The Disappearance of Marjorie Norval

Australian True Crime

Meshel Laurie

True Crime

4.6 • 979 Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Marjorie Norval was a mould breaker. In the 1930s, she was a single, gregarious career woman, living in a hotel in the Brisbane CBD. She worked for the Premiere William Forgan Smith and his wife, which afforded her to live a lifestyle that was out of reach for most women in conservative Brisbane at the time.

That lifestyle came to an abrupt end when she disappeared without a trace, one sunny day in 1938.

In the days and months to come, four heroic rescuers would die, one of her rumoured lovers would commit suicide, and a light would be shone on the city’s shady characters, from illegal abortionists to peeping Toms.

Our guest today, Michael Adams, hosts his own podcast titled Forgotten Australia, which can be listened to wherever you get your podcasts.

If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:

Lifeline on 13 11 14

13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)

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CREDITS:

Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram

Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here and listen to her podcast Killer Content here.

Guests: Michael Adams

Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

Executive Producer: Jacqueline Tonks

Recorded at a Hub Australia Media Studio. Find the workspace that's right for you at https://www.hubaustralia.com/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We're bringing Australian True Crime live to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this July,
0:04.3	and I have to tell you that Brisbane sold out already.
0:07.4	Good for you, Brisbane, so we've quickly added a second show.
0:10.3	Now we can't keep adding more shows, so please make sure you get your tickets. Our special guests,
0:15.2	our forensic criminologist Santee Mallet in Brisbane and Sydney and the one and only Charlie Bazzina in
0:19.9	Melbourne. There'll be a Q&A of course so you can ask your own burning questions on the night but you have to book quickly.
0:25.9	The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded.
0:37.0	They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging.
0:47.0	The following podcast contains content of a graphic violent nature and is not suitable for children.
0:53.0	When it came down to it, no one was willing to risk any sort of scandal.
0:59.0	When she needed her powerful friends, you know, in life and then in death they were covering their own butts.
1:10.0	Marjorie Norville was a mold breaker. In the 1930s, she was a single, gregarious career woman, living in a hotel in Brisbane's CBD.
1:22.0	She worked for Premier William Forgan Smith and his wife.
1:26.0	Although his Premiership took in both the Great Depression and World War II,
1:31.0	Forgan Smith was very popular and became the longest serving Premier in
1:35.2	Queensland's history at the time. Her membership to the Premier's
1:39.2	inner circle provided Marjorie with a lifestyle that was out of reach for most women in Conservative
1:44.6	Queensland at the time. But it all came to an abrupt end when she disappeared without a trace,
1:51.5	one sunny day in 1938.
1:54.0	None of Marjorie's high-profile male companions had any idea
1:59.0	as to where she could be or what could have happened to her.
2:02.0	The chief of Queensland's police at the time
	...

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