A Haunting at the Hamley Bridge Railway Station.

 

In 2018, the owner of the former Hamley Bridge Railway station, Ms Jenny Lee-Justine, decided to sell her property. News coverage in the Advertiser newspaper claimed the home was haunted!
 The original Hamley Bridge railway station was further north of the 1880-constructed station located at 9 Railway Terrace.[1] Originally, the station was known as Alma Station, but this caused confusion and numerous complaints were received, which resulted in a name change to Hamley Bridge Station.[2]

The foundation stone for the Hamley Bridge over the River Light was laid by Mrs Hamley on Saturday, 25^th of July 1868.[3] His Excellency, Lieut-Colonel Hamley, Acting Governor at the time, and a small group of Government Ministers travelled from Adelaide to witness the foundation stone laying.[4]

In 1898, 28-year-old William Woods was killed at Hamley Bridge Station. Woods had previously worked at Gawler Railway Station, close to where he lived and was described as 'a careful and conscientious servant of the Railway Department.’[5]

In December 1910, the guard of the 3 o’clock train from Hamley Bridge to Port Pirie, while readying his train for departure, noticed something under the train between the station and carriages.[6] Upon closer inspection, he discovered the mangled body of a male. M.C. Hannam of Gawler was called for. Papers on the victim identified him as James Ried. It was believed Reid had fallen under the train and lost consciousness, the train being readied for departure had moved further along the platform, dismembering Reid's body and killing him.[7]

The Hamley Bridge station closed in 1984 and became private property.  The owner of the property in 2018, Jenny Lee-Justine, claimed that she once had a lady stay with her in the former railway building who was woken by a ghost. The ghost was wearing a railway uniform and carrying a lantern. Ms. Lee-Justine had a few photographs of railway workers at the station from 1911 from which they were able to identify the ghost.[8]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2023

[1] 'Latest News.', Evening Journal, (14 April 1869), p. 2.

[2] 'TO CORRESPONDENTS.', The Express and Telegraph, (15 January 1870), p. 2.

[3] 'GENERAL NEWS.', The Express and Telegraph, (22 July 1868), p. 2.

[4] 'NEWS OF THE WEEK', South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail, (25 July 1868), p. 10.

[5] 'HAMLEY BRIDGE ACCIDENT.', The Express and Telegraph, (20 January 1898), p. 3.

[6] 'MAN KILLED AT RAILWAY STATION.', Daily Herald, (22 December 1910), p. 6.

[7] 'FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.', The Advertiser, (22 December 1910), p. 6.

[8] Lydie Kellner, ‘Historic railway station-turned-home for sale in Hamley Bridge.’, The Advertiser, (Feb 2018), https://www.realestate.com.au/news/historic-railway-stationturnedhome-for-sale-in-hamely-bridge/?rsf=syn:news:nca:aa:article.