WEBVTT - A very tangled birthright: Part 2

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, they did rather better than they thought they

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<v Speaker 1>were going to do, because her uncle as well, who'd

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<v Speaker 1>adopted her, had actually also been playing funny baggers with

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<v Speaker 1>the money and had made put a lot of it

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<v Speaker 1>into his own accounts, so that came back to her.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Jen Kelly from the Herald Son and this is

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<v Speaker 2>in Black and White, a podcast about some of Australia's

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<v Speaker 2>forgotten characters. Today we're back with part two of the

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<v Speaker 2>story of Letitia Leek with Professor Carrol Gerbich. Make sure

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<v Speaker 2>you listened to part one first. As we heard in

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<v Speaker 2>part one, Latitia's world was torn apart when sordid allegations

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<v Speaker 2>were aired that her late father may have been a

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<v Speaker 2>murderer and that she could be illegitimate and not entitled

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<v Speaker 2>to the inheritance she had received. Let's jump back in

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<v Speaker 2>and find out what the ramifications were for Letitia. So

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<v Speaker 2>was there a real threat here that Letitia could have

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<v Speaker 2>been stripped of her fortune amid all these swirling allegations.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, I think there was a reasonable assumption that could

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<v Speaker 1>actually have happened, because what the trustees and the family

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<v Speaker 1>did then was employee some lawyers in Adelaide. Charles Kingston

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<v Speaker 1>and George Ash. And George Ash had actually been a

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<v Speaker 1>journalist done in the Southeast with The Bad to Watch,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a paper that still exists, and his job

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<v Speaker 1>was to dig up dirt, was to go there, to

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<v Speaker 1>interview all the people he could find, to write it

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<v Speaker 1>all up, to send in long hand all these transcripts

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<v Speaker 1>every night to his partner Charles Kingston, and basically to

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<v Speaker 1>find enough dirt so that they could win this core

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<v Speaker 1>case and relieve Letitia of the money. And it's actually

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<v Speaker 1>a wonderful Docum managed to find the document. It's about

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred pages. I found it done Tasmania down in

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<v Speaker 1>the depths of one of the libraries and it's a

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you think social media is bad these days,

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<v Speaker 1>my goodness, this is wonderful stories of very respectable people

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<v Speaker 1>in the community, very high leveled people often you know,

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<v Speaker 1>doctors and lawyers and so forth, in neighbors and so forth, policemen,

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<v Speaker 1>and their view of the of the family, of the

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<v Speaker 1>Leake family as it was very interesting and they all

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<v Speaker 1>had stories to tell and they were prepared to stand

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<v Speaker 1>up and court and repeat them. So we presume they

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<v Speaker 1>believed that they were true. What were they saying, Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>they were telling all sorts of stories about how how

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<v Speaker 1>Edward would wander around the house in a shirt of

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<v Speaker 1>waving his genitals at any of the female people who

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<v Speaker 1>were employed on the property, and how he spent a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of time I'm in the Aboriginal tense, was particularly

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<v Speaker 1>with one or two of the Aboriginal woman, and how Amanda.

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<v Speaker 1>It was one lovely story. What was it? That's right?

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<v Speaker 1>And they must have still been in the town before

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<v Speaker 1>they moved on to the estate. Anyway, someone was walking

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<v Speaker 1>past an alleyway and looked down, and the woman realized

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<v Speaker 1>that it was her husband and the phrase was having communication,

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<v Speaker 1>and I thought, wonder what that means, and I hadn't

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<v Speaker 1>look looked up a bit. No, she's actually having sex.

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<v Speaker 1>So her husband she saw and Amanda were actually having

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<v Speaker 1>a stand up sex job in an alleyway. And she

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<v Speaker 1>was so furious she raced down the alleyway, ripped Amanda's

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<v Speaker 1>rather beautiful silk dress off her, made it all up

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<v Speaker 1>for herself, and then salied out around town telling stories

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<v Speaker 1>about how terrible her husband was. So seemed to be

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of stories. And I seem to had a

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<v Speaker 1>very open and rather wildlife, but very interesting, I'll say. So.

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<v Speaker 2>Did all of these allegations end up being aired in court?

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<v Speaker 1>No, it was fairly obvious. It was only circumstantial evidence,

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<v Speaker 1>and so everything was settled out of court, and they

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<v Speaker 1>basically caught the next boat out of TASMANI sold up

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<v Speaker 1>their properties immediately and headed for England.

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<v Speaker 2>So they had to pay a chunk of money, but

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<v Speaker 2>they kept the vast majority of Letitia's.

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<v Speaker 1>Fortune absolutely absolutely. In fact, they did rather better than

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<v Speaker 1>they thought they were going to do. Because her uncle,

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<v Speaker 1>as well had adopted her, had actually also been playing

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<v Speaker 1>funny buggers with the money and had made put a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of it into his own accounts, so that came

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<v Speaker 1>back to her. The will had to be adjusted. So

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<v Speaker 1>they did very well out of it.

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<v Speaker 2>And what did they do? What they do once they

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<v Speaker 2>reached England.

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<v Speaker 1>Once I reached England, they bought this rather beautiful property

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<v Speaker 1>called at a little town called Harefield, about twenty miles

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<v Speaker 1>north of London. It's a three story mansion with about

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred and fifty acres, and they really just settled

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<v Speaker 1>down and had a very lovely expatriate sort of life.

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<v Speaker 1>Got to know lots of interesting people entertained lots of

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<v Speaker 1>people from Australia, had three children, two boys and a girl,

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<v Speaker 1>and really didn't seem to do anything very exciting at

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<v Speaker 1>all that I could identify, until the First World War

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<v Speaker 1>broke out and then everything changed.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess it was sad in some ways that the

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<v Speaker 2>teacher had to leave behind Australia, but in other ways,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, her family had really disowned her in a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of ways. I guess it was only her little

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<v Speaker 2>brother that she would have been sad to leave behind.

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, And it's interesting that when they did visit Australia,

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<v Speaker 1>there never went anywhere there to Mania, and the place

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<v Speaker 1>that they spent most of the time was actually New

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<v Speaker 1>South Wales, where his family was, but also where her

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<v Speaker 1>brother was. And she had been very good to her

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<v Speaker 1>brother and made sure that he had plenty of money

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<v Speaker 1>to live on, made sure he was properly educated at

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<v Speaker 1>private schools in New South Wales, and she also paid

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<v Speaker 1>for four of his sons to have private boarding school

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<v Speaker 1>education as well. So and then when he died fairly young,

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<v Speaker 1>she also supported his wife and children. So she was

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<v Speaker 1>I think a fairly caring person.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, I would love you to take us forward to

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<v Speaker 2>the Great War, because what they did during that time

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<v Speaker 2>is quite incredible. But I do find it hard to

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<v Speaker 2>imagine just the two of them rattling around in that

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<v Speaker 2>huge house, because when you realize that it was turned

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<v Speaker 2>into a hospital for soldiers, you can only imagine how

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<v Speaker 2>huge it must have been, and therefore far too big

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<v Speaker 2>for just a couple and their three children and presumably

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<v Speaker 2>a number of staff.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, this is really Yes, this is the frustration I

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<v Speaker 1>think of trying to be a historian and not actually

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<v Speaker 1>having information. I did try very hard to contact people

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<v Speaker 1>in Harefield and historical societies and got lots of photos

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<v Speaker 1>and things. Everyone knew about the wartime, but prior to that,

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<v Speaker 1>it's almost like a veil of silence. I think another

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<v Speaker 1>person is going to have to look into that and

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<v Speaker 1>see what actually did happen. But because I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>sadly well.

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<v Speaker 2>Tell us about the years of World War One? So

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<v Speaker 2>how did it come to become a hospital wounded Australian soldiers?

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, well, it seems that they were both sort of

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<v Speaker 1>probably listening to the radio on the day that war

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<v Speaker 1>was announced, and Leticia just apparently immediately raced to her bureau,

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<v Speaker 1>got out pen and paper and wrote a letter to

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<v Speaker 1>the Australian Ministry of Defense offering their property as a

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<v Speaker 1>hospital for wounded Australian servicemen, and the Ministry of Defense

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<v Speaker 1>apparently wrote back immediately accepting their offer and saying, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>this will become Australian Auxiliary Hospital number one, and we've

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<v Speaker 1>already sent six nurses and two doctors to help.

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<v Speaker 2>You.

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<v Speaker 1>Say about set the place up as a convalescent hospital

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<v Speaker 1>and it won't be too bad. You'll only have about

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<v Speaker 1>fifty patients in winter and about one hundred and fifty

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<v Speaker 1>in summer. Wow, that did not happen, unfortunately, Gallipally occurred

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<v Speaker 1>almost immediately and a huge number of nurses and doctors

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<v Speaker 1>were sent another about seventy of them were sent on boats.

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<v Speaker 1>But with Gallipoli, unfortunately, the numbers of wounded Australians and

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<v Speaker 1>New Zealanders of course just flooded into England and it

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<v Speaker 1>exceeded the hospital space that was already available in hospitals

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<v Speaker 1>with sort of proper operating facilities. So they were all

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<v Speaker 1>sent down to Hairfield and instead of the one hundred patients,

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<v Speaker 1>they ended up with a thousand, and over the period

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<v Speaker 1>of the war they still haven't got accurate figures on this,

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<v Speaker 1>but they said at least fifty thousand, possibly one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>thousand patients went through this hospital, and of course it

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<v Speaker 1>became immediately a full operating hospital, so.

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<v Speaker 2>So and up to one thousand at one time could

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<v Speaker 2>be inside. So the actual home must have been enormous

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<v Speaker 2>or did they have to extend it.

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<v Speaker 1>No, they it was fortunate they had this two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty acres because they're about fifty wards temporary wards

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<v Speaker 1>built on the land and I think and some of

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<v Speaker 1>the main part of the house was used. Letitia and

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<v Speaker 1>Charles decided not to stay in the house, so just

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<v Speaker 1>when they stayed in a very tiny cottage called the

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<v Speaker 1>Milk House or something like that with their daughter. The

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<v Speaker 1>two boys were in the navy. But they what I

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<v Speaker 1>think was really exciting about it. Instead of just sitting

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<v Speaker 1>in their little cottage and saying, oh, well, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I hope it will all end soon. This is really awful,

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<v Speaker 1>they said, no, no, no, you know, we're Australians. These

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<v Speaker 1>are Australian people. We must make their time here a

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<v Speaker 1>really memorable and a happy time. And they went out

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<v Speaker 1>of their way to do virtually everything you could think

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<v Speaker 1>of to make it comfortable. The first thing Latisia did

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<v Speaker 1>was said, well, I'm going to be chairperson of the

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<v Speaker 1>canteen committee. I'll be in charge of the food. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean it was probably a pretty big asked to

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<v Speaker 1>be tie in charge of the food for say one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty people, But when you've got a thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and you have to see them three times a day,

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<v Speaker 1>and this rationing and this petrol rationing, food rationing, it

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<v Speaker 1>was being a hell of a job to do, and

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<v Speaker 1>I think she was a deal with it very intelligently.

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<v Speaker 1>The first thing she did was put a note in

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<v Speaker 1>the London papers and said, you know, we have all

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<v Speaker 1>these Australian soldiers and New Zealand soldiers down here who

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<v Speaker 1>were wounded. Anyone who's visiting England from the home countries,

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<v Speaker 1>our patients would love to have visitors, and they had

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<v Speaker 1>a whole swag of them. Suddenly, everybody who was anybody

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<v Speaker 1>from Australia or New Zealand immediately would put Harefield on

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<v Speaker 1>their visiting list while they visited England. So we are

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<v Speaker 1>prime ministers, and they had religious people, they had heads

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<v Speaker 1>of state and heads of the military. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>huge name a list of names that have gone through,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course also George the Fifth and Queen Mary

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<v Speaker 1>came down and at that time they only had four

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<v Speaker 1>hundred patients, but they spent the whole day and they

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<v Speaker 1>apparently spoke to every single patient, so it wasn't just

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<v Speaker 1>a fly through and you know, where's my photo opportunity.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a really genuine visit. So and not only

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<v Speaker 1>did visitors come, but apparently the paper also went out

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<v Speaker 1>to the local villagers and people just came to anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who called. Women who are older women who went part

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<v Speaker 1>of the war effort, men who weren't able to go

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<v Speaker 1>to war, suddenly just turned up on the doorstep of

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<v Speaker 1>the hospital and said we're here to volunteer. We'll help you.

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<v Speaker 1>AND's some lovely pictures of their kitchen which you can

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<v Speaker 1>see these huge quadrons of food being stirred by a

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<v Speaker 1>quite elderly gentlemen, quite elderly women who have all come

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<v Speaker 1>to volunteers. So it's really really lovely that she managed

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<v Speaker 1>to do that.

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<v Speaker 2>They're all just local volunteers from the villages, are they.

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<v Speaker 1>That's incredible totally, and they'd all sorts of things and

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<v Speaker 1>take when the men are a bit more mobile. They

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<v Speaker 1>take them if they had a car and had some petrol,

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<v Speaker 1>to take them for a picnic or a drive up

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<v Speaker 1>to London, and they bring down entertainers to give concerts,

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<v Speaker 1>and apparrently some of them spoke French, so they come

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<v Speaker 1>into the hospital and take and hold French classes them.

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<v Speaker 1>For the Australians, there was also a number of them

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<v Speaker 1>were very good at embroidery, and there's this beautiful picture

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<v Speaker 1>of a whole lot of Australian soldiers sitting up in

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<v Speaker 1>their beds focused totally on their very fine embroidery that

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<v Speaker 1>they're doing for cushion covers, and they look so serious.

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<v Speaker 1>It's wonderful. But they also I think it really went

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<v Speaker 1>out of their way to do things like finding mascots.

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<v Speaker 1>There was Jimmy the Wallaby. I don't know where he

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<v Speaker 1>came from, but he hops in and out of so

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<v Speaker 1>many pictures and he obviously lives in the wards as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And there was a white copper too, which coming from

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<v Speaker 1>the Turkish trenches, which could say in German, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>kill the Kaiser or something like that, and he's been

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<v Speaker 1>carried around by a lot of the soldiers as well,

0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.520
<v Speaker 1>and he also Charles is particularly good at sort of

0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.400
<v Speaker 1>physical activity, so he made sure that there was a

0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.400
<v Speaker 1>lake in front of the hospital and he made sure

0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.560
<v Speaker 1>that was clear so that people could swim in it

0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:20.480
<v Speaker 1>in summer and ice skate when you can see soldiers,

0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.200
<v Speaker 1>you know, pushing chairs around trying to learn to ice

0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:28.640
<v Speaker 1>skate on it. And Charles was particularly concerned about the

0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.200
<v Speaker 1>fact that the majority of operations that were done over

0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:37.520
<v Speaker 1>six hundred were actually amputations and yes, and so he

0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.720
<v Speaker 1>did a lot of research himself and put his letitious

0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:45.440
<v Speaker 1>money into a workshop on the estate where they trained

0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:51.240
<v Speaker 1>people to produce these any volunteers or even patients themselves

0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:55.040
<v Speaker 1>to produce these leg processes. And you can see those

0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:59.920
<v Speaker 1>photos of them where they're standing obviously without one leg,

0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.520
<v Speaker 1>but holding their wooden leg which they're now about to

0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:07.360
<v Speaker 1>put on and learn how to walk. So I think

0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.160
<v Speaker 1>they really went out of their way to make the

0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.080
<v Speaker 1>place a home and to end for it to be

0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.040
<v Speaker 1>part of part of an Australian situation. You can see

0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.760
<v Speaker 1>and the notes that go home, the letters that go home,

0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.920
<v Speaker 1>they're saying, oh, it's really lovely to be here. You

0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:27.320
<v Speaker 1>know that there are Australian people own it and all

0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.400
<v Speaker 1>the staff are Australian. You know, we feel at home here,

0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.640
<v Speaker 1>we feel comfortable. They understand us. The English people don't

0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:39.120
<v Speaker 1>understand us. You said that became almost a tribal thing

0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.920
<v Speaker 1>going on there, because it would have been wonderful.

0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.600
<v Speaker 2>We'll be back soon to find out what happened to

0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:54.840
<v Speaker 2>Letitia next, so stay with us and sadly, Carol. Obviously

0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.040
<v Speaker 2>there were a number of Australian soldiers who passed away

0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.240
<v Speaker 2>at the hospital. Tell us about what happened when someone

0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 2>did pass away.

0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.080
<v Speaker 1>Yes, well, firstly, there were not too many passing away.

0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.280
<v Speaker 1>There were one hundred and twenty out of the fifty thousand,

0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:14.480
<v Speaker 1>and most of them actually didn't die from wounds, so

0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.280
<v Speaker 1>it must have been a fairly reasonable hospital. But they

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:22.400
<v Speaker 1>died from the Spanish flu which swept through England in

0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:28.440
<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighteen. And what would happen if somebody died would

0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:34.760
<v Speaker 1>be firstly the procession through the town and all the

0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:38.120
<v Speaker 1>soldiers who were able to walk would line up along

0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.680
<v Speaker 1>the town and follow the coffin, and all the townspeople

0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.960
<v Speaker 1>would follow as well, and the children would come out

0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.520
<v Speaker 1>of the school and they'd line up the streets as well,

0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.160
<v Speaker 1>and that noticed. What happened with the first one was

0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.360
<v Speaker 1>that the teacher who'd lined up all his children looked

0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.760
<v Speaker 1>over to the coffin and realized it had no flag

0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.560
<v Speaker 1>on it. It should actually have had an Australian but

0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.360
<v Speaker 1>of course they didn't have an Australian flag. So he hopped

0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.920
<v Speaker 1>into the classroom and took down the union jack off

0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:09.520
<v Speaker 1>the wall and put that over the coffin, and that

0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.280
<v Speaker 1>union jack accompanied the one hundred and twenty men who

0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.320
<v Speaker 1>died to the churchyard of Saint Mary's where they were

0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:23.760
<v Speaker 1>all buried. The burial was paid for by a person

0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:28.520
<v Speaker 1>from Tasmania who eventually became the premier, and he also

0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.919
<v Speaker 1>bought and paid for all the plots as well, so

0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:38.760
<v Speaker 1>that was very very generous act. And Letitia also got

0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:43.919
<v Speaker 1>the Spanish flu and was fairly unwell, and sadly she

0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.159
<v Speaker 1>wasn't particularly well after the war, largely because of this flu,

0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:52.720
<v Speaker 1>and she died in nineteen twenty three at the age

0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:57.159
<v Speaker 1>of sixty four and is buried in the churchyard. Charles

0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:01.280
<v Speaker 1>lasted about another ten years and was often in Monte

0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:05.399
<v Speaker 1>Carlo in a rather beautiful silver rolls Royce that he

0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:09.240
<v Speaker 1>joined her. Eventually there as well. And I think one

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.000
<v Speaker 1>of the lovely things about this place which shows the

0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.639
<v Speaker 1>long term commitment of the town toward Australia, is it

0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:21.440
<v Speaker 1>since nineteen eighteen they have always held an Anzac service

0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:26.880
<v Speaker 1>on Anzac Day and the whole town attends and as

0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.439
<v Speaker 1>a proper and military service, and it's run by the

0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.439
<v Speaker 1>vicar and there's a choir. But the loveliest thing I

0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.280
<v Speaker 1>think is that the children of the town all attend

0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:40.200
<v Speaker 1>and they all carry flowers and they put those flowers

0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.760
<v Speaker 1>on the graves of the Australian soldiers. I think that's

0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:44.880
<v Speaker 1>just a lovely connection.

0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:49.280
<v Speaker 2>That's amazing. And what happened to Harefield Park is that

0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.000
<v Speaker 2>something that you can go and visit now and learn

0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.159
<v Speaker 2>more about the period during the war and how it

0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:56.960
<v Speaker 2>was used as a hospital for the ANZACs.

0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:02.560
<v Speaker 1>Not really unfortunately. Lot part well that the actual house

0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:07.080
<v Speaker 1>that they had is largely in ruins my understanding, but

0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.960
<v Speaker 1>they didn't keep the property. They sold it to the

0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:15.000
<v Speaker 1>English government after the war and it became a TP

0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:19.920
<v Speaker 1>sanatorium and now it's the premiere cardiac facility for England.

0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.600
<v Speaker 1>So it is now that's still a hospital still operating,

0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.399
<v Speaker 1>but the house itself is not as in disrepair, and

0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:29.960
<v Speaker 1>they don't seem to be able to raise enough money

0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:34.280
<v Speaker 1>unfortunately to repair it. So that's a little bit sad.

0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.440
<v Speaker 2>And what about the rest of the Leak family remaining

0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:40.560
<v Speaker 2>in Australia. Is there any more to the story there?

0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:47.280
<v Speaker 1>Well? Starting with the children of Letitia and Charles, they

0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.480
<v Speaker 1>had three. The daughter was the one who was probably

0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:54.080
<v Speaker 1>a teenager during the war, and she helped Letitia in

0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:56.280
<v Speaker 1>the kitchen and in the woods, and she married a

0:19:56.320 --> 0:20:00.600
<v Speaker 1>Russian prince, so she seems to have done quite well.

0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:05.280
<v Speaker 1>And the youngest one was still at Dartmouth in naval school,

0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.360
<v Speaker 1>so he never got to the war, and he ended

0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:09.840
<v Speaker 1>up in Africa where they bought a lot of properties.

0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:14.640
<v Speaker 1>And the eldest boy, who was another Edward, he did

0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.440
<v Speaker 1>very well in the Battle of Brugue in Belgium and

0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:19.280
<v Speaker 1>saved the lives of a lot of people, though it

0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.560
<v Speaker 1>was only twenty two at the time, and he received

0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.600
<v Speaker 1>a lot of medals. He received a request from Lord

0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.080
<v Speaker 1>Louis mount Batton and the Prince of Wales to ask

0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:34.280
<v Speaker 1>Edward if they would accompany them to Australia because they

0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.760
<v Speaker 1>were going to do a tour to Australia to thank

0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.840
<v Speaker 1>the Australian people for their support during World War One.

0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.040
<v Speaker 1>I think was lovely. Now he did very well. He

0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:48.600
<v Speaker 1>actually we had about four celebrity marriages, but one of

0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.040
<v Speaker 1>them was to Lord Louis mount Batton's sister in law.

0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.720
<v Speaker 1>So now he and his wife and their children and

0:20:56.800 --> 0:21:00.720
<v Speaker 1>grandchildren are now all listed in de bred and so

0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:04.040
<v Speaker 1>they're part of the English aristocracy. One of them lives

0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:07.320
<v Speaker 1>up in North Queenstance and he thinks it's an absolute hope, but.

0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.520
<v Speaker 2>Amazing. So the book is called The Accidental Heiress. Have

0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.359
<v Speaker 2>you finished researching the story of Letitia Leek or do

0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:18.080
<v Speaker 2>you think that this is a story that you would

0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.560
<v Speaker 2>just keep researching because there are still holes in the story,

0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.720
<v Speaker 2>aren't there? I mean, there are still more answers that

0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:25.679
<v Speaker 2>you need to find.

0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:31.040
<v Speaker 1>No. No, And every time I give a talk about it,

0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:32.920
<v Speaker 1>somebody comes up and says, oh, did you know and

0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.560
<v Speaker 1>my father or my grandfather and I can tell you,

0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:40.000
<v Speaker 1>And I'm like, oh, no, I wish I'd known all

0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:45.440
<v Speaker 1>this beforehand. It's an ongoing thing. I think until I die,

0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:47.600
<v Speaker 1>I'll be collecting information about it.

0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:52.199
<v Speaker 2>Perhaps a second edition. So it's called The accidental airess.

0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.760
<v Speaker 2>Where can people buy the book Carol online?

0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:59.399
<v Speaker 1>From the Adelaide booksellers, which of course are in Adelaide,

0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:02.919
<v Speaker 1>but they to be very efficient and quick. That's the

0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:04.800
<v Speaker 1>main outlet that we have at the moment.

0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.280
<v Speaker 2>Fantastic, and we'll pop a link in the show notes

0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:10.879
<v Speaker 2>to this episode so that people can easily order a

0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:14.479
<v Speaker 2>copy online. Well, thank you so much for sharing that story.

0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:16.960
<v Speaker 2>It's just full of intrigue, isn't it? Full of scandal

0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:19.320
<v Speaker 2>and intrigue, So thank you so much for sharing it

0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:20.320
<v Speaker 2>with us today, Carol.

0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:21.880
<v Speaker 1>It's absolute pleasure.

0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:27.680
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Jan, Thank you, thanks for listening. This has

0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:30.240
<v Speaker 2>been In Black and White, a podcast about some of

0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:34.840
<v Speaker 2>Australia's forgotten characters, written and hosted by me Jen Kelly,

0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:38.240
<v Speaker 2>edited by Nina Young and produced by John ty Burton.

0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:41.800
<v Speaker 2>You can find all the stories and photos associated with

0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:47.000
<v Speaker 2>our episodes at Haroldsun dot com dot au slash ib aw.

0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:49.959
<v Speaker 2>If you've enjoyed this podcast, we'd love you to leave

0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:53.880
<v Speaker 2>a five star rating on Apple Podcasts. Even better, leave

0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:57.440
<v Speaker 2>a review. Any comments or questions please email me at

0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:00.399
<v Speaker 2>in black and White at haroldsun dot com dot A.

0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:04.040
<v Speaker 2>You any clarifications or updates will appear in the show

0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:07.120
<v Speaker 2>notes for each episode, and to get notified when each

0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:10.000
<v Speaker 2>new episode comes out, make sure you subscribe to the

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