Mendelsham Robe Terrace Medindie

Mendelsham “Stonehenge” Robe Terrace Medindie

 Designed by iconic South Australian architect; John Quinton Bruce for Fred Scarfe, A Director of South Australian department store icon, Harris Scarfe’s, ‘Stonehenge’, as the building was named, is a beautiful building located just north of Adelaide on Robe Terrace at Medindie.

 Often it is reported that Frederick Norman Scarfe, former Mayor of Kensington and Norwood is the man who had the building erected, but by the time it was built, Frederick was a very old man.    Frederick George Alexander Scarfe is the man who built the impressive house, he was a director of Harris Scarfe’s at the time, and a very wealthy individual.

 The building consists of 15 main rooms and includes a gracious reception hallway and a sweeping grand staircase. There is also a ballroom, a formal lounge-room, a library and a formal dining room, plus five bedrooms and a wine cellar.

  The house was often featured in local newspaper stories as Mr Scarfe would host events at his home. Scarfe was well known for throwing grand balls and parties, in which Adelaide’s elite would gather.

  In 1919 Frederick Scarfe sold the house for an impressive sum, citing in advertisements that he found the housekeeping tasks laborious, with it being such a large manner. Scarfe was not keen on paying maids or cleaners.

 During the 1930s the home was owned by and lived in by Mr Ernest Jolly, his wife Evelyn and two sons, Derek and Dennis. Jolly was a well-known for importing and racing thoroughbred horses. The Jolly’s were high-society members, and their functions were often reported in local newspapers.

 In 1994, The Adelaide Advertiser (April 24th, 1994) published a story about the house featuring a local businessman, Tony Syrianos, who had purchased the manor for $1.2 million dollars. After the purchase, the businessman out that the house is haunted by a young lady.

 The spirit of the young lady appears in an upstairs bedroom known as the Blue Room. It has been stated that she only appears during the hours of 11pm and 5am. She is said to walk from the Blue Room, to a bathroom, sometimes with the variation of walking up or down the extravagant staircase. She is dressed in a white nightgown with an overly frilly neckline.

The haunting of the Robe Terrace Manor (called Mendlesham on the show) appeared on 1990s television show “The Extraordinary” (episode 38). In the show, Mr Syrianos claims he is terrified of the ghost, and won’t enter the house at night. O the show they describe the spirit as being aged between fifteen and twenty years of age, with shoulder-length hair.
 Another witness reported a foul smell emanating from the Blue Room, doors slamming, windows opening and closing, and cold spots in the room. All these events occurred when the room was redecorated.

 Another witness, returning from a party reported all the paintings flying off the walls, and lights turning on by themselves.

 It is thought the spirit is that of a young girl who died in the house from the effects of tuberculosis around the 1920s, when the disease was making itself felt in North Adelaide.

 

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

This story was unpublished but written for MEGAScene Issue 20 2020

© Allen Tiller

A Ghost in the Little Pub

 On the corner of Hindley Street and Gilbert Place sits The Little Pub also affectionally known as the ‘Littlest Pub on Hindley Street’ to some. The upper section of this hotel is now known as the Tattersalls Backpackers (or Hostel).

The first building on this site was the Bank of Australia built-in 1851 by builder Mr Botting.[1] The bank was managed by Mr Samuel Tom.

 In 1851, the bank became the Blenheim Hotel (known as the Weiland's Hotel from 1879 until 1882).   The Blenheim Hotel was an iconic hotel in Adelaide's past for many things; including being used as the City Council Chambers (until the structure of the Town Hall in 1866), but perhaps most famous for, or perhaps infamous, the 1855 Hindley Street Riots.
  The Hindley Street Riot happened on the 20th of September 1855 during the election for the Legislative Council voting for West Adelaide. The nominees, chosen by the Governor of the day, were James Hurtle Fischer and Anthony Forster.
  At the time voting was often done in hotels, and was public, meaning there were no secret votes, no partition between voters and no secrecy. "Touters" stood either side of the door to polling booths, and could see the colour of voting slips, red and blue, and would signal to the crowds a person's vote. [2]
  This, of course, caused great tension between friends and enemies and led to general unrest in the large crowd of onlookers. The first signs of violence came from a report by watchmaker Mr Griffin, who told police he had been knocked down and mistreated, without provocation, by a group of ruffians with bludgeons.[3]

  Closer to the end of voting, it became known that Forster was in the lead, but a murmur of protest had gone through the crowd that many of Fischer's supporters had not been allowed to vote.  Suddenly, a large contingent of men (described as "Irishmen" in the newspapers of the time, perhaps as they were considered "the working class") stormed the Blenheim Hotel and made their way to the balcony. They tore down all the banners, and ripped them shreds, breaking the banner polls and turning them into weapons.
 The men returned to the street, where they met with over one hundred other men, all carrying bludgeons, and began to herd the crowd down Hindley street toward King William Street, opposite the Exchange Hotel, where Forster had his headquarters.

 Some men tried to climb the balcony of the Exchange Hotel, but were pushed back by Forster's supporters, choosing instead to throw rocks and bricks at the balcony. All the windows were smashed, and a table was placed against the windows to stop the ongoing barrage of debris hitting the men inside.
  The rioters then began to violently attack and hit with bludgeons, Forster's supporters outside the hotel, with many men sustaining head injuries. The wounded began to seek refuge, with some finding their way to the nearest police station.
  The mounted police soon arrived on the scene, along with the foot police as led by Superintendent Tolmer.
 Tolmer had been waiting nearby with his men, and before proceeding into the fray, read out "The Riot Act", the first time it was read in South Australia. [4]
  Rioters had reached the balcony of the Exchange Hotel and had begun to throw rocks into the crowd indiscriminately, striking friend and foe.
  Tolmer decided his best attack to quell the riot was to stop the men on the balcony. As he began to climb a balcony pole, a man grabbed him from below, and for his efforts, received Tolmer's right boot, including spur, squarely on his chin, sending him sprawling to the ground below.

 

The Blenheim Hotel was renamed Tattersalls Hotel in 1882 after the Tattersall's Club moved into the building from its previous home at the Globe Hotel. The owners of Tattersalls decided to demolish the old building in 1900 and rebuilt over the following two years. Its architects were Garlick & Jackman, with building undertaken by R Seller.[5]

 There have been many deaths since the rebuilding of the hotel in 1900. In 1922, Walter Smith dropped dead of unknown causes in the street outside the hotel.[6]
 In 1927, the former Postmaster and Harbour Master of Edithburgh on the Yorke Peninsula, Mr FW Allen passed away from a heart attack in the front lounge of the hotel.[7]
 Only two years later in 1929, publican at the time, Mr Harry Richards also passed away in the building.[8]
 

 The Little Pub is reputed to be haunted, but you may not have heard the most recent ghost story to surface from this location. During my tenure as Paranormal Historian in Residence at the City Library for the ‘Haunted Buildings in Adelaide’ history residency, I asked the public to come forward with their ghost stories.
 A gentleman came forward and told me that he had a friend who had worked in the hotel for many years. His friend, the worker, was very well known by patrons and easily recognisable due to his unusually distinctive hat, clothing and mannerisms.
 The former worker passed away, and not long after his death, he began to haunt to Little Pub. One afternoon, weeks after his death, a staff member entered the basement, and to his surprise saw his former colleague sitting on a keg staring off into the distance. He knew it was his former colleague as the hat and clothing was the same he had worn when alive, and was very distinct (I am not going to tell you what he wore, but if you claim to see this gentleman and contact me, I’ll know straight away if it was him or not, as will his former friends and co-workers!)

 No-one knows why he would return to the pub. Who wants to go back to work after they die?  Perhaps he just wanted to say goodbye to his former colleagues, or perhaps his best memories are in that basement. Either way, we will never know, but to this day, he is seen from time to time in the basement of the Little Pub on Hindley Street.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 19 2019

© Allen Tiller

---

[1] 'Fifty Years Ago', The Register, (3 February 1923), p. 9.

[2] Corinne Ball, ‘Hindley Street Riot', SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, http://sahistoryhub.com.au/events/hindley-street-riot, accessed 18 June 2017.

[3]  'An Historic Building Demolished.', South Australian Register, (20 July 1900), p. 3.

[4] 'THE RIOT ACT.', The Express and Telegraph, (17 October 1911), p. 3.

[5] George Boeck & Erika Esau, ‘South Australia, A Tourist's Guide to Australian Culture and History’, (2017), http://www.esauboeck.com/guide-sa.

[6] 'Casualties.', Observer, (14 January 1922), p. 20.

[7] 'MR. F. W. ALLEN DEAD', News, (15 October 1927), p. 9.

[8] 'Death of Well-known City Publican', The Register News-Pictorial, (12 February 1929), p. 24.

The Haunted Barossa Junction Motel

 

In 2014, my paranormal investigation team 'Eidolon Paranormal' were invited to conduct a paranormal investigation at a remarkable location, The Barossa Junction Motel. The motel was somewhat of an icon on the road between Nuriootpa and Tanunda, with its train carriage hotel rooms, and train-themed restaurant. It also contained a large motor vehicle-related museum.

The hotel was the idea of John Gordon, who was also behind the Buffalo Family Restaurant in Glenelg. Gordon set up the location in conjunction with his good friend Bruce Hoffman, after their winery, Hoffman’s Wines were purchased by Peter Lehmann.

The site of the motel was originally the Barossa Drive-in Theatre. The screen from which was incorporated into one of the large halls inside the museum.

Gordon and Hoffman sold the location to Eric Parker in 2003, but due to ongoing overheads and lack of interest, the site was sold in 2014. Woolworths purchased the property to extend their Dorrien Estate Winery which sat alongside the property. This led to most of the contents, old trains, cars and other memorabilia being auctioned off and removed.

The Barossa Junction Hotel had long been rumoured to be haunted. Legend had it that in the train carriages the spirit of a girl had been seen. She was said to be a young teen who could be seen inside the carriages, or sometimes walking between them in the yard. No-one could identify whom she might be, but there was speculation she either died by falling off a carriage or drowning in the onsite swimming pool. Another train of thought (pun intended) was that she may have died on one of the train carriages before they were converted into hotel rooms at the Junction. Either way, there is no proof of her history or her ghostly presence.

 

 We investigated the site the night before the auction. We were granted access to every location inside the property and made the most of it by investigating every train, room and vehicle we came across.

 The swimming pool which was located inside a building was also rumoured to be haunted. We entered late in the night to find the pool virtually empty. The room looked as though it had not been used in some time as cracks were starting to appear with plants in them. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, and with our night vision lights reflecting off the remaining water, it created a spooky and creepy effect. Even though we had heard this area might also be haunted, on this night, no one came forward.

We came up with absolutely nothing. Not a thing from a train carriage, the pool area, or the car museum! This isn’t entirely unusual in investigating the paranormal, but we were granted the privilege of investigating a truly iconic location in the Barossa Valley!

After the auction, Mr Parker moved what was left of the collection to his museum in Greenock, located in the old Perry’s Electrical site. It is not known if the alleged ghosts moved with him.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 18 2019

© Allen Tiller

The Truth Behind the Infamous “Schneider’s Alley”

 

Clifton Manor

Not far from Waterfall Gully sits Schneider’s Alley, a well-known local urban legend about an evil doctor that is alleged to have murdered people and put their bodies into a freezer. Within the urban legend is the story of a blue ghost seen in the area that scares away visitors…but how much of this story is true?

 Schneider’s Alley is actually a combination of several true stories, mixed together with mythology, misinterpreted eye witness accounts and misinformed whispers that turned into Adelaide’s greatest urban legend.
  The “Alley” itself doesn’t exist, instead, a small alleyway called Andrews Walk, which was once the main entrance of the residence of Clifton Manor has been appropriated as the haunted walkway as well as the large park behind it.

The good doctor in question, Dr Michael Schneider, was in fact not a GP, nor an experimental doctor. He was, in fact, an optometrist, an “eye doctor”. Dr Schneider was very well-loved in the wider Adelaide community for his charity work and for his animal and plant sanctuary, of which he would open for public usage. Local Adelaidean’s could enjoy the splendour of his estate at open days and events, his sanctuary featured native animals and birds, as well as a vast variety of plants, flowers and foliage.

The park, that was since Dr Schneiders land, behind Clifton Manor

Dr Schneider was a good man, a man who served for his country, the Empire and King George in World War One, and returned a hero. His name and legacy are now stained by the local urban legend that has grown out of hand off the back of curious thrill-seekers and social media chat rooms.

Dr Michael Schneider acquired Clifton Manor in 1934. He lived in the house with his wife from this point on until his death in the 1970's. Dr Schneider established a native wildlife and bird sanctuary on the 40 acres of land he owned behind Clifton Manor, which included a Koala enclosure. After enlisting in the Australian Medical Corps in World War 2, Dr Schneider closed the sanctuary and released the koalas back into the wild. His remaining animals were donated to the Adelaide Zoo.

There is no record of murders, rapes or anything sinister ever happening on the grounds of Clifton Manor. It is reported Dr Schneider died at his home in the 1970s. The house and land were then bought by T&G Mutual Life Society and subdivided into the current format of streets, parks and housing found today. I have spoken to former neighbours of the good doctor, and they cannot believe his name could become so tainted in modern Adelaide.

 I have investigated the site and surrounds myself on numerous occasions and could not find any evidence of a haunting (this, of course, does not mean it isn’t haunted). I tried every tactic I could think of and got nothing, not even one simple EVP...If there is any kind of ghostly goings-on here, it does not want to be found nor seen.

So where does the story originate from? Well, in my opinion, which is formed from countless hours of research, interviews and investigations locally, is that this story is a bastardisation and union of two other events that happened very nearby, twisted into an urban legend that spread through Adelaide like a wildfire. There was a notable death in the area, only two streets from the allegedly haunted site, where a man had been found, cut into pieces and stuffed into a chest freezer, this was during the early 1990's, which is just enough time for the story to grow into what it is now.

Combine that with the 100-year-old story of the haunting of Waterfall Gully, where the ghost of Constable Tregoweth is allegedly seen as a “blue glowing” man, which is almost the exact description of the ghost reported by many witnesses in the Schneider’s Alley area. There is also something else I would like to point about this story, the majority of the reports (but not all) come from people who were out to “scare themselves”, most were drinking, drunk or stoned, going into a location (some illegally) trying to scare themselves or the people they were with. This leads to all kinds of stories, variations on the truth, and people witnessing things that were actually staged scaring meant for other groups of people, you can see where this is going right?

 People wanting a thrill or a scare is an age-old thing, and what better way than to go somewhere allegedly haunted, I have done it myself, but I cannot stress enough that having respect for the location, the people that live around it and for other people who may be present, as well as the alleged ghosts, is paramount.

   Close to Schneider Alley, and the actual crown of the original Doctor Schneider’s estate is Clifton Manor, a large, castle-like structure that sits nearby the park and walkway that attracts all the attention – this is a private residence, so please, don't go bothering its inhabitants looking to investigate, you will probably receive a hostile “go away!” or some other choice words.

Clifton Manor was built in 1850 by C.D. Sismey after acquiring the estate from Harry Osbourne. The house was added to by Nathenial Cox in 1872.  The manor was passed on to a nephew, Mr Harloe Knox in 1926. Harloe Knox subdivided the large estate and sold off approximately 50 acres of land.
  The manor then was sold (with approx. 40 acres of land) to Mr Hermen Hoeper - who in 1934 sold it, Dr Schneider. Dr Schneider then established a wildlife sanctuary on the surrounding 40 acres (of which most is now a park). The original driveway and gates of Clifton Manor are still standing and now mark the entrance to Andrews Walk on Hallet Rd, Stoneyfell - Clifton Manors entrance being moved to Waratah Way.
Dr and Mrs Schneider lived in the large house together and had two housemaids who also lived in the house and a gardener. The gardener lived in a small stone cottage out on the grounds, near Dr Schneider’s zoo. Dr Schneider passed away in the early 1970s.

 Schneider’s Alley in my opinion is an over-hyped union of other local stories, It may indeed by haunted, but there was no experimental laboratory or deaths at the hands of Dr Michael Schneider, so you can count out that being the cause of the alleged haunting...however, this is an urban legend that just will not die, and surfaces from time to time in the local media. I implore the local media to investigate the case further and clear the name of the doctor and hopefully dispel some of the rumours and myths so that he may rest in peace and the people that live around this much-visited site may also get some peace and quiet.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 17 2019

© Allen Tiller

The Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully

 

  Fifteen minutes south-east of Adelaide sits a little chalet built-in 1912, that was once a kiosk and is now a wedding venue. Waterfall Gully was once a somewhat unattractive gully, but that changed in 1912 when F.W. Young and Mr V.H. Ryan chose the area to be the first to receive beautification, as a potential tourist destination, under the States newly formed the “National Pleasure Resorts Board”.
 Local stone was used to construct the kiosk and surrounding buildings, walkways and lake at the bottom of the waterfall.
 Waterfall Gully soon became the place to visit during the 1920s. A little oasis to escape the summer heat, just a short ride by horse and cart, or later car, just outside of Adelaide.

 

 In December 1926, South Australia was engaged in another of its notorious heat waves. A bushfire spread through the Adelaide Hills and made its way into the ravines of Waterfall Gully. In those days, SAPOL wasn’t just police officers, they also acted as the states fire and rescue service, as well as its ambulance service.

 

 One police constable, taking on the fire-fighting duties on the day was Thomas Alfred Tregoweth.

 Tregoweth had served in World War One with the 48^th Battalion, 3^rd Reinforcement in Hannover, Germany. As a 19-year-old, he spent 1918 as a P.O.W. before returning to Australia in 1919. When he returned to South Australia, he took up a position in the family business as a shopkeeper at Norwood working for the family business.
 Tregoweth soon met his future wife, and settled down with her, together they had a son they named William.
 

On the day of the fire, Tregoweth valiantly fought the raging inferno from the cliff tops around Waterfall Gully, but as he fought, the wind changed, and the fire turned, cutting off his escape route.  The fire was ferociously hot and began to lick at his skin, soon the flames scorched him, and the air became too thick with smoke for Tregoweth to breath.  To survive, he made the decision to jump from the cliff into the valley below. The fall didn’t kill him, but his horrific injuries from the fire would end his life just four days later. He was 29 years old.

 Since 1930, people have witnessed paranormal phenomena at the base of Waterfall Gully and in the scenically located kiosk. So often had spirits been sighted, that it became a tourist attraction worthy of signage, which was once displayed at the entry of the walking trails. The signage detailed eye witness accounts of the “Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully”, but today those signs are long removed.

 One former owner of the kiosk reported that a ‘blue spirit’ was often seen inside the building, and was responsible for moving objects, likes plates, knives and forks. A ‘blue man’ had also been witnessed along a walking trail leading up to the waterfalls by a young woman and her boyfriend.

 The young couple had visited Waterfall Gully late at night, and while walking the path, the young lady had twisted her ankle. From out of nowhere a “glowing blue man” had appeared, looking somewhat concerned for the young ladies’ welfare. The young couple was startled by the strange man’s appearance, and ignoring her injury, made a hasty retreat to their car to escape the luminescent blue man!
 The never looked back to see if he followed, but sped back along the winding Waterfall Gully Road toward Adelaide.

 

Where the ghost jogger and cyclist are seen on Waterfall Gully Road 

  Is it a coincidence that Constable Tregoweth’s uniform of the day was blue? Is it coincidental that many psychics state that protective male energies are blue, and that this “blue man” seems to be very protective?

 The alleged ghost of Constable Tregoweth is not the only evidence of paranormal or spiritual activity at Waterfall Gully.  A phantom cyclist is also alleged to be seen cycling along the road from the area of Macallan Avenue toward the waterfalls. It is thought he could be the spirit of a cyclist who was hit by a car whilst cycling along the road, perhaps clipped by a car on one of the many visual blind spots along Waterfall Gully Road.
 Along with the cyclist, another spirit often alleged to be witnessed along this stretch of haunted road, is the spirit of a phantom jogger. Nothing is known about this spirit’s past, but a mist-like apparition in the shape of a person jogging has been seen by some locals on foggy mornings as the sun rises, heading south towards the waterfalls…perhaps there is something more to the waterfall, something unseen by the living, that attracts local spirits too it?

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the  2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 15 2018

© Allen Tiller

The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal

REVISED EDITION

The Haunts of Adelaide: Revised Edition, (BOOK + KINDLE) is now live at Amazon.com.au​ in traditional book form!!!
The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal is researched and written by award-winning historian, Allen Tiller.
This second edition of The Haunts of Adelaide has been completely rewritten with extra historical facts, footnoting, an index, more photos, and most importantly, more ghost stories!
Join Allen Tiller, one of Australia's leading paranormal historian's, as he documents some of Adelaide's most haunted locations and the history behind the buildings, the people, the urban legends and the ghosts that haunt Adelaide and its suburbs, in this completely revised and rewritten edition.
Inside you will discover the ghosts that dwelled at Graham's Castle, Younghusband Mansion, The Adelaide Arcade, and Waterfall Gully. Find out the truth behind Schneider's Alley and the read about the tiger of the Union Hotel!

Get spooked with 30 stories from the other side: The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery, and the Paranormal: REVISED EDITION

BOOK:  https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08JLQLLC5/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&qid=1600728351&refinements=p_27%3AAllen+Tiller&s=books&sr=1-4&text=Allen+Tiller

KINDLE:  https://www.amazon.com.au/Haunts-Adelaide-History-Mystery-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B08JJCB6KP/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1600727647&refinements=p_27%3AAllen+Tiller&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Allen+Tiller

#HauntedAdelaide #AllenTiller #Adelaide #history #mystery #paranormal

The Haunting of the British Hotel, Port Adelaide

Designed by architect, W. Beattie, The British Hotel opened in March 1847 as a single-story
hotel consisting of 20 rooms, including a bar, taproom, kitchen, three parlous and ten bedrooms.

Its first manager (and possibly builder) was Captain James Wakeling, who had previously owned the Port Tavern, which had been destroyed by a fire that wiped out large sections of the Port in January 1847.
Behind the hotel once stood a two-story building used at the stables for the hotel, in which lived the hotel’s Ostler, a person who looked after the horses in the stables or the hotel owners and guests. Captain James Wakeling worked previously for a South Australian company as Captain onboard the ships Sarah and Elizabeth and was an early pioneer. It is said he was very strict in how he ran his hotels and was very punctual in closing the hotel's doors at 10pm nightly. This led to one incident, where a large Irish Shipmaster, played a trick on the old Captain and changed the clock hands on Wakeling’s clocks, so the pub stayed open an extra hour, until 11pm!

The hotel was sold in 1849 to William Mart. Only a few years later, in 1853, Captain Wakeling passed away at the age of 65 in Rundle Street, Adelaide after contracting influenza. As Captain Wakeling was much respected, in his honour, all vessels in the Port flew the flags at half-mast the day following his death. Wakeling was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.

John Wakeling and Mary Ferrers managed the hotel between 1859 until 1863, when it then fell into the ownership of Henry Ayers, who in 1876 added the second story.
Ayers, then Premier of South Australia, sold the hotel not long after the improvements he made to James Ralph Russell, who had worked in the hotel as its publican since 1863. Russell, in 1878, added a veranda and balcony.
In 1907 the hotel changed its name to McGraths British Hotel to reflect its new licensee, John McGrath and family. McGrath ran the hotel until his death in 1932, when it was then taken over by his two daughters Elizabeth and Esther. Esther would take sole licences responsibility in 1935 after South Australian laws prohibiting single women from owning or running hotels was amended.

The Russell family, who had owned the hotel since 1863, decided in 1937 the time was right to sell. The hotel then fell under the ownership of the South Australian Brewing Company but was still operated under the license of Esther McGrath, who stayed on until 1952.
The hotel had many more licensee’s over the years, but eventually closed for a few years, until being revamped and reopened in 2007.

Over the years there have been many deaths inside the hotel, including in 1905, the death of a hotel worker, Ethel Hammond, aged 39, who passed away in an upstairs bedroom where she lived.
Former publican John McGrath died in the hotel in 1922, and in 1954, Alexander Thompson died in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
It has long been alleged that the hotel is haunted, with paranormal activity experienced across all levels. One spirit alleged to have been seen in the basement area is that of Sir Henry Ayers, five times South Australian Premier and served in Parliament for an unbroken 37 years. Although he lived in, and is said to haunt, Ayers house on North Terrace in Adelaide, it would seem his spirit has been seen here, in the basement on occasion over the years after his death in 1897.

In a 2015 interview, the then owner described poltergeist type activity happening in the basement. It was stated that:
“In the cool room there are stacks of two-litre milks toward the back of the shelves, not on
the edge ... One morning, we came out and there’s one just thrown in the middle of the
floor. How in the hell, that moved ...”

It is not known who the mischievous poltergeist-like spirit might be, and no one is 100% certain why Sir Henry Ayers haunts the hotel, or even if the alleged ghost is actually him, or just someone who might appear like him (or just a case of mistaken identity from an intoxicated witness). Either way, the hotel, like most of the hotels in Port Adelaide, is considered haunted!

References:

Our Port, (2015), The British Hotel, Government of South Australia, retrieved from http://ourport. com.au/content/uploads/2016/04/DiscoveringPort-Adelaide-The-hidden-gems-of-the Portrevealed.pdf

James Hunter, History SA, ‘British Hotel (Port Adelaide)’, SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, retrieved from http://sahistoryhub.com. au/places/british-hotel-port-adelaide.

The British Hotel, (2018), History, retrieved from https://thebritish.com.au/about-us

1853 ‘LAW AND CRIMINAL COURTS.’, South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA: 1839- 1900), 26 May, p.3, viewed 09 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38463754

1905 ‘SUDDEN DEATH.’, Evening Journal,  29 June, p.1, viewed 09 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208008634

1905 ‘Facks and Roomers.’, The Areas’ Express (Booyoolee, SA: 1877-1948), 30 June, p.3, viewed
09 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224371446

S. R. Parr, ‘Ayers, Sir Henry (1821–1897)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre
of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ayers-sirhenry-2914/text4193, published first in hardcopy 1969, accessed online 10 October 2018.

1922 ‘Family Notices’, The Register (Adelaide, SA: 1901 - 1929), 8 March, p.2, viewed 14 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63582157

1954 ‘Family Notices’, News (Adelaide, SA: 1923 - 1954), 12 July, p.24, viewed 14 Oct 2018,

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134753904

First published in MEGAscene issue 13 2018

Allen Tiller (ALIAtech, DipFamHist) is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
He is the winner of the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
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