A Haunting at The Blumberg Hotel – Birdwood

A Haunting at The Blumberg Hotel – Birdwood

Birdwood, home to the National Motor Museum, was once known as Blumberg, but due to anti-German sentiment during World War One, it and many other South Australian towns had their names.
The name Birdwood comes from Sir William Birdwood who commanded ANZACS at Gallipoli.

The Blumberg Hotel originally opened as the Napoleon Bonaparte Hotel in 1865.

The hotel is thought to be haunted by a little girl dubbed “Emily”. It is believed Emily fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Emily is said to cause all kinds of mischief around the hotel, stealing salt and pepper shakers, turning on and off lights, and causing cold spots and cold draughts throughout the pub.

A former publican of the hotel also claimed that Emily the ghost would sit with her children and watch TV and would sometimes move chairs around in their presence.

Another spirit said to haunt the hotel is an adult that appears in the form of a shadow. One witness claim that the ghost walked through him. Others claim that at times the smell of death wafts through the hotel. On other occasions, it is the smell of incense, even though none has been lit.


Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019
References:

Chirp Internet. 2016. Hotels in Birdwood < South Australia | Gday Pubs - Enjoy our Great Australian Pubs. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.gdaypubs.com.au/SA/birdwood.html. [Accessed 12 September 2016].

1871 'Family Notices', South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA: 1839 - 1900), 20 May, p. 8. (Supplement to the South Australia Register.), viewed 02 Jan 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39246196

1907 'OBITUARY.', The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser (SA: 1880 - 1954), 13 September, p. 2. , viewed 02 Jan 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article147866222