Notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, who considered herself the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, has died in a suburban Melbourne nursing home.
It is understood the 97-year-old co-founder of The Family died last night after suffering from dementia since 2007. Her condition had rendered her unable to face further court action by survivors in the last years of her life.
Anne Hamilton-Byrne at the Melbourne County Court in November 1993.Credit:John Woudstra
Hamilton-Byrne founded The Family in the 1960s along with Melbourne University academic Raynor Johnson, who served for 30 years as head of Queen's College. The apocalyptic cult blended yoga, drug-taking and Eastern mysticism with Christianity.
It also acquired children through adoption scams and imprisoned them at a house beside Lake Eildon from the early 1970s until 1987. The children were home-schooled, wore identical clothes and had their hair dyed blond.
They were also dosed with LSD after being "initiated" at age 14. Starvation, beatings and brainwashing were common.
Hamilton-Byrne was never charged with anything more serious than fraud, which led to $5000 in fines. Police and prosecutors did not pursue potential charges of kidnapping, administering drugs and assault.
Former Victoria Police detective Lex de Man, who investigated the cult and its leader, said he still had regrets that Hamilton-Byrne never faced justice on several allegations due to legal technicalities.
"I shed not one tear today," he said on Friday. "Today for me brings to an end the life of one of Victoria's most evil people.
"My hope is that those who suffered, the survivors who are the former children, if there's any way they can receive compensation for what they went through that should happen."
Survivor Leeanne Creese said she was aware of Hamilton-Byrne's death and that she had a feeling of "mixed emotion".
Anne Hamilton-Byrne, leader of The Family.Credit:
Hamilton-Byrne's net worth was estimated to be about $10 million. She owned property in Australia, including homes in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, as well as overseas.
She was born Evelyn Edwards in Sale in 1921. Her mother was mentally ill and her father itinerant. She taught yoga in Melbourne and Geelong and began the cult with Dr Johnson in 1962.
"She was one of the world's most notorious cult leaders and one of the few women," said journalist Chris Johnston, co-author of The Family, a book investigating the cult.
"She orchestrated one of the darkest eras in Melbourne's history.
"She leaves behind a group of survivors who are still trying to live their best lives."
Dozens of cult children were fed LSD and other drugs, starved and beaten.