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PAUL LOUBET – THE FALLOUT

PAUL LOUBET - THE FALLOUT

  When  ‘Doctor’ Paul Rene Loubet was unmasked as an imposter in September 1917 he left behind a grieving, bewildered young widow. Nell Kent Loubet (nee Hughes) immediately moved back to her family’s home  in Toorak. More positively, she graduated from Melbourne University in January 1918 as

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DR LOUBET AT FOOTSCRAY

DR LOUBET AT FOOTSCRAY

  By early February 1917 Dr Paul Loubet had moved from Blackall in outback Queensland  to Melbourne. He was to act as locum tenens for Dr Roland Lane, a Footscray  G.P. who was on military duty. Dr Lane and his wife Hazel had a large home  called

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DR LOUBET AT BLACKALL

DR LOUBET AT BLACKALL

  THE PAUL LOUBET STORY, PART TWO (BLACKALL). FOR THE FIRST EPISODE, CLICK HERE. From The Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton) ‘Our informant happened to be in Jericho when Dr Loubet and a very fine looking woman, who was introduced everywhere as Mrs Loubet, were going through to Blackall.

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PAUL RENE LOUBET – A LIFE OF DUPLICITY

PAUL RENE LOUBET - A LIFE OF DUPLICITY

The story of Paul Rene Loubet and his life in Australia reads more like fiction than real life, and researching it has been quite a challenge, albeit a fascinating one. This is the first ‘chapter’. Annabel Illingworth married young doctor Percy Webber Black in London in March

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THE AURORA & THE ANTARCTIC BOTTLE – A MYSTERY

THE AURORA & THE  ANTARCTIC BOTTLE - A MYSTERY

On May  7 1927 a strange story appeared in the Newcastle Sun. It said that  a Mr George Bressington  had been walking along a beach at Tuggerah, on the NSW Central Coast, when he  unearthed a half buried wine bottle.  On one side  there was an etching

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MOLONG & THE EARL OF HARDWICKE – AN UPDATE

MOLONG & THE  EARL OF HARDWICKE - AN UPDATE

  STOP PRESS- THE STORY OF  MOLONG AND THE EARL HAS ANOTHER CHAPTER….SEE END OF THIS PIECE! It’s not often a small  outback town can boast of having an Earl open  their garden fete, but that’s what happened at Molong in 1897. The man  responsible for the

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THOMAS FINCH; SUSPECT IN THE HOBART MUSEUM ROBBERY.

THOMAS FINCH;  SUSPECT IN THE HOBART MUSEUM ROBBERY.

Thomas Finch, as he called himself, was caught up in the 1905 Hobart Museum robbery. To read the first part of the story, CLICK HERE.  On March 31 1905, the  White Star liner S.S. Persic arrived in Hobart enroute to London. Two days later , a passenger

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ROBBERY AT THE HOBART MUSEUM

ROBBERY AT THE HOBART MUSEUM

A robbery occurred  at the Hobart Museum (now The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery)  on  the night of April 16 1905. It  was believed to have been the work of  mainland criminals, targeting items  which could be melted down and sold as bullion. Security at the institution

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DR BLAND & THE DAGUERREOTYPE

  Visitors to the new photography gallery at the Library of NSW in Sydney’s Macquarie Street will see a tiny portrait of Dr William Bland (1789-1868). Dating from  1844 0r 1845, it is believed to be the earliest existing  photo taken in Australia. Dr Bland was the

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ARSENIC AND BURNT SUGAR

ARSENIC AND BURNT SUGAR

Hospital food still gets a bad rap, but honestly it’s not too bad. However, back in the 1920’s food from home was greatly appreciated  by patients such as  WWI  veteran Francis Wooldridge.. Wooldridge was a married man with six children when he went off to war in

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