From the loft

Photographed 27 November, 1919 at the State Reformatory for Women, Long Bay . FP07_0215_005

Many criminals give false personal information to police in the hope that their previous convictions will not be discovered. Jean Harris used a large number of aliases that included the names Emma Rolfe, May Mulholland and Eileen Woods.  She sometimes successfully fooled police into believing she was a novice criminal. In fact she was a career criminal who specialized in theft from houses and shoplifting. Her many aliases created confusion amongst police and she made multiple appearances in the New South Wales Police Gazette under different names. She was a convincing actress and when interrogated by police would strongly protest her innocence and say she was going to consult her solicitor.

The Police Modus Operandi (MO) branch published an internal document, the New South Wales Police Criminal Register, containing details about criminals and the pattern of their criminal behaviour. A 1934 report on Harris states that she waited until householders left before forcing a window or breaking a leadlight door. In one case she was convicted because her fingerprints were found on leadlight glass. Harris chose to steal from ‘the homes of those in superior circumstances’ or worked with a gang of shoplifters in order to steal valuable silks and furs from Department stores. She would disguise herself by wearing a wig, changing her hair colour or by wearing glasses. According to the police MO report she had a ‘Sullen disposition and dresses well’. The Justice & Police Museum collection has another image of Holland in the special photographs collection in which she is identified as Emma Rolfe:
http://collection.hht.net.au/firsthhtpictures/fullRecordPicture.jsp?recnoListAttr=recnoList&recno=31177