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Somerton Man photo search focuses on Swinburne junior football snap from 1921

Amateur sleuthing has produced potentially tantalizing new evidence in the hunt for a photo depicting the mysterious Somerton Man when he was alive.

A 1921 snap of the under-16 football team from Swinburne Technical College — the forerunner of today’s Swinburne University of Technology — lists a “C. Webb” among the players.

Late last month, researcher Derek Abbott declared he and US forensic genealogy expert Colleen Fitzpatrick had solved the mystery, identifying the Somerton Man as Carl “Charles” Webb, a 43-year-old engineer and instrument maker from Melbourne.

Since that time, a veritable “face race” has ensued — enthusiasts across the globe have assiduously sought to discover a photo of Webb when he was alive, in order to compare it with the posthumous photos of the Somerton Man.

While the Swinburne photo, which has been published on Somerton Man online forums including Nick Pelling’s Cipher Mysteries and Professor Abbott’s Facebook group, falls considerably short of such a breakthrough, there are several facts in its favour.

The Somerton Man case has been no stranger to speculative theories over the decades, and the photo could be yet another red herring.

Not only do the listed names in the photo appear not to correspond with the order in which the boys are lined up, there is no clue as to what the initials of the boys’ first names stand for.

In this particular Webb’s case, the “C” could be for Carl or Charles, but also for Christopher, Connor, Cedric, Christian or Cameron, to name only several options.

Furthermore, Webb was not an uncommon name, and the number of “C Webbs” living in Melbourne and its surrounds during the early 1920s remains unknown.

But as bloggers have pointed out, there is some compelling circumstantial evidence in favor of the hypothesis that the right Webb could be among the rows of faces.

The list of names from the Swinburne Technical College’s under-16 football team of 1921.(Swinburne University of Technology/Swinburne Commons)

Carl Webb was born in November 1905, meaning he would have turned 16 in the year the photo was taken.

An item in the student journal, The Swinburnian, lists C. Webb among the technical college’s 1921 scholarship students—notably in the field of engineering.

An item from Swinburne’s student journal from 1921 lists C. Webb among its engineering scholarship winners.(Swinburne Commons)

Also, there is strong evidence that the Carl Webb identified as the Somerton Man played Australian rules football.

Webb’s father was a baker, and an article from The Dandenong Journal from October 2, 1930, reports that a “Mr C Webb, of the bakery, fell and again injured his leg” during a game.

On his blog, Mr Pelling acknowledged that the hypothesis required investigation.

“It’s a great starting point, one that begged to be advanced further,” he wrote.

Cross-referencing efforts on Mr Pelling’s blog have suggested names for some of the boys in the photo.

Some commenters have suggested two figures on the far left — one in the middle row, the other in the bottom row — as potential candidates, speculating on physical similarities.

Mr Pelling has indicated he has sought further information from Swinburne archivists about whether a Carl Webb was at the college at the time.

The hypothesis will be harder to prove than disprove — if the initial “C” stands for something other than “Charles” or “Carl”, then the theory will have been refuted.

If, on the other hand, either of those names is confirmed, further work will be required to determine which of the boys is Webb, and whether he is the same Webb as the Somerton Man.

It remains unclear at this point in time if this is another false trail — or the start of an entirely new trail of discovery and revelation.

The only known photos of the Somerton Man were taken after his death.(ABC: Inside Story)

Thrifty school-formal theme as students borrow, swap and op shop for outfits in name of sustainable fashion

Can you imagine wearing the same suit your dad wore for his 21st birthday to your formal school?

In regional Victoria, some students have borrowed, swapped and op-shopped to make a statement about fast fashion and climate change.

After missing out on many school-age rites of passage through the pandemic, one school put on a dance with a difference.

Year 11 Emmanuel College students trawled through op shops, their parents’ and grandparents’ wardrobes, and swapped outfits for their first-ever Recycled Dance.

The thrifty theme invented by the students was also about tackling fast fashion, a growing threat to the environment.

A group of girls dressed well in formal gear, from recycled shops. — Students trawled through op shops and their parents’ wardrobes, and swapped outfits.(Supplied)

One of the students behind the project, Paige Armistead, wore a green dress sourced from her mum’s wardrobe.

“After missing out on many events such as the year 10 formal due to COVID it was great to get back together as a year level and have some fun,” she said.

“We wanted to do a formal in a way that’s going to sustain our environment.

“From there we came up with the recycled theme. A lot of people buy stuff online, wear it once and don’t wear it again. We wanted to reduce waste and keep it sustainable.”

Kids embraced the frills of the ’60s and the fur coats of the ’70s, and one student had on the brown suit his dad wore to his 21st birthday.

George Stevens wore his dad’s 21st brthday suit to his school formal.(Supplied: George Stevens)

With the increasing costs of living impacting on families’ bottom lines, students also wanted to make the event more affordable.

“We had kids come in their parents’ suits and their mums’ dresses, it was really cool,” Paige said.

Young people have missed out on many coming-of-age events in the past two years of the pandemic, such as school formals, sporting carnivals, debutante balls and musicals.

Young people have missed out on many coming-of-age events during the pandemic.(Supplied)

But these students aren’t dwelling on what they’ve lost and are making the most of the time together they’ve yearned for.

“It was so good coming together after everything we’ve gone through, we’ve been so separated,” Paige said.

She said they hoped to continue the theme at their formal year 12.

“We might see a few wedding dresses, who knows?”

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