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Posts tagged ‘carl webb’

It ain’t over until it’s over.

Put that saying down to Yogi Berra, yank baseball player, the same bloke who was responsible for “It’s like deja-vu all over again”

Well, the Carl Webb Mystery is far from over, never mind what people are saying, we still don’t know all the whys and wherefores. All we know is who he was. The whys are still orphans.

For instance – Jessica Harkness – she knew enough about Alf Boxall to suggest she’d done a fair bit of homework on him by the time Detective Canney rolled up to her front door to ask why her phone number was connected to Carl Webb whose body was found just a couple of hundred yards away from her home six months previously. Carried there in fact. Laid out. Stripped of ID. Not a penny in his pocket. A secret message hidden in a secret pocket. Sounds like something out of a Hollywood post-war thriller.

Then, in the company of three detectives and Paul Lawson she all but lost it when viewing his bust, but not too much as she gave the same one word answer to all their questions.

No. No. NO.

This lady had a secret buried so deep a roomful of experienced detectives couldn’t shake it out of her.

Same with Gerry Feltus when he interviewed her years later, same silence. The lady was stone. And for what? An out of work instrument maker over from Melbourne who repaired his clothing with industrial strength thread and carried a collection of paraphenalia that could open locked doors and start cars?

Then, getting back to Boxall, how come Jessica was able to give the police the whole boxful on him, as in where he worked, drank and lived when he told his interviewer (Littlemore) he never even knew what her last name was? And after looking at the video of that interview a hundred times the more I’m convinced Boxall didn’t even remember meeting her in the first place.

You want more?

Stuart Littlemore, Charles Wooley and Gerry Feltus all had the opportunity to ask if Jessica Harkness was also know as Jestyn. Wooley interviewed her daughter, Kate, Littlemore interviewed Boxall and Feltus spent an hour with the lady herself  .. and none of them asked the question. Now you’ve got everybody from Derek Abbott to Gordon Cramer referring to her as such. Jestyn this and Jestyn that like they have some inside information we don’t.

Meet the researcher who believes he's solved the 70-year-old mystery of 'Somerton Man' | The Independent

You’re nowhere near the end of it Professor.

Come to think of it, when the NSW police first rousted Boxall and he showed them the Jestyn Rubaiyat do you think they might have asked him the Jestyn question, or at least passed the information onto SAPOL so they could ‘continue with their local enquiries.’

No.

Never happened.

Where did he die? How did he die? Who was with him when he died? Who carried him from where he died to where he was found? Whose Rubaiyat was found in Freeman’s car? Who knew what Tamam Shud meant and why did they hide the slip of paper it was written on in his fob pocket? And finally, what influenced Jessica to keep silent all the way to her grave.

An out of work instrument maker over from Melbourne who repaired his clothing with industrial strength thread and carried a collection of paraphenalia that could open locked doors and start cars?

 

Yogi Berra was on the money.

Yogi Berra, Dead at 90: Remembering the Yankees Hero, Icon, and Wordsm | Vanity Fair

It ain’t over until its over.

 

 

 

What might Jessica, Alf and Estyn have in common?

RMMV Stirling Castle

MV Stirling Castle

Ask yourself .. If you were being sent back to Australia from the UK to face a court martial would it be on the same boat you came over on, the MV Stirling Castle? Bars, babes and deck quoits? Dinner at the Captain’s table, live music in the lounge, deckchairs poolside?

Estyn D. Jones may have.

Estyn? That’s a tough name to grow up with in this country. Who wants to be called that in a classroom of thirty young boofheads, it sounds like a girl’s name, Esther,  and Dick. Another invitation to ridicule is to be called Dick so all a fellow can do to get out of the predicament his parents have placed him in is drop the Dick, grab the J from Jones and stick it in front of the Estyn. Then HEY PRESTO, now we have a young dude nicknamed Jestyn.

~~

1946.

Corporal ESTYN Jones posed as a Warrant Officer on MV Stirling Castle on a voyage from Australia to England in March 1946 arriving in the UK in April. This impersonation was deemed an offence and Jones was committed to a Court Martial and sent back to be tried in Keswick South Australia for this and other alleged offences.

Then …. in October of the same year.

Jessica Harkness became pregnant (give or take a week or two)

Alf Boxall arrived home on leave.

and ….

Estyn Jones’ Court Martial commenced in KESWICK SA. re alleged offences committed on MV Stirling Castle, amongst others, all of which were dismissed.

We know he was back at Hampstead, Adelaide by 19 Aug 1946, the court martial papers seem to suggest that he had arrived back in Adelaide only a few days previously. The Stirling Castle had docked in Sydney from 20 Jun to 29 Jun and from 2 Oct to 9 Oct in 1946.

All of this probably doesn’t amount to much other than a chain of coincidences, but I like it, a lot.

And I like even better the way Jones signed off his E for Estyn. The J in Jones looks likely as well but I’m no expert.

Now he’s buried in the same cemetery as Jessica. Not to mention he lived in Henley Beach and that’s where Webb was headed.

Thanks Clive ..

Evidence shows Jessica Harkness wasn’t too bothered ….

“The Advertiser” 11 Dec 1948 Page 16: For sale: ‘Oak table with 4 chairs and Child’s playground”. Mrs Thomson, 90a Moseley St, Glenelg. (No contact number given.)

There are still plenty of people out there who believe Jessica Harkness and Prosper Thomson were somehow involved in the death of Carl Webb despite there being no evidence. It’s a road well-travelled. Been down there plenty of times meself.

The small coastal township of Glenelg would have been a HOTBED of gossip and intrigue in the days after Webb’s body was found lying beside the steps leading to the beach, looking like he’d just fallen asleep. A good-looking clean shaven man, well dressed, unmarked.

Stone. Cold. Dead.

Imagine. The local hotels, bakery, green grocer, bars, paper shop, pharmacies, cafes, restaurants, The regulars who used the same steps to reach the beach every day. Their theories, their questions. All of them asking .. who is he?

Webb’s body stored in the Adelaide morgue and subject to an unending stream of visitors who thought they knew him or were just curious, no doubt some Glenelg residents amongst them. All of them asking …. who is he?

And there’s Jessica, serene, high above the crisis, flogging off unwanted items in the classifieds ten days after the body was found.

Knowing who he was.

Then, three weeks later she was looking to pay cash for a bungalow and rent out Moseley St. (Advertiser 1 Jan, 1949 page 9)

thanks Clive for the heads up

 

John Russell Keane

Chapter by chapter the Somerton Man mystery closes its pages. We have Carl Charles Webb and now John Russell Keane, leaving the relationship Jessica Harkness shared with Webb and the circumstances surrounding his death unaccounted for.

The incomplete chapters.

~~

Flying Officer John Russell Keane (409839), the son of Freda Grace Webb and Thomas G Keane, served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War Two. He was attached to RAF No. 5 Operational Training Unit at the time of his death in November 1943. John was the son of Gerald Thomas Keane and Freda Grace Keane of East Brunswick, Victoria, Australia. He died on 29th November 1943 aged 26 years old.

Keane was the pilot on board Lockheed Hudson AM694. The crew took off from RAF Long Kesh, near Lisburn, Co. Down at 1520hrs on 29th November 1943. The non-operational flight was a bombing exercise over Lough Neagh. At 1609hrs, the Australian crew completed their task but proceded towards Templepatrick, carrying out a series of steep turns over Loughermore Estate near Dunadry, Co. Antrim. They were due to return to base and this section of the flight was unauthorised.

During one of these turns, the pilot throttled back both engines and the plane lost height rapidly. The engines stalled and the port wing struck the ground. The Hudson burst into flames and all those on board died in the impact.


Back Row: 1. Flight Sergeant Sydney Ross Hore, 2. Michael Lancelot Huppatz, 3. Leading Aircraftman Donald Edward Hefford, 4. Flight Lieutenant James Hodges, 5. Warrant Officer Clifford Anthony Ingham, 6. Flying Officer Ross Walter Geue, 7. Pilot Officer Stanley Ernest James, 8. Warrant Officer John Morton Kemp, 9. Flight Sergeant Wilfred Harper, 10. Pilot Officer Arthur Leonard Gibbons. Middle Row: 1. Pilot Officer Leslie Ronald Giles, 2. Flying Officer John Russell Keane, 3. Flying Officer Leslie Clive Greaves, 4. Flying Officer Mervyn Charles Heal, 5. Flight Lieutenant Roy Campbell Kennedy, 6. Flight Lieutenant Peter Bowen Jackson, 7. Flight Lieutenant Kevin Elliott Harrison, 8. Flight Lieutenant Peter James Harnetty, 9. Flying Officer Harry Girven, 10. Warrant Officer Frank Henry James Grey, 11. Flying Officer Robert Mackay Hilliard. Front Row: 1. Leading Aircraftman Ian Eric Johnston, 2. Flying Officer Eric Hurrell, 3. Flying Officer Reginald Douglas Green, 4. Flight Lieutenant Ross Vigors Hanns, 5. Corporal Walter Richard John Rice, 6. Warrant Officer John Kendrick Jones, 7. Warrant Officer Keith Leonard James Killen, 8. Flight Lieutenant Eric Anthony Gogler, 9. Flying Officer Frank Knowles Harker.

All information lifted from the following site.

John Russell Keane

Derek Abbott revealed that Mr Webb’s oldest sister, Freda Grace Webb, was married to Thomas Gerald Keane, who went by Gerald.

The couple’s son, John Keane, died in the World War II in 1943, which was the same year Mr Webb’s brother Roy died in battle.

John Keane’s possessions included items such as a map of Chicago and some American coins, which implies he resided in the US at some point.

‘Therefore, the hand-me-downs that (Carl) Charles Webb received from his brother-in-law might likely have included clothing of his nephew, explaining why a number of items in the Somerton Man’s possessions appeared to be of US origin,’ Professor Webb added.

It also gave a further clue as to why Mr Webb had the word ‘Keane’ labelled on his tie when his body was found.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11099129/Somerton-Mans-family-revealed-wearing-American-clothes-time-death.html

Some of these items if not all might also have belonged to Keane.

‘He was sullen, rude, wrote his own poetry and may have had mental issues.’

The Suicide by Elihu Vedder.


The Keane Connection.

John Keane, died in the World War II in 1943, which was the same year Mr Carl Webb’s brother Roy died in battle.

John Keane’s possessions included items such as a map of Chicago and some American coins, which implies he resided in the US at some point.

‘Therefore, the hand-me-downs that (Carl) Charles Webb received from his brother-in-law might likely have included clothing of his nephew, explaining why a number of items in the Somerton Man’s possessions appeared to be of US origin,’ Professor Abbott added.

It also gave a further clue as to why Mr Webb had the word ‘Keane’ labelled on his tie when his body was found.

The Sister

Mr Webb had five siblings including two brothers and three sisters (pictured, older sister Doris Maud Webb)

Mr Webb had five siblings including two brothers and three sisters (pictured, older sister Doris Maud Webb)

A Tragic Chain of Events.

Documents revealed Webb suffered unspeakable tragedy in the years leading up to his death in 1948, with four of his close relatives dying in a seven-year stretch.

His father Richard died in 1939, his brother Roy and brother-in-law John Keane died in the war in 1943 and his mother died in 1946.

There was also the breakdown of his marriage to Dorothy Jean, which led to the couple’s split in April, 1947.

He Would Be Sullen and Rude.

‘If he (Carl) lost he would be sullen and rude to me, or anyone else, if he lost at cards, he would become unpleasant to everyone,’ Mrs Webb said in documents.

She described him as living a quiet life and being in bed by 7pm each night and that he sometimes ‘refused’ to speak to her.

Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick suspected Mr Webb had mental health issues and would ‘spiral down’.

~~

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11099129/Somerton-Mans-family-revealed-wearing-American-clothes-time-death.html

His DNA

Speaking to the Guardian Abbot said: “The most important thing is that the DNA taken from the hair caught in the plaster cast of Somerton man matches with distant cousins of Carl “Charles” Webb on both maternal and paternal sides of the family.”


His Poetry

Details about Webb were provided when the couple filed for divorce. “One of the interesting details is that [Webb] was into writing his own poetry,” Abbott says, which connects to the evidence of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

~~

Now we have Carl Webb, we have to start all over again.

“I suspected right from the beginning of this case – because a lot of the spy theories came around in the ’40s. I thought, ‘That’s all very well, but it’s more likely to be something banal, really.’ And that’s what it turned out to be, all quite pedestrian,”

Derek Abbott

Banal: so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring.

Oh, really?

~~

Carl Webb, electrical fitter / instrument maker, checked his suitcase into Adelaide Station’s luggage office on the 30th of November 1948, paying for a 24 hour lodgement. Then he bought two tickets to two beaches. The following morning he was found dead on one of them.

Coroner Cleland“Although he died during the night of the 30th November – 1st December, I cannot say where he died.”

Professor John Cleland“The lividity around the ears and neck was perhaps surprising in view of his position, but it was explainable. It would depend on how much the head was supported, it may have been slight, perhaps no more than one’s head supported on a pillow.”

Professor Sir Stanton Hicks” …. If it (the poison) had not been self-administered, and the body brought there (Somerton Beach), that would remove any doubts as to the time at which death took place, as well as any other difficulties.”

~~

Perhaps Webb was in Adelaide to see Prosper Thomson knowing he had a connection to Clinic Distributors and was using their Hindley Street address for his classifieds. That may have accounted for his purchase of the Henley Beach ticket.

He may have made a call from the station to determine if Prosper was there after finding the Clinic Distributors number in the phonebook. Or perhaps he was told the number by someone before arriving in Adelaide.

Perhaps he wrote it down before setting out.

~~

Littlemore: “Chief Inspector, you said there were two ‘phone numbers in – in the book.”

Brown: “Yes.”

Littlemore: “What about the other one.”

Brown: “The other one – er was of er – business premises and we were not able to trace or find any person that had -er spoken to the deceased person. Um – we were satisfied that er- this was just probably noted down in a – in a general way that any -er ordinary person would note the ‘phone number down.”

Littlemore: ” But not necessarily so satisfied about the first one.”

Brown: “No.”

~~

Perhaps Webb was in Adelaide to see Prosper Thomson knowing he had a connection to the Moseley Street address and was using the it for his classifieds. That may have accounted for his purchase of a Glenelg ticket.

Perhaps he was told the number by someone before arriving in Adelaide as finding a telephone number in a phonebook is almost impossible without knowing the name of the subscriber. Perhaps that’s when he wrote it down.

He may have made a call from the station to determine if Prosper was there.

And it’s beginning to look like he was.

 

Were all the Webbs as camera shy as Carl?

Nobody’s having much luck in finding any more images of Carl Webb and as a result they are beginning to concoct a whole new series of reasons of why not, one being he was gay and given the times wasn’t too willing to advertise it, another that he had a nervous breakdown after his brother died, all meaning ……….

Here we go again.

The committee though has come up with something a little revolutionary, asking if all the Webbs were equally discretionary when it came to having their photos taken and if so then that’s the mystery solved. The whole thing turns into a case of join the club.

We would ask any willing burrower to consider having a dig. Any successful efforts will gain substantial exposure, worldwide.

The Webb Mob

Russel R Webb 1893-1949

Freda Grace Webb 1896-1964

Gladys May Webb 1897-1955

 

Doris Maud Webb 1901-1956

Mr Webb had five siblings including two brothers and three sisters (pictured, older sister Doris Maud Webb)

 

Roy Webb 1904-1943

 

Carl Charles Webb 1905-1948


We need the full collection, and who knows, young Carl might show up at a wedding or birthday party.

1947 – Prosper Thomson’s want ads and the possible uses of Carl Webb’s tools.

Updated … *

Screwdriver and Bobby Pin

 

The Six Pencils.

*‘Graphite powder is the preferred lock lubricant for professional locksmiths, so you know it’s good for lockpicking, All you need is a lead pencil.’  Robin Mansur. lock-picking.wonderhowto.com

 

Cut down knife and screwdriver.

*‘Johns & McHale specialised in odometer manufacture and ex-employees talk of how they learned how to disconnect them in rental cars to reduce their costs. There’s also a nice video on youtube showing how you clock a vintage mechanical odometer. All you need is a small screwdriver and a strong, thin, flat edge to prise apart the numbers on the barrel if you want to move them individually.’ Lifted from CipherMysteries, comment by Jamie.

 

Particle Brush containing an unidentified black powder.

Could be used to apply pencil graphite to the inside of car lock to assist the lockpicker. The black powder shaken from the brush was not successfully analysed by James Cowan as he only tested it for common poisons.

 

Scissors

Could be used to strip ignition wires. An electrician/electrical engineer would have no trouble hot wiring any car in the 1940s.

 

~~ 

*The Rubaiyat associated with Carl Webb had the Moseley Street phone number Prosper Thomson used for his classifieds (from July 1947) written on the back cover.  Number X3239.

Prosper Thomson’s girlfriend Jessica Harkness, who lived at Moseley Street at the time, almost fainted when she was shown Webb’s bust. When questioned by the police she divulged nothing. Prosper Thomson was not interviewed.

Carl Webb’s body was found on the morning of December 1, 1948 only two hundred yards away from Jessica’s home in Moseley Street.

The coroner ruled that Webb did not die where he was found, citing the body’s conflicting lividity.

The cold case investigator – ex-detective Gerry Feltus – interviewed a man who had formally reported to the police in 1959 that he and three others had seen a man carrying another man along Somerton beach on the night of November 30, 1948, the night before the body was found.  Feltus, a seasoned detective, found the man reliable.

Some conclusions  may be drawn.

~~

Some of the classifieds Prosper Thomson placed in 1947 together with other relevant information.

1947 – Jessica Harkness arrives in Adelaide from Melbourne.

Feb 47 – Clinic Distrib. WANTED – Paying cash or exchange take over terms for Roadster.

Mar 47 – Clinic Distrib. FOR SALE – Morris 10 hp series 1940 for Dodge or similar. Genuine NSPR.

Mar 47 – Box 1009j. WANTED – House or flat. Thomson

Mar 47 – FOR SALE – Dodge 1923 single seater NSPR £110

Mar 47 – Wanted .22 rifle (Three times this month). Hindley St.

Mar 47 – WANTED .22 auto or repeater -cash or exchange Healing Cycle. Thomson

Mar 47 – WANTED. Car, any make, any model, buckboard will do. Thomson Box 1009j.

Mar 47 – WANTED. Partner for used car business – £500 to £1000. City premises. Box 1009j £500 to £1,000

April 47 – CARL WEBB DESERTS WIFE.

Apr 47 – Wanted. Car or buckboard, any make. McTaggart (twice more this month). Box 953H

May 47 – WANTED. Employment of any kind. Good refs Thomson. Box 953H

May 47 – WANTED. URGENTLY. Car any type, spot cash. Thomson. Box 953H

May 47 – WANTED DESPERATELY. Car, any type, pay cash. Box 953H. £75 to £200

May 47 – WANTED. Any make car, cash or takeover terms. Thomson. £150. Box 953H

May 47 – WANTED. Building suit workshop – pay ingoing or buy plant. URGENT. Thomson. Box 953H.

June / July 1947 – Jessica Harkness gives birth to son Robin.

July 47 – WANTED. 1946 / 47 sedan for taxi. URGENT. Thomson, X3239. Moseley Street.*

 

And a big thank you to Dude47, who’s been been plugging Webb as a shifty sort of character from day 1.

The Somerton Man’s Ship Has Sailed

The end of a long voyage

Read more

CARL ’CHARLES’ WEBB and His Family Tree.

See end of post for family tree.

~~

The Somerton Man is said to be Carl ‘Charles’ Webb.

Born 1905 Footscray, Melbourne.

He had six siblings.

He disappeared in ‘April 47, the same year Robin was born and Jessica moved to Adelaide from Melbourne.

Deserting his wife, Dorothy “Doff” Webb. Maiden name Dorothy Jean Robertson.

They had no children.

She divorced him in absentia in 1951 and by that time was living in Bute, South Australia, 90 miles from Adelaide.

Electrical Engineer – Instrument Maker.

Australian.

DNA match made. First cousin three times removed on his mother’s side.

No photo of him found.

No official record of him found other than his record of birth.

No death record.

None of his family on record as having identified him as the Somerton Man from newspaper photos

Derek Abbott claims success. Colleen Fitzpatrick claims success.

SA police have no comment to make, neither verifying or confirming this claim.

Abbott has found Webb had a brother-in-law named Thomas Keane who lived in Brunswick, and believes the sharp objects were likely used in his work as instrument maker.

Abbott found family records showing he wrote poetry and liked a punt on the racehorses.

The following lifted from CNN, article written by Hilary Whiteman.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/26/australia/australia-somerton-man-mystery-solved-claim-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

Who was Carl ‘Charles’ Webb?

According to Abbott, Webb was born on November 16, 1905 in Footscray, a suburb of Victoria’s state capital Melbourne. He was the youngest of six siblings.

Little is known about his early life, Abbott says, but he later married Dorothy Robertson — known as Doff Webb.

When Webb emerged as the prime person of interest on the family tree, Abbott and Fitzpatrick set to work, scouring public records for information about him. They checked electoral rolls, police files and legal documents. Unfortunately, there were no photos of him to make a visual match.

“The last known record we have of him is in April 1947 when he left Dorothy,” said Fitzpatrick, founder of Identifinders International, a genealogical research agency involved in some of America’s most high-profile cold cases.

“He disappeared and she appeared in court, saying that he had disappeared and she wanted to divorce,” Fitzpatrick said. They had no known children.

FAMILY TREE

https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/tree/184165889/family/familyview?cfpid=372402315111

Courtesy of Byron Deveson.

 

 

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