The Norna and the Conman Commodore

In the early 1900s many hard-working sailing vessels saw out their days plying the waters between Australia and the islands of the South Pacific.   Few, however, would have had such a fascinating history as that of the Norna. The Norna was built in New York in 1879 as a luxury ocean-going schooner rigged yacht.   SheContinue reading “The Norna and the Conman Commodore”

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The Bogus Count and Hamlet’s Ghost

Some things you just can’t make up.    This is the story of the bogus Count von Attems and Hamlet’s Ghost. In May 1868 a dashing young man stepped ashore in Sydney claiming to be Count Ignaz Von Attems, a blood relative of Archduke Albert of Austria.   The Von Attems family could trace their aristocratic lineageContinue reading “The Bogus Count and Hamlet’s Ghost”

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