Thursday, February 11, 2010

MELBOURNE'S FICTIONAL UNDERBELLY

Little Darwin has an unusual link with a court case which rocked Melbourne when Channel 9’s award winning crime series Underbelly was not even in swaddling clothes. It is a battered 1950 copy of Communist author Frank Hardy’s controversial novel Power Without Glory containing newspaper clippings from the sensational court case it provoked .

Hardy, 33, was charged with having criminally libelled Mrs Ellen Wren, wife of John Wren, described as a Melbourne financier. Mrs Wren claimed the novel stated she had committed adultery with a bricklayer and given birth to an illegitimate child. She regarded the book as a “Communist plot”. There was an allegation that an attempt had been made to “ blackmail " her husband for $200,000 before publication of the book . The case had the populace rushing to read the newspapers , just as Underbelly had eager viewers glued to their TV screens.

During the hearing , two witnesses , John Wren junior and barrister and solicitor John Bernard Nolan, the latter a close friend of the Wrens, said they had read the book and identified 27 characters . They were : Dr Malone –Dr Mannix, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne; John Carr-John Cain , Parliamentary leader of the Labor Party in the Victorian parliament; “Snoopy” Tanner –“Squizzy”Taylor , Melbourne gunman who was shot dead in a Carlton gun battle; “Slasher” Cutting-“Snowy” Cutmore, a former Melbourne criminal; Alfred Davison –the late Sir Albert Dunstan, a former premier of Victoria; Mr Kenneth Murkett - Keith Murdoch (Rupert’s father ) , chairman of directors of The Herald and Weekly Times Limited ; “Snowy” Parker-Clyde Palmer, A Melbourne journalist; Mr Ron Lassiter-father of Con Loughnan, a member of Richmond City Council; Mr David Gartside-David Gaunston, solicitor who defended Ned Kelly and former adviser to John Wren ; “Red Ted ” Thurgood-the late E.J. Theodore , Labor Federal Treasurer and Acting Prime Minister of Australia; Lou Darby- the late Les Darcy , former middle and heavyweight boxing champion of Australia; Mr D. Lamb –Richard Lean, general manager of Stadiums Limited ; Barney Robinson –the late Barney Reynolds , a business associate of John Wren; Sol Solomons-the late Sol Green, philanthropist and well-known Melbourne racing identity ;Sugar Renfrey-Robert ( Sugar) Roberts, an associate of John Wren ; Bill Squeers – a former heavyweight boxing champion of Australia ; Frank Lammence-Frank Lawrence, former secretary of John Wren; Godfrey Dwyer –Sir Gilbert Dyett, a former president of the RSL; Thomas Real- Thomas Ryan-former premier of Queensland; T.Trumbleward-T. Tunnecliffe, who until his death was the member for Collingwood in the Legislative Assembly; Pat Cory- Pat Cody, a friend of John West; Vera Maguire –the late wife of witness Bernard Nolan; Arty West-Wren junior’s Uncle Arthur; Mrs Nellie West –Mrs Ellen Wren and Mr John West – John Wren.

An exhibit in the case was a heavily upholstered chair with a crest and Gaelic motto , “Wren to Victory”. It had been given by Archbishop Mannix to Wren senior. In Power Without Glory, there was mention of a chair bearing a Gaelic inscription “West to Victory.”

Hardy was acquitted of the charge. The author’s note in this the second (unexpurgated ) edition of the book said it was the first of a series of novels to give a picture of mainstream Australian life in the 20th century. By its very nature Power Without Glory contained material that was directly political . Novels, he believed , should be more than entertainment, having a political, social and artistic purpose. Hardy had a a long association with the Northern Territory , beginning with his time in the Army at Mataranka during WW11 and included his campaign for the Gurindjis.