‘Gingering’ was a very popular pastime particularly in the 1940s. That’s when an Ipswich punting miner set the Australian record that may never be broken. I told a version of this story live on West Bremer Radio.

Australia’s leading artistes back then was a famous gingering partnership that included the stylishly dressed ash blonde Dot Tremaine who was commonly known as the “Flying Angel”. There was also her very good-looking brunette friend Nancy Crooks and the attractive Valerie Hudson.

For those of you who don’t know what gingering is, it typically involves two women. A gentleman is enticed away by one lady, and while his attentions are elsewhere the other does ‘does a ginger’ on him. In other words, she takes the contents of his wallet.

Dot, Nancy and Valerie gingered for a long time, their careers extended for perhaps thirty to forty years, and they never seemed to age because they were always reported as being in their thirties. Their victims rarely came forward because many were married men, but here’s a small sample of the team’s time in Sydney.

In 1936, a Potts Point naval architect Norman William Sharp was robbed by Dot and Nancy of his wallet and contents valued at twelve shillings and six pence, and he in a dark alley within a few yards of his home. Even at this early stage of their careers, the team had been convicted hundreds of times.

In 1940, an S.P. bookmaker Frank Benjamin was robbed of £90 after he said he did Nancy a favour by giving her a lift home to Bourke Street because she was feeling ill.

In 1943, a Norwegian seaman Alfred Widdell was strolling through the city, met Nancy and together they went back to her Darlinghurst address where he was robbed of £83. He said he only went there because he wanted to improve his education and broken English. When asked about the removal of his clothes, he said he didn’t know what was happening.

In 1944, a middle-aged American army sergeant Henry Basil Brooks had just returned from New Guinea afterhe was wounded, recovered in hospital, and captured a Japanese officer, when he was gingered of £97. He met Nancy who invited him to have a cup of tea. He accepted. Nancy told him to take off his clothes, he did, but became suspicious that the tea wasn’t coming when he saw Valerie sneak into the room and steal his money. He said he didn’t chase her because he was undressed and that would have been indecent exposure.

Again in 1944, an American ship’s engineer George Cabral lost £85 and USD293 when he was gingered by Nancy and Valerie.

After the war 1947, a middle-aged chemist Laurence Ward was lured into a private hotel where he was undressed and robbed of £28 by Nancy and Dot. The police got a tip-off and so a detective hid himself in a linen cupboard and through a hole saw everything.

All this gingering is small-time compared to our Ipswich miner.

In 1941, George Henry Hill from Cotthill Road in Ipswich, went to Sydney for Easter to take on the Randwick bookies. After a successful day, he met Valerie who took him to a room in Paddington. She told him to take his clothes off, he refused but changed his mind when she explained that he’d been walking around Randwick in public and so might have some germs on him. Nancy then breezed into the room and removed the contents of his wallet which was a whopping £2,700. This is almost a million dollars today.

In court, George said he didn’t care about the money because he had more in the bank, and he could simply go back to Ipswich and win some more. Ipswich’s George Hill spent almost one million dollars for love which the records I’ve found show this is the Australian gingering record.

The gingering champions didn’t stop there. In 1954, the “Flying Angel” Dorothy Tremaine and Nancy Crooks appeared in court yet again. It was reported that the years had treated them kindly, although they had to have been in their 50s or 60s by this time. The magistrate, who had been around the courts a long time, raised his eyebrows and asked, “Haven’t they retired yet?”

To this day, Ipswich’s George Hill holds the gingering record.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON WEST BREMER RADIO.

Photo credits:
Randwick Guineas – RacingBet.
Dot Tremaine – Truth, Sydney, 19th September 1954, page 44.
Nancy Crooks – Truth, Sydney, 12th March 1944, page 9.
Alfred Widdell – Truth, Sydney, 5th September 1943, page 24.
Henry Basil Brooks – Truth, Sydney, 23rd January 1944, page 21.
George Cabral – Truth, Sydney, 12th March 1944, page 9.
Valerie Hudson – Truth Sydney, 12th March 1944, page 9.