The hot cipher mystery news from Australia a few days ago was the intriguing suggestion that a certain “H. C. Reynolds” might well have been the “Unknown Man” found on Somerton Beach on 1st December 1948(AKA the “Tamam Shud” case). A couple of intrepid Cipher Mysteries readers decided to see what they could find out about this mysterious person: all they had to go on was a US seaman’s ID card dated 28th February 1918, which may or may not be genuine…
Cheryl Bearden & Knox Mix quickly found a number of references to an “H. Reynolds” / “H. C. Reynolds”, and very kindly left comments on the previous post here documenting what they had found. I’d already checked a number of free online databases of passenger / crew manifests without any luck, so guessed they were using ancestry.com, which has scans of quite a few passenger lists. Hence I decided to have a quick look here myself, to see if I could pick up on anything they might have missed: so here’s what I found…
* Manuka: dep. Wellington, arr. Sydney NSW, 19 Nov 1917. H. Reynolds, age 17, Assistant Purser, born Tasmania.
* Manuka: dep. Hobart, arr. Sydney NSW 17 Dec 1917. H. Reynolds, age 17, Assistant Purser, born Tasmania.
* Manuka: dep. Hobart, arr. Sydney NSW, 26 Jan 1918. H. C. Reynolds, age 17, Assistant Purser, born Australia.
* Niagara: dep. Vancouver B.C. via Auckland, arr. Sydney NSW 17 Feb 1918. H. Reynolds, age 18, Assistant Purser, born Hobart.
* Niagara: dep. Vancouver B.C. via Auckland, arr. Sydney NSW 20 Apr 1918. H. Reynolds, age 18, 2nd Mate, born Hobart.
* (Ulimaroa: dep. Hobart, arr Sydney NSW, 22 Nov 1920. H. C. Reynolds, male passenger.)
The RMS (“Royal Mail Service”) Niagara regularly crossed the Pacific Ocean between Vancouver, Sydney, Auckland and Suva (in Fiji) for more than 25 years, making it the furthest-travelled steamship ever. But what, then, of Reynolds’ ID card? What for me seals the deal is a nice blog post I found by Haley Hughes talking about letters her great-grandfather Geo. W. W. B. Hughes sent to her grandfather Noel while travelling on the RMS Niagara back in 1931:-
“The ship departed Sydney on 25 June, with stops in Auckland, departing 30 June; Suva, Figi Islands, departing 3 July; Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, departing 10 July; and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, arriving 16 July, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, arriving 17 July.”
I think this gives us enough broad brushstrokes of how the journey worked to finally tie all the loose ends together!
It seems very likely to me that Reynolds first came on board the RMS Niagara at Suva or Auckland on its way to Sydney (perhaps to replace a sick crew member?). He then continued with the Niagara on its next trip across the Pacific to Vancouver, stopping off in Honolulu for the first time in his life. This was almost certainly where he picked up his US temporary seaman’s identification card, the one that was to become his keepsake of the experience: looking again at his photo in it, I think he looks excited, perhaps even a little exhilarated by the whole experience. Perhaps – if Reynolds was indeed the Unknown Man – this is also where he took to Juicy Fruit chewing gum, possibly as a (arguably slightly unhealthy) memento of Hawaii.
All the same, this was only a brief peak moment for him, for it seems that not long after this he left his life on the sea. Could it be that his experience dealing with the New Zealand gunners on board the RMS Niagara stirred something in him, causing the 18-year-old Reynolds to sign up to fight in the Great War?
Post-WWI, the next glimpse we see of H. C. Reynolds might possibly be as a passenger between Hobart and Sydney in November 1920 on the Ulimaroa… but it’s hard to be sure. It seems entirely possible to me that he still had a family in Hobart: a presumably quite different “H. Reynolds” made a number of trips between Hobart and Sydney early in the new century – might this have been H. Reynolds Sr?
Will all this be enough to track Reynolds down? The problem with ancestry.com (and, in fact, the Internet as a whole) is that it’s easy to fool yourself that records accessible through it are even remotely complete, when they simply are not. The world has many million times more data than that, but you just have to get at them the hard way. Still, as Cheryl and Knox pointed out, it seems that we know that his 18th birthday fell between 27 Jan 1918 and 17 Feb 1918, so I’d like to think we’re doing reasonably well! Next stop, Tasmanian off-line birth records, eh? 😉
PS: ancestry.com.au lists a “Horace Charles Reynolds” born in 1900 to Edwin Reynolds and Mary Ann Matilda Reynolds, with the birth registered at Hobart, Tasmania: and a Reynolds family tree listed there has “Horace Charles Reynolds” born 8 Feb 1900 in Triabunna, Tasmania, but (it is claimed) dying on 16 May 1953 in Hobart. Does this rule out H. C. Reynolds as the Unknown Man, or might there possibly have been two people with the same name? It’s all pretty specific stuff, so perhaps the Anonymous Lady who proposed Reynolds in the first place might know a little bit more to help narrow this down?
Nick, I’m neither Mormon nor FLDS, but have you tried the Family Search engine pages on the Mormon Church’s very good website?
In the not-so-distant past, I have traced back my husband’s families as much as 18 generations to Germany, Netherlands, NJ and NY to a couple of 49ers (around the horn). Fun!
Bobbi: sadly, the familysearch.org website isn’t so hot on Australian records just yet. 🙁 But it’s a great resource for US and UK genealogists, I’m sure! 🙂
Sorry to ask yet more questions… I might be being totally stupid but how did you determine that he was born in Tazmania and not actually Britain? There was a HC Reynolds born in England during the dates relevent to the dates on the card 🙂
Jez: the crew lists all say he was born in “Tasmania” or “Hobart”. I’m still not 100% sure how that squares with his ID card saying “British”, but maybe that will become clear once we find out who he was… 🙂
Regarding being listed as British and born in Tasmania, per the wikipedia article titled “Australian Nationality Law,” it was not until 1949’s enactment of the Citizenship Act of 1948 that people born in Australia were considered “Australian” — “prior to 1949 Australians were British subjects only.” Further, “The idea that there was such a thing as an Australian nationality as distinct from a British one was considered by the High Court of Australia in 1906 to be a ‘novel idea’ to which it was ‘not disposed to give any countenance’.” So I’d say someone born in Tasmania in 1900 would probably call themselves British on official documents?
As an American I’m not sure how that worked on a more… emotional basis, but it’s interesting to me (I believe they still today consider themselves subjects of the Queen? But did being called British on an immigration card mean they called themselves Brits or Aussies to people they met? And so on. Just out of curiosity now and apropos of nothing here. Very different from us Americans and our origins — we basically just celebrated our NOT-Britishness a few days ago 🙂 Nothing personal — I’m a mix bag of European descent, but pretty much English/Welsh/Scottish on one side and part of the other, plus I’m totally addicted to Downton Abbey 😀 )
Anyway, does that answer that part? And apologies if it’s been addressed, there are a few threads on this guy 🙂
According to THE MERCURY (Hobart newspaper) from 18 May 1953 : Horace Charles Reynolds, late of Brookvale, aged 53 died suddenly on May 16 at a private hospital.
Are we assuming there were 2 Horace Charles Reynolds born 1900 in Hobart?
I will try to find an obituary to see if this Horace name was Edwin.
…father s name was Edwin ..is what I wanted to say of course 🙂
This is tangential, but… My great grandfather was named Horace Reynolds. I believe he was born near Sheffield, England. He was a singer and a music teacher. He moved his family to the Calgary area of Alberta, Canada, around 1905 or so. He would have been born around 1875 at a guess, as my grandmother, his daughter, was born in Sheffield around 1900. He took his family to Canada where he taught singing, and sang in a vocal group called the Pacific Quartet… I THINK. I mention it here because one never knows. Horace and Reynolds are not very common names, and not many people of any stripe lived in Canada circa 1905. I know little else about my great grandfather, though a family rumor states that he made the first record in England. I tried to validate this via the Brits, and found nothing. I have forgotten which agency I wrote to. Possibly the British Museum? Leads welcome. Maybe the stories intersect.
The person being listed as dying in 1953 could be explained as the date legally proclaimed dead, no? If he actually died in 1948, some searching, waiting, hope, etc.. could keep him legally “alive” for a few years.
Jessica Ellen Harkness was Jestyn. Her brother married Jim Beaumont’s first cousin. Her husband was Prosper McTaggart Thomson, local car dealer and petty crim. Her son was Robin Thomson, Australian ballet dancer.
Jessica Ellen Harkness has left a lot of questions. Interestingly on Prospers headstone she is named as Jo. She is buried as Jessica some 12 years later in the same cemetery but in the Jewish section. SM had stones left mysteriously at his grave site in the JEwish custom by an unknown woman.
Prosper died in1995 and son Robin appears as Robin on Prospers head stone where Jessica appears as Jo but appears as Rob on Jessica’s head stone. Subtle difference yes but robin appears to have gone by 2 separate surnames, Thomson and McMahon for reason Im yet to understand. Anyone? Apparently Prosper also went by George.
What is it with this family ? Remembering that Jessica lied to police about her surname when initially questioned as Prosper was still married to Queenie……………..?
Theres something deceptive about all these aliases in my opinion.
The dude: errrm… before you get too conspiratorial with all this, wasn’t “Robin McMahon” simply his stage name? There’s a picture of him from 1970 here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24732558
It looks more likely to be his middle name than a stage name as it appears in his funeral notice as Robin McMahon Thomson. Could it be he has a daughter who is currently a dancer of some note?
I have it on good authority and the story checks out that Prosper ‘George’ Thomson had a long term Mistress that lives in Coorong national park. The relationship spanned decades and he even had children with her. They still reside out that way presently. Prosper Thomson also owned a hunting lodge out that way as well. Jessica and Prosper’s life were very separate.
Has anyone seen Robin’s “funeral notice”? If so, could you link it or quote it???
I know this subject is old but I found a
SGT. H.C. Reynolds coming to Australia on the “Asturias” March 1947.
Port of embarkation:Southampton
Port of disembarkation: Sydney 3/06/1947. I haven’t looked anywhere else yet, I found this in the Australian National Archives. It looks like he was alone, (at least there was no one named Reynolds with him) and I havent looked that hard for other records on him. I just recalled reading on this blog that no one could find any ships that a “HC Reynolds” was on as I was looking over incoming passenger Iists for around the time period of the somerton man. Also: PT got into trouble for hiring his cars out, what if someone died while hiring out the car? If it happened to you, what would you do? Normally call the cops, unless you have been in & out of trouble, then you prolly would just dump the body, pick the pockets, etc…
Was Hubert Cyril Reynold accountant from Jolimont and business partner of football legend Tom Fitzmaurice in the Phoenix Hotel co ever considered as HC Reynold?
I find it strange that all those Trove searchers ignored Hubert. Purser on a ship – handles the money. Accountant – takes your money…
Hubert died 3/12/1960
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244378042/hubert-cyril-reynolds
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-673Q-3YK?i=148&cc=1393345&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AJVZQ-P2G
But he should not be counted out as being a football player or sports hero as football hero Tom Fitzmaurice was listed as a bank clerk and hotel proprietor.
It is interesting that Fitzmaurice’s official record says 6′.2″ but newspapers said 6’4″. He had a lot of football stories to tell of cheating and fighting around Footscray and Essendon.
Actually, if Hubert (possibly American) was hanging around Melbourne looking for trade he might have bumped into Mrs Webb when Richard was busy in the bakery putting buns in the oven.
Has Prof. Maciej Henneberg ever apologised for being wrong?
But he may have a point if Hubert was Carl’s real dad.
Again someone also knows HC/Hubert Reynolds and has his record on some archive. My guess North Carolina – some college yearbook.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wgNnaLx6YDc_fp-GN77M7pfhbXoii0qH/view?usp=sharing
David Morgan: holding your breath until Henneberg gets proved right might not be a smart move, no matter how good you are at freediving. 🤔
@NP,
There would be a logic to Hubert Cyril Reynolds being Carl’s dad – based on height and appearance if we are to believe expert anthropologists know their stuff. It might explain the reluctance of SAPOL to confirm Carl as the Somerton Man. If his DNA points to Hubert Cyril Reynolds as his dad.