Melbourne myths: Jeff Kennett; Jack the Ripper; Bob Pratt; Big Philou
Did Jack the Ripper move to Melbourne? Was Bob Pratt taken out right before the 1935 Grand Final? Check out some of Melbourne’s tallest tales.
Melbourne City
Don't miss out on the headlines from Melbourne City. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Like all big cities Melbourne has its fair share of urban legends, myths, ghost stories and unsolved mysteries.
Most locals have heard about the morgue at Crown Casino where those who pass away on the punt are stored and the ghosts that haunt the Princess Theatre.
Here’s a few tales that may not ring an immediate bell.
CHURCH AND STATE COLLIDE
Is there a gargoyle styled on Jeff Kennett?
Master stonemason Tom Carson did indeed use a caricature of the former Victorian premier
as the model for a gargoyle he carved in the early 1990s.
It’s located above the eastern side-entrance of St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne.
When it rains, water gushes from the mouth which, appropriately, is wide open. Carson said people in positions of power – from priests to politicians – had been used as the basis for these often hideous figures for almost 1000 years.
CRIME VS CLUMSINESS
Was Bob Pratt targeted for harm before the 1935 VFL Grand Final?
One of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of Australian football boots, Bob Pratt was
preparing to lead favoured South Melbourne into the 1935 season decider against Collingwood.
Less than 48 hours before the opening bounce, he was clipped by a truck carrying bricks after stepping off a tram.
The football world was shocked to learn the injured Pratt would miss the game.
There were rumours that a betting syndicate was behind the incident, but the highly-apologetic driver turned out to be a Bloods’ fan!
MURDEROUS MIGRANT
Did Jack the Ripper relocate to Melbourne from England?
Frederick Bailey Deeming was a nasty piece of work, but was he also responsible for the
notorious Whitechapel murders attributed to Jack the Ripper?
He was certainly high on the list of suspects, and was fingered as the infamous serial killer in a 2011 Discovery Channel doco.
Deeming arrived in Melbourne on December 15, 1891.
Just over six months later, he was executed for the murder of his wife Emily Lydia Mather in Windsor.
The bodies of Deeming’s previous wife Maree and his four children were discovered at his UK home as a result of further investigations.
PINCHING PICASSO
Was the theft of the Weeping Woman an inside job?
Well, the case was closed in 1989 so we’ll probably never know.
On the evening of
Saturday, August 2, 1986, thieves simply unscrewed the Picasso work from a wall at the
National Gallery of Victoria and left the building undetected.
Days later, ransom notes were sent to then-Minister for the Arts Race Matthews by a group calling itself the “Australian Cultural Terrorists”, who appealed for an increase to arts funding. After an anonymous call to police, the painting was found undamaged in a locker at Spencer St Station.
ON THE NOSE
Who drugged the 1969 Melbourne Cup favourite Big Philou?
A long list of potential culprits has been suggested over the years but the most likely answer
is that Les Lewis, a former employee of Big Philou’s trainer Bart Cummings, performed the
deed.
He revealed as much in a statutory declaration shortly before his death in 1997.
After winning the Caulfield Cup of 1969 on protest, Big Philou was heavily favoured to beat 1968 winner Rain Lover before Cummings alerted stewards to the condition of his stallion just 39 minutes before the field was scheduled to jump.
END OF THE LINE
Is there a secret train station at Tullamarine Airport?
The lack of a rail link between the city and Melbourne Airport has been a source of
frustration for travellers since it opened in 1970.
But did the original plans include a reserved space for a station should common sense one day prevail?
Drawings from the early 1960s certainly showed provision for a future rail link and station and there are rumours of a cavernous space under the multistorey car park.
Sadly, this one has been roundly debunked and the indeterminable wait for an airport rail link goes on.
MISSING MACE
Did the parliamentary mace end up in a Melbourne brothel?
It was the talk of the town in 1891 as newspapers of the day widely reported.
The State Parliament’s ceremonial mace was stolen in the early hours of Friday, October 9 but wasn’t reported for another four days.
A year later, rumours started to swirl of a wild night featuring a group of MPs and some ‘ladies of the night’ at a nearby brothel.
The mace was alleged to have been used in “less-than-proper parliamentary proceedings”
The mace was never recovered and a $50,000 reward for its return remains unclaimed.
SEEDS OF TRUTH
Did a seed from Sir Isaac Newton’s Apple Tree make its way to Monash Uni?
Maybe not a seed, but at least a clone. The Kenneth Hunt Garden is named after the
university’s first Dean of Engineering who supervised its original design in 1975.
The centrepiece is a tree grown from a cutting of the original ‘Newton Apple Tree’ from which Sir Isaac Newton reportedly observed an apple fall, inspiring him to develop his theories on gravity.
The original can be found at Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth,
Lincolnshire, England.
THIRSTY WORK
Is it safe to order a pineapple smoothie in Melbourne cafes?
We’ve heard similar versions of this story, but the basic plot is the same.
If you go to a certain Melbourne bar/cafe/restaurant and order a pineapple smoothie with extra ice (sometimes no ice), you will be escorted to another room.
A person will look you up and down before taking your phone number.
After a specific period of time, you will receive a message inviting you to a certain ‘adult gathering with like-minded individuals’.
Not sure what happens if you order a mango smoothie instead!
Thai-connected heroin trafficker busted on the punt at Crown
An international heroin dealer who used secret tokens to conduct drug business with Thai-linked traffickers was taken down at Crown Casino.
How the humble parma is a perk for punters and publicans
They’re more than just a meal – the chicken parma pulls its weight in keeping working Aussies well fed and businesses in the red during difficult times.