NOTE – THIS IS NOT A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE TRAGIC CHRISSIE VENN MURDER. IT IS ABOUT THE STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH DRS. RATTEN AND FERRIS FOUND THEMSELVES GIVING EVIDENCE AT THE TRIAL.
In August 1914, the rural Tasmanian community of Sheffield lost both its young doctors; one to the war, one to another township.
Source – Daily Telegraph, Aug. 20 1914
The two men could not have been more different, although they did share a love of cars and cricket. Frederick Ferris had received his medical degree from Melbourne University. He did not suffer fools gladly and his bedside manner, as my grandmother would complain in later years, left something to be desired.
Victor Ratten had obtained his medical diploma in Chicago, and it would ultimately prove to be bogus. However, he was charismatic and gregarious. He built an up-to-date private hospital in Sheffield, and contributed to the community in military training, sporting activities and as a Justice of the Peace. His glamorous wife Blanche was a talented singer and pianist.
DR VICTOR RATTEN IN HIS SURGICAL WHITES
Victor’s stint in WWI was brief, and his discharge on medical grounds is now known to have been obtained in very dodgy circumstances. Nevertheless, Sheffield residents welcomed their beloved GP back in March 1915. To their disappointment he did not stay for long. Early the following year the ambitious young doctor sold up and moved south to Hobart. He purchased a lucrative city practice.
In May 1917 there was a walk out by British Medical Association doctors at the Hobart Public Hospital. They were complaining over the free treatment of wealthy patients. Victor Ratten’s attempt to join the Association had been rejected due to his American diploma (even genuine American diplomas were not recognised by them) This now created an amazing opportunity for him. The Government was desperate to find non B.M.A. staff to keep the hospital running. Victor may have been self- taught, but his reputation as a surgeon was high. He was appointed Surgeon Superintendent.
Meanwhile Dr Ferris had quietly established himself as a G.P. in the small, North West Coast town of Ulverstone.
Dr Frederick Ferris (Photo courtesy of Melbourne University)
In February 1921, a tragedy occurred that brought Ferris to public notice. It would ultimately see the two old rivals from Sheffield on opposite sides in a sensational trial.
Thirteen year old Chrisse Venn was murdered at North Motton, just outside Ulverstone. Her body had been placed in a stump. Dr. Ferris conducted the post mortem, and concluded she had been sexually assaulted and suffocated. Local farmer George King was arrested, though on very little evidence. He was a newcomer to the area and feelings against him in the tight-knit community were so strong that the trial was moved from Launceston to Hobart.
Source – Find a Grave Memorials.
On the left of the illustration below is the tall stump the girl’s body was found in. George King was solidly built and 6′ 4″. It was argued he was physically capable of placing Chrissie Venn in the stump. On the right is lonely Allison Road, where Chrissy was walking at the time she disappeared.
Rising young Hobart barrister Albert Ogilvie was appointed as King’s defence lawyer.
ALBERT OGILVIE
The main evidence against George King were scratches on his hand. He contended that they were sustained while he was helping to search for the murdered girl in the bush. The prosecution, via Dr Ferris, argued that the injuries were defence wounds, inflicted by the victim.
Dr Ratten testified for the defence. He may have been embroiled in his own legal battle, but the public loved him. He had become something of a folk hero due to his ‘miraculous’ feats in the operating theatre . Albert Ogilvie was a strong supporter of Ratten in the on-going diploma scandal.
That the two doctors should meet again in the courtroom was extraordinary.
When Victor Ratten took the stand he effectively discredited Dr Ferris’ handling of the medical evidence. He said that if he had been the examining doctor he would have had Chrissie Venn’s body exhumed, to check whether there were any traces of skin or blood corpuscles under her fingernails. He added, ‘…at any rate, there might have been a fair chance of some little skin layer being under a finger nail.’ (Mercury, Aug. 1o 1921)
It was the brilliant city surgeon against the ‘incompetent’, country GP and no jury member could fail to be impressed by the former.
Ruby King had supported her husband at the committal hearing, but subsequently suffered a complete break-down. The prosecution were keen to put her on the stand, but she was under Victor Ratten’s care in the Hobart Hospital. He testified that she was too ill to attend court.
After a trial lasting ten days and a six hour retirement, the jury found George King not guilty. A crowd waiting outside cheered Ogilvie and his relieved client. However, King was a ruined man, unable to pay his counsel’s fees and expenses. The case definitely enhanced Ogilvie’s reputation and put Victor’s name before the public yet again. Back in North Motton, there was no attempt to identify any other perpetrator and the case remains unsolved.
FOR A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF VICTOR RATTEN, CLICK HERE.
