Claude Dampier and Billie Carlyle, in The Adventures of Algy, with, at right, Eric Harrison. A Beamont Smith film, 1925. Photo from the Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne.
*Mrs Gibson was an imaginary character in their act.
The Five second version
Twenty-three years after the death of comedian Claude Dampier, his third and final professional and personal partner and an Australian by birth, Billie Carlyle (1902-1991), wrote a memoir entitled Claude Dampier, Mrs Gibson and Me. Self-published and less than 120 pages in length, it provides selected insights into the couple’s life together. However, as is often the case with celebrity memoirs, there are problems in relying too heavily on this one source. There is, for example, compelling evidence that Billie’s unhappy early adulthood coloured some decisions of her later life.[1]See Richard Fotheringham’s 2024 biography of another actor of the same era, Jenny Howard (1902-1996), for a deeper analysis of the extent of these difficulties
Billie (born Doris Ann Davy in South Australia) had started out in variety in 1924. She met Claude on the set of the Australian film The Adventures of Algy (1925). Her collaboration on stage with Claude began soon after, when she became his “feed” – the sensible person whose comments helped set up his jokes. “Petite and sparkling,” Billie was the perfect foil for Claude Dampier’s loud, boorish, lumbering fool or “Professional idiot” character.[2]Daily Telegraph (UK) 1 August 1991 Working in Britain after 1927, Billie and Claude became regulars on BBC radio and Claude an occasional character actor in films. Their collaboration lasted into the early 1950s.
Before Billie Carlyle died in England in 1991, she left a selection of the couple’s personal records to the Australian Performing Arts Collection in Melbourne, Australia.
Above: Billie Carlyle in late 1924.[3]Everyone’s (Aust) 29 Oct, 1924, p40
The background – Claude Dampier comes to Australia in 1910
British comedian Claude Dampier (1878-1955) was 24 years Billie Carlyle’s senior, and was already well established in Australia when she met him in 1925.
He was born Claude Connolly Cowan in London in 1878. He had married fellow British performer Irene Vere (1889-1968)[4]Birth name Eileen Geraldine Thompson in April 1907. The couple had arrived together in Australia on the Orontes in October 1910, with their one year old daughter, Dorothy Dampier (1909-2002).[5]The Register (Adelaide) 12 Oct 1910, p5 They had been contracted to tour Australia with Edward Branscombe’s company, usually known as the Red Dandies. Over the next seven years Claude and Irene appeared on Australasian stages, often presenting original material – monologues, songs and dances, sometimes to remote audiences in small country halls or even in open-air settings. In February 1911, Adelaide’s Evening Journal assured readers that “The Dandies were in splendid form… Mr. Claude Dampier’s delightful absurdities were a feature of the entertainment. Though he is exceptionally funny, he never descends to vulgarity. His items included Singers and Talkers and The Poet… The clever soubrette, Miss Irene Vere, met with her usual favourable reception in songs, which included Mandy’s Christening, The Merry month of May, and Sympathy.”[6]Evening Journal (Adelaide),13 Feb 1911, p2 Billie Carlyle was to claim that one of the first live shows she ever saw in Adelaide was the Dandies featuring Claude Dampier.[7]Carlyle,1978, p1 Perhaps it was this one.
After almost seven years work in Australia and New Zealand, in early February 1917 Claude and Irene departed for South Africa, where they performed for similarly appreciative colonial audiences. But in late 1919, Irene left Claude, and South Africa, and returned to England to pursue a career on her own.
Claude teams with Hilda Attenboro.
Claude Dampier returned to Australia from South Africa in September 1921. With him was a new professional partner he had met in South Africa – Hilda Attenboro (1896-1980). [10]Her stage name was also sometimes spelled Attenborough. She had been born in England in 1896 as Alice Hilda Sweet. Of interest, she had appeared in at least three silent films in South Africa in 1918 Hilda was introduced to the Australian press as Claude’s “stage assistant”, however there is no doubt the couple were also romantically involved. In March 1923 in Hawthorn, Victoria, a daughter was born of the union.[11]Victorian Birth Certificate Number 13524 / 1923, 23 March 1923 Dampier and Attenboro claimed on the birth certificate that they had married in Pretoria in 1920, however no records of such a marriage exist.[12]The marriages of South Africa’s white population during this era can be found on Familysearch.com. In these records we can see Hilda had actually married performer Thomas Henry Daniels in South … Continue reading In fact, Dampier and Irene Vere did not divorce until April 1928.[13]National Archives (UK) Divorce Court file J 77/2445/6307 Appellant: Eileen Geraldine Violet Keith Cowan
Most importantly, on his return to Australia, Claude Dampier’s act appears to have evolved. He was now a consistent exponent of the silly ass, Johnnie-type humour,[15]Sunday Times (Sydney)16 Oct 1921, p3 a stereotype of the upper-class, English-twit character that Australians could immediately identify and laugh about. A few weeks after their arrival, Sydney’s Sunday Times was quite explicit about Claude’s character: “One sees in him a creature of birth but no brains, and his well-bred inanities become excruciatingly funny because one feels that they are possible… that somewhere or other in the cold, old country there may be a person who looks like and behaves like this long-nosed idiot of the cheerful grin.“[16]Sunday Times (Sydney) 27 Nov 1921, p17
As Clay Djubal notes, Claude went on to perform with several troupes in the early 1920s, including Pat Hanna’s (1888-1973) Famous Diggers.
The Australian War Memorial
During 1924 Dampier appeared in a film for Beaumont Smith (1885-1950), featuring his well established stage character. Hullo Marmaduke saw Dampier playing an English “remittance man” [17]The Oxford reference guide describes a remittance man as typically a disgraced man of good position or family who has been sent abroad by his family and whose payments depend on his remaining there who seems to have been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth and a monocle firmly screwed in his eye.[18]The Advertiser (Adelaide) 15 Dec 1924, p11
The success of this encouraged Beaumont Smith to make a second film with Dampier the following year – entitled The Adventures of Algy. On this film a young Australian actress named Billie Carlyle also had a role. Fortunately, this film has survived.
Billie Carlyle and Claude, 1925-1955
Billie Carlyle was the stage name of Doris Ann Nesida Kelly nee Davy, a twenty-three year old from Adelaide when she got her big break in The Adventures of Algy. Of her childhood we know almost nothing, except that her birth certificate suggests her father George was in sales, and we know that she had an older brother. Her 1978 memoir actually begins with her as a 21 year old catching a train to Melbourne, determined to make a career on stage – she provided no commentary about her childhood or what sparked her interest in performing. In fact, behind the cheerful story in her well – manicured memoir, her entree to acting really had a very tragic background. Births, Deaths and Marriages records from South Australia show that while aged only 18, she had married returned serviceman Harold John Kelly – in May 1920. In October 1921 she had given birth to a girl, but sadly the child had died in early 1923.[22]The Chronicle (Adelaide), 15 Oct 1921, p31 and The Express (Adelaide) 4 January 1923, p3 Quite possibly suffering severe depression, in early 1924 she went on “a holiday” to Australia’s eastern states, but after six weeks, her husband reported her as a missing person. We know this because newspapers on the Australian east coast carried the story and some even published her photo. South Australian Police also listed her as a missing person.[23]See for example –Daily Standard (Brisbane) 27 Feb 1924, p2 and The Chronicle (Adelaide) 1 Mar 1924, p50
A week later she was found in Melbourne. Doris reassured Police she was safe and had somewhere to stay, but said she would not be returning to Adelaide. She said she wanted to pursue a career on the stage.[24]The Sun (Sydney) 9 Mar 1924, p2 And extraordinarily, given the circumstances, she did. Just seven months later, Everyone’s magazine was able to report that “a bright career” was predicted for her.[25]Everyone’s (Aust) 29 Oct, 1924, p40
Records confirm that in early 1924 Doris, now calling herself Billie Carlyle, found work with comedian Wally Reynolds [27]in her memoirs she recalls him as “Wally Peterson” at St Kilda’s Lyric Theatre in a variety called Hullo People – reported to be full of “good clean humour.” She then joined D. B. O’Connor’s troupe, which toured through smaller Australian towns, as they made their way from Melbourne to Sydney, performing The Merry Widow and Are You a Mason?
As noted, Billie met Claude Dampier on the set of the film The Adventures of Algy. The film opened on 20 June 1925 [28]Pike & Cooper (1980) p164-165 and several enthusiastic newspapers predicted that Billie would soon become one of the “best screen actors ever produced by Australia.”[29]Mirror (Perth) Sat 8 Aug 1925, p7 This was doubtless just newspaper chatter, and it should be noted that Claude’s partner at the time, Hilda Attenboro, was also in the film.[30]Clay Djubal provides a precis of the film’s plot here
With the release of the film, Claude took to performing at some of the screenings, adding a 40 minute live act – at first with Hilda and then, from mid -1926, with Billie. Billie recalled that she met Claude’s estranged partner Hilda, before she took over touring with Claude, to support screenings of The Adventures of Algy.[31]Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate (NSW) 3 May 1926, p6 Billie’s memoir explains that Hilda and Claude separated because their relationship was “explosive,” although she avoided making reference to their private relationship, or their child.[32]Carlyle 1978, p12
It is clear from Billie’s memoirs that she co-wrote much of the material they performed, although at the same time, her on-stage role with Claude became the straight person, or “feed” in the act. In a short, undated obituary for Claude held by the Australian Performing Arts Collection, Billie explained that Claude would continually rework his material, “practically to the last minute.” Her published memoir also provides evidence of her many efforts to record amusing conversations with Claude – things that they could then work up to use on stage. The following example illustrates their banter:[33]Carlyle 1978, p35
Billie: [Handing Claude a letter on stage] I am sorry, a gentleman asked me to give you this just before we came on stage.
Claude: Well open it and see what it says. It might be important...
B: It's from a Reporter
C: Reporter?
B: Now don't tell me you don't know what a Reporter is...
C: Oh you mean one of those fellows that go around letting off reports?
B: Not exactly. He is a man that goes around finding things out.
C: Oh! You mean a nosey parker! What does he want to know?...
B: He said he'd like a photograph. Have you got one?
C: Well yes. Here's a photo of me and my friend Mrs Gibson bathing.
B: Ah. What's this...round thing sticking out of the water?
C: Oh that's part of Mrs Gibson. See that? That's a bit of seaweed. I'm behind that.
Mrs Gibson became a running joke of their act. The character would often be worked into a routine, and sometimes a member of the audience would be mistaken as Mrs Gibson. Billie Carlyle dates the genesis of the character to August 1926, in a performance in New Zealand. Billie claims the couple were later briefly banned by the BBC after an ad-libbed line where Claude claimed he was going to “squeeze Mrs Gibson’s oranges.” [34]Carlyle 1978, p43-44
A snapshot of their UK careers
In February 1927, Claude and Billie took passage on the Orsova for England. It is not really clear from Billie’s memoir why they decided to make this move at this time. Of course, many young performers wanted to try their luck in Britain, but Claude was now 48, and had been living and performing in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa for 17 years, in an act he had successfully refined for colonial audiences. Claude was now completely forgotten in England, and he warned Billie that they would both “have to start out from scratch.”[35]Carlyle, 1978, p21 Billie Carlyle recalled that it took seven years for Claude to establish himself again in Britain – to be listed at the top of a bill, as he had been in Australia.[36]Carlyle, 1978, p29.
Billie’s memoir states that it was around the time of Claude’s divorce from Irene that she became romantically involved with him – in England – in 1927-28. She said that she had gradually fallen in love with him.[37]Carlyle, 1978, p20-21
The transition to performing in Britain was not without its challenges and it is likely that what was successful in Australia and South Africa did not immediately work on the British stage. Billie managed only one performance with Claude at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre in April 1927, before being briefly replaced by Irene Vere for a few days – either due to illness[38]The Stage (London) 14 April 1927, p13 or perhaps it was because a Manager insisted on the change.[39]Carlyle, 1978, p18-20. However, her own account of this is ambiguous Contrary to her claim in the memoir that she and Claude never got a poor review, early reviews of their act were variable. One British paper suggested Dampier’s “act should be scrapped and quickly. His patter is so over deliberate and it drags and his chatter with Miss Carlyle and himself is old stuff… No, Mr. Dampier we cannot let you get away with this act. You can do much better.” [40]Unnamed British paper cited in The Leader (Perth) 15 Jul 1927, p3 Revised and improved, their act gained better reviews as they toured British towns.[41]Nottingham Evening Post (UK) July 16, 1927 p4
Claude and Billie first appeared on radio in 1934, and as Billie’s memoir notes, this dramatically changed their fortunes, soon making them a headline act. The BBC’s database lists over 200 radio and TV performances by Claude Dampier, often featuring Billie as his feed. The radio programs of the mid 1930s included Variety, Radiolympia, Music Hall and Mrs Gibson’s Guesthouse – all of which included performers who were best known for their stage acts. Although tastes were changing and live vaudeville was in decline, variety-themed shows remained a feature of broadcasting well into the era of television. Claude’s last regular appearance appears to have been in the radio comedy series Up the Pole between 1947 and 1952, with Jimmy Jewel (1909-1995) and Ben Warriss.(1909-1993)
Claude’s first major film in Britain, Radio Parade of 1935 (1934), was produced by the prolific Walter C Mycroft (1890-1959), and was cobbled together using established stage acts, with a thin storyline carrying the narrative along – a style of British “musical” that was really a series of variety acts – apparently very popular in the 1930s. Claude went on to join a number of familiar, usually eccentric, character actors who popped up from time to time in British films of the 1930s.[42]The IMDB lists at least one short involving Claude Dampier from the early 1930s, but further details of Claude Deputises (1931) are elusive Billie also appeared in a handful of Claude’s films in the 1930s, in very minor roles.
Billie Carlyle explained in her memoirs that – as one would expect – the couple’s friendships grew from professional associations on the stage, radio and in films. Will Hay, Jack Hyton, June Clyde and Zasu Pitts all became close friends.
Billie and Claude occasionally appeared on live television after 1936. Regrettably, very few examples of pre-war British television survive today, however this advertisement from the Radio Times lists Billie and Claude as part of a series of variety acts presented on TV under the banner of a “Western (Wild West) Cabaret.”
Despite Billie’s assessment that working with the wartime entertainments Unit (ENSA) was frustratingly awkward, they joined in morale-boosting war work alongside so many other British entertainers – at fund-raising appearances and openings. An example of a BBC Workers Playtime performance from 1943 can be heard here.
The burdens of Billie Carlyle
It is commonly stated that Billie and Claude married in the UK in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and indeed Billie’s own memoirs infer this. Although it is of much less importance to many people today, there is, in fact, no evidence in the British marriage databases of the couple marrying at any time. In late 1937 Harold John Kelly finally sought a divorce from Billie.[44]The Advertiser (Adelaide) 6 March 1938, p32 Surprisingly, the divorce documents in the New South Wales Supreme Court referenced only Harold’s missing wife Doris Ann Kelly, whom Harold said he “could not find.” The documents made no mention of Billie Carlyle the actress, who had appeared in a popular Australian film, or of Claude Dampier the well-known comedian.
In this writer’s opinion, it is quite likely that this divorce [45]the era of no-fault divorce in Australia was still decades away was a result of some agreement between Billie in England, and Harold, a part-time labourer then struggling to make a living in Katoomba, New South Wales. The petition emphasizes Harold’s poverty, states that he had a new partner and that they had five children to support.[46]New South Wales State Archives. Divorce papers Harold John Kelly and Doris Ann Kelly.NRS-13495-15-250-2203/1937 It could be concluded that the unhappy early marriage and the death of her child was an onerous burden that Billie had carried for fifteen years.
Coincidentally – or perhaps not; in December 1937, at the same time the divorce was being filed in New South Wales, Billie and Claude left England for a holiday touring the United States.[47]Carlyle 1978, pps46-56 At the time, entry to the US required a great deal more personal information to be presented than most countries. The SS Aquitania‘s passenger list of 15 December 1937, showed Doris Ann Davy, a 34 year old unmarried Australian-born actress, and Claude Cowan, a 59 year old married English actor, on board. Today, it is very difficult to believe the divorce action and the holiday trip to the US were not connected – timed to limit any potential embarrassment to Billie and Claude. But if this was the case, Billie and Claude need not have worried. There was no bad publicity, and the New South Wales Supreme Court granted Harold Kelly a decree nisi in June 1938.
Billie Carlyle after Claude’s death
Claude Dampier died of complications arising from pneumonia in early 1955. He was 76. While this meant Billie no longer had a stage partnership, she did not disappear. She continued to maintain her show-biz relationships, and appeared a few more times at special commemorative events and reportedly on radio quiz shows.[49]Daily Telegraph (UK) 1 August 1991 Finally, in the mid 1970s, she returned to visit Australia, perhaps to see her brother again, after almost 50 years. In retirement in the UK, she painted, learned to type and wrote and self-published her memoirs – leaving her voice at the forefront of the Claude Dampier story. She also wrote several works of fiction – that were not published.[50]These were Delora’s Dilemma and Answers for Anne – the latter being an unusual work – written in 1985, it concerns the rape of the protagonist, Anne, and a series of very complex … Continue reading
In the 1980s Billie decided to leave a heavily curated selection of the couple’s collection of scrapbooks, programs and photographs to the newly established Australian Performing Arts Collection in Melbourne, Australia.
Billie and Claude had no children together, however Claude’s daughter Dorothy by Irene Vere became a performer and visited Australia for at least one long tour in 1937.
The daughter of Claude and Hilda Attenboro grew up and raised a family in Australia.
Billie Carlyle died in England in July 1991. She had re-married in 1961.
Nick Murphy
September 2024
References
Thanks
- Claudia Funder and the staff at the Australian Performing Arts Collection, Art Centre, Melbourne, who arranged my access to the Billie Carlyle & Claude Dampier Collection
Births, Deaths & Marriages documents
- South Australia Births Deaths & Marriages
Birth certificate: Doris Ann Nesida Davy, 10 Feb 1902 (The middle name looks like Rosida on the birth certificate)
Marriage certificate: Doris Ann Nesida Davy and Harold John Kelly 15 May 1920
- Victoria Births Deaths & Marriages
Birth Certificate: Marjorie Sheldon Cowan, 22 March 1923.
- National Archives (UK)
Divorce papers (Court minutes) Eileen Geraldine Violet Keith Cowan and Claude Connolly Cowan, 1927-1928. J 77/2445/6307 - Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection
Divorce papers Harold John Kelly and Doris Ann Kelly.NRS-13495-15-250-2203/1937. - HM Passport office, General Register office (UK)
Claude C Cowan & Eileen Geraldine Thompson, Marriage Certificate, 30 April 1907.
Claude C Cowan, Death Certificate, 1 January 1955.
Billie Carlyle-Blake, Death Certificate, 23 July, 1991.
Text
- Richard Anthony Baker (2013) Old Time Variety. Pen & Sword Books.
- Billie Carlyle (1978) Claude Dampier Mrs Gibson & Me. Billie Carlyle
- Clay Djubal at the Australian Variety Theatre Archive
The Adventures of Algy (2017)
Claude Dampier (2018)
Edward Branscombe (2013) - Richard Fotheringham (2024) “Autobiography as publicity: the case of Jenny Howard” in Australian Journal of Biography and History, No 8, 2024, Australian National University
- Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper (1980) Australian Film 1900-1977. Oxford University Press.
- Frank Van Straten (2003) Tivoli. Thomas C Lothian
- Adrian Wright (2020) Cheer Up! British Musical Films 1929-1945. The Boydell Press.
Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
- Mimi Colligan, ‘Hanna, George Patrick (Pat) (1888–1973)’, published first in hardcopy 1983. Accessed online 11 August 2024.
Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
- Julie Benjamin ‘Stuart, Bathia Howie’ (1893-1987), first published in 1998. Accessed online 9 September 2024
Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance (ESAT)
Audio & Film
- Claude Dampier & Billie Carlyle – Workers’ Playtime (excerpt) 16/2/1943. Vintage British Comedy Channel Youtube
- Claude Dampier Golf Instruction. Newsreel 14/4/1938. British Movietone channel Youtube
- Boys will be Boys (1935 feature) at the Internet Archive.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | See Richard Fotheringham’s 2024 biography of another actor of the same era, Jenny Howard (1902-1996), for a deeper analysis of the extent of these difficulties |
|---|---|
| ↑2, ↑49 | Daily Telegraph (UK) 1 August 1991 |
| ↑3, ↑25 | Everyone’s (Aust) 29 Oct, 1924, p40 |
| ↑4 | Birth name Eileen Geraldine Thompson |
| ↑5 | The Register (Adelaide) 12 Oct 1910, p5 |
| ↑6 | Evening Journal (Adelaide),13 Feb 1911, p2 |
| ↑7 | Carlyle,1978, p1 |
| ↑8 | The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 10 July 1912, p.22 |
| ↑9 | The Stage (London) 19 Dec 1919 |
| ↑10 | Her stage name was also sometimes spelled Attenborough. She had been born in England in 1896 as Alice Hilda Sweet. Of interest, she had appeared in at least three silent films in South Africa in 1918 |
| ↑11 | Victorian Birth Certificate Number 13524 / 1923, 23 March 1923 |
| ↑12 | The marriages of South Africa’s white population during this era can be found on Familysearch.com. In these records we can see Hilda had actually married performer Thomas Henry Daniels in South Africa in August 1918, and by whom she already had another child |
| ↑13 | National Archives (UK) Divorce Court file J 77/2445/6307 Appellant: Eileen Geraldine Violet Keith Cowan |
| ↑14 | Critic (Adelaide) 7 December 1921, p10 |
| ↑15 | Sunday Times (Sydney)16 Oct 1921, p3 |
| ↑16 | Sunday Times (Sydney) 27 Nov 1921, p17 |
| ↑17 | The Oxford reference guide describes a remittance man as typically a disgraced man of good position or family who has been sent abroad by his family and whose payments depend on his remaining there |
| ↑18 | The Advertiser (Adelaide) 15 Dec 1924, p11 |
| ↑19 | Everyone’s (Aust) 19 Nov 1924, p11 |
| ↑20 | This film survives but is difficult to source. These screen grabs are from the documentary A History of Australian Cinema, Part Two, The Passionate Industry 1920-1930, available from Umbrella Entertainment/Film Australia |
| ↑21 | Mail (Adelaide) 1 March 1924, p5 |
| ↑22 | The Chronicle (Adelaide), 15 Oct 1921, p31 and The Express (Adelaide) 4 January 1923, p3 |
| ↑23 | See for example –Daily Standard (Brisbane) 27 Feb 1924, p2 and The Chronicle (Adelaide) 1 Mar 1924, p50 |
| ↑24 | The Sun (Sydney) 9 Mar 1924, p2 |
| ↑26 | The Tumut Advocate and Farmers & Settlers’ Adviser (NSW) 16 Dec 1924 p5 |
| ↑27 | in her memoirs she recalls him as “Wally Peterson” |
| ↑28 | Pike & Cooper (1980) p164-165 |
| ↑29 | Mirror (Perth) Sat 8 Aug 1925, p7 |
| ↑30 | Clay Djubal provides a precis of the film’s plot here |
| ↑31 | Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate (NSW) 3 May 1926, p6 |
| ↑32 | Carlyle 1978, p12 |
| ↑33 | Carlyle 1978, p35 |
| ↑34 | Carlyle 1978, p43-44 |
| ↑35 | Carlyle, 1978, p21 |
| ↑36 | Carlyle, 1978, p29. |
| ↑37 | Carlyle, 1978, p20-21 |
| ↑38 | The Stage (London) 14 April 1927, p13 |
| ↑39 | Carlyle, 1978, p18-20. However, her own account of this is ambiguous |
| ↑40 | Unnamed British paper cited in The Leader (Perth) 15 Jul 1927, p3 |
| ↑41 | Nottingham Evening Post (UK) July 16, 1927 p4 |
| ↑42 | The IMDB lists at least one short involving Claude Dampier from the early 1930s, but further details of Claude Deputises (1931) are elusive |
| ↑43 | Radio Times (UK) 11 June 1939, p16 |
| ↑44 | The Advertiser (Adelaide) 6 March 1938, p32 |
| ↑45 | the era of no-fault divorce in Australia was still decades away |
| ↑46 | New South Wales State Archives. Divorce papers Harold John Kelly and Doris Ann Kelly.NRS-13495-15-250-2203/1937 |
| ↑47 | Carlyle 1978, pps46-56 |
| ↑48 | Sunderland Daily Echo & Shipping Gazette, 1 March 1938 p1 |
| ↑50 | These were Delora’s Dilemma and Answers for Anne – the latter being an unusual work – written in 1985, it concerns the rape of the protagonist, Anne, and a series of very complex and implausible relationships |
| ↑51 | The Australian Women’s Weekly, 6 May 1981, p11 |
| ↑52 | The Wireless Weekly. (Aust) 25 June 1937, p7 |