In the past year, I have held 3 presentations at the Gawler
Heritage Museum, raising close to $2000 for the museum. Many people still don’t
seem to know Gawler has a museum in Murray Street, so I thought I might
share a ghost story to see if it generates some interest and gets some people
visiting…
This building started as Gawler’s Telegraph Station and
was built in 1860. Pre-internet and telephones, A wire signal was installed
that allowed a tapped, morse code message to be sent to Gawler from Adelaide or
Port Adelaide when the mail arrived.
Eventually, the Post office moved next door and this building became the Gawler
School of Mines and the Gawler Adult Education Centre. From 1915
until 1953 it was the Commonwealth Government Electoral Office. In 1966, the
building was transferred to the National Trust. It is now Gawler’s National
Trust Museum.
Ghosts
The building is allegedly haunted by twin girls who sit on
chairs on
the upper level. A witness claimed to have walked into the room and saw the
little girls sitting there,
talking to each other. They did not seem to notice the living lady, and
vanished before her eyes, as she
stared at them in shock!
Another ghostly occurrence is linked to the old piano
upstairs, during a paranormal investigation, the piano was heard to tap out a
few notes – perhaps this was a ghost playing a tune…or typing our morse code…
Join Me on Saturday 11th of May for a late afternoon talk about Gawler's Dark History!
I'll be detailing some shocking local murders, suicides, nasty accidents, and maybe a ghost or two! This event is strictly 18+ as some of the details are rather gruesome!
This is a fundraiser event for the Gawler National Trust Museum to help raise some much-needed money for the upkeep of Gawler's historical museum.
I'll also have books available for sale and signing (EFTPOS available).
$15 per person, 11 May 2024 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM.
Tickets are almost sold out so get in while you still can!
Gawler National Trust Museum - 59 Murray Street Gawler, SA 5118
Built in 1866, the main building of the Kapunda Museum served
the Kapunda Baptist community until 1948. From 1949 until the mid-1960s the building was utilised as a technical school. It was then sold to the Kapunda
Council. The council donated the building to the Kapunda Historical Society
which reopened the building as the Kapunda Museum in 1971. In the years that
followed the nearby building that once housed the Kapunda Herald newspaper was incorporated
into the museum and renamed Bagot’s Fortune.
The museum hosts
Kapunda’s mining, religious and business history, and is considered one of the
finest folk museums in Australia. I have my own personal connection to the
collection with my grandmother, Audrey Tiller (nee Tremaine) donated numerous
items from her properties around Kapunda, including her bedroom suite, my father’s
schoolbooks, and my great grandfathers, H.J.B. Tremaine’s crystal radio set.
Other items in the museum include photos of my relatives from the Hazel, Cole, Rowett,
Datson and Adams families.
In the Hawke Gallery, one can see foundry products from an
era long gone, including a cross-compound steam engine. The museum contains a collection covering every facet of Kapunda's history including an
extensive display of machinery, agricultural equipment, an old local Kapunda Ambulance, and a collection of old record players, including wax cylinders.
Karen and I were invited by Chris and Deano of Spirit Crew
South Australia to investigate with them at the museum on September 29, 2023.
We started in the main building on the ground floor. Karen and I also tried to
contact my grandmother in the room set up as her bedroom, but there were no discernible
responses. Eventually, we head into the basement.
The basement was
quiet. At one point in the evening, we noted what sounded like footsteps
walking through the room above us, when everyone present was accounted for and in eyesight of each other in the basement. However, this could easily be disregarded
as temperature changes in the late evening affect the woodwork in the
building.
At the roadside end of the basement,
there is a small schoolroom display consisting of some desks, mannequins, and
a blackboard. It was in this room that movement was noticed. First was a chain
moving of its own volition. Ghosts? Possibly, but there is also the chance one
of us knocked it and did not notice, or that building movement, or airflow
caused the movement.
While investigating this schoolroom
display movement was noticed near the mannequins. It seemed as though a dark
shadow moved from the right to the left wall behind the mannequins. We tried
our best to communicate but received nothing. We then tried to recreate the movement
but were unsuccessful. We do not have a reasonable explanation as to what caused
the shadowy movement in the schoolroom display – further investigation is
required.
It has previously
been reported that the museum is haunted. Many years ago, local Reggie Rawady
(R.I.P) told me he once experienced the ghost in the old newspaper office. He didn’t
elaborate much on the ghost, only that it was in the rear of the building where
a movie plays (a movie featured Reggie!)
This building is also infamous for the
suicide of former newspaper editor, Leonard Samuel Curtis. In 1911, 52-year-old
Curtis was found dead in his office by his apprentice, Albert Patterson. Curtis
had swallowed a large quantity of Lysol and then shot himself in the neck four
times with a revolver. No note was left… Curtis’s ghost is sometimes reported
to be seen peeking out the window of the building.
If you get the chance to visit Kapunda, do consider spending
some time in the museum. There are some amazing displays, including an operating
table from the Kapunda hospital and out the back, and an old hearse!
In 1954, the South Australian branch of the Australian Electric Traction Association was formed. The A.E.T.A advocated for the retention and expansion of electric transport systems.
In 1957, the South Australian branch of the A.E.T.A. formed the SA Branch Australian Electric Transport Museum. Later they incorporated as the Australian Electric Transport Museum (SA) Inc.- now better known as the Tramway Museum at St. Kilda.
In 1958, the site of the former St Kilda Primary School became the storage home of Trams No. 1, 111, 192 and 42. In July 1962 the museum opened as a static display.
In 1972, the Salisbury Council, via government grant, built the tram line from the museum to St Kilda Beach, with volunteers building the overhead system. The tramway was officially opened in March 1974, with Tram No.1 leading the procession, the same tram used to open the Adelaide tramway in 1909. The museum currently has 26 trams, 5 trolly buses, two-horse trams, a horsebox and lots of displays showcasing Adelaide’s tramway history! The museum is run entirely by dedicated volunteers. T
he Tramway Museum is located on St Kilda Road, St Kilda, on the way to the St Kilda Playground. The facility is wheelchair accessible.
Trams leave the museum for St Kilda Playground every half hour. Your admission into the museum gives you unlimited tram rides for the day, with three different trams running consecutively every session.
The museum is open every Sunday from 12 noon until 5pm.
-end transcript.
Information sourced from the Tramway Museum website.
In 1877, the Mallala Milling Company was floated with a
capital investment of ten thousand pounds. A site in the township was chosen
and James Martin and Co of Gawler were contracted to build all the machinery
and carpentry for the new Mallala Mill.
The foundation stone was laid on 26 July 1878 by Miss M.A. Chivell, who was
presented with a silver trowel for her efforts.[1]
The Mill was opened by Mr W. Cavanagh M.P. on Tuesday 18
March 1879.
The completed building was three stories tall, built from
hammer-dressed limestone, with brick quoins and cement dressings. At the rear was a shed that contained a
Cornish boiler manufactured at James Martin and Co in Gawler. The boiler drove
a horizontal engine of 22 horsepower, with a flywheel weighing three tons.
The mill consisted of three pairs of
French burr stones, each being 3 feet and 8 inches in diameter.[2]
On 31 August 1880, just after 12 noon, the boiler at the
Mallala Mill exploded. Mr Armfield, the Mills engineer had just been to check
on the boiler and returned to the engine room when the accident happened. The
boiler exploded, blowing down half of the boiler-house walls and bursting
numerous pipes. The explosion blew the roof of the engine and boiler room
houses and shattered the base of the chimney stack. Luckily, no one lost their
lives, as most workers had gone to lunch, however, Mr Armfield received some
head injuries from flying debris
When the mill closed, the inner workings, the steam engine
and grinder were removed and used at the Blyth Mill.[3]
Mathew Henry East held the title in 1909, and in 1933, East Brothers and Co
took possession
In 1947 the 50-foot-tall chimney, made from over 6000 bricks, that had been built in 1878 was demolished. It had been declared unsafe and a risk to the buildings nearby
The Mallala and Districts Historical committee was formed in 1968, and in 1970, the Adelaide Plains Council bought Mallala Flour Mill to be
used as a museum. The museum holds a comprehensive military display of local
involvement, farming machinery, an REO Speedwagon Fire Engine, displays of old
typewriters, toys, blacksmith forge, and Mr Temby’s penny-farthing, which was
ridden in the Adelaide Xmas Pageant by Lance Tiller. The Long Plains Schoolroom has many displays, and recently, in 2021, a new upstairs gallery was
opened and dedicated to long term volunteer, the late Margaret Tiller.
The Mallala Museum is considered one of the finest local
heritage museums in South Australia. It is open every Sunday afternoon from 2pm
until 4:30pm and is run by volunteers. <end transcript>
[1] 'Laying the Foundation Stone of Mallala Flour Mill', Yorke's Peninsula Advertiser, (6 August 1878), p. 4.
[2] 'Opening of the Mallala Mill.', South Australian Register, (20 March 1879), p. 1.
[3] 1947 'Out Among The People', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 15 April, p. 4. , viewed 14 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30522934
A horrific accident occurred on February 8, 1928, during the building of new train tunnels that were to extend the Belair train line through the Adelaide Hills.
Six men lost their lives, and three men were injured when a landslide hit the tunnel as men were working on it.
The men killed:
Mr Charles Wilkinson
Mr William Kilmartin
Mr Robert Cafferty
Mr Paul Patt
Mr Charles Smith
Mr Garrett Costello
The men injured in the incident also included two rescue workers. The injured workers were; Mr John Whittenbury, Mr Arthur Newcombe, Mr Ambrose Gledhill, and rescue workers, Mr Gallaghan and Mr J McCarthy.
If the incident had occurred any later in the day, the tragedy could have been much worse. The heavily-laden express train to Melbourne was due to pass through the cutting, but was rerouted as news of the accident hit Adelaide Railway control. Any later and the train would have crashed into the through the worksite, unable to stop!
There is every possibility that one, or all, of these men, now haunt the currently used train tunnel, which has become the home of urban explorers and graffiti artists. As with all ghost stories, there is probably an element of urban legend that has grown around the area, and that plays a heavy part in the traditions of hauntings in the tunnels.
