A Haunting at Crafers: Wonnaminta

A Haunting at Crafers: Wonnaminta 

  Built by Arthur Hardy after being forced to sell his home, Mount Lofty House, this dwelling close to the Adelaide Hills town of Crafers has been lived in by many of Adelaide's wealthiest families.

  Known as “Number Seven” by the Hardy family when they lived in the house, the name Wonnaminta, which is the combination of two Aboriginal words, "Wonna" meaning “boomerang”, and Minta meaning “water”, was given to the house by the Kennedy family.
 The Kennedys were a wealthy pastoral family who also had a station with the same name in outback NSW.

The Kennedys, Robert and Mary, first moved from Collingwood, Goulbourn to a Station near Tibooburra in far North-West New South Wales, where they took over Wonnaminta Station from squatters.
 The Kennedys raised livestock on their station and prospered from good farming techniques, which allowed them to invest in property. 

(above) Monumental Headstone (1895).
 (Image courtesy of Prue Grieve)

The name Kennedy became synonymous with hospitality in the region. Mary Kennedy tended to anyone injured in the region, acting as a nurse. She also organised race meetings and field days for the local community.  Mary was also held in high regard by the local aboriginals, with whom she offered free education.

The heat of the outback became overwhelming for Mary, and the family bought a house in Mount Lofty, near Adelaide, South Australia in the hope she could find some relief from her exhaustion there.
 The Kennedys renamed the house “Wonnaminta”, the same as the station, and resided in Adelaide at their summer house while their outback station was overseen by an employee.
Although Mary loved the NSW Station, she also loved the Crafer's house just as much. Unfortunately for the Kennedys,  things took a bad turn when in 1894 a plague of rabbits descended upon the station, destroying much of the feed for the livestock.  Large debts soon followed as they tried to pay for food for the animals. The debts became too much for the family, and eventually, they were forced to sell both the station in NSW and the house in Crafers.

In 1895, after living in exile in Melbourne, Robert died and Mary was left a widow with very little money. Mary died on the 12^th of December 1915 at The Terrace in Armadale, NSW.

It is alleged that Mary's presence has been both seen and felt at both the NSW Station and the house at Crafers.
 Her spirit is alleged to have been seen in both the Wonnaminta Station and house, straightening quilts, smoothing pillows and sitting patiently alongside the sick as they lay in bed.
 At her Adelaide residence, she has also been seen sitting on the veranda in a rocking chair looking over the gardens.
She is sometimes seen wearing a black frock with a tight waistband, and shiny beads, at other times a grey gown, but she always has her hair parted and drawn back.

The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) Wednesday 14 August 1974 page 36



© 2014 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Woodhouse Activity Centre

Woodhouse Activity Centre

Located in the Adelaide Hills, Woodhouse Activity Centre has been owned by the Scouting Association since the 1950s and used for all kinds of scouting, and public activities, including weddings.
The house is situated on a 54-acre estate located in the Piccadilly Valley, it once covered 1000 acres of the rolling Adelaide Hills. Mount Lofty Golf Course and Arbury Park, nearby, were once part of the illustrious estate.

The house was described rather well in an advertisement in the South Australian Register in October 1888 (Thursday, October 1888 page 8) which stated that the house comprises a dining room, drawing room, library, morning room, seven bedrooms, a servants bedroom, schoolroom, kitchen, scullery, storerooms, pantry, large cellars and larder and out rooms consisting of laundries, bathrooms, and W.C. - the entire house is built of white freestone.

  The house that is referred to now as “Old House” and has long been rumoured to be a haunted location. The house and estate were first established around 1848, which makes the house one of the oldest surviving opulent homes outside of the Adelaide City boundary.
The house has seen some very important Adelaide people in residence and saw some controversy in its surrounding estate back in the late 1800s. The controversy involved land and mining dealings by the owner, a former Advocate General and acting Governor in South Australia, Mr George Milner Stephens.

  Stephens came to Adelaide in 1838, aged 25, and took up the positions of Advocate General and Crown Solicitor. Later, he also was acting Governor in the interim of Governor Hindmarsh returning to England and Governor Gawler's arrival in Adelaide.
Stephens suffered damage to his reputation after a messy legal case over land dealings in the Adelaide Hills, he never really regained his former confidence, nor the trust of Adelaide's elite.

  Another famous owner of the house and estate was Sir Richard Hanson. Hanson was the fourth Premier of South Australia and also served in the Supreme Court of South Australia as Chief Judge.
  Hanson was also a member of the Freemasons and founded the South Australian “Lodge of Friendship” of which he later became it's Master.
  Hanson also passed an act legalising marriage with a deceased wife’s sister, the first act of its kind in the English Empire, it was however refused by the royal family and not passed into law.

Sir Hanson is responsible for many additions to the estate buildings and for extensively renovating the site. Sir Richard Hanson died of a heart attack in the garden of the estate, not far from “Old House” on the 4th of March 1876 (as reported in the South Australian Register on March 6th of that year.)

 One of the legends surrounding the house is that if you count the outside windows of the building, there appear to more windows visible than from inside, this led to a rumour that there was a secret room somewhere in the house, this, of course, led to more rumours and urban legends about a “ghost room” in the house that only appears at certain times.

There are also countless stories of child apparitions, often heard crying, this could be due to the location being a scout owned function location for over 50 years, as we all know, young children camping like a good ghost story, or perhaps this is residual energy from frightened children, but as of yet, I have not come across any records of children dying at the location that could account for such sightings.

One other story that is seen on the internet involves a murder-suicide related apparition sighted in an upstairs bedroom and a story written in the houses guest book that relates the murder-suicide. This, of course, cannot be verified as ever happening at the Woodhouse estate as no newspapers have anything similar linked to the place or anywhere nearby, it remains, at this stage, another of the locations urban legends, perhaps told at scout campfires over a hot chocolate and marshmallows.

© 2014 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Ellen Ida Benham

Ellen Ida Benham

  On March 12th 1871, just outside Kapunda, in the town of Allen's Creek, was born Ellen Ida Benham.
  The third of eleven children born to Aimie and William Huggins Benham (Solicitor).
Ellens father, William was a solicitor and could afford a better than average education for his children.
  Ellen was sent to Kapunda Model School for her education, and later to The Adelaide Advanced School For Girls, where she was under the tutelage of the headmistress, Rees George.
Ellen then went on to study at The University of Adelaide in 1889 and graduated with a B.Sc in 1892. She returned to Kapunda to teach, as headmistress for the Anglican Christ Church Parish for two years, before traveling to Europe in 1895 to continue her studies.
On her return, Ellen taught science at the Dryburgh House School from 1896 until 1900, then at Tormore House School in North Adelaide.

In 1901 Ellen was approached by the University of Adelaide Professor, Ralph Tate, to take over his botany lectures as he was unwell, later the same year he died. Ellen held the position of lecturer at the University from 1902 until 1911. She also, at times, held the roles of “Head Of Department”, “Sole Lecturer” and “Keeper Of the Herbarium”
Ellen visited England in 1908 to attend Oxford and complete a Diploma of Education, returning the following year to Adelaide to continue at the University.



In 1906, The South Australian government appointed her to reorganise the botany curriculum and to classify a major collection of flora of fauna presented to the Herbarium

In 1912 Ellen bought Walford School in Malvern, a turned it into one of the most successful schools in the state, the school thrived under her leadership and became the Walford Church Of England Girls Grammar School.
Her aim was to educate girls to “become a useful and effective woman in whatever position she may have to fill”. Ellen achieved this by offering a well-balanced education that included hockey, tennis and cricket matches for the girls a prefect system, and the willingness to communicate with the parents of children into how to effectively teach each child using “the right adjustment of work to the physical and mental powers of the children”.
Ellen also gave the school it's motto “Virtute et Veritate.” - “With Truth And Courage”



Ellens Achievements were vast indeed., helping to found “The Women's Student Club”, “The Women's Graduate Club”, Being the first recognised female Academic in South Australia and earning a Bachelor of Science degree.
She has been honoured by Adelaide University by the naming of the “Benham Building” which houses the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and with the Benham Lecture Theatre.
Also being honoured at the Walford Church of England Girls' Grammar School with the “Benham Wing”

Benham Building, University of Adelaide

Miss Ellen Benham died on April 27th 1917 of a hepatic abscess (an abdominal infection caused by appendicitis) in Adelaide and was interred in Christ Church Cemetery Kapunda.

Please note, this post was originally made on a short-lived blog I wrote about Kapunda, due to the amount of time spent researching the paranormal, the Kapunda blog suffered a severe lack of posts - rather than lose the blog into the depths of Internet obscurity, I am reposting some of the research back onto this blog as much of it contains, History, Mystery and the Paranormal.

© 2012 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Lost Hotels - The Golden Rule

Tuesday the 9th of March 1909 was a very sad day for Adelaide's connoisseur of beer and other alcohol consumptions, with 37 Hotels across Adelaide and the broader suburbs to be closed by the Licensing Bench.
On the Bench that made such decisions (some decisions were made with very good reason) were Messrs. J Gorden, S.M. W Gilbert, W. Burford, W. Kither, T.H. Booker and W.D. Ponder M.P.
Of 413 applications for renewal of a license, in the Port Adelaide, East Torrens and Sturt districts were refused. Of these 31 were for new applications for old Hotels, and these were granted. Fifteen “Club”s obtained new licensing, and 27 renewals or new licenses for Wine were refused, plus 10 applications for renewals of Storekeeping wine licenses were refused.



The Hotels Affected were:



I. Paris Portland (T. Adams).
2. Sussex, Port Adelaide (G. Bishop).  
3. Blythwood, Mitcham (Ellen Black-ham).
4. Kensington, Kensington (Albert E.Bleechmore).
5. Australia's Pride, Port Adelaide (T. J.  Blencowe)
6. Jervois, Port Adelaide (HonoraBrady)
7.Burnside, Burnside (Annie E. Canny).
8. Unley Inn, Unley (J. C. L. Chapple).  
9. Forest Inn, Black Forest (B. J.  Conry).
10. Mafeking Hero, Hindley-street (P. M.Daly).
11. World's End, Magill (J. Dick).
12. Morphett Arms, Morphettville (J.Foody).
13. Mountain Hut, Glen Osmond (W. Forrest).
14. Berkshire, Glenelg (Emily M. Frearson).
15. Golden Rule, Pirie-street (Elizabeth  B. Frith).
16. Rising Sun. Kensington (W. J.George).
17. Vine Inn, Glen Osmond (A. M. Gibbons) .
18. Lass o' Gowrie, Port Adelaide (H.Goddard).
19. Lady MacDonnell, South-road (E.Grindell).
20. Scotch Thistle, Portland (J. Hutchison).
21. Prince's, Port Adelaide (R. Jonas).
22. Ship Inn, Port Adelaide (J. L.Joyce).
23. Royal Oak, Paddington (JamesJulian).
24. Thornton, Glanville (F. J. Martien-son).
25. Kentish Arms. Kent Town (Florence Millar).
26. Mitcham, Mitcham (R. J. Miller).
27. Duke of Wellington, Port Adelaide(Christina Parker).
28. Vintage Shades, Norwood (Alice Ryan).
29. Family Hotel, Norwood (Matilda Stephenson).
30. Brighton Inn (H. Harris).
31. British Standard, Alberton (E. J. Symonds).
32. Terminus, Glenelg (Ellen Thompson).33. Paradise-bridge, Paradise (Anna Waite).
34. Hawkestone Arms, Mitcham (J. M. Wave).
35. Kew, Kew (J. H. West).
36. Brunswick Pier, Port Adelaide (Johanna Winslet).
37. Dock, Port Adelaide (A. Kluck).

  The Golden Rule Hotel license was opposed by the police. The main call for the public-house to be taken away was from William Edward Conroy, a wood merchant who ran a business directly opposite the Golden Rule hotel in Pirie Street.
  Mr Conroy stated publicly: “The Golden Rule Hotel, which was absolutely unnecessary to the public. I have patronised all the hotels in the vicinity. I have not inspected the interiors of the other houses, and have not been in the Golden Rule twice in nine years. It was the worst conducted house in the street. I have seen six or seven licensees in the house, and they came and went like chaff before the wind.”

The building previously the Golden Rule Hotel, 29 August 1941, east corner of Pirie Street and Moger Lane. . The Hotel lost its licence in 1909 and some time after that was taken over by the Government garage next door, which occupied the entire site up until 1967, when it moved to new premises in Gilles St, Adelaide.

Richard Hanley, of Pirie Street, was quoted as saying: “I live opposite the Golden Rule, which is the scene of frequent rows. There were only four hotels in Pirie Street from King William Street to Hindmarsh-square. A highly respectable class of people live in the vicinity of the Golden Rule, and I am one of them!”
Inspector Davey, who was for closing the Hotel stated that the building was old and small. It was not needed for the accommodation of the public. He had received complaints about the hotel. In December he asked Mrs Frith to make improvements, which had since been carried out. He did not know what they had cost.

The Landlady, Mrs Elizabeth Frith had recently lost her husband, and was currently running the pub with her married sister. A the time of the closing, she had held the license for two years straight, counterpointing the earlier testimony of Mr Conroy. The Widow Firth stated to the board that she had recently spent considerable money on repairs to the building, that there had been no fights in her pub since her ownership and that the hotel was making a considerable profit through patronage and accommodation.
Patrons had even begun a petition to keep the Hotel open, but the Overseeing Bench declined to allow the petition to be used as evidence and turned it away.
The Hotel was let to Mrs Frith by the S.A. Brewing Company for 30/ per week.




So it was that Adelaide lost another of its drinking holes, and a little piece of history, that now, hopefully, will be forgotten...

© 2014 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au