Have a look at T. Keane's signature here (bottom right):
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=4637820&I=1&SE=1
And now look at what was found in the SM's suitcase:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/riddle-on-the-sands-20121119-29kwz.html
Do you see the picture with the shirt collar, scissors and knife?
What do you think?
Aren't the "t"'s identical???
moo
Hi Pink Panther, yes I agree that the "t" does look very similar but after reading T. L. Keane's service record it seems that one of his distinguishing marks was an old gunshot wound on the inside thigh of his right leg, received on 19 April 1918. No such scar was found on Somerton Man's leg. T. L. Keane also had a mole on his left cheekbone. Keane was discharged as medically unfit due to high blood pressure on 22 February 1944 and on the last page of his record it states "DEATH DUE TO WAR SERVICE".
I searched for a Queensland death record for Thomas Lawrence Keane between 1943 and 1984 and there is one that stands out.
Year of Death: 1949
Index No: B21184
Name: Thomas Torance Keane
Father: Francis Charles
Mother: Isabella Beaumont
This Thomas Keane is registered as Thomas
Torance. Keane. It is not unusual for birth, death and marriage indexes to sometimes record an incorrect name. After 20 years as a genealogist I've found this is par for the course.
Funeral notice for Thomas Lawrence Keane. You'll note that his address was 110 Terrace St. New Farm, Qld., the same address he gave on his service record. He also listed his sister A. TOTEN as his next of kin. Ada Keane married Francis Charles Toten in Qld. in 1915 and they are mentioned in the funeral notice below.
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954
Saturday 26 March 1949. Page 12.
FUNERAL NOTICES KEANE.—The Relatives & Friends of
Mr. & Mrs. F. C. Toten, Mr. & Mrs. L. Fuller (Argents Hill), Miss Dorothy Toten, Mr. & Mrs. A. Dixon, Mr. & Mrs. J. Lohfin, & Mr. E. Toten, are invited to attend the funeral of her beloved Brother, his Brother-in-law, & their Uncle,
Thomas Lawrence Keane, of 110 Terrace St., New Farm, late 15th & 57th Bns., 1st A.I.F., to move from Alex. Gow's Funeral Chapel, Petrie Bight, This (Saturday) Morning, at 11 o'clock, for the Crematorium, Mt. Thompson. Service 10.45 a.m. ALEX. GOW, Funeral Director.
KEANE.—New Farm Sub-branch, R.S.S.A.I.L.A.—The Officers and Members are invited to attend the Funeral of their late Member,
Mr. T. L. Keane, to move from Alex. Gow's Funeral Chapel, as per family notice. A. L Beeston, Secretary.
BBM.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/search?adv=y
ETA: Thomas Lawrence Keane's WW1 record has also been digitised. It seems he also suffered a face wound when he was shot in 1918.
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=7368595
I think that we can safely put to rest any notion that Thomas Lawrence Keane was Somerton Man.
B Deveson - How is it possible that there are NO birth records for any of Thomas Harkness Sr"s children??? WT Hay? I've searched high and low an have found NOTHING! Were they registered under a different last name?
I'm not B. Deveson but I can answer this. Most birth records in Australia have a privacy limitation, which vary from state to state. In NSW we are able to access birth records up to 1913, so there is basically a 100 year embargo on birth records. However there are other ways to calculate a date of birth. There is only a 50 year privacy limitation on marriages in NSW. A marriage record will (in most cases) state the ages of both parties. There is only a 30 year privacy limitation on death records in NSW and once again the age of the deceased is almost always listed. This information is obviously reliant on the informant on the death certificate and how well they knew the deceased. And then there is Trove and the National Archives. Both wonderful resources to help fill in the blanks of genealogical research.
Jessica Harkness' parents were Thomas Lawson Harkness and Ellen Lee. They married in Western Australia in 1916. They had at least five children.
Thomas Jnr. b. 1917 Victoria Australia.
Edmund. b. 1919. Victoria Australia.
Jessica. b. 1921. Marrickville, Sydney NSW Australia.
Jean. b. 1923 NSW Australia.
Ellen. b. 1928 NSW Australia.
There is a five year gap between Jean and Ellen so there may have been another child born within this time frame that I'm yet to discover.