Closed Hotels of South Australia: The Windsor Castle Hotel

The Windsor Castle Hotel 

Situated on Victoria Square in Adelaide’s West End stood the Windsor Castle Hotel. For 103 years it operated as a city watering hole. the hotel had a reputation for being a rough pub. Its proprietors and barmen were very well known locally for causing fights and for their run-ins with the local law.

 Illegal gambling, opening after hours and selling alcohol illegally were just a few of the laws broken by the staff of the hotel.
 The clientele was also known for getting a little rowdy too!

 One Mr James Turner, an elderly drinker, once caused an uproar that made the local newspapers. It was noted in The Advertiser that Mr Turner had had a little too much to drink and became enraged – he threw two glasses at the barman (smashing four other glasses at the time). In court, Mr Turner admitted to being drunk before even entering the hotel. He wasn’t sure when, but someone cut a string on his waistcoat and stole his watch. When refused a drink at the bar, he got enraged and grabbed a decanter, throwing it at bar staff before storming out of the hotel.

 

In earlier years there was a near shoot out in the rear stables of the hotel when a customer refused to leave after being asked by the proprietor. 
 The customer pulled a revolver and went into a rage promising to kill the owner if he didn’t get his way. The man was subdued and dutifully reported to the police. He was arrested and charged in a heated court case which saw the accused rant uncontrollably, and eventually, be forced to serve time for his threats.

 There was a death on the hotel's grounds as well. An old man who worked in the rear stables was standing on a platform some 8 feet high, when he fells backwards onto the ground below, fracturing his skull. He was taken to the hospital but died early the next morning.

In the late 1940s, the hotel was bought by the Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Co. Ltd. who intended to build an apartment complex on the site. After waiting for the hotel license to expire, the hotel was finally pulled down in 1954, with interior features sold via auction.

The hotel lasted 103 years, originally licensed by Mr Thomas Chalk on the 3^rd of April 1851.   Legend has it, the land was originally purchased for 50 pounds and a wagon and oxen team.

Now on the corner of Victoria Square and Franklin Street stands the MLC building. The building was ahead of its time when completed in 1957. At the time it was the tallest glass building in Adelaide. It also featured a weather beacon on top!!

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2015

Ghost of the Hangmans Noose

Ghost of the Hangman's Noose
Ben Ellis: Executioner at Adelaide Gaol

Most people take pride in their work, but Ben Ellis — hangman for the Adelaide Gaol from around 1860 until the mid‑1870s, and also executioner at Mount Gambier Gaol — took an exceptional pride in performing his grim duties with precision. In an era when the hangman was the most despised man in the colony, Ellis approached his role with a meticulousness that set him apart.

The Adelaide Gaol hangman lived on‑site, partly as payment and partly for protection. His position made him deeply unpopular, and living within the walls of the gaol kept him safe from the public — and from former prisoners who might have vowed revenge on behalf of the condemned.

Ellis’s quarters were in a small apartment beneath the women’s dormitory. A newspaper report from the late 1860s described his living space as filthy, noting that small fires frequently broke out inside or near his room. Despite this, Ellis remained committed to his work.

Ellis’s record was marred by only one botched execution: that of Charles Streitman in 1877. On this occasion, Ellis was hasty and failed to follow his usual careful preparations. When the trapdoor fell, Streitman rebounded and became caught on the platform. It took 22 agonising minutes before death finally claimed him — a horrific end that haunted Ellis’s reputation.

One newspaper described Ellis as:

“a hulk of a man with alcohol blemishes on his nose, a wisp of grey hair and a shabby beard — a grumpy‑looking fellow who lived in squalid conditions.”



Ellis carried out his duties without complaint until 1873, when he was ordered to execute Elizabeth Woolcock — the first woman hanged in South Australia. Ellis protested the execution, and from that moment began questioning his role as hangman.

His discomfort grew, and before long he found himself unemployed — and unemployable. His solicitor later told the District Court that Ellis could not secure work anywhere in Adelaide due to the stigma of his former occupation. He had become a social outcast, living on the streets.

Ben Ellis eventually died a vagrant and was buried in a pauper’s grave at West Terrace Cemetery. His life, once defined by grim duty, ended in poverty and obscurity.


  Today, it is alleged that Ellis haunts the Adelaide Gaol. A spirit matching his description is often seen near the old bakery and in the tunnel connecting the main gaol to the New Building yard. Whether this is truly the ghost of Ben Ellis or simply a lingering echo of the gaol’s dark past, the sightings continue to add to the building’s long and unsettling history.

© 2015 - Allen Tiller

Celebrating South Australian's – Yett Soo War Way Lee

Celebrating South Australian's – Yett Soo War Way Lee

 Yett Soo War Way Lee was born in Tungkun near Canton in China in 1853. The son of a rice-miller, Way Lee married early and had a son with his wife, named Yett King Sum.

By 1874, Yett Soo had made his way to Sydney Australia. He had travelled alone, and whilst in Sydney lived with his uncle Way Kee. He travelled the eastern states seeking education in schools in Sydney and Brisbane, before making his way to Adelaide.

  In Adelaide, he studied English language at the Adelaide City Mission and founded his own company “Way Lee Co.” an import company bringing in Tea, china and other imported goods and fireworks.

Way Lee's business was hugely successful in an era when the rise of racism against the Chinese in Australia was steadily on the rise (which would eventually lead to the anti-Chinese riots in gold mining towns like Ararat in Victoria )

 Way Lee's business was incredibly successful he opened stores right across the South Australian colony and in the Northern Territory and New South Wales. In South Australia, his main store was located in Rundle Street, but he also had a store in Currie Street. Stores could also be found in South Australia at Quorn, Hawker, Millicent. In New South Wales at Beltana, Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Wentworth and Menindee and in the Northern Territory at Daly River.

Way Lee was a supporter of his community often giving money to local charities, and supporting local events. He always supported Chinese New Year, offering dinners for Adelaide's dignitaries and politicians and supplying fireworks for  celebrations.

Way Lee was the first Australian to really open the way for trade between China and Australia. A fighter for the rights of Chinese immigrants, he fought for Chinese settlers to be offered a district solely for Chinese use.

 Way Lee also offered to bring to Australia, Chinese labourers to work at the Daly River Plantation in the Northern Territory.
 Way Lee was a great promoter of education to the  Chinese community, and worked hard to improve the working conditions and rights of his Chinese compatriots in Australia. He also worked to stop the import of Opium into the colony.

 Way Lee also raised money, and donated much of his won money, to be sent back to China to help feed people after chronic flooding, then droughts that were decimating the people of his homelands.

Way Lee was a Freemason and a respected member and leader of the local Chinese Community. He offered homes for many Chinese immigrants in Adelaide, way houses until they could afford better homes themselves.

 In 1889 Way Lee married Margaret McDonald, and together they had 4 children, Vera, Pretoria, Lily and Jack.

He spoke openly in the public about the treatment of his fellow-countrymen in Australia by the Government, law and people and is quoted as saying “The Australian people are always very kind to me, but the law worse then the people”.

Way Lee died in 1909 of chronic nephritis and amyloid disease on August 21^st 1909. Many of Adelaide's population travelled to West Terrace cemetery to witness the funeral of Way Lee, expecting odd Chinese death rites, but they were bitterly disappointed, as Way Lee was buried under common Presbyterian funeral rights.

For more on Yett Soo War Way Lee, please visit the following links:

adb.anu.edu.au/biography/way-lee-yet-soo-war-9015

www.chia.chinesemuseum.com.au/biogs/CH00005b.htm

migration.historysa.com.au/biography/yett-soo-war-way-lee

© Allen Tiller 2015