The Bent Tree Haunting - Watervale
On the Horrocks
Highway, between Leasingham and Watervale there once stood a landmark, a bent
tree, which marks the spot of a tragic accident.
Andrew Sands came to Australia on board the passenger
ship Epaminondas, arriving at Port Adelaide on 2nd August 1852.
Andrew was a 30-year-old Scottish-born Miner, his wife, Margaret was 28, they
had (at the time) three children, David, aged 8, James, aged 4; and 1-year-old Margaret.[1]
The couple had one South Australian-born child, Archibald in March 1866.
On Tuesday 2nd
February 1869, Andrew Sands was thrown from his horse during a thunderstorm, near
the Bent Tree, a local landmark at the time. Sands was found and taken to the
Auburn Hotel, where he was attended by Doctor Wall. He was diagnosed with a
severe concussion of the brain.
On 4 February 1869, Andrew Sands died. Sands
had a fractured skull, and his brain had swelled, eventually killing him. He
was buried the following day 5th of February 1869, in the Auburn
Cemetery, overseen by Reverend Crawford.[2]
Since his untimely
death, a local legend states that on moonlit nights, the exact spot where he came off
his horse, the ghost of Andrew Sands appears. Before the time of motor cars, it was claimed
that Sand's ghost would try and stop passersby. He walks with his arms out,
pleading for a lift. Horses would rear up at the sight of the ghost, bolting,
and often throwing their rider to the ground, just as Sands horse had done many
years before.
Sand's ghost is not seen as much these days. As cars speed by
on the Horrocks Highway, but every now and then, a report of an oddly dressed
man, arms outstretched, as if pleading, begging for someone to stop and save
him, is seen…
