PART NINE - Shame & Scandal in the Family

I guess behind every story is another story, and the case of Prosper Lark and his New Moon mowers is no exception.
In Part 8 I said that, "we're not likely to know what happened to force the closure of P.F. Lark's company."
The reason may have involved a scandal!

I found (by accident) a record held by Western Sydney Records from December of 1929, that referenced divorce papers
between Isabel Park and Prosper Frederick Lark. Isabel, the wife, was the Petitioner.
[They were married in 1915, just before Prosper would head overseas to fight in that terrible war.]

I believe a Deed of Separation was granted between the parties in 1929, just months before the company would
collapse. In December of 1932 a Decree Nisi was issued, ending the marriage.

It was this later, 1932 record that revealed the reason:-

[Linked Image]

Was Hilda the reason for the end of the New Moon mower? It would be an easy conclusion to think that.
Prosper Lark was an adulterer and the word would have got out, particularly when the story appeared in
the sensationalist Truth of January 1, 1933.

[Linked Image]

CONCLUSION
This New Year article was the setting for the New Moon mower.

New Moon mowers were sold on the East Coast of Australia and possibly South Australia,
and they sold through some large, well-known stores. The Scott Bonnar Ledger records a few
machines as trade-ins or sold as second-hand machines in Adelaide.

I have not seen these curious machines advertised on any auction site.
I hope that one will turn up at some point - for the record, and as an example of our first,
Australian power mower.

The rest is history.
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JACK.