Kathleen Pettingill (born 27 March, 1935) is the

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general En ...

of the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

criminal family, the

Pettingill family The Pettingill family is a Melbourne-based criminal family,Fears of gangland war in ...

Family

Pettingill's 10 children are: (with Dennis Ryan) * Dennis Bruce Allen (1951–1987) – a drug dealer, jailed for rape in 1973 and died in 1987 of a heart attack while in custody awaiting trial for murder. *Peter Allen (born 1953) – convicted of armed robbery, who was once Victoria's most dangerous man and spent 28 years in jail. (with William George "Billy" Peirce (died 1968)) *Vicki or Vicky Brooks (born 1954; née Pettingill) – gave evidence against the family in the Walsh Street trial and subsequently went into witness protection. *"Shelley" (born 1956) – real name unknown. Placed for adoption and reestablished contact with Pettingill in 1989.''The Matriarch'' *"Stephen" (born 1957) – real name unknown. Placed for adoption and reestablished contact with Pettingill in 1989. * Victor George Peirce (1958–2002) – acquitted of the 1988

Walsh Street police shootings The Walsh Street police shootings were the 1988 murders of two Victoria Police officers: Constables Steven Tynan, 22, and Damian Eyre, 20. Tynan and Eyre were responding to a report of an abandoned car when they were gunned down about 4:50am ...

and was killed in 2002. *Lex Peirce (born 1960) – has a minor criminal record. *"David" (born 1961) – real name unknown. Placed for adoption and whereabouts currently unknown. (with Jimmy Pettingill (died 1972)) *Jamie Pettingill (1963–1985) – died of a heroin overdose aged 21. *Trevor Pettingill (born 1965) – acquitted of the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings, who has multiple convictions for firearms and drug-related offences and has served several jail terms. He has been described as a "career criminal".

Personal life

Pettingill first worked in a bar, and having herself been a prostitute, she went on to run brothels. She lived with her children in the Richmond area of Melbourne, and a number of her sons were sent to the Turana Boys' Home. Pettingill has a

glass eye An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthesis fits over an orbital implant and under ...

in place of the one she lost after being shot in 1978 by Kim Nelson and Keryn Thompson. The bullet passed through a closed door at the Collingwood

Housing Commission of Victoria The Housing Commission of Victoria (often shortened to Housing Commission, especially colloquially) was a Victorian State Government body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1938, and was abolished in 198 ...

flats as she and her son, Dennis Allen, attempted to repay a $300 debt on behalf of her daughter, Vicky Brooks.

In popular culture

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of her life, ''The Matriarch: The Kathy Pettingill Story,'' was written by Adrian Tame and published in 1996. As of 2007, Pettingill was living in Venus Bay,

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

, Victoria. In the 2011 miniseries ''Killing Time'', Pettingill is a major character, played by Kris McQuade. Fictionalized versions of Pettingill, as the character Janine "Smurf" Cody, have appeared in both the 2010 Australian film '' Animal Kingdom'' portrayed by

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s as a symbol of the Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as '' Stork'' (1971), ''Alvin Purp ...

, and the 2016

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

television show of the same name portrayed by Ellen Barkin. Weaver was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance.

References

External links

Father's fury at Walsh St admission
- Herald Sun, 2 October 2005 1935 births Living people Australian brothel owners and madams Australian drug traffickers Australian female prostitutes Australian female criminals Criminals from Melbourne Place of birth missing (living people) Kath Female organized crime figures Australian people with disabilities {{AUS-crime-bio-stub