The last Cipher Mysteries post (from Jo) on Hickey Taylor only had a single scratchy picture of him playing bridge backstage. However, this lack of good images prompted CM commenters to dig up a whole sequence of pictures, which I thought would be good to put into a photo timeline.
Photo Timeline
1929 “Desert Song”, found by milongal:
1930 “Whoopee” (found by Jo):
“En tour Hickey […] outside Mark Foy’s, Sydney 5.30 A.M., [ca. 1930]” (found by Jo):
193x “St Joan” (found by Jo):
1937 Sydney Sun, playing bridge backstage with the cast of “The Merry Widow”:
1945 “Desert Song” (found by Thomas):
Back to the Family Photo…
Going back to the whole family photo affair, was it really Hickey Taylor whom Charlie Webb (circled) was pranking? Personally, I don’t see it at all, but… what do you think?
@ Nick – I so think it could be, although I’m not good at photo matching. I think Charlie is making fun of Hickey’s slicked back hair. The man being pranked is also quite snappily dressed. I’m wondering if the photo is from the time that Webbs took over the Springvale bakery. The unnamed men could be bakery workers? A family visit to Springvale racecourse?
I’d like a heads up on which shows the code could be from if it is an actor’s mnemonic & stage placement note. Any thoughts punters?
If only people would care to believe that Hickey was short, slight and had black hair, I may as well be talking to a brick wall. As for Jo’s wanting a snappy dresser, ‘Thing’ fits the bill with his in fashion two button jacket. Though I guess his general deportment may not suggest his being your typical sauve big stage heart throb.
I will say again here that I really think he’s the one behind Light Hat Lady, in the rather theatrical outfit. I know, at first glance you would think surely not, but do compare their head shapes and features (big space between nose and mouth, columnar nose with a skew that puts the nostril on the right a bit higher than that on the left, indentation between nose and forehead rather high and only slight, etc.):
https://ciphermysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/12/Family-image.png
https://ciphermysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/04/image-2.png
https://ciphermysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/04/image-6.png
Also note that we know who Roy is in the family photo, and Taylor was born the year before him. So we’re looking for someone who might appear comparable in age to Roy. And though his head might look a bit too broad, I would argue that it’s a trick of the camera (a different focal length? I’m not an expert on this). To support this, check out the width of Charlie’s head in the same photo and compare it to the one where he appears with just Roy and their parents, presumably taken on the very same day:
https://ciphermysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/04/image-7.png
https://ciphermysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/12/The-Webbs.png
All four faces appear thinner than they do in the picture of the larger group. I think that with the apparently broader head, Charlie particularly looks very different in the photo of the bigger gathering compared to the many other pictorial examples that we know to be of him. So the same sort of visual trickery might be happening with Hickey in that same photo.
I would just like to say that the photos don’t look like either men. Hickey Taylor is only a couple of years older than Carl. The guy who now is being said to be Hickey is much older…Could Hickey not been in the photo at all but noted as being there in the gathering aswell? The same for Norma as the unborn child. Just a thought.
I don’t think the man being pranked by Carl is Hickey Taylor, he seems much older, like Em pointed out. Moreover, his facial structure is very different.
The first time the family photo was posted I said it was around 1929, the girl was Norma Martin and the background looked like the same of the R.A. Webb Springvale bakery cart photo.
Is the man behind Gladys wearing a black armband or is it just a shadow?
Oh, and I think Hickey Taylor looks like Boy George in the last photo, which also shows he had attached earlobes. unlike the guys in the family photo…
DEATH.
TOMKINSON-On 26th July at his
son’s residence, “Summer Hill” Al-
lansford, Charles, husband of the late
Sarah Tomkinson, devoted father of
Mathew (Melbourne), Perce (Stony-
ford), Fred (Allansford), Jack (N.S.
W.), Alice (Mrs Brown, N.S.W.),
Ethel (Mrs Allan Boyd, Weerite),
Willie (New Zealand), Norman (Mel-
bourne), Amy (Mrs Webb, Mel-
bourne).
“Sweet rest at last”
Aged 84 years.
Privately interred at Camperdown
Cemetery, July 27th, 1927.
Fred Tomkinson’s Summer Hill residence in Allansford sounds posh! Maybe someone in Australia could find more about it.
Pat I agree that guy behind white hat doesn’t have attached lobes but I’m not sure about the other guy.
He could be the one on the left who had dentistry – to replace missing teeth. But his nose may have been broken. His ears ‘could be’ attached.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t0VpH_qONm379uhIGV6pjz0_VGWX4veU/view?usp=sharing
David Morgan: your bloke with the denistry is Dan Martin, and so long as you all fail to pick up on it, that means everyone including our moderator, than rest assured I’ll keep harping on it til I’m ‘white in the face’ which’ll take some doing.
This is Hickey Taylor’s sister Florence Ethel Kate (Taylor) Clark.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231287405/florence-ethel_kate-clark
https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-acreage+semi-rural-vic-allansford-134642638
Pat – it would probably be a dairy farm. Warrnambool Cheese & Dairy Factory is in Allansford. Nestle had a huge condensed & powdered milk factory in nearby Denniston. There’s a contemporary property called Summerhill in the area – with sheds & workers cottages.
Fred Tomkinson may have been a tenant farmer, or worker on a larger farm. Basically it’s dairy country – hard work! Family Search shows Amy as being the youngest of eleven children. They reportedly weren’t rich.
https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/allansford
https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/dennington
Thanks David – he looks like the original, younger man pick, with work done on his teeth between 1929 and 1943 ( false teeth?).
I think the one being pranked is Daniel M. Compare him to other images of him with his wife Norma and images of him with his wife later in life, shared on the SM site. Daniel was shot in both legs during the war which broke the bones, could that be why he’s sitting with his legs out in from of him. His war records say he was 5 foot 6 inches so hes shorter than the young Charlie behind him, is that the reason for the pat on the head?
Is there anyone else who thinks that the code in ROK could be Hickey, or someone he worked with, trying to remember their lines & place on the stage?
I checked the Desert Song, with no matches.
The Girlfriend & Under the Counter could be possibilities as could Benghazi & the Kiwis. Also the Gondoliers.
The Gondoliers is probably available on line.
I’m going to ask the Victorian Arts Centre if they have any 1940s show books in their J C Williamson Collection. Are there other JCW productions that people think could be checked against this theory? The National Library of Australia could be another option for show books if anyone is up in Canberra…
I know there are some people who think the whole ROK thing was a ruse. I think there is possibly a mundane explanation behind the code. If it is personal poetry of course we won’t be able to access a broader meaning, but I just can’t see poetry being written in this way. I think it’s an actor or Freemason trying to remember a passage of text. Unfortunately it seems very difficult to access Freemasons records. As with others on here, I’m very busy with work & family, running on limited time… I wouldn’t mind us cracking the code though and having some kind of context for Charlie’s long ago death!
(PS – no reply as yet from the Australian Queer Archive – they are run by volunteers so will be patient!).
@ Pat – Doris Amy Webb, Russell & Amy’s eldest daughter married another Tomkinson, Norm, who played for North Melbourne Football Club, one of Victoria’s top teams.
I imagine Amy Webb’s early death, leaving four young children behind, created a lot of strain and hardship amongst the family. Annie Grace, who lived with the Webbs & probably helped out, also died in 1929. This was just before the Great Depression, which had a huge impact on Australia – 32% unemployment in 1932! I can imagine this contributed to an environment where family members helped each other but it was also was easy to loose track of each other too.
@ Pat
Doris Amy Webb – Russell and Amy’s eldest daughter married back into part of the Tomkinson family. Her husband – Norman Tomkinson, played for North Melbourne Football Club, one of Victoria’s top teams.
I imagine Amy’s early death, leaving behind four young children, created a lot of family hardship. Annie Grace who lived with the Webbs and probably helped the family also died in 1929. This was of course just as the Great Depression was beginning to bite – 32% unemployment in Australia in 1932! It was possibly an environment where the family helped each other but it was also easy to loose track of people too.
@ Jo
Puting things into some perspective without all the unessecary histrionics; Prior to the unforseen events of 29 October 1929 (Black Tuesday), stock markets were on the up in most developed countries, with folks in Melbourne and all over Australia having no idea of what was about to befall them. So your claims that the “Great Depression was beginning to bite” when Amy Webb died on 2nd June, Annie Grace having preceded her on 4th April 1929, months from there being any hint of the economic woes to come, is of itself a deliberate self serving fabrication no less!
@Jo,
There has to be a reason the family didn’t come forward and recognise their own brother, cousin, uncle or why the police in Melbourne who knew him personally didn’t instantly recognise him.
There is a gap between Somerton Man and Carl Webb that is hard to explain. No landlady or hotel where he stayed. No employer before/after 1946 coming forward.
It means he changed his appearance dramatically in 12 months. It may be he put on body mass – he became a big guy with dark hair when Carl was skinny and blond in their memory. It wasn’t just make-up like an actor he actually did look so different that nobody he knew would recognise him.
He may have been carrying out some dangerous heavy work.
https://www.globaldata.com/data-insights/mining/australia–five-largest-lead-mines-in-2090572/
Thank you my tireless editor, JS, “about to bite” should do it! Empathy, it’s important…
hi Jo, yes I suggested theatre blocking a while back but as official theatre blocking codes werent really standardized until at least 1961 perhaps Hickey had hs own code he went by personal to him
it also could just be puzzle jottings.
I had to chuckle at North being one of Vic’s top sides. Ignoring the rut they’re currently in, they were moderately successful in patches during the tenure in the VFA especially through the 1910s (I think they hold a record for most consecutive wins in premiership matches – but that’s in VFA not VFL/AFL), but after being granted entry to the VFL in 1925 and spent 7 years in the bottom 3, and only reached the finals (top 5) twice in their first 25 years (1945, 1949).
While they’ve had patches of success they seem to struggle with consistency and have the fewest members of any Victorian AFL side (with only Brisbane, GWS and Gold Coast below them of the interstate sides).
So “one of Victoria’s top teams” – only insofar as they play in the premier competition (ie AFL).
@ David Morgan
Tend to agree. Carl seems to have been somewhat estranged from his family (over time he seems to be mentioned less in things like funeral notices) so the family not recognising him is plausible. VicPol not recognising him if he had run ins with them is a bit stranger.
It is worth noting (and has been mentioned by people on all sites at different times) that the bust looks different to the photographs that were released to the press. Somewhere (I think on Gordon’s site) there are some pictures that look more like the bust (but aren’t presented all dressed up). I’m not suggesting the bus and the photos are different people – rather that the one released to the press has been done up after postmortem and cleaned up so as not to look too gruesome. In so doing, features change (even something as simple as hair styles make someone appear difference, but there’s potentially other factors too).
While I’m still on the fence in terms of SM is Webb, I think a lot of the “nobody came forward” is plausibly explained by the picture of the dead man didn’t really resemble the live man people remembered – especially taking into account that they may not have seen him a few years. I’m a little surprised Doris Jean didn’t come forward (especially since she subsequently seems to be in SA and not long after files for divorce for a missing husband – which seems a bit strange, I would have thought a known death achieves the same thing) – but others have suggested possible ploys that might account for that too (I’m more skeptical TBH).
@Milongal,
Even if Carl had written to his family beforehand explaining to them not to come forward he couldn’t stop former workers in Red Point Tools or people he played football with. If he had become associated with something bad – like some Melbourne gangsters the police would recognise him.
The science proves he is Carl but it doesn’t explain the social context of Carl and how he operates unseen. If his family were ashamed he was wandering around dressed as a woman with Hickey Taylor it might explain their behaviour but not other people. He had to be living somewhere if he was ‘as a woman’. Perhaps we need to look for a missing woman.
https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/property/property-of-the-week/summer-hill-at-warrnambool-offers-period-home-on-19ha-farmlet/news-story/26284611dc8720ddf0d7ac15097b2ff9
@ Pat
You were right! The original Summerhill homestead was quite posh! One of the Premiers of Victoria lived there. The Summerhill estate belonged to the Murray pastoralist family. There were other houses on the property- such as this one, which is now houses a skin care business. https://www.fresha.com/a/summerhill-skin-clinic-allansford-4089-cobden-warrnambool-road-i79nqbjo
The 1960s former dairy farm, posted earlier, was probably built on part of the old estate.
I imagine the Tomkinson family worked as farmers or labourers on the larger estate.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murray_(Victorian_politician)
The cross dressing could take an interesting direction (but not sure I like it).
– The unusually clean shaven – not sure if there’d be hormone like treatments back then, but perhaps extra special care to keep the face smooth.
– The travel incognito – noone remembered seeing the man, because he didn’t travel as a man
– The lack of a wallet – died somewhere else dressed as a woman and was dressed up as a man post-mortem. Didn’t have a wallet (but rather a purse) so the people dressing up the body just put the contents of the wallet (e.g. the bus ticket) into the pockets. Once you’re emptying the purse you might skim any money out too.
– The lack of hat – the people dressing the body could source unneeded clothes easily enough but didn’t have a hat to spare.
– Lack of socks in the suitcase – maybe don’t need much socks if you’re wearing heels.
Some of them seem a bit of a clutch (no pun), but perhaps bear thinking about. I think someone in the past has suggested the cryptic note might be some sort of medical diagnosis/instruction – perhaps a regime of drugs and processes that promote a more feminine look. The most obvious counter, though would be for all such an idea could explain, why is there nothing in the suitcase – a blouse rather than a shirt; a skirt rather than trousers…..
Perhaps I’m naive or getting sucked into stereotypes, but how does a (allegedly) violent wife-beater transition into a cross dresser….they seem a peculiar combination – or would some sort of treatment for depression and/or violent tendencies have a side effect that might see such a change?
@ Milongal – I’ve received a reply from the Australian Queer Archive – there is a log for the interview which mentions Hickey Taylor, but not a recording. I’m putting in an access request for the log of this interview and another. I’ll seek more information but my understanding is that drag or “female impersonation” was fairly underground outside of theatre & revue shows – it wouldn’t be a way of getting about on a day to day basis. (There’s a case on Trove of a young cross dresser appearing in court, he appeared in a dress and was referred for psychiatric treatment). That’s why there has been a lot of academic interest in the military revue shows, where skilled “female impersonators” gathered quite a following. The idea of being re-dressed as a man post death, say following a party including drag, could be quite plausible.
@Milongal,
I don’t think cross-dressing is really the answer – but somehow it has to be explained how he wasn’t seen. A saleswoman in a shop didn’t remember selling him his final pastie, the ticket office didn’t remember selling him a ticket, the bus driver didn’t see him, the train guard didn’t see him, the luggage storage guy, passengers….the list goes on.
My best explanation would be was he wasn’t there. He didn’t travel on a train from Melbourne or on a bus so no-one could have seen him. These artefacts were put on his body to make him appear in a depressed suicide. The poetry book was a nice touch.
As a point of comparison in the 1970 Isdal Woman case when they put the sketch in newspapers they had 300 phone calls – 300 leads to follow. At least a percentage of these were correct sightings.
When they put Carl’s photo in the newspaper all they had were women with missing husbands. No-one came forward from a shop, hotel or ticket office like in the Isdal Woman case, apart from the ‘one’ nitkeeper sighting. That can’t be right in terms of a police investigation. Were the police contacting women with missing husbands to give the appearance of a response?
In a similar 1971 case in Norway, the police tracked the movement of a guy Douglas Wicoff Jr. They knew where he worked, the hotels he stayed in, they even had statements of what conversations he had and determined he was a suicide. They sent the FBI to his home and determined he hadn’t been there for some time. They closed the case as a suicide. Then a journalist investigated and found he had travelled to London. He had sent a Christmas card.
The point is for real people you have movements and contacts and if you want to convince people that the body was a suicide you need that level of detail.
@David Morgan
I agree with a lot of what you say (and have beaten a similar drum in the past) – especially about it not being an actual suicide. That said, I don’t think him not being noticed is necessarily that strange (or at least, it might be mildly puzzling, but it’s not inexplicable).
We don’t know where he got the pastie from – in fact we don’t actually know it was a pastie (it was an example given of what the stomach contents could be). I think JS at one stage speculated several alternatives that could account for the stomach contents (including, I think Minestrone soup (or similar)).
As for ticket seller, bus driver, train guard, luggage guy – none of them would necessarily notice one out of the hundreds of people they deal with daily unless there was a reason to. I drove buses for several years, and if I were asked about a particular passenger on a particular journey (even the following day) I can’t imagine remembering one unless they were either a regular or they stood out somehow (making a ruckus, dressed strangely, asking weird questions, or some other incident) – and even then I’m not sure how certain I’d be that they were definitively someone in a photo (especially given the speculation earlier
that the released photo wasn’t all that similar to what the live person looked like).
Even if you have people that are better at remembering interaction with random people, one thing that would turn SM invisible is if he were travelling with someone else. When you’re asked “did you see this man?” most people try to recall people they saw travelling on their own, and it might not occur to them that the person they’re being asked about was with someone else (so some other people even).
But I’ve long been a bit skeptical about the Railway Station connection(s) too. You arrive by train from interstate and have disposed of that ticket, but you keep a (useless?) unused train ticket** and used bus ticket.
I’ve always been uncomfortable with (actual) suicide theories – especially when they revolve around ‘Tamam Shud’. Who is such a slip aimed at? If it’s aimed at yourself wouldn’t you have it in your hand contemplating it as you take your final breaths? If it’s aimed at people who will find your body, wouldn’t you have it somewhere more discoverable than rolled up as small as possible and concealed in a hidden fob pocket? Further, if you then include the rest of the Rubaiyat, what it the point of discarding? If you have no purpose for it, what about one of the bins you must have passed on the way, or throw it in the sea, or…..(although on that note, for a staged suicide it doesn’t seem necessary to discard the booklet either).
And why would you choose Somerton? Glenelg is busier, so perhaps you go somewhere more quiet (but still busy enough to be found). Somerton maybe fits the bill, but so does almost all of beach between Glenelg and there. But then given no sand in the shoes does that mean you’ve walked along the seawall (these days it’s parks, but google “Fullers Street Directory Adelaide 1948” and have a look at map 17) and then continued along the busier Esplanade before deciding “this is the spot”.
Then you consider the method of poisoning – while it’s possible that whatever barbiturate was used was simply readily available, it’s an interesting coincidence that it’s something difficult to detect.
**Something I keep meaning to get back to is whether tickets back then were for a route or a specific service. That is, if I bought a Henley ticket today, could I use it tomorrow, or is it specific to a journey today (or even any journey today). There’s always been an assumption that he intended to use the train ticket immediately, but it is possible he was buying it with a future plan in mind. That said, it seems odd to have it just floating around in your pocket in that case – because you want to make sure it’s not going to get destroyed….
So I guess the missing connections with people in Adelaide doesn’t entirely bother me that much – but the missing recognition from people he would have interacted with semi-regularly is more problematic (including police who may have dealt with Webb a few years before not recalling “Doesn’t he look a bit like that guy in Bromby St…” when the photo made it’s way to VicPol.
To me the most plausible explanation is that the photo given to the press had the body looking sufficiently different to when he was alive to put doubt in people’s mind (what if in life his hair was slicked back – that alone would change his appearance quite a bit).
The Isdal Woman was a bit different. They worked out some of her movements from her fingerprints, at which point they targeted specific people (e.g. hotel staff) for witnesses. Secondly I think they largely worked off sketches not post mortem photographs. While sketches are obviously less accurate, I think in people’s minds they’re more likely to suggest someone who “looks sort of like that sketch” on the basis the sketch might be inaccurate, than they would for a photo (which they implicitly trust as absolute).
I’m less familiar with Douglas Wicoff jr. but by the sounds of it the Christmas Card contact was found because they knew who he was.
I guess my point is it’s a lot easier to find witnesses when you know someone’s movements, habits or other aspects of their lifestyle.
Easy Reader Version: SM not being noticed in Adelaide is mildly interesting, but not inexplicable. SM not being identified from a photo is more surprising (but still not all that inexplicable). Agree probably not an actual suicide.
Apart from having been on the short side, slight build and black hair which I may have mentioned one or twice, ‘Thing’ of the group photo, my nominee for Hickey Taylor, alongside Daniel Martin and behind his wife and mother, has very narrow shoulders compared with all other blokes in the group shot. Sorry to disappoint fellow punters but I’m rather confident of my unpopular pick.
Mentioning the SM’s pastie, reminded me that Paul Lawson thought the potatoes found in his stomach were a ‘plant’. If he did know anything more about the ‘pastie’ he never let on. But why would he think that way? Some remark he heard from a police detective?
Clive J. Turner
Although the plant itself be a member of the nightshade family and of a kind with top bearing plants such as the egg plant; it’s edible root or tuber grows to maturity beneath the ground, hence it’s vegetable status. Since the ‘Peeler Man’ days, your average humble street suit took his meals on the job so, could hardly decline offer of a pie or pastie from a ‘sly’ down town, Harry’s cafe de wheels wallah. And yeah Paul could well have heard about spuds from the likes of Len Brown whom, one could guess, knew a thing or two about ‘plants’.
When I was speculating about Charlie being gay and/or a cross dresser last October I posted a link to an article in Q News containing an Australian LGBTIQ history timeline. Looking back at Q News I happened on a rather funny recent article about adverts from the early to mid 20th century. One of them states boldly “HOW TO GET “BIG DICK” FREE”. But those WW2 Cannon Towels adverts are just plain WEIRD.
https://qnews.com.au/what-was-this-1943-advert-trying-to-sell/
I also researched around the same time last year about Gerald Keane and his involvement with J. C. Williamson. I had watched a video ‘Theatre in Australia’ which Bob Dylan provided a link to a while back – nice one Mr Z!
One of Hickey Taylor’s fellow performers in ‘The Desert Song’ was a Bernard Manning – see Thomas’ link from April 23:
https://digital.theatreheritage.org.au/pages/view.php?search=&k=&modal=&display=thumbs&order_by=resourceid&offset=480&per_page=24
Looking back at the ‘Theatre in Australia’ video I noticed a clip of him appearing as The Mikado of Japan:
https://youtu.be/QONAuO8oBhM?t=4399
This Manning is not to be confused with British comic Bernard Manning. “On behalf of the committee” I present the following (clean and safe) clip:
https://youtu.be/O-KrzEeh5R4
When I lived in Manchester in the ’80s I went to Manning’s Embassy Club where he performed a set and there was also a bar and dance floor. Being known as one of Manchester’s wildest terpsichoreans at the time I just had to display my moves, but, as I recently related to a fellow CM contributor, a group of middle aged women decided that it would be hilarious to “goose” me one after another. After several painful thrusts I turned round and said “alright, you’ve had your fun” and they stopped. But next morning I had some bruising in a very delicate place. It isn’t just old soldiers contributing here who have their war wounds. Clubbing in Manchester pre-loved-up “Madchester” days could be like a battlefield (for trivia fans Manning compered the opening night of the Hacienda).
The ‘Desert Song’ link in my last comment doesn’t work but it can be found in Thomas’ post on April 23, 2023 at 7:36 am on the ‘Hickey Taylor (and The Somerton Man?)’ thread.
@JS,
Your pick needs to have attached lobes like Hickey in the theatre pics otherwise you are following the wrong thought process.
I wonder how many have attached lobes in the Keane and Webb families.
@ DM,
Yep attached lobes present and accounted for and I’m able to report that it’s a familial trait along with the port wine stain. So how are yours hanging if you don’t mind my asking and are you gay too.
@JS,
I don’t think attached lobes is a sign of sexuality. I also don’t think men with attached lobes dress up as women because it is a genetic trait. It can’t be good for earrings. I don’t have lobes attached myself I’m afraid. Though I did dress up as a vicar once to gain entry to a museum and I wasn’t robbing it.
I noticed Princess Margaret had attached lobes so not just a male trait. Perhaps a sign of Royalty.
Clive J. Turner
Speaking of ‘plants’, all jokes aside Clive, we seem to have quite an abundance right now, right here too, courtessy of the professor and his FB wanderers. I kid you not!
Some nice links @ Steve, and yes, you were part of the “is this a queer culture story?” months ago.
@ the Dude (over on the now closed tbt blog) has an interesting idea that the stencilling (?) equipment could be linked to travelling costumes, props and scenery. J C Williamson shows do seem to have followed a Melbourne-Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth show run pattern, with some trips to Tasmania and New Zealand (we know that Gerald Keane travelled to Tasmania and NZ). I imagine most travel was by train, with some shipping.
So, PB seems to have bowed out! The end of a long ride! With a novel along the way and band of staunch followers, who have been acknowledged, so perhaps not a bad run. Has the wave come to shore?
JS, I honestly have not followed close enough to know of whom you speak, though at least they aren’t Tiktokers.
@ Jo,
Read my post on the Dating photo…
Summer Hill homestead is at 9/10 Jubilee Park Road while the Summerhill Skin Clinic is at 4089 Cobden Warrnambool Road, both Allansford (17 min apart)
@ Pat, the Tomkinson property must have been fairly posh too.
Amy and Russell’s wedding news article reads that Amy is the daughter of ” Mr and Mrs Charles Tomkinson, Church Street. Camperdown”, I’ve found 3 wanted adds for an “experienced general”, “a general, no washing” and “housemaid plus 3 generals” all from a Mrs Tonkinson, Church Street, Camperdown. Google maps shows some beautiful old houses in Church Street.
https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/vZ3KWnmWpqvG
https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/ofeWpjWmG9t5
https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/ltBEvtKRgqnM
Matt: sorry but you’re going to have to elaborate some, I’m not a mind reader and my memory span is not as acute as it once was I’m afraid.
@ Pat & Sharon – some details of the Tomkinson family history here, in a biography of Amy’s brother, William James Tomkinson – a top harness racing trainer & owner who migrated to New Zealand in murky circumstances. He was very successful & respected in NZ. He died from complications from an ulcer, following a fall, in the early 1930s. The article describes his childhood as the eighth of eleven children as financially constrained. Amy was the eleventh child. It sounds as though some of the Tomkinsons – an early Warrnambool & Camperdown family, were quite successful!
https://www.harness.org.au/hra/awards/2004/The%20Exile.pdf
John, you said people were watching CM that have come from Derek’s Facebook group, right? I said at least they werent Tiktokers. It was a put down based from experience rather than just rudeness, although…. Anyway, yeah they gave me what was apparently a rather capricious and arbitrary TikTok ban on one of my accounts. I say one because at thought it was total (because it used the term permanently banned), though I signed up with another account. I guess those likes are in the ether. The thing is I did nothing except follow and like people there. No commentary like here. Makes no sense.
Matt,
I understand what your saying and I have no firm ground on which to stand for disagreement with you. There is no doubting that the sideshow activities we’re now being inundated with, started with new ndp CM commenters right at the time of the FB Carl Webb disclosure or soon thereafter. From the onset they displayed an energy and verve that was stunning and their research methodology obviously came from an expertise not gained said initiation. In the early weeks we all stuck rigidly with the Webb sideshow as a diversion maybe, nothing whatever to do with Somerton Man who from then onwards may as well have been a suburban legend for all the attention he received at CM. Even our moderator put all active pre Carl Webb threads aside and seemed (still does) to relish being part of the hungry she wolf pack. Back to your interesting summation Matt, I’m also starting to look in different directions for all that’s gone weird starting back in late July and more so on what might be an alternative root cause, one not necessarily confined to the FB plottings and brewings.
John, ok. I am fairly happy with Nick, or I wouldn’t post at all. The independent voice is always appreciated. I will attempt to make myself less ignorant about the SM, so I can speak with more authority in the future, though it might take awhile. My social media has mostly been on Twitch, though quite possible I will get FB soon, if I can, haha.
I have received a summary and transcript from two interviews held by the Australian Queer Archive, conducted with a gay man, “Bill”, now deceased, who was born in 1916.
He describes how in “about 1936 or 37”, a well known antique dealer took him to a “”cabaret” organized in an upstairs venue on the corner of
Elizabeth and Collins streets. A drag artist of the day, Hickey Taylor, wore what
was claimed to be a dress belonging to Gladys Moncrieff, and performed with a
band on a stage.”
The venue was quite rowdy. Outside, Bill and his friend overheard two police officers discussing what was going on inside. “A few weeks later the premises were raided. Names were published in the press and reputations ruined”.
In another interview, again with Bill, he describes how some of the employees of Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne would borrow costumes from the theatre and stage drag cabarets, again with a band.
Generally, however, these events were quite risky and underground. Most gay social life was in people’s homes, at house parties, which included music, song and dance. There were also weekends away, to places such as the Dandenongs.
There is also mention of a young man, Carl Miller, who would attend arts balls dressed as a woman and then later, meet his conquests, dressed as a man. I wondered about Carl, but don’t believe it was him, Bill is describing a fairly middle class private school/university scene from the 1930s.
Bill describes how marriages of convenience amongst gay men and lesbian women were common.
Bill spent most of his working life in banking and also served with the RAAF and AIF in WWII. He discusses having a number of gay friends who served as WWII pilots.
In terms of information on Hickey Taylor, although there isn’t much, it does confirm Hickey’s work as a drag artist, perhaps working a side hustle to his theatre work.
I also wonder whether there was some kind of after event following the final performance of Under the Counter. Perhaps this is where an association or relationship between Hickey and Carl came to an end… Carl may have even been moved to the beach by people who thought he needed to straighten up and had no sense that he was going to die. I wonder though, within this scenario, why Hickey never came forward in later years to identify Carl…. There are always as many holes as there are theories…
Good on ya Jo, good bit of info to go on there, ‘a drag artist, ’36/37 in Melbourne, how interesting!
On drag in the ’30s I did mention this sensationalist article about the “Kamp Kult” in Sydney from 1931 some time last year.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103474459?searchTerm=%22kamp%20kult%22
Destiny Rogers in QNews wrote a piece about it in 2020:
“Just days before Christmas 1931, the Arrow newspaper regaled its readers with the story of Sydney’s Kamp Kult. The paper marvelled at lavish ceremonies including the coronation of a Queen and same-sex weddings.
At the time, Sydney suffered in the throes of the Great Depression. Men struggled to find employment and riots broke out over mass evictions of tenants unable to pay their rent. The infamous razor gangs ruled the streets. Meanwhile, Premier Jack Lang was at war with the federal government.
‘At war’ is no metaphor. The feds eventually put the country’s armed forces on alert for a potential forced takeover of the state. It was the closest Australia ever came to civil war. The Governor dismissed Lang the following year. But before that happened, he opened the Sydney Harbour Bridge, almost complete at Christmas 1931.
Despite the plethora of news, the Arrow devoted almost an entire front-page to a quiet gathering in a suburban home. An event the paper described as a “very important” occasion “in the annals of organised male depravity in the city of Sydney.”
As Destiny later said: “Reading the article, one almost feels sympathy for the author. Paragraph after paragraph, he gushes with praise for the beauty and refinement he witnesses, but then comes to his senses, and remembers that the scene is supposed to disgust him.”
There’s even a mention in the original newspaper article of “the legendary revels of the Abbey of Thelema” that “had nothing on these [the Kamp Kult ones] for grotesquerie.” I have been briefly discussing Thelema on another thread. As I’m sure you will know the Abbey of Thelema “is a small house which was used as a temple and spiritual centre, founded by Aleister Crowley and Leah Hirsig in Cefalù (Sicily, Italy) in 1920.” (Wikipedia)
Kenneth Anger, whose death was announced two days ago (“one of America’s first openly gay filmmakers”), made a short film about the place ‘Thelema Abbey’ (1955) “which examined many of the exotic frescoes, a study in which Anger was assisted by sexologist Alfred Kinsey”. (Wikipedia) Like another gay “icon”, William Burroughs, Anger was also obsessed with the occult. He wrote the famous ‘Hollywood Babylon’ and made other short films such as ‘Kustom Kar Kommandos’ – gays certainly love their Ks! – ‘Patriotic Penis’ and ‘My Surfing Lucifer’. One of Anger’s most famous films ‘Lucifer Rising’ (1972/80) starred Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Jimmy Page. Musician and actor Bobby Beausoleil, later jailed for his part in the Manson murders (he killed Gary Hinman) was to be in the film and did the soundtrack. Beausoleil (who wasn’t gay) lived with Anger for a while and called him Lucifer.
Jimmy Page was going to do the soundtrack but he and Anger fell out and Bobby Beausoleil did it instead whilst in Tracy Prison – he’s still banged up! Bobby played guitars and synthesizer and his band was The Freedom Orchestra made up of fellow inmates. The soundtrack was released in 1980. Manson of course also wrote songs (one of them pinched by Dennis Wilson for the Beach Boys).
Also see ‘Invocation of My Demon Brother’, (1969) using early footage from ‘Lucifer Rising’, and starring Mick Jagger, Bobby Beausoleil and Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. “It includes clips of the cast smoking hashish out of a skull and a Satanic funeral ceremony for a cat.” (Wikipedia) Far out! Mick did the score for the film on a Moog. Altamont happened the same year. Bummer!
Both of the latter films are on YouTube. ‘Invocation’ is more fun. Crowleyism and occultism in general had a significant, and somewhat hidden, influence on the arts and culture of the English speaking world of the 20th century, as did fascism before the horrors of WW2. “Fascism”, call it what you will, is prevalent today in many countries. Wake up people!
Steve Boringwood
Sorry to disappoint any pomp & circumstance fans but, it was bog Irishman Francis De Groot of Eric Campbell’s rightwing ‘New Guard’ mob what cut the ribbon at the Sydney Harbour Bridge opening ceremony in 1932; beating state Premier ‘Big’ Jack Lang who was left spluttering on the official dias and wondering ” who the flocken hell nicked me ceremonial sword? “…
@ Steve – I think the old butter box author from the Arrow had a ball! The theme of drag style house parties concurs with “Bill’s” interviews discussing the same time period in Melbourne.
@ Jo
Can you access the book ‘Kamp Melbourne in the 1920s and ’30s: Trade, Queans and Inverts’?
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-4438-7904-0
On Google Books free sample there are two mentions of Hickey Taylor (one of them is the same you have already posted), and other interesting bits.
These are some snippets from Google Books.
https://i.imgur.com/0IlBkEx.png
https://i.imgur.com/g4mFsWv.png
https://i.imgur.com/JyjVaRO.png
https://i.imgur.com/bAgZbck.png
https://i.imgur.com/XBlsOnb.png
Coppied below is a news article, not related but found it interesting
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68664188
@ Pat
Thank you!!
I’ve been able to access an online copy of the book via the University of Melbourne. I think you’ve picked out the best bits! The interview with “Bill”, from the Australian Queer Archives, and which I have log of, is also one of the primary sources used for the book. There are also mentions of Fawkner Park, which is near Charlie and Doff’s home, being a historic beat and also of Kamp weekend parties in the Dandenongs (which is where Monbulk is – where Charlie went off camping!).
I’m still convinced that the code is someone’s theatrical notes – probably Hickey Taylor’s. The “X” is theatrical shorthand for cross, meaning move across the stage…
It’s impossible for me to look for old scripts at the moment but I have a rough short list and two possible places to search!
@ Jo,
Thanks and good luck with the scripts!
Is there anyone on here who has access to the National Library of Australia in Canberra? Current life events mean that it will be some time before I can get up there. There are seven boxes in the JC Williamson archive that are worth checking for “the code”. They can now be accessed via the Special Collections Reading Room”
1 .The play book for “The Girlfriend”
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/801384
Call number: MUS JCW 130/-17
Hickey Taylor played in the 1947 Adelaide production of the Girlfriend, along with Phil Jay, formerly of the Kiwi Revue Company (both cross dressing men; Phil Jay could be the source of the NZ Whitcome and Tombs ROK).
2. The play book for “Under the Counter”
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/3418884
Call number: MUS JCW 347/1-2
So who’s Hickey Taylor and what are his connections, if any to the Somerton Man mystery if any. Hickey Taylor is a name said to have been found on the back of a group photo from an old family album. It had been handed down to the claimed great nephew of a mysterious Carl Webb, one of the many nominees for SM who came to nitice through dubious DNA matching of long dead exposed hair samples plucked from a cast decades after the donor’s demise; that’s who Hickey Taylor be when all is said and done, a non entity to all intents. And yet the name seems to have gained a cult following for lovers of risque live stage performance amongst a determinded group of adherents whose motives and sexual orientations are not clear.
@ Johnno – very well crafted invective! Please could I quote this in a distant publication? “One’s detractors work for one tirelessly and for free!”
Probably old news…
In 1927, Hickey was known as Harry Taylor and he was amongst the J.C. Williamson cast in Camperdown staging “Katja”.
Could this be the actual place (and approximate date) for the Webb family photo?
In July 1929, H. Taylor and Harry Taylor were amongst the cast of “The Student Prince” in Cairns, Queensland.
In Nov 1929, Harry Taylor was amongst the cast of “The Desert Song” in Adelaide.
In 1936 he was amongst the cast of “Yes, Madam?” and both names appear in the ads, Hickey Taylor and Harry Taylor. Maybe that’s when he assumed his new stage name?
The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954)
Sat 19 Jul 1924
Page 8
Advertising
GRAND NOVELTY COSTUME CARNIVAL.
1st, 2nd, 3rd Prizes for Most Novel Costumes. 8 till 1 a.m. Full Regal Orches-
tra – the Band that will set Hobart’s Carnival Crowd Jazz Crazy; also Fox Trot
Exhibition by Hobart’s Leading Dancers. Tickets on sale at Messrs. Hook and Tay-
lor’s Studio, Elizabeth-street. 11. JOYCE, Hon. Organiser.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23750468?searchTerm=%22W.%20J.%20Hook%22#
A small article about Hickey Taylor from the newly digitised Sun News Pictorial.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/278581722?searchTerm=hickey%20taylor
@Poppins
The SNP shows law court listings for 1946 but I can’t see them. Dorothy v Carl (Charles Webb) perhaps?