Somerton Man

====Carl Webb====

====Carl Webb====

Carl "Charles" Webb was born on 16 November 1905, in [[Footscray, Victoria|Footscray]], a suburb of [[Melbourne]],<ref name="ABC-identified" /> the youngest of six children. Carl Webb's father, Richard August Webb (1866–1939), had emigrated to Australia from Hamburg, Germany.<ref name="ABC-identified" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2022-08-01 |title=Who was Carl 'Charles' Webb, aka The Somerton Man? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/somerton-man-who-was-carl-charles-webb/101288890 |access-date=2025-03-07 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> He married Eliza Amelia Morris Grace (1871–1946)<ref name="ABC-identified" /><ref name=":1" /> in 1892. They opened a bakery in [[Springvale, Victoria|Springvale]], Victoria and the family's three sons would all eventually work there.{{Cn|date=March 2025}} When the bakery closed down, Webb retrained as an electrical instrument maker.<ref name="abc20221120" /> Webb's older brother, Roy Webb, had died in Burma in 1943, while he was a prisoner of war and apparently undergoing forced labour on the [[Thailand-Burma Railway]]. Webb's oldest sister, Freda Grace Keane (née Webb), had a son named John, who had died in the United Kingdom, while serving with the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF), also in 1943.

Carl "Charles" Webb was born on 16 November 1905, in [[Footscray, Victoria|Footscray]], a suburb of [[Melbourne]],<ref name="ABC-identified" /> the youngest of six children. Carl Webb's father, Richard August Webb (1866–1939), had emigrated to Australia from Hamburg, Germany.<ref name="ABC-identified" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2022-08-01 |title=Who was Carl 'Charles' Webb, aka The Somerton Man? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/somerton-man-who-was-carl-charles-webb/101288890 |access-date=2025-03-07 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> He married Eliza Amelia Morris Grace (1871–1946)<ref name="ABC-identified" /><ref name=":1" /> in 1892. They opened a bakery in [[Springvale, Victoria|Springvale]], Victoria and the family's three sons would all eventually work there.{{Cn|date=March 2025}} When the bakery closed down, Webb retrained as an electrical instrument maker.<ref name="abc20221120" /> Webb's older brother, Roy Webb, had died in Burma in 1943,<ref>{{cite web|title=Roy Webb|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2091636/roy-webb/|website=cwgc.org|access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref> while he was a prisoner of war and apparently undergoing forced labour on the [[Thailand-Burma Railway]]. Webb's oldest sister, Freda Grace Keane (née Webb), had a son named John, who had died in the United Kingdom, while serving with the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF), also in 1943.

On 4 October 1941, Webb married Dorothy "Doff" Robertson,<ref name=":1" /> a pharmacist and chiropodist. The couple moved into a flat in Bromby Street, [[South Yarra]].<ref name="abc20221120" /><ref name=":1" /> She later said that the marriage was not a harmonious one, largely due to Webb's personality. She described him as solitary, having few friends, living a quiet life and being in bed by 7{{nbsp}}p.m. each night, but also moody, violent and threatening, especially when facing defeat even over relatively trivial matters. She stated he was fond of poetry and wrote several poems of his own, "most of them on the subject of death, which he claims to be his greatest desire". This would be consistent with the copy of the Rubaiyat, which also focuses on the subject of death.<ref name="abc20221120" /><ref name="CNN">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/australia/australia-somerton-man-mystery-solved-claim-intl-hnk-dst/index.html|title=Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity, professor claims|publisher=CNN|date=26 July 2022|access-date=26 July 2022|last=Whiteman|first=Hilary|archive-date=26 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726080420/https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/australia/australia-somerton-man-mystery-solved-claim-intl-hnk-dst/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Abbott's research indicates Webb enjoyed betting on horses; thus, the coded messages in the book could be horse names.<ref name="CNN" />

On 4 October 1941, Webb married Dorothy "Doff" Robertson,<ref name=":1" /> a pharmacist and chiropodist. The couple moved into a flat in Bromby Street, [[South Yarra]].<ref name="abc20221120" /><ref name=":1" /> She later said that the marriage was not a harmonious one, largely due to Webb's personality. She described him as solitary, having few friends, living a quiet life and being in bed by 7{{nbsp}}p.m. each night, but also moody, violent and threatening, especially when facing defeat even over relatively trivial matters. She stated he was fond of poetry and wrote several poems of his own, "most of them on the subject of death, which he claims to be his greatest desire". This would be consistent with the copy of the Rubaiyat, which also focuses on the subject of death.<ref name="abc20221120" /><ref name="CNN">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/australia/australia-somerton-man-mystery-solved-claim-intl-hnk-dst/index.html|title=Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity, professor claims|publisher=CNN|date=26 July 2022|access-date=26 July 2022|last=Whiteman|first=Hilary|archive-date=26 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726080420/https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/australia/australia-somerton-man-mystery-solved-claim-intl-hnk-dst/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Abbott's research indicates Webb enjoyed betting on horses; thus, the coded messages in the book could be horse names.<ref name="CNN" />