When “X. Lamb” unexpectedly announced that the “Tamam Shud” Unknown Man was a certain “H. C. Reynolds” (whose merchant seaman’s ID card she had), I’m sure that she was utterly convinced of the truth of what she was claiming, and that she believed it was simply a matter of time before evidence properly supporting it would emerge.
Indeed at first sight, it seemed both to me and others as though it ought to be fairly straightforward to test her claim. After all, we had a very specific data point to work with (admittedly surrounded by a whole load of media and online speculation, most of it unhelpful and distracting) – a name, a face, a date and a place of birth (Hobart, Tasmania).
Eventually, thanks mainly to solid work from Cheryl Bearden, we determined that this “H. C. Reynolds” was born in February 1900 and had the middle name Charles (which he clearly preferred to his as-yet-unknown first name “H[—–]”): and we were able to reconstruct his brief career as a merchant seaman working for the Union Steam Ship Company, the “Southern Octopus”. It was clear that this Reynolds was no fantasy, but a real flesh-and-blood person: and so, in theory, all we had to do was dig up a link between his maritime career and his life on land, and bingo – all his life would be spread before us.
Pursuing this fairly slender reed of a lead yet further, I managed to discover (from his employee records) his exact date of birth (8th February 1900): and, from the ever-useful “Log of Logs”, that ships’ logs for two of the three ships Reynolds worked on could be found in two different Australian archives. Very kindly, both Diane O’Donovan and John Kozak took the time to go and look at these two log books (one each), and found… nothing. Nada. Zero. And that, I strongly suspected at the time, was going to prove the end of the whole affair: for whatever reason, this H. Charles Reynolds seemed doggedly determined to stay just out of our archival reach. It felt hard not to conclude that we’d never be able to convincingly prove or refute X. Lamb’s assertion that he was the Unknown Man found mysteriously dead on Somerton Beach on 1st December 1948.
Frustratingly, it had been reported early on that a similarly-named-but-apparently-quite-different H. C. Reynolds (a “Horace Charles Reynolds”) had been born in Triabunna on Tasmania on 12th February 1900. But once we knew that “our” H. C. Reynolds had been born on a different day in the same month fifty or so miles away in Hobart, this was a fact that became pigeonholds in the ‘curiously coincidental but annoyingly unhelpful‘ category. And anyway, it was also reported that this particular Horace Charles Reynolds had been a poultry farmer, and that (when asked) his family didn’t believe that he had ever gone to Adelaide, let alone gone to sea. Oh well. 🙁
Step forward Debra Fasano: though a little late to the whole H. C. Reynolds party, she carved a path through the fuzz of uncertainty straight to an extremely reliable source – the “Tas BDM” (Tasmanian Births, Deaths, and Marriages) indexes on CD. And the entry she found there turned the whole story round:-
Tasmanian Federation Index 1900-1930 (CD)
Author: Macbeth Genealogical Services
Year: 2006
ISBN: 1920757082Surname: REYNOLDS
Given name: Horace Charles
Event: Birth
Father: Edwin REYNOLDS
Mother: Mary Ann Matilda BAYLEY
Date: 8 Feb 1900
Sex: Male
Place: Davey Street, Hobart
Registration Number: 200
And with that, all the pieces finally start to fall into place. There weren’t two Horace Charles Reynolds-es born in or near Hobart in February 1900: there was, without much doubt, just the one. Debra adds:
“When looking for Horace’s birth I had a good search of the indexes and couldn’t find anyone else with a similar name, initials, or anything else that might be relevant. I am really strict about evidence and I do think that he is the person who was working as a Purser.”
As to when this Horace Charles Reynolds died, there’s a death notice in the Hobart Mercury (18 May 1953), which seems very probably the same man:-
REYNOLDS. -Suddenly, on May 16, 1953, at a private hospital, Hobart, Horace Charles Reynolds, late of Brookvale, New South Wales, aged 53 years. Private cremation.
We knew that our H. C. Reynolds was born in Hobart and got his first job in Hobart: and from this notice, it seems almost undeniable that Hobart was where he died too.
I say “almost”, because there are a few matters that remain half-open, not least of which is the matter of Reynolds’ family apparently denying that the photo was of him. I wonder, though: had someone seen a quite different Horace Reynolds from Wooroloo who died in 1954 (as per The West Australian Monday 15 March 1954 p 30) and put the two stories together? That particular Horace Reynolds was born 10th April 1903, was NX69883 in the 2nd AIF, and was a farmer married to Elizabeth. My guess is that he will turn out to be the “poultry farmer” mentioned very early on, someone quite different to the one we were actually looking for.
The Tasmanian Horace Charles Reynolds appears to have had no children: but if even if didn’t marry, it’s entirely possible that we could trace his immediate family right to the present day and perhaps ask them if we could find a photo of him – after all, 1953 wasn’t really so very long ago, was it?
Debra Fasano notes that Reynolds had two older brothers:
* Oswald Bayley Reynolds (b. ~1891) was a billing clerk who rose to become a senior bank administrator.
* Archibald Henry Reynolds (b. 1895) was (according to the 1930 and 1933 NSW electoral rolls) a clerk living in Carter Road at Brookvale in NSW.
I also noticed in Trove that Mrs Edwin Reynolds stepped down as Treasurer of her local Triabunna town committee in 1898, so it should perhaps come as no great surprise that Horace Charles Reynolds started out as an Assistant Purser, for he came from a veritable family of clerks. (Or do I mean “a fastidity of clerks”? I never can remember collective nouns).
Finally, Debra notes that a “Charles Reynolds” was also living in Carter Road in the 1930s, and working as (you guessed it) a clerk. Given that we know that our H. Charles Reynolds was already signing himself “Charles Reynolds” by 1919, and that the Horace Charles Reynolds who died in 1953 had been living in Brookvale, what are the odds that these are all pieces of the same cussedly consistent jigsaw? If there is a chink somewhere in this logical chain-mail armour, I have to say that I can’t currently see it.
Anyway, I’ve already been told off once this week for a ‘TL;DR’ (“Too Long; Didn’t Read”) post, so I’d better bring this to a close here. Perhaps someone will be able to use these details to ferret out a living relative of the various Reynolds brothers, and perhaps try to dig up a separate photograph of Horace Charles Reynolds to independently test this whole narrative. It would be nice to get proper closure on this, even if it isn’t quite the result some may have hoped for.
By the way, if you do decide to try to trace this all the way to the end, Debra suggests a number of surnames connected with the Reynolds family that may be of assistance:-
LESTER
VALENTINE
SHEA
SPENCER
FLETCHER
DENNE
ROLSTON
PAGE
TATE
MULLANE
LEVY
ALOMES
HARDY OR HARDING
Happy hunting! 😉
He was a yank, who else would Clan Na Gael approach on a windy Chicago street to source bombs repatriated from Wewak, that’s who he was.
I have concocted 62 chapters of a hugely entertaining, thoroughly composed, properly edited, factually complete and entirely fictitious, rendering of all the known facts. In order. A point of pride in the great work.
You blokes like a little fiction in your mysteries, surely.
pete bowes
Women in late pregnancy sometimes went to their parents house and remained a while after the baby was born. This can cause two different but usually nearby placenames to be confused later. Fifty miles by train might not stretch the “nearby” too much. Date of christening, if any, can be confused with date of birth. Family remembrance can be mistaken about date of birth. Why did xlamb’s father have HCR’s ID? I guess it doesn’t matter.
Knox: all true, all true. But perhaps it will all start to make sense once more substantial details of HCR’s life and death start to filter out. Let’s hope!
I have found two HC Reynolds that I believe should be looked at, time does not allow me to, they are:
Harold Culvin Reynolds arrived Sydney 18/6/1952 by air moved to Adelaide Aircraft VH EAE
The following notice appeared in “The Advertiser” (Adelaide) on 12/6/1937 Page 30, “Murray Bridge Scores in Secret & Hold Comp H.C. REYNOLDS”.
This does prove that there were H.C.Reynolds living in Adelaide and might explain how a card turned up there.
Could it be that the person whose photo is on the ID card was only using the name (and date/place of birth) of the “real” H. C. Reynolds, but had been in fact someone else — some teenager who for whatever reason wanted to be a sailor under an assumed name?
That would explain the similarity of the photo ID and the body on the beach.
Scrivener: it could be so, though the odds seem somewhat against it…
78 chapters, it’s getting out of hand
Has anyone ever noticed that the Tamam Shud ‘Code’ contains the following alphabetical sequences?
ABCDE….. G….. !…..LMNOPQRST
The 75 quatrains of the Rubaiyat have these sequences:
ABCD….. F….. HI….. LMNO….. STU….. W
I pose the question as it seemed to me to be most unusual to have 9 alphabetically consecutive letters appear and then a further 5 from a total of 16. The quatrains have a fair degree of match.
Not being a code person per se I wondered whether the great minds of Cipher Mysteries would have an opinion on the above.
An additional aspect to the alphabetic sequences is that we can contrast with, but not draw a conclusion from, a comparison with the Pigeon Code where all 26 letters of the alphabet occur within the first 60 characters of the code when read in columns.
Have you seen the Smithsonian site? there must be more to this then just that ID card.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/08/the-body-on-somerton-beach/
Happy mystery hunting!
Hugh: thanks for the link to the Smithsonian page and the many, many comments. Your original comment here mentioned a (trolled?) comment there that has since been removed, so I edited your comment here accordingly.
Thanks for editing my comment Nick. It goes to show you shouldn’t believe everything you read online. There are sure many, many comments on the Smithsonian site. I noticed the Smithsonian have even shut down the comments section because of the apparent trolling.
I thought I had successfully cracked the code in 2001 after an article by Janet Fyffe-Yeomans. I did write to Gerry Feltus Adelaide CIB with my solution, as well as to Janet. Its an alphabet code based on 5 cyphers, the x separates them in a line on its own.
In 2001, Janet Fyffe-Yeomans published an article in the Australian Magazine called “The Man with No Name” about the 1948 Somerton Beach murder/suicide case.
There is a code attached to this case, one of the legendary uncracked codes of history. Janet didn’t show a photograph of this code, she simply listed the letters. She missed out lines which seemed crossed out, namely MLIAOI and the letter X. This code was discovered under UV light in a copy of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam which belonged to the dead man.
Her listing of the code was as follows:
MRGOABABD
MTBIMPANETP
MLIABOAIAQC
ITTMTSAMSTGAB
I thought I recognized an alphabet substitution code, which I had seen how to break on the ABC’s “Codebreakers.” I numbered the letters above to look for a recurring pattern. It is not a long note to find the pattern, but M occurs at 1 & 21, P at 15 and 20, T at 11 and 36 and 41, I at 23 and 28. This suggests they are using 5 ciphers.
I rearranged all the above letters in 5 columns, each column representing its own individual letter code. Fortunately the top 2 rows of letters add up to 20.
This produces
MRGOA
BABDM
TBIMP
ANETP
MLIAB
OAIAQ
CITTM
TSAMS
TGAB
Next I took Column 1, MBTAMOCTT and allocated all 26 letter possibilities to it. I then did the same with column 2, RABNLAISG producing 676 possible combinations. However there are 9 sets of 5 letters to do comparisons with, so this is not quite as daunting as it seems. I was looking for words that made sense. Most combinations produced gibberish.
After multiple attempts I settled on column 1 M=P (add 3 letters to alphabet) column 2 R= O (minus 3 letters)Column 3 G=R (add 11letters) column 4 O= T (add 5 letters) and column 5 is uncoded(the letters are exactly as written.)
This results in, by substitution: PORTA
EXMIM
WYTRP
DKPYP (X goes in later, as an A))
PITFB
RXTFQ
FFEYM
WPLRS
WDLG
Allowing for abbreviations, letter or even word reversal, and a “looks like” quality where M could be N, W an upside down M, B looks like E, Q like O, and Y like R with the loop closed and a tail.
Then the X, which looks crossed out but isn’t, is put in as a column 1 X=A letter after DKPYP.
Hence my translation : PORT ADELAIDE EXAMINED. MY TRIP (did) PAY (to) DOCK (at )
PA (Port Adelaide) PLEASE FIT EXTRA OFFER. MAKE WAY TO PORT (&) LARGS RESERVE (&) SEMAPHORE, WILL DO LARGS (&) GRANGE.
The decoding of the last 10 letters is my interpretation as an old Adelaide boy, recognising that LR could be Largs Reserve, the only beach with a reserve in my childhood memory. It makes sense in terms of the task of sussing out Adelaide beaches (eg Henley, Somerton) on the day he died. The reason why he was sussing them out we can only speculate about.
Sorry, The Unknown Man is (very probably) not Horace from Tasmania
I came forward with the I.D. for H.C. Reynolds in mid June 2010, and only after its receiving a thorough scientific examination and analysis by World renowned facial comparative expert Maciej Henneberg, were Police informed about the I.D.s existence along with Mr. Hennebergs positive findings. It was not driven by pure speculation on my part, but first put to test, and the science doesn’t lie. There was no ‘announcement’ made until some 18 months had passed and while we waited on a response from Police. Frustrated by the slow pace, it was hoped that by placing an article in the local papers (Adelaide Sunday Mail / reported by Emily Watkins 20/11/11) it might bring forward a family member with additional information and photographic evidence to resolve the matter of H.C. Reynolds true identity. There could be no certainty that the man in the I.D. photo and the name given were the same person, until further proof came to light. Likewise any photo of Tasmanian, Horace C. Reynolds or any of his family members could be used for a comparative analysis but no photo has ever been supplied in order Horace could be eliminated as the man pictured on the I.D..
A more recent lead on H.C. Reynolds is showing very promising results. This researcher would like to maintain their privacy and once his search can be narrowed down to family members and a photo match I’m sure he will be happy to share any good news. But not until everyone is utterly convinced of course. Kind regards Xlamb
XLamb: everyone has their own (usually different) idea about what constitutes evidence and proof, so you have every right to take your own view of whether the evidence I brought together in this post constitutes proof for you.
All I can say is that to my mind, what we found tells an apparently clear story about the birth, life, and death (in 1953) of Horace Charles Reynolds, and I don’t currently see any particularly strong loose ends there to tie up.
But if you uncover something that seems to specifically contradict this narrative, I shall be (as always) all ears. 🙂
Nick
I wasn’t the primary researcher and I take everything on trust. Those that sacrificed their time to troll through records did a magnificent job no question, and I don’t believe anything unearthed during that process is wasted. Only time will tell…perhaps our chaps will collide somewhere in the middle. The biggest stumbling block from the outset was the absence of Christian names as a guide. H. Charles Reynolds spent only a short time at sea and never used the first name Horace. In all we are left with only a snapshot of his early life and not much after. I can say that both our chaps do share the same middle name however. When it comes to evidence I don’t think I’m the only one that feels the need of a photo of either Horace or a family member (for comparisons) to be sure that the man pictured on the I.D. and the name given are the same man. While it’s clear that Horace can not be the Somerton Man (reported to have died years later in 1953) it doesn’t explain the I.D. photo match to the deceased found on the beach in 1948. If the I.D. does indeed belong to Horace, who the !!!! is the guy in the photograph….other than the chap found on the beach. I’m not doubting that you’ve found Horace from Tasmania. Long before Mr. Reynolds I.D. appeared in the paper (subsequently picked up by Cheryl Bearden) Prof. Derek Abbott dismissed the I.D.s significance claiming H.C. Reynolds was Horace born 8th. Feb. 1900, died in 1953 and perhaps done via the same source as Ms. Fasano, but that didn’t explain the science… Maciej Hennebergs positive facial comparison. The latest contender has a first and second name along with other details that correspond with the I.D.. We’re not out to upset anyone. We’re only trying to serve the deceased and to find his family and hoping to find a face that will match. In my view, that would give conclusive proof.
Cheers Xlamb
XLamb: the facial match is indeed an interesting data point, but if a second “H. Charles Reynolds” was born in Tasmania in February 1900, I haven’t yet seen any sign of him – all the archival data points we have so far seem to tie together very neatly.
He’s not from there. No where near it! Apart from that, don’t you think it’s just a little odd that there’s not one photo of Horace or his brother and nothing forthcoming from family members (no Mum and Dad even). And that’s all that’s required to settle it. If someone came across an I.D. card this ancient, in good condition, and just a little bit rare for those times and it turned out to be a relative, remembering also, there is no other photo on the planet , I think I’d be asking for it back.
Perhaps my journey has made me a little cynical, but you sort of get that sneaky feeling that something helpful may have come forward, and it’s tucked away in a draw somewhere, just to make sure it’s never seen…because it’s not going to match the I.D. photo. Of course that’s pure speculation on my part, but geneology is now common place and most families are co-operative, searching family trees etc.. and they want to trace their families, and such old photos are precious; particularly when there are no others. Just seems a bit odd, that’s all. In legal speak, no photos is like with-holding evidence. And on that note you understand that I can’t divulge who the new chap is. It’s better to let any search run its coarse and the less fuss the better. We might find a death certificate yet and that will be the end of it. Meanwhile you give it a shot. Regards Xlamb
XLamb: well… every time that H. Charles Reynolds’ birthplace appears on a crew manifest, it says Hobart or Tasmania. And we found a lot of crew manifests!
Nick,
I’m not questioning the diligence of researchers, I’m only saying I need the visual proof that the man in the I.D. photo is indeed Horace…’right down to the mole on his face’ as the saying goes. It also happens to be true for the gentleman pictured (mole upper lip). There was no information given on the back of the I.D.. No Port of entry filled out, authority not signed. We don’t know that the card wasn’t issued to some other H.C. Reynolds from somewhere else. There were a few other things about this card that didn’t add up to my mind. I expected the glue holding the photo in place would be brittle due to age, yet I couldn’t budge the photo loose. Also on first glance the chap appeared to have a dimple/clef chin, yet upon Mr. Hennebergs’ inspection this was found to be only a mark on the photo. Perhaps by accident, but to me it seemed a mark was strategically placed to give that impression. A clef chin is a distinguishing feature that might rule someone out immediately in a line up. While we now know more about Horace from Tasmania, we don’t know about the chap in the photo other than he matches to the chap found on the beach in 1948. As evidence of another H.C. Reynolds has emerged it needs to be followed up in the same way Horace was. Thanks Xlamb
XLamb I feel that you are on the right path now and you have very good perception as to what is going on now. The photo in the ID card without a doubt matches the beautiful caring man in question. Not so sure about the name!. Perhaps the card was tampered with?.. Someone your father knew all those years ago!. Best wishes from me and my son in South Africa. It’s great to have him back and be reunited after all these years.
The following is a link to Births, Deaths & Marriges in Tasmania in which you can apply for a Death Certificate.
http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/bdm/deaths/applyforcertificate
Nick,
You’ve also overlooked, that the reason Mr. Reynolds I.D. was raised in connection to the Somerton Man case was due to the positive I.D. photo comparison to the deceased, and that became the basis of Emily Watkins report… which you in turn took up on your pages to research. Thus the facial match is more than just “an interesting data point” as you assert; it underpins the very reason the I.D. came to your attention. Photos are placed on I.D.s for a reason. Whether it’s 1918 or today, the practice of photo I.D.s has continued. It’s one of the few wise inventions from the past, that’s stuck around (though people still commit fraud etc.).
The photo IS the evidence, “not my idea of it”. That you’ve made up your mind and shared your opinion of me in the process, is one thing, but to say that the matter of Mr. Reynolds I.D. has been resolved/concluded on your say so, is quite another. If we can put aside all the hocus pocus, codes and story making/marketing…our objective has always been to serve the deceased, do our best in resolving identity and to find his family, and that process continues privately (not everything happens via the Internet). It’s something I though your followers should know. Best wishes… Xlamb
XLamb: you say “That you’ve made up your mind and shared your opinion of me in the process, is one thing, but to say that the matter of Mr. Reynolds I.D. has been resolved/concluded on your say so, is quite another.”
I have shared no opinion of you, other than that I think you were (and are) utterly convinced of the Reynolds connection.
What I *have* shared is my research, freely and openly. The brief history at sea of the merchant seaman H Charles Reynolds has yielded us 50+ data-points, culled from numerous archives spread across the world, leading us all the way from his birth to his death (in 1953).
By way of comparison, so far you have only one data point – a photo similarity. Please let me know when you are ready to share more data from your search.
I have a theory when it comes to this case. What if for example relatives of the man found on Somerton Beach had been cashing his pension or forged his signature on house titles to sell property. They really do want to name him but they are scared of the consequences of the actions they have done. Just a thought. I wonder if the police would come to some sort of arrangement. It could have been a struggling single mother for example with no other form of income.
Elise
In 1950s Australia, there were a negligible number of struggling single mothers of the sort you imagine. A woman who had a child, but was not married, routinely had the child taken from her at birth. Adoptees would be called in before she delivered the child, in order to ‘give them both’ a chance of a ‘good life’. In some very, very rare cases, a member of the family might adopt the child, but generally not. Otherwise, you had widows, on war pensions, or deserted wives who were eventually classed as ‘widows’ too and given a pension. But in the main, women remained close to their wider family, and it would take an entire family’s collusion to embezzle another person’s inheritance by pretending they were dead, or hushing up a death.
The only pre-1970 single mother I ever met had to leave Australia, go to England and study while serving as live-in maid to pay for her digs, and maintaining a second job to pay for food. She survived; so did the child, but such hardship was then, as now, incompatible with a nurturing environment.
That’s really interesting Dianne. What I am trying to establish is what if someone came forward and put their hands up and said I know who the man is he is my grandfather and his name is “*” “*”. The police will go OK! Show us some photos! And if they could the case would be solved. The police would then want to know about his life etc and where he lived. They would see his house was sold etc. I’m trying to say that perhaps (just a scenario) a daughter could have sold his house. And other relatives have been claiming pensions and dividends. So yes they would be colluding. If that was the case could the police strike a deal. Or everyone is going to have to wait a long time to find out his name once they all pass.
Elise
The thing that puzzles me is that his feet had been deformed by habitually wearing shoes with pointed toes. I can’t think of many professions for men apart from the cavalry where a man might wear shoes like that every day. Women, yes. A chap in drag, might, I suppose. Men working on ships wore fairly hefty lace-up boots I think.
But his feet make me wonder if he wasn’t another kind of refugee. The likeness to H.C. Reynolds might be due to more distant kinship, of which the posited fake, the Somerton Man, might have been well aware. It’s those feet which have to be explained, I think.
Nick,
It’s not my research, so it’s not my call (re-sharing data points). This is also a criminal matter and Police are informed. My father is required to explain how he came to have the I.D..
According to you he has no case to answer, nor do you require any further proof e.g. a photo of Horace or, in the absence of one, a photo of his brother, parents or anyone else to establish beyond any doubt, that Horace is the man pictured on the I.D.. Rather than my being ‘utterly convinced’, I put my faith in the Expert analysis of Mr. Henneberg (you can look up his credentials). I sent the I.D. to him because he’s the expert in that field, and I am not. The photo may be only one ‘data point’ as you say, but it’s Mr. Hennebergs opinion that would be required in a Court of Law, not mine. I acted in the belief I had a duty to make enquiries about the owner of the I.D. owing to other incidences (involving my father and others) I witnessed as a child from late 50s on, and you are aware of the other matters still pending.
You also know that I’ve been targeted by ‘Trolls’ (Internet Terrorists I think is a label more fitting) and I’ve no wish to deal with any more of these imposters who like to take up my time… just for kicks. While your motive and intentions were genuine in setting out to research Horace, there are many that show disregard and a lack of respect towards the people involved in the Somerton man case. I’ve seen what been said and done to their families (decedents). If information goes ‘on-line’… real people, totally innocent of any wrongdoing can have their lives over-run by curious strangers and I wouldn’t want that. I hope you can understand. Regards Xlamb
XLamb: all I’ve done is (a) look at openly accessible historical sources and archives and (b) be completely transparent about what I’ve found. If there’s stuff I’ve missed and should have a look at, please let me know.
As far as Internet trolls go, I try to act with respect and equanimity at all times, no matter how hard they rattle my cage. But this can be a hard path to follow. 🙁
Diane
Sounds like he had Dystonia by the description you have just given. It’s a hereditary condition that is also passed on through families. I doubt he wore high heel shoes (but you never know). I doubt he was a refugee he was most likely “working” hence why his labels were removed from his clothes.
That’s a really good theory Elise. I just looked up that condition and it fits with the description of his feet. I am aware he had very muscular calves of the legs. A condition that causes this is Muscular Dystrophy, there are many variants of this disorder.
Also was thinking about the lack of teeth. It’s handy because I have a Doctor in the house!. This could have been caused by multiple births and the rubella virus infection during the embryonic phase. Basically he was exposed to the Rubella Virus when his mother was carrying him. Or he has a twin brother or sister! or both!!!
Magnificent Carol always good to have a Doctor in the house. I am a firm believer that medicine and diagnostics offers reasonable explanations to disorders of the human body. Some things like Phycosis for example are easy to detect in the way people write and conduct themselves online. But hidden illnesses are much harder to detect when they are not visible. I have looked at the code over and over again in the back of the book and he doesn’t look troubled by the way he is writing. Perhaps drunk or under the influence of some poison. Poor thing. So terrible heartbreaking and awfully sad.
Yes Nick…You’re pretty much the only forum that took up Mr. Reynolds I.D., and along with others, did the hard yards. But as you can appreciate, it’s a Public forum and the subject deserves some sensitivity if you’re poking into peoples lives, and there’s no control over what ‘the idiots and mischief makers’ do after the information goes up. I’m not a voyeur in this, I’m having to live out the consequences of speaking up about a parents criminal past. It’s a very different thing than running a blog from a distant place where you’re not being placed constantly at risk. Having a crime writer name me in her book only added to my dilemma, and she (the author) sees no need to apologise, nor has she offered any assistance re-finding H.C. Reynolds or in resolving SMs case. For many SM is just fodder for the imagination, a story etc., an item for sale.
You might recall that the first email I ever sent was to you. I only took up use of the Internet so I could fit the technology and communicate with others as necessary, and I followed your progress in researching Horace along with every one else. I’m really pleased that you did it and I still think that finding out the true identity of SM will clear up most of the scuttlebutt surrounding the case. When I first came forward with the I.D. I thought everyone would be really pleased. I believed certain people in particular wanted to solve it; at least that’s what they all said. Prof. Abbott was most unkind and condescending when we first spoke however (and the next time). In the dumbness and spirit of ‘thinking I’m helping’ I hadn’t realised that Prof. Abbott had invested so much time and effort working towards an exhumation of SM for a D.N.A. experiment, and that the last thing he’d want is an I.D. with a photo matching the deseased turning up to ruin it. Your research at least told me something about Horace Charles Reynolds who died in 1953, and I’m not questioning the research. As it stands we still don’t have confirmation of SMs identity, but you have given H.C. Reynolds publicity and that process has put him out there for others to search out. And that’s what’s happened! Someone found another H.C. Reynolds and we should all be happy that finding Horace is not the end of it after all. Cheers Xlamb
Elise
Perhaps the code in the book was a message to his family members. I think personally it was a code which represented deposits in banks and vaults. References to share holdings, stocks and bonds. If this was the case I am sure the people closest to him would understand exactly what his short hand and references are.
Carol.. You do need to bare in mind he did strike out a line in the back of the book. Could it mean that the particular asset had already been cashed or accounted for. Perhaps someone robbed him of this asset and that’s how he met his demise. It would be wonderful if his wife was still around who knows the tale. He could of had a much younger wife and in all sense and purposes could be alive right now. Just a thought!
Does anyone know if the glue has been tested on the I.D Card. This would give an indication as to what type of glue was used to seal the photo to the card and a rough time frame/era. If it was a more modern glue from a different era that stated on the I.D then it would suggest tampering etc.
Elise..
I received you lovely email on facebook but I am unable to respond?. I dont think it has been translated into English. He was names a “Righteous Gentile” for his heroic acts. He wrote his memoirs which were published shortly before he died– I think they were published in Polish and German as well.
In fact, when they found each other. (It was 39 years after they parted). He was married and had three children whom he’d raised in Poland behind the Iron Curtain. They met 13-15 times (mostly she visiting him) although I am unclear to the content of these meetings. Perhaps he wrote about them in his memoirs?. She had a stroke last year and is unable to move, although her mind is still in order. They both have exchanged many letters over the last year.
I have not gone in to some much detail as I am uncertain as to what he has already told you. — although the major facts of their escape (stealing the SS Officer’s Uniform; walking home for ten days; being turned away by his mother) are all true.
Thankyou so much for you message at the bottom of my heart. — I hope this is helpful! She has some descendants whom I met in Washington. — they can probably be tracked down for further information.
Carol
http://i39.tinypic.com/263y3ki.png
This chap looks like a contender for the man in the ID Card?. Thoughts please!
Great picture Elise. I agree about the testing of the glue on the identification card. Perhaps a second opinion is needed. When people are sick for example they always seek a second opinion in the matter. A second analysis would be appropriate in this case from someone who has no prior knowledge of the case. It would then clear up any doubts.
Carol/Elise: every single one of the 50+ pieces of evidence we have points to the young man on the id card being the Horace Charles Reynolds born in Hobart in 1900 as identified in this research, and who died in Hobart in 1953 (not mysteriously on or near Somerton Beach in 1948)
Unless anyone has any actual evidence to the contrary (or a really good suggestion as to where to look for such evidence), I’m kind of tapped out on this line of enquiry. 😉
Nick
I think you were correct in your initial assessment – it was probably all about love. It is, in every way,a form of madness which leads people to abandon even their principles and to behave in ways of which – when they sober up 18months later – they might well be ashamed if not meanwhile quite brainwashed.
I think the Somerton Man’s behaviour from arrival to departure was very likely out of his usual pattern, and he may have deliberately tried to do such foolish things as tell no-one where he was going or why.
Using a book of poetry in a way so deep and meaningful would suggest so. I’d look for records of abandoned wives, if I were you, and interested in the subject.
Have now had some sleep after an 11-hour, 22-episodes, marathon of ‘Big Bang’ tv. series.
The previous comment came out as pure SheldonCooper-ese.
But I do think you were probably right.
Example:
There is a TV series called The Americans about Russian spies in 1980s Washington DC. a fair bit of it’s character drama comes from the fact the two main characters were assigned to each other and made to maintain a fake marriage (sort of “fake” ….it’s complicated) for 18 years.
Something similar happened in Israel.
In 1952, Shin Bet agents were sent undercover to spy inside Palestinian villages. Keeping their real identities secret, they married Arab women, with whom they had children.
When the unit was dismantled, Shin Beth was faced with a dilemma: To leave the women and children in the Arab villages, or ask them to convert to Judaism, and raise their children as Jews? The agents themselves refused to leave their families, which is why it was decided resettle the families into Jewish areas. The wives were brought to France, where they were finally told the truth.
Most of the families chose to return to Israel, with the wives and children converting to Judaism, and began a slow recuperation process.
“Once they returned, problems started surfacing” Moriah recalls painfully. “We tried to rehabilitate the people, but we weren’t really successful. The agents’ kids experienced serious trauma in their childhood. They tried to recover, to forget their past, where they come from, but they couldn’t.
“A few of the kids succeeded in life, but most of them were left behind. They still suffer from problems.”
“Carol/Elise: every single one of the 50+ pieces of evidence we have points to the young man on the id card being the Horace Charles Reynolds born in Hobart in 1900 as identified in this research, and who died in Hobart in 1953 (not mysteriously on or near Somerton Beach in 1948)”
I agree with you Nick. I agree with the research as well. The chap in the ID card is the one you identified. He is NOT the man that was found on Somerton Beach in 1948.
Nick / Elise: Sounds like you’re both utterly convinced that the I. D. belonged to Tasmanian, Horace Charles Reynolds (died 1953) and not the man found on the beach in 1948. If that’s your conviction it’s fine with me, but it shouldn’t bother you so much if another researcher, independent to your group, has found records of an entirely different H.C. Reynolds that more likely fits that of the deceased found on the beach. As you say, the deceased can’t be Horace, so lets just see who else (other than Horace) H.C. Reynolds might be. Our only aim is to serve the deceased, hopefully identify him and find his family and it’s the latter that might provide a photo match and explain more of his life, and death. Horace’s family have not filled the gaps (how his I.D. ended up in South Australia) nor supplied photographic evidence for I.D. confirmation. I prefer to examine all the evidence, and that must include what was revealed from investigators original examinations. SM was well groomed and well dressed. The coat he wore was thought to have been tailored and purchased in America, not said to be old and ill fitting (second hand/tags removed) thus a more recent purchase perhaps. The dry cleaning tags pointed to English origins and there were airmail envelopes in his suitcase also. We only have the evidence gathered from the day (the years 48/49) and so far those facts combine with the information given on the I.D.. Our ‘new lead’ can also offer a logical explanation. He fits the I.D. details and the ‘known facts’ applied to the deceased, and looks to be an entirely different chap (not Horace Reynolds), so there’s no reason to be divided over the issue of identity. We just want to be certain we have the right H.C. Reynolds and currently in a process, no different to your own, in ‘making sure’. When it comes to the truth of SMs identity, we all want the same thing surely. Kind regard Xlamb
I agree with what the previous readers have mentioned earlier in this forum. It would be a really good idea if the ID card that Xtreme Lamb ‘claims’ is the Somerton Man is sent for examination by someone who has no prior knowledge of the case. Also excellent suggestion in regards to the glue.
Best Wishes John
XLamb: I too found a second H C Reynolds – born 1903, served in the Army, died 1956. In fact, I found quite a few H C Reynolds. But as far as I can see, none of the other HCRs ties up with the ID card even remotely.
As always, if you find specific evidence, please let me know and I’ll have a look. 🙂
The ID card in the name of ‘H C Reynolds’ is not of the man that was found on Somerton Beach in 1948. I have a personal interest in this case and at this stage I am going to sit back and watch for now. If I need to seek advice and assistance I will email Nick privately. Good luck Xtreme Lamb with your quest ‘To serve the dead’. Carol
Nick,
Prof. Derek Abbott dismissed the I.D. long before the Sunday mail ran their article and interview with Maciej Henneberg in relation to the photo match to the deceased. Prof. Abbott had previously claimed the I.D. belonged to the Tasmanian named Horace Reynolds who died 1953, so your findings were not new to me. There was no comparative photo of Horace (nor a parent or sibling) offered as supportive evidence however, and nothing has changed on that count since. I was also told that either one or some of the researches that brought the I.D. matter to your attention some time later, had been part of Prof. Abbotts ‘on line’ discussion group (since disbanded). Is it possible that you’ve merely served the purpose of rehashing the original research and findings on Horace, where the outcome was already known. You’re the only one that can sort out the truth in that instance, but if you’ve been used as a messenger for others, you’d be entitled to feel a little ticked off.
Regarding the testing of glue, I think it’s better left to the experts. The owner of the I.D. could have refixed the photo themselves up to any date prior to 1948 (or 1953 if you rather). Apart from that it was under cellophane in a photo album and remained untouched for 43 years (up until June 10th. 2010). I don’t know what happened to the I.D. in between.
I believe an independent assessment has been sought.
I thought everyone would be pleased about this promising new lead, but considering the reaction, it would be better if I’d said nothing at all. Obviously I won’t be sharing anything else. Regards Xlamb
XLamb: as you know, I found (or helped find) numerous new documents in a whole range of unusual and little-known archives, and followed the primary evidence as far as it could be taken over a period of many months.
But please feel free to do a better job, I really don’t mind. 🙂
Operation Mincemeat: There are too many unanswered questions for this to be a mystery.. How was the poison administered if it was poison? Today we could exhume the body and test the DNA. Was the man too close to Woomera?
Nick,
You know I could never do a better job!
I’ve always had to rely on the good will and skills of others when it comes to researching, and I do appreciate all the time and effort you’ve given to this.
Police are informed and it is their job to sort this out after all. A test of waters shows that the sharks are still about and I recon you can do without the baggage SM brings. Your other pursuits look far more rewarding with a different crowd. All the best with unravelling Voynich and various other cipher mysteries.
Thanks for everything and cheerio…Xlamb
Hi Xtreme Lamb. You say that you found the ID card in a mysterious photo album that belonged to your family. I have been very fortunate enough to have found your family tree online (there is also a book) in the State Library of South Australia that your Grandmother, Aunt & Cousin compiled. Your Paternal Grandfather Hurtle Horan comes across as an interesting character!. Turns out everyone he owned a Hotel in Darwin during the war. Perhaps the Somerton Man drank in his hotel! There are numerous references to him on Trove!. At the end of the day you say the ‘deceased need to be served’ and every lead must be followed up!. Best Wishes John
There is also another book which is really interesting and full of photos.
The eager soldier : an Australian journalist’s account of his life and the Great War / [Theodore Willard Wright] ; compiled by Laurel Kathleen McIntyre and Barbara Adams ; edited by Heather Eaton
The Wright family are Xtreme Lamb’s grandmother Laurel Mcintyre’s branch. Perhaps this book as well can provide clues to the origin of the ID card.
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3788771
Best Wishes John
Both books can be ordered by contacting the publisher on:
PO Box 7339, West Lakes SA 5021
They are a treat because they have pictures of everyone in them with the complete family tree.
Best Wishes John
Well done John!.
At the end of the day every avenue needs to be explored and looked at. I have found Articles relating to Hurtle Horan on Trove and I’m compiling some starters. I will gladly share anything I find. I have found the McIntyre tree and I’ve found the Horan tree. Just messaged someone and waiting response. Possible surnames I have so far are: McIntyre, Horan,Wright, Adams,Hamilton-Smith, Eaton. I’m seeing if any of these link back to a ‘Reynolds’.
I have more
… and more to come.
What gets me most about this story is that in 1949, a nurse’s giving a chap a book as innocuous as the Rubayat raises doubt about her ‘virtue’. Mean women are ‘good’ women, it would seem, even now.
There was a case that was linked to the Somerton Man it involved a chap called Keith Mangnosen. His wife Roma’s maiden name was McIntyre. I have just found the tree John is referring to on Ancestry, I found the tree on Mundia as well. I see that X.Lamb’s maiden name was McIntyre as well. Ruth Collins (Ruth McIntyre). Her father Allan Maxwell McIntyre is on the tree as well along with his parents Laurel Kathleen Wright and James Duncan McIntyre. I also see that Allan Maxwell McIntyre’s sister Barbara Rae Adams (Barbara McIntyre) is the mother of Martin Hamilton Smith the South Australia MP and former Liberal Party Leader. Perhaps it would be a good idea to contact these other sources to gain additional information on this ‘Mystery ID Card’. Allan Maxwell McIntyre has even written an article online and his telephone number is listed at the end. He surely would be the one to provide accurate information on the ID Card and the ‘Claims’ surrounding it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Hamilton-Smith
An intriguing case isn’t it?
Thank you for commenting John!
This man dies not too long after the end of the second World War and would have been a teenager/ young adult through the first. He was described as “British” but could have been from nearly any European country or even America, right? Perhaps he was a war criminal – or spy. Why would he carry any information on him to identify him as someone other than who he portrayed himself to be? Perhaps all of his tags had been cut out by himself to prevent others from learning his true country of origin rather than whomever murdered him taking the efforts to do so to prevent identifcation (as others noted his teeth and finger prints were in tact). If he was a spy, what are the odd of the country who sent him to claim him afterwards? Is it possible he was a German posing as a Brit? If he in fact had experience as a seaman, what did the Nazi Naval boot look like? Could they have caused the calve muscles and toes to look as they did? The I.D. issued was just a picture and the info was all handwritten. So easily could have been a fake. So if it is a fake, is he just a “smart criminal” who has ties to the blackmarket and underworld or someone he could have bribed, or was he an agent with the capabilities and resources to produce false identification?
Now on to the “mystery woman”. I am not familiar with how popular the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was at the time in South Australia, but I had never even heard of it before that I can recall. To have 3 different copies possibly linked and she is the common denominator blows my mind. She is a nurse for the Royal Northshore Hospital in Sydney. Could she not have been the spy herself? Is there any connection between she and the brother of Chief Minister of Singapore? Was there anything ever found to be inscribed in his version? What is the meaning of the verse she wrote in the book she gave Alfred Boxall? Or was that actually a code for something else? When trying to figure the letters in the mystery man’s copy one of the things I thought was it could be the first letters to another verse , perhaps in his native language? I also thought since her telephone number was in the back those letters may be some sort of directions or a “to do” list. Was it common practice to keep your phone number unlisted? When she was asked to i.d. the cast of the corpse, her demeanor lead police to think she actually did recognize him, and they referred to her as “Mrs. Thompson”. From what I’ve read, this has never been her name (or maybe I am wrong) but she does seem to have alot of aliases. On wiki, it lists a possibly connected case, where a woman believed her family was being harassed because her husband tried to identify the deceased as Carl Thompsen. Has it been proven that this man wasn’t Thompsen and she went expecting to see Boxall was shocked when it was another of her lovers (possibly baby daddy???) As a nurse, would she maybe know what kind of poison to use to get away with murder? Even if she didn’t do it, it still bothers me that she absolutely knew more than she was willing to tell.
There are just too many questions I have…
I’m 100% that the Somerton Man’s family are commenting on these forums. But it’s their place to step up when they feel ready.
Marg
John/Elise:
This is the exactly the sort of predatory behaviour we’re wanting to spare the family connected to the new Reynolds lead. Protect them from people like yourself trolling through their personal lives with an aim to cause them distress. Look all you want for links to the name Reynolds amongst my extended family, but you’ll have to go down every branch. I’m unaware of any link. Maybe you can find one. Also confine your search to the adults from that 48/49 timeframe. The first grandchild was born in early 1949 and myself, siblings and any other cousins etc. came later, thus can hardly be involved in something that took place in 1948. So keep it real and in context with the subject matter (SM), otherwise your motives become questionable. And I hardly need to be told the details of my own family John. When it comes to my paternal Grandfather Hurtle Horan, I barely knew him. He died in 1967. My most vivid memory of him is from the months following my Mothers death (30/12/1966), said to be natural causes age 34. On that occasion Hurtle was despondent and distressed over the sudden and unexplained death of his daughter (never investigated). Then he died latter months 1967. Perhaps you can tell me how he died. As children our father gave us a variety of conflicting explanations, but the truth surrounding his death is still unknown to me. I was unaware he had a Hotel, only that he owned a men’s hairdressing shop in Darwin and was an S.P. Bookmaker. That SM drank in his Hotel is fanciful thinking on your part. Hurtle continued as a men’s hairdresser and S.P. Bookmaker once he came to Adelaide. He had horse stables etc. and was involved in the racing industry to my knowledge. If there’s some connection to SM there, I really wouldn’t know. Perhaps you’ll make something up. Pete Bowes seems to be good at weaving stories. I’d rather stick to the truth.
My paternal Grandmother Laurel was an Order of Australia and Queen Eliz. Jubilee Medal recipient, and from the 60s on devoted her time to Genealogy, gathering up hers and her husbands family tree and teaching others these skills. She volunteered her time to assisting women into Local Government in order they’d eventually have a voice in Parliament. She had a voluntary role in a number of organisations. I doubt readers really care about such things, but you’ve raised these matters, named these people for some reason. Xlamb
John
Your spiel regarding “some mysterious family photo album” is rubbish. My first sighting of the I.D was when I was a child. My father took it out from under his bedroom floor boards (family home), and threw it into the wardrobe he and my Mother shared. After her death in ;66′ I grabbed a large biscuit tin (Hudson’s) filled with black and white photos, letters etc. dating back to 1944. The tin had come from that same wardrobe and the I.D. was in the tin, but it meant nothing to me then. I was about 12 years old. I kept the biscuit tin hidden and once I had a job I bought 2 photo albums and placed the pictures inside. I put the I.D. amongst photos of some other people I didn’t know and had no-one to ask, and that’s where it sat for 43 years until 10th. June 2010 when something triggered my memory in what my father had told myself and sister as children. It’s what he said combined with the background of other things I’d witnessed as a child, that had me send the I.D. off to Maciej Henneberg for examination. Police were later informed about the I.D. and Maciej’s positive comparative findings. This happened months before Gerry Feltus published his book ‘The Unknown Man’ and before I knew anything of Prof. Derek Abbott and his push for SMs exhumation to run a D.N.A. experiment. I knew barely anything about the Somerton Man Mystery. I hadn’t realise there were other vested interests. I’d already been to Police in relation to other criminal matters concerning my father and his associates and I believed I was doing the right thing by following up the I.D.. I only learnt more about SM once I took up Internet use in 2011. Xlamb
Rather than stalk family members why aren’t you asking South Australia’s Major Crime Unit what they’re doing about this. And speaking of Police, you might want to duck down to the Sth. Aust. Police Museum. You’ll see that there’s a large picture of the ‘Smiths’ family side (my Uncle, minus the Hamilton) circa 1950, hanging on the wall in one room, while the Somerton Mans’ plaster cast sits under glass in another room close by. You might need to be quick in case it’s now removed. It did feel a bit wierd visiting the Police museum a few years ago to view SMs cast and encountering the Policeman/relative in the other room, and knowing I’d found this I.D. card in my fathers things. That doesn’t mean my Uncle (not blood related) has any involvement in the events of 1948. He was very close to my father however ; married to his sister then. They were all young. My Uncle and other Police would sometimes visit our home in uniform for a chat and a cup of tea, but that’s more late 50s and 60s timeframe. Obviously it would be much easier for everyone, if my father just told Police how he came to have possession of the I.D. and be done with it.
When we came forward to Police regarding our fathers past crimes and our abuse as children my Aunt instructed other family members not to speak to us, and they all then threw their support behind our father…not us! We were cast out of the family for speaking up.
I guess that means they’re not my family any more. As witnesses to serious past crimes we felt we only had one choice, and that was to tell the truth. It seems our extended family (those living) would rather serve themselves than the victims though. Family vanity perhaps.
Non-the-less I’d prefer you didn’t make a mockery of those honourable family members, particularly those that gave their lives serving their country. Theodore Wright was killed WW1 in 1917, so it’s hardly relevant to SM. My paternal Grandfather (James) also served at Tobruk, Middle East and New Guinea. These things are quite separate to the events of 1948 or anything else myself and siblings witnessed in the late 50s, 60s, and 70s. If you have any relevant information, just say so. Otherwise you’re pretending to know something when you know nothing. Nothing that can move the case of SMs identity forward anyway. Every criminal…every victim has a family. If they could trust they’d be treated with kindness and respect, more might feel inclined to speak up. Instead they fear being pillared or blamed and your giving readers a perfect example in how it’s done. Xlamb
This blog perhaps could make people understand the circumstances surrounding the ID card. It is written by a girl called Nova.
I wont repeat on here what Nova is saying about ‘Lambs’ husband. But if you click on the link you can find out!.
Xtreme lamb you say that this ID card was found in the floorboards of your fathers home. Firstly modern houses like the one in Edwardstown (that I think you are referring to) had concrete foundations. And why would there be exposed floorboards in your fathers bedroom when all the bedrooms had fitted carpets. Finally you say you placed the ID card in this tin. What were the measurements of the tin? The ID was quite large and they never made the tins you are referring to as large as the ID card. The Card would have had to have been folded in half etc.
Another things is why does your story change on every blog you contribute to?
Yamete
Marg,
If it’s the Somerton Mans family commenting on this site it’s pretty indecent of them to name me seeing I’ve stuck my neck out in order to resolve a mess they could have sorted out decades ago.
Nick,
Thanks for nothing! I thought you’d know better than to put myself and family at risk!
Xlamb
Xlamb, with respect – we have a name. It is T Keane. He just cannot be found. Some folks have suggested that the Kean (e) name labels on the singlet, tie and laundry bag in the suitcase belonging to the Somerton Man belonged to another. That they were second hand.
This is hardly believable, the Somerton Man was found wearing a very nice jacket, labels carefully removed at some earlier date. Possibly American, possibly bought in circumstances such as this:
http://tomsbytwo.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/the-jacket-with-labels-removed/
(apologies for the plug, but let’s get on with the real game)
This sort of fellow doesn’t wear another man’s singlet.
Great summary Annie!
I think he is German as well. When they carried out his autopsy they found a scar on his arm. German soldiers had their blood types tattooed into their arms during the war. It was done so if somebody needed blood a donor could be identified faster. The scar could have been as a result of having the tattoo removed. 🙂
Isn’t it time all these abuse claims were taken to Police. Xlamb
Yamete Kudasai,
The blog you directed readers to was put up some time ago as part of a campaign to discredit us, but more about that later.
The I.D. is a bit larger than the size of todays drivers licence. I still have the biscuit tin to submit as evidence. It measures 8, 1/2″ by 9″ across and 4, 3/4″ deep (Hudson’s Chocolate Fingers). Also inside the tin was a Cheque Book. Chq. No. A 162061 was paid on 24 March 1954 as deposit on land at Edwardstown for 100 pounds. Our father built the house himself soon after. It was built on raft footings (not slab) and had wooden polished floor boards and a few scattered rugs. The ‘wet areas’ were concrete. There was no carpet in the early days I’m referring to. Some rooms were later carpeted, but not sure how many. The house changed with our fathers second family and after I’d left. I wouldn’t call a house built in the 50s ‘modern’ . Xlamb
Pete,
With respect…I don’t hold the same fascination for the subject of the Somerton Man as you obviously do, and I don’t wish to take part in this banter to promote your blog, theories etc.. Yesterday “The Cargo Master” TombsbyTwo was sent to my email address, yet I’d made no request or subscription. I’ve no wish to intrude into the lives of ‘Jestyn’ or her relatives and I find the SM obsession a bit creepy. I will therefore repeat my position on SM. It’s very simple. Myself and siblings went to Police in relation to other matters we witness of our fathers activities in late 50s, 60s. and 70s. It’s due to that background information that I sent the I.D. to Maciej Henneberg for examination in mid 2010. We hope to find the family of the man pictured on the I.D. in order we can confirm his identity…or not. I’ll also add that my father would refer to ‘Kean’ as ‘the tragic actor’. He may have been referring to SM or perhaps Edmond Kean made famous for such roles in those times (Ted Kean) but he often spoke in riddles so I really wouldn’t know. Perhaps you do, and you have all the answers. You only need to find Keans’ family and a photo to match the deceased to prove it, much like I’m doing. Others are researching the new lead for H.C. Reynolds, not me.
A young man who came to me last year stating he was a blood relative of the Thomson family had a different slant on the name Kean (e). This chap James also supplied a D.N.A. test as proof he and I shared the same father. He put the details of our connection up on the SM Smithsonian Site. The next day he changed his mind, demanded they remove the information and blamed the whole fiasco on “trolls”. He also demanded I return his D.N.A. test results which I did. I really can’t be bothered with all the nonsense associated with the case.
Pete..You say “Lets get on with the real game” . I suspect that’s all SM represents to you. When it comes to the deceased, Mr. Feltus can sell his book, Prof. Abbott can dig him up and you can run your blog. I don’t care! Just leave the I.D. for the other researchers to sort out, and if you believe you know SMs identity take the information to Police. That’s what I did! Xlamb
Hi Xlamb.. I didn’t realise your name was Ruth. For some reason I thought you were someone else. Please disregard my initial comment I thought ‘Xlamb’ was another person.. Carol
Hi Elise.. That’s a very logical explanation for the scar on him arm. And I would go along with the German theory. There is a wonderful group on facebook called ‘German Genealogy’. I joined yesterday.
Hi Pete.. I am really loving your chapter’s on the story. Beautiful, imaginative and well written. Good luck with everything.
Carol
I don’t understand how you can say for certain that the man in the picture isn’t the Somerton Man? Wouldn’t it be fairly easy for the picture to be of someone other than H.C. Reynolds? Especially if any of the many theories surrounding the case involving espionage hold any water. I just don’t think you can rule out the picture being SM when you have no photographic evidence proving that is in fact a picture of Reynolds, and there’s an expert out there saying they’re positive it IS a picture of SM.
Carol,
Which initial comment was that ! The one that says he matches the man found on the beach or the one where you state he’s not. Or do you refer to where you say you’ve been reunited with your son in South Africa. You seemed to know exactly who you were addressing then, but now you say you didn’t. Just who did you think I was then Carol.
Regarding the German relative, I’ve heard it all before. If the deceased is a family relative you’d have solid evidence to back it up. Why not just show everyone your proof and be done with it. Xlamb
Xlamb – Hey there I am Natalia and I am 20 years old. I lived and have grown up in Adelaide.
My interest mostly lies in the missing children cases, and the Beaumont Case inparticaulr that you have alleged your father was involved in.
I do not believe that you made your story up and to those pinpointing inconsistencies – honestly after this much time and trauma I would probably expect a few inconsistencies!!
I want to let you know I am not researching this to publicly persecute anyone. I just want to know the truth, for the families, for the other children who dissapeard and for the generation of young children (like yourself) who during that period who could have been exposed to similar things.
I know this sound inexpliably strange but I feel as if have a ‘connection’ with the case of the Beaumont Children (Haha, sorry to sound like a loony) and for years (and yes seriously years ask my friends) now they never been far from the back of my mind.
I realize this will seem very forward, but I would really like to talk to you about your family and your childhood growing up.
I have been trying to find a way to contact you since I first read your blog. Not to obsess over you or post what you have said all over the net or anything like that but simply to be able to listen to what you have to say and hear an account of what used to go on from a first-person perspective. I care about what happened to you and to others all those years ago! You do not deserve to have your story, which was obviously hard to relive swept under the rug… and I am still utterly dissapointed (understatement!!) at the treatment of yourself by SAPOL.
I hope that this short message conveys how much I would appreciate some of your time and that I am geniunley interested in what you have to say for the right reasons.
I 100% appreciate the need for discretion & privacy in this sensitive matter if you chose to contact me. You can email me on [email protected] if you so choose.
I hope to hear back from you one of these days 🙂
Best regards,
Natalia
Xlamb, and you think that I don’t do any research .. ! Books need that, and when it sells it will cost you $us about 5.00. Maybe I’ll sell 200.
And it’s not about me.
Thanks Carol, very much
Sarah,
Yes…I don’t know why I’m continually having to defend the I.D. photos comparative facial match to SM. Prof. Abbott and Maciej Henneberg work from the same premises at Adelaide University. Abbotts field is Electrical/Electronic Engineering, while Mr. Henneberg is “Wood Jones Professor of Anthropological and Comparative Anatomy”. If anyone wants to argue his findings, they should take it up with him. I’m happy to leave it with the experts and the science. Prof. Abbotts interest in SM has brought media and public attention to a cold case that might have otherwise been overlooked and forgotten, and continues to lobby the Attorney General for SMs exhumation. Retired Detective Gerry Feltus brought all the factual information from past investigations together in his book ‘The Unknown Man’ and researchers continue their work behind the scenes. Everyone’s doing a splendid job and bringing their expertise in a variety of skills to resolve the case. I don’t understand why anyone would have objections to a new piece of evidence emerging and being put to the test. It’s not a competition. It’s about getting to the truth and I hope others will eventually realise this. Thanks Xlamb
Lamby/Ruth
Looks like your ready to take the next step. It looks like it is time!.
Andy
Pete,
I’ve no problem with your blog/novel and I hope it does well. It’s just that we serve a different purpose. Myself and siblings act as witnesses in other serious criminal matters and these take priority to SM. The I.D. only emerged as a consequence, and at the tail end of these other matters. I was born mid 1955 so I’m not a witness to the events of 1948. In a Court of Law I can only submit the evidence, the I.D. etc. and repeat my fathers ramblings, puzzles and stories in connection. I can hardly add “and Pete say blah blah” , thus whatever others speculate or bring to this case is irrelevant to my role in any prosecution. That doesn’t diminish anything you’ve contributed via your blog and I realise you’ve research SMs case thoroughly. Your explanation for SMs overdeveloped calf muscles is the most logical I’ve seen, but you don’t need me to approve or validate your own hard work. You put all the effort in and you’re writing a fictional crime novel incorporating well researched material, but I can’t confuse what others say with my own individual account. You don’t need me as a springboard to argue your case for ‘Kean’ or anything else, and due to the other matters I’m dealing with, you’d be better to address the others on line. I’m not competing with anyone and I really need to attend to these other cases. Everything’s fine Pete ! Xlamb
Hello Natalia,
If my recall is correct I think you became a member of my blog, and if so, thanks for the past support. I would have wanted to contacted you back then but I was still trying to learn Internet protocol etc. and still very new to it all. As you know I took my bogs down due to harassment and threats. It’s what often happens to victims/witnesses that speak up, and might also explains why many of these puzzling cold cases remain unsolved. To date, the bullies have been winning. I will contact you some time soon and we can have a chat later perhaps. Myself and siblings are soon to give evidence in the National Royal Commission Abuse/Institutional Response so I’m busy at present getting things organised. I was also involved in the State Wards Inquiry (removal of the “1982 Statute of Limitations”) so I’ve quite alot to gather up for others as well, and it’s all very time consuming. I think it’s terribly important that young people like yourself take an interest in this States past. There are multiple crimes involving children(murdered/missing) and they’re a big part of Adelaide’s History that won’t be taught in schools. Those involved at the time or that assisted in ‘covering up’ would rather these crimes were forgotten obviously. It’s your generation that inherit all the mess of the past and these cases have been neglected…shut down for reasons we hope to expose. Change only comes by Public demand and todays youth have been left an awful lot to sort out. Like that song “Waiting for the World to Change”…only I don’t think you can’t always wait for others to bring change about. And I think we’re all tired of Police inaction and excuses when it comes to a fresh investigation and an Inquest for the Beaumont children. These Departments (Coroner/Police etc.) exist to serve that purpose, so what are they afraid of. I’m glad you made contact Natalia and you’ll hear from me soon. Cheers Xlamb
Natalia,
There’s a new Facebook page that was brought to my attention only recently wwwfacebook.com “Beaumont Children Jane, Arnna and Grant still missing since 1966” that might be of interest to you.
The Mullighan Report (State Wards Inquiry South Australia) should also prove helpful in understanding the plight of abuse victims. Although ‘Terms of Reference’ were designed to excluded those children reported missing like 1966 Beaumonts, 1973 Oval abductions etc.. Commissioner Ted Mullighan (since deceased) did hear matters outside those Terms. He referred our matter to Adelaide Major Crime after Det. Swan refused investigation, and part of a very long story unfolds after.
The Somerton Man, the I.D. card for H.C. Reynolds, my fathers puzzles and stories popped up unexpectedly only as a by-product to my recall, in order to bring forward evidence and my witness accounts for both children reported missing and those from the Homes.
Another site which will come to make sense to all South Australians in time, and I believe (for some cases) will form links and shed light on a few unsolved murders/missing persons, can be found on the site Networked Knowledge…Miscarriages of Justice. Dr. Bob Moles and Bibi Sangha have tirelessly volunteered their time working with others to bring reform to our Criminal Appeals Laws. The C.C.R.C. (Criminal Cases Review Commission) has now been passed into Legislation and this will help to unravel many mistakes made from the past. There’s a lot happening in the background. S.A.s past has created a bit of a ‘butterfly affect’ in my opinion, whereas when one thing is out of step, other things tend to flow on and in the wrong direction and away from the truth. There’s quite a lot to fix and it’s a slow process, but it’s your generation that should reap the benefits. Some people are drawn to certain things and if you’ve an interest in such areas you might seek to incorporate this into your future career/profession. Despite what society learns from it’s past mistakes (let’s ensure it never happens again is often said) bad things will continue if wicked people aren’t kept in check. Xlamb
Espionage : It would most likely not be the Russians. They would not bring attention to a listening post.
.It could be the C. I.A . They are like the cat that puts a dead bird on your doorstep for you to clean up.
.It could be the British MI5 with their licence to kill and 007 stuff.
Why is the Australian labor party blocking Derek Abbott’s search for the idenity of the Somerton man?
In the lead up to Christmas my father was interviewed by Police. He only had to say that the person named as H.C. Reynolds on the I.D. was Horace Charles from Tasmania, and he could remove himself from suspicion and any involvement in SMs death (because an academic backed by researchers say SM is not H.C.Reynolds, as he died in 1953). If Cipher mystery researchers and Prof. Abbott are convinced beyond any need for a comparative photo of Horace as proof, surely it would suit my father to act in agreement.
He could also explain away his having the I.D. with any story he wanted, as there’s no-one alive that could dispute what he says. When even the ‘accused’ says it’s not Horace…am I the only one to find that result a bit odd ? Xlamb
The article’s title says no, but the contents say yes – I’m confused about why any of this is evidence against the SM being H.C. Reynolds – just the “other” one, not the poultry guy.
Andy,
I don’t know what “next step” you’re referring to Andy. So far it’s been like a long slow walk to the gallows for me. This business is big, ugly and corrupt, and SM may just be a smaller piece to a larger problem that developed over decades because no-one stopped it then, and nothing much has changed since. My experience acts as testimony and shows that current Police don’t want the Public to know the truth about the past. You and I do things differently though. I believe it’s important to stay within the Law, even though we might both know it doesn’t work, and that ‘being good’ and waiting patiently for Police to act, hasn’t helped so far.
I removed my Crosslamb blogs because the nature and manner of approach from some respondents was frightening and I’d also received threats. I’ve recently been sent unwelcome subscriptions to “Anal Mag” with all their vile pornography. Also a cartoon with my name on it, signed by “Jestyn”. It shows a sheep being lead off to have it’s throat cut while other masked sheep look on. I take it seriously, done in response to my taking part on this site. Being named now serves as the welcome mat to my door, and it was irresponsible. I forwarded the cartoon off to Nick so he and others could see what was goes on, so the bullies and cowards can be exposed.
This is Nicks site not mine, so you should share your ideas with him now. Xlamb
Everyone…Just for the record Police have known where to ‘dig’ for a very long time now. They’ve been advised via Stat. Decs. and a Lawyer. We’ve done everything ‘by the book’. They didn’t even bother to give a response ! This horrid business could have been resolved for those parents years ago, but it’s the Police that decide such things, not us. In the end it doesn’t matter what Government Departments say…It’s what they do. The Police, the Attorney General, the Coroners Office…They don’t give a toss about these kids or SM. They just employ/pay for good PR. Departments, Media etc. to spread the word “that they really do care”, but this can not be true. Their priority is to always serve themselves and their Departments first, not the Public, certainly not dead kiddies or the unknown dead from ’48’. I’m angry about our treatment and their inaction and it’s why I took to the Internet. The Public/the Parents are entitled to know the truth. Collectively we all pay their wages, and it’s not in order to be lied to.
Xlamb
Hi Carol,Good to see you here. I read your story in the facebook group last night. The original police report was very vague and at times clashed with the media stories. Same thing counts for the H C Reynolds saga. Is there any way you can get the watch back from your relative?. Given its never been worn that much it should be tested for DNA. See you later on facebook. R xxx
‘Xlamb’ is taking over yet another forum by going off topic. *YAWNS*
Xlamb, thanks. Where was your man in October 1946?
JESSICA ELLEN HARKNESS was Jestyn
PROSPER MCTAGGART THOMSON was Prestige Johnson
THOMAS LAWSON HARKNESS was Jestyn’s brother
He married CLARICE ISOBEL BEAUMONT
CLARICE BEAUMONT WAS JIM BEAUMONT’S COUSIN
the baby was ROBIN THOMSON, a ballet dancer
Thomas Lawson Harkness (Brother of Jestyn) married to Jim Beaumont’s cousin Clarice. Possible suspect in Oval Abductions and Beaumont Children cases.
http://postimg.org/image/gdx7uf6yr/
New group on facebook:
South Australia Beaumont Children missing since Australia Day 1966
I see that Kerry Greenwood is releasing a series of books. The next a book on the Beaumont Children. Will be a very interesting read!
Rachel, Wake up !
The site owner decides what goes up on line. This one was designed to explore the origins of H.C. Reynolds I.D. and as I’ve been named in discussion I’ve responded. I’ve only recently contributed, but you’d rather I didn’t. Why ? Other than this blog I’ve been on the Smithsonian/Past Imperfect.
I don’t intend to trim or dumb it down for the sleep deprived. If you’re tired, get some sleep ! As I’ve now been named why don’t you say who you are and your connection to the case. Xlamb
I can’t see any paternal link between CrossLamb’s McIntyre family and Roma Mangnoson nee McIntyre. Roma’s father was Stanley Stewart McIntyre, his father was John McIntyre, as was his. On the other side, Alan Maxwell McIntyre’s father was James Duncan McKenzie McIntyre, whose father was James William McIntyre, whose father was Duncan McIntyre.
I would say this is simply a case of two and two making five.
I dont need to wake up thankyou Ruth. And I don’t need to get some sleep either. Your the one that looks like needs some sleep judging by the times you post. Name myself what are you deluding about now? I am just a reader nothing else. And regards to naming yourself, everyone knows your name it was announced well over a year ago in an online group, wikipedia and a book. You even named yourself on the Smithsonian. I have contacted a wikipedia rep,time to do a piece ‘your claims’ the police letter that is circulating all over the net from the police saying your father is completely innocent can go alongside the wikipedia story. Get some sleep xtremelamb!!!!! Lol
Exactly Michelas!
Thanks for clarifying that Michelas.
Jestyn was Jewish? She is buried in the Jewish section of Centennial Park. Is that why rocks were left on SM’s grave? Dear Lamb, I have read some disturbing things about your dear mum at Parkside- can you explain if there is any Jestyn connection or whether your family has any link to Roma Mangnoson née McIntyre as has been claimed by previous poster?
Also where have the Police been advised to dig? Do you know anything about the Satin Man claims or anything of Harry Phipps OAM?
Rachel,
In any ongoing murder case a suspect can be interviewed a number of times during investigations and as each new piece of evidence comes to light. As example…. our father has since been interviewed in relation to Mr. Reynolds I.D. , and this case also remains open.
I did not name myself on the Smithsonian site, others named my family as I recall. I’d rather my father were not put at risk by his/my naming while Police do their job. From the outset we though that our father would simply confess to the role he played and thus he needed a degree of protection. Even those accused of crime need to feel safe in order to gain courage speak up.
I have always followed the rules/law in that regard.
Although you’ve not named yourself to readers, you’ve posed comments under several names in order to discredit us, but thankyou for sharing your motive for all to see. Xlamb
Michelas,
I’ve had wonderful times visiting Scotland (relatives). I’ve explored our family’s history and visited the famous sites/castles. When it comes to “Clans” it’s a bit like “Adam and Eve” really. Depends on how far you want to go back.
xlamb
Redacta,
It’s the other contributors to the Smithsonian site that stated ‘Jestyn’ was a Nurse and worked at Parkside during the 60s. I’ve not searched for or sighted any Hospital records (employment or otherwise) to substantiate those claims. Others have researched ‘Jestyns’ family, not me.
I managed to obtain my Mothers case records via ‘Freedom of Information’ in 1994. It was only then that I learnt that her death was deemed ‘Natural Causes’ at age 34 and the circumstances.
Last year I was sent the Mangnoson case Coroners Report, witness statements etc… anonymously (and thanks whoever you are). This is when I first learnt that my family’s surname was the same as Roma’s Maiden name. Roma was 15 when she had her son. She, her husband and son lived in her Mothers’ house (with the Mother). These records have been supressed for 64 years and it’s not my place to divulge the contents or pass judgement. I was not born till 1955 and I have no recollection of interacting with this family.
My father had spoken to me about the ‘boy in the bag’ and ‘the man with no son’ but I had no idea (as a child) what he was referring to at the time. I now suspect this was Man-g-no-son. My father may have simply discussed what he’d read in the Papers or what he knew via his brother-in-law who was a Policeman back then. My father liked to combine stories with puzzles. Neither Mangnoson nor ours was a common Surname name back then, and possibly why it got his attention. I really don’t know. I can’t provide answers to the things I wasn’t a witness to. Sorry !..Xlamb
Didn’t you comment on another website that you had information about your mother’s death at Parkside which would be relevant to the Somerton Man case? Isn’t it true that your father took out a restraining order against your brother, and that your half brother supported your father, in the matter of McIntyre v McIntyre in the Supreme Court of South Australia? Isn’t it true that the Judge in that case, and on appeal, referred to allegations made against your father as ‘bizarre’?
Why are you so coy about Jessica Ellen Harkness when you are prepared to publicly defame your own father as a paedophile? Although you have never mentioned his name you have enabled others to identify him and the South Australian Police can find no evidence to corroborate your wicked lies.
Michelas
To read such things is distressing for me. It’s not the sort of thing I’m used to reading at ciphermysteries.
Redacta,
According to authors/researchers Alan Whiticker and Stuart Mullins, in Chapter 15 of their book ‘The Satin Man’ the children in the boot had their faces heavily made-up like marionette dolls…and ‘the woman (me) is after her fathers estate’.
‘The Beaumont children as marionette dolls’ is not what I said on the Crime Investigations Australia documentary (and the DVD is proof), non-the less they’ve used what I stated of the youngest girl having her hair chopped up and make-up on and looking like she was ‘in costume’ …like a toy soldier, and they turned the scene for these children’s ordeals into a mockery. It’s unforgivable. They also say that I’m after my fathers estate, which is absolute non-sense.This would have to be the lowest of acts. Dirty tricks to knock out some perceived competition, and sour grapes over Mr. Whitikers interview ‘cut short’. So who here is important ! Once again it’s more about egos…not these kids. Even dumb logic would say that if my father had anything and I wanted it, I’d hardly be exposing his criminal past to Police while he’s still alive; but it’s what his Defence Lawyer might say when they have no other defence. They’ll also say you’re crazy…it’s the standard treatment towards abuse victims, but where’s the logic and their evidence. They would also know that ‘Fox’ decides what goes up, not Graham McNeice…but they never bothered to do the research. Not with any of the C.I.A. team anyway, not Det. Mike Hagan, myself or siblings.
Mr. Whiticker and Mr. Mullins seem to know everything so there’s no point in asking me about Mr. Phipps. I was not present when the children died. Our witness accounts (myself / brother) comes later, after they arrive at our home in the boot. Other than myself and 2 siblings (and kids in boot) there were at least 7 other men present that day. A man and woman in a car, also drove past slowly. Other things happened. No-one came up and introduced themselves to me as Mr. Phipps. I’ve continually stated that the children were covered in sand and this could tie with claims regarding ‘the sand pit’ at the factory. The proximity of the factory to our house and the time lines for travel, body collection etc. already furnished with Police would fit also. They were moved twice that I know of, but I don’t intend to say where to, on line. You’re kidding surely. I don’t know your motives or intentions (you don’t even have a real name). Police are informed. I hope the Commissioners for the Nat. Royal Commissioners will act.
Note…..Saturday 24/8/2013…Adelaide Advertiser…Journalist Nigel Hunt; article reports that Major Crime Detectives state Harry Phipps is not a suspect. The allegations had been investigated and discounted. It’s best to read the article yourselves and make up your own minds. Really I’m done with this. Xlamb
Michelas,
Re- ‘Jestyn’…Why ask me to elabotaye on the speculation and hearsay from others, for someone I don’t even know.
Re- naming…I think it’s obvious I have no say in what others put on line, and that would included you. It’s all getting a bit stale. It’s certainly deviated from Mr. Reynolds I.D. in discussion and that’s the purpose for cipher mysteries followers and this blog. Xlamb
Michelas,
As I recall our father put an A.V.O. on my brother back in 2008 to ‘shut him up’. This was 2 years before I rediscovered Mr. Reynolds I.D. and sent it off to Mr. Henneberg for examination, so your not doing our father any favours by it’s mention. I expect this is the same Court Transcript that Mr. Whiticker and Mr. Mullins were sent, and refer to in their ‘Satin Man’ book.
In order to remove the gag placed on my brother he defended the A.V.O. (at great cost) via the Courts. When our 1/2 brother mentioned ‘body disposals’ during questioning, the Magistrate ordered my sister and I to give our own evidence under oath. The trial resulted with the Magistrate finding there were no grounds for the A.V.O., and it was subsequently removed. The High Court and the Supreme Court agreed with the Magistrate. Thus our brother won…3 times. With the A.V.O. and ‘gag’ removed it allowed our brother to furnish Police with his statements; his individual witness accounts and abuse claims.
I think most people find the cases of Adelaide’s missing children bizarre.
As part of giving evidence all 3 of us underwent psychiatric assessments and were deemed neither delusional nor to be concocting a story. We also offered ourselves to undergo lie detector tests, and that offer’s still stands.
While it’s generous of you to support our father, it might help him more if you could have him say how he came to have Mr. Reynolds I.D.. That should help him concerning his connection to the case… and it might resolve the mystery. Xlamb
Xlamb, you talk in riddles. If you took the time to write down your chronology of events from start to finish, drop the conspiracy theories and provide some evidence about your claims then you might be marginally more credible.
Diane – that’s life.
Ruth, in reference to your mother and Glenside:
“My Mothers early and unexplained death was too easily dismissed and seemed to be covered up. I was only able to access her Hospital Records in 1994 due to a softening to ‘Freedom of Information’ Laws. But there’s more …and this will connect back to the Thomson Family, but I’d like to get permission to disclose the link first.”
Please explain what this means.
If your father is guilty and conducted body disposals in such an open environment (children present, many persons) then why can the Police find no evidence with which to lay charges?
Furthermore, the court transcripts do not say what you imply. All of your allegations against your father appear to have been redacted, and the basis on which the AVO was denied was that your brother didn’t pose a significant threat to your father’s safety, not that he was guilty of body disposals. I’m not saying you’re necessarily wrong, I’m inviting you to PROVE what you are saying. You are all over the internet posting half-stories and little tidbits of information, always promising more but delivering little. Mean what you say and say what you mean. Explain everything you know and let the world decide, or stop commenting.
Michelas,
Whose life are you?
Can anyone provide info about Jessie Harkness and her criminal husband?
What does any of this have to do with the Somerton Man and H C Reynolds?. Nick has an amazing site and it seems the comments section have been taken over by subjects that are not relevant. Could it be possible please to those concerned to swap email addresses and continue their discussions in private.
🙂 Elise 🙂
I agree with the comment Elise has just made. If people have issues with Ruth Collins or anything that is not relevant to the two topics which are the Somerton Man/H C Reynolds please discuss them in private or find a forum which best represents your issues. Nick Pelling is highly respected and the comments which are appearing on his wonderful site are disrespectful to him and his hard work.
It’s important to analyse Xlamb’s bona fides to ascertain whether the HC Reynolds link is nonsense or has any veracity whatsoever.
Also, let’s see photos of Jessie Harkness and try to discover whether her name has any bearing on the code.
Carol has spoken my thoughts too.
Michelas: respectfully, I have to disagree. Even though the “H. C. Reynolds” ID card research lead turned out to be particularly hard to pursue, I’m quite satisfied that we’ve now followed it through from start to finish.
And given that I don’t currently know of a single piece of historical evidence that suggests Reynolds was the Unknown Man, I don’t see what the point now is of checking XLamb’s bona fides etc.
…unless you happen to know something I don’t?
Fine then, but what about Jessie Ellen Harkness? She remains the elephant in the room. Has ANYONE investigated her more fully?
Michelas: many people have looked (myself included), but Jestyn’s story is indeed one that has yet to be told properly.
My understanding is that Gerry Feltus did a large amount of research that he didn’t feel comfortable including in his book. I don’t know when he thinks the right time to release that information would be. Perhaps it would be worth asking him…
Here’s the thing though: a cursory examination of Ruth Collins and her extraordinary claims would have discounted the HC Reynolds ID virtually immediately.
The only real avenue of exploration open to researchers is the character of Jestyn. Feltus is obviously sticking to one of these old fashioned Adelaide gentlemen’s agreements by not disclosing what evidence he does have – the same sort of agreement that scuppered the investigation the first time around. Why don’t you do a piece using the information you have to hand? The answer is tantalisingly close. Jessie Ellen Harkness is the key to the riddle.
Michelas
One person’s riddle is another person’s private life. Who is harmed if the man is not identified? Surely during the past six decades, most who might have cared are gone.
A
Why bother with this website then
Minstrel Janet: exactly. Who is harmed if the man is identified? He is who he is, he was who he was.
The truth does normally come out in the end… but as most Cipher Mysteries readers will know by now, it just tends to take a little longer than you expect. 🙂
The truth does come out in the end – And who is harmed if he is identified? – Nobody knows the circumstances surrounding his private life. He could have a wife that is well into her 90s now. His wife may have been scared to come forward. This could have been due to the circumstances of his career and private life. Perhaps a family is waiting for their mother to pass and then they will come forward and identify him. Why spare an old lady the pain and suffering in the last years of her life. It’s been such a long time I really don’t think an extra short difference of time is going to make any difference.
His wife would be about 113………..
Not necessarily. He could have had a first wife that died, and then he married a second wife that was younger than him. Everyone is assuming he had an affair with ‘Jestyn’ as well. She would have been much younger than him as well.
I have been to Centennial Park and can confirm that Jestyn is buried in grave 602 in the Jewish section, as Jessica Ellen Thomson, beloved wife of Prosper and mother of Rob and Kate. Prosper Thomson was cremated and his ashes were interred in the same cemetery, Springbank Creek, boulder 2. So the second wife of old man Harkness must have been a Jewess.
please can anyone explain how Jestyn, Jessie Ellen Harkness/Thomson, became a Jew?
huh?
[Jestyn] Jessie Ellen Harkness was Jewish. She is buried in a big shiny Jewish grave. Neither her father, Thomas Lawson Harkness, was Jewish, nor was her husband, Prosper McTaggart Thomson. So how did it come to be that Jestyn was Jewish? Through her mother, Ellen Lee?
Her daughter is Katherine Helena Thomson. Her son was Robin Thomson, now dead.
A big shiny grave? What – are shiny graves reserved for Italians, or Dutchmen? or something.
Anyway, I thought it wasn’t a grave but its stone that might be shiny. Is it solid silver?
And why shouldn’t ‘jestyn’ be born Jewish? I was born not-Jewish so there’s plenty of room.
I’m asking someone who knows (and there are plenty who read this webpage) to explain how she is Jewish and her husband & parent/s are apparently Scots Presbyterian.
Ie did she convert at the same time she was involved in high level espionage against the British Empire for the Soviets.
I hope you left flowers on the grave.
I did NOT.
I’ll make a point of it when next I’m there.
Siya
Diane: http://www.centennialpark.org/deceased-search/deceased-search.html?lname=thomson&fname=jessica+ellen&btn_submit=Begin+Search&task=search&view=results&exact=false&option=com_burials&Itemid=130 – Lot 608 in the Orthodox Jewish section.
Thanks Nick!
Minstrel Janet said :”she was involved in high level espionage against the British Empire for the Soviets” Where can I find proof of this ? The ACP was strong in the area at the time the Somerton man died.
or v.v. was she a pro-British Zionist, executing Soviet spies?
Marshall was Communist, Somerton Man may have been spying for the Russians at Woomera.
Either way it is essential for us to discover whether she was raised Jewish (the Harkness family were Presbyterian/Methodist) by a Jewish mother (the elusive Ellen Lee, was she Hebrew?), or did she convert later in life? If she did convert (highly unusual to convert to Judaism without some professional or emotional prompt) was it for political reasons [a lover with Zionist affiliations?] or private ones [a Jewish lover? we know she had countless lovers]. This may have some bearing on the case. You should direct your attention to discovering the provenance of her mother, Miss Ellen Lee. Also, were her children raised as Jews? Was Prosper Jewish? He is buried in a Gentile grave.
xplor: “Minstrel Janet said :”she was involved in high level espionage against the British Empire for the Soviets” Where can I find proof of this?”
Post – Federation security and intelligence documents are kept at the National Archives. Many have been indexed in their online catalogue, including personal names, but probably just as many have not. The NAA has an online guide to searching the various record series here http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/security/index.aspx though I suspect that Derek Abbott has already been down that road.
Of course if pursuing facts is all too hard then you can always just indulge in wild speculation like everyone else.
Pursuing facts is all too hard, when you figure in disinformation and redaction. Other places to look are The Mitrokhin Archives, Five eyes, VENONA and UKUSA. In my own search I was surprised to find a book by Robert J. .Lamphere an FBI agent that was working at the time , who had knowledge of camp x and things clandestine had disappeared from the library. Thing are not always what they seem. Most spies are put out to pasture with full pay. An exaaple would be Melita Norwood.
i dont mean to be vile but was prosper mctaggart thomson’s mother also his grandmother? her name was apparently alice fortune hawkes, and she is listed as being married to a hugh thomson, having a child ernest chalmers thomson, then being married to ernest chalmers and having a child prosper in 1912. does that explain why he was so sickly looking? ew. someone has put a family tree up on ancestry.com of them
How about in love with Ernest Chalmers, but married Hugh Thompson, naming child for both. Later able to marry her first love, their child being Prosper?
Nicer.
she married the father who already had kids, then married his son. still gross though!
Not that it has anything to do with the subject, but Hugh Thomson’s wife was Annie Mary McTaggart, not Alice Fortune Hawkes. Their son was Ernest Chalmers and he married Alice in Queensland. As Ernest was older than her it would clearly be impossible for her to be his mother, and no, she wasn’t his step mother either. Many Australian BDMs are free to search online as are those for the UK, as well as census records. I would suggest that you don’t look at the rubbish that people post on Ancestry.com
Perhaps such a ridiculous statement is because your family is not aware that it is illegal to marry your own child?
The SA birth records indicate that she is the mother of EC Thomson, not the wife. Clearly they have been inaccurately indexed or improperly recorded. Someone has then made a tree to reflect this.
What I would like to know is further information about Prosper McTaggart Thomson as he, and his wife, are the key players in this case. And furthermore, why was Jessica Ellen Harkness Jewish when the rest of her family was Scots Presbyterian? Who was Ellen Lee?
Things we can know now or at least infer. The Somerton man shows signs of trade craft. The kind of things taught a Camp X in Canada. The cipher may have been solved by Leconfield. As in Leconfield house or MI5. Dr Evatt was at the very least a communist sympathizer. A number of his personal staff were actual communist agents reporting to Soviet intelligence services. Their names were deciphered
by the U.S.Army at Arlington Hall .
Ellen Lee married Thomas Lawson Harkness at Freemantle, West Australia 23rd March 1916 in the Johnston Memorial Congregational Church according to Congregational rites. Thomas’ father is recorded as Thomas Moir Harkness, “chemist”, and his mother as Ellen Lawson, so the identification is certain. Ellen’s father is recorded as Edmund James Lee, and her mother as Jessie McDougall. Thomas was 29 and his address was “Steamship Dimboola”, profession “linesman”. Ellen’s was 22 and her address was given as 295 Wellington Street Perth (present address) and her usual address was given as 59 Princes Street, Sydney.
So, we have Jestyn’s father Thomas working for the same shipping line as the enigmatic Mr H C Reynolds. Is it mere coincidence? I further note that Thomas later became an electrician, and an electricians screwdriver was found in Somerton Man’s suitcase. It appears (from checking newspaper advertisements from the 1940s) that electrician’s screw drivers were uncommon, and expensive in 1948. So, we have two points common to both Jestyn’s father and SM. Thomas was involved in setting up a dodgy stevedoring company (the Yarra Stevedoring Company Pty. Ltd.) in Melbourne in 1930. The Argus newspaper, Melbourne, 13th March 1930 Page 6, gives details of a fraud case against Thomas. Thomas had been previously declared bankrupt in New South Wales (Sydney Morning Herald 18th February 1926 Page 7).
I have traced Ellen Lee’s family but I haven’t found anything that seems to be relevant.
Her parents, Edmund James Lee and Jessie nee McDougall, were married at Sydney in 1882. They appear to have had five children (based on Edmund’s obituary), Ted, Charlie, Nellie (ie Ellen), Jack and Jess. Edmund died 23rd April 1935 aged 77 years. Wife Jessie. His address was 39 Ashmore Street, Erskinville (a Sydney suburb). Edmund’s father was James E Lee, mother Susan.
Ellen Harkness nee Lee died at Moorabin (a Melbourne suburb) 12th July 1982 aged 88 years. Her address was given as 89 Patty Street, Mentone, and she was cremated at Springvale crematorium (undertakers P. Stevenson, K Summers and P Blair).
Children on Ellen Harkness nee Lee
Thomas Lawson Harkness aged 64 as at the time of her death.
Edmund James Harkness aged 62
Jessica Ellen Thomson nee Harkness aged 60
Jean Moya Carr nee Harkness aged 59
Ellen Mary McLeish nee Harkness aged 54
Perhaps SM was a Russian courier who did a runner with a suitcase full of KGB money, and somebody killed him for it.
I remember once reading that one of the members of the Russian delegation to the ECAFE Conference at Lapstone, in the Blue Mountains out of Sydney, went missing before the conference. It was unclear if he was ever located. I can’t bring up the reference at present, and I can’t recall the guy’s name. It might be significant because Australia was paralysed by strikes in late 1948. In 1949, during the Coal Miners strike, which threatened the stability of Australia, the Australian security services caught the Russians, said to be KGB but possibly GRU, red handed trying to hand over 100,000 pounds (a lot of money then) to the union organisers. It is reasonable to assume that this was not the first time the Russians had given money to encourage and support strikes. The ECAFE Conference started Monday 29th November 1948 and the Russian delegation had arrived in Sydney a couple of days earlier. Just enough time for the missing Russian to make his way to Adelaide by the 30th of November.
Perhaps SM was a high level courier and was killed for the suitcase of money that he might have been carrying? South Australia and Adelaide would have been a target of particular interest to the Russians in 1948. The Woomera rocket range (a joint venture with Britain) was being established and the use of the remote north western part of South Australia for future atomic testing was being considered. And South Australia had significant uranium orebodies that the Australian and British governments were thinking of developing. Some of the first uranium used in the Manhattan Project was flown from South Australia to the USA during WW2. So, all in all, Adelaide was a choice target for Russian intelligence in 1948 and seems to have remained so until at least the 1960s as the following case demonstrates.
There is evidence that a high level “illegal” was operating in Adelaide in the early 1960′s.
In 1962 the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation “ASIO” found that the Russian ambassador to Australia, Ivan Fyodorovich Kurdyukov “Ivan Skripov”, tried to deliver a state of the art high speed radio transmission device to somebody in Adelaide. Check the Wiki article on Ivan Kurdyukov for more details.
The “Ivan Skripov” case is unusual, even by espionage standards, because the ambassador was directly involved, and because the need for clandestine radio communications implies extreme urgency of the information to be transmitted. The only other case that I am aware of at this time where the Russians were found to be using high speed radio links for agents was the Portland spy ring case (check Wikipedia for details). Unfortunately, ASIO decided to prematurely abort the case because they were so interested in discovering the technical details of the high speed sending device The illegal in Adelaide was never identified.
fascinating, you obviously have all the information to hand. this makes the jewish connection even more puzzling. i had thought it was her uncle who was the pharmacist.
Bdeveson, what do you actually know about Jestyn and where can I get my hands on the info? She is the lynchpin to this whole case – by analysing her life we must be able to crack it. The Beaumont link is also DISTURBING, in a word.
Maybe the Russians were worried about English nuclear tests in Woomera, or the Americans in Pine Gap. Woomera is no longer used.
“The SA birth records indicate that she is the mother of EC Thomson, not the wife. Clearly they have been inaccurately indexed or improperly recorded. Someone has then made a tree to reflect this. ”
This family were not in SA – Ernest and Alice were both born in the UK, married in Queensland, had their children in Queensland and NSW, and both died in NSW. I think you are looking at the wrong family.
Hi Janet, I made a mistake in my previous post. The father of Thomas Lawson Harkness is indeed John Moir Harkness, occupation given in the church records as “chemist”. Yes, John Moir Harkness was at times a pharmacist, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, a pharmaceutical analysts and a pharmacologist. In 1927 John was appointed by the court as an expert pharmaceutical analyst. This is quite exceptional. Pharmacologists are very thin on the ground today, and in the 1930s Australia they would have been as rare as rocking horse manure. I doubt that there would have been five individuals described as pharmacologists in Australia in the 1930s.
Townsville Daily Bulletin 14th July 1927, page 9.
“Edith Charlotte Hewitt, of Nebo, was proceeded against in the Summons Court on Tuesday for a breach of the Poisons Regulations of 1924. The charge was that not being a registered practitioner or chemist, she sold a poison (chlorodyne). Mr W. A. Amlet appeared for the complainant, Mr A. R. Hartley for the defendant. Mr Hartley asked that a portion of the exhibit labelled chlorodyne, be handed to Mr J. M. Harkness, of Proserpine, so that he might make an analysis. Mr Harkness had said that he did not think they had the necessary plant In Mackay for making the analysis, but he had the essentials in Proserpine. Mr Amlet consented, and the case was adjourned for a week.”
From the 1933 electoral roll for North Sydney, Chatswood district.
“4515 Harkness, John Moir. 32 Hercules St. Pharmacologist”
Given that the Tamam Shud affair probably involved a mysterious poisoning I think close scrutiny of Jestyn is warranted. Jestyn must have known that her uncle was a pharmacologist and would have known that poisoning was suspected in the death of SM, and she may have lied to the investigating police about her current married status (ie and her current surname) so as to cover the connection to her uncle. But I am sympathetic; Jestyn probably did what most people would have done in the circumstances; she was economical with the truth.
Jewish by political persuasion! Saul Haim Marshall, anyone?
BDeveson, do you theorize that Jestyn was responsible for the murders? Or that her brother was? What is your feeling about the Beaumont connection?
Bdeveson, was JM Harkness II also a pharmacologist? I read that JM Harkness senior owned a perfumery in Melbourne but I thought the son may have followed in his footsteps.
I’d ordinarily think financial reasons were the prime motivation for the murder, but Jessica’s bizarre connection with other strange happenings tends to put other goings on into the frame
Janet, something was going on, but I don’t have any idea what it was. The possible connection to the Beaumont case is chilling and needs to be investigated by the authorities. Jestyn’s grandfather, born circa 1860 at Glasgow (1901 Census) was listed in this census as a “chemists and druggists assistant”. It appears that this John might have added “Moir” to his name later on, so it is possible that he might have come to Australia for a time. But I think it was John Moir Harkness born circa 1886 in Essex (Jestyn’s uncle) who owned the perfumery in Melbourne.
What do you make of this McIntyre business? Have you found any link between Ruth Collins/McIntyre and Roma Mangnosen? Or links between Roma and the Harkness people? I am trying to find people in Adelaide who may have known Jessica Thomson through the synagogue there, although if she was a political convert I doubt she bothered going. The impression I have of her is that she was a rather fickle woman, given to change for the sake of excitement. Do you know where I can find a copy of that letter she wrote to her sister, in which she complained about Prosper? Also, was Robin Thomson the guy who later became a car dealer in the ACT? What caused his early death?
Her son was Genetically defective like the somerton man himself and died of related chronic illness
There is no related, and chronically fatal illness related to Dystonia – There is no evidence that the condition existed with the dancer Robin Thomson.
Just for the record.
The poison used was either Digitalin or Strophantin, both commonly used – there is no argument here.
Digitalin was used to treat ailments of the heart – there is no argument here.
PT Thompson suffered from heart related illnesses – there is no argument here.
Just for the record.
Here’s a link to the latest Somerton Man identification claim:
http://ciphermysteries.com/2013/10/01/new-somerton-man-identification-claim – “Thomas Torance Keane”.
Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not… either way, hopefully we shall see (and in rather less time than it took to track down Horace Charles Reynolds). 🙂
Have been reading about the SM mystery for the last few days, on the edge of my seat with every twist and turn.
Keep up the good work with your investigating everyone 🙂
A cremation… whose body was in the coffin?
Not six months after Somerton Man was discovered but long enough for the fuss to have died down.
Can’t be Tommy Keane… we cremated him.
FUNERAL NOTICES KEANE.—The Relatives & Friends of Mr. & Mrs. F. C. Toten, Mr. & Mrs. L. Fuller (Argents Hill), Miss Doro- thy Toten, Mr. & Mrs. A Dixon, Mr. & Mrs. J. Lohfin, & Mr. E. Toten, are invited to attend the funeral of her beloved Brother, his Brother-in-law, & their Uncle, Thomas Lawrence Keane, of 110 Terrace St., New Farm, late 15th & 57th Bns., 1st A.I.F., to move from Alex. Gow’s Funeral Chapel, Petrie Bight, This (Saturday) Morning, at 11 o’clock, for the Crematorium, Mt. Thompson. Service 10.45 a.m. ALEX. GOW, Funeral Director. KEANE.—New Farm Sub-branch, R.S.S.A.I.L.A.—The Officers and Members are invited to attend the Funeral of their late Member, Mr. T. L. Keane, to move from Alex. Gow’s Funeral Chapel, as per family notice. A. L Beeston, Secretary.
“Elizabeth Thompson” who identified the body as a Mr Walsh… was this Queenie Elizabeth Thomson, the wife of Prosper McTaggart?
Queenie was later involved in a high profile TAA plane crash at Parafield. Given the scarcity of frequent flyers in those days, was she from a wealthy family?
Does anyone know the ancestors of Peggy Beaumont so they can be eliminated from the enquiry?
Nick: where did you get his place of birth from, if you don’t mind me asking.
Pete: Debra Fasano found it on the “Tas BDM” (Tasmanian Births, Deaths, and Marriages) indexes on CD. It’s all in the post. 🙂
.. on the assumption that he was Australian, only that?
Pete: no, on the assumption that he was the same H. C. Reynolds appearing in numerous crew lists from that precise period who declared that he was born in Hobart or Tasmania, and whose date of birth tallied precisely with all the ages declared in the crew lists. It’s a pretty rock-solid chain.
Note that because history can be a funny and tangled thing, I’m not saying that Xlamb is necessarily wrong in her claim: the dead man might very well have been using H. C. Reynolds’ identification card. For example (and I haven’t yet written this up), the Era was a second ship carrying calcines and residues between Risdon and Port Pirie, and it was owned by the same
UnitedUnion Steamship Company (“the Southern Octopus”) that employed Reynolds for a year in 1918: there may possibly have been something funny going on with that.Rather, what I’m saying is that xlamb doesn’t yet – as far as I can see – have any external evidence to back her claim up. Which is OK in fiction 🙂 , but not so good elsewhere.
Nick: is this Era your Era?
http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?139401
Pete: nope, but there’ll be a post on it here very shortly, obviously by popular demand. 😉
We demand!
indeed.
“Elizabeth Thompson” who identified the body as a Mr Walsh… was this Queenie Elizabeth Thomson, the wife of Prosper McTaggart?
Queenie was later involved in a high profile TAA plane crash at Parafield. Given the scarcity of frequent flyers in those days, was she from a wealthy family?
Does anyone know the ancestors of Peggy Beaumont so they can be eliminated from the enquiry?
Found some info on a HC Reynolds on the Family Search Webpage.
It mentions someone of those initials and an assistant pusor travelling from NZ to Sydney starting 1918
Citing this Record
“New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973”, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QJDJ-J6HD : accessed 13 March 2015), H C Reynolds, 1918.
he is still travelling in 1965 though, (if same man) “New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KLB1-QSF : accessed 13 March 2015), H C Reynolds, 1965; citing , Ship, Arrival Port Wellington (other ports also listed), National Archives, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004479842.
not found him travelling to US yet though, just between NZ and Sydney.
So why the US id if its the NZ guy? :/
http://www.millingtons.com.au/records-search
Horace Charles cremated 18/May/1953
at Derwent Garden Cemetry
http://server2.admin.millingtons.com.au:81/ASP/search_details.asp?RecordID=70565
aged 53
The man on the ID card has a cleft palate or crevis in his chin, whereas the unknown body found does not have on.
Just to throw a spanner in the works I only stumbled across this case today and when I saw the name Reynolds, identified as “British” that couldn’t be matched to anyone it rang alarm bells to me so I went hunting. Reynolds is a common Irish name, but lots of people born in Ireland prior to 1922 were identified as British on birth papers (in the North a large majority would have bee) so I had a look at our 1911 census records and found a Henry Reynolds, age 11, a resident at Balmoral Industrial School in Co. Antrim (most likely an orphan/given to the church). The Industrial School aspect gives strong indication that this man would likely have no family and could well be worth following up further.
A huge amount of records were lost during the time of the Irish struggle for independence (1916-22) and as such if this guy had left Ireland during that time there would very likely be no record of it, he could literally disappear and show up anywhere with only a birth cert stating Henry Reynolds born 1900, British to identify himself.
JB83: there are indeed numerous H. C. Reynolds to be found around the world, and a fair few of them were born in 1900. However, the point of this post was that we managed not only to find the specific Horace Charles Reynolds who worked on Australian ships for a year in 1918, but also to trace his life from birth to death (in 1953).
To those who say I should have done more to prove this, I say this: I’m very sorry, but I believe we have collected a significant body of evidence that proves beyond any reasonable doubt precisely who the young man on the seamen’s ID card was – and because he died nearly five years after the Somerton Man did, it seems quite clear that he could not have been the Somerton Man.
Hence only someone with their own TARDIS could genuinely make that kind of timeline work.
I hate to tell you, you have totally wasted your time. The Somerton Man had grey eyes and the man in the photo very obviously has brown. That’s why it simply could not have been the same man. Plus the ears are not the same… Glad it’s been debunked though…
YR: Your Right; can you tell us in your own words, how you caught on.
I think it is really obvious in the photo of HC Reynolds that this was someone with dark eyes. They look brown to me. The police report on the Somerton Man, on the other hand, says that he had “grey” eyes. I have never met anyone with grey eyes but I am assuming that this would be a very light shade of blue. In any case, “grey” eyes would not have come out that dark in a black and white photo. It’s not the same man. Unfortunately, in the morgue photos that we have the Somerton Man is missing his eyes so we can’t see what they looked like on film.
What I find odd is why the woman who went public with the ID of HC Reynolds thinks that this was the Somerton Man’s ID and how it came into her father’s possession.
There are many people that look similar without being related. I have had people insist that I was in such and such place at such and such time when I knew I was at home at the time. Supposedly I was even wearing clothes that they’d seen me wear before… The person was so convinced that it was me and was getting so agitated at my denial that I gave up the conversation altogether. I also happened to meet someone at swimming who looked like me… It was bizarre. The difference was that she had blond hair and brown eyes whereas I have very dark brown hair and green eyes. But, my point is, people can look very similar without being related, esp. if they come from the same ethnic group.
So, I have found a black and white photo of someone who officially has “grey” eyes:
https://orig00.deviantart.net/46ab/f/2014/153/7/b/jennifer_lawrence_by_aleexart-d7kr6qp.jpg
Compare how her eyes have come out to the Reynolds ID:
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/18/51/88/185188946daa9eb1fad663baa7613399–adelaide-south-australia-on-the-morning.jpg
Another point to note, Mr Reynolds has his lips slightly open in the photo and we can see a lateral incisor between the central incisor and the canine teeth in the upper jaw. The autopsy for the Somerton Man shows the upper canine teeth right next to the central incisors. Somerton Man and HC Reynolds are not the same person, period.
The McIntyre children who want an investigation into a number of deaths also want the investigation to be confidential. The authorities may be discreet and unhelpful while the cyber community will blast the story and its victims’ identities far and wide, and maybe obtain results. It is a narrow path to follow.
A private investigator would be discreet, but would cost a fortune.
Is Stewart, who wrote above that Martin Hamilton-Smith is related to “Max”, the man who lived in Carey Gully in the 1990’s?
Left Field: Martin, the political turncoat, does have Wright on his side when it comes down to family ties perhaps; There having been his great uncle Theodore Wright, who died in Belgium in 1917, then from memory another in Les Wright, his paternal grand daddy who got to come home to Port Pirie? From WW1. It seems that one must go back to 1800s to find a Wright-McIntyre coupling. So that would hardly be a link to Max, but as far as Hamilton-Smith goes, I’m thinking that some one just made it up to promote a certain aura of betterment. PS: Sorry Lexi H-S, that was uncalled for.
Left Field: Belay the timing of the Wright- McIntyre link, as it must have been much later with James Duncan McKenzie McIntyre and Laurel Kathleen Wright being the parents of Alan Maxwell, who’s sister Barbara Rae Adams was mum to Martin and Lexy Hamilton-Smith in Adelaide. Perhaps I am still wright (sic) about the double bunger name having been manufactured…What’s with Carey Gully? I have a good pal who lived right near there for a bit in the sixties.
One of Alan Maxwell McIntyre’s alleged kids, a past prolific contributor to the various SM sites, said in a post to this thread, amongst (many) other things, “….my paternal Grandfather James also served at Tobruk, Middle East and New Guinea”. ….That was dated 8/8/2013, whereas on 8/11/2014, Martin Hamilton Smith MLA, commented in an Adelaide News column, …..”….my maternal grandfather (James) was a ‘rat of Tubruk’ and also served in New Guinea”….I know a bloke that served in the same battalion as ‘Wanker Smith’, though the pair were in no way hootch buddies and if you think his cousin was a waffler, try unravelling some of Martin’s past on line ramblings, mostly about himself. I’m thinking it may run all through the extended McIntyre family; having had some dealings with one very close affiliate, some time ago, I’d be almost certain of it!…
Most folks will have noted that, because there are only initials on the H.C. Reynolds card, that would hardly serve the purpose of satisfying full and proper name identification in a foreign port and I can’t recall seeing one similar. Another oddity is of course the stated ‘British’ nationality by an Australian born applicant, and whilst in effect he could have claimed his Britishness until fairly recent times, it’s unlikely that strict U.S. Govt. formalities would have accepted such nonsensical claims. I think that the most telling thing, pointing to faking of a possible genuine blank card is of course the non authentic US date stamp, if you can see what I mean….Mind you, the now discredited facial recognition professor, who gave a pass comparison with our totally dissimilar looking SM, has apparently now backed down somewhat on his claim.
john sanders: if Reynolds was born prior to 1901, he was born British, right? And Horace Charles Reynolds was born on 8th February 1900.
I never suggested that Chuck/Chas was not British, may well have been British to the boot straps for all that and then some. I am merely talking perceptions, in this case, the Americans who gave the Brits two sound drubbings, were not likely to put up with any nonsence from colonialists, with respect to their percieved nationality. PS: Living in Australia as a kid and having had to fill out all sorts of paperwork like the ‘guild league of bird lover’ membership forms etc., I was told to put British beside ‘nationality’, which I did, though certainly not by choice. The British Nationality Act of 1948 actually give most Commonwealth country citizens the option of being token Brits or else to please themselves, which is how it stands to this day as far a I’m aware.
Henry Charles Reynolds born and died in 1901 Woolwich, Kent, England. It was known for identity thieves to pretend to be people who had died as infants.
I had a 3rd cousin match only lasting 2 days, recently, on GedMatch that possibly links to my yet to be discovered Reynolds great-great-grandmother. It appeared to have been made for a missing parent from a child and the other parent using GedMatch tools because the source company code for autosomal DNA downloaded file was blank.
GedMatch now has made all UK citizen owned existing and new DNA kits default to private because of new European privacy rules. This may reduce the size of available matching DNA database non-private memberships when the exhumation and subsequent DNA matching is done. At least five of my generation, in my cousins’ families, have inherited the identical missing incisors issue (their children may have it too).
Curio: ouch. The golden age of historical DNA research may just have finished. 🙁
Hi again,
I’m very interested in this potential clue as the picture does seem to have meaningful points of comparison with the morgue photo. If you look at this other unidentified-person’s case where we have the latest candidate’s picture 30 years younger for comparison, (DNA pending but let’s consider a match for the time being) you see that the skull, forehead, and cheekbones don’t change. https://forum.casebook.org/forum/social-chat/shades-of-whitechapel/723960-help-with-swedish-genealogy-mad-trapper-mystery/page3#post729272
My family tree searches show that the Thomas Reynolds of Virginia in the tree that includes Julian Randolph Pleasants and Mary Jane Brady goes back to the Reynolds of London and Kent in the early 17th Century.
P.S. I don’t know if anyone has looked at Charles Horace Reynolds, b. circa 1900 Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England, death unknown, and a seaman, I believe.
Tamamologist: I do hope you’re not trying to resurrect X. Lamb’s Hobart-born Horace Charles Reynolds (who worked on a ship for a little over a season, and then became an accountant):
https://ciphermysteries.com/2013/03/15/sorry-but-the-unknown-man-is-almost-certainly-not-h-c-reynolds
Just don’t get sucked into the comment section there or you’ll be there all day. 🙁
“‘The golden age of historical DNA research may just have finished.” No, that relates to European GedMatch data. Ancestry has over 15 million DNA kits now and my DNA matches to more than 40 thousand of them. About 10 percent of these matches have an attached paper genealogy so the degree of redundancy is very high and the degree of potential cross checking is very high. DNA research for genealogical purposes is just starting 🙂
Byron: you’re correct for now (thank goodness), but what I was musing here was whether other DNA services might be legally forced to follow GedMatch in order to comply with data protection legislation.
Lawyers, eh, who’d have ’em?
Reliable data indicates that the Caucasian population of Hobart was around forty thousand in 1900 when Charles Reynolds was born, many of whom were likely to have been the product of incestual or illigitimate couplings according to the given statistical figures for Tasmania. I wonder if modern DNA sampling would adjust to such data with the kind of accuracy claimed by Ancestry GedMatch.
I get what you mean, Nick. I already got sucked into the wedged shaped toe “clue”. It turns out it wasn’t turned in anymore than mine (Tamam lecture YouTube).
The Kidderster, England, CH Reynolds died at age 4, and the Taz HC Reynolds has an accepted official death record but I still find the two, exactly 30-years-part comparisons very interesting.
Clearly the 30 +/- years-apart comparison of SM and Alexander Sutherland is much better. Known as “Sandy”….
Sorry, Alexander Sutherland is not SM.
Alexander Sutherland
in the Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
Name: Alexander Sutherland
Birth Date: 1900
Death Date: 1975
Cemetery: Hamiota Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place: Hamiota, Western Manitoba Census Division, Manitoba, Canada
Tammy, there is some unfinished business over at SM Ultimate Guide which Kyal would be pleased to get off his books, if you’re interested. In-Re my own American ‘doughbiy’ WW1 connection based on confirmed links between Prosper Thomson and the crooked brothers Burch out of Scott City Kansas who plied their upmarket flim flam door-to-door sales cum collection service through all Australian states and Newzland from the early ’20s up to WW2 and beyond…I reluctantly terminated my related inquiries still awaiting intel. from the Americas and my best guess is that some useful information is yet be gleaned. Certainly more than might be had with the likes of, eg., H.C Reynolds and Alexander ‘Sandy’ Sutherland to name a couple.
Certainly, John, I’ll have a look see now that I’m almost up to speed. There has to be an American connection somewhere. (I just found Norwegian-born Charles Mikkelson’s photo, shared on Ancestry Family Tree this year. No match.)
I hit a wall with R E Davis and Ray Clark. Clark looks best to me profile-wise….
Tammy: …and a brick wall at that, our R E Davis nominee mates of the clerk cum typewriter mechanic being no help with forenames the initials R E, or was that Sapol holding back. My recollection is that the chap was on his way south from Darwin to Port Pirie via Tennant Creek for work which reminds me that a Carl Von Czarnecki knew these towns from sijourns at both in the early thirties and had hitched up with Christabel DAVIS in nearby Port Headland after an extended stay in and around Alice Springs NT.
Kyal and everyone might be interested to know that I found an Ancestry Family Tree (user: jercro) who has the Burch family and an Ammon Swope who is a relative of an Adelaide E Swope who is a presumptive relative of SM.
The tree doesn’t show if or how the Burches are linked to the Swopes directly but I know SM’s presumptive cousin Julian Randolf Pleasants’ great great grandmother Adelaide Elisabeth Swope (1832-1868) is 3rd cousin (once removed) to Ammon Swope (1886-1963).
Tammy: You’ll surely be aware of the murder of filthy rich Col. Thomas Swope and his son in Kansas city by cyanide capsules, as well as attempted murder of eight other family members by typhoid serum in 1910. Culprit was a Dr. Hyde (who else) who had married a niece and wanted the inheritance NOW. Don’t recall the final outcome but guess he got the chair.
Tammy: No hope of a Swope in Australia, apart from the dozen or so uppercrust Swopes from the States including the boss of General Electric, a lady Astronimer and the politician who coined the phrase ‘Cold War’. As for Dr. Bennett Hyde; he eventually had his murder conviction of Col. Tom Swope in Kansas overturned on proceedural grounds whatever that may have entailed.
John: Swope is an Anglicization of the German name Schwab, variously written as Swab, Swob, and finally Swope. It might explain some of the missing pieces.
I could only trace the Burch mother’s side back, the father’s side only to the grandfather (picture available on Ancestry Family Tree).
Only the Ancestry User would know exactly why he has the Burch Brothers and an SM relative’s relative included as snipped branches in the same family tree file, (and I’m waiting to hear) but if they are Swope descendants like SM’s relatives, then the Burch family has SM DNA, and likely SM in their tree.
Familysearch has H R Burch’s passport application photo (free with registration). Sorry, the Unknown Man is Not H R Burch…
But possibly somehow related.
Tammy: Yes, Harley Raymond Burch or Charley (findagrave) and with varying birth dates on the geni sites, appears interred along with his his wife and two of his brothers at Las Animas CO cemetery (1950). He was best man and witness at Prosper Thomson’s marriage to Queenie in 1936 upon which document he gave a fake address and it is highly likely that the latter worked for the Burch companies Empire Art and/or Universal Collections of 100 William Street Sydney. Whilst Dr. H.R. Burch is not likely to be SM, he may very well have known him and/or was somehow connected through his shady nationwide flim flam scams.
Peteb: I’ve tried, but don’t see relevance with Lawson’s so called interview with Det. Brown on 8th June ’49. The two weren’t likely have been aquainted, Len not having any known connections with taxidermy as such and Paul no background in crime investigation. We might assume that he was brought in to do the SM job at behest of John Cleland who would have known him from Adelaide museum, and so any conversations Paul had with detectives at the mortury were most likely to do with aspects related to work in progress not police business. Whatever Feltus may have said relevant to any ulteria motives for the 8th June, were likely to have come from his well known fertile imagination like many of his other yarns. PS. A friendly reminder to check your dates, ie., June of 1949 should be July, and in particular the ROK hand over 22nd thereof and Sister Jessie Thomson’s first known appearance was 26th according to the lies that we are most familiar with.
Tammy,
if the Burch family are related to SM then it is worthwhile looking at the maternal genealogies. The mtDNA. We know that SM’s maternal side carried the haplogroup H4a1a1a1a from Prof. Abbott’s teams work on the hair samples.
Tammy: Don’t allow yourself to be hoodwinked by this oft peddled and self serving assumption that three or four hairs plucked from the thick upper back portion of a plaster cast, actually came from the original body. Whist it’s creator Paul Lawson may have used sisal matting for initial rough bonding as has been recently tauted, I’m almost certain that salon floor sweepings or animal even animal hair was used to help bond the fine surface detail following the case separation as part of final assembly. My own best guess is that this hair is almost certainly that which was erroneously subjected to DNA testing by Adelaide University in belief that it was from the deceased.
I’m going by the male line DNA results for Rachel Egan.
If the online tree chart which includes Thomas Jefferson is given correctly, then I believe we know his first or second cousin is one set of grandparents of Rachel/Robin’s familial cousin match. Right now I think the shared DNA probably comes down from the Swope family branch.
Tammy, I received a long covid delayed response from Centenial CO High re Harley Burch’s Aussie born daughter Beverley Anne who had graduated in ’51 at age 18 an by then was a ward of the state. Unfortunately they were only able to confirm backround details which I already possessed..but they kindly offered to dig deeper when things returned to normal and endeavour to seek assistance of the pretty well connected old students club. (Note that Centenial was setting of a Mitchener novel of that name and hometown of his Japanese American secind wife.)
I was never really satisfied that youngest brother and WW1 veteran Leland, said by the kind Las Animas cemetery folk to have been inturred there in 1981 was based on known fact. The name plaque was put there by a veteran initiative and the death details can therefore nit be varified. Leland arrived in Australia in 1922, married in ’25 and though being part of the family business, his wife ran a fairly flash eatery or two in Melbourne during WW2. She died in the 1960s and was buried in NZ as a Burch, hence my wondering about his return to the States.
Leland was involved in an interesting court case in Adelaide in1928 involving the apparent theft of his big Buick saloon which had then been used in a munitions heist at a rural depot. Subsequent evacuation of the court for fear that a bag of explosives and detonators was about to go bang was funny to read about. The three alleged offenders, being duly sent to Yatala prison, one decided that he could not handle years of hard labour and took the easy way out..apparently?.
Tammy, Julian Burch was born in Texas, settling in Kansas City after he came home from France (WW1) in 1919, whence he set out to make a name with his inventive prowess. It’s touch and go as to whether ‘Mr. Popcorn’ (Julian) was related to the flim flam Burches, it may have been mere chance that he happened to arrive in Sydney from Capetown same time as Harley out of Auckland (same hotel) in December 1938. You’ll pick up an interesting KC Missouri newspaper item from around 1946 which gives extensive background information on Julian Burch the international big game hunter with photos inset, and by looking through death records you’ll pick up on details of his passing in Florida, Texas and Lousiana about ’67 from memory. I note that Elma Burch worked for an Australian white goods manufacturer in the 60s that may well have had connections to Julian through it’s parent company owned by him called Star. Elma and wife Margaret are buried in ‘crook as’ Rookwood cemetery, Sydney.
John, I agree that a candidate for TSM cannot be ruled out simply by a death record that can be mistaken or fraudulent. I know if at least one definite case where the family covered up a notorious death in another place with a crime against the public death record to cover up a family desertion, illegitimacy, prostitution and connection to murder.
I’m looking at Julian Roe Birch now although there’s a death record. Only his Swedish wife has a passport application and photo with their daughter.
Leland was actually the one I was looking at when I said TSM didn’t match Harley R in his passport photo. Their passport applications are side by side. Neither match but they have some features that match. Leland has the lobe-less ears but has a mole on the wrong side of his lip.
Julian Burch’s picture is available clipped from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39500934/star-mfg-12-30-1946-julian-burch/
Sorry, but the unknown man is most certainly not Julian Burch!!
Tammy: Truth is I had considered my research into the Burch family as being quite thorough enough to eliminate them from SM contention when I passed the batten, but not sufficiently so as to exclude them from possible involvement in his early downfall. This was carried forward only after my discovery of Burch bros. ties with Prosper Thomson even though he never impressed me as being a candidate for a part in any murder conspiracy. But more power to you Tammy in forging ahead with possible blood line connections to our unknown man, which after all is what has been lacking of late and is certainly not my cup of tea.
John: The Burch brothers have been impressively investigated by yourself, and justly eliminated, even if we ARE both suspicious of “official” death records. And I can see why you still set me on this track.
I just found a half brother (1897-Unkown) in a family tree. His name is Birdie R Kern, aka Rupert Bird Kern.
Is this going where I think it is? KEAN ~ KERN?
(also can’t help but notice the slightest phonetic similarity Rupert Bird Kern – Rubaiyat (Omar) Khayyam)
Tammy: Rupert Bird Kern is new to me; my being mindful that there were five sibling brothers, Roscoe, Oran, Harley, Elma and Leland born between 1882 and ’96. Oran died aged ten in ’99, mother Ada nee Stott in 1900 and farmer Frank in ’24, all of whom are covered conveniently by the one plaque at Scott City, Kansas cemetery.
I can’t see Kean – Kern as going anywhere as milongal’s suggests and any phonetic similarity between R B Kern is drawing a long bow for mine.
milongal, john and everyone:
Rupert Byrd/Bird, aka Birdie R, Kern is actually a step brother of the Burch bros from their father Frank C Burch’s second wife Susan Edith Stagner and a Smith Rupert Kern. He’s not a half-brother and he has a death record from 1945. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116179531
Someone might still want to access his obituary and WWII army description record because the Kern/Keane thing is irresistible.
@JS – the phonetics was more something I found an interesting coinky dink – not anything I thought would be even vaguely relevant 🙂
Tammy, So Frank Clemens Burch was born to Moses 1825/1914 & Euphama Beach 1835/97, in Boone County Indiana 21/8/1861 farmer, died Kirksville MO 10/3/24 and now at rest with first wife Ida F Stott 18671900 and second son Oren 1889/99…Seems that he and Sue didn’t hitch up until young Birdie was a teenager seeing as he kept his pop’s monicker, and it’s perhaps strange that mum didn’t join Frank and his kin at the Scott City cemetery when her time was up.
It doesn’t look like Rupert Kern was in WWII, except as a mention in his son’s Navy Death Record. His son died in Saipan in 1944, (picture available). Rupert’s WWI record says blue eyes, light hair and medium height and stout. Farmer in 1940 though and a pesky “official” 1945 death record.
I note that Birdie’s boy Eldon Duane aged 22 was brought back from Saipan to be laid to rest amongst his loved ones in Kansas. Probably because his death was at sea, perhaps during the voyage home and not on the island itself which from my understanding has a war cemetery mostly occupied by US Navy Marines killed in action in ’44.
Rupert’s WWII Draft Card describes him as 220 lbs, 5’9″, with red hair and blue eyes, if he wasn’t already eliminated.
Interestingly, I found a presumptive cousin of TSM, William A Mathias (1884-unknown), whose Swedish wife, Elsa A Mathias (second wife I believe, divorced in 1940) whose passport application says she was going to Australia (and NZ) to make movies with Carroll-Baker features of Sydney in 1920.
I’m not sure how reliable TSM’s physical description is after death as far as eliminating candidates is. The color of the eyes can change to gray at death so having “gray eyes” can’t be official. TSM’s hair has been described as fair or mousy mixed with red and gray. That can’t eliminate a “redhead” or a “gray-haired” man. Height and weight estimates might eliminate a 220 pounder who’s 5’9″ on a WWII Draft Card but not a 150 pounder who’s 6’1″.
The age range might also be off. I know the Isdal Woman was thought to be about 30 but then it was determined, by measuring acid levels in her teeth, that she was about 45.
My working candidate theory right now has to be the 63 year old mentioned above — William Mathias. He supposedly died in Arizona of a heart attack in July of 1948. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23221293
I hear 63 and I can’t help but think of the woodcutter (Walsh) who kept coming up but was dismissed as being too old.
Incidentally, just looking it up now, I notice there’s some assertion he was a Swede. why does everything seem to come back to Scandinavia (Mikkelsen, Thompsen, Mangnoson…..) [It’s sort of interesting that at least 3 of the identities considered are Scandinavian, when the desriptions at the time suggested British or Eastern European (although I guess the Baltic states arejust on the opposite beach to Scandinavia – and probably look similar in some respects)
William A Mathias’ birthday coincidentally (or not) is November 29th so, when TSM died , he’d have been a day or so over 64. I definitely don’t think anyone can be ruled out by the age estimate if it was simply eyeballed.
If you believe the DNA results (and I see no reason not to find the test done on TSM “presumptive” granddaughter to be accurate), then TSM has known America and indigenous genes.
There’s a large proportion of Americans on the genealogy sites so American cousins will show up, but the only way TSM could be a Scandinavian is if one of his relatives went to America and joined the family and some First Nations peoples or people with their DNA had already gone to Scandinavia and joined his there. It’s not impossible but not likely.
Sands and Mac have 2 Czarnecki in Adelaide by 1954:
J Czarnecki (machinist) 30 Tapley Hill Road, Royal Park (there’s a Duffield aroung the corner, which I vaguely remember as a name related to car yards)
L Czarnecki 7 Eliza St, Gilberton (Looks like a sharehoese – there’s 7 equally foreign sounding names there, and 2 more next door)
There is a C Sarneckis in Park Holme (a couple of suburbs inland from Somerton), Probably would have been a brand new suburb – there doesn’t seem to be a number attached to a lot of these houses, and the number of entries in earlier years are far fewer. By 1956 they’ve disappeared from there
I’d be more willing to try to make connections if there was a ‘von’ in there somewhere…
So not much joy there….
Incidentally, what was their age? Is it possible Christabel survived to 2000?
milongal: Yes, Christabel bn. 1908 died in 2000. Czarnecki’s without the Von are common enough and not related, only Australian rels being from Naomi and son Peter’s offspring Terry & Sue (dec. 2009). Back in the day the family including the Davis’ lived in Nth Adelaide and Peter still lives at St. Peters. Don’t labour over it too much, there’s some strange new stuff which I’ll report on if I’m able to figure it out.
Hello,
1). I am after the help of those proficient in identifying edits on photos (similar to the recent kerfuffle in Windsor).
I would ask if the ear of the subject on the H C Reynolds ID photo has been edited to provide a lower extension to the ear cavity making it longer at the bottom end?
Can anyone pick an edit?
2). Is the mark on his cheek that joins to his mouth on his right side a scar or a mark on the photo?
I provide a photo as an example below, but you may have to go back to the clearest earlier version that you have.
https://imgur.com/a/GWkeKTq
Thanks.