The Ghost of Kitty Whyte

Brighton Beach The Ghost of Kitty Whyte

“Perfect service rendered, duties done

In charity, soft speech & stainless days:

These riches shall not fade away in life

Nor any death dispraise”

(From The Light of Asia by Sir E.Arnold)

In March 1926 Adelaide suffered its first shark attack fatality at Brighton Beach when a young lady, Kitty Whyte, went swimming off the pier and was attacked by a Great White shark.

Memorial to Mrs Whyte

Kathleen Whyte (nee Macully) was the daughter of an Anglican Priest in Brighton. She was holidaying in Brighton with her two young children, awaiting her husband to join them from Port Augusta.

Kitty, as she preferred to be called, was an energetic worker for the Glenelg and Brighton branch of the District Trained Nursing Society, and also taught young children swimming.

On the day of her death, she had just finished teaching her young swimming class, and had her two children with her, when she decided to enter the water again, within minutes.

Mr Harry Southcott, who happened to be seated upon the Jetty, heard loud screams and went to see what was wrong, He witnessed Kitty struggling in the water. Soon the whole ocean around her turned

red with her blood.
 Mr Southcott and another local Mr Trott jumped into a dinghy which happened to be sitting next to the jetty and made their way, 100 feet out into the water where Kitty was frantically struggling.

The two men dragged her into the boat, where she gave them a look of recognition and became unconscious. The two men got her to the shore, where a Doctor was called.

Kitty Whyte died on her way to the hospital from massive trauma and blood loss.

Barrier Miner
, Friday 19 March 1926, page 4

Dr Yeatman who examined Kitty's body found that no one could have helped Mrs Whyte stay alive. The shark had first grabbed her by the left ankle, then when she struggled, had snapped at her body, a wound made its way from her thigh to her buttock, tearing the flesh from her bone and severing the femoral artery and muscles.

Brighton Beach has remained a relatively safe beach since the death of Kitty Whyte in 1926, with few deaths recorded on its shores since then.

Since Kitty's death in 1926, the ghost of a young woman has been seen running along the shore, or at times, along the pier. Witness's claim they watch the young lady as she jumps into the water but she simply vanishes from sight before hitting the water!
 Could this be the ghost of beach-loving Kitty Whyte?

After her death in 1926, a drinking fountain near the jetty entrance was erected in Kitty's memory.

© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au