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.