Foster Lane, Surry Hills

G’day, my name’s Charles Touma, and today I’m on Foster Lane in the magnificent suburb of Surry Hills to talk about something that was very much part of the local furniture in 1910 and beyond. Now, in the modern world, where we have thousands of online betting platforms as well as the TAB and casinos in every major city, it’s difficult to understand a time when gambling, apart from the racetrack, was illegal. Back in the early 1900s, illegal bookmakers in barber shops, pubs, and offices served a growing desire to gamble, which led to the start of a local institution known by the locals as Thommo’s Two Up School. It was originally launched by an ex-boxer called George Guest in 1910, who ran games of two up where gamblers would win or lose on the flip of two coins. Effectively, Thommo’s Two Up School was an outdoor casino disregarding the law. The entry was well disguised through false doors and via back lanes. The business was enabled by a weekly payout to the local police every Monday.

When George Guest passed away in 1954, Thommo’s was taken over by his friend, ex-boxer and rugby league player Joe Taylor, who took it to another level. 40 staff would be running multiple simultaneous games, selling alcohol, and keeping a lookout for any police that weren’t on the payroll. Police raids were organised every now and then where Taylor was given plenty of notice and would hire vagrants to be arrested. Taylor built a nightlife empire, including the Celebrity Club in York Street the Carlisle Club, an illegal casino in Kellett Street, Kings Cross. In 1962, his horse, Birthday Cake, won the Golden Slipper Stakes. Legendary bookmaker Bill Waterhouse made plenty of money from Taylor’s betting over the years. In the late 60s, State Premier Sir Robert Askin, a known acquaintance of Taylor’s, legalised gambling clubs, enabling a fully-fledged public casino.

At Taylor’s funeral in 1976, an enormous crowd mourned his passing. Now, I’ve been selling real estate in Surry Hills for 20 years, and two of my most recent sales are Apartment 33 at 33 Reservoir Street, a three-bedroom apartment, which we traded for $2.3 million, and we also just sold 20/500 Crown Street, a two-bedroom apartment sold for $2.5 million, $500,000 over the owner’s expectation. Now, I hope you found this story about Surry Hills’ history, informative. I’m passionate about keeping this old history alive. My name’s Charles and my office on Thurlow Street’s always open to come in and have a chat.