A Haunting at the Hahndorf Academy

 

Hahndorf Academy - 2021 Allen Tiller

 The Hahndorf Academy was established in 1857 by Traugott Wilhelm (TW) Boehm whose nickname was ‘Chibby’. Two storey building was erected in 1871 and a belltower in 1875.^[1] The Hahndorf Academy, according to Boehm was to provide 'a sound and good English and German education, to enable its pupils to enter the learned professions or to prepare for commercial life'. In 1863, the academy became a boarding school.

 In 1877, Boehm sold the school to the Lutheran Church for 700 pounds. It became a Lutheran College and seminary. The property was repurchased by Boehm in 1883 and resold in 1886 to Douglas Byard.
  Byard reopened it as Hahndorf College. Under Byard an Oxford Master of Arts and Anglican lay preacher, the College gained a solid reputation for scholastic excellence.
When Education Department high schools were introduced in 1916, the building was sold. The property was next owned by H. Hirthe and became a nursing home and hospital between 1917 and 1937.[2] During World War Two, the building housed the local council offices and local military headquarters.
 For a short while, it was a betting shop and a dentist. In 1939 the property was owned by Mr H. Haebich, who converted the Academy into flats. He died in 1959, with renovations unfinished, and the property falling into a state of general disrepair.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the Mt Barker Council declared the building unsafe, meaning it could be demolished if bought at auction. Several petrol companies became interested as the building was in a prime location. Karlis Lidums bought the property in 1961. The Hahndorf Academy Museum Trust was established the same year under Dr Derek van Abbe, with Miss Josephine Heysen (Sir Hans Heysen's granddaughter) as secretary. The aim was to restore the building. In the same year, Sir Hans Heysen donated paintings to the Academy.
 In 1963, the Trust took over the building from the Lidums. In 1966, the building was sold to Elva and Walter Wotzke. The Wotzke's restored the property. They opened the rejuvenated building as an art gallery in 1967 on the 90th birthday of Sir Hans Heysen.

In 1988 the building was bought by the Hahndorf Academy Foundation Incorporated, and in 1998 by the District Council of Mount Barker.[3]

 Ghosts

One of the best-known ghost stories from the Academy is that of the Woman in White. She is alleged to appear at the top of the staircase. She is described as an elegant spirit who appears on the upper level and glides back and forth from the hall to the former balcony. She wears a dress that hides her feet, she wears her hair up and sometimes wears a hat.

Another ghost is that of a young boy, who runs up and down the steps on the south side of the old academy. He is thought to be between 10 and 12 years of age. A witness described him as a blond boy who wore hobnailed boots, home woven pants, and a smooth white shirt. She claimed the boy laughed a lot and was smiling as he ran up and down the steps on the southern side of the academy.

A third ghost is reported as an unpleasant old man who sits at the bottom of the stairs leading to the former Heysen gallery. He is known to terrify visitors as well as frighten local animals. A witness described him as dirty grey in colour. Another spirit was witnessed by Julie Messenger. This spirit was described as a forlorn-looking woman who was looking out a top floor window.

In an article titled “Adelaide Hills Ghost Stories” by Madison White, Academy Director Kate Wake states that she has had her own ghostly experiences in the Academy. “I believe that we do have ghosts and I believe that I've heard them,”. Kate went onto say that heard some very heavy breathing in the downstairs gallery.[4]

© 2021 Allen Tiller.

---

[1] Suzanne Edgar, 'Boehm, Traugott Wilhelm (1836–1917)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boehm-traugott-wilhelm-5280/text8903.

[2] Gemma Nisbet, Hahndorf’s past proud heritage, Yahoo! News, (5 May 2014), https://au.news.yahoo.com/hahndorfs-past-a-proud-heritage-23118763.html.

[3] Hahndorf Academy, History, (2021), http://hahndorfacademy.org.au/history.

[4] Madison White, Adelaide Hills Ghost Stories, (2015), https://madisonwhiteportfolio.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/adelaide-hills-ghost-stories.pdf.

 A Haunting at the Two Wells Hotel.

 

Two Wells Hotel 2021 - Allen Tiller

The Two Wells Hotel opened on 23 April 1860 as the Two Wells Inn. The original hotel was on the Mallala Road. John Cowan, the owner, decided to build a new hotel to better catch passing traffic. In 1867, Cowan applied to transfer his license to the new building, he also changed the name from ‘Inn’ to ‘Hotel’.[1] This new hotel was much larger than the original.
  The new building had 18 rooms – nine up and nine down – and a cellar. The dining room also functioned as a courthouse.  It was realised close to completion that no provision had been made for an internal staircase to the upper floor, so an outside staircase had to be constructed until an extension was built to allow for the internal staircase.[2] It was officially opened in 1868.

Ghosts

It was alleged in The Advertiser newspaper in January 2016 that the ghost of the Two Wells Hotel is a Sea Captain named George.  Publicans, Rodney, and Loretta Wilmshurst who owned the hotel from 1999 claimed that their granddaughter, Krystal Wilmshurst had seen the ghost when she was a child.
  Loretta stated that: “On one occasion she (Krystal) came down the staircase, stood at the doorway and said the monster had gone to bed,’’ Loretta recalled.
 “She took her dad around through the original front bar to the key room and said, ‘he lives in there!’.”
 Krystal referred to the ghosts as a monster, and claimed at times, he would not let her sleep. She witnessed him on one occasion in the shower. He was wearing a hat and a cloak, but he had no feet!

Loretta had not witnessed the apparition but had felt him. She also had an experience; “One Saturday afternoon I was going up the staircase and heard the girls’ soft toys being thrown around the room,’’ she said. “No one was home. I didn’t go up.”

Another witness to the ghostly goings-on was Pam Sisken who was employed as the cleaner. Sisken often worked after hours in the hotel on her own. On one occasion she claimed “strange things” started happening to the alcohol. “I can still see the brandy and whisky bottle in the auto pourer bubbling up, fizzing up with bubbles,’’ she said. “I wasn’t upset. I thought he’s (George) up and about.’’

George has also been heard going up and down the stairs. It was claimed by one witness that George was fond of the downstairs cool room, and this is where he was mostly sensed. A former publican claimed that this was the room that George had lived in while alive, and that George was unhappy as it had been turned into the cool room.

A variation on the identification of George was published by Gordon de L. Marshall in his book Ghosts and Hauntings of South Australia. In this version, George is the son of a former publican who was killed in a war, having half his face blown off.[3]

Further muddying the identification of George is a former publican who claimed the ghost is that of his son. Identified only as a ‘Bruce’ (possibly Bruce Hart, but unconfirmed). This publican claimed that a photo of his son was continually thrown down, and this was the way in which George was trying to communicate with his father.[4]

 It is claimed in this version of the ghosts habits, that George is blamed for an upstairs shower that turns on of its own volition. George is also blamed for mysterious goings-on in the toilet, with Toilet doors opening and closing by themselves, toilet paper being strewn throughout the room and hand dryers operating of their own volition.
  George has been blamed for three front bar fridge doors opening at the same time. On another occasion six people watched a port keg tap turn on by itself, and then port pour all the over the floor; none of the witnesses were close enough to have turned the tap on.[5]

© 2021 Allen Tiller


[1] 'Bench of Magistrates', The Express and Telegraph, (10 September 1867), p. 2. (LATE EDITION.)

[2] Williams, Bet & Williams, Les, & Kranz, David, Two Wells: then and now: a history of the Hundred of Port Gawler, (Mawson Lakes, S. Aust, 1991), p. 30.

[3] Gordon de L. Marshall, Ghosts and Hauntings of South Australia, (Jannali, NSW, 2012), p. 278

[4] Ibid.

[5] Williams, Bet, Two Wells: then and now, p.31.

 A Haunting at Mount Lofty House

Mount Lofty House - photo courtesy QANTAS

Mount Lofty House was built for Arthur Hardy, Adelaide’s wealthiest man at the time. Hardy was a barrister, pastoralist and quarry owner who was also the first district Grandmaster of the English Freemasons in South Australia.
 The home was built in 1852. The upkeep and housekeeping expenses became too great for the family, so the Hardy's sold it in 1865. A Gardener named George Smith died on 10 August 1922 at the property. During the 1970s the house was a commune.
In 1983, all but the walls were destroyed during the Ash Wednesday fires that ravaged the Adelaide Hills.[1]
 The property was rebuilt in 1986, with the Piccadilly wing added in 1988. In 2009, the Horbelt family purchased the property and have continually upgraded it adding a day spa and restaurant.[2] The buildings are now part of the Grand Mercure Brand of Hotels.[3]

 

 Haunting Australia planned to film here in 2013, but due to renovations and bookings at the time, were declined. Instead, we filmed at the Adelaide Arcade.

Room 7 is said to be one of the most haunted rooms in the building and is in an original section of the house. A visitor from Sydney once had a ghost experience in this room. He reported to staff that he woke up one evening and could feel a presence in the room with him. He could see, at the end of his bed, a woman standing, staring at him. He jumped out of bed and checked his belongings thinking he was being robbed. When he looked around the room, the woman was gone, except, his bed covers now had the distinct shape of a woman lying underneath them, when he pulled the covers back, no one was there!

 The woman in room 7 is not the only ghost, another has been identified as ‘George the Gardener’ who died in 1922. George is seen mostly in the old section of the building. He has been known to wake people up. He is considered a friendly, but curious ghost and is not known to be harmful or to scare people.

© Allen Tiller 2021

---

[1] Brad Crouch, A magic moment of inspiration, The Advertiser, (8 Sept 2007), http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/travel/a-magic-moment-of-inspiration/story-e6freexc-1111114373361.

[2] Powla Gee, Meteoric Rise, Hotel Management, (13 May 2011), http://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2011/05/13/grand-mercure-mount-lofty-house-continues-meteoric-rise/0.

[3] [3] Brad Crouch, A magic moment of inspiration, The Advertiser, (8 Sept 2007), http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/travel/a-magic-moment-of-inspiration/story-e6freexc-1111114373361.

Shot of Spirits: Episode 10: Holy Trinity Church, Adelaide, South Australia.

Holy Trinity Church on North Terrace, Adelaide was built in 1838.

 An unknown male parishioner is thought to haunt the church. It is believed he died during an Easter service very early in the Churches history. Every Easter service since, parishioners have heard a disembodied voice, louder than all the rest, shout “AMEN!” at every possible opportunity. 

The congregation often looks to the direction the booming voice has come from to find no one there at all. Many people thought it was a hoax perpetrated yearly by the same person, but that person could never be identified.


Find out more about this haunting in the book: The Haunts of Adelaide: Revised Edition
https://www.amazon.com.au/Haunts-Adelaide-History-Mystery-Paranormal/dp/B08JLQLLC5