The photo below was taken at a location where one of Errol’s relatives had a prominent connection. In fact, a geological feature there is named after one of Errol’s relatives.
Where is this location? Who was the relative? What feature is named after Errol’s relative, and why??
Clues:
1. It is enormously expensive to visit.
2. Very few people have ever been there.
3. It is a site of rare and spectacular beauty.
4. It’s the most remote location on Earth named after a relative of Errol’s.
From very early on, Errol exhibited an intense interest and unique talent for entrepreneurial adventure. Inspired by his father, this often involved scientific exploration and experimentation. Cruise of the Zaca is an eminent example.
But when and where did young Errol first profitably demonstrate this profound talent and interest? Evidence indicates it was in connection to Professor Flynn’s research into the reproductive biology of Tasmanian bettings. In fact, Errol essentially states so in My Wicked, Wicked Ways:
“When school finished, I raced home to be at his side, to hurry out into the back yard, where we had cages of specimens of rare animals… Through Father’s activity I made my first venture into commerce. He bought all the kangaroo rats [bettongs] he could get hold of for Hobart University. I learned to set box traps in the hills of near-by Mount Wellington. He paid a shilling a head.”
Putting Errol’s bettongs to exceptionally good use, Professor Flynn published a landmark paper in 1930 on the reproduction of the Tasmanian bettong.
Here is a rare nocturnal photo of the hard-to-catch, truffle-hunting Tasmanian bettong in the act of night-jumping.
And here is a spectacular view from Mt. Wellingon of the hills of Hobart where pre-teen Errol trapped bettongs for his father’s pioneering research into marsupials.
“Wolverton is plainly an homage to the 1930s-1950s Australian actor Errol Flynn. He has Flynn’s flair, his womanising ways (having a hand chopped off would interfere in his removal of corsets, Wolverton quips), a Zorro-esque mask, and even Flynn’s pencil moustache. Only the épée is missing. Wolverton relies upon stealth, wit, and cunning, wise-cracking all the while.”
“From a 1944 book It’s Time You Knew – a sort of Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not’ book produced by Bulova and, it seems, given to customers in American watch shops.”
“In London, Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer better known as “Captain Blood,” was captured attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
Blood, a Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, was deprived of his estate in Ireland with the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. In 1663, he put himself at the head of a plot to seize Dublin Castle from supporters of King Charles II, but the plot was discovered and his accomplices executed. He escaped capture. In 1671, he hatched a bizarre plan to steal the new Crown Jewels, which had been refashioned by Charles II because most of the original jewels were melted down after Charles I’s execution in 1649.
On May 9, 1671, Blood, disguised as a priest, managed to convince the Jewel House keeper to hand over his pistols. Blood’s three accomplices then emerged from the shadows, and together they forced their way into the Jewel House. However, they were caught in the act when the keeper’s son showed up unexpectedly, and an alarm went out to the Tower guard. One man shoved the Royal Orb down his breeches while Blood flattened the Crown with a mallet and tried to run off with it. The Tower guards apprehended and arrested all four of the perpetrators, and Blood was brought before the king. Charles was so impressed with Blood’s audacity that, far from punishing him, he restored his estates in Ireland and made him a member of his court with an annual pension.
Captain Blood became a colorful celebrity all across the kingdom, and when he died in 1680 his body had to be exhumed in order to persuade the public that he was actually dead.”
“Well, one night Errol came home drunk. The old girl (the landlady) had lit the plaster statue of the Virgin with a candle at its foot. The statue was about five feet high and coloured. A big bunch of flowers stood at the foot of the image and Errol, thinking it was just another pretty girl, made a lunge. Both he and the statue, in a thousand bits, hurled down two flights of stairs. The enraged landlady, awoken from her slumber, tossed Mr. Flynn and his belongings right out on the footpath. But with his winning ways, Errol was back next morning and forgiven. He was about 17 or 18 at this time, as wild a young man as Sydney ever saw.”
Was Robin Hood a radical revolutionary, or a right wing reactionary? The debate rages on, with liberals, conservatives, and libertarians, all claiming him for themselves. What do you think?
