Category Archives: Tamam Shud

What I infer from Prosper Thomson’s 1947 small ads:

• Thomson sold his second-hand car business around May 1947
• Thomson had a property in Belair that he sold around July 1947
• Thomson bought 90a Moseley st (just) before 18 October 1947
• Also: I see no sign that Thomson stopped renting 7 Main St, Henley Beach

The obvious question here is: who owned the 1939-built property in Alta-Mira crescent, Belair before Prosper Thomson?

This leads me to the most interesting pair of Adelaidean small ads of all, and they weren’t even placed by Thomson:

[25 Aug 1948] ELECT. eng, 50, many years’ exp., foreman, manager, contracts, maintenance, diploma “A” grade, Vic. licence, ex. refs. 7 Main st, Henley.

[27 Aug 1948] ELECT. eng., 50, many years’ exp., foreman, manager, contracts, maintenance, diploma “A” grade, Vic. licence, ex. refs. 7 Main st.. Henley.

Just so you know, according to 1947 (and 1948, and 1949) Sands and McDougall, 7 Main St Henley Beach was owned by “Miss R. Ward”.

Who was this Victoria-licensed electrical engineer living in 7 Main St, Henley Beach? Might he turn out to be the person who connects Prosper Thomson with Carl Webb? Over to you!

I’ve found two things that might possibly be connected. Firstly, this advert from 27 Jan 1948:

ELECTRICIAN seeks situation with accommodation for self and wife. Victorian licence and references. K267. Advertiser.

Secondly, there was an electrician called J. Girven living a few doors away (at 16 Main St, Henley Beach), who had previously (on 4 Jan 1947) placed this ad:

ELECTRICAL wireman wanted. Apply Girven, 16 Main st, Henley Beach. L8638.

Perhaps J. Girven had seen the 27 Jan 1948 ad, and had hired the Victorian electrician?

Now, it may be a bit of a stretch, but the K267 box was also used for an ad on 12 Oct 1948:

STRAYED, tan and white Pekinese pup from 1 Leicester av., Kilburn, Monday, 11th: good reward. K267. Advertiser.

And the same address (1 Leicester av., Kilburn) also came up exactly one other time in 10 Jan 1952:

DOHERTY.—On January 1 (suddenly), James “Len” Doherty, of 1 Leicester av., Kilburn, loved husband of Ivy, and loving father of Kathleen (Mrs. H. Armstrong), Maureen (Mrs. W. Badenoch), Agnes (Mrs. B. Baldock), Brian and Pat. Aged 52 years. Requiescat in pace.

Might this Victorian electrician have been James “Len” Doherty?

I enjoyed Pete Bowes’ most recent “bloodhound” post, but I was pretty sure I’d seen many, many more ads placed by Prosper McTaggart Thomson than he listed there. So I thought I’d have a go at compiling my own list. So… here are all the small ads I found for 1947 (including a single one from 1946).

Note that I assume we can tie all these addresses:

• 200 Hindley St
• 7 Main St, Henley Beach
• “Robinvale”, Altamira Crescent, Belair
• 90a Moseley St, Glenelg

…and all the various P.O. Boxes to Prosper Thomson. Do you agree?

Dec 1946

[18 Dec] HOUSE, will purchase for cash to £ 1,500, prefer hills district, vacant possession, can trade 1939 Ford V 8 sedan, as new, if reg., NSPR £310 Apply P. M. Thomson, G.P.O., Adelaide.

Jan 1947

[4 Jan] WANTED car, tourer, sedan. or rdst., reasonable order. £50 to £200, by ex-serviceman for business: consider buckboard. Full particulars as condition and price. Will inspect 50 mile radius Adelaide. Thomson, 7 Main st.. Henley Beach, after 1 pm, or Sunday.

[8 Jan] MODERN house, suit couple. Adelaide or hills, will exchange 1939 Ford V8 sedan. as new. NSPR £306. with extras, if required. Thomson, 7 Main st. Henley Bch.

[22 Jan] CAMERA Hertie F.4.5 lens, 5 speed shutter, takes 16 pictures on 127 film, small compact job, carrying case, films, exchange for crystal water set and fruit set. Thomson, 7 Main st., Henley Beach.

[22 Jan] UTILITY Bedford coupe front. 10 h p., 1939. NSPR £210, appearance as new, exchange for 8 to 14 h.p. car. 1938 or later. Thomson. 7 Main st.. Henley Beach.

[25 Jan] WANTED 10 to 14 h.p. car or utility, urgent, pay your price, cash, or take over terms. Home week-end, or inspect anywhere. Thomson. 7 Main st., Henley Beach.

[27 Jan] WANTED 10 to 14 h.p. car or utility, urgent, pay your price, cash or take over terms. Home week-end or inspect anywhere. Thomson, 7 Main St., Henley Beach.

Feb 1947

[1 Feb] MORRIS 10-h.p. 1940 saloon, series M, similar, as now being sold as 1947 models, for £635, previously owned by Melbourne doctor, exceptionally well kept. Just driven overland by me, averaged 38 m.p.gal., performed perfectly, NSPR £288 Exchange for larger sedan and cash diff. Thomson, 7 Main st., Henley Beach.

[12 Feb] WANTED urgently, car, suit city traveller, 8 to 14 h.p. preferred, consider larger car, utility, pay good price. Clinic Distributors. Box 1009J. G.P.O., Adelaide.

[12 Feb] CHEV. wanted. 1941 sedan, consider 1940. or similar car for taxi, pay your price for good job. Thomson. 7 Main st Henley Beach. Inspect anywhere.

[12 Feb] CAMERA. Foth 120, folding, f4.5, double anastigmat lens, 5 speed shutter, extra good, little used. £12/10/- cash. Thomson, 7 Main st, Henley

[15 Feb] WANTED, 1928 to 1932 American sedan, tourer or roadster, pay good price. Thomson, 7 Main st., Henley Beach, week-end.

[15 Feb] MANTEL 5-valve Mickey Mouse, good interstate performance, perfect order, modern plastic cabinet, cost £19/19/-. accept £14 cash. Thomson. 7 Main st, Henley.

[19 Feb] WANTED, 1928 to 1932 sedan tourer or roadster, good order, pay cash or take over terms. Thomson, 200 Hindley St.. Adelaide. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

[22 Feb] CAMERA, Kodak, folding. No. 2A, double lens, as new; sell or exchange for auto. .22 rifle. Thomson. 7 Main st, Henley Beach.

Mar 1947

[1 Mar] MORRIS 10 h.p. saloon. Series M. 1940. same cars now selling as 1947 models for £635. This car has Just been rebored, crankshaft ground, all bearings renewed, brakes relined. king pins replaced, and is definitely equal to new car and represents rare opportunity to acquire most popular sedan . Doing approx. 40 m.p. gal of petrol. We require large sedan or coupe, like Chev., Dodge or similar, suitable country traveller, on exchange basis. NSPR of Morris £298. genuine NSPR deal. See Mr. Thomson. Clinic Distributors. 200 Hindley st, business hours.

[1 Mar] WANTED, house or flat, furn, or unfurn., in hills or Blackwood d’st., business people. Thomson. Box 1009J. G.P.O., Adelaide.

[5 Mar] DODGE 1923 single seater, very good order mechanically, tyres as new, reg. 6 months.,NSPR £110, accept £85, ready drive anywhere. Thomson. 200 Hindley street.

[6 Mar] MORRIS 10 h.p. sedan. 1941, NSPR £309. Just rebored, overhauled, extent. £65. now as new. exchange for 8 to 14 h-p. utility or large car, suitable country traveller. Clinic Distributors. 200 Hindley St.

[8 Mar] WANTED, American tourer, rdstr, or sedan. Whippet. Rugby. Chev, similar. Consider utility. Pay cash. Inspect anywhere. Clinic Distributors, 200 Hindley

[8 Mar] ELECTRIC copper or washing machine. Inspect anywhere, pay cash. Thomson. Box 1009J, G.P.O.

[8 Mar] WANTED, car, any make or model, buckboard would do. £50 to £175 cash. Urgent, by discharged A.I.F. man. Thomson, Box 1009J, G.P.O.

[12 Mar] RIFLE. .22. auto, or repeater, pay cash or exchange Healing cycle, as new. Thomson, 200 Hindley st.

[13 Mar] RIFLE. .22 repeater or auto, in good order. Will inspect. Thomson. Box 1009J. G.P.O.

[14 Mar] GENT’S Healing cycle, cond. as new, tyres new, Eadie coaster new, price £18/18/-, accept £9/10/-. Thomson, 200 Hindley St.

[15 Mar] PARTNER for used car business, active or silent, good returns assured. £500 to £1,000, money under own control. I have city premises and 10 years experience in motor trade, stocks assured. Thomson. Box 1009J, G.P.O.

[15 Mar] RIFLE. .22 repeater or auto. In good order. Will inspect. Thomson. Box 1009J. G.P.O.

[19 Mar] MORRIS 10 h.p. saloon. 1941. extra good mechanically. NSPR £311, exchange tourer or utility. 1936. 8 to 14 b.p. Clinic Distributors 200 Hindley st.

[22 Mar] WANTED Morris 8/40 or similar, or utility, to 10 h.p.: pay your price, cash Thomson, ‘Robinvale,’ Altamira Crescent Belair. near Methodist Church.

[22 Mar] MAN to clean block and gardening. Thomson, Alta Mira Crescent, Belair, 2 doors from Methodist Church.

[26 Mar] WANTED urgently, tourer or roadster, by ex-serviceman, commencing business, utility will do, cash £75 to £150. Will inspect. McTaggart, Box 1009J. G.P.O.

[26 Mar] WANTED. Morris. Standard. Vaux, 8 to 14 h.p, car or prefer utility. Thomson. Alta Mira crescent. Belair. Inspect anywhere.

[29 Mar] WANTED urgently by ex-serviceman about commence business, car or buckboard, £50 to £150. Will call, pay cash. McTaggart, Box 953H. G.P.O. Adelaide.

[29 Mar] WANTED Bedford utility or similar make 8 10 14 h.p, 1937 to 1940; cash to £300. Thomson. Alta Mira cres, Belair. 2 doors from Methodist Church or letter to P.O. Belair.

[29 Mar] RIFLE, automatic. .22. as new; Healing gent’s cycle, unmarked, cost £16/10 accept £16 the lot. Thomson. Alta Mira crescent. Belair. 2 doors from Methodist Church.

Apr 1947

[5 Apr] WANTED, car or buckboard, cash, £50 to£200. Thomson, Alta Mira cres., Belair

[5 Apr] WOMAN for washing, cleaning, no children. Mrs Thomson, Robinvale, Alta Mira Cres., Belair

[5 Apr] STANDARD 10 h.p. 1938 tourer, new 3 tyres, hood, curtains, recently overhauled. NSPR £170. make clean swop for utility, 6 to 14 h.p. Thomson. Alta Mira crescent. Belair. 2 doors past Methodist Church.

[12 Apr] WANTED urgently by ex-serviceman, car, any make or model, reliable utility would do, cash, about £100 to £150. McTaggart. Box 953H. G.P.O., Adelaide.

[12 Apr] FORD A utility, factory built steel body, just reconditioned to extent of £65. new tyres. 6 wheel equip, NSPR £85. exchange outright or take car part payment. Thomson. Alta Mira cres, Belair. 2nd house from Methodist Church.

[19 Apr] WANTED car or buckboard, reas. order, any make suit traveller, cash £75 to £150. McTaggart. Box 953H. G.P.O.

[19 Apr] BEAN tourer, 14 h.p., 1928-30 series, sound mechanically, well shod, good hood, complete tools, instruct, book, rgd.; NSPR £179, accep: £135 cash. Thomson. Alta Mira Cres, Belair, 2nd house past Methodist Church. Sat. only.

[26 Apr] WANTED—Woman to do washing, cleaning, one day a week, no family. Mrs. Thomson, Alta Mira Crescent, Belair.

[26 Apr] MORRIS 8/40 utility, 1940, used privately. as new. NSPR £205. Exchange for car. 1938 or later on NSPR basis. Thomson. Alta Mira Crescent. Belair. 2nd house from Methodist Church.

[30 Apr] WANTED, building, suitable for garage business, city or suburbs. ex-AIF man, good references. Rent in advance. Thomson. Box 953H. G.P.O.

[30 Apr] WANTED urgently, any type or make car, going order, £75 to £150. Buckboard would do. I will inspect anywhere if give full details. Thomson. Box 953H, G.P.O., Adelaide.

May 1947

[7 May] GENTLEMAN, ex -2nd A.I.F., with 1940 Austin car. exper. traveller, collector, had own garage, business 5 years, good refs., any kind employment, perm, or casual, required urgent. Thomson, Box 953H, G.P.O.

[8 May] VACANT possession, all electric, jarrah 4 rooms, large louvred glass sleepout, modern kitchen and bathroom, large block, nicely laid out garden, definitely best position in Belair, 7 miles from G.P.O., 2 minutes Belair rly. Stn., built 1939. Require sedan car, 1938-46 model, suitable taxi, balance cash. Write Box 953H, G.P.O. for appoint.

[10 May] GENTLEMAN, ex-2nd A.I.F., with 1940 Austin car, exper. traveller, collector, had own garage, business 5 years, good refs, any kind employment, perm, or casual, required urgent. Thomson, Box 953H, G.P.O.

[17 May] VACANT pos., all-electric 5-roomed jarrah bungalow, condition as new, 2 minutes Belair rly. stn., 7 miles from city; car taken as part payment if desired. Write Box 953H. for appoint.

[24 May] WANTED urgently, car, any type, reasonable condition, utility would do, £75 to £150, inspect anywhere if full particulars given, spot cash. Thomson. Box 953H. G.P.O, Adelaide.

[28 May] WANTED desperately by ex-A.I.F. man, car, any type, for business, utility will do, can pay cash £75 to £200. Will inspect anywhere city or country, if full particulars given. Thomson. Box 953H, G.P.O., Adelaide.

[28 May] GENTLEMAN. ex-2nd A.I.F.. experienced traveller and collector, recently sold own business, have 1940 Austin car, seeks employment any kind, perm, or casual, good rels., sound financial position. Thomson. Box 953H. G.P.O., Adelaide

[31 May] WANTED, building, suit garage, workshop, city or subs.; pay ingoing or buy plant; urgent. Thomson. Box 953H. G.P.O., Adel.

[31 May] WANTED any make car. reasonable order, utility would do, cash to £150 or take over terms. Inspect anywhere. Full particulars to Thomson, Box 953H. G.P.O., Adelaide.

Jun 1947

[28 Jun] WANTED flat, or anything self-contained, will purchase contents if necessary or take short term basis, req. by 1/8/47 or sooner Thomson, Box 953H, G.P.O.

Jul 1947

[5 Jul] YOUNG man, ex-2^nd A.I.F., experienced traveller, also experienced all sections of motor trade, recently disposed of garage business, own car, seeks position. Consider any type employment. Have good references. P. Thomson, Box 953H, G.P.O. Adelaide.

[22 Jul] FORD 10 h.p. sedan, 1937, new car appearance, 35 miles gallon, good tyres NSPR £155, exchange for car suitable taxi, adjust diff. cash. Thomson, Alta-Mira Cres., Belair, 2 doors from Methodist Church.

[26 Jul] FORD 10 h.p. Prefect, 1937-38 mid, 4-door sedan, camp seat, roomy luggage compartment, in new car condition. NSPR £155. exchange for car suitable taxi and pay cash diff. Thomson, “Robinvale,” Alta-Mira cres, Belair. 2 doors from Methodist Church.

Aug 1947

Sep 1947

Oct 1947

[18 Oct] WANTED 1946 or 1947 sedan, by ex-A.I.F. man for taxi, have permit, urgent. Thomson. 90a Moseley st. Glenelg. Phone X 3239.

Nov 1947

Dec 1947

Here’s a guest post by Cipher Mysteries commenter Pat, who has been hot on the trail of Dorothy Jean Robertson in Trove. There are, of course, many different Dorothy Robertsons out there, but Pat thinks these refer to the Dorothy Jean Robertson who married Carl Webb (the Somerton Man).

So… here we go!

Yet Another Treasure Trove

A while ago I posted some Trove links of a Dorothy Robertson student at Mildura Central school. What follows is the evidence that she is our Dorothy. (I have capitalised the important names)

17 AUGUST 1927 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – GIRL GUIDES

GIRL GUIDES
An enrolment of Brownies of the First Mildura Pack (Church of England) took place at St. Margaret’s Parish hall last, Saturday week, Rev. Canon Horner opening the proceedings with prayer. Miss McWilliams 1 District Commissioner performed the enrolment ceremony, and Miss Gcocissor. (Drov.11 Ov.-ii and the First Meri.eii! Brownies were present.
Mirs Jr.hr.s’.on (Brown Owll and Mirs . Currey ‘Tav.-uy Qv;lk wove emrcVie-tl before- tho children. Tho children linishfu with fairy rings and grand r.alutc. The following children were carolled: Esther Nichols, Doreen Sarah, Eetiv litimmertGn, Irene Ijciich. Doreen Leach, Morle Dowlin, Enid Norman, Wilntit Halpin. Joan Halpia. Vaida Woods, Trixie Robertson and DOROTHY ROBERTSON.

10 DEC 1932 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – MILDURA CENTRAL

During the year, swimming certificates were gained as follow:—Senior swimming: Irvine Corbould, Allan Eagle, John Magnusson. Junior swimming, boys: Graeme Baker, Max Baker, John Carson, Ronald Carter, Irvine Corbould, Alan Blackwood, Robert Davidson, Allan Eagle, Harry Heme, Roy Hunter, John Magnusson, Ray Magnusson, Joseph McGinty, Douglas Noyce, Charles Scarff, Robert Styles, Ronald Stephens, George Risbey, Max Wilson, Keith Wood, Rowland Woodhead. Girls: Ivy Fleming, Ilma Jones, Mary Malloch, Lorna Thomson, Thelma Thornton, DOROTHY ROBERTSON.

15 DEC 1934 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – MILDURA CENTRAL

Grade 8 have satisfactorily completed the year’s work. At the merit certificate examination they were very successful, gaining 13 merits out of a possible 14, and one pupil still pending in mental arithmetic.

The following pupils were successful: Girls: Heather Carter, Mavis Feuton, DOROTHY ROBERTSON, Sylvia Surgey, Gladys Thomson. Boys: Kenneth Adamson, Edward Heaner, Ronald Simmonds, Edward Surgey, Colin Williams, John Young, Keith Dunn, Robert Chamberlain. A penny concert in aid of Junior Red Cross will be held on Monday afternoon.

21 DEC 1934 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – CENTRAL SCHOOL YEAR ENDS

SWIMMING CERTIFICATES
At the conclusion of the penny concert Mrs. Segnit, president of the Mothers’ Club, presented to the boys and girls the Merit Certificates obtained at the recent examination, and also the certificates for Education Department tests in swimming efficiency. Merit certificates.—Girls: Mavis Fenton. Heather Carter, Sylvia Surgey, DOROTHY ROBERTSON, Gladys Thomson.

4 JAN 1939 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – SOCIAL JOTTINGS

Miss DOROTHY ROBERTSON, of Melbourne, is the guest of Mrs. F. Hall, of Orange Avenue.

[Mrs. F. Hall is Florence Olivia Hall (nee Stratford), sister of Alice Robertson (nee Stratford), both daughters of Louisa Wilhelmina Stratford (nee Reither). Florence Olivia’s husband Ernest Clarence Hall died in 1917, hence Mrs. F. Hall.]

31 MARCH 1936 – FAMILY NOTICES

Births, Marriages, and Deaths
IN MEMORIAM.
STRATFORD — In loving memory of our dear mother, Louisa W. Stratford, who passed away on March 31, 1935. Sadly missed.
—Inserted by her loving family.
STRATFORD — ln sad and loving memory of our darling grandma, who passed away on March 31, 1935. Dearly loved and sadly missed.
—Inserted by her loving grandchildren. Trix. Pat and Dig. Hall

[Trix (Floris Jean), Pat (Patricia Doreen) and Dig (Clarence Charles) were the children of Florence Olivia Hall (nee Stratford) and Ernest Clarence Hall]

12 OCTOBER 1938 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – ENGAGEMENT

Engagement
The engagement is announced of Patricia Doreen, youngest daughter of Mrs. F. O. Hall, of Orange Avenue, and the late Mr. E. C. Hall, of St. Arnaud, to John Squire, youngest son of Mr. S. Johnson and the late Mrs. Johnson, of Ballarat.

4 JANUARY 1939 (SUNRAYSIA DAILY, MILDURA) NEW YEAR’S EVE DANCES

SERGEANTS’ MESS DANCE

Miss D. ROBERTSON
(Melbourne), white georgette

22 MARCH 1939 (SUNRAYSIA DAILY, MILDURA) – WOMEN’S AIMS & INTERESTS

The St. Patrick’s dance at Casa Loma was very enjoyable. I met MISS ROBERTSON there, who looked striking with the Romany tan make-up. She may be interviewed at Ramsay’s chemist’s shop, and will put you on the right track for making the most of your personal appearance.

19 APRIL 1939 (SUNRAYSIA DAILY, MILDURA) – DOUBLE WEDDING

Johnson—Hall
There was a floral setting in St. Margaret’s Church of England for the marriage of Patricia Dawn, youngest daughter of Mrs. F. O. Hall, of Orange Avenue, and the late Mr. E. E. Hall, of St. Arnaud, to John Squire, youngest son of Mr. S. Johnson and the late Mrs. Johnson, of Raglan Street, Ballarat.
Canon Horner officiated, and Mrs. A. G. Horner, who presided at the organ, played the “Bridal March” as the bride entered the church with her brother, Mr. Clarence Hall, who gave her away. During the signing of the register, MRS. J. C. ROBERTSON, of Melbourne (aunt of the bride), sang “Mate o’ Mine.”
The gown of French crepe, embroidered in silver, worn by the bride, moulded her slim figure and merged into a semi-train. The draped bodice was caught on the shoulders with silver knots, the long sleeves forming points over the hands. Over a filmy cloud of tulle billowed her exquisitely embroidered veil, which was hold by a halo of orange blossoms. She wore white satin and silver shoes, and carried a bouquet of carnations, gladioli, azaleas, and fern, tied with satin ribbon.
The bridesmades. Miss Trixie Hall (sister of the bride) and Miss Jean Dixon, carried bouquets of charm dahlias and carnations, the toning being reproduced in their frocks in two shades of cyclamen and mauve chiffon, making a delightful foil to the bride’s toilette. Picture hats in the same tonings and silver kid shoes completed their ensembles.
The best man was Mr. Alex. Grant, of Melbourne, and the groomsman Mr. Alex. Johnson, of Ballarat (brother of the bridegroom).
At the reception at the Grand Hotel the bride’s mother received the guests in a smart frock of vintage wool georgette, with gold accessories, and hat en suite. She carried a bouquet of autumn-tinted dahlias and maidenhair fern. Canon Homer presided. The usual toasts were musically honored, and many telegrams read. The honeymoon was spent at Lorne, the bride travelling in an imported frock of teal blue woollen, with small toque of prune felt, and prune accessories. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, who will make their home in Ballarat, were the recipients of many gifts.

{Mrs. J. C. Robertson, nee Alice Stratford)

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/268806209

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/268787718

13 APRIL 1940 (THE AGE, MELBOURNE) – ADVERTISING [this may or may not be her]

MISSING FRIENDS
MISS DOROTHY ROBERTSON, please call at 23 Union-st, Brunswick; Important news

15 MAY 1940 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – SOCIAL NOTES

Mrs. F. O. Hall, or Madden Avenue, left, this week for BALLARAT, where she will be the guest of Mr. and Mrs. J. Johnson.

8 DECEMBER 1920 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – BERRI IMPROVEMENTS

RAMSAY’S CHEMIST

Rumour says that the corner of Wilson Street and Vaughan Terrace will shortly be occupied by two handsome rows of shops. This block has lately changed hands.
Mr. A. M. RAMSAY, CHEMIST, will have possession of his double fronted shop in Vaughan Terrace by Christmas, and is considering extensions.

4 SEPTEMBER 1929 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA)

SAMPLE TINS OF PHOSPHATINE FOOD FREE TO MOTHERS
The following Chemists will be glad to hand you a sample tin of Phosphatine for your Baby:—MILDURA: A. J. Jenkins, H. P. Blackett, P. T. Stone W. It. Weir, A. RAMSEY, J. H. Smith. RED CLIFFS: J. M. Couve, E. J. Dean MERBEIN: G. H. Kendall, S. H. L. Harris. FAILlERES’ PHOSPHATINE Wholesale Agents: Joubert & Joubert Pty. Ltd., Melbourne

5 APRIL 1933 (SUNRAYISIA DAILY, MILDURA) – ADVERTISING

HOT Water Bags.—Moulded rubber, just arrived. Barnet Glass or Dunlop. Price 3/ each.—RAMSEY, CHEMIST, Eighth Street.

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: here’s a guest post [lightly edited to house style] from Melbourne-based Cipher Mysteries commenter Jo, introducing Hickey Taylor to the Somerton Man discussion. Over to you, Jo…)

Stuart Webb recently re-posted “the family photo” on Derek Abbott’s Facebook page, along with a query about one of the people on it: Hickey Taylor.  My first reaction was that “Hickey” and “Taylor” sounded like two old farmers from Camperdown (there are lots of Hickeys and Taylors there…) but commenter Poppins cleverly pointed out that Hickey Taylor was in fact a stage manager and occasional actor for J.C. Williamson’s. So… who was Hickey Taylor?

Henry Herbert “Hickey” Taylor, 1903-1962

Though born in Tasmania, Taylor’s electoral roll enrolment address across several decades is his parents’ home at 56 Surrey Road, South Yarra, right up to his death in 1962, when he was living with his widowed mother, Isabel. He spent long periods away from South Yarra with his work.

Taylor’s AusStage listing has him as being in Adelaide from the late 1940s to late 1950s – however, this was as an actor up until 1947, and then as a stage manager from 1949. If you dig through J.C. Williamson’s programs [he joined the company in 1925], you can also see that he spent long periods in Perth, e.g. as stage manager for “The Girl Friend”.

Perhaps most intriguingly, he was also the stage manager for the Adelaide run of “Under the Counter”(but not the Melbourne run), which ended on 30 November 1948. This, of course, places him in Adelaide at the time of Carl Webb’s death.

It seems that Hickey Taylor may also have been a drag performer, or to use the language of the 1940s, a female impersonator.  The Australian Queer Archives has an interview listing [p.66] (I haven’t yet managed to secure a listening appointment but have contacted them and am trying, hopefully with Poppins).

Taylor worked in his stage manager capacity with some of the most celebrated Southern Hemisphere female impersonators of the time  – e.g. Phil Jay and John Hunter of the Kiwi Revue shows.

As an aside, there have been books (and even Masters theses!) on the soldier female impersonators – theirs was a skilled and well regarded craft. They could also often be a tough bunch. Brent Coutts’ book “Crossing the Lines” is probably the most comprehensive review of the Kiwis.

I viewed Hickey Taylor’s probate document, as well as his hospital death report from the Alfred Hospital at the Public Records Office of Victoria. He died of heart complications – an unexpected death of septicaemia – in 1962.  (I’m still digesting the report and will send my photos to Nick.)  Dr Colin Ernest Seabridge, the Alfred Hospital’s Resident Medical Officer wrote “I find it impossible to state the cause of death.” There are a lot of similar words and phrases to Charlie Webb’s death and inquest documents.

Taylor was known to the hospital, he was “a depressive, with suicidal tendencies”.  He had been “under psychiatric treatment.”

He left his estate to his widowed mother and his brother and sister, this included two houses – 34 and 36 Fawkner Street, South Yarra (worth a small fortune now!)

Connections and Speculations

Was Hickey Taylor the source of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam? (Commenter Em and I believe so!).  We know that it was printed by New Zealand company Whitcombe and Tombs and that an identical copy has never been found.  (Was it a limited army print run?)  I haven’t been able to find Taylor on any New Zealand Immigration and Passenger lists in the 1940s, so I would say if the Rubaiyat came via Hickey Taylor it might well have been via a Kiwi Revue member, such as renowned female impersonator Phil Jay, who played in the same cast as Taylor in “The Girlfriend“.

We know that Charlie was fond of solving Norman McCance’s newspaper bridge problems, but there’s also a picture in the Sydney Sun of Hickey Taylor playing bridge in 1937:

We can hypothesise about the relationship between the two men and also about Carl Webb’s manicure, careful shave, well-developed calf muscles and wedge shaped feet, noted at the time of his death. We could speculate whether this was the end of an affair, an assisted suicide or a case of moving a dying Charlie somewhere where he could be found without linking him to his theatre friends. Perhaps someone else deposited the suitcase at the station? If we think about the laws and climate of the time, an anonymous death makes a certain amount of sense: Victoria only removed the death penalty for sodomy in 1949. It was only between 1975 and 1997 that Australian states and territories gradually repealed their sodomy laws and began gay law reform.

It also appears that Carl may have told his family he was in Cottesloe, working as an electrician, as per the solicitor’s advertisement regarding Gladys May Scott’s will (posted on Derek Abbott’s Facebook page by Lachlan Kelly). Where was Carl between the end of 1946 and November 1948 and what was he doing?

The Tidying-Up-At-The-End Bit

I think the first Cipher Mysteries post I ever read was “On Carl Webb, Truth and Beauty” (5 August 2022) where Nick warned us against “The one true narrative”:

Maybe we can now each spin our own tidy yarn tying together personally preferred loose threads…But… by doing this, I think we’d be dancing around some sinkhole-sized gaps, not in our preferred story (which will always sound nice to our own ears), but in Carl Webb’s actual story.

What was the American connection? Had Webb travelled to America? Did Doff give Webb the Rubaiyat? Did Webb have a replacement partner lined up? Might he actually have been gay, and married Doff to hide his sexuality? What instruments did he make … Did he have a police record?

My own interest here was first sparked when Bromby Street was mentioned: I initially felt sure the Somerton Man case had something to do with signals intelligence (there were at least fourteen different signals intelligence related sites in the local area during World War II). But I think we should now add a relationship with Hickey Taylor to the list of possible narratives to consider. Might the story have more in common with that of poor Alan Turing, needlessly persecuted because of his sexual preference for men?

I suspect this one may have legs (with well-defined calf muscles?).

Finally: thank you John Sanders for initially pointing out that Gerald Keane had travelled to New Zealand – I think that put us on this track, and thank you also Poppins for finding Hickey Taylor.  Punters: keep the commentary “noice” or Aunty Jack will “rip your bloody arms off!” (Sorry Nick, Aunty Jack is an old Australian reference, from before my time here!) And thanks Nick for promoting my comment to a post; it gives a good opportunity for further sleuthing and mature reflection.

Much as I’ve enjoyed looking through old J. C. Williamson programmes and Melbourne bridge columns hunting for Gerald Keane and Carl Webb, I can’t help but wonder if it’s time for a new research angle.

I mean, tracking Dermott Derham ‘Derry’ George (of 13 Wandeen Road, S.E.6, mechanic in 1939 Victoria census) and his wife Rita Mabel (nee Dixon, married 1942 in Victoria, maybe at Hoffman’s Road, Keilor, home duties in 1946 Victoria census, died in Keilor in 1998), and I guess his brother Dermott James George and Olga Burge George (both at 13 Wandeen Road in 1939, and again in 1941) is all very well, but it’s not really much of anything. Oh, and driving in his 746 c.c. M.G.J. in 1935, and his M.G. J4 in 1937 and 1938 and 1938 again for the Light Car Club? Nope, not that gripped, sorry.

So what’s next?

Masonic Registers and Card Indexes, maybe?

This is what I’m thinking might possibly give us a lead on Gerald Keane and/or Carl Webb.

There’s a whole load of Australian Masonic Registers and Card Indexes 1830-1991 now being digitised and prepared for publication on familysearch.org, which is just the kind of thing I like to trawl through just in case. (But it’s not up yet.) Similarly, the Museum of Freemasonry in NSW also has digitised a lot of its Masonic records, though these are not yet available online. Still, you’d have thought the Adelaide Masonic Centre Museum at 254 North Terrace, Adelaide and its Grand Lodge Library (the J. R. Robertson Masonic Memorial Library) might have something like the card indexes each Lodge had, right?

Wrong! Because it turns out that tons (almost literally) of masonic registers and card indexes from South Australia have been lodged (if you’ll excuse the pun) in an Australian archive, including a downloadable finding aid listing all the individual documents – I know because I actually read it a few months back. But… I have since lost my copy of that file and now can’t find it again. Which is unbelievably annoying.

So, can anyone help me find this document again?

Royal Adelaide Hospital

Carl Webb was not a well man. At the time of his death, he had an enlarged spleen (which must surely have been hugely painful), and it appears (from his hair) that he had been exposed to dangerously high (and as yet unexplained) levels of lead some 2-3 weeks before his death. Moreover, it seems likely to me that what killed him was an overdose of heart medication (though whether that was self-inflicted, deliberate, or merely accidental is a quite separate issue).

TL;DR – Carl Webb was not, as the phrase goes, a happy bunny.

Hence, I’ve long wondered whether Webb might have been admitted to (and discharged) from a hospital in the month before his death – and given that he was found on Somerton Beach, I’ve specifically wondered about the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Interestingly, the admissions register for the RAH have been digitised up to 1961, and are accessible up to 31st December 1936. These look like this:

Now, it’s not clear to me when (or to whom) the Admissions Register scans covering November 1948 will/are be accessible. There seems no obvious reason why film # 102936290 isn’t available online, but might it be accessible in person via an LDS Family History Centre? Perhaps someone here will know what the deal is (because I certainly don’t, alas).

Update!

Though Google wasn’t as helpful as normal, I eventually found a copy of the missing document in my mobile phone’s pdf cache. It was SRG 490, “Grand Lodge of Antient, Free & Accepted Masons of Australia”, held at the State Library of South Australia. More to follow when I’ve gone through it properly…

Some Cipher Mysteries commenters have speculated that Gerald (Jerry) Keane’s job at J. C. Williamson’s might have connected him to the run of “Under The Counter” at Adelaide’s Theatre Royal in November 1948. But is there any actual evidence of this? Keane doesn’t appear in the UTC programme, so why should we think this is so?

From Chief Mechanist to Caretaker…

As commenter Poppins pointed out, Jerry Keane was the Chief Mechanist for J. C. Williamson’s 1937/1938 production of Victoria Regina. He was also the Chief Mechanist for the (Melbourne-based) Borovansky ballet when they went on tour in New Zealand in 1944: so I think we can reasonably presume that he was the Chief Mechanist on tour with the two production companies.

Yet at the time of his accidental death in 1960, Keane was working for J. C. Williamson’s “scenery store situated at 47 Richmond Terrace, RICHMOND as a caretaker and a storeman, and his duties were to see that the premises were secure at night and the Firedoor was closed at night” (as deposed by his fellow theatrical employee Edward James Morgan of 1 Kennedy Street, North Richmond). Which, given that he seems to have started as a caretaker in the Camperdown Mechanics Institute back in 1915, would seem to have Fate bringing him full circle back to where he began.

Maybe the Borovansky Ballet?

So, what was Keane’s job at J. C. Williamson’s in late 1948? We also now know that the Borovansky Ballet were popular with Australian audiences and continued touring for many years after: two productions from this time were Terra Australis (1946) and The Black Swan (1949). So it is entirely possible that he continued in his role as Chief Mechanist with the Borovansky Ballet throughout this period.

Interestingly, the NZ national library has a page listing all the ballet programmes it has for 1947, which (as you’d expect) has numerous performances by the Borovansky Ballet. This includes this lovely cover:

The NLA has plenty of photographs for the Borovansky Ballet, of which this one is my favourite (backstage for Swan Lake, 1947, taken by V. Gadsby):

However, the corresponding NZ page for 1948 has no performances at all by the Borovansky Ballet, but many performances by Ballet Rambert in association with J. C. Williamson’s (from May 1948 to June 1948). The NZ page for 1949 has none at all for either ballet company. Yet even though Ballet Rambert performed in Adelaide in November 1948 (i.e. immediately before “Under the Counter”), I saw no sign of Jerry Keane in the programme for their performance there.

Perhaps some intrepid soul will find something similar to J. C. Williamson’s Salary Book 1933-1943 (first mentioned here by one of the many ghosts of Steve Hurwood), but for 1947-1949?

Maybe “Under The Counter”?

It’s entirely possible that someone will find Jerry Keane mentioned in travel records relating to Cicely Courtneidge’s “Under The Counter” production as it finished its mammoth four-year tour in Adelaide in November 1948. So… what happened?

The performances prior to Adelaide had been in Perth, though some performances that were due to happen in Kalgoorlie after that were unfortunately cancelled “because of the coal strike“. I should perhaps note that the Perth “Workers Star” described the (admittedly fairly lightweight) show as “reactionary twaddle“:

CICELY Courtneidge’s show, Under the Counter, in Perth now, is a dirty piece of boosting for blackmarketeers, and squeezes in a few reactionary cracks at the British Labor Government and the Communists. Stooping to this kind of reactionary twaddle won’t get the big theatre magnates anywhere with Aussie audiences. They obviously found the show very boring, it hardly raised a laugh. The night the Star reviewer went His Majesty’s showed so many empty seats the box office must have made a loss on it.

The main body of the company travelled by train from Perth, arriving on Monday 15th November 1948, just a few hours before the performance. Cicely Courtneidge’s accompanist Robert Probst (who later got into hot water for disparaging the quality of Australian orchestras) flew to Adelaide on Saturday 13th November 1948 to rehearse on the Sunday. (Though Cicely Courtneidge herself may have flown on Friday 12th.)

Courtneidge went shopping on the 22nd to buy some pyjamas to take back for her husband (no, I’m not making it up), and after the show’s run had finished, went to stay at a bookmaker’s house on Palm Beach with her main man Thorley Walters. The Sydney Truth gleefully reported:

When Cicely Courtneidge and Thorley Walters left for home during the week, Palm Beach lost two of its most colorful visitors. Cicely used to prance into the surf in a bright yellow brassiere top with bright royal blue trunks and Thorley had a pair of orange trunks which used to glow in the dark. Cicely was forced to put splits in the sides of her shorts as her avoirdupois increased (she admitted putting on a stone and a half in Australia). As the sun sank to rest below the purple hills at Palm Beach Thorley’s trunks became more of an illuminated address and the sight of his luminous posterior bobbing about in the briny is some thing the locals won’t forget for a long time.

Courtneidge flew to Melbourne on 29th November 1948; and later, after a farewell party at Prince’s, she flew to Honolulu on 17th December 1948.

Thanks to Cipher Mysteries commenter Poppins, we now know that Carl Webb’s close relative Gerald Keane was known as Jerry Keane. This was from the souvenir programme for a J. C. Williamson production of “Victoria Regina” that ran from 1937 to 1938 (the file is dated October 1937, but the front cover has the hand-written note “Auckland NZ 1938”). Page 10 has a list of the “Heads of Stage Departments”, one of whom is:

So let’s have a look at Jerry Keane.

Gerald Thomas “Jerry” Keane

Gerald Thomas Keane was born in Ballarat East, Victoria in 1889: in 1915, he married Freda Grace Webb (1896-1964, sister of Carl Webb) in Victoria. There’s a 23 Jan 1915 news report of Gerald and “the Webb sisters” performing in a local concert. This was also the year he lost his job as caretaker of the Camperdown Mechanics Institute, as per this letter of 14 Aug 1915.

It seems that it wasn’t too long before he found employment with J. C. Williamson for, as commenter Francis pointed out, there’s an article from 20 Jul 1940 in the Camperdown Chronicle that says:

Mr. Gerald Keane, son of Mrs. Keane, of [130] Manifold street, who has been on the staff of J. C. Williamson for over twenty years was in Camperdown on Thursday, on a visit to his people. Mr. Keane has had an extended trip with the Russian ballet, visiting Adelaide, and then Brisbane.

Gerald and Freda had three children: Leo Vivian (born in Camperdown in 1915), John Russell (‘Jack’) (born in 1917), and Gwendoline Mary (born 1919). In 1943 (when his son Jack died), the family address was 194 Stewart st, East Brunswick, Victoria: before that, they lived at 226 Glenlyon Road (this was their address on Boxing Day 1940 when they were witnesses for Roy Webb’s Will). As commenter Jo pointed out, Carl Webb appears to have been living with the Keane family at that time (i.e. not long before Carl’s marriage to Dorothy).

In 1944, Gerald (“Jerry”) Keane was reported as winning £10 in a lotto in Launceston:

WHEN certain lottery prizes were announced in Launceston on Tuesday, two very excited people were prima ballerina, Dorothy Stevenson, of the visiting [Borovansky] ballet company, and Jerry Keane, chief mechanist accompanying the ballet. Hear that these two visitors collected £10 each.

The Borovansky ballet company was based in Melbourne, founded in 1939 by Edouard Borovansky and his tall wife Xenia as the “Academy of Russian Ballet above a shop in Elizabeth Street”, whose studios then (from 1940) provided the home for the Melbourne Ballet Club. According to this page:

The year 1944 brought two landmarks for Borovansky: he became a naturalised Australian, and J.C. Williamson’s backed an Australian tour that took his company from Melbourne to Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston, Sydney and Brisbane, and then to New Zealand. From then until 1961 – except for occasional unfortunate breaks – the Borovansky Ballet was a permanent and popular feature of J.C. Williamson’s programming […]

Over the years, highlights of the repertoire included Laurel Martyn’s Sigrid (first presented by Borovansky in 1940), Petrouchka (1951), the complete Sleeping Princess (1952), Massine’s Symphonie Fantastique (1954), Cranko’s Pineapple Poll (1954) and, from Lichine, a full-length Nutcracker (1955) and the specially-commissioned Corrida (1956). Borovansky himself explored Australian themes for three original ballets, Terra Australis (1946), The Black Swan (1949) and The Outlaw, a 1951 retelling of the Ned Kelly saga – proving that Borovansky had become, in his own words, ‘a dinkum bloody Aussie’.

[…] Borovansky’s papers and a striking self-portrait are held in the National Library of Australia.

(PS: ballerina Dorothy Stevenson was the daughter of the Bishop of Grafton. So don’t say I don’t spoil you for interesting historical facts.)

Gerald died in 1960 in Fitzroy, Victoria.

Chief Mechanist

In a touring company (usually ballet or opera, but sometimes musicals and larger productions), the Chief Mechanist (or Head Mechanist) typically reports to the Production Manager, and handles planning, logistics and staff rostering, to ensure that each night’s performance does exactly what it is says in the souvenir programme. Hence Jerry Keane “accompanying the ballet” company on tour as its Chief Mechanist makes perfect sense.

Compared to theatre productions, where Stage Assistants (and sometimes “Mechanical Staff”) typically report to a Stage Director, the role of a Mechanist would involve wrangling not just the stage but also (in modern productions) flying harnesses, animatronics, and all manner of special staging effects. You can therefore think of the Chief Mechanist was kind of a techno-magician behind the scenes, turning a performance into a memorable production.

I had been looking, as you’d expect, for something completely different: but when I found out that “A Takapuna Scandal” starring Hector St Clair was available online, I thought I had to share the link with all you lovely people. Filmed around Auckland in 1927, it’s a mixture of meta-infused modernity, bad puns, and panto pratfalls. But no white ties, definitely no white ties!

Pretty much everyone and their dog now knows about the mysterious white tie (marked “J Keane” or “T Keane”, depending how you interpret the markings on it) found in the Somerton Man’s suitcase in Adelaide’s railway station. And everyone seems to have a theory about that same wretched tie (heaven knows I’ve posted more than enough times on this sorry subject myself).

But just to prove that, like Homer Simpson, I’ve learnt nothing from that whole experience, here’s yet another white tie theory to throw on the same miserable bonfire.

Does the white tie mean that Carl Webb (the Somerton Man) was… a fake Mason?

The Craft Baker

Even though his father, baker Richard August Webb, was a member of Malvern Lodge No. 121, nobody has yet found any evidence suggesting that Carl Webb himself was a Mason.

To be fair, Freemasonry was always (and indeed still is) an older man’s game: a quick glance at the adverts in modern glossy Freemason magazines will likely yield not lifestyle tips but “deathstyle” retirement home chic. So it should be no huge surprise if, as a younger man, Carl Webb had failed to follow his father’s floury footsteps into The Craft.

Of course, I’d like to look at the member list of Malvern Lodge No. 121 just as much as anyone else with half an interest in this whole cold case: but I have a hunch he wasn’t himself a properly paid up Mason.

The Keane Mason?

Were there other Masons in his family? Researchers commenting here have been getting a little excited of late by the connection between Carl Webb’s late brother Roy (d. 1943) and the Gavey family via Roy’s wife.

The Gaveys had some bad ‘uns, for sure: and they also had enduring links to the Masons. (I’ll leave disentangling the two as an exercise for the reader.)

But I wonder… might Carl Webb’s closest practical link to the Masons have actually been via the Keane family? He was certainly close to the Keanes: he was, as Jo pointed out, living with the Keanes prior to getting married. And it was Carl Webb’s family link to Gerald Thomas Keane that famously made the hair on Derek Abbott’s arms verticalise.

It’s therefore entirely possible that Carl Webb’s nephew John Russell Keane was the original owner of the mysterious white tie, even if it wasn’t in the list of possessions returned to his family after his untimely death during the War.

So… was this also a Masonic tie? This isn’t itself a new suggestion, but that’s actually only the first half of what I’m wondering here.

Out Of Sight, Out Of Pocket?

Anyway, if you recall Carl Webb’s timeline, he seems to have disappeared in late 1947, very possibly to become invisible to the wife he was separated from (and who had got a support order served on him at his job at Red Point Tool Co. in April 1947, of which he angrily wanted to avoid paying a penny).

Looking at the suitcase found after his death in December 1948, there’s no affluence to the rag-tag mix of clothes there. Whatever he was doing (and if that turns out to have involved interstate car smuggling, I suspect few would now raise so much as a jaded eyebrow), it doesn’t seem to have been paying well.

Hence, I suspect that during 1948, Carl Webb was both out of sight and out of pocket. And despite having lived in Melbourne all his life, he ended up dead on an Adelaide beach. (Though clothed, not the raw Prahranian.)

So I wonder: while travelling round Australia, doing whatever it was he was doing, might Carl Webb have been passing himself off as a Keane family Mason, visiting from a Melbourne lodge, to scam some Masonic hospitality?

Might he have been passing himself off as his late nephew Jack Russell?