister for Justice from 1922 to 1925 – in the cabinet ofPremierSir George Fuller– and gained a reputation for harsh decisions.

Shortly after he became Minister for Justice, Ley made an official visit toWestern Australiaand was introduced to Maggie Evelyn Brook, a magistrate's wife. Shortly afterwards the magistrate died; Ley acted for her and her daughter in various financial and legal matters.

Federal politician

Ley speaking at a rally inMacquarie Placeprior to the1928 federal election

In 1925, Ley stood for the seat ofBartonin the federalHouse of Representatives.He unsuccessfully tried to bribe hisLaboropponent,Frederick McDonald,with a £2,000 share in a property atKings Crossin return for withdrawing from the ballot. McDonald instead publicly revealed the attempted bribe. Despite that, Ley won the election on a large swing as part of the decisiveCoalitionvictory that year.

Conventional wisdom would have suggested that Ley, as a former senior member of the New South Wales government, would have been considered for a post in the federal cabinet. However, Ley's fellow conservatives, includingPrime MinisterStanley Bruce,began to have doubts about him after the election. As a result, Ley was not considered for ministerial preferment.

McDonald took the matter of the bribe to court, but disappeared in mysterious circumstances. The case against Ley collapsed for lack of evidence when McDonald failed to appear. While the disappearance may have been a coincidence, later events put the matter in a more sinister light. In 1928, state legislatorHyman Goldstein,another of Ley's public critics, was found dead after apparently falling from "Suicide Point" on the cliffs ofCoogee.Then a group of businessmen, concerned at Ley's reputation for dubious business dealings, appointed Keith Greedor, a former Ley associate turned opponent, to investigate. Travelling toNewcastleby boat, Greedor fell overboard and drowned.

Return to England

After his defeat in the 1928 election, Ley returned to England with Brook, leaving his wife in Australia. Little is recorded of Ley's life during the 1930s. About all that can be said for certain is that he used his move to England to start afresh in dubious business ventures, and during theSecond World Warhe was arrested and convicted forblack marketeering.

The Chalk-pit Murder

In 1946, Brook was living inWimbledon,and Ley had his house at 5 Beaufort Gardens, London, converted intoflats.Ley falsely believed that Brook and a barman called John McMain Mudie were having an affair. Ley persuaded two of his labourers that Mudie was ablackmailer,and together they tortured and killed him. The case became known as the "Chalk-pit Murder" because Mudie's body was dumped in achalk piton Woldingham Common inSurrey,thirty miles away from Ley's home.

With Lawrence John Smith, Ley was tried at theOld Bailey;both weresentenced to deathin March 1947. However, both Smith and Ley escaped the noose: Smith's sentence wascommutedto life imprisonment, while Ley was declared insane and sent toBroadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane.He died there soon after of acerebral haemorrhage.He is said to have been the wealthiest person ever to be imprisoned at Broadmoor.He left an estate in New South Wales valued for probate at £744.

Ley's wife had followed him to England in 1942. From Broadmoor, Ley wrote letters and poems, and protested his innocence to his wife and children. After his death, his widow returned to Australia. She died atBowral, New South Walesin 1956.

External links

• Minister for MurderABC TV– partial transcript of documentary recounting Ley's career (2004)

References

• Morgan, Dan (1979).The Minister for Murder.Richmond, Victoria: Hutchinson of Australia.ISBN0091306701
• F. Tennyson Jesse,"Ley and Smith", in James H. Hodge (ed.) (1954).Famous Trials 4.Penguin Books, pp. 105–142