A couple of months back, Byron Deveson left an intriguing comment on a (now somewhat over-run by spy talk and unkempt-looking) Somerton Man post here. He wrote:-
I think some of SM’s clothing came from Tom Kean, MD of Kean Oil after Kean’s death. This would explain the masonic (?) tie.
Recorder (Port Pirie) 20th January 1947 Page 1
Death Of Mr. Tom Kean
ADELAIDE, Sunday.
Mr. Tom Kean (managing director of Kean Oil Proprietary Limited) died at his home in Brigalow avenue, Kensington Gardens, on Friday night. He was a staunch worker for Legacy Club, a prominent Freemason, and a former State president of Commercial Travellers’ Association.
There was a second obit in the ‘Tizer (OK, the Adelaide Advertiser, if you insist):-
Mr. Tom Kean. who died at his home in Brigalow avenue, Kensington Gardens, was managing director of Kean Oils Pty., Ltd. and a foundation member of the Legacy Club. Born at Dean, Victoria. Mr. Kean joined the Vacuum Oil Co. when 21 and served in Victoria, the Riverina. Tasmania and New Zealand before being transferred to South Australia. He was SA president of the Commercial Travellers’ Association, when he joined the first AIF and served for three years. After the war he had two more terms as president and for one term served as the united president. Later Mr. Kean formed the SA firm of Kean Oils Pty., Ltd., and was managing director when he died. As a foundation member of the Legacy Club he was an enthusiastic supporter in their appeals. A son, Tom, and a daughter, Elon survive.
And even more from the Adelaide Mail:-
Reject Who Served In First A.I.F.
A foundation member of the Legacy Club, and for 43 years a member of the Commercial Travellers’ Association, Mr. Tom Kean, died last night at his home in Brigalow avenue, Kensington Gardens, after a long illness.
Mr. Kean, who was 72, served overseas with the First A.I.F. after having been rejected four times. Although never passed for service, he was sworn in by mistake, and served in France for three years as a motor driver in an ammunition column. Mr. Kean was South Australian president of the C.T.A. when he went overseas. After his return he had two other terms as president. He was united president for one term, and was the first returned soldier to hold that office. Born at Dean, Victoria, Mr. Kean was 21 when he joined the staff of the Vacuum. Oil Co. He worked in Victoria, the Riverina, Tasmania, and New Zealand before being transferred to South Australia. After a year in the motor business, Mr. Kean formed Kean Oil Pty., Ltd., of which he was managing director at his death. He was a noted worker for the Legacy Club and charity carnivals, and was a prominent Free mason. He was buried at the Centennial Park Cemetery this afternoon. Mrs. Kean, a son, Tom, and a daughter, Elon, survive him.
Oh, and it’s in the Melbourne Argus too, so it has to be true, eh?
Byron continued in a further comment:-
If SM’s clothing marked “Kean” and “Keane” came from the deceased Tom Kean of Kean Oil, then SM must have visited, or lived in Adelaide prior to 30th November 1948. I expect Kean’s clothing would have been disposed of soon after his death in January 1947 so SM was probably in Adelaide soon after this.
Commenter Misca then quickly noted:-
BD – I’m not sure if it’s relevant but Tom’s daughter Elon killed herself in December of 1947 by jumping off of the seventh floor of the Savings Bank Building. (She is buried with her father in Centennial Park Cemetery.) Cleland reviewed her death and did not open inquiry into her death. Sutherland investigated.
There’s more description here, and a picture of the building here. Incidentally, Elon Vivienne Kean had only just got engaged to Ernest Griffin, as announced in the ‘Tizer of 6th December 1947:
KEAN — RICHARDS. — The engagement is announced of Elon, only daughter of Mrs. R. Kean and the late Tom Kean, of Kensington Gardens, to Ernest only son of Mrs. C. Griffin, of Colonel Light Gardens.
But all that aside, who was Tom Kean? It turns out he was not only the president of the Commercial Travellers’ and Warehousemen’s Association, he was also the King of Commercial Travellers (i.e. the Charity king in the CTA carnival float, is my best guess). He married in 1923.
There’s a fairly gushing description of him in the Adelaide Register of 13th September 1927 (with a picture):
Mr Tom Kean, the new President of the South Australian Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen’s Association, was born in Dean (V.), a farming district between Ballarat and Daylesford. Mr. Kean, who is 52 years of age, on leaving school went on the land, but subsequently gave it up to enter the services of the Vacuum Oil Company. He represented the organization in New Zealand, Tasmania, Riverina, and South Australia. He came to this State in 1903, and evinced so much interest in the Commercial Travellers’ Association, which he joined the following year, that he was eventually elected President in 1915. Then he enlisted and went to the front, serving with the 2nd Australian Siege Battery. He was three years at the war, and on returning to Australia again resumed work with the Vacuum Oil Company. After a time he joined Adelaide Motors Limited, but in 1924 entered into business on his own account. Last year Harrisons Ramsay, Proprietary, Limited, purchased his business, and Mr. Kean took charge of their petrol, kerosine, oil, and belting department, a position he still holds. Mr. Kean is exceedingly popular in commercial circles, and especially among the men on the road, and his election is a tribute to his ability and geniality.
So… I suppose the question here is simply: what do I make of all this?
From a Somerton Man research perspective, the dead man’s clothes-as-worn and the clothes in the suitcase come across to me as fairly… random. Expensive things juxtaposed with hand-me-down stuff, along with shoes and slippers that don’t seem to fit the same feet. Pete Bowes is fond of looking at the omissions in the belongings (the famously missing socks!), but for me the overall pattern of what is present is one of give-me-downs, of charity. Did the Somerton Man have a secretly prosperous life, one that his clothes cunningly concealed? Really, I’d find it hard to believe such a thing. Regardless of anything else, his clothes seem to me to tell a tale of a marginal life, a life lived on the fringes or edges.
If, as per Byron Deveson, the story behind this all was that (the real) Tom Kean specified in his Will that his clothes be given to an Adelaide charity (he surely spent long enough competing for Charity Kingship in Adelaide to know every single local charity), and that this was where the Somerton Man got the dead man’s clothes, then I wouldn’t be surprised one little jot.
So… how can we find Tom Kean’s Will? Over to you all… perhaps?
Nick: I would be looking at the prevalence of 2nd hand clothing shops / markets in the post war years – All those men returned from the war and into changed circumstances. Some to families that had died or moved, others seeking civilian clothing, possibly some sizes larger or smaller than those they wore before the war, men who perhaps moved to other cities in the the search of work.
It’s hard to form an opinion about days that were well before our time, and how men and women survived, worked up a stake.
SM may well have had an eclectic collection of clothes, but it may have been a more common trait than we realise.
It’s difficult to understand the times when we had no part in them.
A thought, not spy related, regarding the occupation of Mr. Keane and Prosper’s predilection for things motor vehicle related. During the war years and through 1948, petrol rationing was a major issue in Australia and elsewhere as was the production of counterfeit ration stamps and cards. There are a number of cases on Trove that can be researched which speak of the problems and a number of arrests were made in South Australia. Talking to someone from that era, they recalled the issue and their comment was ‘Almost everyone was involved to one extent or another’. Big money at stake. Interesting that no ration cards of any kind were found with SM especially given that there was a new round of cards being issued that very week of November I think in Adelaide. You’d think a man who had packed his suitcase so well wouldn’t have forgotten his ration cards?
… and his socks
Also away from the spy theory-Tom Kean was once President of the CTA & Warehousemen’s Association-wonder if the SM was a member of the WA-they use stencils in a warehouse?
Pete, That’s correct, no socks either, just the pair he was wearing.
When you consider the labels removed from various items of clothing, that could be explained by those items having possibly been obtained from a charity or second hand shop. Sadly after the war many ex servicemen died of their wounds or effects of captivity so there was quite an amount of personal effects that made their way into these outlets. Mr. Kean of Oil fame is certainly one option but I wonder how many other T Kean/es there were who had died in the years following the end of the war? Another option for these items could have been ex display clothing, quite a few commercial travellers had stocks and would routinely remove the labels as the items became worn before selling them off. SMs wallet and watch could have been taken whilst his lifeless body lay on the beach that night.
But, the ration card? That would be different, ration cards were needed for some foods and certainly clothing as well as petrol. If you were going away for a period of time as it appears SM was, then those cards and stamps would have been taken with him. Recalling ration days in the UK, my mother used to keep those cards in a safe place for use when new stamps arrived or were issued and then off to the grocers or the clothing shops to by shoes or jumpers or even a Pelaco shirt? Ration cards were not the sort of thing that SM would have kept in his pocket, more likely to have kept them safe in his suitcase.
The point I’m getting to is this. Given that the cards would have identified him and that he had them in his suicase or ‘port’ as they were called at the time and that there was no sign of them when the case was found then they could/would have been deliberately removed. In fact there was not even a mention of ration cards in any of the case documents.
The other items, clothing, watch, wallet, can be readily explained but ration cards, not so. There are two possible conclusions, either they were deliberately taken to remove any sign of his identity or he never had them in the first instance which may mean he wasn’t entitled to them, an illegal perhaps.
I understand that over the years and on numerous occasions the question of all signs of identity having been deliberately removed from SM has arisen. But was there ever an instance when deliberate removal was shown to be the most credible/likely option?
Ration card records would have been kept, they existed somewhere and may still be around. A long bow perhaps but a chance.
A little tidbit…One of the founding members of the Legacy Club in Adelaide was Brigadier General R.L.Leane. He and T.Kean are documented as being at several of the same meetings; particularly at the start of the Club.
Advertiser 18th June 1949 Page 4
Evidence given by John Bain Lyons, jewellery proprietor, of Whyte street, Somerton, who said that early next morning he saw men on horses looking at a body. He examined it without touching it, and informed the police.
So, the horse riders were “looking at the body” before Lyons arrived. Lyons then must have left the scene for several minutes to phone the police. And the identities of the horse riders does not seem to have been established or even investigated. I think it is bleeding obvious why SM was found without a wallet, or a wrist watch, or anything else of value.
From experience derived from carrying out research for a well established UK authoress about the racing industry in Australia and organised crime (the authoresses’ mother was related to some of what were known as the “forty thieves” in Sydney in the 1930s-50s and she was writing a book about growing up on the edge of organised crime) I would estimate that it would be virtually certain that SM was stripped of everything of value by the horse riders.
It is possible that SM may have been carrying his bank pass book with him. I have always been suspicious that the phone number of the bank was investigated in a desultory way. Judging from many accounts, and from my own research and talking to witnesses, police, particularly those in cities, and particularly those dealing with gambling, were very prone to corruption in the 1940’s.
Lyon’s saw the body at 6.35 am, which is ninety nine minutes after sun rise (sun rise was at 4.56 am), so there was plenty of time for others to steal SM’s valuables.
Byron Deveson: it’s a very good point, and I’ve often wondered why no investigative journalist tracked down the horse riders to get the story from the, ermmmmmm…. horse’s mouth.
12 October, 1948 – The Advertiser (Adelaide)
Horses On Beach
To the Editor
“Sir—l was always under the impression that the beaches fronting the built-up area of Adelaide were preserved for the
recreation of the general public. Yet on Saturday raorninsi |my family and I made an early visit to Somerton to discover that the beach was turned into a course for the galloping and exercising of racehorses. Enquiries informed me that this
was a daily practice. Having to dodge galloping
racehorses could hardly be reconciled with relaxation on a
public beach. Then, there is the matter of
hygiene…”
G. TUOHY.
Henley Beach rd.. Mile End.
It sounds like they weren’t supposed to be there…
13 October, 1948 – The Advertiser (Adelaide)
DANGER OF HORSES
ON BEACHES
“A warning that persons galloping horses on Somerton
beach to the danger of the public would be prosecuted was
given yesterday by a Brighton Council official. The exercising of horses there was prohibited between 8 and midnight. Between midnight and 8 am they were allowed at walking pace. During the same hours they could be galloped on the beach between Harrow road and Glad
stone road…”
He was a bookmaker, but instead of nobbling the horses someone nobbled him!
…… then they pinched the winnings from his bag. Has anyone checked to see whether a horse named ‘Tamam Shud’ raced in Adelaide. Only a bookie dressed that sharp in 1948.
Pete: I give it double carpet at best. 😉
Misca, I think you’ll find that Brigadier Leane was Detective Leane’s father that’s apart from being Commissioner of Police for SA
Pete – Who knows? You could be close. Don’t forget that SM’s funeral was paid for by the Grandstand Bookmaker’s Association. One of his pallbearers was a Mr. Leo Kenny. He had a license to operate the Elephant and Castle Hotel. His daughter Patricia was very good friends with F L Smerdon’s daughter, Marie. F L Smerdon was a dentist in Glenelg. These same Smerdon’s can be found on a family tree that also includes Len Brown’s wife’s family and…wait for it…Joy Denbigh-Russell-Stuart French!
Yes, it’s all true…But, unfortunately, it still doesn’t tell us who SM was!
Oh and Leo Kenny did own a couple of horses. Unfortunately, no “Tamam Shud” to be found but one was a “Miss Ginger”.
.. this has to be said, but if ever a bookie lost his socks, our man did it well ..
boomfuckingtish!
misca: why the South Australian Grandstand Bookmakers Association (are its files in any archive? Or in someone’s loft? Was there ever such a body?) should have paid for the Somerton Man’s funeral, I have no idea. Perhaps they’d been taking bets on his identity? 😉
Pete: if the horse’s name is anything to go by, he probably finished last. Whoops, there go the life savings! 😉
I dunno, Tamam shuda done better than that ….. har har har
Nick – I haven’t been able to find any official records for the Grandstand Bookmaker’s Association. They are mentioned in several articles I found on Trove.
News (Adelaide) – 14 June, 1949
“Few See Burial of Somerton Body”
“…To prevent the victim being buried as a pauper, the cost of
the funeral is being met by the SA Grandstand Bookmakers’
Association.”
From the same article:
“…Mr. Leo Kenny, licensee of the Elephant and Castle Hotel,
opposite the City Morgue, acted as a pallbearer. He has
followed the case with great interest.”
It turns out that the SA Grandstand Bookmakers Association donated quite significant sums, often fifty pounds, to many charitable causes in the later 1940s and early 1950s. The basic wage in Adelaide in 1948 was five pounds seven shillings, so a donation of fifty pounds was essentially ten times the weekly basic wage. A significant sum in those straitened times.
So, paying for SM’s burial was not out of place. Perhaps they could sense that SM was a good punting man?
Byron, Good informative stuff. I wondered though about the watch, SM had, according to the autopsy, spent some time in the sun not recent but probably the previous year. I think it would be safe to deduce that he had a light tan of some sort. A light tan would suggest that the tell tale mark of a wristwatch would have been apparent but as is the case with so many aspects of the official reports, no mention is made of that. Any thoughts?
Not sure I agree with your comments on corruption within the Police, my experience is that corrupt officers were the exception and not the rule. I would have thought that under the command of Brigadier General Leane, the SA Police would have been run by the book. Always a possibility of course as is the likelihood of the strappers involvement, not a given though. Somewhere there is a record of the strappers names, I will do my best to see if I can uncover them.
Another horse racing connection perhaps?
A Mr T Sweeney, of 18 Kirala Avenue, Mangerton (a suburb of Woolongong) NSW Post Code 2500 wrote to Mr Neil Munro at ABC-TV some time after the screening of the 1978 Somerton Beach documentary. (pages 38/39 of “Inside Story” Part 1). Mr Sweeney suggested that the SM cipher could be a code employed by the newspaper the “Sporting Globe” to provide tips on horse races.
I have checked copies of the Sporting Globe for 1948 and the system was that this newspaper would publish a list of numbers (1 to 24) with an associated letter. Later in the week daily papers would print the coded tips.
“The Sporting Globe” Wednesday 21st January 1948 Page 5
Last-minute selections in code for Moonee Valley next Saturday.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
P F N S A K C T X B L E W M Y U O D J R H Q G V
News (Adelaide) Friday 23rd January 1948 Page 5
“SPORTING GLOBE CODE for Saturday,. January 24: First race P, second race K Eighth race N. For key to code see “Sporting Globe.” Wednesday. January 21.”
So, the tips were P= horse in barrier 1 for the first race at Mooney Valley.
K = horse in barrier 6 for the second race.
N = horse in barrier 3 for the eighth race.
If you search on Trove for “Sporting Globe” and “code” you will find many of the coded tips which seem to have been carried by the daily metropolitan newspapers.
I note that the SM cipher does not contain the letter “Z” and this is weak evidence to support the case for the “Sporting Globe” code. And I note that the SM cipher does include the rare letter “Q” which is possible with the “Sporting Globe” code.
What is needed to further pursue this is for somebody to check to see if any of the SM code corresponds with the code letters published in the daily newspapers prior to December 1948.
I note that Robert “Bob” Walsh, who was identified as SM by more than one person, was described as a mad keen punter.
I just have too many SM rabbit holes to explore at present, and horses and gambling leave me cold.
B Deveson: it’s an intriguing suggestion, one I haven’t heard before. Trove has plenty (4000+!) of references to the Sporting Globe code in Australian newspapers, but I can’t find any copies of the “Sporting Globe” itself (i.e. explaining the code). Is that in Trove somewhere?
Nick,
unfortunately the Sporting Globe isn’t available on Trove. I had to go to the National Library to see the microfilm.
But, in the present case this does not matter because the question is whether the code published in the metropolitan papers (which are available on Trove) can be matched to the SM cipher. The Sporting Globe appear to have randomly assigned letters to the numbers 1 through 24 (from a quick survey of the 1948 weekly code) which doesn’t fit with the distribution of letters in the SM cipher.
B Deveson: while I completely expect you to be right 🙂 , it’s an interesting exercise in its own right, so I might well give it a go regardless for the first 11 months of 1948.
I know nothing about horse-racing but this is an intriguing possibility. It would seem that the codes were for races that took place on Saturdays. The codes were listed on Fridays (the day before the races) and the keys were listed on the Wednesday (three days before the race). The codes were often listed by various papers but the keys seem to have only been listed in the “Sporting Globe”.
So, if we want to try to narrow things down a bit…SM died on a Tuesday (November 30th) and was found on the Wednesday (December 1rst). He most likely was not working on any codes from that week as neither the Wednesday “keys” , nor the Friday “codes” had been issued yet for Saturday’s race (December 4th).
If he was working out Sporting Globe codes they were likely for the previous Saturday’s race. For the November 27th race, the keys had been listed in the Sporting Globe on Wednesday, November 24th and the codes themselves had been listed on Friday, November 26th.
The West Australian (Friday, November 26th, 1948).
For some reason, in this instance, the keys had been listed a week and half before the race:
SPORTING Globe code for Saturday. November 27:
1st race. W; 5thrace. M: 7th race. H.
Narahquongsselections:
5th race. N: 7th race.H; 8th race, 0.
For key to code
see Sporting Globe. Wednesday.November 17.
misca: the codes could have been for any week (or, more likely, for several weeks) prior to when the book was handed to the police, never mind when the SM actually died. 😐
Nick – I agree. I just thought the week prior would be a good place to start. : )
I have found that there was a “Tusmore’s Code”, similar to the “Sporting Globe code” system. In the 1940s Tusmore’s code was published in the Chronicle on Thursdays, and the race selections were published in Saturday’s Adelaide Advertiser, and apparently also broadcast on radio station 5AD.
I transcribed all the Sporting Globe codes for 1948 and I can see no similarities with the SM cipher, but maybe another year might work?
Hello everyone; over the last few weeks I have been too busy with more pressing matters to look in here or even think about SM.
Anyway, regarding the “men on horses”. As I have suggested before, might they have propped up the body before Lyons arrived, thereby explaining the discrepancy between its lividity and posture?
There could even be an innocent explanation for their interference: it was 1948 and awareness of “crime scene integrity” was all but non-existent.
I wasn’t aware of R. L. Leane’s background until I looked him up just now. Very interesting. As police commissioner in the 1920s/30s, Leane was involved in setting up a secret ant-communist unit in South Australia (the equivalent of the “Old Guard” in NSW and Blamey’s League of National Security in Victoria). Leane has been described as extermely anti-left and anti-democratic; he also oversaw violent and illegal assaults on strikers at Port Adelaide in 1928.
R. L. Leane retired as commissioner c. 1944 and was 70 years old in 1948. However, the links to Blamey are interesting, because just after WW2 the Field-Marshal set up a private and secretive right-wing militia, known as “The Association”. It became actively involved in harassing suspected anti-communists, including at least one “bashing” of “an elderly shearer”…! (I can’t establish where that incident occurred.) The Association did have a branch in Adelaide, headed by Maj.-Gen. C. B. Simpson.
Furphy: the problem is that the narrative that emerged from the inquest etc had the guy sitting propped up in all scenarios – the only variation was whether or not his legs were crossed. SM wasn’t laid out on the sand but sitting with his head propped up on top of the rocks at the back of the beach, which (as you note) runs counter to the lividity evidence.
Gordon, A tan would also, presumably, show if he had worn a ring on a finger?
Hadn’t thought about that, but you would think so. Not sure how widely used wedding rings for men were at that time? Good thought.
“The Unknown Man.” Gerry Feltus. Page 61
“With a knowledge of past cases where intending suicides have travelled to Adelaide to end their lives, detectives have checked at railway luggage office for unclaimed baggage, so far without result.”
Gerry does not give the source or date, but it appears that the suitcase in question was only located some time after the initial inquiry by the police at the railway luggage office. I note that Ralph Craig, the station cloak room attendant who presumably issued the Somerton Man with his luggage receipt and checked in the suitcase, was on holidays at the time of the 1949 Inquest, and did not give evidence. Likewise, Harold Rolfe North, the senior porter at the cloak room in Adelaide Railway Station was not called to give evidence.
I find it a bit odd that the suitcase wasn’t located at the time of the first inquiry by police. And I find it a bit odd that formal statements do appear to have been taken from the railway employees.
I’ve seen it mentioned how he was hatless at the time, but what I’ve found more interesting is the lack of underwear.
He had several pair packed in his suitcase, but none are mentioned in this autopsy report.
Not sure of the relationship between Commissioner Leane and his namesake the Sgt. but I’m almost sure they were not father & son. The Leane family were known as ‘the fighting Leanes’ owing to their record in wicky wicky 1 but this did not include young Leon who did not serve. Apparently the elder Leane in his capacity as Commissioner had a unique way of dealing with corruption amongst his plainclothes officers which had gotten a little beyond the pale around the depression period. He re-assigned them back to uniform and brought in new talent hows that for initiative and bravado…Talking about the Leane surname didn’t it come up somewhere dealing with the Omar Khayam/Mr. Francis/Hillman car business. Maybe someone mentioned that George Thompson’s Mrs. might have been giving private poetry readings in the rear seat to Messrs. Leane Fox Francis Cowan or Cleland (not all together surely) . Could have been Mr. Deveson or It might have been musings on my part. Apologies to BD as applicable.
Gordon: I agree that SM should have been packing ration cards and or stamps, lack of which may suggest, as others have, that he may have come from a hospital or institution where he might not have had any entitlement. NB: George Marshall has been often been refered to, as having worked for the Prices Commission. My information suggests that he was likely to have been investigating crime syndicate manipulation and falsification of ration cards/stamps and illegal commodities dealing. Not too many drinking buddies at the local CIB in that business and no one to turn to for help if one was unmasked during an attempted bust. This would have to include such uncorruptables like Ray Kelly and Fred Krahe, two of Sydney’s finest men in suits during those times. Of course there must also have been inner city villains such as Helmutt Hendon the gold smuggler and Prosper Thomson (still at Potts Point ’45) with whom one would not want to cross paths working alone undercover, and unfortunately poor ‘death wish’ George did just that, though for reasons that will never become clear, sort of.
Not sure whether this has come up before (a quick search of this site doesn’t seem to yield anything)
14 June 1945, Chronicle (Adelaide):
KEANE. — On June 6, at Quambi Private Hospital, to Mr. and Mrs. T. Keane,of Brighton — a son.
Brighton is the next suburb South of Somerton….which makes a nice coinky dink (although someone advertising in the paper with a wife and son doesn’t really fit the bill for someone who can’t be identified 3 years later….but it might be suggest donated clothes to a Home (or even OpShop) in the Glenelg area….).
searching for ‘Quambi’ talks about the early days of Quambi being a sick babies hospital in North Adelaide (and later St Peters), however 1948S&M has a maternity hospital at 293 South Terrace, Adelaide (don’t let google convince you it’s St Andrews – that was a few blocks further up the road)….
And the best S&M match I could get was for:
Keane A. T. 49 Dunrobin Rd, Brighton – Nurseryman who’s still there in 1955 (and possibly later, haven’t checked). Obviously not SM, but could still be the original owner of the clothes.
There’s also a few other Keane’s around Adelaide including ones with a T,F or J in their initials. But haven’t found any that drop off the radar….
Milongal: Seems that Keanes outnumbered Crows fans at an Adelaide/Geelong home game, most of the blokes being either Thomas, Patrick or William. I can recall from memory that a Keane married one of the Ellis girls from Pier Street, New Glenelg a while back and the hight-tone couple stayed on there in the swish ville, when dad moved to Crafters after the big fire at Maple Leaf in October ‘48….Thanks for the tip on Ormuz; didn’t work out but I figured how to get on through Aust. Archs. and working through a thousand names right now.
John, Ellis? I wonder if Nancy Beaumont is related to one of Pier Street Ellis? Nancy’s maiden name was Ellis.
Byron: I looked at that possible connection quite awhile back, though could find nothing; even though the two addresses are only a few hundred metres apart.
Byron: Before someone comes back with a correction, It was Crafers where old Ellis moved to in March ’49; Me and me old dad both spent time up there in the hills, so did John Willie and Jimmy Hawkins in the early forties. I can’t imagine Jim & Nancy of Harding St. being invited over to the Ellis mansion for tiffin; those folks were pals with the Duffields, Bickfords, Cudmore’s and the like…Did you give any thought to Azlin and the dope case scenario; Not being pushy, but I’m sort of stuck in a holding pattern waiting for some direction as per my Gerry Ebook post.
@JS – Geelong is a bit of a sore point for me at the moment….Hopefully we can beat the cows this week and keep our finals chances alive. It’s a Grand old Flag….
All SM fans must be eagerly awaiting a much delayed follow-up on Walter Thomas Keane, bus mechanic? from Hamilton Vic. and his possible connections with both the Keane suitcase and Jessie Thomson, I should advise that the introduction of regular interstate Pioneer tours by the imported chassisless six tonner Flxible coach, did not commence until after its trial run between Melbourne and Adelaide on 3/3/49. It does seem that we are in for yet another disappointment, the likes of the short lived ‘Russian Kate, SS Moravia, Sister Harkness episode’ with the same people apparently behind this new scheme.
JAFO: What’s even more tenuous, downright misleading, is that Walter ‘call me Tom’ Keane, hailed from Marrickville. He was born in another inner Sydney suburb of Tempe; whilst
not too far distant, in that old inner city sprawl, it may just as well have been anywhere. On the related subject of the Thomson tie in, it seems that the name has been well known in that Western Victoria and Sth Eastern South Australia since opening up to white settlement in 1840. A good mix of graziers, polititians and newspaper people and various top end professions named Thomson can be found distributed far and wide throughout the region. As an example, in Hamilton there is a very old memorial park fountain in the town centre which is dedicated to John? Thomson, a 19th century MLA. It’s not likely that he could have been related to Prosper’s mob as they were first generation and Jessica’s side of the family likewise so far as we can say. its probably best if you keep on with your very interesting Dorothy Dix questions and hope against all hope that they may bare fruit.
I’m not sure that Mr. J.S.H. George Marshall would be too pleased about being described as a ‘black Malay’. Having been born in the Straights Settlement of Singapore to Baghdadi based Sehardi Jews named Marsal, I’d expect that he might have gone for a more non commital race label such as Straights born Singaporean which would seem to be in order. For all we know, well tanned George may never have set foot in neighbouring Malaya, home to the indiginous Malays who would,I’m certain, prefer to be described as light tanned, for want of a better word.
Not that it really matters too much Flash, but Union Street Tempe, where Misca’s lad Walter gave for his birthplace, was never within the now defunct Marrickville Council jurisdiction. It would of course be interesting to establish where the Harkness home was located; my belief being that it was somewhere between Illawarra Rd. and Old Princes Hwy. west of the Southern Rail link to Hurstville and beyond.
Not sure which Heisenberg you’re on about Jestyn 72, but you’ll be pleased to know that George, our tanned Baghdadi Jewish Philosopher was still with us for a while before Enola Gaye crossed the Nippon coast with a gift for Hirohito in her belly. You’ll no doubt be aware that his up market dual language A.P.Co. Rubaiyat purchased in Singapore late ’41, ended up at Parer St. Maroubra, whilst the condemned man had to settle for a ‘knock off’ plain paper copy to express his uncertain prophetic farewell to an uncaring public.
Crikies Clive, some prick done up and off with your old shit from Smith’s Weekly; no matter I’ve just come up with another name, not disclosed on page 18. Can’t quite understand why a decent Tivoli girl from the old dart would give her intended new abode as a whore house in Roslyn Street. Oh well, I’ll endeavour to put it all back together and see what gives.
Got it back up now, and whilst the dates are years apart, a couple of her ship mates also Tivoli folk from back in ’39 and of late Adelaide, go back to a roost in nearby Crown Street where they claimed to be domiciled during the early war years whilst working for Wirths travelling circus.
From the photos found in poor George Marshall’s flat, one with Gwen at Taronga Park Zoo and the other at the beach, he seems to have been a dedicated pipe smoker. Wouldn’t you think in that case, upon entering the park at Taylor’s Bay, with all the essential toppings, including both sentimental and ritual bits and pieces to make the passage to Nirvana comfortable, that George would have liked nothing better than a last puff on his faithfull old Briar pipe. Strangely no pipe or Tobacco was mentioned as having been with the body, or at his lodgings and that will have to go down as another unsolvable dilemma for us to ponder.
John, Tivoli? Dancers by any chance? I am reminded that Jock (George) Armstrong ex Glenelg was a “speciality dancer” who worked with Worth’s circus.
Byron: That’s correct; Wirths don’t have anything on him but many of their records were lost in the big fire. I picked him up working as a set designer with The Australian Ballet in the fifties. It seems that other family members are pretty well known in similar circles. Try the Broken Hill rags around 1951 on trove which is where I first cottoned on to his’ working in that role.
I can well imagine Joseph (why George) Marshall, along with brother Sam the author cum business man late of Perth (’41 Sydney) and his long time aquaintance Capt. Chas. Jacobs a retired Singaporean school master (’45 Sydney) of having been involved in some ùcovert pursuit. Even as alien arrivals in Australia, they seemed quite at liberty to move around from city to city without the usual wartime liens or restaints being placed upon them. In fact none of the trio appear to have been subject to any Immigration checks or record keeping whatsoever. This would suggest that they were not suspected of being fifth column agent prevocateurs for a belligerant power. Simply seen to be behaving like ‘Wandering Jews’ displaced through no fault of their own, then so what? ‘You beaut; lucky bloody country’. I have mentioned previously that George had a business partner (aunt) in Tel Aviv, who’s son, a professional footballer, then from Perth, was killed in action in Buna (suspiciously scant records) a week before George was last seen alive by his mate near 11pm on 19th May. Charles was escorting a bunch of young ladies at the time and their flirting offers to George seemed to bring about the bon homie that he was said not to have been known to possess. So much for what brother Sam and girlfriend Gwenneth the hairstylist? had to say about his character for the Inquest.
I was just about to put together a list of the folks, known to have been living close by George Marshall’s domicile and his other pad over the big bridge in the park overlooking Taylors bay. To cut down on numbers, for there were quite a few, I thought I’d make it a little more exclusive to just those who were likely to have frequented Pakies cafe and those who left town around mid 1945. The names which should be well known to SM enthusiasts at large, would include the Herbert brothers Dave & Alf who took off to work at Rum Jungle, Leon Woizikowski, Ted Slavinski’s handler who returned to Europe with a host of his Ballets Russes folk, all living around Potts Point. Ted had actually resided in the same block of flats in wylde st. Potts Point as our dead George had during 1941 and of course Ted couldn’t take off, as he’d apparently lost his lust for life earlier on in the year whilst on a contract tour of NZ. Gaston Thomson who knocked around with bad company while still in the navy and posted to Woolloomooloo, stayed around till he was demobbed then moved with his dad to the central coast near Gosford. I Guess people like Hellmutt who had made money from the war, stayed close by the action to reap further profits from the post war boom and poor Jestyn moved to Melbourne following Alf Boxall’s unexpected departure for the Islands after the Japs had quit. Remember John Coutts and his girl Holly Farram, both regulars at Pakies and happened to be into weird shoes and Omar Kaiyam freeks. They had lived for a time at 17 Bond St. in the city before moving to McElhone St. in Potts Point. John changed his name to Willie before hitting the road in mid year without telling anybody including his doting wife. He went to Canada, then the Stares where he settled and later died in Arizona, never again to return for some strange reason. Perhaps not so strange when we learn that on 3rd June, ‘45 old Reginald Gladstone Johnson was looking for firewood in the park, way across the harbour at Taylors Bay, when he just happened to bump into our George and the rest is history apart from one small thing. Reg, in his Police Statement re finding of the badly (mid winter & only thirteen days) decomposed body, happened to give his address as 24 Bond Street, city which as can be seen, was nearly opposite John Coutts old lodgings of some years before. Just another SM coincidence; one of the many!….
How remissive of me Flash, you’ll certainly be aquainted with the fact that the Thomson family had moved from Sydney’s western suburbs to Neutral Břay on the north side of the harbour in the early thirties, so the boys Adrian, Prosper, Rollo, Gaston and Quentin would certainly have been familiar with the bushland at nearby Bradley’s Head, Taylors Bay foreshore and of course Taronga Park Zoo. Now if you look at George’s get up, from the Zoo photo found at his flat after the big event, you’ll see Gwen Graham beside him looking towards an obscured male. Now do you notice also that George is seen to be wearing the very same grey diamond pattern pullover that he was found in. It might be reasonable to suggest therefore, that the photo was likely to have been taken on the very day of his demise, the zoo being right beside where he ended up. Perhaps poor Gwen wasn’t able to live with the part she played, or else she couldn’t be trusted to keep mum.
Perusing the George Marshall inquest affidavits, one can’t help but take in the marked disparity between what brother Samual and longtime friend Charles had to say regarding all aspects of his make up. In short, on one side he was a social cripple with no close buddies and a death wish, then on the other an outgoing, gregarious chap, the life of any party and an uncommon zest for life (my wording). Only Gwenneth gives us hint of a possible underlying problem with her comment to the effect that his composure was apt to change without notice. Sydney had experience a deluge of rain and bad weather during the week preceeding George’s last noted sighting on Saturday 19th May ‘45. It had apparently cleared for the weekend so Sunday, family picnic day would have been no guarantee of privacy at Taylors Bay reserve for either murder or suicide. So looks like Monday was most likely the day, perhaps after visiting the zoo; though that would give lie to Gwen’s own attested version of events were it be true. She said that he had left her in a huff following their supper together Saturday evening and she had not seen him again. We will recall that some hours later he had bumped in Charles Jakobs and his bevy of apparently available young ladies, he being at that time in very accommodating mood it seems….Where to next? dunno but I’ve just about blown out on further worthwhile comment so if there are any aspects that I might have overlooked, especially if they should hint on any involvement by any SM hit squad team, then don’t be holding back.
John Lyons insists the cigarette was unlit when he arrived on the scene; Judah Moss claims it was more than half smoked when he arrived a half hour or so later. So who’se to say they might not both have been on the money. We recall that Lyons went home to the call the police, leaving his mate and the two excited strappers to watch over the body with no particular words of guidance on what their responsibilities might be. Whilst awaiting official attendance, one of the lads, likely to have been feeling a little overawed by his unexpected role, may have taken the inviting kenista tailorie from SM’s collar, scrounged a light and hit up, compliments of the deceased. After a couple of decent drags to calm his frailed nerves, he might then have bumped it and carefully replaced the more than half done butt end back where he found it. He would not have known that by his act was tantamount to tampering with evidence and that it was likely to cause such a fuss.
I was wondering why, if George had really been so enthused about taking his own life, coordinating his parting statement of personal content in so doing; why then not do it with a poetic message from his own little volume, Between You & I, as opposed to verses from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam. It should have mattered little that his own publication was a flop, not really helped by the gramatically incorrect title. I can’t find any reference to his book on line, although a song of that title was penned by James Marshall of Charley Daniels band fame, which also bombed and possibly for the same reasons. Of course if George was murdered, as we’d all like to think, then our killer would have used the Methuan seventh edition as a well considered appropriate epitaph for the victim, perhaps also as a hint of better things to come.
Judah Moss described only what he found on the body per se, which is what he was required of him as the first uniform officer on the scene. Had the B&M matches been amongst that haul, they most assuredly would have formed part of the listed inquest exhibits and they were not. Sgt. Leane spoke of matches, though not that they had been found on the body, neither did he mention any soiled underwear, although light soiling to clothing of a non specific nature came up with connection to contents of the Keane suitcase at some point. Perhaps a half empty box of matches had been identified at the scene, along with other parafernalia, none of which could be connected to SM with certainty. I think the Coroner, if interested, would have put additional questions to the witness to expand on any additional property, but chose not to for his own reasons. Maybe Moss also assumed that Detective Strangways, the delegated investigator, would have been called to fill the gaps and for corroboration at least. That ranking officer’s not having been called as an expert scenes witness and his notable absence from further mention in the case is somewhat hard to fathom.
According to Hoyle George only had one brother and that was David who stayed in Singapore to meet the Japs in ’42; he had been two years senior to our man and didn’t marry until late in middle age, about ’59 after his brief stint as the island state’s chief minister. Who then was Samuel who supposedly attended the death inquest all the way from Perth, where he claims to have been a city merchant. All I could find on him was two occasions when he registered weirdo literary works in May & June, 1940 whilst domiciled in Sydney, at about the time alleged brother George arrived in town. In Sam’s oh so carefully worded inquest deposition, he accounts for his brother’s strange ways since being hit by a car aged seven (can’t imagine there being too many speedsters in the Singas’ of 1917). At 18 he was sent off to France for higher learning, which took up nearly all of the next decade and more. Yet here we have old Charles Jacobs formerly of Raffles Institute, declaring that he and George had maintained steady contact from about 1924 to the present; so a little overlooked ambiguity at the inquest it would seem. I note that in 1954 a Samuel Saul Marshall applied to register designs for an ashtray and a food receptacle which I guess could be followed up; there’s also the matter of young Rothchild Marshall bn. 1925 who gave his NOK as Saul when inlisting for service with the RAAF from Perth in ’44. You know something else, George was not black like a jiggaboo at all, same shade as his big brother David actually, just a swarthy Arabian sort off copper tone if you ask me. I’m not gonna go out on a limb here mind, but the conveniently knawed on left overs at Taylors bay, which they had identified rather smartly by Monday 4th July as possibly Malayan, surely looked a few shades darker than one might have been expecting, even wit a two week lay over in sunny Sydney mid winter. By the way the little Methuen Rubaiyyat was found open and face down upon the dead man’s chest not laying about or under the body, as others would like to have us believe.
S. Marshall arrives in Perth off the Charon from Singapore and gives a residential address and I’m thinking it has to be David Saul, the future Singaporean Chief Minister. Lately released from internment in Japan, the bio claims that he goes to Australia to hook up with his dad Saul Nassim and his brothers. Problem is that none of the family seem to be listed with our immigration entry records period. All the other possibly interesting stuff on Sam Saul with archives requires money to get some answers, which sadly I can’t accommodate to. At this point, bearing in mind no other inquiring minds seem to be out there, I’ll just drop off in the interests discretion and allow these seemingly inordinantly disparitory numbers of otherwise interesting Shlomo connections to whither on the vine.
Even a nibble from the dark side is encouraging, along with a retraction too which is a laudable concession thither. Yes Flash indeed, the small though robust little book by Methuen was on the dead man’s chest, cover-up and probably slanting downward from its centre to create an non intentional run-off of the hard covers, if you get by drift. We need not concern ourselves too much with strong on winds or updraughts due to cliffs or the like; in a nutshell there were none and Taylors bay is without much doubt one of the most protected coves in Sydney Harbour from the weather. For any researcher with the capacity to do so, I would emplore finding more on mysterious brother Samual Saul Marshall, then getting hold of Gwen Graham’s inquest papers. Wrist cutters are not traditionally driven towards a successful terminative outcome of their folly, so we really need to understand more on her pathology result before we might venture to make any serious accusations of impropriety towards her other Jewish customer Hellmuth Hoenig, or indeed other unidentified culprits.
Not to suggest for a second that we should not have concetn for the book laying insitu, seemingly undisturbed for two whole weeks; especially with the advanced state of decomposition of the remains. There is a photo of the mess poking about which I recall seeing a while back, noting at the time, that poor George appeared none too well for the state he was in. I wondered then whether any scientific analysis of the blowfly larval maturation was undertaken to see if all tallied with that period of time undisturbed and open to the elements. I do recall a previous post suggesting the possibility of easy undetected access to Taylor’s Bay by water, had an outside influence been involved and be thus able to further attend the dumped remains for servicing as dictates demanded.
What person with a modicum of nouse could accept that a chap with an uncommon bent for phylosophical thought such as George Marshall was claimed to have possessed in abundance, could have been sucked into the flowery populist renditions quasi literal translations of Omar Khayyam by the successors of a mediocre poet like Edward Fitzgerald. Alleged underlining of two Rubaiyat quatrains, which were going to earn him an exulted existance in Paradise don’t ring true for a minute in my analysis of the facts put forward as proof of self destruction. George’s thoughts on an afterlife would have been centered more towards his orthodox Jewish teachings from the Torah if anything and the Rubaiyat’s simplistic message doesn’t come close to such an outcome in my view.
Who is “Hoyle”?
The Sunday newspaper spread beneath the body at Taylor’s bay would have told the reader that the day ahead was to be cold to mild in the metropolitan area, with light winds and overcast sky. Saturday had been rather cold with a maximum temperature of 13 (55); hardly heatwave conditions and one could only expext the ensuing days to experience similar wintry weather for Sydney. So if Our George was found to be sporting a suntan in his extended sijourn, he must have been exposed to an unseasonal burst of summer sunshine along with accompaning blow flies. One might also wonder, if he had been intent on suicide for some time, as intimated by ‘brother’ Sam, why should he have paid his absentee landlord a full month rental advance on 18th May. For that matter why should Mr. Blair have gone to George’s bank inquiring about his whereabouts. In doing so he must have suspected something had happened to his ‘Malayan’ tenant. It also transpired that police spoke of their John Doe being probably if Malayan race to the press on the day of his discovery. NB: OK so they did have his bespoke shoes with makers label and a Singapore address thereupon, but surely that should not have been sufficient of itself to draw a presumption along racial lines especially in that Malays were a minority and not of a skin colour described for the victim.
The shoes Clive; both SM and GM were wearing maker identifiable hand crafted bespokes. That should count for something. So should Paul Lawson’s ton up bash to-morrow. I’m sure you’ll be in touch to wish him a happy birthday and to remind him that he’s considered tops when comes to colourful physical descriptions albeit controversial.
Misca: ‘Hoyle’ as in Edward Hoyle (whist) is a by-word representing the best authority.
George Marshall may in fact have had up to six siblings though, apart from David and Millie, no others appear in documented form that my limited research means have disclosed. An interesting aspect of older brother David’s formative life is that it seemed to have mirrored George’s own to a degree. This would include serious illness as children and then both being educated on the Continent up to late maturity, with eventual return to the fold in Singapore about 1939. As to there being seemingly no detail of the family’s en mass migration to Australia at the outbreak of WW2, such might have avoided the normal alien registration formalities due to their likely have had British Subject status.
We do recall one of the old blogspot blurbs in which the brand name ‘FOY’s, a subsidiary of Coles’was mentioned as a possible place of purchase for SM’s bespoke shoes. As the accompanying catalogue seems to suggest another store, entirely, perhaps FAY’s, we might need some clarification from the informant. Mark Foys, an iconic Sydney department store, was also known to specialise in quality mens shoes of various popular brands, local as well as up market imported styles. They had nought to do with Coles or Myer and were a very big operation. They closed down their main Elizabeth general merchandise outlet and a large shoe store? under their own terms in 1980. I recall following up on the name ‘Mc …..’ that John Cleland may have written down and found a large shoe manufacturer in Sydney called MacNoughts (sic), who just happened to have their Bespoke division run by a certain Werner. Due to their having become defunct, I was not able to get very far with the ‘204’ identification probe. The only other interesting thing I found was that the name Werner had also been associated with John Alexander Scott Coutts aka John Willie when the pair had their own brand of designer shoes in the 30’s..Sort of interesting stuff Clive but no longer apt to serve any purpose for a break in the case unfortunately.
Paul: It seems you’re the lad that mother forgot to drown. So best wishes, many happy returns for your 100 well deserved years and hope that the best times are still ahead. Go easy on the cloudy Coopers and may your memories of the past on your special day bring you a feeling that you have lived a pretty useful life to date. ps. Tell us how you became such an expert on legs?…
Just maybe, if John Cleland wrote down the name McKeon, McNaught or another, it was done as a note for follow-up on who could have been a likely maker for the SM‘s hand crafted shoes with designator 204. Jock McKeon was known Australia wide as a go to man to ask about the ins’n outs of shoe manufacture and that may have been reason enough for the moniker notation. Unfortuntely we were not made aware of whether such inquiries were pursued by the great man; so sorry Philip, it aint never that simple.
Hello John Sanders, I’ve come to this page in a very roundabout way. I am doing a research project on Holly Anna Faram (Farram) who wa,s as you know, married to John Alexander Scott Coutts (Willie). Fascinated by the possible connection to Somerton Man and Wener theory.
But my focus is on Holly and her life with John. You seem to have some knowledge of them referencing John leaving in the middle of the night and where they lived in Sydney. Would you be happy to correspond with me about them?
Please email me at [email protected]
Patrick Boland: Yeah sure Patrick, I have a pretty good memory of Holly which might need some revision though. Always wondered whether John Willie ever re connected with her after decamping in 1946 thereabouts. Of course the couple were known well at Paki’s pre war and she was often seen there in the fifties, but the Brisbane based risque high heels club activities of an earlier period were long gone by then..I’ll give you a call if our moderator has no objections so, what say Nick? you never know and I’ve got some questions concerning a missing German seaman named ‘archilles’ that might shed new light on aspects of our case.
John, I’m afraid you’ll be more help to me than me you. But a chat would be great. You can get my number off my website if you google Patrick Boland Photographer.
There’s no online info about the High Heels Club so verbal confirmation would be fantastic. You’ll also have to fill me in on Paki’s club?
Archilles is a mystery to me as is Werner.
Just heard it through the gravevine that our leading SM blog is prepping for a new inititiative re the 1945 Marshall/ Graham 1945 suicides in Sydney, whilst our own interests in have been diverted elsewhere. This all with a little helpful input by a number of trusted and well known roving surrogates no less. Lets see what gives before considering our options on whether to join in the mellee or else bide our time and see what transpires from their plotting and brewings. Sorry for blowing the whistle Gordon but you let the cat out of the casket and whatsmore your troops need a little more training in deceptive ploys. Hope I haven’t put the mockers your revival plans old (has) bean You used to call her Gweneth just like everyone else.
Nothing wrong with going back to dig deeper into Mr. Hendon and his good lady Gweneth to see what surprises might be awaiting. I aways considered the case to be every bit the equal of it’s Somerton Man headliner counterpart with it’s own enduring intrigue, especially the victim’s pedegree etc. Perhaps even moreso due to it’s all too straight forward inquest verdict for self destruction and like encore for poor Gwen, that is until one makes the effort to look a little closer at the evidence, it’s too all too perfect inquest evidence suggestivemof there being likely collusion and something to hide. Of course some see possible links to the same group of people that the BS/TS Cramer cartel have long claimed to be part of it’s SM conspiracy fiasco. And of course now that poor Gweneth Graham has been formally nuptualised to our old friend Hellmut Hendon @ Hellmuth Hoenig etc., courtesy of a previously named & shamed BS/TS manipulator of genealogical sites. Anyway, as I said let’s wait and see what gives and if there are new moves afoot as threatened by the master of surprises, than I guess I could muster up a few nice bits of long buried Marshall treasure to accommodate.